Johnny Carson

Someone sent me a very silly link today. It's a segment from the old Tonight show when Johnny Carson was host. There's nothing to explain. Just watch it and enjoy. No one will be surprised that I found this amusing. It's an example of real clowns walking among us.

http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/138148/detail/

Cartoonist

After all this time, I finally had a newspaper article done about QlownTown and me, in the Nashua, NH, Telegraph. The question of whether to reveal myself in my true form on the web is now moot. While the website only shows a cartoon version of me, the article shows a bunch of photos.

The photographer asked me to draw a bunch of cartoon characters to surround me, then do a bunch of poses myself. I figured he'd use the best one; he used five! I don't remember what I was doing with my hands; despite appearances, I don't have arthritis. Maybe I was trying to pump up my pecs; I don't know.

The response has been great, from friends and fans alike. There was a big spike in visits to the site: I should be in the paper every day! Oh, wait--if I start getting the strip in newspapers, I will be. Or at least the strip will.

I was wearing a QlownTown shirt in the picture. It'll be interesting to see if anyone orders any as a result. Same with the calendar. Of course, the whole goal of being in the newspaper is to increase sales of merchandise, or even donations to the site. (The internet has an odd rule: give stuff away for free in order to make money. The hope is that people who like the free cartoons will want to buy them on T shirts, mugs, etc., or make a small donation to offset costs and allow the site to continue.) But I have to admit: just being in the paper is pretty cool.  

Having appeared in newspapers because I was a finalist in several cooking contests, in a magazine after I built a superinsulated saltbox up in Maine, and on TV being interviewed about the same house (a public TV special on energy efficient housing which appeared opposite the Super Bowl years ago, before Tivo or even VCRs, and was therefore seen by probably five people), I have to admit I enjoy the exposure. When I was a candidate to succeed Steve Thomas as host of This Old House, I was ready to hang up my tool belt for the glamor (is TOH actually glamorous?) of TV. So a day of local fame is fun. And it's interesting to go from a situation in which I'm totally in charge of the final product, from writing to drawing to coloring to uploading, to one where I answer some questions and trust someone else to tell the whole story for me. Luckily, Joe done good. Thanks, Joe!

Misguided fad

I just read today that, because of Scott Brown's win against Martha Coakley in the Massachusetts Senate election this week, more Mass. residents are buying pickup trucks--specifically the GMC Canyon, the truck that Brown used as a "mascot" during his campaign. http://www.boston.com/

Now, whichever way you feel about who won or lost, a surge in truck-buying is bad. Americans should be going back to cars instead of trucks, which saves fuel, saves the environment, lessens our dependence on foreign oil, and makes roads safer. I don't fault people who use the trucks as trucks on a regular basis, but buying one because it's cool or macho is just stupid and backward-thinking. I used to have a truck when I needed one for my business, and I had a minivan when our kids were little. But both were more fuel efficient than a full sized truck. (Even when I had a one-ton stake-bed truck for my contracting business, it had a four-cylinder engine---and averaged 24 MPG.)

And don't start the "I'm tired of political correctness" stuff on me. That's like saying, "I'm tired of doctors saying I should quit smoking or eat sensibly or bundle up when it's cold," or complaining about having to wear deodorant or wash because everyone else does, or saying all this talk about pollution and conserving is boring. Get over it! I'm tired of people complaining about political correctness. It should be second nature to consider what you actually need vs. its environmental impact when you purchase something. Whether global warming is caused by people or not ignores the question of what our actions will do to our descendants. Why use up all the oil so our grandchildren or great grandchildren have none, when we might be able to make changes that extend the supplies for generations?

Brown's truck is made by GM. The Canyon is rated terrible in reliability. GM (and Chrysler) had to borrow money from the very people who didn't buy their (inferior) cars and trucks, and if we're going to buy from them now, we should be sending a message to them that we want more efficient and reliable vehicles. If you want to buy American (a good idea), Ford has some reliable and fuel efficient models, and they didn't screw up so badly that they faced bankruptcy. Even buying efficient foreign cars sends a message to American automakers that people want quality and conservation. It just seems that buying a Canyon is like buying a hole in the ground (pun intended) to throw your investment into.

