Laborious Weekend

The holiday where we honor those union workers who were willing to strike.

Pearls Before Swine

By Stephan Pastis

Stephen Pastis seems to have summed up the state of the union in 3 panels.

Mad Luwig's Pad

I would like to go visit this castle one day.
Neuschwanstein castle is probably the most familiar image that comes to mind when someone mentions a fairy tale castle. I ran across this picture that I thought was worth sharing with you. You can find this view, and about 200 more if you search Google images. This one was my overall favorite.

Helmet Head

One of several clever styles of motorcycle helmets from “Good”, in Russia.

The Russian advertising company “Good” created this helmet for an advertisement. I know a couple of bikers for whom this helmet would be perfect.

R.I.P. Paul Conrad

I have always been drawn to editorial cartoons. I have been trying my hand at them since I was a kid cartoonist, but I have never achieved the lofty pinnacle on which perch the greats, like Conrad, Sargent, Feiffer, and Oliphant.

Evidently the cartooning bug is hereditary, heralding back to a distant relation, Robert Seymour. He was the main illustrator of Figaro in London (a precursor of Punch), and he also produced seven plates for Dickens’s Pickwick Papers before his untimely death by suicide.

Still Singing

Putting a scratch vocal on a multi-track recording project. 9/4/10

The advances in audio recording technology have made it possible to have on a TV tray, the equivalent of what used to encompass an entire room full of equipment. I am using this holiday that honors labor to spend some time recording. It seems fitting, because I consider audio production to be a labor of love.

Tony Auth

I saw this Tony Auth cartoon in the New York Times this weekend, and just had to share it with you.

Here In Redding

Our local paper carried a 'story' by Alana Marie Burke about the mosque in New York. (HERE) The article was based on her opinions rather than facts and even suggested that the first amendment only applies to Christian Americans. I would have just ignored it, and chalked it up to the right wing lunatics who worship at the alter of Fox news, but then I read the comments. The bulk of the comments were a demonstration of how little the angry populous actually knows about what is going on in the world around them.

I had to put in my two cents;

"Wow! What a whole lot of anger and divisiveness, and how very little factual knowledge. Step away from the TV and read a few books before you hurt somebody.

Lets get a few facts into this discussion.

1. There have been mosques in our country since before the revolutionary war.

2. There are mosques in Manhattan that have been there for years.

3. The building at 51 Park has been used as a place for the overflow from one of the other nearby mosques for a few years now.

4. There was no problem with the plans for a cultural center until we got close to the midterm elections, and it became a political issue.

5. Judaism, Islam, and Christianity all worship the God of Abraham.

Now use the good sense that God has given you and calm down."

(I am happy to say that the angry rants of hateful ignorance seemed to have stopped on that discussion thread after I posted something reasonable. At least for now.)

Redding's Own Cartoonist

Phil Fountain