Mr. Gaiman's New Year Wish

Here's a wonderful New Years wish from the very eloquent Neil Gaiman you should read here.

Doc Ed 2012

The new year will be busy for good ol' Doc Edwards as he continues his mission to edu-tain kids in south central Texas about the Edwards Aquifer. Here's the schedule for the coming year so far:



Doc Ed at Braun Station Elementary.

January 11th Culebra Kids Play Group
January 27th Knowlton Elementary
February 23rd Carnahan Elementary
March 31st Witte Museum
April 3rd Medina County Fair
April 21st Kidfest
October 6th Hardberger Park's First Saturday Program

For more info on the Doc Ed presentations as well as other fun Doc Ed stuff click here.

From Way Back When: Stevie Nicks- Silent Night

Since the twelve days of Christmas aren't over here's another Christmas tune. Enjoy.

Friday Roundup

Pammy had a busy week at work preparing tasty treats for the New Years Eve revelers. On a day off from her hectic schedule we took the kids to see the new Chipmunks movie which turned out to be pretty fun. It was packed for the matinee-priced show that afternoon. There were kids everywhere laughing it up at the antics of Theodore, Simon and Alvin plus the Chipettes. We haven't learned the Chipettes names yet but I'm sure the kids will take care of that for us. My son mentioned ever so subtly how much he'd like to see the movie at home too.

Before the movie started we had about five minutes or more of previews. I've noticed that the volume for them is always louder than what is set for the main feature. I'm not sure why but it was extra louder this and it wasn't just me and my old ears complaining because my son sat there with his hands covering his ears. I plugged my ears with napkins but we finally got hem to adjust the volume. I kept the napkins in my ears. I'm old, man! I think Pammy and I will get a sitter for the next movie so we can check out the new Sherlock Holmes movie. I'll still plug my ears for previews.

Pammy and I have high hopes for the new year. We don't make resolutions but we always try to raise the bar a little for ourselves in some general way. Life is too short to sit in your hands. Gotta keep moving forward and all that jazz. It keeps things interesting. We'll see how it goes. Buenas noches.

From the Sketchbook- Gandalf

1970's Monster Funtime

I guess Jaws had made a pretty big impression on me so it made it on the cover of my sketchbook.




What a great cover!!


When I was a wee lad back in the mid-seventies I discovered Famous Monsters of Filmland while browsing through comic books at a phamarcy in San Antonio. It was issue #100 with the face of Boris Karloff as the Frankenstein monster gracing the cover. I was hooked! After having collected a few more I decided to draw the assorted characters found in each issue.

I drew and collected them in a manila folder and titled it "Monsters", in honor of my favorite magazine. This was the time before I they started selling Starlog magazine in my neck of the woods. Most of the images I drew were from FM but I also started collecting newspaper clippings advertising movies playing in Laredo and Nuevo Laredo which was across the river in Mexico. The clippings all seem to date back between 1975 and 1977. I'm surprised I did collect a Star Wars ad.



Above and below are pages one and two of my sketchbook.



Above are a couple of items I clipped. The first is a film I don't recall seeing but the ad looked cool enough to save. The second is a photo of Harry Houdini the legendary magician and escape artist. I was a big fan at the time. I wasn't practicing magic. It was Halloween and they would have a seance to try to contact his spirit as they had been doing since his death on October 31st 1926. That type of thing fascinated me and I was always hoping they'd succeed. I don't know if they still gather for the seance. I'll post more stuff later.

December Sky #12

From the Sketchbook- Dwarf Husband and Wife

December Sky #11

From Way Back When: Joni Mitchell -Both Sides Now (1970)

The Day After

Irish Coffee. Mmmmm.



This weekend we spread the Christmas cheer with family and friends. We ate and drank which led to being very merry. Then we opened gifts which led to more eating and drinking goodies made to warm the bones and fend off the chill that ushered in the holiday. All in all it was a pretty good one.

The kids got plenty of toys. Santa made sure not to give them too many noisy ones this year. Kids are walking sound effects machines. I am now the proud owner of a magnifying lamp to assist by tired peepers as I paint or draw. I've been needing one for a long time. Pammy got a book by her favorite t.v. master chef Jacques Pepin. The book came with a dvd as well. Bonus!

But now that it's almost over I'm missing the holiday season already. I miss the whole energy of it all. I miss the excitement and anticipation. I miss the silly things too like the holiday commercials on the radio and t.v. and the all day Christmas music stations playing the same 27 songs over and over again. Let's not forget the holiday specials that have been a part of the season for decades. It just wouldn't be the same without Frosty. Then there are the Nutcrackers and Christmas Carols playing at every theater in town whose ticket sales bring in most of the money they'll make all year.

But what I miss most of all is knowing that most any person I see shopping is there to buy something for someone else. The spirit of giving is never so strong as it is during the holiday season. We've seen our share of that and done our share as well. Sure there's all the commercialism but nothing is ever perfect. It does come pretty close, though. Happy Holidays!

Slapstick Theater- Madeline Kahn

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeline_Kahn

Sunday Morning Matinee: Night Before Christmas (1932) and Jack Frost (1934)