Two years ago my wife taught my then 9 year old nephew the famous Milk, Milk, Lemonade, Round the Corner Fudge is Made chant along with the associated movements. Sadly for him, he couldn’t make it through it without cracking himself and everyone else up. So this one is for him. Available now on my store.
What were some of your favorite childhood chants?
So for the past few weeks I have alluded to the fact that I am working on some projects that have kept me from drawing cartoons. I am happy to say that I have completed one of these projects by creating the Beartoons Shop!!
Way before I ever started drawing cartoons, I created a little store on Cafepress called WackSack.com where I posted images for sale on tshirts, mugs, bags, etc. Several years later I started Bearman Cartoons and ultimately this site. As beartoons.com took off, it seemed disjointed to keep pointing people to wacksack.com for my tshirts etc so for the past couple years I have been thinking it was time to rebrand.
And now it has happened. Cleaned out some of the non selling items out of wacksack and rebranded the store to give it a feel more in line with the website. You can access it directly at http://cafepress.com/beartoons or as always click on the Shop link at the top. Thanks for your continued patience. I’ll have a few more designs in my head that I will be posting in the next several weeks.
Decided to change up some of my cartoons and experiment with different things. Today’s cartoon was inspired by a friend of mine who is of course bald. I don’t know if he has a hairy back or not but I can imagine.
It seems as I grow older thankfully I have not yet lost the hair on my head but I find these strange giant ear hairs or strangle long hairs coming out of my eyebrows. As my wife calls them “crazy eyebrows”
Trying to work on some new shirt designs and some back-end website redesigns so I may post sporadically or not necessarily cartoons but I will try to still make my rounds as I can.
The Cartoonist Studio Editorial Cartoon Contest continues and I made it to week EIGHT!! Thanks to all for voting. Click the image above or here to go to the voting. You should do a search of “Bearman” and my cartoon will come up front and center and then vote. Again, as long as I stay in the contest, there will be two editorial cartoons a week to vote on – Mondays and Thursdays. Oh and you can vote multiple times in each round if you want (resets every six hours) until EOD Saturday.
____________________________________________________________________
Today’s editorial cartoon was inspired by the lovely media in the United States. So when Michael Phelps breaks records it is because of his hard work and dedication to perfecting his craft. When Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen breaks records it is because she is doping or even worse actually a man. Seriously?? We can go into the potentially unethical way the Chinese Government pulls kids away from their parents at a young age to mold them to be an Olympic great and then dump them when they don’t perform up to expectations. But does this poor girl, who has not failed a single drug test, have to be put up to that level of scrutiny??
_____________________________________________________________________
So some of you know my friend Lynn of Trippin With Rip fame has gone off the radar and is spending time in Thailand (including at least one night in Bangkok). She has created a foundation in memory of her son Christopher that will work to help those in the tribal communities of Asia and Thailand. She has set up a Facebook page titled The Christopher Robert Project. Those of you who know her, please go give it a “like”. Those of you who don’t, check it out and possibly do the same. She’s good peeps.
Given the subject matter of Monday’s cartoon, I wasn’t promoting the Editorial Cartoon studio so now you owe me at least 2 votes this posting. The Cartoonist Studio Editorial Cartoon Contest continues and I made it to week SEVEN! Thanks to all for voting. Click the image above or here to go to the voting. You should do a search of “Bearman” and my cartoon will come up front and center and then vote. Some people were clicking the link and then accidentally voting on the first thing that popped up. Unfortunately no way to direct link to my cartoon. Again, as long as I stay in the contest, there will be two editorial cartoons a week to vote on – Mondays and Thursdays. Oh and you can vote multiple times in each round if you want (resets every six hours) until EOD Saturday. And thanks to Jande Rowe at E-Orbits for the great photoshop brush I used in the background of this cartoon. You can get that one and several others free on her site.
____________________________________________________________________
OK folks sit back and relax because this is going to take some explaining and I am sure in the process I am going to piss off someone on either side of this debate. It seems historically that a hot button issue during an election year is Abortion. People hate discussing it because you are marginalized at one extreme or the other. Not me. Want to know where I stand? I am against it. HOWEVER, I am not sure that gives me the right to say it should be illegal. So for personal reasons I am against it but legally I am more on the fence.
Seems this year the hot button issue will be Gay Marriage. First, I am all for gay marriage and couples being afforded the same rights as I have to commit to one another and therefore have the government recognize that bond including adoption, hospital visitation rights, survivorship benefits, etc. Does that mean I will be upset, if as in England, they call it a “Civil Partnership” instead of “Marriage”. No but that is just my opinion because I think the rights are more important than the word.
