A Sketchy Character. . .

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“Link-ed” In. . .

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This week we’ll be introducing you to our liberal blogging rat, Lincoln. . . his friends call him Link. He loves everything from the 1960’s and idolizes John Lennon (hence his usual army shirt outfit, round glasses and long hair). His blog is called, “Link’s Underground,” and you’ll see Pam & Todd reading his blog on occasion at The Green House.

Writing a comic strip with environmental themes, we naturally attract a more liberal audience. Often it’s of the extreme liberal variety. When we first started The Green House, we would get “strong” suggestions to get really liberal with our story lines, but our goal was to always keep a good balance. Link gave us the ability to get a little “out there” and have fun poking fun at the extreme right wing media, especially Rush Limbaugh, whom Link loathes. . . but also listens to. Maybe it’s the old “keep your friends close and your enemies closer” philosophy, but he listens, as do I from time to time.

As time has gone by, I find myself inclined to mellow out Link’s attitude a bit, and have him be more into technology and pushing the green agenda more than being political- although sometimes those topics intertwine. To be totally honest, it’s just that politics are a subject I’d rather not focus on in my writing. There’s so much greater good I can do finding humor in everyday life. . . it reaches a broader audience and tells the kind of stories I like to tell. It’s also too easy to fall into a reactionary position and spend too much time in negativity and the hot political topic of the media day.  I do LOVE how Walt Kelly handled politics “back in the day” with Pogo. . . but I don’t feel that’s where Peter an my strengths are as story tellers. In that regard, it’s important to have well defined characters with easy to recognize personalities. Link is a character with a lot of character- and personality. It’ll be fun sharing his quirkiness with you. He angers easily, but is also a true friend. We hope you enjoy spending some time with him this week.

As Kelly and Pogo said, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” I don’t want to be my own enemy in the world of promoting green concepts and lifestyle. I don’t want to preach my philosophy, but instead depict a world where our characters are positive role models, working to find peace and harmony. . . along with a few laughs along the way. For ideally, that’s what life should be about. . . and I believe Walt Kelly and John Lennon would approve.

Rush- Shower. . .

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I’ll admit it. . . I listen to Rush Limbaugh. I occasionally watch Hannity. I also listen to NPR and love Colbert and The Daily Show. I’m a firm believer of listening to everyone. We tend to listen to people who we know we’ll agree with and believe the news that suits our position. I’ll watch a movie I’m told is terrible, read books “no one else liked,” and be open. Every artist has fans, every speaker has followers and admirers. It’s sometimes very difficult to see what others see in a person or work, but if you look closely and observe with open ears, open eyes, open mind and open heart, you’ll hopefully (at the very least) find something of value.

Link is a liberal blogger and listens to Rush. . . it’s something of a “know your enemy” approach and a motivator. Plus, apparently, it saves a few kilowatts. . .

 

Monday, Punday. . .

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Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. . . create power from moonlight?  Not likely anytime soon, but the idea shone like a lighthouse beacon toward a really good pun. What I like about this strip is connection to the characters that we get in the small moment in time it captures in the life of the Greens. Beyond the attempt at humor, we see that Todd’s reading his favorite blog, Link’s Underground. . . Pam’s doing yoga and you see the small, intimate space they share. To me, the “atmosphere” of the strip is as essential as the words. . . it brings you in and sets the scene, creates familiarity and comfort. This is where they live, it’s where they relate and we’re getting a sneak peek in. This week, we’re focusing on just that- establishing the setting, getting inside the Green House, which as the strip starts out, is a small apartment in Barely Green, USA. . . I just made that up. . . Anywhere, USA is overused and suffering from economic depression I’m told. Even the dentists there are having to get creative to make ends meet!

I love the molar panel idea though. . . if there’s no sun where you are- get out and suck up the moon beams and let that energy carry you till morning. Enjoy the day, enjoy the sunshine if there’s any where you are -and if not, store up all the moonshine you can! Uh . . . make that moon light!

Peter’s Sketchbook: Out To Posture. . .

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Matters Of The Art

I have a confession to make.

What I do doesn’t matter.

You may be thinking; “Oh, c’mon Peter, you’re doing some good in the world… what you do does really matter”.

No it doesn’t . And what you do doesn’t matter either.

I used to think that what I do matters. I would work on my skills and hone my talents holding my work to sometimes impossibly high standards. I would compare my abilities to artists I admired. I tried to be as good as them. I even held back on putting my work out in the world because it never seemed to measure up.

Boy was I ever wrong.

I made the mistake of thinking that my value comes from what I do. But that could not be further from the truth. I put way too much emphasis on the craft . But the craft alone is not where the value is. The craft is just the vehicle that expresses who we are. The craft delivers the value.

Don’t get me wrong. I love the craft. I love to play my way to excellence. I love how effortless the craft gets over time.

