Thursday, August 19, 2010

Asses, Death, Tornadoes

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When I was a kid, after living in Oklahoma for a few years, we moved to Spokane, Washington. My family and I were all shocked by how many people thought that Oklahoma was still just cowboys and Indians. (It's not)

The two angry letters I received last week told me that this cartoon struck a couple of Argentinians the same way. They assumed that I was implying that everyone in Argentina dresses like the Frito Bandito and drags a donkey around. The deeper issue was, in fact, that they were unfamiliar with the relatively common English phrase, "pompous ass," so they didn't get the joke. I could have had a businessman standing next to the donkey, but that would have been ridiculous. By the way, "Pampas" is a grassy plains region of Argentina.

My next offering today is one that was sent to me by a reader named Rick. His idea was a guy in heaven not fully enjoying the experience because of his "not so awful life," so I chose to show him with the outfit you see here. Personally, I prefer accordion music over harp music, but it seemed a good sight gag. I could have used bagpipes, but I like those, too. Don't miss the tiny wings, that's another part of the gag.

Let's move on now to the old cartoon from the archives, which I've made a habit of posting of late. This gag is from 1995 and also harkens back to my childhood in Oklahoma, when we had to circle the wagons to protect ourselves not just from Indians but from tornadoes every spring. In some cartoons, I depart from my more realistic-looking characters and draw more exaggerated cartoony types. This is one of those efforts and I can't say I like these two very much. Their bodies are okay, but their faces are unappealing to me. I like the trailer, though.

I had an aunt whose house was wiped out by a tornado and whose family moved into a trailer on the property while their house was being rebuilt. You guessed it, a few weeks later the trailer was hit by a tornado. They survived, but ended up in the hospital for quite a while. They then moved to a lake house and were flooded out the following year. After that, the Pentagon got them to move to Tehran in hopes of getting lucky.

9 comments:

Jym said...

=v= Another possible source of misunderstanding for the first cartoon is that a good number of gardeners are familiar with Pampas Grass, a popular ornamental plant (and an invasive weed in some areas).

James said...

I'm amazed that you were able to get away with "pampas ass." Stephan Pastis and Darby Conley would never be allowed to use that line.

Piraro said...

@Jym...I'm an amateur gardner myself but haven't heard of Pampas Grass. Thanks for the info.

@James...I've used "ass" a couple of times that I can think of, both times referring to a donkey in the cartoon. I used "bitch" once when a tiny, obviously pampered dog with hair ribbons complained to her old-lady guardian that the cat called her a bitch. I really couldn't believe I got away with that one.

Unknown said...

"After that, the Pentagon got them to move to Tehran in hopes of getting lucky."

Judging from current events, I wonder if they didn't end up in Pakistan...

Anonymous said...

The Mexican serape and sombrero on a Gaucho from Argentina shows your ethnocentricity, what a shame. But I love you.

Sirley said...

HAHAH I'm argentine and think that's hilarious. And we are all pompous asses..... ;) Love your stuff Dan!

Piraro said...

@Anonymous...I actually research images like these so I'm not too far off and the character in my cartoon is more-or-less based on this Argentine Gaucho.

http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/guide/hs034001.jpg

Sorry, don't know how to include a hot link in comments.

Arturo SM said...

What offends of your drawing is to draw all argentines as beggars very periphery.
I invite you to visit "photographically" my city - located in the middle of La Pampa- Rosario, where currently are developing the Youth World Cup of Rugby and the World Cup Women's Hockey.
Thank you and excuse my english.
The site is: http://interosario.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

i'm argentinian, I like the joke, but not the man's name, it doesn't sound like a gaucho's name (just an opinion XD)
nice job! =D