Friday, April 30, 2010

Take a twig to lunch!

During one of the public hearings for a proposed project on U.S. 189 in Provo Canyon, one of Bob Redford's cronies gave us a sneer and said, "I'll bet you people wouldn't even know a tree if it landed in your lap!" Upon which my buddy pulled a card from his wallet, "Here's my Sierra Club membership - where's yours?" The accuser slunk away sheepishly.

Now, a few years later, it's interesting to see that the Oregon DOT is one of the leaders in the green movement!

Enjoy your Arbor Day!

Thursday, April 29, 2010

High and outside

It's normal here in Oregon to have at least a sprinkle at almost every game. What's really weird is when the sun comes out!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Strike one!

Baseball has started once again, and our players are working on their basic skills: hitting, throwing, stealing bases, and, yes, spitting.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Making my mark

I don't want to give anyone any ideas, but I could never understand why there weren't tons of handprints and signatures embedded in the new concrete!

Monday, April 26, 2010

Moday sketchbook: McMiracles

Our Sunday school lesson yesterday was about the Children of Israel complaining about manna. It's easy to point back now and say what whiners they were, but how often do we complain about everyday miracles?

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Appetite for destruction

Ever notice that buffets never feature Scout Night or Missionary Night? There's a reason.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Marketing those skills

I've been thinking a lot about my ancestors. Right now there's a smoldering volcano in Iceland near the village where my grandmother's family came from. There's a joke going around that, given Iceland's economy, it isn't really a volcano - they're just burning all the banks. Which led my thoughts to other of my ancestors, some of whom were vikings. What would they do in a down economy?

Friday, April 23, 2010

If only

This was written from a college student's perspective. Now I have a little more life experience, I wonder if they have remotes for kids, people at work, telemarketers, etc.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

All that Jazz

This seemed strangely appropriate to run during the NBA playoffs...

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Finding joy in service

I've taken the Cub Scouts on a lot of service projects. A lot of folks are happy to see us come; almost everyone is happy to see us go.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Monday, April 19, 2010

Monday sketchbook: A Scout is Logical...

One of my sons is working on his Eagle project, so naturally the dinnertime conversation got around to whether Vulcans have a scouting program, which led to this.

I think - in general - the people of Earth owe a big apology to the people of Vulcan.

BTW, he's collecting supplies for Hogar Infantil, an orphanage in southern Mexico. Your donations would be greatly appreciated!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

It's a gift to be simple

This is an old one I did way back in high school, I believe it was after a seminary lesson about the gift of tongues. I showed it to one of my friends, who asked me, "What does that mean?" I was a little taken aback because she been in the same classroom and had the same lesson with me. So I said, "Remember the lesson we just had about the gift of tongues?" She replied, "Oh! That's it! You totally misspelled the word 'tongue'!"

It's only taken me a couple of decades or so, but I've corrected that now.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Would you like frites with that?

One more thing from the French trip. It was a great adventure, but if there was one complaint, is was that they fed us "American" food. Granted, the tour company doesn't want to spend a lot of money on meals. And the tours are designed for mostly middle school and high school-aged kids. But still... Good thing they sold crepes and baguettes on the streets!

Friday, April 16, 2010

My what?

How many kids today do you think know what "horizontal hold" is?

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Things to remember when you fill out your 1040

On Tax Day Eve, I thought it would be good to be reminded exactly why we pay taxes. We do it to help improve and safeguard our communities...and so politicians can take credit for the projects and thereby remain employed!

BTW: In case you were wondering, in the year of the University Avenue project there was a lot of economic and industrial growth in Provo. Yes, it was an election year (and yes, the mayor did get re-elected)!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Change will do you good


This didn't really happen, but I'll bet it happens all the time. Euros are kind of cool, though, because each country mints its own coins, but they're used all over Europe. In one transaction we had change in Euros from Greece, Spain, Great Britain and France. Here you look for the mint mark to see if a coin was minted in Denver or Philadelphia. It's not quite the same!

Monday, April 12, 2010

Monday sketchbook: The weekly bath

I liked this idea until I sketched it out, and I started to wonder what would be in the bathtub that would remind the kid of Mt. Ararat. The sketchbook stops here.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Amen to that!

There must be something in the air. Arie over at Mormon Cartoonist had another over-the-pulpit joke this week as well.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Pronunciation


I think there is a conspiracy amongst French teachers in this country. We go on our merry way pronouncing crepe as krape, with a long a sound. Little did I know that in France, or at least in Nimes, the word is pronounced, yes, crap.

Thanks for that tip beforehand, Mme B!

Friday, April 9, 2010

The upper crust

I saw firsthand that most of the stereotypes about the French are not true. We encountered no mimes, I didn't hear a single accordion, and most of the people were very friendly. The one thing that seemed to be true, though, was the preponderance of baguettes. They were everywhere. I also noticed that most young women had a certain dress standard: nicely coiffed hair, tight pants, boots, a jacket, a bag or purse, a scarf around the neck, and a baguette. So, I thought, the baguette isn't really for food - it's a fashion statement!

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Foreign phrases



Yes, I know that Steve Martin did a similar joke way back when. But this had some added context: while the kids were saying that the language was too hard, I noticed the signs in the background said such foreign things as restaurant, cafe, hotel.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

That explains a few things!

We just returned from taking a group of my wife's French students to France. "Oh!" you may say, "that explains that series of failed greeting cards the past couple of weeks!" Yes, it does. But be that as it may, here is a sampling of some cartoons I came up with while on the trip.


My biggest fear was that I'd default to my fallback non-English language, Korean, and just confuse everyone.

BTW: This translates to "Where is the bathroom, please?"

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Happy birthday, again!

Today marks the two-year anniversary of this blog! So, following tradition, I'm running my first cartoon, which is also the first one that was ever published. Enjoy!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Monday sketchbook: Important safety tip

Why would sharks have a pet dogfish? Why would they even think of feeding him chicken bones?

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Conference enhancement tips: Celebrate Easter!

I love it when Easter and General Conference land on the same day. It's like one reinforces the other. And remember the message of Easter: He Lives!

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Conference enhancement tips: Check your food storage

Once again it's time for General Conference!

One thing we are always reminded of is to be self-reliant. Be ready for emergencies, avoid excessive debt, use the resources of the earth wisely. Or, as they say in Scouts, "Be prepared!"

Friday, April 2, 2010

Maybe he's a golden retriever

Our dog just goes nuts every time the missionaries come over; like a kangaroo he bounces up and down and up and down trying to get their attention! One time they stopped by and he dashed out the front door and tried to jump in their car - through the front window - to go with them (which, of course, they totally encouraged).

I think there are two types of dogs in the world: those who hate missionaries and those who love them.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Going away?

I thought this would make a good transition as we leave behind the cards and return to our regular programming.