Yuma, AZ

Just got back into town from a trip to Bismarck, ND and Yuma, AZ. I really enjoyed the bright, hot sun down there and was hard pressed to come back to Detroit. 92 degrees and very dry down there. A nice break from the pre-winter cold of the north country, but the lack of green and no water makes it a place that I could not be content living there. Still, a nice town with friendly people. It's 200 miles from the Phoenix airport, so I got in some fun driving in the new Mustang convertable (Gray with Black top), and on a straight, flat road, well, no comment on how fast I was going. Here are a few pics: First picture is of one of the several ranges of foothills throughout the desert between Yuma and Phoenix. Next picture is of one of the hundreds of Cactus that dot the landscape. Third is Arizona from the air. Very brown indeed!

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NIAGARA FALLS

I had some work to do in Buffalo, and since the city has been putting itself back together after the recent snow storm, I decided to stay the night in Niagara Falls, Ont., instead. I got a room at the Hilton on the 26th floor, and the price was about the same as staying in Buffalo ( a very expensive city hotel wise). Again, the power of nature does not fail to impress. This picture (of the "Horseshoe" falls on the Canadian side) was taken from the restaurant on the 33rd floor. Niagara Falls is in the off season now, but still a fun place with many restaurants and other attractions.

this shot is of the smaller falls on the US side a mile to the north

PUDGE!

With the great performance of the Detroit Tigers over the NY Yankees, I would like to take this opportunity to personally Thank Pudge Rodriguez and all of the Tigers for a job well done! GO GET EM' TIGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More Myrtle Beach pictures

For some reason, it seems like three pictures is all that blogger will let you squeeze into one post and there were two more pics that I wanted to squeeze in. This one on the left was taken the following morning. The vastness and power of the sea call to me in a visceral, primal way that the Great Lakes, although formidable in and of themselves, do not. One day I will live near the sea.




Another motivator for running on the beach!

Travelin' Man

Since the vacation in Chicago, I've been to Petoskey and Traverse City MI, Kansas City, MO, Rochester, MN, Denver, CO, Youngstown, OH, and Myrtle Beach, SC. This is why I have not been posting. I am hardly able to keep up with email and paperwork fast enough, let alone do a drawing and post!

Monday night, after doing my work in Florence, SC, I returned to Myrtle Beach, checked into the hotel, and went running for 5 miles on the beach during sunset. I love the ocean. It makes it a lot easier to dog those 5 miles when you have the sunset and the sound of the waves crashing on the shore. The lobster dinner and key lime pie for desert were fabulous as well. Unfortunatly, this trip was just a quick overnighter, so I had to squeeze any fun into just a few hours.

As some of you may already know, I have been on a health kick since April, and have dropped 40 pounds. I went from 215 to 175 and am feeling much healthier and fit. I just turned 45, so I figured that if I didn't do something now it would just be harder every year I waited. I'm still not finished, but am very close. I'd like to knock off another 5 or 10 and then I will be what I was when I was in high school and the Guard. I feel great, except for a few aches and pains (getting old is highly overrated), I feel like I did 25 years ago. Captain America was just getting too fat!

I clicked a few shots from Myrtle Beach, so have a look:
Myrtle Beach from the air















Jimmy B's (is this where the CUG spends his winters?)














This was my "jogging track", taken the following morning

John Hancock Tower, Shedd aquarium

This rounds out the photos from the Chicago trip. Below is a photo from the outside of the John Hancock Tower, considered the "best view of Chicago".


Below is a view of the city from the 94th floor observation deck. Unforntunately, it was a bit foggy that day. On a clear day it is said that you can see four different states: Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and my home state, Michigan.


This is a closer shot of the Sears tower, the tallest building in the USA.


These are a few photos from the Shedd Aquarium, located on the waterfront close to the Adler Planetarium and the Field Museum.

This fellow is from the Iguana display near the front entrance. He's a blue iguana from the Carribean.


Man, that looks like one tasty crabbie patty! Fry me one up, SpongeBob!


Moray Eel, the only flash photo I took.

Navy Pier

The top photo of Navy pier was taken from the 94th floor of the John Hancock tower. If you look closely, you can see the 15 story high ferris wheel that the rest of the photos were taken from. There is a shopping mall, Children's Museum, bars, restaurants and a small amusement park on Navy Pier. A great place for both kids and adults to have some fun. There was also a free fireworks display at 9:30 PM on Wed. night.


Spinning wheel swing ride from 15 stories.

Looking out at Lake Michigan.

The city skyline

More Chicago

These photos, from top to bottom: Enigma code encrypter and code book captured from U-505. Nazi war flag captured from U-505. Piston replica from U-505, as tall as I am! USCG Huey, the type used when I was in the Guard in the early 1980's. STUKA dive bomber, the only one that I have ever seen on display

Chicago!

