Clint (Make my day!) Eastwood

                                                     GET OFF A MY LAWN!

Clint Eastwood has been one of my favorite actors of all time. Starting with his starring role in Raw Hide as Rowdy Yates from 1959 to 1965 through the spaghetti westerns of the 60’s to the Dirty Harry movies of the 70’s and 80’s, he has come to be the iconic “off the wall” grouch that everybody loves to watch get even. He’s always played a tough guy with a nervous trigger finger and a short temper, but in the end he shows his humanity. Gran Torino (2008) is one of his best efforts and a picture to remember with a face that begs to be cartooned.

BAGHDAD OR BUST

I'll never understand why our government would tip its hand to the enemy and tell them when and what our army is doing.....and give dates. Should'nt we keep this stuff secret?
To me it's no different than telling the crooks when I'm going on vacation.
Holy cow! I need a nap.

Taliban Dreams (The New Twin Towers)

"Now Hear This"

On this strange day they call "Black Friday" I ran across this, the strangest Chuck Jones cartoon I've ever seen. Chuck was the originator of the Pepe LePew and Roadrunner and Coyote cartoons, but this doesn't quite fit that mold, (or any mold). This looks like some of the animation we did at Chouinard Art Institute. Chuck used to come and view the films during the end of year Film Arts showings at Chouinard so he must have stolen some of our ideas.(?) Actually he graduated from Chouinard in the early 1930's and after washing cells for Ub Iwerks was hired by Leon Schlesinger (Warner Bros.) in 1933 as an assistant animator. Two years later he was made animator and was assigned to work with director Tex Avery. So, I guess that kinda' explains his nuttyness. He must have inherited some from "Tex".

Snooty Fish

This is a new species of fish that has been spotted off the coast of Laguna Beach, Malibu and Santa Barbara. A local Malibu resident, Tom Betternyou, said; "These areas have been overun with those damn Rock Fish and lazy ass Flounders. It's good to see something with some class move in. We can relate to those Snooty Fish."
We'll keep you updated as the story develops.

SOLD

Copyright Bill Reed 2007 12"x16"Giclee prints available $35 + $5 S&H

Hey diddle diddle....

Copyright Bill Reed 2007

Hey diddle diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon,
The little dog laughed to see such a sight,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.

The origin of the poem is unknown however I found two theories regarding it.

One theory is that it is a parody about Queen Elizabeth I, 1533 - 1603 ( the only surviving child of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn). The cat is supposed to be Queen Elizabeth and the dog Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester. She refered to him as her lap dog. The dish being a server at the royal court and the spoon a taste-tester. Seems they ran away together and when they were caught were confined in the Tower of London. Don't mess with the Queen Mum.

Another theory is, during the early times in England when no one could read or write, the poem refered to constellations only visible in the April night sky.

Hey diddle diddle, the cat (Leo) and the fiddle, (Lyre) the cow (Taurus) jumped over the moon (the moon); The little dog (Canis Minor) laughed to see such a sight, and the dish (Crater- a dish shaped constellation) ran away with the spoon (Ursa Major, the Big Dipper).

April is the only month when these constellations can be seen in the night sky, thus signaling planting time to the farmers. http://www.mysurfbaby.com/

Old King Cole

Copyright Bill Reed 2007

Old King Cole was a merry old soul

And a merry old soul was he;

He called for his pipe and he called for his bowl

And he called for his fiddlers three.



Every fiddler had a fiddle,

And a very fine fiddle had he;

Oh there's none so rare, as can compare

With King Cole and his fiddlers three.


According to British legend, some think the rhyme was written about King Cole who lived in the town of Colcester in Essex England in the third century AD. It was claimed he was the father of St. Helena who later gave birth to the Roman emperor Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor.
Then again, others think the rhyme was written after Sir Walter Raleigh brought tobacco from the New World in 1585. Yet others think the "pipe" was not refering to a smoking pipe but rather a flute because of the last lyrics of the rhyme "Oh there's none so rare, as can compare with King Cole and his fiddlers three. That suggests he played the flute along with the fiddlers. .

Then there's King Coel of Northern England, but that's another story.

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