THE SELF-FRISKING TECHNIQUE

And as you grow older, some things become essential, like the self-frisking technique before you leave the house...

PINK PANTHER Olympic Trading Cards

            

Two cards published in 1990 by Editorial VID with an Olympic theme. These two were the ones I did. 

The rest of the collection featured all the other characters from Vid's comic book titles.

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo...like every other Cinco de Mayo.

 

CUCURUCHO - The Llera Covers

Forty seven years ago, I was hired to do some comic stories for a kiddie magazine in Mexico. The magazine was titled CUCURUCHO and it ran for 20 issues. My job was to provide some comic pages between the fun activities like coloring, origami folding, puzzles, read aloud stories, word games, and other kiddie related material.

 

 

I came up with three different titles for the mag: "Cucurucho, The Magical",  about a boy who had magical powers and lived in a little box; "Gavin, The Cowboy Mouse", about four rodent rustlers in the Old West;  and "Hector and the Detective", about a gangster's ghost who lives in an old revolver owned by a private eye.  Pretty exciting stuff, eh? 

I managed to do the cover art on 14 of the 20 issues released. The rest were done by the editor of the magazine, Checo Valdez and the late Eduardo del Rio (RIUS), the celebrated Mexican political cartoonist.

By the end of 1975, after very faulty promotion and some bad economic choices by the

 publishing staff which resulted in rather poor sales, CUCURUCHO was finally discontinued.

Beginning 1976 after my 12 month hiatus, I was back at Editorial Novaro, doing

 THE PINK PANTHER and  BEEP BEEP THE ROAD RUNNER for the Hispanic markets.

However, even today, I still get comments from children who read the magazine back in 1975, and remember it fondly for its original content and who thought highly of the effort poured into the project by all the people who collaborated jointly in helping the magazine to flourish briefly during their childhood. 

I have revisited the pages of CUCURUCHO lately and, although it is obviously a product of its time, it still holds up well in terms of originality and humor. Kids nowadays would find it naive and out of step with the era of social media and internet gamers but on its day, it was a worthwhile and entertaining publication for children of the 70s.

These were the last two issues of CUCURUCHO.  I don't think my grandchildren would appreciate them as much as the kids from four decades ago so I guess I'll put them back into my personal archives and let the memories hover around for a little while before going on to something else.

HAPPY CHILDREN'S DAY, 2022!

 

This is me in 1956. Wish I could go back in time and warn myself about the future!

I Remember Abu Dhabi!

Back in 2016, I flew to Abu Dhabi to meet with my sister who was living there at the time. Spent one great month making the scene there and at Dubai, where I visited every tourist attraction and several other places not seen by the general public. All in all, a wonderful experience! 

The End of the Holidays?

 

ACCORDION IN HELL

I took accordion lessons way, way back in Grade School. 

According to this FAR SIDE cartoon by Gary Larson, does that mean I'm going to end up 

at the place down below?

 

Since I know you're all dying to know, here's a close up of the Hohner Accordion Model that I used to play. The expression on my face on the picture at right, tells everything about the joy I felt about learning this instrument. 

The New Stand-Up Comedy Rules?

The Academy Awards in HD!

Watching certain TV shows in HD screens is not exactly the best viewing experience, especially when most programs are an insult to the average audience!

COUNTRY LIVING!

ANTONIO'S 10th BIRTHDAY!

My Grandson is 10 Years Old Today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANTONIO!

Best wishes! Love you!🥰😘😍❤️💕❤️

ANOTHER SENIOR MOMENT!

 

NOT 105 YEARS OLD

I really appreciate the congratulatory comments but I want to stress the fact that it is 

the newspaper I'm working for that turned 105 this year and not me!

EXCELSIOR daily newspaper celebrates 105th Anniversary!

                  Excelsior newspaper has been publishing my editorial cartoons since August, 2006.

Today marks the 105th anniversary of this legendary publishing company which was founded back in 1917 and I am very proud to be counted among the many contributing journalists, reporters and cartoonists who have helped to make this paper, one of the best and most relied upon news source in the country. 

Happy 105th Anniversary!

ST. PATRICK'S DAY FOR THE NON-IRISH

Of course, you don't need to be Irish to celebrate St. Patrick's Day!

May the leprechauns dance over your bed and bring you sweet dreams. 

Cheers!

GET MICHAEL CAINE!

 Michael Caine, one of my favorite actors is 89 years old today and in celebration of this famous British icon, I will review here some of my favorite Caine performances.  His filmography on IMDb lists 134 film credits, which is quite a large body of work so it is rather difficult to pick out just a few. However, these here are my most memorable Michael Caine appearances:

ZULU (1964) 

With Stanley Baker

THE IPCRESS FILE (1965) 

 

With Sue Lloyd

ALFIE (1966)With Shelley Winters

THE ITALIAN JOB (1969)

TOO LATE THE HERO (1970)

         With Cliff Robertson

GET CARTER (1971)

 

SLEUTH (1972)

With Sir Laurence Olivier

THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING (1975)

With Sean Connery 

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED (1976)

DRESSED TO KILL (1980) 

With Angie Dickinson

                                                                                                                          

DEATHTRAP (1982)  

                                                           With Christopher Reeve

                   EDUCATING RITA (1983) 

With Julie Walters

BLAME IT ON RIO (1984)

 

With Michelle Johnson and Joseph Bologna

HANNAH AND HER SISTERS (1985)

 With Barbara Hershey

MONA LISA (1986)  With Bob Hoskins

THE FOURTH PROTOCOL (1987)

WITHOUT A CLUE (1988)

 With Ben Kingsley

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS (1988)

A SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM (1990)

NOISES OFF (1992)

THE CIDER HOUSE RULES (1999)

 With Toby McGuire

SHINER (2000)

THE QUIET AMERICAN (2002)

SECONDHAND LIONS (2003)

THE STATEMENT (2003)

BATMAN BEGINS (2004)

With director Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale

As Alfred Pennyworth

 THE PRESTIGE (2006)

FLAWLESS (2007)

With Demi Moore

HARRY BROWN (2009)

GOING IN STYLE (2017)

With Alan Arkin and Morgan Freeman

KING OF THIEVES (2018) 

TWIST (2021)

BEST SELLERS (2021)

MICHAEL CAINE on IMDb