I got the idea for this cartoon from Jim Zaccaria, a Facebook friend.  Jim always has interesting and clever posts.

As I was developing the cartoon, I wanted Mimosa to say Woody was looking “out of sorts.”  I checked to make sure I was using the phrase correctly and ran into this great web site about English phrases.  You will want to check it out.

Anyhow, below is Tim Bowen’s description of the meaning and history of the phrase from Read the rest of this entry »

An astute WoodChips reader recently pointed out (actually on March 26th, or was that the 27th as the 26th) that our free WoodChips calendars had two March 26th days in it.  The comment seemed to imply we had made a mistake.

After much deliberation here at WoodChips Central we decided to follow the American Government / Many Large Corporation’s damage control models and…

1. Spend all of our time trying to blame anyone but ourselves
2. Spend none of our time actually fixing the process, and
3. Eventually settle on the fact we could blame it on someone else – the Mayans, in this instance, since this is their big calendar year — Ummm … and this may all blow over on December 21st.

We were all feeling pretty smug about how we handled this PR opportunity (that’s government / corporate talk for when things are all really #$%$#$ up), but then our PR guy said that one of the really good damage control things is to Read the rest of this entry »

In all fairness, I must give credit to a British friend of mine, Gerald,  for the CheeseHenge and building materials concept, who in all fairness tells me he got the idea from someone else, I think famous and in Britain, a comedian named Eddie Izzard, who is quite funny – so anyhow, that’s the whole fairness and credits thing – chuckle.  I hope the cartoon lives up to their expectations.

So, outside of my own uncontrollable imagination, I also get cartoon ideas from astute and creative WoodChips readers like Gerald, and Eddie. who have now been inducted into the Honorary WoodChips Hall of Fame.

If you have cartoon ideas, I’d love to hear them.  Just click on the title of this post and enter your idea in the comment box that magically appears below.  You could be the next Honorary WoodChip if you do.

And wouldn’t that just make your day – J. Daniel

Cartoon dialog:

Setting: A pre-Stonehenge created by the early Britons made out of cheese.
The British public works project manager, who looks amazingly like a NeanderTree, is being interviewed by a reporter from FMBC.

As a mouse in the background is running away with a big hunk of cheese he just cut out of CheeseHenge, which is starting to fall over, the BC Project Manager is saying to the reporter, “Aye Mate, we expect it will last for a thousand years.

The caption to the cartoon says: The early Britons creatively experimented with different building materials before eventually settling on stone.

Sometimes you can do all of the study in the world, but you will not understand until you actually put it to use.
Travel is the best teacher.

I heard some unsettling news this week from my friend Gerald in London.  Gerald is an ace copywriter and well informed gentleman with Drayton Bird Associates, who also seems to know just about everything concerning internet marketing, websites and their construction.

So I had mentioned how much I enjoyed the pubs during my extended time in London in the late 70′s.  And he informed me in the course of that email conversation that many of the pubs are becoming franchise chains – not the authentic thing as I recalled.

Images of rubber-stamped lookalike pubs and McDonald’s and Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken flew through my head, stomping all over those good memories.  Good God, I thought, of all the places I had hoped to hold with their tradition, surely England and the pubs were two of them.

Not that we’re so good at that, really.  Here in the States, it seems things change so much that if we hang on to something for just ten years or so, it warrants the attention of an historical society or something.

Perhaps sensing my consternation, Gerald quickly followed up by adding that there were still plenty of real, authentic, genuine pubs to be found.  I was much relieved.  I had, apparently, let my imagination run a bit too wild on his initial news.

But with just cause, I tell you.  Because I had a great start on my very first night in London, in my very first pub.

It all started as I Read the rest of this entry »

I got this cartoon idea from the late, great Arthur C. Clark, British science fiction author, inventor and futurist extraordinaire.  He fired my imagination as a young man, and I believe I’ve read virtually all of his books.  You may know of him from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Someone once asked him what his sign was.  And he replied, “I don’t believe in astrology — I’m a Sagittarius, and we are skeptical.”

I selfishly changed the sign to Virgo.  You may gather that I am a Virgo.  We are said to be yawn-wide boring.  I wonder if Mitt Romney is a Virgo?

Oh, and I am skeptical.

Have a nice day – J. Daniel

Cartoon Dialogue:
Mimosa, at the Bark n’ Barley Bar:  “What’s your sign, Woody?”
Woody: “I don’t believe in astrology, Mimosa.  I’m a Virgo and we are skeptical.”

Okay, so some of you may think the bus looks a lot like an Etch-A-Sketch.

And some may think I am picking on Republican political candidate Mitt Romney – who, by the way – just had a staffer say that after the primary election was over they could just reset him (implied – on the issues) like shaking an Etch-A-Sketch and making the screen blank again.

Hmmmm … well, you are right about the bus.  Strangely, it does resemble an Etch-A-Sketch, what with those straight connected lines and the white bus wheels that seem to resemble Etch-A-Sketch control knobs.  Funny how that worked out, really.

But you’re only a little bit right on me picking on Mitt.  I am, perhaps, going for bigger fish.  Like politics in general – in America – and around the world – in the history of mankind (we think big here at WoodChips Central).

