One is never too old to learn of the important link between
protective head gear and good oral hygiene!
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Happy Turkey Day!!!!!!
Hope everyone has a very happy Thanksgiving! Gizmo doesn't appear too happy. Maybe it's the costume.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
George enjoys lunch...until!
No one will enjoy the Thanksgiving Day dinner as much as George.
Yummmmmm!
The idea for this cartoon came from a story my mother told me. It seems that one day one of my uncles came home from work to have a bite of lunch. Discovering an opened can of hash in the fridge, he helped himself. When my mom told him it was actually dog food he told her that it was too damned good for the dog, and finished it. I don't know what it says about the meals that were served in that house but, I'm glad I never ate there.Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Thanksgiving prep
Aaaaah yes, as the day of thanksgiving approaches it is time to prepare for our feast, and what better way to do that than to prepare our special guest for his place of honor!! What a truly lucky fellow!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Sheri, and her unidentical twin brother
It is truly amazing how many people are surprised when they learn that Sheri and her twin brother are not identical. Honestly, this happens more often than you would believe.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Final day of the trip
As noted on yesterday's post, this actually happened, although by a different pet in a different state. I did notice a mistake though that got past me and my proof reader. If you are a follower of "The Grand Life" then you will probably spot it. Although, I didn't and I drew the darned thing! Let me know if you do.
Email me at
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
The Trip Continues
Believe it or not, today's cartoon and tomorrow's are based on a true incident, although not involving Gizmo. Another much loved family pet, a laso opso named Lobilia Sackville Baggins was the culprit.
Monday, November 17, 2008
A Trip to Remember Pt6
Always seeking the truth, George has no problem with asking the question we'd all like to.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Still a trip to remember
Every so often I feel the need to wax philosophical. Alright, I'm done waxing, but not done smiling!!!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
A Trip tp Remember pt 4
While it is true that the majority of my cartoons are based on actual events that have happened to me directly, or to someone else and told to me, on occassion I see or hear something just too good to pass up.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
A Trip to Remember pt 3
Everyone who has gone on a trip with a child has dealt with this little ditty. Although, at the time I didn't think it was cute or funny, now it makes me smile.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Veterans Day
A salute to my brothers, George L. Holloway jr USAF, USA, USN, William H. Holloway USA, My brothers-in-law, Richard D. Stancliff USA, Michael Barnes USMC and last, but never least, my father, George Leroy Holloway sr. USA. Heroes all!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Bill and Charles, Together Again
Bill Melendez, ‘Peanuts’ animator - and voice of Snoopy - dies at 91
The Emmy-winning animator’s career extended for nearly seven decades. He’s best known for bringing Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy and the rest of the comic strip to TV and the big screen.
By Charles SolomonSeptember 04, 2008
Animator, director and producer Jose Cuautemoc “Bill” Melendez, whose television programs and theatrical films featuring Charles Schulz’s “Peanuts” characters earned four Emmy Awards, an Oscar nomination and two Peabody Awards, died Tuesday at St. John’s hospital in Santa Monica, according to publicist Amy Goldsmith. He was 91.
Melendez’s career extended over nearly seven decades, including stints at the Walt Disney Studio, Leon Schlesinger Cartoons, UPA and Playhouse Pictures. In 1964, he established Bill Melendez Productions, where he created his best-known works, including the holiday classic “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (1965). Over the years, his films were honored with two additional prime-time Emmys, three National Cartoonist Society Awards, a Clio and 150 awards for commercials.
“A Charlie Brown Christmas,” which Melendez and his partner Lee Mendelson produced for CBS, established the format of the half-hour animated special–and began one of the most popular franchises in animation history.
Animating Schulz’s simple drawings posed problems. “Charlie Brown has a big head, a little body, and little feet,” Melendez said in an interview in 2000. “Normally, a human takes a step every 16 frames–about two-thirds of a second. But Sparky’s [Schulz’s] characters would look like they were floating at that pace. After several experiments, I had them take a step every six frames–1/4 of a second: click-click-click. It was the only way that worked.”
“A Charlie Brown Christmas” won both an Emmy and a Peabody Award; CBS has rebroadcast it every holiday season since. Breaking with tradition, the filmmakers used an upbeat jazz score by Grammy-winning composer Vince Guaraldi and real children for the characters’ voices, rather than adult actors imitating children.
Melendez supplied Snoopy’s laughs, sobs and howls. Schulz insisted that as a dog, Snoopy couldn’t talk. Melendez experimented with making sounds that suggested a voice and speeding them up on tape – assuming a professional actor would do a final recording. But time ran short, and Melendez served as Snoopy’s voice in 63 half-hour specials, five one-hour specials, the Saturday morning TV show and four feature films. In his later years, Melendez chuckled over the fact that he received residuals for his vocal performances.