Last week the family went on vacation in Chicago. We stayed right across from Grant Park and had easy access to the Field Museum, the Shedd Aquarium, John Hancock Tower, the Adler Planetarium, and the Museum of Science and Industry, all of which we visited while there. We each bought a City-Pass, which includes everything I just mentioned for $50 ($39 for under 12).
We also went to Navy Pier, and the Magnificent Mile to browse all of the stores. I finally broke down and got a decent camera for this trip, so here are some pics:


This is the Field Museum. They are currently showing artifacts from King Tut's tomb and photos were not allowed. They had tons of stuff, most of which has been seen on the History Channel, etc. that were amazing. There were also huge permanent displays animals, historical objects, gems and minerals, religious artifacts, world cultures past and present, and so many things I could go on and on. This one alone took an entire day to see.

This is a photo of U-505, the only German Uboat to be captured by the U S Navy. She has been completely restored and is on display at the Science and Industry Museum, which has a lot of historical displays as well as a look into the technologies of the future.

Three Stages of a Man's Life.....

With all this terrorism, dirty politics, high energy prices, etc., I thought I'd pass this along to lighten things up a bit. This is courtesy of my lovely wife Chris (I think I'm in stage two).



Three Stages of a Man's life:

Thor

Here is a quick rendering of the mighty Thor, the thunder god of Norse mythology and also of Marvel Comics. I have always loved stories of the ancient gods and could not get enough of the great Marvel stories featuring the art of Jack Kirby with inks by Vinnie Colleta. I kind of like what the Ultimates comic has done with him by making him a anti-corporate guerilla environmentalist.

Sorry to have slacked off posting, but work is really picking up and I have been hard at it and probably will be for awhile. I'll try to bring the pencil and paper with me and do more drawings. This will probably be the last superhero for a while as I am burning out on them. I'm actually thinking of doing a "music video comic (?) of an old Marty Robbins song called "My masters call" it is from an album called "Gunfighter ballads and trail songs". I remember it from childhood and is a great story, as are most of the other songs on the record. We are going way back, but I can remember all the words like it was yesterday.

Situational Awareness Scenario

I'm on the road, so instead of a sketch, here is a fun email from my friend and co-worker,
Wayne Dennon . Check out his website. He is one cool dude! He has some great rock concert pics over there.




You are driving in a car at a constant speed.

On your left side is a valley and on your right side is a fire engine travelling at the same speed as you.
In front of you is a galloping pig which is the same size as your car and you cannot overtake it. Behind you is a helicopter flying at ground level.
Both the giant pig and the helicopter are also travelling at the same speed as you.
What must you do to safely get out of this highly dangerous situation?





Answer: Get off the children's "Merry-Go-Round", you're drunk..

SPIDEY REWORK

My old friend, pro comics artist Michael Netzer has reworked my spidey drawing and I thought I'd give you all a look. Mike is living in Jerusalem now, but when we were very young we were friends and fellow comic book fans in Detroit, where he was born. Mike is a very interesting fellow. He is Lebanese and lived in Lebanon as a child and young man, escaping to Israel during the Lebanon civil war. He has drawn Batman for DC comics, and also worked for Marvel. He's got some radical ideas on a lot of things, but is so talented and creative that he just doesn't think the same as the average guy. It's people like him that push the envelope and push society forward. Anyway, thanks for the tips Mike, and keep them coming.

Sticky!

This was the topic for this week's Illustration Friday . Since Superman is so popular, I thought Spidey may feel left out of the fun. This one's for you Joe, I hope you like it.

Superman Returns!

I did this doodle to try out a new ink brush that I just bought and in honor of the new Superman film that is premiering today. Just a quick 20 minute drawing to relax a little before grinding out some paperwork for the day job.

As I did the drawing, I started to think about what meaning Superman has in my life. Why is he relevant to me.

Superman is just so powerful of an icon that his importance to western culture cannot be understated. First and foremost, he was the first superhero. The one that all others are but an imitation. Certainly he is first among his fellow supermen. He is the fastest, strongest, and greatest of them all.

Not only that, but all other superheroes "become" their alter ego. Superman "becomes" Clark Kent. Clark is the fiction, Superman is the fact. Very cool indeed.

There are also the parallels with Jesus Christ.
Jor-el, realizing that his world is ending in every sense of the word, sends his only begotten son to the planet Earth, where he will have Godlike powers compared to the humans. He will be the salvation of Earth.

He will use his power to fight for Truth, Justice, and the American way...

In this post 9/11 reality that we live in, who among us would not marvel in awe! Who among us would not shout "Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's SUPERMAN!

If only, on that day, he would have been there to stop those planes... I can see him now, at the last moment lifting those planes, one by one, away from the towers, tearing off the aluminum skin of the cockpit and bending it around the hi-jackers after setting the planes down safely in front of the nearest police station... Later, Mayor Giulliani on behalf of a greatful city presents the Man of Steel with the key to the city.

Superman Returns...

Welcome back Superman. We need you now more than ever.

Dance

I found this drawing, from about 1977 (I think), in my garage. It is too large to submit the whole thing. I am too busy for a new drawing so I submit this as my Illustration Friday drawing of the week.

