Who, What, When, Where & Wiandt

I was thinking about “M*A*S*H.” Remember “M*A*S*H”? The TV sitcom that was on in the 1970s and 1980s? It starred Alan Alda and Loretta Swit the entire run. It also starred at various times  McLean Stevenson, Harry Morgan, Wayne Rogers, Mike Ferrell, Gary Burghoff and Jamie Farr. It was about a mobile Army surgical hospital, or something, in the Korea War. Despite the specific time in which it is set, the show is timelessly funny.  I never watched it or knew how funny it was until I married Debbie, a huge M*A*S*H fan.

Well, when I think of M*A*S*H, I think of Mad Magazine. Do you know why? I’ll tell you why. The only time I had a letter printed in Mad was when M*A*S*H was being cancelled and Mad did a special issue with a cover drawn by my favorite artist, Jack Davis. My letter had nothing to do with M*A*S*H, but that is the issue in which my letter appeared. Some time I’ll scan it and plop in here. (Hmmm, Plop. Does anyone remember Plop comics? Another time.)

So in looking for M*A*S*H art by Jack Davis I found this video of the great Southern cartoonist. The video concentrates on his work for the Georgia Bulldogs, but also reveals a couple things I didn’t know about the man. I didn’t know his drawing style  was inspired by Walt Disney or that he is a Sunday school teacher. It’s very cool to see him and hear his voice in the video (it’s not the greatest quality, but still fun to watch).

I just discovered Jughead’s Double Digest No. 138 at the local big-box store. My friend Chris Schillig already had a post on it on Left of Cyber-Center. Check it out. Above are thumbnails of the cover of the new book (left) and the reprint of the cover of the first issue of Jughead comics from 1949, reprinted inside the new book, along with other past comic adventures that feature Jughead Jones. Of course you can click on the thumbnails for larger images.

This weekend was kind of busy. Saturday morning I worked in Cuyahoga Falls News-Press booth at the Cuyahoga Falls Chamber’s Community Expo. In just one hour I had the opportunity to talk to many residents, customers and exhibitors. Bob Earley, who orgnizes the yearly Rockin’ on the River concert series, was there. Although he had a booth where free magnetic schedules were available, he spent the first hour roaming the expo talking to people.

Bob’s a friendly, outgoing person. He recognized me from a ceremony I was covering on Front Street earlier in the week. That was a fun assignment where I got to watch Mayor Don Robart, wearing a hardhat, sit in an excavator and take the first swing at an old building set for demolition to make way for new development on that “crooked river.”

On a side note, Bob Earley told me someone from the city of Alliance wants him to organize an event there. That could draw a crowd.

Saturday night I went to a Columbus Blue Jackets hockey game with my father-in-law, brother-in-law and niece’s boyfriend. It was a good time! It was my first hockey game and I really enjoyed it. It would’ve been better if the Jackets had won, but oh well. They got beat 4-1 by the Detroit Redwings. There were a lot of Redwing fans in the Nationwide Arena. We had good seats.

Easter morning, Debbie and I and the Moore family went to church at Grove City Nazarene, a big church with contemporary worship and Bible-based teaching. The set from the church’s Easter play was still intact and a scene was re-enacted. The “stone” rolled away and “Jesus” emerged from the tomb.

I’ve seen GCN”s Easter play before, and it’s very well done. It’s also long. About 2 hours with no intermssion. Not to belittle the church or the message of Easter, but just as a comparision, the hockey game was almost 2 1/2 hours, but had two intermissions and lots of TV breaks.

Is it really March 14 already? Where does the time go? I have not been keeping up with my blogging like I wanted to. My blog is different from other blogs in which the blogger is posting every day sharing thoughts and events from his life. I’m just not in that mindset all the time (hardly ever, really). I like to come on and share thoughts, but I like even more to share pictures — art, drawings and doodles, both original and swiped. I haven’t used my scanner in a while. My new job has really changed my schedule and I’ve yet to get used to leaving earlier for work.

What can I tell you? We had a lot of snow last weekend. I stayed home all day Saturday. Except when I went out to shovel, I stayed in. I had some drawings I had to do for my church, so I was in the basement most of the day working on that. There was a notice in the church bulletin for two or three weeks seeking an artist to help design a backdrop for a children’s play. After putting it off for a couple weeks, I approached the children’s pastor at the last men’s breakfast and told him I could draw cartoons. He jumped on that and gave me a rough of what he was looking for. All week I was dreading the work I was going to have to do because I opened my big mouth (picture Jackie Gleason).

My wife told me I always do that. I volunteer to do something and then worry and regret it. Especially when it comes to drawing. I haven’t done it too much lately, but a lot of times I’ve stepped forward and said, “I can draw that.” And then I doubt myself and wish I had kept quiet. Things usually (maybe always) turn out  fine in the end, but not before I get worked up and ask , “Why oh why was I blessed with this artistic talent?” (now picture Art Carney — Y’know, I’m should do a blog on “The Honeymooners.”)

I turned in my drawings Sunday morning. I dropped them in the church office and ran. Pastor Joe wasn’t around. I don’t think he made it to service because of the snow. I saw him Wednesday night and he told me the drawings were good. Now I’m anxious to see if I have to help paint the backdrop.

No, I haven’t made my favorite humorous illustrator a captain. Capt. Jack Davis is member of the Cuyahoga Falls Police Department. He’s been very helpful in first couple weeks on the job at the News-Press, even going so far as to pose for a picture and answer a question for “My Turn,” a section of the paper that is much like The Review’s “Readers View.”

I thought I’d better post a link to “my” first issue of the Falls News-Press before it’s updated on Sunday. Go here.

This is a doodle I drew in  a little note pad last spring while I was into the novels and short stories of William Saroyan. I had been jotting down book titles and quotes on the pad. I drew it from a photo of Saroyan on the back cover of a copy of “One Day in the Afternoon of the World.” Saroyan was a good writer whose work was mainly fiction but much of it was based on fact. “The Human Comedy,” one of his first novels, is top-notch.

Saroyan once said, “The most solid advice for a writer is this, I think: Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell.  And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.” I think I found that on Wikipedia, so take it for what it’s worth — good thoughts whether he said it or not.

Here are a few Saroyan quotes I found in his books …”You want to make a home, you got to have smell of food cooking in there. You got a house with no smell of food cooking in there, you ain’t got no home.” (from “One Day in the Afternoon of the World”)

“Are these people really mine? This preposterous mad woman is my mother? This unbelievable loud-mouth man with the violent eyes is my father? How can  such people be my people? There has got to be a very terrible mistake somewhere.” (from “Chance Meetings”)  

“… what good is this life if people don’t laugh.”

“Always remember bread and cheese. When everything else looks bad, remember bread and cheese, and you’ll be all right.”

“… nobody ever left anything in the world better than a good book.”

“We can always go farther than we think. And we can get along on  a lot less than we think, too.” (all from “Papa You’re Crazy”)