I won't be posting anything to this blog until next weekend.  We are going camping out in the high desert where we will be out of contact with the internet. 
It is a good thing to get out of ones comfort bubble once in a while and sort of cleanse the soul as the prophets of the old testament would say.
We will be camping in a place called the Colorado National Monument just west of Grand Junction Colorado. Below are a couple of photographs I took of the area back in 2009.  Every since the first time I saw the place I have had a desire to camp up there for a couple days and now we are going to do just that.  Hopefully I can get some photos of some wild life like mountain goats or mountain sheep and not rattle snakes.  New cartoons will be posted Saturday.

Shrooms

"Be real careful of those "Shrooms" you come across up there in the mountains, Pilgrim."
Way back in the days of the "Summer Of Luv", we were giving special nicknames to ordinary stuff.
If a person appeared to us as being a phony we called them Plastic, Marijuana became Pot or Mary Jane, and Psychedelic inducing mushrooms we called, "SHROOMS".

This post has no redeeming social benifit

My original caption was, "This is what happens if you sit still too long in California." 
Back in 1991, I was in Southern California visiting relatives and driving along one of the many freeways in Los Angeles I notices there was razer wire around the freeway over passes and around freeway direction signs.  I was told it was to keep gangs from "Tagging" road direction signs.  As trains pass through our town it seems like half the boxcars have some form of graffiti  on them.
Why do people feel the need to spray paint words on public and private property that does not belong to them?  There is not one once of social redeem benefit from this action and yet it has been going on for millions of years.

In Utah, hundreds of years ago, native Americans or American Indians carved messages in picture form on sand stone and now we call them  "Native American rock art" and it is protected by law.

I guess it all in the eye of the beholder.  Maybe one day today's gang Tags will become a national treasure....who knows the way things are going?

Bear proof garbage

Up in bear country you have to be careful with your garbage and trash.
  As they say, one man's garbage is a Bear's next meal.  If the wild life gets used to eating our garbage, after a while they could become really demanding, maybe figure, "Why bother with the garbage."  And want to join us at the dinner table.
Last night my wife and I went up to Brighton, Colorado for dinner.  Being Friday night and being that Brighton has very few dining spots, we ended up in this really crowded family Italian joint that still had one booth available.
 We ordered our dinner and while waiting for our food, we were entertained by a little five year old girl who seemed to not know that in a restaurant you sit at your table until you have finished your meal.  She was running all over the place screaming, giggling  and making funny faces at anyone who would look at her.  All the while her father is ignoring her, as fathers tend to do and her mother was saying stuff like, "Susie, come back here and sit down, OKAY ?"
 Now given a choice of running around pretending to be a bear cub or sitting down like a human being,  a five year old little pretend bear cub will choose to run around like a crazy bear cub.
I often wonder when this thing of mothers telling their child what she wants them to do, followed by a choice started. For a two to twenty year old child, they will always choose the more fun choice.
 Mothers do this all over the place and I doubt they even know or understand the terrible thing they are doing to their child by giving that child a choice of acting crazy or acting as the mother would want them to act. Kids need and craze structure and when a mother demands one thing followed by a question of..."OKAY?" The child will always think, "NO! " And continue with what they were doing. 
After a few years the parents will cease to exist in the kid's mush for brains and they will continue doing exactly what they want to do with no direction and they will one day end up as forty year old  kids living in our basement, demanding the newest electronic gizmos and never actually going out and getting a job........Oh wait!  That is already happening isn't it? 
To paraphrase an old comic strip that said, "We have met the enemy and the enemy is us."  

Kill da wascally wabbit!

I got the idea for this gag from a facebook friend who was having his garden over run by some form of Wascally Critter and was planning on blowing it away with his shot gun.

I can relate in that when I moved into this neighborhood we were over run by thousands of jack rabbits and they were eating everything in sight.  They are gone now but I can still remember coming out the front door to seeing ten of those wascally wabbits nesting on our front lawn.

OUMMMMMMMMM.....

I sometimes wonder if humans are the only species that believe in a higher power or a God of some kind.  Imagine if you will religious fanatical wild critters who worship a deity, did he create each of those beasts in in his or her own image?  Do space aliens worship a God and do they also believe that God created them in his own image?
The killing of the British soldier yesterday simply because he was not a Muslim was and is a disturbing sight and makes one wonder why do people kill in the name of their God?

This is really bad!

 

I am sure most people won't get this gag, unless you are as old as dirt....like me.

Ahhhh Banana

As they say, one man's junk is another man's treasure, everything is in perspective.

Whatcha wanna do?

Poor old Wally. 
I was thinking of the old television show of Leave It To Beaver, when this idea sort of popped into my head of Eddy Haskel and the Beaver's older brother Wally trying to figure what to do after school.

Where does it come from?

A couple days ago I was sitting right here in this chair trying to come up with a gag.  Looking out the window next to my computer desk, I was witness to a squirrel being chased along our wooden fence that was about six feet away from the window. It appeared they were screaming at each other and the squirrel seemed to be sticking his tongue out at the bird.
They were running along the fence, first the bird was chasing the squirrel and then the squirrel was chasing the bird.  It was far better entertainment that any thing on television. About the time I finally got my camera out, they were gone. 
So here is my version of what I saw out my window.

