The First and the Best James Bond 007!

Remembering Sean Connery on his birthday. The first and the best James Bond 007!

THE SONS OF THE DESERT 22nd INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION!

The 22nd International Convention of the Sons of the Desert is being held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from August 17th to the 22nd, hosted by the Albuquerque Busy Bodies Tent, Oasis 29.

All participating delegates are already having the time of their lives at the Hotel Albuquerque and most of their wives think they are in Honolulu. That's a darb!

Hosted by the Albuquerque Busy Bodies - Oasis 29

Some personal affairs precluded me from attending the festivities this year but I am crossing my fingers hoping I will be able to partake of the forthcoming event a couple of years from now, wherever and whenever it may be held. (As long as I don't have to take the Oath from our Exhausted Ruler).

This was the logo of the now defunct BULLFIGHTERS TENT of MEXICO CITY.

More Senior Moments!

But I'm almost sure even millennials have trouble with this!

PAUL COKER Jr. (1929-2022)

Recently, on July 23, cartoonist Paul Coker Jr., one of my favorite artists from the original MAD Magazine Usual Gang of Idiots, passed on.  The following is the article appearing in ANIMATION Magazine on the day of his passing:

Animation artist and illustrator Paul Coker Jr., best known for his character and production designs for the classic Rankin/Bass stop-motion specials as well as his long stint illustrating for MAD Magazine, died at home in Santa Fe, New Mexico on July 23 at age 93, after a brief illness. Coker’s stepdaughter, Lee Smithson Burd, confirmed his passing to Deadline and shared that the artist was “lucid and had his remarkable sense of humor until the end.”

Born March 5, 1929 in Lawrence, Kansas, Coker studied drawing and painting at the University of Kansas, and began his career designing greeting cards for Hallmark in the 1950s in Kansas City, Missouri. He became the Art Director for the company’s humorous “Contemporary Card” line.

His first work for MAD appeared in 1961, and he became established as one of the publication’s so-called “Usual Gang of Idiots.” He went on to illustrate over 375 articles for the humor rag, as well as a series of paperbacks starting in 1968.

Coker was known for his “Horrifying Clichés” panels and film/TV parody spoofs. He also collaborated with MAD writer Don Edwing on the Lancelot and Horace & Buggy comic strips. Coker freelanced for other publications, including Esquire, Good Housekeeping and Playboy. 

To generations of fans, however, Coker will be remembered as the artful hand that created beloved Rankin/Bass characters like Frosty the Snowman (from the 1969 2D special); Kris Kringle, Winter Warlock and Burgermeister Meisterburger (Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, 1970); and the wonderfully vaudevillian villains Snow Miser and Heat Miser (The Year without a Santa Claus).

                                       

For Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr.’s iconic studio, Coker also provided character designs for stop-motion specials Here Comes Peter Cottontail (1971), Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July (1979) and The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye: The Emperor’s New Clothes (1972) as well as 2D specials and series like Festival of Family Classics and The Wacky World of Mother Goose. 

                                  

Coker lent his talents to to many of these titles as well, in addition to The First Easter Rabbit, Frosty’s Winter Wonderland, Rudolph’s Shiny New Year, Jack Frost, The Stingiest Man in Town and Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, to name a few. Coker continued working the the studio into the early 2000s, on the 2D TV movie Santa, Baby! He also provided character models for Cartoon Network’s Whatever Happened to Robot Jones? (2002).                          Coker is survived by his wife of 33 years, Rosemary Smithson, and stepdaughters Lee Smithson Burd and Carol Smithson.

THE RULE OF THUMB!

If you are a senior citizen, you have faulty eyesight and you're not very technology-wise,

this has most certainly happened to you at least once. Or maybe, more than once. 

But don't worry. That's okay. You're human.  

JUST DON'T LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN, OKAY?

"Here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!"

 

Of course, that was one of Oliver Hardy's most familiar catchphrases along with "Why don't you do something to help me?" and "Hard boiled eggs and nuts! Hmmh!"  Unforgettable words, always directed at his slow-witted partner Stan Laurel in their many short films from the 1930s. Unlike most comedy double acts who consisted of a funny guy paired with a straight man, Laurel and Hardy were a comedy team formed by two equally funny comedians, each one in his own particular style which complemented and counterbalanced the other.  Considered by many film scholars as being the greatest comedy team ever, Laurel & Hardy have always remained a very important and recurring part of my life. Every mistake, downfall, calamity, disaster, stupid move, wrong turn or spill I've experienced in my daily existence, always remind me of something that happened to The Boys. And then I realize I am not alone, for Laurel & Hardy were echoing all humanity with its many shortcomings and foibles. Therefore, I will always remain grateful that Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy existed and even though they are gone now, their influence still remains with me and those like me who remember them fondly.

'Twas Ever Thus!

I was 6 years old when Ollie passed away and I vaguely remember my grandfather making some comments about it. I guess I was much too young to be really impressed mainly because most of the comedians I watched on TV from the silent era and early talkies had almost all died by then, a fact my parents were quick to provide whenever they saw me watching those films.

“Hey, ma! Look at this funny guy here! Who’s he?”

“Oh, he’s Harry Langdon. He’s dead now!”

YESTERDAY, LOVE WAS SUCH AN EASY GAME TO PLAY!

On tour in Guadalajara with actress Irlanda Mora and an unidentified girl, many, many, many years ago! We were appearing with a comedy play in a local night club and we were taping some promo footage for local TV channels to advertise the show. 

 This photo also proves I've met some women in my time! 

LOVE CONNECTION?

 

THE GRIEF OF PAINTING

A few weeks ago, I offered to help a girl friend of mine to pick up a very large and heavy painting from her home and take it to a gallery as a consignment for sale. While I was trying to pack it with bubble wrap, the frame tilted a bit, hit an armchair and suffered a slight rip of the canvas. The restoration of the artwork cost me close to a thousand dollars.  The moral of the story? 

Never try to pick up a heavy framed painting by yourself and NEVER try to impress a girl friend!

CUCURUCHO #5 - Back Cover

Here's a nicely restored version of the back cover of CUCURUCHO # 5, published in 1975.

YOU BET YOUR LIFE!

Wise quote by an often quoted Groucho Marx!

TWA Photo Booth, 2022

The day I arrived at JFK to visit my son and his family in Hoboken, NJ, and the day I left. (With my son Ricardo by my side, as always!)

Turning 71!

Homo Sapiens

Our planet is fine. It has survived the worst catastrophes for billions of years. 

Humans, on the other hand, are an entirely different story.

THE PEACOCK EFFECT

 Watching the girls jog by.

May The Fourth Be With You!

Today I got my fourth COVID-19 vaccine shot. 

 Here's hoping the full force of the vaccine will diminish the dark power of the Coronavirus.

TRAVELING

As June begins, I'm still visiting with my son and his family in Hoboken New Jersey after a three week stay in San Antonio Texas last April with my other four grandchildren.   This photo was taken at the TWA Hotel the day I arrived in New York early in May!

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.