November 19, 2009
Saw my first Low Pants Lance. I was on my way to yoga last Tuesday when I saw this tall kid angling down the alley by the Career School next to Black Mountain Gym. As I drove by I looked in the rearview mirror and saw that the back of his pants hung below the cheeks of his arse! He then jumped a wall so I got a real good view of the entire buttocks area. Amazing. I had seen photos of this phenom from New York City, but had never seen this extreme before, in the flesh.

Had a speech last night at the Fountain Hills Historical Society. Packed house (105 people) for dinner and a slide show created by Robert Ray to illustrate our 102 cover march to the present. Sold about ten books and drove home. Excellent time, well spent.

It's Dan the Man's B-Day today. He's 62. Here he is, at left, fifty-some years ago:

When I showed this slide last night the AV guy, Reno, said, "Man, that looks like Spin & Marty." Yes, Spin & Marty was a Disney serial that ran on the Mickey Mouse Club at about the same time this photo was taken. Dan and I are actually emulating the costumes of the TV show 26 Men, about the Arizona Rangers. We thought we were so authentic. Ha.

Happy Birthday Dan! Speaking of Dan The Man, I mentioned we are jamming on a cover for the January issue and Dan wants a 1900-style editorial cartoon. Here is an example of two masters of the medium from that time period. First up, Heinrich Kley's work:

And here's another elephant-related-editorial cartoon by James Montgomery Flagg:

Man those guys could draw! Of course Flagg is the guy who illustrated the iconic "Uncle Sam Wants You!" with Sam pointing out at us.

I'll post some of my sketches later, but in the meantime:

Classic Gunfights: Democrats Vs. Republicans
Well, I asked for headline suggestions and got them:

• Battle of the Bands

• Politics Most Deadly

• Dead Serious Politics

• The Dead Pols Society

• A Real Political Battle

• Politics cum 1871
—C.W. (a newspaper friend who doesn't want his name used)

• Kinky Friedman on politics, “Poly means more than one, and ticks are bloodsucking parasites.”
—submitted by Lance Ross

• "Killer Politics!...Donkeys and Elephants throw down" or "Massacre in Mesilla.the first REAL Red State", or "Hey you Asses, There's an Elephant in the room...and he's packin a .45!"
—submitted by Jeff Prechtel of the PUNdit Posse

• Grand Old Shoot Out: When Politics Meant Slinging Lead Instead of Mud

• Punching the Party Ticket Wild West Style: When Hanging Chad Had a Completely Different Meaning

• The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Politics: A Real Republican and Democrat Shoot Out

• Six-Gun Politics: When Democrats and Republicans Actually Killed Each Other

• No Country For Sane Men: Republicans and Democrats Shoot It Out

• Blazing Politicos: Excuse Me While I Whip This Out
—Chris Zimmerman

"The whole history of the world is summed up in the fact that when nations are strong, they are not always just, and when they wish to be just, they are no longer strong."
—Sir Winston Churchill