I started watching the 6-part Netflix show, Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami. And to my surprise, I know so many of the characters/people. I’ve lived in Miami most of my life, so this all transpired during my lifetime.
I’m friends, well, let’s say I’m friendly with one of the dealer’s sons. I know two of the women, who are now Real Housewives of Miami. I know them through a good friend, who is good friends with them. I know one of the lawyers, I work out with him at the gym, and so on and so on. They even mention and show old videos of my own little neighborhood in the show.
So many of the news stories, I remember seeing on the tv news at the time.
The 1980s, my favorite decade, was a wild time in Miami. I was of course removed from al of these drugs things going on, but they were always front page news at the time. And the people I know from the stories, I know now, I didn’t know then.
I love the part in the show where one juror says that Willy and Sal, the drug kingpins didn’t look like gangsters to her when she saw them in court, she said, “The attorneys are the ones who looked like gangsters.”
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This cartoon from the other day reminds me of an old neighbor I had. She and her husband used to spend time between Miami and New Hampshire and I asked her how she did it. Didn’t her clients (they were lawyers) care that they were not always present or in the same city?
She said, “It really doesn’t matter where you are. They just care that you pick up the phone.” And I always remembered that. I don’t always pick up the phone – I prefer email or text. But I did like the thought that if you get the job done, who cares where you’re getting it done from.
She ended up moving away, but was still in Miami. She ended up on the city’s historical board and was probably the only one who cared about preserving history and was anti-development. I always agreed with her regarding that stuff. In Miami, there is no reverence for history – it’s all about new – new chrome and glass.
Regarding the fact that you could be anywhere and conduct business, it reminds me of when I first started an online business, back in the stone age when things were new online. Customers would call me on the phone to give me their orders. They didn’t feel safe putting their credit card numbers online. But the thing is, I would take the numbers and put them online myself, that is how you put the credit cards through the system – online. And when I would take the number from them, there were times I was at a restaurant or in the park and I was literally taking their info down on a napkin. So much for keeping their credit cards secure. It would have been secure if they had just put their numbers into the system online to begin with.
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The next time I’m at the MET Museum, or any museum for that matter, I’ll check out the sculptures more carefully for ancient paint. According to this report on CBS Sunday Morning, those bright white ancient sculptures were not originally white. They were painted in bright colors! Check it out.
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The above cartoon seemed to be quite popular. Over 800 people shared it on Facebook as of Sunday.
I wasn’t sure people would get it. But apparently they did. I love when that happens. I’ve been publishing work I like in hopes that the readers will like it, and get it, too. When that happens, it’s a big bonus.
This comic about the “hood/hoodie” wasn’t as popular, yet, many people did get it.
It’s featured on the Comics I Don’t Understand blog, and some people have something to say about it. Whether they like it or not, I think they all get it.
I wasn’t sure how that would go over either. But I thought it was funny. And I do think that “hood” is used as a shortcut for “neighborhood” by many people now. It’s just a change in the English language. How many of us write “u” for “you” when texting?
I have a red hoodie that I love. I left it in NY one time – in the Hamptons, at my cousins house, and it was there for maybe three years. I missed it. I was embarrassed to ask for it more than once, because it’s a $20 hoodie, but I love it so much. It’s a perfect color red and it feels so soft and comfortable. I’ve bought others, in red and other colors, but none are the same.
I use it in Miami when it’s chilly and in the fall when I travel up north I wear it in the plane, I put it over my head and close myself off from the rest of the travelers, which by the looks of things these days, just might be a good thing to do when traveling by air.
Anyway, one of my cousins finally brought the red hoodie back to the city and gave it to me one Thanksgiving.
Went I went up to NY this summer, I had it out on the bed, as I was packing and I forgot to bring it, I left it on the bed. But it was so hot the time I was up north there that I didn’t need it once. I’ll bring it back again in October, when I go up for ComicCon.
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Last week I started placing lilies in my cartoons. You may have noticed.
They are in honor of something personal and I don’t know how long they will be there, but if you scroll through above you can see the last five cartoons that have had the lily or lilies. Can you spot them all?
It’s not a game, but if you want to make it one, check these out and all the upcoming cartoons which may, or may not have lilies.
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So New York Comic Con is back! From October 7-10, 2021, the Jacob Javits Center will be alive again. Until recently it has been used for some sad and unpleasant things – you may remember it was turned into a hospital during the very dark days of covid. And until recently it was a center for vaccination shots.
I guess it will feel weird being there and thinking of all that, but in the end, it will be back to what it was meant for – events. Comic Con was cancelled last year, so it will be a big welcome home event this year.
