Bare And Valanced

Post-Election (IN COLOR)

noreply@blogger.com (Frank Gibson) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:54:00 +0000

Fresh New Logo!

noreply@blogger.com (Frank Gibson) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:40:00 +0000

FG Cartoons has a new name and a new look.

"Bare & Valanced" is the new place to find POST-election, Obama-Era cartoons.

I will soon, once again, be Bringing the Noise and Bringing the Funk to this site, so stay 'tooned (haha, geddit?) for your weekly-ish dose of the NAKED truth, with Frilly stuff around the edges.

If you are getting this as an Email, or through a blog reader (which I highly recommend), be sure to click through to the actual website to see the spiffy new logo. I worked on it all morning.

R&F 9-c: "Point's New 527, part 3"

noreply@blogger.com (Frank Gibson) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:19:00 +0000

The conclusion (for now) of this experiment in daily-style comic-strippage. We will now return you to the regularly scheduled Sunday 'Toons until further notice.

Click on the 'Toon to see it Up Big!

R&F 9-b: "Point's New 527, part 2"

noreply@blogger.com (Frank Gibson) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:02:00 +0000

As Promised, The Continuing Saga of The Talking Point's New Anti-"Change" 527 Group. If you haven't already read part 1, Click Here.

R&F 9-a: "Point's New 527, part 1"

noreply@blogger.com (Frank Gibson) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 12:41:00 +0000

I Got Something a little different for you 'Toonfans this week!I am attempting to ramp up my output of 'Toons a little, to more than one a week, and am experimenting with a "daily strip" style format.

I had intended to run a standard, weekend strip here today, and then release the serial strips through the week. I ran out of week at the end of my week, though, and didn't get the large-format 'Toon done.

So we start the week a little early, with the first of (at least) a 3-part series of strips entitled, "Point's New 527". I should be running the other installments on every-other day. Enjoy.

The Adventure Continues in "Point's New 527, Part 2"

Ralphie and Friends #8: "The Joker's Revenge"

noreply@blogger.com (Frank Gibson) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 06:25:00 +0000

This week's Ralphie and Friends is non-political. So instead of ticking off Republicans or Democrats, it will only tick off fans of ABBA Disco Musicals.

Click the image to see it bigger.

I don't mean to say that Mamma Mia! is a bad movie, just that it is a really bad movie to accidentally find yourself at if you have been waiting for 14 months to see "The Dark Knight". Mamma Mia! might actually be a great movie. I am just never, ever going to find out, if I can possibly help it.

As for the SAW franchise (they really need a 5th one?), this story inspired their mention in this strip.

This is what Julie Benz, one of the film's stars, had to say about her experience:

"These 'Saw' films are very psychologically terrifying, and it really affected me on a very deep level. I'd go back to the hotel and have nightmares about the movie, not actor nightmares — like 'Will I be able to perform?' — but about stuff going on in the film. I didn't think it was going to affect me like that. I mean, I was there on a set. I knew it was make believe, knew it wasn't true, and still I was getting really scared. They had a bucket on standby because I was really getting nauseous over things I had to do. I've never had that reaction to a movie before. I was always able to turn it off. But there were moments I actually forgot I was shooting a movie and really did think something awful was going to happen." (emphasis mine)

The producers of the SAW movies have apparently pushed the envelope so far that, according to Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity, they should now actually be pulling the envelope from the other side.

Ralphie and Friends 7: "Ms. Quoted"

noreply@blogger.com (Frank Gibson) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 12:42:00 +0000

This Week's Sunday Cartoon introduces our representative of the mainstream media. (a.k.a. the MSM), Ms. Distortia Quote.

The MSM, in their pursuit of things catchy, punchy, brief, and controversial, often make stories where there were none before. A frequent criticism of former Democratic Presidential Nominee Sen. John Kerry was that he couldn't seem to get the knack of "Speaking in Sound Bites". Today's cartoon is an extreme example of what can happen when you confuse the media with an overly-long answer.

Believe it or not, today's 'toon was written BEFORE the press went and proved my point with the whole Wesley Clark context-removal parade that aired all last week.

Ralphie and Friends 6: "Laissez-Fur"

noreply@blogger.com (Frank Gibson) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:03:00 +0000

Did ya' miss me, folks? I did not post this 'Toon last Sunday because.. Well because of a lot of things. I have this one now, though, and a few promising ones on deck.

Despite what you may have heard, America does not have a strictly "Free Market" economy. It's a bit more complicated than that...

...And Shar-Peis ARE adorable, as are American Mutts.

