Tag: cincinnati

Rampage Cincinnati

Anyone remember the video game Rampage? It was one of my favorites. So one of my ideas lately is to combine some pictures of Cincinnati with monsters. Last year on our staycation the wife and I went on top of Carew Tower (for years was the tallest building in the city) and I took some snapshots. Unfortunately the cloudy day didn’t make the end result of the pic that great. Yet when I saw the Fifth Third Tower in one of my pics it brought me back to pumping quarters into the Rampage game.

Now of course I didn’t use the exact monsters from rampage but did my own version of a giant ape and giant lizard beating down a building.

So what do you think? Not sure if I captured it well that they cartoon images actually belong in this scene with the coloring/shading choices I made. My wife didn’t think it mattered and loved it so much that for once she requested a print. Thoughts on making it better in future?

July 29, 2013
Bearman Cartoons Charity Challenge 2013
Yes it is that time of year once again. The Bearman Cartoons Charity Challenge, where you do stuff and I donate money to worthy charities. I have been extremely fortunate that both my wife and I are gainfully employed during this tough economic times so I am upping the ante this year.

This is the Fifth Year I have done this so far donating $2806 ($336 in 2009, $630 in 2010, $690 in 2011, $1150 in 2012) and it will run until the end of May.

Many of you know that I do this challenge each year to raise awareness of my blog while giving money to charities who need it. Historically, this has been the majority of my advertising budget for the year so if you enjoy Bearman Cartoons, please help by spreading the word on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, etc and/or thumbing up on StumbleUpon or Reddit.

I have decided that this year I will divide evenly the amount of money donated between three charities up to $1500. The fact that we hit the goal last year made me want to do more this year:

The first being the Cincinnati FreeStore Foodbank. This charity does great things not only to feed those in need but also to help families get back on their feet in other ways.

The second charity is the Brandon C Gromada Head and Neck Cancer Foundation. Many of you know that my friend Brandon passed away last year leaving his wife and six month old daughter. His family set up this foundation to direct funds to research for better treatments. This rare type of cancer also took the life of one of Brandon’s idols almost one year ago today – Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys.

And the third is of course one of my favorite charities, Crayons to Computers. It is a free store for teachers allowing them to stock up on school and art supplies for their students/classrooms.

But that is not all. Once again, I am going to match dollar for dollar anything you donate to Crayons to Computers up to a max $500. When donating just make it in Honor of Bearman Cartoons and they will know how to notify me. So that is $2000 of my own money I am will to put up to get the word out about these causes.

I will donate the indicated amount for each thing that you do in the month of May:
- $10 – For any cartoonists who uses ME in a cartoon in their strip. Use “BEARMAN” somewhere in the toon. Maybe it’s a character’s name, a name on a bar sign in the background, integrating my green haired gravatar into a background character or even loosely as “Check out that Bear, man!” Be sure to link back to this post so I know to include you in my tally. I know some of you work with a buffer so if you plan to post after May just contact me and let me know and I will add it to the list.
- $5 – Add http://beartoons.com to your blog roll (for those who don’t already have it)
- $5 – Add a Bearman Cartoons Banner Ad (found here) on your site or if you already have one upgrade to a larger size. Link it to http://beartoons.com
- $10 – Blog about my challenge to your readers and link back to this entry in your post – http://beartoons.com/2013/04/30/bearman-cartoons-charity-challenge-2013/
- $5 – Send a picture of yourself wearing a t-shirt from our shop OR send a picture that showcases that you are a BEARMANiac. Photos will be showcased in weekly updates and also appear ongoing in the BEARMANia section. See below for my favorite fan pic from Lynn.
- $1 – Circle/Follow me on Google Plus – http://googleplus.beartoons.com. Currently I have 29,130 followers.
If you add me to your blog roll, add/upgrade your banner, include this challenge in a post, please indicate in the comments. I’ll post a weekly update of the money raised and who did what to raise the money with links back to your site if applicable.

Thanks for your continued support.
April 30, 2013
Childhood Memories and Comic Conventions

Recognize this dapper fellow? Unless you lived in the Cincinnati television area you probably would not recognize one of the mainstays of my childhood, the Cool Ghoul. I was too small to remember seeing him except in repeats of his Saturday night hosted horror movies but he still made appearances especially around Halloween up until his death in 2004. I was fortunate not only to meet the Cool Ghoul’s alter ego Dick Von Hoene but was interviewed by him for a local show a year before his passing.

