Saturday, February 28, 2009

Happy Birthday Gilbert Gottfried


Even though the stupid parrot he voiced in Aladdin completely defaced the Enchanted Tiki Room in the most shameless and disgusting "upgrade" or refurbishment any Disney World attraction has ever undergone, Gilbert Gottfried is still pretty funny.

I had no idea he was capable of being funny until I saw him at the Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget. Here are 2 short jokes from that.
*WARNING: It might offend!



Friday, February 27, 2009

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Happy Birthday Johnny Cash


He would have been 77 today. I remember listening to his second to last studio album "The Man Comes Around" the night before he died, and talking with a friend about how much more depressing the album will be once he passes away. Most of those songs indicated he had accepted that he was on his way to the grave, and completely ready for it. The following morning he was reunited with June Carter, who had passed away just a few months earlier.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Happy Birthday George Harrison


Today the talented Beatle would have been 66 years old. How can I call him the talented one? Six words: "Got My Mind Set On You".

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Happy Birthday Mitch Hedberg


Not the best I could have done, but definitely not the worst either.

This is the first famous person whose death had me slightly choked up when I heard the news (the only other one being George Carlin last summer). I was lucky enough to see him on his home turf here in the Twin Cities just months before he passed away. I remember almost not going, but had the feeling that I'd regret it if I didn't. Needless to say, he was funnier than hell. He would have been 41 today.

Happy Birthday Peter Fonda


Peter Fonda turned 70 today.

Happy Birthday Kyle MacLachlan (2-22-09)


Agent Cooper hit the big 5-0 yesterday.

Happy Birthday Kelsey Grammer (2-21-09)


He is 54. He is the voice of Sideshow Bob, hence the shadow. Nothing too original about that, but it's what I felt like doing.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Happy Birthday Kurt Cobain


He would have been 42.

Happy Belated 61st, Tony Iommi (2-19-09)

Happy Belated 55th, John Travolta (2-18-09)

Happy Belated 28th, Paris Hilton (2-17-09)


As much as I hate to say this, I find Paris to be generically attractive, so drawing her was kind of a struggle. Ugly person, but pretty face.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Happy Birthday Ice-T


He is 51.

Happy Belated Birthday Matt Groening


NO, drawing him in the Simpsons style would NOT have been a good idea (or very original).

Happy Belated Birthday Jack Benny


Jack Benny turned 115 on Valentine's Day.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Happy Birthday Abraham Lincoln


Abe hit the big 2-0-0 today, and so did Charles Darwin. This is another acrylic attempt on water color paper.

Honorable Mentions:
Christina Ricci is 29
Darren Aronofsky is 40
Josh Brolin is 41
Arsenio Hall is 54

Happy Birthday Burt Reynolds


Burt Reynolds turned 73, well, yesterday, but I'm only 2 hours behind so I am choosing not to list this as belated.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Happy Birthday Lon Chaney, Jr.


I don't paint nearly enough and there's no way I will get better if I don't start doing it more often. I definitely chose the wrong paper for this, but there are plenty more trials in store.

Lon Chaney Jr. would have been 103 today. I recently questioned if he was related to Dick Cheney, but now I see their names have a different spelling. It'd be fun to paint Dick Cheney in the same light, though.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Happy Birthday Joe Pesci


He is 66 today. Last fall when a buddy and I were in Los Angeles, we could have sworn we saw Joe Pesci in the car next to us as we drove down Beachwood Drive, leaving the Hollywood Hills. We sped up for a better look at the next stoplight. After closer consideration, we concluded that it only looked exactly like him at first glance, although he was wearing a black wife-beater (for you older folks, that is slang for tank top). Now had it been white with a few spaghetti sauce stains and perhaps a baseball bat in the passenger seat, there wouldn't have been a doubt in my mind that it was him.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Happy Birthday James Dean and Gary Coleman


James Dean would have been 78, and Gary Coleman is 41.

*Honorable Mentions:
Nick Nolte is 68
Ted Koppel is 69
John Williams is 77
Jack Lemmon would have been 84

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Happy Birthday Chris Rock


It's also Chris Rock's birthday today. He is 44.

Happy Birthday Miguel Ferrer


Miguel Ferrer is 54 today. He has starred in numerous TV shows and lent his voice to several cartoons. He played one of my favorite characters from Twin Peaks, Albert Rosenfield. Albert was a wise-cracking FBI agent who couldn't get along with anyone, and as Agent Cooper warned Sheriff Truman, "lacks some of the social niceties".

Here's a minute of one of my favorite Albert moments:

Happy Belated 95th, Thurl Ravenscroft


Last night I was making a list of people I'd like to draw who might be too obscure to appear on the birthday lists in the 3 resources I've been using. That's when I found out that Thurl Ravenscroft had a birthday yesterday. He was the voice of Tony the Tiger and the unmistakable voice who gave us "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch". Most importantly, he lent his voice to numerous staples in Disneyland, and will forever be immortalized in that happy, happy place.