You see, Mitt’s developed a near fatal problem in the past few days.  And you will NEVER guess what it is.  I’m not talking about the fact that Read the rest of this entry »

This cartoon was inspired by a Facebook post from Kim G.  Kim has now been made an Honorary WoodChip for her insightful question and inspiration.  You can see her name listed among other luminaries in our prestigious Honorary WoodChips list – click here at Honorary WoodChips.

Kim is also the Go To Guru of all things in Social Media.  So whether you are a professional looking to increase traffic to your site, or a FaceBook poster that wants to be better at it than all your friends (not that any of us are competitive or anything, heh, heh), you will want to visit her site at Kim’s Site – click here.

If you agree that a woman can’t have to many pairs of shoes, you might like the bag, card, or T-Shirt shown below – and many more choices and fun things -  at the WoodChips Store.  Just click here or the image below to go to the store.

And have a nice day – J. Daniel

OK, so a lot of you have gotten your free 2012 WoodChips Calendars by now.

And then, some others haven’t gotten around to it yet.  Hey, it’s only March, right? (chuckle).

So for you ultimate procrastinators, and believe me, I admire your staying power, we’ve created the Ultimate Procrastinators Calendar, featuring the Mayan End Of The World – which, oh by the way, ends before the year is out.

Our top level meetings here at WoodChips Central lead us to believe this would help you get around to downloading the calendar.  This special calendar has the holidays after the end of the world conveniently grayed out so you won’t accidently plan something.

So go ahead and click here to get your free calendar, featuring all the cool holidays like Belly Laugh Day, Black Friday, Talk Like A Pirate Day and many more – before the world ends. And yes, it has all the old boring holidays as well.

And I’d get cracking on that bucket list while your at it (chuckle).

Have a great day – J. Daniel

Here’s a new word for you that recently showed up on the internet – Ineptocracy.  It was brought to my attention by astute WoodChips reader Marty C.

Ineptocracy noun. (in-ep-toc’-ra-cy) – a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.

This word kind of confirms a nagging suspicion I’ve had that our politicians are granting political favors to blocks of voters so they can get re-elected.  Now that’s rather cynical of me, but I keep running into these things that make me think we have the best government money can buy.

Like alcohol, for instance.  Only the government could screw up such a wonderful product. You just aren’t going to believe this.  Now, I’m not talking about the good kind of alcohol, but rather it’s anemic cousin used for fuel to run your car.  This kind of alcohol is supposed to be a Read the rest of this entry »

Cartoon Text:

Elmer: What are Chip and Cherry doing?
Maple: They’re playing their favorite game called Federal Government.
Elmer: It looks like they are just kicking a can down the road.
Maple: Like I said, they are playing Federal Government.

What can be better than Cool and Free?!  So, hey, get your FREE 2012 WoodChips calendars here … they have all the cool holidays like Belly Laugh Day, Talk Like A Pirate Day – even National WoodChips Day … and yeah, yeah, we have all the normal, boring holidays on it as well — big deal …

Also, there are other calendars to choose from … and we’ll be adding more in the next few weeks, so you might want to check back from time to time…

So just scroll on down and Maple will point to where you need to sign up to get your cool calendars … and you get the free WoodChips newsletter as well …

And have a nice day – J. Daniel

P.S. Also, don’t mess with dragons (chuckle) – just a little health tip for you … or you’ll be having a bad day at the office like Sir BranchALot in the calendar cartoon above.

Just enter your name and email below for instant access to your calendar(s).

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Sometimes after I’ve drawn a cartoon I come up with a variation that may be better, have a different meaning, or be clearer.  In this case I took out the Y2k reference and just kept it simple, i.e. the Mayan’s calendar ended in 2012 just because they ran out of steps.  I think this variation is clearer to most people.

The Y2k reference, which I like as well, is really pretty subtle.  What do you think?

Have a nice day – J. Daniel

Text of cartoon:
1st Mayan: So why did you stop at 2012?
2nd Mayan: I ran out of steps.
1st Mayan: Ha, that’s so far in the future no one will ever notice.
Caption: How the ancient Mayans 2012 end of the world prediction really happened

Can you believe some of the things these Presidential candidates are saying these days?  I swear, some days I think they will say and do anything to win the election — but that’s just cynical and crass of me, now isn’t it.

Have a nice day (and wear your hip boots) – J. Daniel

Cartoon text:
Presidential Candidate: And I am not a Flop Flipper.
DeadWood: It’s Flip Flopper.
Presidential Candidate: Uh, for the record, I was a Flip Flopper before I wasn’t a Flop Flipper.
Caption: Well, that certainily clears things up

Wow, no arguing with Mimosa on that one – she’s sharp as a tack, isn’t she?

I guess Woody was expecting a more conventional answer like the Giants or the Patriots.  Anyhow, have a great Super Bowl Sunday — and I hope your favorite team wins – J. Daniel

Text of Cartoon:
Woody: So who’s going to win the Super Bowl, Mimosa?
Mimosa: That’s easy, Woody.  The team with the most points.