Of Kats and Painting


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Here are the KKs from 9-16 to 9-22-1938. Mostly bank and money jokes this week, maybe Garge had some banking altercations that inspired the gags. Look at all the different ways that Krazy’s head and body are constructed within the same strip, 9-21, yet he remains Krazy. Cathy and I managed to get to Buster’s coffee house in South Pasadena for our Thursday paint-out on July 12th. We painted Buster’s from across the street, and  had fun doing it while the new “Gold Line” trolley cars ran by. We were critted by our mentor Walter McNall, who keeps advising me to always paint the shadows first in a composition, and put people or animals in the picture to keep it interesting. He’s a tough critmaster, but fair. Walter has been painting many years, and almost always sells his stuff, often to casual passers-by.

I have two ideas that could help save the world we live in, someone please invent a miniaturized solar battery! If they can miniaturize computers into the Iphone, why can’t somebody shrink the solar battery to a more manageable size with increased storage capacity? Then we can finally run our cars directly with sun power!  The other idea: read aloud to your kids, and do it often! If we are going to develop oral tradition and a love for storytelling, we should all read aloud our favorite stories to children, both our own and at your local public libraries. Pry ’em away from all the electronic squawk boxes, grab your copy of “The Curious Lobster” and read it aloud! Read it well, make it interesting and you’ve hooked a new generation on story telling and the wonders of books.

Use the link to the right to get to Tom Stathes’s blog and take advantage of his big 50% off DVD sale. This offer is good up to August first. Just tell him I sent you. Three of my favorite Stathes DVDs are # TS-21, Bonzo the Pup, a rare collection of Studdy’s famous British dog character. This DVD includes some titles transferred from 9.5mm prints including Aladdin Bonzo, a Stathes exclusive, and Dog-Gone, in which Bonzo drinks a bottle of Bass Ale at the finish. TS-17, Felix the Cat, Vol. 3, has a rare excerpt from the early 30s Felix: Hootchy Kootchy Parlais Vouz, which uses that wonderful toy-like design. Felix’s body is the shape of a bowling pin in this one, there is a great scene of Felix marching along, leading a big parade of cats. This fragment is all that survives from this rare Felix cartoon. T.S. 04: Rare Silent Cartoons Volume 1 has such rarities as Kat in Chinatown, a live action/animation combo cartoon featuring Tad Dorgan’s Cat. Speaking of Tad Dorgan, there is also on the same DVD, the animated version of Tad’s “Indoor Sports” comic strip, featuring the Joys and Glooms animated by Bill Nolan! This is a very inexpensive way to get viewing copies of under-circulated silent animation, and help Tom out on his crusade to rescue and help preserve early cartoons. C’mon now, git yer onery hides over there and cough up! You’ll be glad you did.

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