I.F.: Homage

Here I am obviously paying homage to two great works of art: the Munch painting Scream and the Macaulay masterpiece Home Alone. Both pieces perfectly capture that dark night of the soul, where one must battle their inner demons or bumbling burglars shaped like Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern.

I was disappointed that Macaulay wasn't in the third installment of Home Alone (couldn't they just digitally remove the five-o'clock shadow?). I refused to watch on principle. I hope he pulls a Rambo/Rocky and revisits this role 25 years from now.

I.F.: Garden

The Garden is getting more political than ever. And I'm not just talking about right-wing carrots jockeying for position or purple-loosestrife planning some hostile takeover.

No, no, I'm talking about a ravenous beast hovering wherever a lettuce leaf blows on the wind: the localvore (or, in some circles, the locavore). Now, I've been part of local food groups, enjoyed meals made up of wonderful local offerings, but we've always cheated a little bit to make things meal-worthy (a mango here, some bananas there, even Boston lettuce has been know to paddle over to our plate). Not so with the localvore. If the garden delights come from more than 50 km away, they're dead to them. Dead.

Now, as restrictive as this can be, it's also quite beneficial in supporting a local economy, with a side benefit of being fresher and probably healthier (Monsanto spawn notwithstanding).

Today's Garden illustration isn't local. It's tomatoes from Pluto, that sad, demoted planet.

Illustration Friday: Leap

Leapin' Lounge Lizards, Liza! A Lethal Leaper!

Somewhere in a landfill near you are the casualties of home gym's past. Please add this hangover from the '80s, the home trampoline (yes, the crude drawing above), to the pile, which will be in good company with the Thighmaster...

and the BowFlex...

and the tres disturbing Ab Flex...

This cartoon is semi-autobiographical. Thankfully, I only bonked my head on the ceiling, but I was afraid of going through it.

Look before you leap...and before you impale yourself with an Ab Flex.