Today’s editorial cartoon stems from the unsuccessful movement to get Sesame Street to out confirmed bachelors, Bert and Ernie, as being gay. While I am for gay marriage, I am with Sesame Street for saying “no”. Thoughts?
Tag: humor
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Internet Dating Sucks – Cartoons
Back in 2003, I put was putting together a how-to-NOT book on Internet Dating. So I drew some gag panels to go with the book. I think you will notice a difference in my style then versus now. My wife and a few family members were the only ones ever to buy copies before I yanked it down off the internet. Before I met my wife, I went on my fair share of dates and learned that believe it or not women are a bunch of liars. Ok to be fair, most of my female friends say the same thing about the men online. Whether lying about employment, size, age, or simply putting up pictures that aren’t even you, there are quit a few nut jobs out there that think the rest of us are too stupid to figure it out once we meet you.
I have a bunch of horror stories and more pics if people are interested. Any dating horror stories out there? Oh and since I know someone will ask, my wife and I did NOT meet on the internet. Probably plays into why, while she loves my cartoons, could care less about my site.
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Editorial Cartoon: Google Plus Gifs
This editorial cartoon about animated gifs on Google Plus came from my time on there over the past two weeks. For those of you who engage with me on Twitter or Facebook, I apologize as I have been sucked into the world of Google + and though it has it’s limitations, I prefer it over both platforms.
The Good
- Take the best of twitter in that you can follow the message streams of anyone you want with the best of facebook that allows you to see pictures, links and more than 140 characters and that is the promise of Google Plus.
- Being able to engage with people you admire and feel like your message isn’t lost.
- The ability to put the people you follow into different circles that you create. For example, I have a circle for people I folow that don’t follow me, webcomic people, art people, learning people, etc. At any point I can only look at the postings from any individual group AND I can have a posting only show up to specific individuals or circles.
The Not So Good
- Unless you link your photo albums to Googles photo sharing site Picasa, the way it manages your pictures is horrible. I would love to see a feature that allows you to choose “insert picture” and have you be able to choose a specific picture from a specific album. I am hoping there is a fix for that soon or I am doing something wrong and someone will correct me.
One complaint I hear from others that I am not so sure I mind YET is that some circles are so incestuous with the same people that 5 people can share someone else’s post and it shows up every time in your stream if you have all five people in your circle. The one complaint you hear most about is oversharing of animated gifs. Again, so far I don’t mind them but I love when someone says “I know people don’t like animated gifs but I HAD to share this one because it is so cool.”
So is it ironic that I had to make this cartoon an animated gif in order to make a point of animated gifs? Is it even irony? I don’t know since all the “experts” said none of Alanis Morrisette’s examples in Ironic weren’t ironic.
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Caricature – Britteny
Today’s caricature is of the lovely and talented Britteny of Blunt Delivery fame. And here is what she really looks like with one of her many exes. (Yeah I hotlinked it Brit…so what?)
This is how she reacted on Facebook when I told her to check her email for her caricature.
OMG! Um. i love it but kinda feel like i look like a guy
All my caricatures look like guys (which is true but so do all of the Simpson’s women and that makes money) Is this a belated bday present or just a “try not to jump off a cliff” present Whatever you want. Either works. Like the tshirt you are wearing?? That has many implications. haha Wasn’t sure if it was making fun of my broken engagements, or my Neil paranoia.If you want to know more about her fear of commitment (though she is now engaged) and her hatred of the great one – Neil Diamond, then you’ll have to visit her blog.
***UPDATE***
So my wife saw my poor attempt at making fun of my friend Brit and yelled at me (well not really yelled but rather saying I sucked as a caricaturist, I went way too far and needed to do right by that girl). “She is much prettier than that” So to keep peace in the home of my biggest critic.
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Confidence vs Competence
As promised here is the cartoon inspired by the book The Invisible Gorilla
by Dan Simon and Chris Chabris. What does this cartoon have to do with the video I posted on Wednesday. Nothing. haha I took my inspiration from a different part of the book.
Charles Darwin observed that “ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge” In face, those who are the least skilled are the most likely to think better of themselves than they should – they disproportionately experience the illusion of confidence. (page 86)
It is because of this behavioral trait that the Friggin Loon is able to constantly post a stream of stories on stupid criminals. Their confidence in their ability outweighs their knowledge on how to actually pull off the crime.
In group dynamics, especially at work, most of us have heard the cream will rise to the top. But it doesn’t. How many times have you walked away from a meeting knowing that the direction the group decided to take is the wrong way but you felt you didn’t have the power or the influence to change it. Next time, you might need to jump out there and respond first. In one experiment the authors did they found that a group trying to solve a hard math problem went with the first answer offered up 94% of the time.
…group leadership wsa determined largely by confidence. People with dominant personalities tend to exhibit greater self-confidence, and due to the illusion of confidence, others tend to trust and follow people who speak with confidence. If you offer your opinion early and often, people will take your confidence as an indicator of ability, even if you are no better than your peers. (page 98)
So how many of you “know” of superiors who are only in their position because of their own self confidence versus their skill? How many of you think YOU should be in that position? And then, of course, is your confidence in being able to do that job equal to your own competence?
*** Side note: I was so underconfident that I was spelling “competent” correctly, that I looked it up at least 3 times in writing this post.