It’s not what we do, but who we are that matters.

I mean this literally. Who we are literally becomes the “stuff” of our lives. I heard it said this way recently; “You don’t get what you want. You get who you are”. When I was in doubt about my cartooning abilities, it wouldn’t matter how good I got at the craft, I continued to attract editors who were doubtful about hiring me. After all, I believed the value was in my skill and my skill wasn’t quite up to par yet.

Just like Bhu in the comic strip above, looking great at striking a yoga pose doesn’t make you internally aligned. You could work on perfecting your asanas for years. But if you believe the internal rewards and mastery comes purely from the poses, you may want to shift your thought. As one wise teacher of mine often repeated; “yoga is more about opening the heart than opening the hips”.

So get to the heart of the matter. Open your heart, align with your inherent greatness and let it out.

Because when you are aligned you can’t help but serve. You can’t help but give value. It doesn’t matter what you do, anything you do in alignment will carry this value. What you do doesn’t matter.

Who you are matters.

YOU matter.

Now imagine doing something that brings complete joy, something that is aligned with who you are. Align your passion (what you love to do) with your purpose (who you are).

Your value is unstoppable…

Is your job or career the perfect vehicle for expressing your inherent greatness? Do you dream of DOING something else that better matches how you truly want to be in the world? Let me know below. And join the conversation with the larger Green House community on our Facebook page.

What I do doesn’t matter. It never did. And that’s okay by me.

In Biblical Portions. . .

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Finding out what’s actually in your food is not a trivial pursuit. . . is High Fructose Corn Syrup the silent killer in our food? Is it the fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse? The actual fourth horseman of our impending demise is Famine. You could say that if you’re eating something with HFCS in it, you aren’t starving, but in reality you are. You’re eating a diet that’s filled with processed foods and additives that make food last longer, cheaper to produce and addictive. You’re giving your body substances that it doesn’t recognize as “food” or fuel and it doesn’t naturally know how to process these additives.  It does what it can with them, but it leads to many problems as we consume more and more. And HFCS isn’t the only bad thing we’re putting in our bodies. . . look at the labels on the so-called “Healthy” stuff in your pantry. . . if you can’t pronounce it, it’s probably not something your body wants to process either.

Below is an article I found on the Huffington Post by Dr. Mark Harmon, that gives you the whole story from a Dr.’s perspective. . . but don’t let it end there. . . start doing some investigation for yourself.  (Side note:  Don’t take everything a “Dr.” has to say as a truth, unless they’re also a qualified Nutritionist and one who is current on nutritional research. . . some Drs only want to prescribe meds to heal your symptoms, instead of tackling the core problem, what you’re putting in your body. All Drs are not created equal. . . Dr. Mark Hyman is on my recommended Expert List, along with many brilliant Nutritionists )-  There’s a new Sugar Detox making the news lately, where you take sugar (in processed form) out of your diet completely. My investigating has taken me a few steps past just the sugar detox- I’m in week 2 of the Microbiome Diet, taking sugar, dairy and grains (gluten) out of my diet and adding prebiotics and probiotics to my system to reconstruct my Microbiome. . . I’d recommend reading up on this to everyone. . .  But for starters, realizing that most food manufacturers don’t care what your ingesting as long as they’re making revenue from it is good information. . .

Dr. Mark Hyman:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/high-fructose-corn-syrup_b_4256220.html

Renaissance physician Paracelsus famously said, “The dose makes the poison,” meaning that even harmless substances can become toxic if you eat enough of them. Many people ask me, “Is high fructose syrup really that bad for you?” And my answer to this question is “Yes,” mainly for this very reason.

In America today, we are eating huge doses of sugar, especially high fructose corn syrup. It is sweeter and cheaper than regular sugar and is in every processed food and sugar-sweetened drink. Purging it from your diet is the single best thing you can do for your health!

In recent history, we’ve gone from 20 teaspoons of sugar per person per year to about 150 pounds of sugar per person per year. That’s a half pound a day for every man, woman, and child in America. The average 20-ounce soda contains 15 teaspoons of sugar, all of it high fructose corn syrup. And when you eat sugar in those doses, it becomes a toxin.

As part of the chemical process used to make high fructose corn syrup, the glucose and fructose — which are naturally bound together — become separated. This allows the fructose to mainline directly into your liver, which turns on a factory of fat production in your liver called lipogenesis.

This leads to fatty liver, the most common disease in America today, affecting 90 million Americans. This, in turn, leads to diabesity — pre-diabetes and Type 2 diabetes. So, high fructose corn syrup is the real driver of the current epidemic of heart attacks, strokes, cancer, dementia, and of course, Type 2 diabetes.

