Americans are Lazy

There are times when I become a little too enthused with a set of ideas and they begin to culminate in ways that excite me and confuse everyone else.  Sometimes I will catch myself and peel off a few layers to simplify things.  Other times I will publish something that causes everyone to scratch their heads.

On November 20, 2011, I attempted to do this in a smart way by combining complementary elements in a hierarchical structure of importance, from lowest to highest.

At the bottom, I sought to again illustrate November's freaky weather as I did in the October cartoon.  I had to concede that it’s not a particularly significant element and accept that it was very unlikely to connect with the average viewer.

Next, the news about the president set to pardon a turkey on Wednesday is clear.  The news itself is pretty unremarkable.

Finally, the primary theme is a parody of Rick Perry’s screamingly deceptive charge that the president called Americans “lazy” in his speech to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum as well as Perry's decision to double-down on the accusation.

Black Friday Mayhem

Although the quality is poor, this has, over time, become one of my more initimate and favorite cartoons.  I was experiencing yet another creative block.  Finally, I struck gold with a story about a woman who pepper-sprayed Black Friday shoppers over an Xbox.  It was an incident so outrageous, so ridiculous, I figured that some added exaggeration would make an effective parody.

Unfortunately, I had very little time left and no resources to scan the drawing.  Trying to take a photo of the drawing with my Macbook proved a little difficult.  The local CVS did not provide scanning.  Finally, I took a photo with my phone, applied a cheesy sepia tone and submitted it.

It's not the best, but the experience definitely elevates it in my view.