Fresh Pretzels! Week Three

It's Thursday, and that means it's time for a visit to Fishtown, Pennsylvania with Jeff Kilpatrick's weekly dose of Fresh Pretzels! (click on the link to see this week's strip).
You can start from the begining here.

Yet again, another cartoon.

Happy Birthday! (3/31/05)

As we end the month of March, NORMALLY, we'd be gearing up for the NHL playoffs. Unfortunately........not this year. @#!!%!!!#*!!!
What better way to pay tribute to one of my favorite sports than to give a shout out to this former Red Wing and Whaler.

A "check into the corner" Happy Birthday to.....
GORDIE HOWE!

This All-Time Great and one time boyfriend of Edna Krabappel is 77 today.

Today's uncovered cartoon.

Here's another one:

Happy Birthday! (3/30/05)

He has appeared in movies (West Side Story, for one) but made his name on TV. From Night Gallery, to Operation Petticoat, and even Night Court, but, of course, it was as the eccentric master of the house in The Addams Family, that we'll always remember him.

So, here's a "that's French Tish" Happy Birthday to.....
JOHN ASTIN!

Gomez is 75 today.

Today's found cartoon.

Here's another one I found hidden amongst a lot of artwork.

Happy Birthday! (3/29/05)

Today we celebrate the birth of this 5' 10" New Zealander who's appeared in Spider-Man and on an episode of The Simpsons but will forever be known as Xena: Warrior Princess.

A chest plated Happy Birthday to.....
LUCY LAWLESS!

This "piece of plastic" is 37 today.

Back from the holiday - here's a cartoon!

Friday was the first day I had off work for a long time (it truly was a Good Friday) so decided to concentrate working on issue #1 of Action Figure (which I've expanded from 24 to 32 pages) and I kind of shut myself down from just about everything else.

While digging through a lot of my files and art drawers (needed some reference) I came across A LOT of old artwork. Some of what I found was crap! But I did uncover some things that didn't make me retch, and since when I first drew these cartoonsd the internet wasn't invented yet, they could be considered new work. Or at least work that's never been seen before.

In any event, starting today I think I'll start posting them:

Happy Birthday! (3/28/05)

He was the Depression Era avenger in the short lived TV series The Manhunter and recently Jill Hennessy's father Det. Max Cavanaugh on the series Crossing Jordan. But to me he'll always be Thomas Jefferson, the violen playing lover from 1776 .


So for this very tall actor, here's a tall Happy Birthday to.....
KEN HOWARD!

The "White Shadow" is 61 today.

Fresh Pretzels! Week Two

It's Thursday, and that means it's time for a visit to Fishtown, Pennsylvania with Jeff Kilpatrick's weekly dose of Fresh Pretzels! (click on the link to see this week's strip).
If you missed last week's, you can start from the begining here.

Happy Birthday! (3/24/05)

He's the "B" of the H.B. team that are responsible for;
The Flintstones, Top Cat, Pixie & Dixie, Yogi Bear, The Jetsons, Scooby Doo, ...... need I go on?

Here's a Yabba Dabba Happy Birthday to.....
JOESPH BARBERA!

The living half of the infamous animating team is 91 today.

Happy Birthday! (3/24/05)

freddino
Originally uploaded by Baboon Books.

He's the "B" of the H.B. team that are responsible for;
The Flintstones, Top Cat, Pixie & Dixie, Yogi Bear, The Jetsons, Scooby Doo, ...... need I go on?

Here's a Yabba Dabba Happy Birthday to.....
JOESPH BARBERA!

The living half of the infamous animating team is 91 today.

Happy Birthday! (3/23/05)

He's responsible for directing two of the most incredible films ever made,
The Seven Samurai and
Ran .

So here's a battle weary Happy Birthday to.....
AKIRA KUROSAWA!

Japan's most famous director would have been 95 today.

No laughing matter.

Considering there are so few sit-coms on network TV these days, you'd think that there'd be an effort to produce a batch of daring comedies. Shows that take the next step, to challenge the work that's coming out of the pay cable channels. New programs that bring about a fresh take at life and a great new batch of unforgettable characters.

You'd think that, wouldn't you.

Well, according to articles released on, among others, today's USA Today, the major networks have finalized the batches of pilots they'll be choosing from this May - that will premiere this Fall.
And...... it don't look all that promising....

From CBS:
Old Christine - Yet another show starring a former Seinfeld star, Julia Louis-Dreyfus stars as a divorced woman battling her ex along with soccer mons at her son's school.

Stroller Wars - Stars Tiffani Thiessen about new parents trying to get by in Manhattan.

Three - Stars James van der Beek, is about a married couple and a single best friend.

From Fox:
Kitchen Confidential - takes place in a fancy New York restaurant.

The Loop - (pictured above) Starring Philip Baker Hall and Bret Harrison as a Chicago-based airline's youngest executive.

New Car Smell - Is set at a Las Vegas car dealership starring Brooke Shields. (What, didn't anyone learn anything from Suddenly Susan???)

Queen B - Stars Alicia Silverstone as a high-achieving trend forecaster. (is this the thin Alicia or the fat one)

From NBC:
All In - Janeane Garofalo is a single-mom poker champ. (god- no more poker on TV, please!!)

Dante - Is about an NFL star and his 3-foot-tall Uncle Goldy. (Didn't Pedro Martinez do this in Boston last year?)

Lies and the Wives We Tell Them To - A series focusing on four couples whose "innocent fibs" cause major ripples. (major ripples in what?)

Notorious - stars Tori Spelling in a fictionalized version of her life. (zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...)

Happy Birthday! (3/22/05)

He was Chicolini in Duck Soup, Baravelli in Horse Feathers and Fiorello in A Night at the Opera.
It didn't matter though what his name was in all his films though, he was always just Chico, the Marx Brother with the funny accent.

Here's a Why a Duck? Happy Birthday to.....
CHICO MARX!

The "Italian" Marx Brother would have been 118 today.

Happy Birthday! (3/21/05)

Who HASN'T this guy been? From Beethoven in Immortal Beloved to Jor Orton in Prick Up Your Ears or Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula to Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK versatile isn't a strong enough word to describe his work.

So how about a "Siiid" Happy Birthday to.....
GARY OLDMAN!

Sirius Black is 46 today.

Happy Birthday! (3/20/05)

Yes, I am aware that she was the "barren" Edwina in the excellent Raising Arizona and that she even won a Best Actress Oscar for her mute performance in The Piano, but in the week that The Incredibles arrived on DVD she'll always be Elastigirl to me.

So here's a Miss Firecracker Happy Birthday to.....
HOLLY HUNTER!

Helen Parr is 47 today.

Happy Birthday! (3/19/05)

She didn't have a vast or well known movie career but she did portray one of the most pivotal roles in cinema history. When she walked out of the sea and onto the beach, in Dr. No, a franchise tradition had begun.

So here's a Bond Girl Happy Birthday to.....
URSULA ANDRESS!

Honey Ryder is 69 today.

The Dirty Secret of the Comics! (Part 1)

Happy Birthday! (3/18/05)

In the early days of Hollywood he was known most as the "comic sidekick" to Fred Astaire in such films as The Gay Divorcee and Top Hat. Or even as Mr. Witherspoon in Arsenic and Old Lace, but to me he'll always be the narrator from the classic Jay Ward cartoons, Fractured Fairy Tales

So here's a "Once upon a time" Happy Birthday to.....
EDWARD EVERETT HORTON!

The man with three names would have been 119 today ---
(if he hadn't died in 1970)