Working with Mendelson and Schulz, Melendez brought the “Peanuts” characters to the big screen in 1969 with “A Boy Named Charlie Brown.” Time Magazine said, “…when ‘A Boy Named Charlie Brown’ sticks to a boy named Charlie Brown, it becomes a good deed in a naughty world, bright, nonviolent and equipped with an animated moral, the way Snoopy is equipped with a tail.” Three sequels followed: “Snoopy, Come Home” (1972), “Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown” (1977) and “Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don’t Come Back)” (1980).
“Bill Melendez brought his special warmth, charm and directness to the Charles Schulz characters and brought them to life,” animation historian and Oscar-winning filmmaker John Canemaker said today. .
Melendez also oversaw the first specials based on the comic strips “Garfield” (1982) and “Cathy” (1987), two adaptations of the “Babar” books, and an animated version of C.S. Lewis’ “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” (1979). Through the London branch of his studio, he directed “Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done” (1975), rewritten fragments of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas with designs by illustrator Ronald Searle.
Born in Sonora, Mexico, in 1916, Melendez moved with his family to Arizona in 1928, then to Los Angeles, where he attended the Chouinard Art Institute. He was one of the few Latinos working in animation when he began his career at the Walt Disney Studio in 1939, contributing to the features “Pinocchio,” “Fantasia,” “Bambi” and “Dumbo,” as well as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck shorts.
Melendez was an active participant in the bitterly fought strike that led to the unionization of the Disney artists in 1941, after which he moved to Schlesinger Cartoons, animating Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and other classic characters for Warner Bros.
In 1948, Melendez joined UPA, whose innovative approach to animation delighted him. “The animation we were doing was not limited, but stylized,” he recalled in an interview in 1986. “When you analyze Chaplin’s shorts, you realize people don’t move that way–he stylized his movements. We were going to do the same thing for animation. We were going to animate the work of Cobean, Steinberg–all the great cartoonists of the moment–and move them as the designs dictated.”
After animating numerous UPA shorts, including the Oscar-winning “Gerald McBoing-Boing” (1951), Melendez served as a director and producer on more than 1,000 commercials for UPA, Playhouse Pictures and John Sutherland Productions. In 1959, he directed the first animation of the “Peanuts” characters for a series of commercials advertising the Ford Falcon.
“What made working in commercials fun then was the quick turnover of ideas,” Melendez said. “After working on shorts and animated features, that speed was refreshing.”
Melendez is survived by his wife of 68 years, Helen; two sons, Steven Melendez and (Ret.) Navy Rear Admiral Rodrigo Melendez; six grandchildren, and 11 great grandchildren. The memorial service will be private. Donations can be made in Melendez’s name to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
The Emmy-winning animator’s career extended for nearly seven decades. He’s best known for bringing Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy and the rest of the comic strip to TV and the big screen.
By Charles SolomonSeptember 04, 2008
Animator, director and producer Jose Cuautemoc “Bill” Melendez, whose television programs and theatrical films featuring Charles Schulz’s “Peanuts” characters earned four Emmy Awards, an Oscar nomination and two Peabody Awards, died Tuesday at St. John’s hospital in Santa Monica, according to publicist Amy Goldsmith. He was 91.
Melendez’s career extended over nearly seven decades, including stints at the Walt Disney Studio, Leon Schlesinger Cartoons, UPA and Playhouse Pictures. In 1964, he established Bill Melendez Productions, where he created his best-known works, including the holiday classic “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (1965). Over the years, his films were honored with two additional prime-time Emmys, three National Cartoonist Society Awards, a Clio and 150 awards for commercials.
“A Charlie Brown Christmas,” which Melendez and his partner Lee Mendelson produced for CBS, established the format of the half-hour animated special–and began one of the most popular franchises in animation history.
Animating Schulz’s simple drawings posed problems. “Charlie Brown has a big head, a little body, and little feet,” Melendez said in an interview in 2000. “Normally, a human takes a step every 16 frames–about two-thirds of a second. But Sparky’s [Schulz’s] characters would look like they were floating at that pace. After several experiments, I had them take a step every six frames–1/4 of a second: click-click-click. It was the only way that worked.”
“A Charlie Brown Christmas” won both an Emmy and a Peabody Award; CBS has rebroadcast it every holiday season since. Breaking with tradition, the filmmakers used an upbeat jazz score by Grammy-winning composer Vince Guaraldi and real children for the characters’ voices, rather than adult actors imitating children.
Melendez supplied Snoopy’s laughs, sobs and howls. Schulz insisted that as a dog, Snoopy couldn’t talk. Melendez experimented with making sounds that suggested a voice and speeding them up on tape – assuming a professional actor would do a final recording. But time ran short, and Melendez served as Snoopy’s voice in 63 half-hour specials, five one-hour specials, the Saturday morning TV show and four feature films. In his later years, Melendez chuckled over the fact that he received residuals for his vocal performances.
