Special guest artist: Zach presents Skitchy the Bat

In the original drawing, the bat (Skitchy) had a balloon coming out of his mouth with a word. It has been removed in the final drawing. Here's why.

So one day in October, when he was about seven years old, Zach came up to me and asked, "How do you spell 'bitchy'?"

When you're a parent, you learn to ask deep, probing, intelligent questions.

"What?" I said.

"How do you spell 'bitchy'?" he replied. "You know, the sound a bat makes: bi-chee! bi-chee!"

I talked him into erasing that word and writing "Halloween" instead.

This is one of my favorite drawings that Zach has ever done. It's got the essence of Halloween bat and the innocence of that seven-year-old. I think it would look great on a T-shirt or a mug.

So, without his permission, I share with you Skitchy the Bat.

P.S. I helped him color it, so I figure it's OK to include in this blog.

Built for fashion!

I debated whether to include a bell on the handlebars, but that would have been a little too much. I like the streamers, though!

The master's hand?

I thought about posting this one back in July around Pioneer Day, but I thought Halloween might be a little more appropriate!

Couples

Here's another oldie from the '80s! They're all New Wave punky and all that! Love the hair.

Road work? It's torture!

I'm sure some of the businesses along University Avenue would not disagree with this one!

Monday skechbook: Modern conveniences

Easy, yes, but I don't think Hermione would approve!

Good tithings we bring to you and your kin

This is based on a true story. We were finishing up our trick or treating rounds last year when someone in the car said, "We have to make one more stop. We need to go to the bishop's house!"

"Why?"

And thus, this cartoon was born.

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Supplemental (10/26)
So I open up the Oregonian today, and there on the comics page is this Pickles strip:
I thought that was kind of weird, especially since Mr. Crane is also LDS. Interesting that we both came up with a similar idea.

Homecoming

There are all kinds of stories about the block "Y" on the mountain, stories about pranks that Ute fans pulled, special events that have happened there, etc. I think it would have been cool to light it with flashing barricades and give it a nice autumnal orange glow. Too bad they never ask me about these things!

Happy B-day, bro!

I have work enough to do

Homage

And, of course, we can't let the season pass without at least a nod to Peanuts.

22/7

Nothin' like an old pumpkin carving joke to brighten up the holiday season!

Or you could just friend them on Facebook

Here's something for the ol' "Gee Whiz" file: When this originally appeared, it was the same year as BYU's national championship.

Monday sketchbook: Telephones down below

Elder Jacob?

So what does happen when a werewolf gets called on a mission?

Chewing asphalt

Some engineer types will try to get you to believe it's the freeze/thaw cycle or the effect of heavy trucks that cause these things!

But the answers were all robotic

Mmm, mmm, yuck!

Actually, this is a lie. My mom didn't make pancakes.

However, when I first got to Korea, it was my turn to make breakfast. On the menu: pancakes. Although the recipe was in English, the ingredients were in Korean. Rather than ask for help, I made my best guess as to what stuff was. Rather than add baking powder, I added corn starch to the mix. Let me tell you, we could have used those pancakes for pavement!

Ask not for whom the bridge tolls

Here's another case of (cartoon) art imitating life. When I drew this, toll roads were something that one only encountered east of the Mississippi. Nowadays tolls are used for access to high occupancy lanes, and at the Oregon DOT, we've studied the concept as a potential funding source for the new Columbia River Crossing and work in the Newberg-Dundee area.

Lost in plain sight

I think it's a little ironic that part of my duties for my first job out of college included working at the information counter for the Utah Department of Transportation. This particular question wouldn't be out of line with some of the stuff we got asked!

Monday skechbook: Harvest time

Been there, done that

I had a Korean missionary companion who told me this. He thought it was funny!

An ounce of prevention

Hey, whatever works, right?

What, no GPS?

Here's an old one from a couple of decades back.

It's been said that in Utah there are three main religions: Mormonism, hunting and football (or basketball, depending on the season). In October, all three come to a head...but only one involves guns!

But wait! There's more!

The Evelyn Wood ads ran in October, so we included a bit of a Halloween theme into this one.

Wood Evelyn?

For those of you who keep track of such things, this Evelyn Wood ad ran in the newspaper at the University of Utah, the Chronicle. The BYU version used semesters rather than quarters.

And now a word from our sponsor

I knew the lady who had the Eveyln Wood franchise for the Salt Lake and Utah County area. She thought their ads were kind of stodgy. She wanted something a little more fun that might appeal to college and high school students, so she asked me to make some ads.

Revenge of the Favre

I had to do this one for my buddy Gary after last night's game between Minnesota and Green Bay.

Sorry, man!

Monday skechbook: Chip shot

A week or so ago we went up to Wenatchee for an outdoor wedding. The setting sort of reminded me of being on a golf course, so I started to provide play-by-play in those hushed tones that golf announcers use. It earned me an elbow in the ribs, but I liked the idea!

Conference enhancement tips

My Grandma used to out-choir the choir!

Conference enhancement tips

Oh, you mean take notes on what they say?

Yes, it's time once again for General Conference. Learn more about it here.

Mine eyes smell onions; I shall weep anon.*

It doesn't pay to become emotionally attached to your crops.

(*All's Well That Ends Well, Act 5, Scene 3)

It takes all kinds

I originally had a different third panel that featured a flasher...I figured that wouldn't be quite appropriate for the audience.