Senator Vitter, you rascal

(click here to view)

Mad props go to Mike Luckovich of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. I was going to do a cartoon on this, but just didn't have the time, plus too much local stuff going on that I wanted to cover (Sunny McCullough making racist jokes). But I laughed loud at this cartoon for a solid ten minutes, and I felt the need to share it.

Mad props to you Luckovich!

Cartoon provided by American Association of Editorial Cartoonists

Too many hospital beds in New Jersey

Here's a cartoon I did for NJBiz for a story involving a gluttony of hospital beds at certain hospitals throughout New Jersey.

Newest PoliticsNJ cartoon

Just like every Wednesday around these parts, my new cartoon is online at PoliticsNJ. If you get a chance, leave me a message over there and tell me what you think.

Here's the sketch:

Tulsa World cartoonist dies in car accident

I just finished reading on The Daily Cartoonist that Doug Marlette, the staff editorial cartoonist for the Tulsa World, died this morning in a car crash. Marlette went to work for the World in 2006 to replace David Simpson, who was dismissed due to plagiarism. According to the Tulsa World, Marlette is survived by his wife, Melinda, and an adult son, Jackson.

He will definitely be missed, not only by his family, and his fans around the country, but by all of his cartooning peers, who from talking to them hold him in high esteem.

From Editor and Publisher, Nick Anderson, the staff cartoonist for the Houston Chronicle and president-elect of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, told them in an e-mail:

"This is really shocking. He was only 57. It's a loss to the world of cartooning. He was a respected member of our profession. There will be a conspicuous absence on the pages of American newspapers. I'd like to extend my sympathies to his family."

Doug Marlette, World editorial cartoonist, dies in Mississippi accident
- The Tulsa World

Doug Marlette Dead After Mississippi Car Accident
- The Daily Cartoonist

Cartoonist Doug Marlette Dies in Car Accident
- Editor & Publisher

A slideshow of recent cartoons
- The Tulsa World

I thought I marked it "private"

I'm sure you all have heard by now about the plight of Miss New Jersey. For those of you that haven't, Amy Polumbo, the current Miss New Jersey, was mailed a batch of photos that she posted on the social-networking website Facebook. The person that has mailed them continues to be anonymous, and has called for her resignation last month.

And posted today, a story from the Press of Atlantic City reveals that a person or group calling itself the Committee to Save Miss America was behind an alleged blackmail threat demanding Miss New Jersey relinquish her crown, according to a pageant spokeswoman.

So of course, I thought it would be fun to play it off of Corzine's back-and-forth action in terms of New Jersey's powerful labor unions. Seems he still can't shake Carla Katz away, even as he contends in court papers filed today that his e-mail exchanges with his former girlfriend and labor union leader during recent state worker contract negotiations are not subject to disclosure under the state's open records law.

On the web:

‘Committee' sent threat to Miss N.J.

Corzine tells court Katz e-mails should stay private

Here's the sketch:

Transform and roll out...pollution!

I'm officially back from Washington and this year's American Association of Editorial Cartoonists' convention. I have some pictures I'll post soon, I swear!

Speaking on this cartoon, I haven't seen the new Transformers, and other than a morbid curiosity, I really don't have any intention to. The Transformers themselves look terrible. And it's directed by Michael Bay, so it's already got a couple of really crappy things going for it.

However, I would go see it if Optimus Prime looked like this:

Here's the sketch:

Always look in the bright sight of life...

Hey gang! I'm in Washington right now enjoying the AAEC Convention. Tomorrow there are some great seminars, as well as lunch at the Washington Post, so I'll try and put up some pictures tomorrow.

Now, time for bed!

Happy Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July to all you New Jersey bloggers out there. My newest cartoon is up at Politics NJ, so go check it out, and leave some comments.

I've been away, but now I'm back

Sorry it's been so long between posts, but I've been up to my eyeballs designing a new website for the newspaper I work for. Luckily, they got me a spankin' new MacBook Pro so I can go on the road and continue to be their web slave. And where on the road am I going to be, you ask?

Why at the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists Annual Convention in Washington, D.C. They are celebrating their 50th anniversary (of which I've been apart of one), and there are a number of cool events.

Topping my list is Cartoonapalooza: Fireworks in Pen and Ink!

Ten of the nation’s best political cartoonists, Ted Rall, Tom Toles, Mike Luckovich, Mike Peters, Rob Rogers, Jack Ohman, Ruben Bolling, Ann Telnaes, Keith Knight and Mark Fiore, will be discussing their most controversial cartoons. There is a cocktail reception before the panel discussion, so if you want to go, get their early and drink often!