"I don't know"

Today's subject is the simple statement of....."I Don't Know."   Quoted from Pres Obama, United State Attorney General Erick Holder, former Sec of State Hillary Clinton, as well as the head of the IRS, Steven T. Miller. 
Former US President Harry Truman had sign on his desk that read, "The Buck Stops Here."  These days no one seems to know where the buck went or who took it.

Nosey busy bodies

So that is how it happens!

Have you found your "One"?

Imagine if you will if after you die you could spend the rest of eternity doing what you really love to do.  What would that be?  Playing golf, fishing, doing some form of art?
 Trouble is that so many people go through life not having a clue what they want to be when they grow up.  Lots of people  only do what they are told to do and have no clue how to be self directed.  For these people being self motivated is the last thing on their agenda.  For these people, life in retirement for example is very stressful.  We hear lots of stories about people working everyday of their life and then two weeks after they retire they up and die. 
In the movie City Slickers, Shorty is quoted as saying the secret to a happy life is "One".  The "One" depends on you, he says.
So what is your "one"?  I have found mine, have you found yours?

Dieting

Another name for the Gluten Diet is the Caveman Diet.  This is when you eat only the stuff cavemen and women would have eaten.  The down side is that our local food Super store does not care Wooly Mammoth Mastodon on a stick or Pterodactyl steaks or other forms of prehistoric foods. 
Just kidding Dan, actually I am sure eating gluten free foods is good for you....but for me I will stick with a little gluten in my diet, even if it means losing the few pounds I am trying to lose is a little harder to do. 
My son says that this diet makes him feel less achy, has fewer head aches and his mood is more perky. 
Okay folks if we can land a man on the moon why can't someone find a way to take gluten out of donuts and other forms of pasty. 
Guilt free Danish pasty, French Toast, and American hot dogs....What a concept.

Bus stop on the Evolutionary bus route.

Evolution never stops....One day those big old bears are digging through your trash cans for food and the next they are moving in to the house next door to you.  Of course your former neighbors may have been real monsters so maybe just maybe having a family of Grizzly bears living next door would be a step upward in the evolutionary chain.  I wonder how the Home Owner's Association would react to the new neighbors?

Here is to everyone's Mom.

 * A mother may hope that her daughter will get a better husband than she did,
but she knows her son will never get as good a wife as his father did.

* Proud father to mother as they watched their small son lying on the floor
studying by the light from the TV screen. "Reminds you of Abe Lincoln, doesn't
it?"

* Any child can tell you that the sole purpose of a middle name is so he can
tell when he's really in trouble.

* Garbage is a collection of refuse items, the taking out of which Mom assigns
to a different family member each week, then winds up doing herself.

* Last year I got my wife a mother's day gift that left her speechless. In fact,
she didn't speak to me for three weeks. 

Mom No. 1: How do you get your sleepy-head son up in the morning?
Mom No. 2: I just put the cat on the bed.
Mom No. 1: How does that help?
Mom No. 2: The dog’s already there. 

"That's not the same woman I had growing up.....That old woman is trying to get into heaven." Bill Cosby

"I was so ugly my mother used to feed me with a sling shot."  Rodney Dangerfield 

I hear voices and they are taunting me!

In every fun type personal project in life that we do as a hobby, self expression or sport, there is always going to be those who can spend more than you do. 
About twenty years ago I got into distance racing, it was more than a passion it was a religion of sorts.  The feeling of the endorphins being released into the body after running non-stop for an hour was pure unadulterated freedom.  The feeling of seeing how many miles you had covered with your own body and mind was a feeling you will never get doing anything else.   
One thing I noticed every time I would enter one of those long distance races was that quite a few people, it seemed,had really deep pockets when it came to spending money on the simple act of running.
No matter what activity you get into: fishing, car racing, collecting art, rock climbing, sky diving or even bowling, other people will out-spend you for the equipment they are using.  $50.00 for a fishing fly when you could make the same thing for $1.50? $500.00 for a pair of running shoes?
What really sucks is when some kid spends the $1.50 for a K-Mart special and catches a bigger fish than you  do
As you go through life always be mindful that no matter how much you can afford for your personal equipment, there are always going to be others who can and will spend more than you do.

The Suit is dead long live business Casual..?

