Monday, October 31, 2011

Monday Sketchbook: Halloween doubleheader!

First, because it's topical and probably won't make sense next year:



And second, I was at McDonald's the other day eating a McRib sandwich and began to wonder if zombies would like McRibs. Then I remembered that McDonald's is known for adapting its menu to match local cuisine. Then it hit me...


Be safe out there!
H
appy Halloween!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Parts is parts


Eyes, ears, mouth and nose -- they're stored in the other cupboard.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Let's make a deal!

The first step to teaching someone is building rapport and finding common ground.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Stirred, but barely stirring

I was going more for the Sean Connery Bond rather than, say, Timothy Dalton or Daniel Craig. He has that je ne sais quoi that I wanted to portray.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Monday Sketchbook: Ref Different


First off, I thought the caption was too long for this idea to be effective. Second, I'd be afraid that some parents I know might actually take this idea and run with it!

A lot of parents get way too emotional at their kids' games, especially when you consider that most of the coaches and officiating staff are volunteers. I've seen parents ejected from the sidelines because of losing their cool over what they thought was a missed call. In cases like that, technology like this could certainly help out.

Instead of a TV time out, there could be an iPad time out. Or something.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Dying to get in?

In the spirit of the rewinds I did over the last week, this is a retooling of an old one that was originally done in black and white.


I have to admit that as a missionary I had a few dinner appointments that were scary, some that I hoped were the wrong address. But they turned out well for the most part (except for that one with Elder Sellers in Yeosu).

I just hope we're not one of those scary addresses for the missionaries in our area!

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Tricking and treating


I usually stay away from political messages in my cartoons, except for the few editorial cartoons I did in college. So don't think of this as me editorializing -- I was just thinking about Halloween while reading the news and this idea came together.

Here's something for the Gee Whiz File: The kid on the bottom step is holding a rock. Originally he was going to be a ghost (in a bit of an homage to Charlie Brown), but the color distracted from the overall cartoon.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Rewind: The Shakespeare Code

Shakespeare is always good for a laugh...especially the tragedies.
This should be the last of the reruns for now -- I think I've recovered just about everything I can. Yay.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Rewind: A Halloween special


OK, this isn't totally a rerun. I decided to colorize it just for kicks. If I say so myself, I think this is one of my best-written 121 strips. At least it's one of the most sincere.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Rewind: Best of seven

Here's another rerun while we make some behind-the-scenes repairs. this is one of my favorite Not Quite Zen gags, and tonight is Game 1 of the World Series. The perfect opportunity to dust off a golden oldie!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

My sad emoticon

The unthinkable happened.

You know the computer user adage to always back up your data? I do.

In fact, I was in the middle of uploading a few cartoons from my workhorse USB drive, after which I was going to make a backup. I stopped to take a break for just a minute.

That’s when it happened. My laptop hurled itself off the table and crashed onto the floor below!

Luckily, the laptop was fine.

That’s because the USB took the brunt of the blow.

The little indicator light on the drive flickered weakly as if to say goodbye, then shuddered and closed its eyes for good.

Sigh.

As a result of being unable to (a) upload everything and (b) backup the new stuff, I’m forced to take drastic measures. While I attempt to recover and recreate the gags that were lost (at least I still have the hard copies), I’ll be running some old favorites.

Give me a week or so, and we’ll stop the reruns and return to our regular programming.

Unless there’s someone out there who knows how to resurrect a damaged USB drive…?

THE RERUN:

Monday, October 17, 2011

Monday Sketchbook: Get set to spring


We had ward conference Saturday at Reser Stadium in Corvallis.

I guess it wasn't actually ward conference. But a good chunk of our ward was there at the BYU vs. Oregon State football game. The oddsmakers had the Beavers as a 1 1/2 point favorite, and with the roller coaster way both teams have been playing this season, it could have gone either way. There were many of the Cougar faithful who brought along Beaver gear to switch in to, just in case.

Through the third quarter it was a close game, but then BYU put things away. When OSU scored its final touchdown, there were probably more blue shirts in the stadium than orange.

There was a lot of post-game excitement in church today. During Sunday school lot of folks quoted bits and pieces of the Football Fireside that was held in our neighboring stake. So it wouldn't have surprised me much if someone had really suggested this as our opening hymn.

Go, Cougs!

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Getting acclimated

I know there are missionaries who complain about the food at the MTC, but it could be worse. Much, much worse!

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Too much of a good thing

My original concept for this was having a skeleton wearing a dress sitting in the chair (it is the month of Halloween, after all). But on second thought, that seemed a little gruesome.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Moving on

Finishing up the University Avenue project was bittersweet. It was a lot of fun doing the public information for it -- and these cartoons. I also thought it was cool to get paid for hanging around the construction zone and watching the work get done. I enjoyed working with the folks from Provo City, the downtown business association, and Linda Walton, who was the business liaison (and fellow public relations practitioner). There were still plenty of other projects (and there are still more Explore Provo cartoons), but this one was certainly a highlight.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Always look up!

