Month: <span>July 2009</span>

Not that High Tech The Others (cartoonists)

We did. Los Angeles did. I’m so disgusted by this ostentatious funeral/memorial display! Shutting down part of the city, motor cascade, stars mouthing off, TV show, news coverage, blah blah blah. Not to mention the WASTE of money, when California is completely broke, with layoffs, warnings, etc by the state.

Michael Jackson's memorial cartoon aftermath
"Michael Jackson's funeral cost the city of LA $4 million! LA is asking for Paypal donations. Mayor Villaraigosa says, why didn't Michael die somewhere else? Now Schwarzenegger will really be on my case." ©D.Barstow 2009

No doubt Michael Jackson would have loved it. I’m embarrassed to be living in this city. Doesn’t LA asking for Paypal donations sound like a cartoon or joke all by itself? But it’s true! Los Angeles is a dreamer, all right.

This cartoon is kind of an in-joke to Californians: Mayor Villaraigosa was gone, touring, traveling, who knows what, during the whole Michael debacle. He’s out of the city a whole hella lot. I have no idea if he and Schwarzenegger are friends, enemies, BFF, or avoid each other. Fun to imagine, though.

Here, some Facebook friends and I discuss the issue:  

California, here I am Entertainment

Sarah Palin after resignation tshirt
“What will Sarah do?” woman wears tshirt ©D.Barstow 2009

As promised. Two different versions. (Another cartoon after the jump!)

The hate and mockery continue against Sarah Palin, of course. Found this link on Salon by Camille Paglia from the impressive and productive Andrew Breitbart:

In a way, this is part of her virtues — her complete freedom from routine micromanagement and business as usual. She does her own thing with seat-of-the-pants gusto. It’s why she remains hugely popular with the Republican grass-roots base — as I know from listening to talk radio…

Whether Palin has a national future or not will depend on her willingness to hit the books at some point and absorb more information about international history and politics than she has needed to know in her role as governor. She also needs a shrewder, cooler take on the mainstream media, with its preening bullies, cackling witches, twisted cynics and pompous windbags…

Politicians who aren't Obama

The music stopped when Sarah Palin resigned as Governor in a surprise move yesterday. In comparison to this, who cares about Michael Jackson?!

(To be honest, I didn’t remember Michael Jacksn’s Thriller and the claw hands, didn’t know what the lean was until I saw the cutest boy in the world (Derek Hough) do it and post it on Twitter, so then I had to look it up, and found that BoingBoing had an explanation of how Jackson did it in his performances, and it’s taken almost a week for me to learn that Jesus Juice  was a term he invented. (I think it means wine, right?))

But Sarah…That was the season when I actually paid attention to the campaigns and elections, and she was electrifyingly real. In character, and a character. Mesmerizing, even in, or especially in, her most humiliating moments. And I always thought she was beautiful, and I loved her voice.

Sarah Palin cartoon, naked
The Governor's New Clothes - Sarah Palin ©D.Barstow2008 All rights reserved. I drew this in fall 2008, when the ridiculous clothes scandal came down. She never spent too much - have you priced men's suits??

Oh, did I forget to add that she was a cartoonist’s dream girl? A poster girl, a pin-up girl for cartoonists. (Okay, maybe especially for bloggers.) I did this for Slate, but it didn’t run until after the election, so not many people saw it. And she won’t be Governor for much longer, so time, people, time. I’m working on a new cartoon for Monday, so check back!  

Mainstream Media Politicians who aren't Obama

Barack Obama Mainstream Media

I never said David Letterman was slutty.

David Letterman - Sarah Palin cartoon
"Has this ever happened to you? "You look slutty. And did you gain weight, or are you pregnant? Why are you so upset? I was JUST KIDDING." ©D.Barstow 2009

No, really, has this ever happened to you? I know it has. David Letterman is a naturally funny funnyman, and I used to watch him religiously. Not sure when I stopped, but haven’t seen him in a long while. (I watch Jimmy Kimmel instead, but sometimes he’s just stupid or gross.)  Anyway, Letterman does have good writers and good Top 10 lists, but it was really really inappropriate to have him include a joke about Arod (Alex Rodriguez) and one of Sarah Palin’s daughters!   

Entertainment