Seeking a sign

I don't know if it's still this way, but the past couple of times I attended General Conference in the Conference Center, there were lots of people protesting all over the place. However mean-spirited some of the protesters might be, they seem a lot nicer than the folks at political gatherings!


Maybe I should have gone with an alternative caption: "I'm not here to protest anything, really — I just came here seeking a sign!"

OK, maybe not.

It's all one big highlight, right?

Not that anybody would do this...

Setting the bar to a little easier height

This came up in church last week.

Guardians of the gates

It's still Banned Book Week. Fine a good one to read!

If you'd rather read about your friendly neighborhood LDS cartoonist, check out LDS Living.com!

Read all about it!

Yes, once again it's Banned Books Week! It's an annual event to celebrate the freedom to read. Some of the best books have been on the chopping block, ranging from Captain Underpants to Catcher in the Rye to the Holy Bible and other religious texts. In fact, some of my favorite books have scored high on the lists! One thing that some people don't understand is that as soon as you try to ban a book, it soars in popularity!

Celebrate the ability to read this week!

Sketchbook: That's a no go

Some apps just don't stand a chance. Especially when an apostle comes out against it.

Confirmed!

By their face ye shall know them

I thought about having the President ask the same question of a sister missionary, but I thought that would just be wrong.

By their scents ye shall know them

Who knows? It might work!

Be prepared for anything

This one is actually a few years old, but I kept getting this feeling that I should run it again today. Enjoy!

By their breath ye shall know them

We're just happy when they remember to brush not matter what the reason!

Now the hymn is over

We had an intermediate hymn during sacrament meeting on Sunday, and when it was over fully half the people on our row folded their arms and bowed their heads as soon as the song was over.

Sketchbook: This gag could be rated arrgh

I asked myself what would happen if missionaries were to give a pirate a copy of the Book of Mormon? Surely there would be something in it that would appeal to him — and then it hit me...



By the way, General Conference is coming up soon! If you want a nifty handout to share with your class or use for a pre-conference family night, you can't beat Arie Van De Graaff's General Conference Activity Packet, available now!

Teaching techniques

This could have been me last week until I came to my senses.

Sneak preview of yet another public service announcement

Avast! Monday is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, so we at the Oregon DOT thought it would be a good idea to hijack the news with a few more public service announcements. Watch for their official release on our ODOT social media accounts on Monday.

Broadsided

My glasses were huge when I was serving as a missionary. I tell my kids that it was the fashion of the time. So far they still believe me.

Give credit where credit is due

It helps with copyright questions too.

Though your sins be as scarlet

The closest I ever came to this was being called to repentance by a motorcycle cop who lives in our ward. I still got the ticket.

The needs of the one

 Somebody said practically this exact same thing at our house last night.

Me.

Sketchbook: The long arm of the deacon

This was true for me as a deacon. I suspect it's still true today!

Editor's note: I came close to working this up into a finished cartoon, but I have an unwritten policy of avoiding the appearance of mocking ordinances. That's why you won't see the high school quarterback passing the sacrament, nor will you see the shark* in the baptismal font.

*Yes, it may have been a Great White.

Third and long

I was a little disappointed at the outcome of the BYU/Utah game, but I think it was — as always — an exciting finish! 

Beavers and ducks, oh my!

The best parody remains faithful to its source material. Pokémon Go uses the original 150 Pokémon. But this, being Oregon (home of the Oregon Ducks and the Oregon State Beavers), we needed a beaver if we were going to have a Psafetyduck! Luckily there is a later-generation beaver-type we could use to model our character on!

OK, this should be the last of Pokémon Go references. I hope!

Be careful out there

Before we start any public relations campaign, we do market research to make sure we have the right message.

My research for this involved crowdsourcing with my family members, who are not only in the target demographic, they also know a lot about Pokémon. For example, they advised me that Safetepi would be good for a seatbelt message, and that the name we'd chosen for the turtle (based on Squirtle) would NOT work for this target market.

Star Date: Supplemental

Happy 50th! And may you live long and prosper!

Keep it safe

I realize that a lot of other places have been in school for nearly a month now. Oregon's a little different in that we don't start school until after Labor Day for the most part.

Safety tips

There has been a lot in the press lately about businesses complaining about Pokémon Go players interrupting their normal operations. In fact, we just got notice that the railroads are warning people to stay away if they're playing.

We thought we might turn that around and make people think about safety and have that message reinforced when they see our Safétymon.

Back to school!

So I said a few weeks ago that I was done with Pokémon Go. I guess I was wrong. As I hinted a while back, we launched a "Safétymon GO" back to school safety campaign at the Oregon DOT.

We have downloadable posters, internet memes and lots of safety tips for pedestrians, cyclists, pedestrians and drivers. (Feel free to download them and share!)

It must have been a slow news day when we launched, because it garnered a lot of media attention: TV, newspapers and social media. Cool!

Sketchbook: Feed me

Actually, #allmealsmatter.

That's about as political as we get here, folks.

A sacred space

Of all the places we visited during our field trip to Europe, the most meaningful was Normandy. Visiting the American Memorial Cemetery was stirring.

One thing I didn't know was that only 40 percent of those who were killed in the battle are buried there.

There was a particularly poignant moment for me when we stopped at Omaha Beach — the beaches are beautiful — and our students waded into the water amongst the floating piers. I watched as they came back in, and I realized that our kids were about the same age as many of those who took part in the battles there.

We also stopped at another cemetery in Normandy: La Cambe — the one for the German soldiers. Many of those buried there were also still in their teens. It certainly put a whole new perspective on the war.

A galaxy close, but far, far away

Our hotel in London was directly across from a convention center, which would be hosting a huge, multi-day Star Wars Celebration that began the day after we left.

One of our students is a HUGE Star Wars fan and kept trying to make deals or work out scenarios where he could stay behind, attend the celebration, and then join up with our group again later. The best we could offer him was to walk through the center after hours and see if we could get a sneak peek at anything the night before. All we found, however, were a few stormtroopers in their civvies and lots of signs excitedly talking about what he'd be missing.

It didn't help his mood any to know that all the Potterheads got to visit Platform 9 3/4, and the Whovians found their blue police box. But at least he'll have the memories... of missing it by that much!

How do you feel?

We had one of our students who felt a little ill the first couple of days, so then it became a thing to ask him how he was feeling every time one of us ran into him for the rest of the trip. It didn't take long for it to get old for him, but for the rest of the kids it was hilarious!

Saints alive!

I guess we should have been glad that it wasn't Irish coffee....