I know in the 70’s and 80’s, the horror hosts were big in other areas. I remember being able to get Dr. Creep to come in from Dayton stations as well. Any horror hosts in your towns?

What is also cool is that I picked up this picture at the Cincinnati Comic Expo. I had friends exhibiting there including Tim Fuller of Zombie Marge cartoon, Darryl Collins, and Dave from Rockin’ Rooster Comic and Games but I am not what you would normally expect as a comic book junkie. I couldn’t tell you who wrote or drew a comic but it seems others can and there are waves of fans lining up to get a signed copy of whatever.

I dragged my wife this year because we were heading to the Oktoberfest festivities just a few blocks away. As soon as we got into the Expo we came across a large line of people. My wife asked “What’s that line for?” to which I replied, “Probably some artist”, not knowing who was set up there. Two fanboys waiting in line were appalled by my response because as we continued walking one of them said to the other incredulously “SOME ARTIST???”

Speaking of artists. The Cool Ghoul artist is actually better known as a writer. Craig Boldman has written the Archie newspaper strip since 1992 and writes the Jughead line of comics as well.

October 3, 2012
Oktoberfest Tshirts

Kind of a report with some updates. I am going to focus on creating some new shirt designs.

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 22 – October 7), Cincinnati celebrates it towards the end of September (the 21st and 22nd) and Covington, KY (right across the river from Cincinnati) celebrates September 7-9

Quick trivial facts. Cincinnati has the largest Oktoberfest celebration in the United States. Several years ago 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. I need to work on a few new designs for this year.

August 22, 2012
Bearman Cartoons Charity Challenge 2012
Yes it is that time of year once again. The Bearman Cartoons Charity Challenge, where you do stuff and I donate money to worthy charities. I have been extremely fortunate that both my wife and I are gainfully employed during this tough economic times so I am upping the ante this year.

This is the Fourth Year I have done this so far donating $1656 ($336 in 2009, $630 in 2010, $690 in 2011) and it will run until the end of May.

Many of you know that I do this challenge each year to raise awareness of my blog while giving money to charities who need it. Historically, this has been the majority of my advertising budget for the year so if you enjoy Bearman Cartoons, please help by spreading the word on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, etc and/or thumbing up on StumbleUpon or Reddit.

As in previous years, the first $500 raised will once again go to the Cincinnati FreeStore Foodbank. This charity does great things not only to feed those in need but also to help families get back on their feet in other ways. Anything donated above $500 to the max $1000 will go to support the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati. I have a relative with Down Syndrome and this organization does an incredible job working with the families of those afflicted.

But that is not all. Some of you know I donate 100% of my commissions directly to Crayons to Computers. It is a free store for teachers allowing them to stock up on school and art supplies for their students/classrooms. So I am going to match dollar for dollar anything you donate to Crayons to Computers up to a max $500. When donating just make it in Honor of Bearman Cartoons and they will know how to notify me.

I will donate the indicated amount for each thing that you do in the month of May:
- $10 – For any cartoonists who uses ME in a cartoon in their strip. Use “BEARMAN” somewhere in the toon. Maybe it’s a character’s name, a name on a bar sign in the background, integrating my green haired gravatar into a background character or even loosely as “Check out that Bear, man!” Be sure to link back to this post so I know to include you in my tally. I know some of you work with a buffer so if you plan to post after May just contact me and let me know and I will add it to the list.
- $5 – Add http://beartoons.com to your blog roll (for those who don’t already have it)
- $5 – Add a Bearman Cartoons Banner Ad (found here) on your site or if you already have one upgrade to a larger size. Link it to http://beartoons.com
- $10 – Blog about my challenge to your readers and link back to this entry in your post – http://beartoons.com/2012/04/29/bearman-cartoons-charity-challenge-2012
- $5 – Send a picture of yourself wearing a t-shirt from our shop OR send a picture that showcases that you are a BEARMANiac. Photos will be showcased in weekly updates and also appear ongoing in the BEARMANia section. See below for my favorite fan pic from Lynn.
- $1 – Circle/Follow me on Google Plus – http://googleplus.beartoons.com. Currently I have 13,218 followers.
If you add me to your blog roll, add/upgrade your banner, include this challenge in a post, please indicate in the comments. I’ll post a weekly update of the money raised and who did what to raise the money with links back to your site if applicable.