As a missionary, you learn to recognize certain signs that an investigator may not be as golden as you initially thought they were. My son had one of the best examples I can think of. They knew it was time to drop their investigator the second time they had to bail him out of jail. Not a good sign!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

1 Nephi 3:7

Nephi would have been an interesting boss. When I get an assignment at work, I never think of asking where I can go to get the materials to make my own tools. I certainly wouldn't want to be a slacker around the office with Nephi in charge. Instead of a reprimand, you'd know that at any time he could send a shock through you that you wouldn't soon forget! One thing's for certain -- if I had to travel I'd be sure to check the itinerary before I left to verify that there was a return trip. Who knows where you might end up?

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Monday, October 10, 2011

Monday Sketchbook: Is it too early?

Some zombie jokes just write themselves; some shouldn't be written at all. I liked this idea of zombies playing football, but I wanted to steer away from the obvious "foot" ball (I already have another sketch with that theme anyway).

Anyway, after roughing out this sketch I got to wondering what zombies would look like wearing helmets and shoulder pads... and why they'd need them anyway. They wouldn't necessarily run downfield. It'd be more of the zombie lurch. Tackles could be pretty gruesome.

So after all that pondering, I decided not to pursue this idea after all -- at least not for now.

Although it could look awesome in color...!

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Birds from a guilted cage

Whenever I substitute for Primary, invariably they sing a song that lets me know I'm not as diligent in my duty as I should be. Maybe that's why they keep sending me back to Primary. Hmm.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Increasing awareness

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is designed to promote not only awareness about breast cancer, but improve education, share information and increase screening.

I can totally understand how the Mission President could have concerns about the wristband, however!

Friday, October 7, 2011

iCloud: A sneak preview

I couldn't let the passing of Steve Jobs go unacknowledged. Say what you will about him, he was creative, an innovator and his products changed the way we do things.

This cartoon is a sneak peek of Sunday's Good Heavens. Who knows? Mr. Jobs may just shake things up a little bit up there as well!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Things as they really are

I certainly expect no controversy over this cartoon.

By the way, I added another sketch to the Conference recap below -- I finally got to listen to the rest of the Saturday Afternoon Session. Scroll down and take a look if you'd like!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

To the swift

Missionaries in bike areas do all kinds of things to keep themselves entertained. I know of a set of sisters who used to race buses and make contacts at each stop. They didn't get to wear the cool ties, though.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Monday, October 3, 2011

Monday Sketchbook: A look back at conference



I always enjoy Elder Scott's talks. I loved the examples he used of scriptures that were his friends. The filing cabinet metaphor was awesome!

One of the recurring themes that I noticed was following the Spirit/receiving personal inspiration. Sis. Thompson's story of getting a testimony while listening to conference on the radio was pretty cool.

Pres. Monson really likes to shake things up! I loved the audible gasps at the Provo Tabernacle and Paris temples. But I have to say, I felt sorry for Elder Alonso. He gave a wonderful talk about the Savior, but there was so much chatter about the temples that a lot of it was lost! It's worth going back and reviewing.

I missed a lot of the Saturday Afternoon session. Elder Bednar's talk on the spirit of Elijah was cool -- one joke we have in our Priesthood group is that Nintendo is developing a genealogy game so that we can do family history Wii-search.

Elder Aldern's talk was another good one. I noticed that the line, "Let us be as quick to kneel as we are to text" has been picked up as a new catchphrase!


Priesthood is always incredible! I loved Elder Holland "getting in our faces" about what our priesthood responsibilities are.

After Pres. Eyring's stories, I may never again answer the phone in the middle of the night!

I'd heard Pres. Monson's story about being dismissed to attend church services, but it's still a good one. I was affected by the remark that since that time he's often found himself standing alone.

That was another recurring theme: standing as a witness at all times. Pres. Eyring said that repetition isn't boring, it's because something is important!

Having five boys, I really hope there were several fathers out there who listened to Sis. Dalton's talk on raising daughters!
I thought Elder Hales' talk was among the most poignant of the entire conference. I wonder how much of what he said was drawn from his recent experiences?


Pres. Monson has so many stories! I've got one kid who regularly launders his money, so we could relate to his story about the five dollar bill.

I loved Elder Yamashita's talk. I was especially moved by the story of the coat. My dad served in Korea before I was called to serve there as a missionary -- but he was in the Army. I couldn't very well wear his fatigues! Still, so many people expressed their thanks to me for his service. His sacrifice created a lot of goodwill and opened many doors for me.

Elder Cornish had a great message: "Don't just say your prayers -- live them!"

All in all, I thought it was a wonderful conference! Pres. Monson's wrap-up at the end was a great summation of Conference. He was so full of thanks! I also liked the part where he asked us to please remember him in our prayers: "We're all in this together!"

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Conference Enhancement Tips: Share the experience

If you missed any of the sessions, they're available on the Church website. Downloadable MP3s are up almost immediately!

One of the things I look forward to is fellow cartoonist Arie Van De Graaff's conference recap activity pages. They'll soon be available on Sugardoodle. It takes a couple of days (he has a much smaller staff than the Church media folks), but they're worth the wait.

And be sure to tune in tomorrow for my take on Conference!

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Conference Enhancement tips!

...although there are those who say it's much easier to relax and enjoy the sessions if you stay in your pajamas!

Remember, if you can't get it on TV, sessions are also broadcast on the Internet and probably at your local LDS chapel as well. Enjoy!