Total TeleVision Art Commission

I ordered and paid for this art commission quite awhile ago from artist Patrick Owsley, who had other pressing commitments before he could get to it, but this was worth the wait. I wanted a piece similar to his Hanna-Barbera piece with the heads of the major players who starred in their cartoons. As you can see there's Underdog, Tennessee Tuxedo, Tooter Turtle, Commander McBragg, etc. Thanks, Patrick!

Comic Books on "Car 54, Where Are You?"

I was watching Season 2 of "Car 54, Where Are You?" and on the episode entitled "Benny the Bookie's Last Chance", there is a comic book spinner near the end of the episode. This episode also features guest appearances from Gerald Hiken and Margaret Hamilton. On image one below, the man is reading a "Fox and the Crow" #77 (January 1963) comic book. On the spinner rack (which clearly states "Educational Fawcett Books"), you can see "Donald Duck" #85 (December 1962), "Sad Sack and the Sarge" #35 (February 1963) and "Fightin' Army"#50 (January 1963). On the second image, you can also see the corner of "Mighty Mouse" #157 (January 1963) and "Little Audrey and Melvin" #5 (January 1963)!

Cartoon Art Museum and Disney Museum Photos

I went there last Saturday.

Farley!

This is my girlfriend, Tara's dog named Farley! He's an Airedale Terrier. Isn't he cute?

Birdies Have Grown!

Here are the birds now a couple weeks after the last post. They almost have outgrown the nest. All four are alive and healthy!

Birdies!

A bluejay made a next right next to the front door of my house. Normally, this is not a good thing as people enter and exit through the door. At first, the bluejay flew off any time the door was opened, but eventually began to trust people and laid four eggs in the next. They recently hatched and here are the birds.

To tell you how intelligent birds can be, I left the kitchen light on one evening (near the nest) and went to my bedroom (far from the nest). I heard some scratching outside my bedroom window a few minutes later and thought it was a wild animal (we live in the hills). It turns out it was the mother bird bugging me to turn out the light! All I thought was that old Tweety Bird war cartoon where he yells, "Turn out that light!"

Big Wow! Photos

I went to the Big Wow! in San Jose this past weekend. Here are some photos of artists Frank Hill, Lee Holley, Morrie Turner, Richard Becker and writer Jerry Boyd. Fun!

Frank Hill and Lee Holley

Lee Holley draws Dennis the Menace 1

Lee Holley draws Dennis the Menace 2

Frank Hill draws a superhero 1

Frank Hill draws a superhero 2

Frank Hill draws a superhero 3

Frank's finished drawing

Panel with Frank Hill, Lee Holley and Morrie Turner

Frank's Tom and Jerry

Frank's Daffy Duck

Jerry Boyd and Richard Becker

Hoppity Hooper DVDs!

I want to start a campaign here to get Jay Ward's "Hoppity Hooper" released to DVD in a proper set. Classic Media apparently owns the rights to this series, but doesn't have it in their possession. Public Domain copies have been issued, but I would like to see a proper release. Who's with me?

Look Who's Reading the Latest "Spy Smasher"!

Why aren't you?

Another Hollywood Autograph Show

Here are some photos from the recent Hollywood autograph show in Burbank. I really need a new camera as the photos are kind of fuzzy and grainy and I know there are better ones out there, but oh well. This time you will find such people as Micky Dolenz, two guys from "2001", Bernie Kopell, the cast of "Laverne and Shirley", the kids from "The Sound of Music", 102-year old Carla Laemmle, Stepfanie Kramer, etc. I got autographs from Angela Cartwright and Penny Marshall. 

Whew!

Apparently, when two banana slugs meet, it's only for the purposes of mating. We have occasional banana slugs at our house, but this was the closest I've seen two of them. They were actually closer a few moments before I snapped this photo, so they've probably just done their business. Anyway, enjoy...

Rare Harvey Publication

I was in Oregon recently and picked up a copy of this: "Army & Navy Fun Parade" #57, October 1952. I had heard about these more "adult" joke books that Harvey produced but was never able to find one, even on Ebay. I found this one for a buck! Inside there is a photo of Janet Leigh and one of opera singer Lucille Norman, plus single page gag cartoons and text pages of jokes. It's digest sized and 100 pages.

Anyway, for those who think Harvey is all Casper and Richie Rich, think again...

The Slow Poisoner Rides Again

I've been friends with Andrew Goldfarb since fourth grade, but honestly hadn't seen him again until about a year ago. I discovered that he's a very talented artist and musician. I had listened to his albums, but had not seen him perform live until the other night. I guess I'm dense, but I didn't he played alone on stage as a one man band, but he sounds like a full band. He plays guitar, sings and stomps the bass drum with his foot. He also has very artistic signs naming the songs in an old Vaudeville type way. If you ever get a chance to see this man perform, do! You will not be disappointed. This was from last Wednesday night at the Parkside in San Francisco.