I got several thumbs up and a few thumbs down on my animated Charlie Sheen Banner so I figured I would make a second celebrity focused on that was a static image of several that I have done over the years.
See all of them on the banner ad page. And be sure to check back on Sunday as I will start the 2011 Bearman Cartoons Charity Challenge.
So much has been said about Charlie Sheen and his “Winning” slogan. Everyone wants to emulate Charlie and there are a ton of “Winning” shirts out there. But if you are going to be an ass in public (or just a little devilish imp) why not call a spade a spade and sport a “Sinning” t-shirt. Now available in the store.
I think it fits in nicely with all the 7 Deadly Sins that I did last year.
So I was browsing the bookstore last weekend and came across this book released last year. It is Mary Lou Weisman’s biography of MAD Magazine illustrator/writer Al Jaffee. Al illustrated the book. I am amazed at his ability to do crowd scenes (something I avoid for good reason).
Now for those who the name doesn’t register, anyone who has ever read a MAD Magazine is familiar with the Fold-In illustrations on the last page of almost every issue. What is amazing is realizing that Al was able to do these fold-ins before being able to use a computer to line up the images and words.
It is an incredible story of a boy who was born in the United States and dragged over to Lithuania TWICE by his homesick mother. His father lost many a job and went broke trying to get his sons back and barely did so before Hitlers troops came to town. One of my favorite quotes from Al is when he is describing the public baths. In the shtetl he lived, his mother dragged him to the baths and spent the better part of the day covering his “privates.” He complained so much that his mother found a gentlemen to take the boys in with the men. Al said of the experience:
Lots of men had what was called a killa, a form of rupture. If you continue working at the jobs these people had to do – lifting logs and two-hundred-pound bundles into a drover’s care – little by little your intestines work their way down into your scrotum, eventually making it as big as a basketball. No doctor in town could perform a hernia operation, so you’ve got these guys walking around with this basketball between their legs. You can imagine how sickening that was for me. I couldn’t look. The rest of the package – the schlongs hanging down – wasn’t so inviting either.”
No wonder at age 90 he still has a sick sense of MAD humor. You can get the book at Amazon or many of your local bookstores.
Ok so I posted the same thing last year but I have 3 more regular commenters who may not have gone back so far in the archives. Click here for all the products with this design.
Don’t forget St. Patricks day is once again March 17 so what are your plans??
Oh and if you want something new, here it is. If you ever find yourself in the back alleys of St Louis Missouri make sure to stop into SpilledInkGuy (aka Robert J.) and his lovely wife Anna’s store Paint the Moon. There you can see some of his artwork and also paint your own pottery. I’ll be sure to make a stop next time I am in the city. Then again, it has been fifteen years since the last time I was there.
Above is the illustrious George Ford of Addanac City through the years made in a new discovery called Yearbook Yourself.
Yearbook Yourself allows you to upload a picture and take a look at yourself in a yearbook photo from the years 1950-2000. I immediately thought of George when I saw this because he still can’t get enough of my “Things to do with your photos before you put them on Facebook” post I did several years ago. Now I know how he will spend his President’s Day. Personally I think 1986 was his best years as he was getting his Kid and Play on.
But he isn’t the only one who loves the manipulated photos. Brit at Blunt Delivery is also a big fan of my original post. So here she is in all her splendor (I think they took the 1988 photo template from someone I know).
And lest anyone forget, the two of them were Homecoming King and Queen in 1978.
So head over to www.yearbookyourself.com and let us know what you come up with.
Last week some of you may recall I posted about Surya Yalamanchili, only one of two federal candidates who were not accepting Political Action Committee funds in their campaign. The other was Linda McMahon, former CEO of the WWE.
Well as Linda’s campaign took on steam, it seemed the press and politicians decided to take pot shots at her via the actions of the WWE. Smartly the company has created a viral campaign to Stand Up for the WWE and responded to allegations against it.
So given that I continue to have wrestling fans visit my site because of my WWE Signs (and being used in wrestling stories), I decided to help in the viral campaign with the above image of Linda’s husband and WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. (Any similarities between “I’m with Vinny” and “I’m with CoCo” design for Conan O’Brien by Michael Mitchell are strictly coincidental satirical.)
So wrestling fans, feel free to download the image above and use it in blogs, facebook, twitter etc. You do not need to give me credit (though it would be nice) but you may not sell the image or put the image on any items for sale (ie t-shirts).
Would be hilarious to see “I’m with Vinny” signs popping up at WWE events. Use the contact button above if you need a higher resolution version (about 2.5x the size of this one). I’d be happy to send. And keep me posted on how you have used it.