There was evidently a run on Hummers when Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected governator because he drove one. So I hope Ed Begley, Jr. gets a hit TV show soon---maybe there'll be a bigger demand for electric or hybrid cars.

And that's my rant for Friday.

Snow

The weather here in New Hampshire has been overcast, snowy and cold the last few days--and I love it. Sunniness is nicer, and that's what we have today, but the overcast days brought what may be the most beautiful blanket of snow I've ever seen in 23 years in this house. I took a bunch of pictures, and will probably use them as a slide show for my monitor this summer, when the temperature and humidity are high.

I truly believe there is no one "right" place to live. There are people who love warmth all year long and don't mind humid summers; people who want a wide variety of seasonal changes; others who want tropical temps all year long; some who like the desert in winter and tolerate it perfectly well all summer. I can't stand high heat, for example, and if the humidity is low, it makes little difference: my body can generate plenty of humidity on its own in the form of sweat, thank you. But I know desert denizens who don't mind the heat as long as it's dry. Since we can't all fit in one region, it's good that there are differences of opinion on where to live.

And then there is the magic of travel. I can visit Florida when it's warm but dry down there and it's cold in New England. I can go to Arizona in the winter months, when things are still growing but the godawful heat hasn't begun. Sunbelters can go skiing in high elevations and/or Northern climes. I wouldn't mind being on a beach on the Riviera right now; but since I can't be, I'll take what I see out my windows. And these were taken when it was still overcast. You should see this is the sun. Beautiful.

Eggnog

I came up with a reduced calorie eggnog that is so good I will continue to drink it through the year. It's not entirely natural---it uses egg substitute, which has various gums and stuff (how's that for a scientific description?) to recreate the yolk portion that's missing, and fat free half and half, which has some white sugar and corn syrup [and, paradoxically, some cream]---but the calories are so reduced with minimal loss of flavor and texture, I consider it a healthy addition to breakfast, and a nice excuse for a snack. I usually mind the aftertaste of Splenda, but notice little if any when used in this. So here it is:

1/4 C.             Egg Beaters, Egg Starts, or other egg substitute
scant 1/4 C.    Splenda or similar artificial sweetener (Yes, it's supposed to be sweet!)
1/2 C.             fat-free half and half
3/4 C.             milk (I recommend soy milk or 1-2% milk)
a shot of         rum extract (optional)
                       nutmeg (Grate some into the drink and more on top.)

Blend all ingredients except the grated-on-top nutmeg in a blender,  mixer, food processor, whisk or particle accelerator. Enjoy.

Yes, as an option you can make an alcoholic version...you've still saved a lot of calories and fat. Add rum, brandy, bourbon or your favorite eggnog-compatible libation in whatever amount pleases you.

You could augment or replace the nutmeg with cinnamon, ginger or COCOA! I had some commercially-made gingerbread eggnog on Festivus and it was DE-licious.

I guess, in honor of the comic strip I draw, I should really call this eqqnoq.

Time has come

I'm a New England Patriots fan. Not of the team that lost, badly, yesterday---I think they were clones or something---but the one that's been around for most of the past decade. I was very frustrated, angry and sad when the game was over, because it was so lopsided. It was one of the few times when I've poured myself a drink to try to calm down. It worked. After an hour or so, I was able to look at it philosophically. Now my mantra is, "There's always hope for next year".

As Arizona won their game, I was reminded of going to a game in Arizona a few years ago. We were visiting my brother-in-law and his wife in Tucson, and he, being a huge Patriots fan, got us all tickets to the game. At the time, Arizona was in the basement of the NFL. I think their record that year included two, maybe three wins. New England, by contrast, was playing brilliantly, and the outcome of the game was pretty much a given---the best anyone could hope for that the Cardinals wouldn't completely bore us. As we walked through the parking lot to the stadium, there were tailgaters with their hibachis and coolers along each side, and a couple of them good-naturedly teased us that we'd come a long way to watch our guys lose. I said, "Not today. But don't worry; your time will come. It may a few years, but you'll get there."

