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.

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.

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?

 

 

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?

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