As promised (or threatened), I am posting all of the signs I made for the live WWE Raw taping on Monday night. I can now say that my work has been seen on worldwide television as they made it all over the telecast (see below for links).
With the exception of Orton and Sheamus, I aimed to focus on those who tend not to have many signs made but who I could guarantee would be there. Here they are with explanation of who they are for the non-wrestling fans:
Made for the female fans (and held up by a female), Randy’s finishing move is called the RKO. Here is the sign and a shot of him from ringside.
The first Irish born WWE Champion. Hated by the crowd and loved by me, he is called the Human Jar of Mayonaisse by fans and fellow wrestlers because of his whiteness as he goes against type and does not spend time in the tanning bed.
Less known for his in ring action and more for his comedic bits, Santino is a fan favorite but you don’t see many signs of his. He wrestled in a match for Thursday nights airing of Superstars so remains to be seen if this sign made it. There is a group of newbies that go by the name Nexus. The slogan on the back of their shirts is “You’re either Nexus or against us” ergo:
One of the most underutilized wrestlers today. Has won the Worlds Strongest Man contest and while he was a “bad guy” was unstoppable. Now as a “good guy” he is lost in the shuffle.
Ringside play by play announcer for the WWE. Michael tends to get little respect from the WWE universe but I think he is great and wanted him to get his due props. One of his classic lines during any match is to say “Vintage ______ (fill in wrestler’s name here)” So I created this:
I then cut out a rectangle and attached a round piece behind it with different wrestlers names so it could be fitting for many different matches. See what I mean with this image:
(the crowd silhouette, I got as free stock from somewhere but can’t find where I wrote it down. If someone comes across the source, let me know and I’ll add it)
For an official WWE pic of the Orton sign click here and go to pic number 12 of 17.
For an official WWE pic of the Mark Henry sign click here and go to the last image (number 19) and look behind Edge’s left elbow
See the Mark Henry sign in video action here and go to 1:54. You’ll see it right behind Edge.
Long time readers may remember this shirt but given it is a top seller at the store, it is one I like to highlight each year. This is the first t-shirt I ever designed for the store: it depicts a guy in lederhosen carrying a large sausage. The back say’s “Grab your Sausage and Have Fun”.
Why highlight an Oktoberfest shirt the end of August? Well, while Munich Germany’s Oktoberfest actually runs into October (Sept 18 – October 3), Cincinnati celebrates it smack dab in September (the 18th and 19th) and Covington, KY (right across the river from Cincinnati) celebrates the weekend before.
Quick trivial facts. Cincinnati has the largest Oktoberfest celebration in the United States. Last year an astute commenter indicated that it was Canada that held the distinction of the largest outside of Germany. However, he is wrong according to my spot Wikipedia sources. The largest celebration outside Germany is in Blumenau, BRAZIL! But here is where Cincinnati gets back some of it’s swagger. Estimates for the Canadian and Brazilian Oktoberfest are in the 700,000’s. However each lasts about a week. Cincinnati pulls in around 500,000 people in just 2 days. Now who drinks more?
More designs created over the years:
Click image to go to page.
Shirt sales at my store are funny like Stumpleupon. With Stumble Upon, I can get no traffic for weeks and then all of the sudden I notice a blog I wrote weeks earlier suddenly is getting hits. Same with my store. I can go weeks without a sale and then suddenly something starts selling with no explanatin.
This month it has been my “Got Hole?” tshirt. For the uninitiated it is an outdoor game much like a cross between curling and horseshoes. In Cincinnati, we call it CORN HOLE (yes plenty of references can be made) and in other areas it is sometimes known as Baggo. The idea is that there are two sloped boxes each with a hole in the middle. Players take turns throwing bean bags towards the box across the way while trying to knock the other players bag off the box. One point for landing on the box and three for getting it in the hole.
While I am always happy for the sales, it is frustrating that the design that was probably one of the easiest I did is selling so well while the ones I spend several hours on lay dormant.
Three days left in the Charity Challenge. I’ll post results on Tuesday!
One of the first people to support me online was George Ford of Addanac City. And no matter what, he always comes through on challenges or guest cartoon requests. So I waited with baited breath to find out what he would do for the Bearman Charity Challenge.
This was his message sent along with his BEARMANia picture. “After long deliberation, I have decided to release my entry into Bearmaniac-ville. Hope ya get a kick out of it! :)”
All I will say is that use extreme caution before you decide if you will open the picture by clicking on the image below. You will have one of three reactions:
1. Be appalled by what you see.
2. Be enraptured by what you see (especially the ladies and men who associate with this type of Bear)
3. Wet yourself laughing.
This is the last week of the Charity Challenge. Click link for how you can help at no cost to you.