Working with Mendelson and Schulz, Melendez brought the “Peanuts” characters to the big screen in 1969 with “A Boy Named Charlie Brown.” Time Magazine said, “…when ‘A Boy Named Charlie Brown’ sticks to a boy named Charlie Brown, it becomes a good deed in a naughty world, bright, nonviolent and equipped with an animated moral, the way Snoopy is equipped with a tail.” Three sequels followed: “Snoopy, Come Home” (1972), “Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown” (1977) and “Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don’t Come Back)” (1980).
“Bill Melendez brought his special warmth, charm and directness to the Charles Schulz characters and brought them to life,” animation historian and Oscar-winning filmmaker John Canemaker said today. .
Melendez also oversaw the first specials based on the comic strips “Garfield” (1982) and “Cathy” (1987), two adaptations of the “Babar” books, and an animated version of C.S. Lewis’ “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” (1979). Through the London branch of his studio, he directed “Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done” (1975), rewritten fragments of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas with designs by illustrator Ronald Searle.
Born in Sonora, Mexico, in 1916, Melendez moved with his family to Arizona in 1928, then to Los Angeles, where he attended the Chouinard Art Institute. He was one of the few Latinos working in animation when he began his career at the Walt Disney Studio in 1939, contributing to the features “Pinocchio,” “Fantasia,” “Bambi” and “Dumbo,” as well as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck shorts.
Melendez was an active participant in the bitterly fought strike that led to the unionization of the Disney artists in 1941, after which he moved to Schlesinger Cartoons, animating Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and other classic characters for Warner Bros.
In 1948, Melendez joined UPA, whose innovative approach to animation delighted him. “The animation we were doing was not limited, but stylized,” he recalled in an interview in 1986. “When you analyze Chaplin’s shorts, you realize people don’t move that way–he stylized his movements. We were going to do the same thing for animation. We were going to animate the work of Cobean, Steinberg–all the great cartoonists of the moment–and move them as the designs dictated.”
After animating numerous UPA shorts, including the Oscar-winning “Gerald McBoing-Boing” (1951), Melendez served as a director and producer on more than 1,000 commercials for UPA, Playhouse Pictures and John Sutherland Productions. In 1959, he directed the first animation of the “Peanuts” characters for a series of commercials advertising the Ford Falcon.
“What made working in commercials fun then was the quick turnover of ideas,” Melendez said. “After working on shorts and animated features, that speed was refreshing.”
Melendez is survived by his wife of 68 years, Helen; two sons, Steven Melendez and (Ret.) Navy Rear Admiral Rodrigo Melendez; six grandchildren, and 11 great grandchildren. The memorial service will be private. Donations can be made in Melendez’s name to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
A trip to remember..The continuing saga
It seems as though no matter where we go or how long we'll be gone we take, let me rephrase that, a lot of unnecessary items are taken. I guess one never knows when a clothing famine will strike, or a make up shortage will occur.
See George. See George's suitcase. See George carrying his suitcase. See George carrying his suitcase in one hand.
Also, I am wearing a Confederate uniform because reduced to the size necessary for publication there is little, in any, detail left in the reduced Union uniform.
See George. See George's suitcase. See George carrying his suitcase. See George carrying his suitcase in one hand.
Also, I am wearing a Confederate uniform because reduced to the size necessary for publication there is little, in any, detail left in the reduced Union uniform.
Friday, November 7, 2008
A trip to remember
One of my fondest dreams..besides the one about midget wrestlers eating asparagus and juggling cattle prods.. is to go to a Civil War battlefield. I was lucky enough to go to Antietam a few years back but, to make several of the strip's punch lines work I had to change the battlefield to Gettysburg. So, I lied and I should be punished, hopefully by a midget eating asparagus and juggling a cattle prod.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Our New President..initially
Remember FDR? JFK?? LBJ???
Let me be the first to introduce our new president...
B.O'.B.
Yeah, I know his initials would actually be BHO but BO'B sounds a lot funnier and has a certain relaxed ring to it.
"AND NOW, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE OUR NEW PRESIDENT..B.O'.B., BOB"
Allie's special blend...yuummmm!
The neatest thing about a cartoon strip is that you are not limited by, or to, your own experiences. Often it is possible to benefit from the experiences of others without it leaving a bad aftertaste. If you keep your ears and eyes open there is a vast amount of humor available totally at someone else's expense. I listen and laugh alot. Sometimes, I just smile, but that's okay, cause it feels good too.
Please feel free to send ideas that you might want to see drawn up and posted. But, make sure it isn't something you, or someone else will be sorry for, or angry over.. trust me, you'd be surprised.thegrandlife@yahoo.com or fatduckie2@aol.com
Monday, November 3, 2008
Our Expanding Universe
During her pre-emo/goth period, Breanna often sought George's vast knowledge of all things weird and unusual, until she realized that he, himself, was weird and unusual.
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