I get the paper (4 days a week) but I don’t check it first thing. So I was shocked when my friend Bruce told me he cancelled the Los Angeles Times today. He’s one of only a couple of friends who still get the paper! Oh, no! We can’t exchange complaints and info!

I asked him why, and he said “Johnny Depp is on the front page.”

“I don’t understand. I don’t like him either, but…”

“No, his face was all over the front page. They did this once before, and it just makes the paper look so trashy.”

I had no idea what he meant, but I wanted to tell him about a trashy editor of a woman’s magazine who had been so rude to me today, so we changed the topic.

Now I just heard John and Ken on KFI talking about the same thing! I ran to get the paper out of the plastic bag, and, um, it does look pretty bad. It’s a fake front page, with a hideous photo of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter in the new release of Alice in Wonderland. (Does Johnny Depp have a big space between his teeth? Euwww. His hair is wild orange like Carrot Top.)

The photo and the ad, all in color,  covers the entire front page, except for a few paragraphs on either side and the top pretend masthead. It really looks like the front page – they call it a cover-wrap.

Unattractive, but this is an industry town. I’m not offended.

Oh My Gah, I just saw that the NY Times reported on this!

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But now I’ll never forget you. The story and images coming from Haiti after the earthquake were so shocking  and grievous that it didn’t even occur to me to do a cartoon about it. I felt that tragedies like  this couldn’t be summed up in an image or drawing. More importantly, that cartoonists would be respectful of the loss of life.

Maybe I was wrong. And maybe cartoonists can help. I’ve never read editorial cartoons until about a year ago, so I had no experience to draw upon. But cartoonists leaped right into the fray, even as corpses sailed across the tv. In one sense, I guess it was brave of them(the cartoonists.) Here are some cartoons that worked, and some that didn’t. (Cartoons are after the jump.)

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It’s come to my attention that some people don’t think the same way I do! Astonishing!

For instance, one thing that I’m extremely passionate about is privacy. For others, as well as myself. And couthness. Uncouth is not cool. This includes making fun of others’ sex lives, or asking them about it directly. So rude! (However, a little bit of gossip is okay among friends, in hushed tones.)

I saw Andrew Young and his wife on 20/20, talking about this book he had written about the years he worked with John Edwards, The Politician: An Insider’s Account of John Edwards’s Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal That Brought Him Down. Oh, and about a dirty sex tape he found of Edwards. Nice. Young has written a tell-all as he rolls out all the dirty secrets of John Edwards and his mistress. Only this is a revenge- book, and as the Youngs described how pious they are, the whole thing stank, so I did this cartoon shortly after the show. I think I’m the only cartoonist on Slate or cagle.com who did one on this topic. I don’t know why! I know it’s not hard news, but it’s still important, and very sad, when a politician gets outed by his former best friend.

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You know what’s really weird? I had NO idea Tiger Woods was a Buddhist!  As I wrote in an earlier post, I knew he was a golfer, and that’s it.  It’s just that I was kind of annoyed Obama had that secret meeting with the Dalai Lama yesterday. Sensitive issue, or secrets exchanged? I  don’t know, but I like to know about these things ahead of time. No last minute surprises. So that was on my mind.

And then, it’s been building all week that Tiger Woods had his big announcement coming up. So… like any good cartoonist, I decided on a mashup of sports and an icon of a major religion. I had NO idea that Tiger would mention religion in his speech today…the religion of the Dalai Lama…and that my cartoon would be almost prophetic!!

From CNN:

“People probably don’t realize it,” he said, “but I was raised a Buddhist, and I actively practiced my faith from childhood until I drifted away from it in recent years.”

“I like Buddhism because it’s a whole way of being and living,” Tiger Woods told Sports Illustrated. “It’s based on discipline and respect and personal responsibility.”

Fox News Channel host Brit Hume stirred controversy by publicly advising the golf pro to become a Christian.

Thanks for that little nugget, Brit.

From the LA Times:

As expected, Woods did not reveal when he would return to playing golf, saying he will return to therapy Saturday “for guidance on the issues he is facing.”

Wearing a dark blazer and a blue shirt, Woods often had tears in his eyes during his statement, telling a group of reporters he was responsible for the scandal that has engulfed his family.

UPDATED: 8:47 a.m.: Woods also appeared angry when he asked the media to respect the privacy of his family.

The LA Times cares about your feelings.

(another version of this cartoon after the jump)

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I live in a strange, strange state. What’s hiding in all that smog, fog, and detritus, anyway? Is California really the land of dreams, or just schemes? Is it magical, a place to find your success and fortune, and is the weather worth it?

I’m about to find out. I’ve lived here over 15 years, so I have some answers, but what about the heart of it, where all the decisions are made? This month I started my cartoon for a new journalism group that’s covering the state of California, named appropriately enough, CalWatchdog. (Still waiting for a dog in the logo.) It’s connected with – get this – a think tank, called Pacific Research Institute!

I’ve done cartoons in all kinds of venues, but I have to admit, never a think tank. I’m so excited to be a part of it, and especially to have my name associated with something that sounds so…smart. This is Arnold’s last year, so I’m prepared to have as much fun as you can have with a German, and to explore issues all over California. (JUST KIDDING, German-ophiles!) So keep an eye on it, as I’ll be uploading cartoons about California there before they go on Slate or appear anywhere else.

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