Not terribly sage; parity in the NFL means that a bad team is likely to get better someday. (That's what I like about football. The salary cap means that no one can buy championships by spending more than everyone else to get the best players. The hiring of players and juggling of salaries, along with game planning, play calling and brute force makes the game a nice balance of cerebral and physical.) But whenever I see Arizona doing really well, I wonder if any of those guys I spoke to remember the guy from New England who tried to encourage them years ago...especially yesterday, when my team stank and their shone. I hope so. Sports---and so many other things these days---sometimes brings out the worst in people, and I hope that being friendly to The Other Side like that left a lasting impression.

So, my best to the Cardinals. And someday, our time will come.

Recurring characters

The further I get into the process of drawing QlownTown, the harder it gets to change anything. I like never having to draw the same clown twice, and after almost a year, I hesitate to change that. But I've heard from a number of people that I should have recurring characters so people can identify with them. Now, I don't know that identifying with a clown is necessarily a good idea, but I see their point. It's funny to see Garfield or Monty or Snoopy in part because their reactions to a situation are recognizable as their own. So I'm going to try to pick some characters from the last ten months and see who I might want to learn how to draw more than once.

The idea to start on this project now was inspired by today's cartoon. When I drew the woman on the right, I thought, "She's a keeper". If I were a single clown, I'd probably want to go out with her. There's a freedom in the pencil sketch that can be hard to maintain in the inking process, but she looks silly enough to maintain her appeal no matter how stiffly I hold the pen. And, since I don't always put the characters in purely circus-style clothes, they have to maintain their "clown-ness" through their features.

There's another character I'd like to recycle, and I have used him several times, but I never seem to get the look the same as the first time I drew him. He even has a name---Mr. Binkles---and is on the most popular image in the QlownTown store. People have ordered him on T shirts, aprons, and even a clock. I also drew him in one of my favorite cartoons, one which never seems to amuse anyone else as much as it amuses me: the ducks in a row strip. I have it on a couple of shirts, but whenever someone sees it, they read it, smile wanly, and say "cool" or something else equally noncommittal--so those are becoming my new painting shirts. Anyway, I see that he looks the same in those two cartoons, so maybe I'll stick with him. I like the hat, the tie, the tux, and the fact that his nose is about the same size as his hat. And the wingtips he wears are a nice homage to the band I used to play in, The Wingtips. (Actually, his nose might be an homage to mine.)

But I now have about 300 cartoons with new clowns in almost every one. I have to look through months of them to see who grabs my eye as a possible regular. So if you, gentle reader, have any favorites, please let me know. You can reply below this post, or email me at dsmith-weiss@qlowntown.com. I, in the meantime, will look over old cartoons and see who looks promising.

Once the characters are picked, I may run a contest to name them. Of course, if no one suggests a good name, I'll retain the right to come up with my own...but my hope is that my readers are more creative than I, or at least have knowledge of more interesting names...although something simple like Bob the Clown or Dave the Clown appeals to me too. But I'm getting ahead of myself--I need to find out who these clowns are. In the words of the man/insect at the end of The Fly: help me!

Facebook hookup

Today, Facebook finally let me attach my blog to my Facebook page. I tried it before Christmas, but for some reason, Facebook wouldn't let me add the link. Sometimes I love Facebook, but at times like that, I hate it. And I just wrote Facebook four times in three sentences.

Anyway, this is another step in my attempts to stick QlownTown in the face of as many people as possible. Now you can go to my FB page, then from there to the QlownTown website; from there to the blog, and so on.  Once it's in newspapers, how many links do I list in the cartoon?

My initial goal, previously stated here, was to keep it simple. I now need to be clever or interesting in three places! And I suppose I need to blog more often now that more people may be reading it. In a perfect world, I'd draw a cartoon whenever I felt like it, blog whenever an idea hit me, and collect lots of money each time I did it.

But I can't complain. I had a great Christmas/New Year's season, and am now moved into my new office and almost all set up. I drew cartoons at my desk on a pullout side tray (instead of at the drawing table) for two weeks while the room was a mess. I didn't realize what a creature of habit I was till I had to work in what was basically a storage room. But this is nice now. Very nice.

We converted the old office, which has bookcases on two walls, into what we've named the Ben Franklin Memorial Reading Room. There's a small round table with an old fashioned lantern and two Windsor chairs in the center. It'll be mostly for show, because we have more rooms that we use on a regular basis, but I think I may use it occasionally to have a glass of wine and read about American history. And now, when lots of company comes to have dinner, I won't need to clean up my office!