Uncommon Wisdom #8

Uncommon Wisdom #7

Recession-proof commodity

Fear is Amphibious

Those of us who grew up in Anchorage were forced to take a different sort of "long view". Everything that was important or exciting seemed to be occurring at a great distance. We had to squint to see it.

For instance? We were so remote, we couldn't even get attacked by monsters.

Godzilla took on Tokyo, not Muldoon. King Kong climbed the Empire State Building, never even considering our flagship building, the Captain Cook Hotel. And it tells you something that our flagship building was named for a foreigner who came long ago and left after a short visit. Our little outpost was just too small and distant to rate. OK, Nixon changed planes here a few times, but casualties were negligible.

So I was compelled to fall back on my own devices. And thus was born the Lake Hood Monster. One more reason to avoid small planes... fear is amphibious!

Somehow, I overlooked mentioning this...

Cover of the Notebook, the journal of the American Editorial Cartoonists. This is the election wrap-up issue, cover featuring You-Know-Who, drawn by yours truly.

Uncommon Wisdom #6

For a bigger laugh, click on image

Caption Contest winner

"TAKE ME TO YOUR HEATER"

Nobody said giant snowmen were bright. Howard, send me a snail mail address and 4 to 6 weeks later your very own signed print will arrive. Suitable for framing in a cheap ready-made frame! Or you could just post it on your refrigerator, which would be a torment of Ancient Greek proportions for a snow man. What a fate, just inches away from the balm of the cold, actually able to feel it as the door swings open, only to shut, the rubber gasket sealing paradise away. It's enough to make Prometheus weep.

The Hell Hound

Ever look back and find those sinister echoing footsteps that follow you are your own? That the searing pain in your tail is inflicted by your personal razor-sharp canine teeth? If we could only reason with ourselves, life would be simple. But as my Dad used to say, "To outsmart a dog, you have to be smarter than a dog" And when you are your own Hell Hound, you have to outsmart yourself. Easier said than done.

So I came up with this design (Yes it's a twist of, and an answer to, a line from Robert Johnson) to remind myself that Hell is frequently where we baste in our own juices. Once you know that, you have a chance to change the recipe.

Uncommon Wisdom #5

Click on Myrnah to enlarge.

What the heck is this? The staff at Frozen Grin explains here

The Voyeur