I’m looking forward to Comic Con. And of course, being in NYC in the fall is an added bonus. This past summer there was still a lot missing. There wasn’t much in the way of service and I don’t think NYC is ready for visitors yet. Plus the weather is either 100 degrees or raining every day, which doesn’t help in making it a great summer experience.
That being said, I did spend a lot of time with friends and family and I did a lot of things from going to the Hamptons a couple of times to visiting Little Island, Governors Island, Coney Island (a lot of islands), seeing the fireworks and of course doing the Van Gogh Experience, among so many other things.
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I was in New York for a few weeks and last week I went to MOMA, the Museum of Modern Art. While there, it reminded me of this cartoon I published this past year. It’s a guy, most likely the security guard, looking out the window, rather than the masterpieces surrounding him.
Some of you thought it was an artists license, me adding a window next to the art, as if that wasn’t a thing. But it is a thing and I’ve seen it so many times at MOMA.
I took these two pictures last week. And there were so many more instances where I could have taken more pictures. People actually look out the windows at MOMA, right next to the art! I’ve done it myself every time I’m there.
I guess it’s the view – the skyline is a work of art itself, so you sort of gravitate toward the windows, which are right next to the art!
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One of my favorite comics is “Off the Leash” by London-based cartoonist Rupert Fawcett. I first saw the comic on Facebook, where Rupert has almost 1 million followers. The comic can also be seen on Instagram and on its own website. But Rupert is also known for other comics work including Fred, a single panel comic which, like Off the Leash, has has been published all over from newspapers, to books and greeting cards.
TOM: Regarding “Off the Leash,” You seem to get into the dogs’ heads, do you study them? Tell me about your own pets.
RUPERT: I’ve never consciously studied dogs but I am a watcher by nature, a people watcher and I suppose, a dog watcher too. I’m someone who is never phased by delays at airports or anywhere else as I know I will be happily entertained watching the people around me, although I have to be careful not to get caught staring too intensely at anyone. We currently have a two year old whippet and two Burmese cats.
TOM: How often do you publish Off the Leash? Do you draw up a bunch at one time or post them as they are completed?
RUPERT: I had a very productive three years of producing Off the Leash cartoons at the beginning but as I have other commitments I now only draw new ones sporadically. As soon as I have finished one I post it which is the great thing about social media for a cartoonist, it is so instant, from the drawing board to the worldwide audience in seconds!
TOM: I totally agree with that, I almost feel social media was made for art and cartooning. I noticed you work in black and white, why that and not color?
RUPERT: Black and white line gives enough visual information for a cartoon. Coloring would be time consuming and add nothing to the joke.
TOM: I like the clean look of your black and white work, too. Who are your cartooning influences?
RUPERT: don’t have any specific ones but I’m probably influenced by everything I see.
TOM: What medium do you use? Digital? Pen and ink?
RUPERT: I use old fashioned ink pens – I’m a bit of a technophobe.
TOM: What was the first thing you would seriously draw? I mean, I would draw Fred Flintstone, I always remember as a young child doing that. Did you draw a character or have a favorite subject at a young age?
RUPERT: As a boy growing up in the sixties I used to draw footballers quite a lot and soldiers. The comics I read as a child featured regular strips based on the war which was still very recent history. I also used to create my own strange characters. I used to get very absorbed and doodle for hours.
TOM: How did you begin your career as a cartoonist? When did you start cartooning? Tell me about Fred
RUPERT: Speaking of strange characters! I created Fred in 1989 and received over 80 rejection letters from publishers and newspapers. But when I had the greeting card range published by Paperlink it suddenly took off and became a big thing. Fred kept me fully occupied for about twelve years.
Fred was a combination of surrealism and suburban Englishness
TOM: Tell us about your studio or workspace.
RUPERT: I work in a fairly small room at home in South West London, it’s my ‘garden shed’ and i have to be prised out of it by my family sometimes. I’m happiest when I’m drawing and in my private dreamworld, just as I was at six years old.
TOM: What famous artist, dead or alive, would you want to paint your portrait?
RUPERT: Lucien Freud (with my clothes on)
TOM: What comics/cartoons do you read/follow today?
RUPERT: I probably don’t look at cartoons any more than anyone else but I always appreciate a good one. Gary Larson is brilliant.
TOM: Thanks, Rupert!
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These pictures of course do not do this justice, but the other day we went to the Van Gogh Experience in NYC. It was one of the best things I have experienced. The best part and most unbelievable part was just as we entered, my favorite song, No Regrets by Edith Piaf started playing.
This was not planned. We entered randomly, it was not as if the show was starting, it’s an ongoing thing. The person at the entrance, parted black curtains, and four of us entered, the lights came on and Edith Piaf started singing and Vincent Van Gogh’s work was bigger than life surrounding us. An indescribable moment.
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