Happiness is baking cookies during the holidays
and reading the great Schulz biography , and the chronological fantagraphics collections of Peanuts.

Fantagraphics has released the complete run (only about 2 months) of Jack Coles brilliant daily strip Betsy and Me.
Cole was something of a cartooning genius moving from one triumph to the next. He created the iconic rubber man Plastic Man, illustrated some fill-ins on the Spirit, worked on the infamous Murder, Morphine and Me strip used in the anti comic book study Seductiion of the Innocent, defined the look of the Playboy Magazine cartoon gag panel for Heffner using gorgeously watercoloured pages
and then achieved many a cartoonists dream by selling his syndicated daily strip Betsy and Me.
Illustrated in a stipped down UPA/Peanuts style with lots of playful graphic invention its a pleasure to finally read these. Funny, clever and very "50's" in the best way they are of course tinged with
sadness knowng that Cole took his own life at the beginning of its run. One can't help but read the strip and read things
into it but I won't do that here. Buy it and enjoy, this is fantastic stuff!

Yesterday was our first big snowstorm here in Toronto and after shovelling the driveway I strolled around the
neighborhood and took some pictures.

I've bought other Little Nemo in Slumberland collections including the complete run put out by Fantagraphics, but nothing beats
this beauty from Sunday Press. Printed at the size that the original Sundays appeared in newspapers, looking at these can be overwhelming now, I can't imagine what it must have been like for kids being greeted to this masterpiece in in 1907.
Its huge!


One of my favourite actors released one of my favourite Calypso albums! Robert Mitchum sings calypso? it would be strange if he didn't!
Its available on cd with extra tracks including the epic bootlegging stomper Thunder Road. A heckuva a movie too.
I stll prefer the scratchy vinyl .

the bike rides are chillier these days but still my favourite time of year

Hope everyone had a great Halloween

Heres 2 of 5 of illustrations for a retelling of the Greek myth about Atalanta for Chickadee magazine that just came
out.

Went for a quick wonderful trip to New York, I'll post more images soon!

My niece made a excellent paper sculpture of my cat Igor and tho he would never tolerate another cat in the house, he
seems to have no problem with this tribute.




A couple of other paintings that hang in the kitchen by the fantastic Andrew King. I hope he woldn't feel upset at
these hanging next to a demon mask and puppets they are in a place of honour!


And hot dog shelf in the kitchen

Picked up the new edition of Cinderella with Mary Blair illustration/concept art and its wonderful of course.
Just wish there was more art or that someone would do a Mary Blair book like the recent mammoth and fanastic Charlie
Harper book.

It was a misty morning on my bike ride by the lake today.




And the latest work of art in my kitchen

and some Halloween goodness