Well no one has done more to bring on the topic this week than Chick-Fil-A President and CEO Dan Cathy. You see it is no secret that Chick-fil-A runs as a Christian based company. They have been closed on Sunday’s since inception and tend to donate money to faith based organizations. So it should come as no surprise that when interviewed by The Baptist Press that he would come out in favor of “Traditional Marriage.” Yet to read comments by bloggers and the press, you would have thought he came out picketing with the “God Hates Fags” assholes from the Westboro Baptist Church.
Here is what was actually reported in the original article:
Some have opposed the company’s support of the traditional family. “Well, guilty as charged,” said Cathy when asked about the company’s position.
“We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.
“We operate as a family business … our restaurants are typically led by families; some are single. We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that,” Cathy emphasized.
No bashing. So once again, whether you are in favor of same-sex marriage or not, it is unfair to marginalize the other side. People have their own reasons for being for or against it and we don’t have to always demonize them for their stance. Westboro Baptist…hell yes they should be marginalized. But what about the people that oppose it for reasons other than thinking the gay community is an abomination. Should they all be bigots?
Moreover, is it the government’s responsibility to mandate away businesses that politicians don’t agree with? Or should people do it with their wallets and boycott those businesses if they choose? In Chicago, an Alderman has proposed shutting down Chick-fil-A’s request to build in his neighborhood because of the remarks. Ken at Popehat had this take when describing a similar action the Mayor of Boston tried to take:
I think that rich people donating millions to anti-gay causes promotes evil in the world — though they have every right to do it. But I’m far more afraid of government thuggery than private evil philanthropy. Menino appears to be speaking disingenuously and ass-dampy when he talks about Chick-Fil-A “opening their policies.” I haven’t seen any evidence that Chick-fil-A discriminates in hiring or service. Rather, they give money to a cause I despise, one that promotes social discrimination. But the government doesn’t get to pick and choose what social causes are permissible, and any government actor who aspires to that power is a lowlife thug.
So the Jim Henson Company saying we don’t want to partner with Chick-fil-A anymore is a perfect example of private organizations taking a perfectly reasonable response. A Mayor/Alderman saying we are going to block you from even building in the area is wrong.
So to my friends who are against Gay Marriage: Is it the entire idea of it or is it just the word choice? If the word choice alone, great…let’s change our discourse to say that you are open to legally binding federally recognized union that is called something other than “marriage” So those who feel Marriage is a religious thing between a man and a woman get to keep the word but gay couples get to have the rights.
And to my friends who are for Gay Marriage: Please don’t use this political cycle to bash Mitt Romney for his stance against it. If you think he is a bigot for opposing it, remember, if you voted for Obama in the last election then you voted for just as big of a bigot because it was only recently he came out in favor (and even then his hand was forced by Biden).
Comment away…but as always, let’s be civil.
Today’s editorial cartoon memorializes all those who senselessly were the victims of a crazed shooter in Colorado during a midnight screening of the Batman movie “The Dark Knight Rises”. Don’t know if this is too harsh an image for some but I didn’t want to sugar coat the tragedy either. My heart goes out to all the victims’ families this week. No more to say.
The Cartoonist Studio Editorial Cartoon Contest continues and I made it to week SIX! Thanks to all for voting. Click the image above or here to go to the voting. You should do a search of “Bearman” and my cartoon will come up front and center and then vote. Some people were clicking the link and then accidentally voting on the first thing that popped up. Unfortunately no way to direct link to my cartoon. Again, as long as I stay in the contest, there will be two editorial cartoons a week to vote on – Mondays and Thursdays. Oh and you can vote multiple times in each round if you want (resets every six hours) until EOD Saturday.
____________________________________________________________________
Today’s editorial cartoon was inspired by an article in the New York Times, that said that in exchange for access to the candidates or their campaign advisors, the media/reporters must provide any on the record quotes to the campaigns to censor or redact. So essentially if I am a reporter for the Times, in order to be able to talk on the record with either candidates advisors, I have to agree to send them the quotes I want to use in my story and allow them to agree to them, remove them completely or just remove certain words. Any reporter that fails to do so is left out in the cold when it comes to top level meetings including those with the candidates.
WHAT?? Ridiculous. At the point that an entity can determine the course of a story it is no longer reporting, it is PR!!! Shame on any media outlet who agrees to abide by these rules.
_______________________________________________________________
BONUS TOON:
Normally I would post this cartoon as a regularly scheduled update. But since I am in the middle of the editorial cartoon contest, I didn’t think it would fit in. But sharing it with you anyway given the timing of the latest Batman movie coming out “The Dark Knight Rises” Of course I had to go there with the title – Erectile Dysfunction.
