al in la

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #321

2012-01-30T21:06:00.000-08:00

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #320

2012-01-23T21:58:00.000-08:00

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #319

2012-01-16T18:58:00.000-08:00

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #318 (oops! Forgot #317)

2012-01-09T21:49:00.000-08:00

WINNERSFIRST PLACEOhhhh her - ??? New hire named "Penny" - she's purported an expert at predicting downtrends---.Blonde (JUDGE'S COMMENT: Many people mistakenly believe that it was Chicken Little who said the sky is falling. This cap is slightly impressive because it accurately credits Henny Penny. Even so, Penny was, of course, wrong, so why would anyone hire her for her forecasting skills?)

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #316

2011-12-26T11:24:00.000-08:00

WINNERSFIRST PLACEAfter a long ride, this friar could use some Tucks. --boneguy (JUDGE'S COMMENT: Once again boneguy over thinks this shit and backs into the winner's circle. Here we have a painful (and annoyingly itchy) pun, gross imagery and a relatively obscure reference. For those just joining us: This is how to do an Anti-Cap. )SECOND PLACE"I hear Mexican hell is just like this, but with

CONTEST: Why not ________?

2011-12-16T21:21:00.000-08:00

Christopher HitchensApril 13, 1949 – December 15, 2011NOTE: While debating the existence of God, Christopher Hitchens often asked why someone would worship a supreme being who sends earthquakes and gives kids cancer. In mock bewilderment he wondered about the level of narcissism it would require to demand that you be prayed to on a daily basis. Maybe if I was more cynical, a lot richer, a bit

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #315

2011-12-12T18:55:00.000-08:00

Note: Yeah I know. A little tardy but...here they are. Still playing catch up.WINNERSFIRST PLACE"This latest incident has left a damaged and frightened Virginia Tech wondering, 'Why us?' Back to you, Bob."-- smuck (JUDGE'S COMMENT: Cold hearted yet slightly topical. After the first round of carnnage, the Yankees traveled to the shaken school to play an exhibition game. Predictably they kicked the

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #314

2011-12-05T21:54:00.000-08:00

WINNERSFIRST PLACE"I'm Ordinary Man."--Satireguy (JUDGE'S COMMENT: At first we shrug and ask, "Yeah right! What's his special power, polishing a barstool with his butt?" But maybe this is a statement about how people with no looks, brains or social status can still belly up to the bar called life. Heros come in many forms. Simple, yet profound. )SECOND PLACE"Whose cover do I have to blow to get a

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #313

2011-11-27T22:24:00.000-08:00

Note: Some years ago when I was still in NYC, one job I had included occasionally staying home to review TV shows set to debut on cable. It wasn't exactly heavy lifting: Sit at home all day and watch videos of TV shows with no commercials while eating junk food and lounging in an easy chair. Lunch time was nap time and I could easily ditch any phone call by saying "I have to get back to work."

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #312

2011-11-22T01:59:00.000-08:00

NOTE: Just as I was trying to play catch up with the contest. a wind storm ripped through the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, which is where Mrs. al in la and I live. The local news says it had the punch of a Category 4 hurricane. Worst one of these in 20 years. Gusts of over 100 mph sent debris flying. claimed countless trees and snapped utility poles like tinder. When the winds

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #311

2011-11-14T21:45:00.000-08:00

WINNERSFIRST PLACE"Elephants are just so cliché, you stupid idiom." --Sarah (JUDGE'S COMMENT: Seems a long way to go to make a point. Slightly highbrow yet dumb and confusing. We wonder why she is so angry and why she went to so much effort to make a point. Truth is, the expression "Hippopotamus in the room" never caught on."SECOND PLACE[Hippo, thinking...]"How the hell did these people get in my

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #310

2011-11-07T20:50:00.000-08:00

WINNERSFIRST PLACE"Why not Bil Keane?" --Carol Lou Ellen (JUDGE'S COMMENT: Long time anti-cappers will get this one. The creator of the highly durable corn-ball cartoon, Family Circus, died on Nov. 8 at age 89. His link to this contest: When a well liked person passed on, the founder of the Anti-Cap, Daniel Radosh, would often blog: "Why not Bil Keane?" It was an ironic and slightly sinister

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #309

2011-10-30T22:28:00.000-07:00

WINNERSFIRST PLACEHelen Keller was always easy to find in post-ride reaction photos.--Austin (JUDGE'S COMMENT: Remarkably, this is our first Helen Keller cap. Long over due but if it really was her, she's be screaming her hands off.) SECOND PLACE"Propofol? Oh, this ride is gonna be a thriller!"--Glenn. (JUDGE'S COMMENT: Topical yet depressing. Michael Jackson took surgical anesthesia the way