*** Side note 2: I got rid of the Digg button below and added a Google +1 button for those using it. For those who are not and need an invite, let me know.
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Redneck Toenail Dryer
So there IS a story behind this Nate Fakes original cartoon. Nate Fakes of Mad Magazine, Break of Day and commenting here fame was having an ebay auction where the winner would get a custom cartoon created of anything they wanted.Well timing was good because I just had a cartoon worthy experience with the lovely wife. My wife had just got back from a pedicure to scrub all the debris and fungus off her feet (just kidding honey – not that she reads my blog anyway) and went to get dressed for dinner with our friends. She came downstairs looking beautiful in her black dress and yet was complaining that due to the humidity her toenails wouldn’t dry.
The next thing I know this person, who hates the cold and keeps our house in the mid 70’s in the winter, was sitting on the kitchen floor for 10 minutes with her feet in the freezer! After five minutes, I snapped a picture that subsequently made the rounds with all our friends and family. Thankfully she puts up with me.
But of course, I couldn’t let it end there. When I saw Nate’s plea for bids I jumped at the chance to have it immortalized in cartoon form. And this is the result.
Nate is doing another auction this week for a custom cartoon so go check it out and follow Break of Day on Facebook to keep updated on new cartoons and future auctions.
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Editorial Cartoon: San Francisco Circumcision Ban
So it seems our friends in San Francisco think there needs to be a ballot issue on the November election on whether or not to ban circumcisions, even for religious purposes (see here).
I am all for parents deciding whether or not to circumcise their child. However, I completely disagree with this ballot initiative and find some of the tactics by the proponents a bit out of bounds. For one they liken it to female genital mutilation that goes on in some parts of the world. All medical experts I found said it is in no way true.
Then they began releasing a series of comic books called Foreskin Man that highlight in one issue a doctor and another a mohel (Rabbi who performs the circumcision for Jewish boys) who are evil beings that will do anything to circumcise a boy even against his parent’s wishes. Brian Hagen of Pen Grenades believes it has crossed the line into an anti-semitic rant (Go read his review).
Whether it has or not, all the proponents of the legislature have done is remove all meaningful dialogue from the discussion.
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Editorial Cartoon: Hugh Hefner Runaway Bride
So poor old Hugh Hefner, of Playboy Magazine fame, was left standing at the altar by his fiance Crystal Harris days before their wedding. Ok he might not have actually been standing at the altar already but you know how old people like to get places early. Crystal appears in the upcoming edition of Playboy as “Mrs Crystal Hefner” ooops. According to TMZ, Hef is putting a sticker on all news-stand editions that say “Runaway Bride in this issue”.
Being the consummate playboy that he is, I predicted that it wouldn’t take long for Hef to rebound given he lives in a place with half naked women busting about. I just didn’t realize how quickly the old captain would move when I drew this cartoon on Thursday night. So imagine my surprise yesterday to see the lastest from TMZ that the octogenarian (as opposed to octomom) has another 25 year old sharing his bed – Anna Sophia Berglund.
My favorite line from Crystal on the break up was “This isn’t the lifestyle for me. Multiple girls around all the time. The Playboy lifestyle. I just wanted to be true to myself.” As if she didn’t know walking into the relationship.
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Every Damned Time Reddit (another viewpoint)
This is a response cartoon of sorts. The other day I was trolling through Reddit. For the uninformed, Reddit is a social news site, where people can upload pics, news, cartoons etc. Reddit users can upvote or downvote any entry. The little white guy with the orange eyes is the reddit mascot.When I remember, if something strikes me while I am surfing the web, I will post it to Reddit and admitedly (while not everything) I will post some of my own stuff (probably because I live with a bunch of lazy readers who never noticed the damn share this buttons at the bottom of every post..haha you know I love you). I am always amazed at the things that get upvoted and the things that get downvoted both of what I post and what others do. Sometimes, I am “this is so f-ing stupid. Why is it getting so many upvotes?” And other times “This is amazing. Who are these dumbasses downvoting it?” So I can never figure out fully what people would be interested in.
So the other day I was going through Reddit and found a post titled “Every Damned Time, Reddit” by a deviantart illustrator that goes by FindChaos. (Click on his link to find a full size version of the cartoon)
So as you can see FindChaos finds Reddit so fun to play with forcing him to keep coming back again and again, while I tend to get beat to shit every time and still find my way back there. Is there a battered redditors support group??
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Editorial Cartoon: Jack Kevorkian
Today’s editorial cartoon was inspired by the life and death of the doctor known as “Dr Death”: Jack Kevorkian. For those unfamiliar with the name, Jack was a doctor who brought the topic of physician assisted suicide to the forefront when he used his position to aid terminally ill patients end their life before whatever disease they had ravaged their mind or body. Proponents say he let people die with dignity. Yet even those who are for physician assisted suicide, said that Jack should NOT be the poster child for HOW to best go about it. According to this NY Times article, “He did not appear to screen patients to determine whether they were actually close to death, and he seemed to make no efforts to get counseling for those who might have wanted to live longer.”
Oh and did I mention in his free time, he was a painter?
This one is called “Very Still Life” (image from the Ariana Gallery). See more of his work and probably now overpriced prints at the Ariana Gallery