Today’s cartoon on condom purchasing and the embarrassment it can cause was inspired by real life.  The other day I had a few things to pick up at the grocery store and I was waiting in line behind a 20 something woman who confidently held a box of condoms in her hand ready to purchase.  I thought to myself that I was so happy to be married so I didn’t have to deal with that anymore.

I don’t know about you but when I used to buy condoms, I tended to throw a couple more non essential items into the basket.  For a time at my local grocery store you had to ask the pharmacist to unlock a cabinet where they were located.  I guess because people would rather steal them than be embarrassed by purchasing them.

Thinking back, condom purchasing wasn’t the only thing I used to be embarrassed doing.  I once was a gopher in an office where I had to buy tampons for the five women that worked there.  Of course none of them used the same type.  So here I went lugging five boxes up to the counter.  The clerk looked at me funny and I said “This is the lowest point in my career.”

Even speaking up and ordering a drink at a crowded bar.  I tended to just hold my money in my hand hoping eventually the bartender would see me.  My wife can’t believe that I ever was shy for any reason.  How about you?  Anything you used to abhor doing that is no big deal now?

Ok so I am over a week late to wish my Aussie friends a Happy Australia Day but other posts came up first.  Long time Bearmaniacs might remember a similar cartoon that I did in 2009 (see post here).  In that post it was all about how Aussie men confessed to not changing their undies for days and the fact that, like their American Brothers, are an obese bunch.

Someone on G+ found it and linked to it and then Dunken Bliths used his magic to animate and change the word balloon just in time for Australia Day.

For the uniformed what we call Speedos are known as Budgy Smugglers in Australia.  A Budgie is a small parrot native to Australia and the look of some guy wearing this bathing suit is like someone smuggling a Budgie in their pants.  Some guys decided to make a brand called Budgy Smugglers (mispelling Budgie but not wanting to change it).

This cartoon was inspired by my attempts over the last 4 months to do more caricature work.  If you get a caricature done by me or someone else there are several reactions you may have.

1. Wow that picture is great and it looks like me.
2. Wow that picture is great but I am not sure it looks like me.
3. That picture isn’t good/flattering but it does look like me
4. That picture sucks and it doesn’t look anything like me.

I have run the gamut of reactions to my own work, though I have only had one person actually tell me number four (yet more probably felt that way).  I had my wife, and biggest critic, look over the work and she said “Yeah it looks like her, she just isn’t that attractive.”  I find that women are way more sensitive to you pointing out prominent characteristics in caricature.  I tend to go more realistic versus cartoony as I do with men.

A piece of advice I got from Jerry Dowling, former Cincinnati Enquirer editorial cartoonist and caricature artist, is that you should over emphasize the size of women’s eyes…they seem to like that.  He may or may not have said something about boob size too, I can’t remember.

He related a story of live drawing a caricature of a woman as her husband was looking over his shoulder.  Suddenly, her husband, who obviously thought the drawing wasn’t pretty enough, said “Don’t you know she is a former Beauty Queen.”  To which Jerry handed him his pen and said “Great, so you finish up the drawing”

Happy New Year to all. Hope you have a healthy 2012 so we can all be here for 2013 to do it all over again.

It is a sad day at the Friggin Loon’s site as she no longer has Kim Jong Il to kick around.  Happily though it looks like his son, Kim Jong Un, has taken up daddy’s job as Supreme Ruler so well that he has begun wearing the Pajama looking outfits made famous by his father.

And even the website Kim Jong Il Looking at Things has made the transition to Kim Jong Un Looking at Things.  Click here for Il and Un looking at each other wearing PJs.

The next day I checked my email to see some Christmas cheer from Dawn at Zorphbert and Fred Comic.

The image depicts Dawn, her husband Rick and their dog April in a classic Grinch who Stole Christmas scene

Thanks so much to both.  Be safe out there everyone!

Any additional reasons I missed?

Today’s Editorial Cartoon is sponsored by your local police department.  OK maybe not but the cops are getting some bad reputations all over the U.S. as cities try to figure out how to manage the Occupy Wall Street and other Occupy protests.

First, I am a huge supporter of the police in general and the tough job they do.  And they are just following orders in many cases.  However, some of the tactics they have engaged in during the sweeps of the occupy locations are questionable at times.  Maybe it is adrenaline or maybe it is just a few assholes on the force happy to show who is boss, but there has to be a better way.

Now I don’t for a minute think that in all cases the protestors who claim innocence are in fact so.  When you come at a cop with a potential weapon or show aggression in response to an order, all bets are off.

But to let a group assemble for an extended period only to decide you have had enough and aggressively remove them without warning is wrong IMO.  I get it though.  If the cops announced they would be removing people at a specific time, they run the risk of additional protestors coming out in force to try and stop it putting officers at risk.   Maybe a better way would have been to surround the park with officers and announce to the protestors that they had 30 minutes to remove themselves and any belongings they wanted to keep from the park.  After that the park would be emptied with force if necessary.  Seems to be what they are doing in Toronto by serving eviction notices.

Any thoughts on how to best manage the occupy movements so that they can remain peaceful, without crimes, sanitation issues and other problems that tend to start after prolonged encampments?

Ladies and Gentlemen.  The man you see pictured above is Nate Fakes.  Mad Magazine and Break of Day cartoonist Nate Fakes.  And hands down, the worst person in the world for me to try to caricature.  If it is the first time or the 20th time trying I can usually get to some semblance of the person even if the end result isn’t flattering (sorry Myra).

But there is nothing distinguishing about this kid. Here are several of my failed attempts. The first being the one that probably looks most like him but the last being my favorite.

Today’s editorial cartoon is inspired by the financial crisis in Greece.   Where is Pythagoras when you need him? How is it that a culture that is known for their advancement in certain areas falls away from what made them great?

Many would argue the same is happening in America today.