Here's a fun and brief interview I found:

Friday, February 6, 2009

Happy Birthday Ronald Reagan


"Tell me, "Future Boy", who's President of the United States in 1985? Ronald Reagan, the actor? Then who's VICE-President? Jerry Lewis? I suppose Jane Wyman is the First Lady! And Jack Benny is Secretary of Treasury!"

I felt like going with the younger actor Reagan, who would have been 98 today.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Axl Rose is 47
Natalie Cole is 59
Bob Marley is 64
Tom Brokaw is 69
Zsa Zsa Gabor is 92
Babe Ruth would have been 114

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Happy Birthday Christopher Guest


Funny Alice Cooper should mention Spinal Tap in that video I posted, because I think most would agree that This is Spinal Tap is probably one of Christopher Guest's best films. That and Best in Show. Like Alice Cooper, Guest is now 61.

Sometimes when I'm watching The Office I'm convinced that the overall uncomfortable feeling they convey so well, along with the whole painful awkwardness being the new "funny" is all very much influenced by the humor of Guest's mocumentaries. And what a public service he has performed if that is the case.

*HONORABLE MENTIONS:
H.R. Giger is 69
Hank Aaron is 75
William S. Burroughs would have been 95

Happy Belated 61st Alice Cooper


Alice Cooper turned 61 yesterday. I saw him about 10 years ago in my hometown at a sports bar, in a town with a population of about 71,000. This was a day before I saw Ozzy play in front of 40,000 at Alpine Valley. Alice Cooper was pretty entertaining, fun enough that I went to see him again a couple years later (also because I had free tickets that were handed out at my billionth GWAR show).

For anyone who has ever been a fan of any type of metal, I strongly recommend the documentary Metal: A Headbanger's Journey. It's equally intriguing, informative, amusing, campy, embarassing, etc. There's a segment where they focus on Norwegian black metal, and band members and fans who were involved in a series of church burnings in Norway in the early 90s. They burned down several landmark churches that were up to 600 years old.

If you have 2 minutes, here are 2 clips from that film. The first is a brief interview with the front man of a band called Gorgoroth, regarding the church burnings. That's followed up by Alice Cooper's hilarious remarks about Norwegian black metal.



Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Happy Birthday Warwick Davis


Warwick Davis, otherwise known as Wicket the Ewok, Willow, The Leprechaun, Greedo Jr., etc. turns 39 today.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Happy Birthday Tom Smothers


The older Smothers is 72 today. If he should pass away first and Dick wants a replacement, I think I have a suitable candidate:

Ketchup

And that concludes all of the belated birthdays that were caused by yet another visit to this place:


Not to pat myself on the back or nothin' but it almost looks digitally manipulated, doesn't it? Well it's not! I happened to be passing by at dusk, during this "magical" moment at "The Most Magical Place on Earth", not to be confused with "The Happiest Place on Earth".

The Happiest Place has not yet shamelessly tainted and bastardized its Enchanted Tikki Room in the most twisted and depraved manner possible. And hopefully they never will, because I think they know better. That's why their Pirates of the Carribean doesn't lazily cut corners while trimming its story down. They still have Mr. Toad and 4 more dark rides than the Magic Kingdom. Don't forget the Matterhorn, a better Space Mountain, an Indiana Jones ride, and Walt Disney's spirit living in he park (it's in the air, honestly). What really sucks is that the 2 best things the Kingdom has that Disneyland doesn't (Philhar Magic and the Hall of Presidents) were closed for refurbishment.

But don't get me wrong, it was still a great time and I'll definitely return. I at least got to see fireworks this time, which I've been screwed out of on each visit to Disneyland (almost always canceled at the last minute due to "high winds" or a few rain drops). And most importantly, the Haunted Mansion still kicks a lot of ass.


Happy Belated 41st, Lisa Marie Presley


Lisa Marie turned 41 yesterday. This means she has just a little under 2 years left before she outlives the talented, worthy Presley.

Happy Belated 90th, Jackie Robinson


The first major league African-American baseball player would have been 90 last Saturday, and in the same month as Obama's inauguration!

Happy Belated 35th, Christian Bale


Christian Bale had a birthday last Friday. I consider him to be the "man's man", an actor who I put right up there with Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke, Clint Eastwood, etc; all actors I could never get sick of watching and who seem virtually incapable of making a crappy film (with some minor exceptions of course).

Happy Belated 64th, Tom Selleck


Last Thursday Tom Selleck turned 64. He is another celebrity I consider to be a "cop-out" caricature. He could be drawn from memory and anyone will probably still get it. But how many have been brave enough to draw him shirtless?

With that said, this is officially the most homoerotic drawing I've ever done. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing.

Happy Belated 32nd, Daunte Culpepper


Former Viking, Dolphin, Raider and current Lion (poor bastard) Daunte Culpepper turned 32 on 1-28-09. Let me say, it is quite the challenge finding decent reference photos of football players without their helmets. Even if they're the quarterback.

Happy Belated 41st, Mike Patton


Tireless voice artist, songwriter, composer, co-founder and co-owner of Ipecac Recordings Mike Patton turned 41 on 1-27-09.

*HONARABLE MENTION:

Frank Miller turned 52

Happy Belated 84th, Paul Newman


Paul Newman would have turned 84 one week ago today.