Here's some official info about the event:

Cartoons & Cocktails and the Association of American Cartoonists Present: *Cartoonapalooza: Fireworks in Pen and Ink!*
Date: Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Time: 6:30 PM*
Location: Renaissance Mayflower Hotel, 1127 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington DC 20036
Tickets: $25 in advance/$35 at door (PayPal available)
Proceeds from this event will go to support Newspapers In Education’s “Cartoons for the Classroom” program

Order tickets online (and download the poster by Mikhaela Reid) here.

PoliticsNJ.com

My newest cartoon is up at Politics NJ, so go check it out, and leave some comments. As you can see, the people there aren't shy, so tell me what you think!

Just waiting out of sight...

New Jersey Power List 2007

Over at PoliticsNJ, they've published their New Jersey Power List for 2007. I did the caricatures for the top 10 influential individuals on the list. According to the site:

"In developing our list, we eliminated anyone who currently holds elected office, as well as the Judiciary. We also eliminated the living former Governors, United States Senators, and Bill Gormley: we believe that all former statewide officeholders remain highly influential and well respected. This is an Insiders List. We looked at policy makers, party leaders, fundraisers, lobbyists, labor unions, businesses, and associations and have assembled the ultimate list of New Jerseyans with clout, with an impact on politics and government in the Garden State.."

Check out the power list here.

A broken record

New PoliticsNJ cartoon

My newest cartoon is up at Politics NJ, so go check it out, and leave some comments. As you can see, the people there aren't shy, so tell me what you think!

Coming and Going

My editors wanted a cartoon to user in the beginning of the summer. I instantly thought of a Norman Rockwell painting entitled Going and Coming, and wanted to play a modern gag off of it. Here's Rockwell's original painting:


I have to say, it's pretty intimating working off Norman Rockwell. Growing up, he was always one of my favorite artists. Kristen and I had the good fortune to visit the Norman Rockwell Museum up in Stockbrigde, Massachusetts. If you thought his paintings were amazing printed, you should see them up close. The layering; the parts where the canvas shows through; seeing his individual brushstrokes. It's pretty amazing.

Anyway, here's my sketch:

But then African swallows are non-migratory...

There were so many ridiculous stories to break this week in New Jersey that I thought this was the only way to nail them all.

Here's the sketch:

But is it CSS compliant?

This has got to be the most ridiculious thing I've seen today. Some douch-bag has posted this video that shows some Japanese bunny-girl being created using thousands of lines of HTML code to individually create and color table cells as pixels. Luckily for us, the video has been sped up considerably, because this probably took an insane amount of time to do.

Hat tip to Wired

Pass me the six-pack

The concert season opened in May with a Gwen Stefani concert at the PNC Bank Arts Center that numerous minors were hospitalized for due to drinking. Local and state politicians went crazy, and really stressed that underage drinkers would be targeted and caught, and publicized the fact that there would be an added state police presence at the arts center parking lots.

Well, all of that attention occurred, and this week state police made numerous arrests for underage drinking outside the Fall Out Boy concert. But one thing that added state police presence hasn't done...stopped kids from drinking in the parking lot. Or attending with an older friend, and having them buy beer for them at concessions.

Here's just a taste of the media frenzy:

Cops Targeting Underage Drinking at PNC Bank Arts Center

Police clamp down at PNC Bank Arts Center

PNC Bank Arts Center to crack down on teen drinking

Unlimited Power!!!!!!!

Here's my newest cartoon for PoliticsNJ. Head on over there to check it out, and to post comments. I want to know what you think.

And in case you don't know who Seema Singh is, here's a introduction to your Democratic Senate candidate for New Jersey's 14th District:

Singh got campaign money from people tied to utilities

Thank's David Chase

I thought my cable went out.

There we sat, my roomate and I, as Tony looks up towards the screen as he sits in the booth of a North Jersey dive, with Journey's Don't Stop Believin playing in the background.

Then it just stops.

We freaked out! I thought DirecTV had gone down, and if it had, I can assure you that I would've been done with the dish! But then the credits began to silently roll by, and at that point, I knew we'd been had.

And it's not the fact that it's anti-climatic, or that it doesn't resolve the series. I was just telling my editor that I'm all for anti-climatic endings, b/c ultimately I agree with David Chase that they're more indicative to real life. That's why Stanley Kubrick was my favorite filmmaker. But an anti-climax still has a climax, it still resolves the scene at least. It would have been better if they were in the diner, and it kept teasing with the guy at the bar, the two guys at the jukebox, and ended the scene. Having an awkward cut right in the middle just doesn't seem to do the scene justice. But the scene itself was tense, and the reviewer at the Star-Ledger is right, the nervousness that we all suffered watching that scene is how Tony has to view each and every day of his life. At least the money's good :)

And I guess I was a bit more disappointed with it too because this half of the season, minus a few bad moments like Tony's out-of-nowhere gambling problem and AJ's 2-episode transformation from suicidal anti-war freak to movie assistant, has been great. As close to the first couple of seasons as it was going to get. And for all the buildup, to have it end like this? Fuggetaboutit!