Does anyone remember "Dress Down Friday"?   I was working in a large national Corporation where all males had to wear a suit and tie to work every day.   http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2050911,00.html
Around about 1999-2000 someone got the idea that you could get employees to pay a buck ($1.00) to some charity to be able to come to work with out a tie.  From there on, the company I was working for, noticed that the amount of crap the employees pumped out each Friday was no different from before Casual Friday, so they said let them wear blue jeans and a polo shirt.  No change in production of paper work crap so finally it was decided that the company would go dress optional.  May it be noted I never once wore a dress to work.
The funny thing was that when the Board of Directors came for their meetings we had to revert to business casual (No blue jeans or T-shirts) even though the big wigs never saw any of us we still had to pretend that we were working in New York City.  Makes me wonder if office workers in New York still wear coat and ties and dresses to work.  I suppose it depends on the work place.  Anyway happy dress down Friday.
May it also be noted that for me everyday is casual Friday but since everyday for me is like your Saturday....the joy of being able to let my hair down and be comfy in my work place is long gone.
hard for lots of young kids out there to comprehend that it has only been about 13 to 14 years since the hated tie was given a burial...14 years ago we would have been sent home from work if we showed up wearing a sweater on a cold day with no collared shirt and acceptable tie under the sweater.  No fish ties were allowed or any of the other fun ties.  Are people more productive these days?   Maybe.  But one side effect I think of getting all casual in the office work space is how far employees will push the envelope and end up getting dress codes in place for what is acceptable for work place attire.

Nasty little kids

My wife is a 3rd grade teacher and yesterday she took her class on a field trip to the Colorado History Museum.  This is probably where the idea came from but who can tell where the ideas for gags or plot lines come from?  
Aren't we happy that in reality little kids do not talk like they do on the TV show South Park?
Cartman: You so much as TOUCH kitty's ass, and I'll put a firecracker in your nutsack and blow your balls all over your pants.
Stan: Jesus, Cartman.
Cartman: Well, I'm just sayn', man, seriously, don't mess with kitty, man. 

Just Google it.

 Funny how some inspiration hits you in the old noggin.  Below are two separate cartoons I originally did for today and tomorrow.  My wife looked at them and said, "Too bad you didn't combine them."

                                                                                                                                                   

 

So I combined them together. 

But first I had to create some "New " characters that you may recognize from some movie made a long time ago.

                                                                                                                           
  

Peace and quiet

The funny thing is that once you get up into the valleys of the Rocky Mountains there is is no cell phone service.  One might say that over 50% of Colorado and most of New Mexico is one massive dead zone for mobile electronic devices.
I can still remember the very first time I saw someone talking on a mobile phone, it was a big and bulky walky talky or a grey brick.   Around about that time someone mentioned to me that they were thinking of either getting a car phone ( Not a cordless phone) or a cell phone.  " You would be able to talk on a phone in your car?  Wow, what a concept!"  Back then it was a toy and the only thing you could do was actually make phone calls.  All this was around 1996!  In less than 20 years look where we have come.  One can only guess what those pesky little cordless mobile devices will be like in another 20 years.
Below are a couple of other takes on excessive cell phone use.

This blog kinda sorta pays homage to that plastic fish in the movie Rango.  There is no hidden messages here and not one hidden political agenda.  Just a silly idea that popped into my head the other day.  

As far as the Monsters from A to Z goes I am waiting for my wife to write some more silly poems about bedtime monsters. 

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Today we Americans celebrate a holiday with lots of food, parades and parties of Mexico's independence from the French.  Mean while down in Mexico, it is just a minor national foot note.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/118001/Cinco-de-Mayo

Confusion with Mexican Independence Day

Many people outside Mexico mistakenly believe that Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Mexican independence, which was declared more than 50 years before the Battle of Puebla. That event is commemorated on September 16, the anniversary of the revolutionary priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla’s famous “Grito de Dolores” (“Cry of Dolores”), a call to arms that amounted to a declaration of war against the Spanish colonial government in 1810.
 Today we American celebrate a Mexican-American "Kwanza" Holiday, as yet another excuse to get have parades, eat lots of spicy foods and get rip roaring drunk. 

More monsters and adventures in Fly fishing

 D stands for Danny Deanated...I will be happy when my wife has the time to write these poems as I am not a poet by a long shot.  Not as easy as it may seem.

TGIF

Inspiration sometimes comes from the weather.  The fly fishing cartoon was done the other day when we got yet another spring snow storm.  Up in the mountains the weather can some times move in really fast and has in fact stranded many hikers under tons of new snow they had no idea was coming.

Adventures in Fly Fishing

The fly fisher I am featuring in my cartoons is based on a former class mate from my childhood, he is a real person by the name of John Turner.  After high school he went into the Army and I went into the Marine Corps and both served in South Vietnam.  He is a fly fisherman and those guys have always intrigued me in the way they look at their sport of catching fish with a hand made "fly".
Fly Fishing is a pseudo religion of sorts.  They do not go to any organized ceremony or pay any money to any organization but the devotion to their passion is far more than most devout church goer.  Fly fishing is done all around the globe and strangely enough most of the fish that they catch never get cook but is tossed back into the river.
Most fly fishermen or women probably feel as close to God standing out there in some ice cold white water river or creek all by them selves as other people going to a church, temple or mosque.  There is something very restful sitting on the bank of  fast running white water river such as the Salmon River up in Idaho or the Cache La Poudre River in Colorado.  For the foreseeable future I will be doing cartoons of John's adventures in fly fishing all with no captions.
That along with a daily page of the kid's book my wife and I are putting together.