RSS . . . and Encore, VINCENT!

There is absolutely no way I could have --all by myself-- maneuvered my way through the labyrinth of idiomatic lingo necessary to bring RSS to this blog. I know . . . some of you are in the same boat as I was a few days ago; what is RSS, and why do I need it?  Really Simple Syndication is one definition gleaned from the Internet. Once in place, (Note the upper right hand corner of this and every posting from now on; see the little square orange thingy?) a Click on the RSS icon will assure the person doing the clicking that every time a new post is added to the Monthly Missive, the person will receive a short email alert. Wow, no more missing the scintillating segments of this show because of forgetting to peek in. No extra charge.       And many thanks.

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In the January 26 MM post, the promise was made to include friends from the cartoon archives frequently; particularly, VINCENT, LI’L ONES, and WEE WOMEN. Fulfilling  that pledge, as if by magic, we witness the arrival in VINCENT’s abode, AGNES, the new maid. Observe the telephone; how many of us can recall using such an antiquated Don Ameche? Or, for that matter, associating the name Don Ameche with anything at all. Questions from the class will be answered.


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In 1965 . . . Yikes--46 years ago-- I “adopted” LI’L ONES and WEE WOMEN from Mell Lazarus who had created the two syndicated features a few years prior. Now, having given Mr. Lazarus three credits in this blog so far, I say that’s enough. I drew the cartoons under the sponsorship of General Features Corporation and later the Los Angeles Times Syndicate for      eleven years. It was a fun run. Now it’s our pleasure to re-run the mini-features.

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I was hoping to post, each week,at the very least, two new cartoons.  (New?! These cartoons are older than Jack Benny; some by far.) 

I will do better as we go along. Guarantee.

Oh  . . . 

Yes, for sure, it's a tad late, but maybe you missed seeing our Christmas tree. It was the Charlie Brown model.

'Til soon,
Jim

Thrilling photos of guy at drawing board!

Received a nice letter from Lynn Stedd, Community Relations Director of the San Diego Blood Bank yesterday. It was a note to thank me ---and of course a dozen or so other cartoonists who had been at the most recent Chargers Blood Drive.  I thought that would be a good topic to address today. Then, I thought, “The Annual Cartoonists Day at the San Diego Blood Bank will be coming up in only a couple months.” It will be the 23rd or 24th  time that our club will be helping to draw blood by drawing pictures, I do believe! We’ll tackle that issue in April.

As a cartoonist I’m always interested in seeing how other cartoonists work, how they  became interested in this craft in the first place, and if their studios are anywhere the model of  tidiness that mine is. Those who know . . . will know that there is a dismissive touch to that last remark.  The photo shoebox relinquished a few pictures of my room. Before they’re filed away again, let’s walk through a few years together.

Here I am in Watkins Glen, NY in a tiny guest room in my mother’s house. That’s a $17 drawing table I’m using. Note the cigarette!
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A few years later, a studio in the basement of our home in Reading Center, NY. I’m still a cool cartoonist. See, I smoke Kools.  How cool could I be?

                                            

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Leaping ahead now, more than several years to 1984; our first apartment in Solana Beach, CA. A bedroom there morphed into a modest studio. Actually, it was the only bedroom. We slept in a pull-out sofa for almost a year---not continually, you know what I mean . . . 

 
until we were lucky enough to move across the street to The Turf Club, where we lived luxuriously in a two bedroom apartment. The larger one became the place for pencil, pen and paper. By this time, a certain sanity must have taken hold. See----- no cigarette.  VINCENT is offering his congratulations.
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Scarcely a year later, observe if you will, the impressive head of clutter I’ve achieved.

                                        

             A larger studio dictates more clutter. A given.


In this, and the previous two photos I’m shown working at the drawing table given to me by Anne Cobean. It belonged to her husband New Yorker cartoonist Sam Cobean who was the first professional cartoonist I ever met. Sam was most generous with his time and counsel. I’m so grateful to have met him.   

It was just about this time I began living in color. I also began to find that hard work often means more than talent. More next time.

How do spell TECHNICIAN ?

I'll bet more than one reader winced at my version of technician. But I was made aware of my error only by a telephone call from Westport, CT. The moment I recognized the caller I knew my mistake was a blessing in disguise. A long interesting conversation followed and my day was made.

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From my somewhat spasmodic observation of blogs, I had a hunch going in, that this project had potential to be a serious task master. In exactly one month, that hunch has proven itself to be valid.  However, a challenge is good for growth in any area . . . And my “Challenge of the Day” is to add some substance to Monthly Missive, the Blog.

MM readers, in days past, would occasionally ask, “Find any pennies lately, Jim?”  I kept track of monies found on our daily rounds around the greenbelt (a 2.7 mile loop from our home.)  I still do. Used to be a rare day indeed if we failed to find at least two coins-- usually pennies but just as often, nickels or dimes. Once in a while the excitement would be close to unbearable when closer inspection of a shiny object on the sidewalk would reveal itself to be a quarter!  The annual proceeds from our diligence ranged all the way up to the double digits. In dollars. The unwritten goal was to average a penny a day and we failed to reach $3.65 only one year.  So far This year we’re home free. As of the 4th of February I have recorded $5.02!   Of course, finding the water soaked fin two weeks ago in the parking lot helped considerably.

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I drew two newspaper panels in the last century; most of you may be too young to remember Li’l Ones or Wee Women; the features, created by Mell Lazarus, became orphans when he left General Features Corporation to create Miss Peach  and Momma, two strips which put him in the winners’ circle for certain. Mell was awarded the Reuben, the cartoon business equivalent of the Oscar.
So here are two samples of Li'l Ones and Wee Women-- touching on the theme of money.

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VINCENT the Magician has a few fans. They’d like to see more of the comic strip here, and we promise he’ll be back soon. He plans on attending the International Brotherhood of Magicians annual convention. Meanwhile, our good friend, Don Soul, past president of Ring 76 of the IBM and super computer Guru is shown here at the 2010 convention in San Diego. He and his wife Donna spent most every hour of the four day convention selling the Ring 76 T-Shirt.


                                           

                                    
             Come back soon!
                  New stuff  . . . almost every week!
                                              REALLY.
       Jim