Pretty politicians buying souls from us - Jan 5, 2012

from BoldNebraska.org

ben nelson senate race

Merry Christmas! - Dec 25, 2011

from BoldNebraska.org

republican senate primary race jon bruning don stenberg deb fischer santa claus

Merry Christmas six years ago!

fatherxmasI used to do a radio show on 90.3 KRNU called “You are So Beautiful, Beautiful Robot.” It has nothing to do with editorial cartoons, but a friend of mine uploaded the two hours of the show for me, so I now have them available online if you’d care to download them and get festive.

These are from December 22, 2005. I’m not really sure if Christmas music has come a long way since then or not. If memory serves, this show includes about five different versions of “Last Christmas.”

Hour 1

Hour 2

Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving! - Nov 24, 2011

from BoldNebraska.org

transcanada keystone xl pipeline unicameral legislature mike flood

Thanks for a great opening!

Thanks to everyone who came out last night for the opening of Put That In Your Pipeline and Smoke It. The turnout was great and I got to meet a lot of new people and see some old faces. If you weren’t able to make it, or if you did make it and you want to come back, the cartoons will be up throughout November. And if you do go, please be sure to thank The Sydney for hosting!

Some specific highlights:

  • Finally met some of the Bold Nebraska crew. I had met Jane Kleeb in Hastings at Kool-Aid Days in 2010, but that was it — now I have some more faces to go with names.
  • Got to see Mark Cramer — the guy who gave me my first newspaper job — for the first time in a long time. Mark used to run the newspaper in Auburn, and one day in the summer of 1994 I showed up and asked him if he wanted to run a comic strip about regenerating worm-based superheroes. He said yes.
  • Finally met David Koesters, the creator of the amazing Bagel Soup. He gave me a copy of his book, Stirring the Pot, which is funny enough that I was concerned it was going to steal the show. So I put it in my car. I started an interview with David a couple years ago that we never finished, so I hope to have that done soon and up here at the site.
  • My wonderful nieces, bless their hearts, picked out their favorite cartoon — and it was the one with the punchline about prostitution (it had the big bright Lil’ Red in it, so I can see why). Can’t wait to discuss it with them in 15 years or so.
  • I gave an overly elaborate explanation of my process — a description that probably took at least 20 minutes — in response to a very simple question about how long it takes me to draw a cartoon. I remember getting really up close to one particular cartoon, which I used to explain how color theory ties into the craft of humor-timing in a static piece. I had been drinking since 6pm. I give myself credit for remembering to tie the speech back to the question and close with a pithy “So probably like anywhere from 20 minutes to four hours.”
  • “Family Circus” creator Bil Keane has passed away.

    I wonder how many “dotted pathway to Heaven” cartoons we’ll see on the syndicates tomorrow.

    UPDATE: The answer is at least two.

    KeystoneXL Cartoon Art show Thursday!

    pipelineI’m having an art show this Thursday at The Sydney at 60th & Maple in Omaha. It’s all editorial cartoons about the KeystoneXL pipeline — some Lincoln Journal Star cartoons, some BoldNebraska cartoons, and some rejects brought to life!

    The event is from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. this Thursday, November 10th. The Sydney is a bar, but they’re allowing people of all ages to attend from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

    Now that the Journal Star has freed me from their ethical restrictions, I’m sharing half the proceeds with Save Our Sandhills, a coalition of various groups that have united to protect Nebraska’s natural resources from the pipeline.

    So come on down! And if you could be so kind as to RSVP on the Facebook event page I’d appreciate it, as I need to know how much snacks I should prepare.

    Never surrender - Oct 23, 2011

    from the Lincoln Journal Star

    occupy lincoln tea party

    This will end up being my final cartoon for the Lincoln Journal Star. I didn’t know at the time that it’d be my last, but I think it’s a decent way to go out. It’s all about speaking out and trying to make a difference when the established power structure tells you you’re doing it wrong. And I spent a lot of time on it!

    Thanks to everyone who read my cartoons in the Journal Star over the years, wrote a letter, commented on a cartoon, or just thought about what you read in any capacity. Back in my time at the Daily Nebraskan, I honestly never thought I’d have the opportunity to cartoon for a daily paper. I got to know some really great people, many of whom will never get an appropriate level of thanks for the hard work they do in putting out the paper.

    Thanks to Kathleen Rutledge for taking a chance on me back in the summer of 2004, and thanks to Gordon Winters for putting up with me! I had a blast. It was a great seven years!

    Why is it not a bigger deal that Governor Heineman was caught lying to reporters?

    In the Lincoln Journal Star, reporter Algis Laukaitis quoted Governor Dave Heineman summarizing a closed-door meeting of midwest governors:

    OMAHA — Fearing a repeat of the flood devastation that occurred this year along the Missouri River, governors from five states asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Monday to take a pre-emptive and unprecedented step and lower the level of Garrison Dam in North Dakota this fall.

    [...]

    “The No. 1 priority we are all concerned about is flood control,” said Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman, who hosted a meeting of governors at the Gallup Campus in Omaha on Monday.

    Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer didn’t attend, instead phoning in by conference call. Heineman clearly didn’t realize that Schweitzer had allowed reporters to sit in on his end of the conversation, because it turns out Heineman is lying about what happened.

    From the Associated Press:

    Schweitzer, who allowed reporters in his office for what was expected to be a private meeting, phoned into the Omaha conference in which governors from Iowa, Kansas, North Dakota and South Dakota took part. [...] The host, Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman, clashed several times with Schweitzer during the meeting.

    Afterward, Heineman told reporters in Omaha who were not allowed into the meeting that “the No. 1 thing we all agree to is flood control.”

    There was no unanimity on that topic during the meeting, however, after Schweitzer strongly challenged the notion of it as a priority.

    One can only speculate as to why — the appearance that he accomplished something in the meeting he called, maybe? — but Heineman just flat-out lied about what happened in his failed attempt at a closed-door meeting. Via his staff, he had no comment on the discrepancy.

    The arguments between Schweitzer and Heineman seemed to be pretty weird. As reported in North Dakota’s Plains Daily:

    …a disagreement between Schweitzer and Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman erupted over the sharing of information and Schweitzer’s attendance at the meetings. Schweitzer, who has a background in soil science, indicated that he was the most qualified of the governors to comment on flooding issues and wanted to make a Power Point presentation to the meeting. Schweitzer alleged that the other governors weren’t “getting good information” and “weren’t basing their information on the latest data.”

    Because of this Schweitzer said he “didn’t see much sense to the meeting.”

    “If you show up you could bring that damn data with you and share it with us,” said Heineman who later added the meeting site did not have the capability for Power Point presentations.

    “Don’t you have electricity?” Schweitzer asked.

    That’s our governor!

    This week - Oct 16, 2011

    from the Lincoln Journal Star

    nebraska football fans wisconsin ohio state