Ralphie and Friends 5: "Political Whiplash"

noreply@blogger.com (Frank Gibson) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 08:00:00 +0000

This Week's Sunday Cartoon (The first one to appear on Sunday) is entitled "Political Whiplash", and is a Commentary on the Schizophrenic nature of Primary Politics, as they segue into General Election Politics.

George Herbert Walker Bush Famously referred to Reagan's economic policies as "Voodoo Economics". A few months later he was out on the trail stumping to get Reagan elected High Voodoo Priest and Shaman-in-Chief.

Pat Buchanan then challenged Bush. "They're all in on it, the insider game, the establishment game -- this is what we're running against." a bit later, he was speaking at the Republican National Convention, telling everybody to vote Bush to the position of Backroom-Establishment-Insider-in-Chief.

Even in the 2004 contest, when Democrats were sickeningly united in their efforts to elect ABB (Anybody But Bush), Edwards called Kerry an "Insider",and mocked his proposal for a committe to study harmful trade agreements, saying,"What you're going to say to a family that's lost their job because of bad trade agreements is, 'Don't worry, we've got a Washington committee that's studying this for you.'" Then, like magic, Edwards' name appeared on bumper stickers everywhere, right behind Kerry's.

Ralphie and Friends 4: "Dumb As A Stump"

noreply@blogger.com (Frank Gibson) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:59:00 +0000

Welcome Back, ToonFans! Another Week, Another Ralphie And Friends Cartoon. Ralphie is back this week, with yet another new friend, The Dummy. The Dummy believes everything he reads in an e-mail, and his vote counts just as much as yours. Read, and be appropriately frightened...

As usual, Click the Image to see it Much More Biggerer

Ralphie and Friends 3: "Is America Ready?"

noreply@blogger.com (Frank Gibson) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 08:00:00 +0000

Yes, Boys and Girls, It is That time again! Time for another Cartoon! This one needs pretty much no explanation. As Always, Click it to See it Big!

After figuring out all the angles to the architecture in this place, I almost feel qualified to do Architectural Renderings. Almost, but not quite.
I just want to say, now that it is up and finished, I kind of wish I had changed the punchline in the bottom corner to "Why Does She Always Take So Long To Get Ready For Everything?" It's a small change, but If I had to do it all again I would change that.

A quick Google search for "Is America Ready" comes up with some links to demonstrate my point. I haven't read them beyond the titles, so beware: The opinions contained within are not necessarily those of Frank Gibson or "Ralphie and Friends".

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/02/28/obama.black.vote/index.html
http://jezebel.com/gossip/clips/is-america-ready-for-a-female-president-just-ask-carrie-bradshaw-301365.php
http://isamericaready.org/
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2007/04/11/couricandco/entry2673784.shtml
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15851488/
http://www.ontheissues.org/AskMe/jewish_vp.htm

I even got one result I wasn't expecting. The way-out-there forecast of Bobby Jindal as McCain's VP choice prompted this rhetorical question from Delaware Liberal:
Is America ready to vote for an Indian-American?
That caught me by surprise. Not only am I not ready to vote for this guy, I am not even ready to ask the question of whether I am ready to vote for this guy. NOTE: That was "Indian American", NOT "American Indian" There is a difference. Think Ghandi, Not Sitting Bull.

Ralphie and Friends 2: "Remodelpublicans"

noreply@blogger.com (Frank Gibson) — Wed, 28 May 2008 21:27:00 +0000

This Week's Cartoon is entitled "Remodelpublicans", and is a tribute to both the fact that the Republican Party seems to be experiencing a bit of a "Rebuilding Year" to use a popular sportscaster term, and, yes, the fact that their nominee is set to be the oldest man ever to hold the office.

I hesitate to do the "ageism" thing, because most other discriminatory "ism"'s (Racism, Sexism, Chauvinism, Capitalism, etc..) are bad, but I figure Ageism is not in the same category as those others, because we are all actively striving to become old people one day.

Think about it. Every time you eat your vegetables, take your vitamins, and avoid stepping in front of speeding trucks, you are actively trying to become an older person. So if you really hate old people so much, why the whole "life-preservation" thing?

I will never know what it is to be a Woman, or a Black Man, or an Asian, Native American, Hispanic, or Homosexual. (No matter what some people may say about me!) But I am hoping every day to someday be an old person. An old healthy person.

And when I get there I hope for two things. I hope that I will still be able to somewhat lucidly discuss the relevant issues of the time, and I hope that I will have a sense of humor about how old I am. John McCain, whatever else you may think about him, scores well on both points.

The more politically savvy among you will get the joke about the revolving door.

And I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge getting my inspiration from this Mike Luckovich Cartoon