PORTRAIT

It's been a little while since the last post. I've been on the road again and things have settled down a little. This entry in Illusration Friday is a portrait of Ira Hayes.


Ira Hayes met a very unfortunate end at the age of 32. He died after a night of drinking and gambling on the Indian reservation. It seems that he accumulated over fifty arrests for public drunkeness. One may wonder why such a person could be of interest to you and I.
Well, it might be the fact that before this sad turn of events, Ira had become a national icon of all that is heroic and good about America, our military, and the Marine Corps. It is also an indictment of how our government failed to take care of a national treasure.
I could try to tell this story in my own words, but I think Johnny Cash did a much better job than I ever could.

"Ira Hayes, Ira Hayes
[CHORUS:]Call him drunken Ira Hayes. He won't answer anymore. Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian Nor the Marine that went to war.
Gather round me people there's a story I would tell. About a brave young Indian you should remember well.From the land of the Pima Indian A proud and noble band. Who farmed the Phoenix valley in Arizona land.
Down the ditches for a thousand years The water grew Ira's peoples' crops'. Till the white man stole the water rights And the sparklin' water stopped.
Now Ira's folks were hungry And their land grew crops of weeds. When war came, Ira volunteered And forgot the white man's greed .
[CHORUS:]Call him drunken Ira Hayes. He won't answer anymore. Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian Nor the Marine that went to war .
There they battled up Iwo Jima's hill, Two hundred and fifty men. But only twenty-seven lived to walk back down again .
And when the fight was over And when Old Glory raised. Among the men who held it high Was the Indian, Ira Hayes!

( Ira Hayes is the man on the far left side of this photo)

[CHORUS:]Call him drunken Ira Hayes. He won't answer anymoreNot the whiskey drinkin' Indian Nor the Marine that went to war .
Ira returned a hero. Celebrated through the land. He was wined and speeched and honored; Everybody shook his hand .
But he was just a Pima Indian, No water, no crops, no chance. At home nobody cared what Ira'd done And when did the Indians dance .
[CHORUS:]Call him drunken Ira Hayes. He won't answer anymore. Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian Nor the Marine that went to war
Then Ira started drinkin' hard; Jail was often his home. They'd let him raise the flag and lower itl ike you'd throw a dog a bone!
He died drunk one mornin' Alone in the land he fought to save. Two inches of water in a lonely ditch Was a grave for Ira Hayes .
[CHORUS:]Call him drunken Ira HayesHe won't answer anymore. Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian Nor the Marine that went to war .
Yeah, call him drunken Ira Hayes But his land is just as dry. And his ghost is lyin' thirsty In the ditch where Ira died ".

GALLERY

Cap STUKA Pilot



















Bettie Page "Jungle Bettie"




Speed
US Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw (WAGB-83)

Rick Jason, Lt. Gill Hanley "COMBAT!"

Lloyd bridges from SEA HUNT

























Athena
Greek Boxer
Poseidon
Chuck Connors "The Rifleman"

Too Funny!

Captain America

Because Chuang asked for it, here it is. Did not do a full body because drawing Cap's shield is very hard. Even though he is my all time favorite, that shield is very intimidating with all those circles. No drawing this week for Illustration Friday. The subject "fat" is uninspiring to me.

Under the sea

My drawing for Illustration Friday is another childhood memory that sparked my interest in the water and my joining of the Coast Guard. Sea Hunt was a TV show that, along with COMBAT! was standard fare at my house after school.
Retired Navy (although they showed him wearing a Coast Guard officer's uniform at least once that I remember) Diver Mike Nelson, now an undersea private investigator, patrolled the seas aboard his specially equipped vessel, the Argonaut in search of sunken treasure and other stuff that a young boy thought was way cool. Underwater fights between Mike and the bad guys abounded, usually resulting in somebody getting their airhose cut (I could never understand why they just didn't stab each other, must have been worried about sharks I guess) , or many stories revolved around being trapped underwater with his limited air supply running out. Although fans were treated to a host of Mike's undersea dangers, no body ever died. At the end of each show, Lloyd Bridges would do a voiceover plea for mankind to save the Oceans as the Argonaut sailed into the sunset.
Lloyd Bridges was a great leading man, and character actor whose career was sidetracked in the 50's because he was blacklisted by the House on Un-American activities because as a very young man he had briefly been a member of the Communist party. He really was more interested in films than doing a TV show at the time, but with a wife and two boys (Beau and Jeff), he had to put food on the table so he took the job. I for one am glad he did. He went on to do some great comedies in the 80's and 90's ala Leslie Nielsen.

Not only this show, but The undersea world of Jacque Cousteau stoked my interest in the water. If there is such a thing as re-incarnation, I wonder if Lloyd is now a dolphin swimming the seven seas. I know that's what I want to be when I come back. Getting back to using only the #4 brush when applying ink. It's harder to do and much more technical than using a uniball pen (like I did on Bettie), but I think it gives each piece an "old school" comics look.