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #308

2011-10-24T21:18:00.000-07:00

Note: After looking at this stupid cartoon for far too long I finally got it: The two guys are in some kind of slacker paradise where you just sit around all day and eat doughnuts the size of car tires. You can't see it in the image but on the other side of the cave is a big screen TV [you have to admit they look like they're watching a game or something.]In fact it might not be a cave. It's

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #307

2011-10-17T21:48:00.000-07:00

NOTE: Sorry these are so late. There's been a lot of stuff going on. Most important: My dad Al senior passed away a few weeks shy of his 85th birthday. Those who visit this blog regularly will recall that earlier this year I was in Florida for three months hanging with him.We went to Walmart. Home Depot and the Goodwill store where he would lounge on the sofas while I sorted though vinage

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #306

2011-10-09T23:58:00.000-07:00

WINNERSFIRST PLACE"How many ears must one man have?" --Angus Podcorny (JUDGE'S COMMENT: A classic Dylan quote pressed into service with a bad pun and a hint of social commentary. It is also short. My idea of Anti-Cap perfection.)SECOND PLACE"I'm not paranoid. I simply know we're being stalked."--Tad (JUDGE'S COMMENT: Another bad pun--but no social commentary and no Dylan. That's why it's an

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #305

2011-10-02T22:11:00.000-07:00

NOTE: Whenever there is something in a cartoon that appears huge I stop and wonder if maybe its really that the other objects are tiny. Like these could be microscopic office workers fleeing a normal size rat. This also could have been one of those heavy handed propaganda cartoons. The rat could represent anything from poor hygiene to pro-union leanings. With a few touches -- yamaka, slanted

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #304

2011-09-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

Note: Maybe the contest is fading or maybe the tourists and irony -impaired have drifted away, but the number of entries fell to fewer than 80 this week. It's low but this matters not to me. I offer this contest as a public service. It is a forum for the rage, frustration and befuddlement we feel when we see a cartoon that calls for a caption that is stupid, racist, overly simplistic or just

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #303

2011-09-18T21:44:00.000-07:00

Note: By now it is clear that there are those people who enter Anti-caps that include a Dylan quote as means of currying favor with the judge. Usually their efforts earn them an honorable mention -- at best. But this week--I think for the first time-- a Dylan line takes home the top honor. This is touching but no one mentioned the lone time Dylan actually uses the word "guillotine" in a song. (I

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #302

2011-09-11T21:23:00.000-07:00

The call came sometime around twilight Sunday while I was unloading canned goods and lunch meat from the trunk of my car. It was Mrs. alinla She was over at her mom's house doing laundry and watching the Emmys. There was excitement in her voice. "Are you watching this?" she queried with a gleeful lilt. "Watching what?" I countered trying to stay polite while juggling groceries. "Radosh just won

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #301

2011-09-04T21:12:00.000-07:00

Note: This week marks the 11th anniversary of my move to L.A. I moved after I landed a job as the west coast editor of a New York-based national magazine. Although I did not fly out west until Sept. 15th, I started the job a few days earlier because the parent company was having its bi-annual retreat at the Chelsea Piers.The day was Sept. 11, 2000. The morning was devoted to seminars and meetings

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #300

2011-08-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

NOTE: The milestone 300th Caption Contest brings fourth the work of Gahan Wilson, a gifted if slightly creepy cartoonist who has long been a personal favorite of mine. The venerable Mr Wilson, now 82, was last seen here just over a year ago with a somewhat stupid puzzling cartoon that had a man and women clinging to a sinking sailboat inside a tea cup. (Either a huge tea cup or very tiny people I

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #299

2011-08-21T21:33:00.000-07:00

WINNERS FIRST PLACE "Let me introduce myself. I am Juan from Column A." --Kathy H (JUDGE'S COMMENT: As if to prove that the no-pun rule has been lifted, this gem brings a long over-due win for Kathy. Even so, why would "Juan' be introducing himself to a woman who looks like him in drag?) SECOND PLACE I finally got a column in the New Yorker.--Anonymous (JUDGE'S COMMENT: Congratulations! Not

RESULTS: The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #298

2011-08-18T21:31:00.000-07:00

NOTE: A tsunami-like wave of horrifying word play prompted an emergency rule change for this contest. With my head on the verge of exploding, I unilaterally disqualified all entries that include any type of pun. I just did it. And I'm glad I did it. The unprecedented move instantly eliminated more than half the caps. Good riddance, I say. (But just to be clear, puns are welcome in all future

Bonus Anti-Cap Contest

2011-08-14T22:42:00.000-07:00

Note: Some cartoons lend themselves to Anti-Capping, some don't. Two guys sipping coffee in an office setting while watching a monster destroy their city has numerous possibilities. That's why this cartoon struck a cord. By Sunday night our little bonus contest drew an impressive 144 entries. That is, I believe, a record for this type of post and one of the highest totals seen in Anti-Caption