The Cartoonist Studio Editorial Cartoon Contest continues and I made it to week SIX! Thanks to all for voting. Click the image above or here to go to the voting. You should do a search of “Bearman” and my cartoon will come up front and center and then vote. Some people were clicking the link and then accidentally voting on the first thing that popped up. Unfortunately no way to direct link to my cartoon. Again, as long as I stay in the contest, there will be two editorial cartoons a week to vote on – Mondays and Thursdays. Oh and you can vote multiple times in each round if you want (resets every six hours) until EOD Tuesday.
____________________________________________________________________
So today’s editorial cartoon is inspired by Comic Con that took place this past weekend in San Diego. Considered the granddaddy of comic conventions in the U.S. it attracts thousands of people. Many of them people (men and women) who like to dress up like their favorite superhero or super villain. Two things I notice about this practice.
1. Normally geeky shy people become the biggest extrovert when they put on the outfit. Suddenly the power of the person they are representing flexes through their veins and the take on their persona.
2. No matter how awful the costume is, people want their picture with or be near this group (though I know many who purposefully steer clear as well.
So jocks need not apply at a comic convention. The women aren’t going to give you a second look.
I am what you might call situationally shy. When I was single, I could never approach a woman in a bar but if she came up to me I had no problem conversing. What about you? Anyone an extrovert in some situations and an introvert in others?
__________________________________________________________________
Check out this great fan balloon art of ME!! This was provided by Google Plusser Chryle Elieff. She wanted to thank me for the *MUGGING* (ie. Caricature) I did for her.
The Cartoonist Studio Editorial Cartoon Contest continues and I made it to week THREE! Thanks to all for voting. Click the image above or here to go to the voting. You should do a search of “Bearman” and my cartoon will come up front and center and then vote. Some people were clicking the link and then accidentally voting on the first thing that popped up. Unfortunately no way to direct link to my cartoon. Again, as long as I stay in the contest, there will be two editorial cartoons a week to vote on – Mondays and Thursdays. Oh and you can vote multiple times in each round if you want (resets every six hours) until EOD Saturday.
_______________________________________________________________________
Today’s editorial cartoon was inspired by our President Barack Obama. Seems a few weeks back the President’s staff came up with a genius way to raise funds for his reelection campaign. He started a gift registry on his site.
Got a birthday, anniversary, or wedding coming up?
Let your friends know how important this election is to you—register with Obama 2012, and ask for a donation in lieu of a gift. It’s a great way to support the President on your big day. Plus, it’s a gift that we can all appreciate—and goes a lot further than a gravy bowl.
So yes, a donation goes further than a gravy bowl….unless of course you need to serve gravy. So if you are rich enough will the President officiate at your wedding too assuming you drop enough cash? I am sure there are some billionaires out there would pay several million for that chance.
___________________________________________________________________
On a separate note, I had the fortune of scoring some great tickets to the Opening Ceremony of the World Choir Games held in Cincinnati and for the first time in it’s seven year existence, held in the United States. Very enjoyable experience but I was a little disappointed in the choice of music. They had the world renowned Cincinnati Pops and the Cincinnati May Festival star in the last half of the show after all the formality and speeches were done. It was indeed a great concert but it seemed like just another July 4 (Independence Day in the US) Concert that I have seen before. I would have preferred they use the choir groups from multiple countries to highlight some of the different types of choral music that we could be exposed to over the next 10 days of competition. But my hat still goes off to the organizers as overall it looks like a well thought out competition and I need to find some time to get to some of the many competitions each day.
The Cartoonist Studio Editorial Cartoon Contest continues and I made it to week THREE! Thanks to all for voting. Click the image above or here to go to the voting. You should do a search of “Bearman” and my cartoon will come up front and center and then vote. Some people were clicking the link and then accidentally voting on the first thing that popped up. Unfortunately no way to direct link to my cartoon. Again, as long as I stay in the contest, there will be two editorial cartoons a week to vote on – Mondays and Thursdays. Oh and you can vote multiple times in each round if you want (resets every six hours) until EOD Tuesday.
__________________________________________________________________________
Today’s editorial cartoon is in honor of Chief Justice John Roberts. Seems ever since he has been nominated to the Supreme Court, Democrats have chastised Roberts for being a right winger. There was even speculation during President Obama’s Inauguration that Roberts purposefully flubbed the lines Obama was reciting during his Oath of Office.
Well last week Justice Roberts shocked both sides of the spectrum when he joined his more liberal justices in upholding what is affectionately been known as ObamaCare. Now Democrats are going to have to reevaluate their thoughts on the Chief.