Thanks for your continued support.
April 29, 2012
Pop Smoothie and Zombie Marge Launch

Two Cincinnati Illustrators launched their own webcomics in the last couple months.

Pop Smoothie

Christina Wald who not only is a kick ass illustrator but works tirelessly keeping charge of the Cincinnati Illustrators Blog/Lunches has launched Pop Smoothie.

Each week she will highlight a new comic with inspiration from Pop Culture garnered from her indulgence in too much television.

Zombie Marge

Tim Fuller, another kick ass local illustrator/humor writer has come out with Zombie Marge. Very loosely and probably not at all relating to Marge Schott (though there is a slight undead resemblance). For the uninformed, Marge was the former owner of the Cincinnati Reds who made Ozzy Gullien’s mouth seem like a choir boy in comparison.

Zombie Marge and her sidekick worm Grubworth will take inside what it is like ~~living~~ decaying in Tanglefoot Cemetery.

Finally a special shout out and thanks to Debbie Adams for awarding me with a special Commenter Award.

April 11, 2012
Flixel – Animated Pictures on Your iPhone

So I have been playing this week with a new iPhone app that I came across called Flixel. Essentially when you take a picture using Flixel it actually is taking a few seconds of video. You then swipe your finger across the image to show what part of the image you want to animate. The above image is Fountain Square in Cincinnati.

The largest issue I found is that I have fat fingers so parts of the image I didn’t intend to highlight get animated. Plus because I can’t keep my hand perfectly still unless my phone was on a tripod, there is some jerkiness to the final image. But hey it is FREE so what do I have to complain about. Plus if you always wanted to make animated gifs of photos, this is an easy way to do it.

Below is another example that I did with a glass of wine. I find that if you reduce the size, the jumpiness is a little less noticeable. What do you think? Winner or loser?

April 4, 2012
Editorial Cartoon: Undercover Bossy

Undercover Boss is a series in the U.S. that showcases company executives disguising themselves as out of work average joes working different entry level jobs in their own company.   It was originally a British series and now has expanded to Australia (source).   It is not only a ratings success but also a PR success for any company lucky enough to be featured on it.

Well it seems that Cincinnati’s own Mayor Mark Mallory was asked to participate as the first mayor in the country featured on the show. Cincinnati needs some good PR so I think it was a great idea. Well it seems some city council members do not. Leslie Ghiz complained “…he’s not the boss..The manager’s the boss. He’s nobody’s boss.” (source).   While it it true that our city is run by a city manager, the mayor is still seen as playing a prominent role in how people view the city and therefore it is not inappropriate for him to take on this task.

And Chris Bortz said “he might put forth a motion to sue the production company to make sure the show doesn’t air, saying Mallory was simply “advancing a personal agenda.”   Seems they only wanted him involved more in the budget process so they have one more person to point the finger when things go wrong.

Oh and Mayor Mallory is fairly recognized in the city (see bio) so rumors were that they gave him different facial hair and dreadlocks, thus the picture.

Anyone watch UB? Do you think it would be good or bad for your city if your mayor appeared on the show?

January 23, 2011
Oktoberfest Tshirt

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.

August 29, 2010
Editorial Cartoon: Cincinnati raises Parking Meter Rates

Two things happened this past week in Cincinnati. First council approved a controversial plan to build a street car in the city. I’m not going into the good and bad of it per se but once again Cincinnati tries to follow plans of other cities to promote tourism while never seeming to lead the way. One reason it is controversial is because opponents say that fares will not cover the cost to operate the streetcar and the city will continually have to pony up money to keep it in business.

Secondly, they decided to double the parking rates in downtown from $1 per hour to $2 per hour. While not New York pricing, this is one of the highest in a 250 mile radius. On top of it they increased the rates for city garages. So let’s see…what was the plan to bring more people downtown?

What stuff does your city do that you question?

August 8, 2010