HFCS contains dangerous chemicals and contaminants

Beside the ginormous load of pure fructose and sugar found in HCFS, as an added bonus, it contains other chemical toxins.  Chemical contaminants used during manufacturing end up in the HFCS and in our food.  What we know, for example, is that chloralkali is used in making high fructose corn syrup. Chloralkai contains mercury. And there are trace amounts of mercury found in high fructose corn syrup-containing beverages. Now, it may not be a problem if we eat this occasionally, but the average person in the country consumes more than 20 teaspoons a day of high fructose corn syrup and the average teenager has 34 teaspoons a day. Over time, these heavy metals can accumulate in the body, causing health problems.

Additionally, when we look at the chemical components of high fructose corn syrup on a spectrograph, we can see that it contains many weird chemicals that we know nothing about. That’s why I say better safe than sorry.

Look out for the red flag

The main reason you should give up high fructose corn syrup is that it’s a big red flag for very poor quality food. If you see this ingredient on a label, I guarantee you the food is processed junk. So, if high fructose corn syrup is anywhere on the label, put it back on the shelf. You should never eat this food.

If you want to stay healthy, lose weight easily, get rid of chronic disease, and help reduce the obesity epidemic, the single most important thing you can do is eliminate high fructose corn syrup from your diet and from your children’s diet. Just banish it from your house.

Purge your kitchen

I challenge you to go into your kitchen right now, go in the cupboard and refrigerator, and look at every single label. And I want you to count how many products you have right now in your house that contain high fructose corn syrup. Then, I want you to get a big garbage bag and throw them out and find replacements that are free of it.

If you want to have some sugar, that’s fine. Have a little sugar, but add it to your food yourself. Don’t eat food made with added sugar. Cut the high fructose corn syrup from your life forever. You’ll be healthier. Our planet will be healthier. And we’ll have a healthier generation of children.

Wishing you health and happiness,

Mark Hyman, M.D.

Mark Hyman, MD is a practicing physician, founder of The UltraWellness Center, a six-time New York Times bestselling author, and an international leader in the field of Functional Medicine. You can follow him on Twitter, connect with him on LinkedIn, watch his videos on YouTube, become a fan on Facebook, and subscribe to his newsletter.

For more by Mark Hyman, MD, click here.

For more on personal health, click here.

Oooommmm. . . My, My. . .

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It’s Wednesday. . . “Hump Day”. . .  a good day to let yourself get a little silly and groove any tune that may float in to your head.

Mantis is taking his role as a sensei seriously and not letting Wormy see his fun side. . . at least not yet.  I think if he did start banging out a tune by the Rivingtons, he’d find Wormy shaking his tail, finding his groove and most likely doing “The Worm.”

Seriously, who could meditate with that song in your head? Now here’s the real music geek insider stuff. . . The Rivington’s started out as a group called The Sharps and had a hit with a cover of the song, “Little Bitty Pretty One” in 1957. After a name change, in 1962 they had a big hit with a silly titled song, “Pa Pa Oom Mow Mow.”  They followed that quickly with another hit- a song with perhaps an even stranger title, “The Bird’s The Word.” Then, they tried recreating the “Oom Mow Mow Magic” by recording a follow up, “Mama Oom Mow Mow.” Not such a big hit. . .

To make the strange even stranger, in 1963, a group from Minnesota called The Trashmen, put “Pa Pa Oom Mow Mow” and “The Bird’s The Word” together as a new song called, “Surfin’ Bird.” Believe it or not, my older brothers, Joe & Mike owned this 45 and I played it a lot. The whole thing gets sillier as The Trashmen recorded the song, never crediting The Rivingtons for their input, which was basically the whole song. They later were threatened with legal action and gave the Rivingtons writing credit. Wow. . .  Wednesday’s are fun, aren’t they? I’ve been deliberating over which version to share with you, but I think you need to see The Trashmen’s version first. . . (yes, there actually is a video of a live performance of this song) and if you think the whole concept is weird,  you’re right- but watch the video anyway!  Then imagine Mantis breaking into the “final dance.”   Steve Wahrer was the group’s drummer, not lead singer, but his vocals and performance here may have inspired many future legends. . . David Byrne  comes to mind.

For the purists, The Rivingtons version is just below (along with another surprise!).

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICsBw6zJRSM

Ah, at least these guys have some real vocal talent! But, it doesn’t end here. . . Family Guy loves the song too. . .

And I hope to never, ever, ever top this as the strangest blog post ever. You’re welcome!  Share this if you dare. . .

 

 

 

Peter’s Sketchbook: Easy Recipe For Cooking Up A Comic

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When I was in my twenties and living in  San Diego, I worked as a breakfast cook at the trendy “Sweet Beats” cafe in south Mission Beach. I was a messy, hard working, high energy cook juggling many tasks in the kitchen at once. I moved quickly and was often covered in enchilada sauce, guacamole and pancake batter.

Not a pretty sight.

But despite my penchant for messiness and for wearing the colors of the Mexican flag, I made it a point to put out the most beautiful and artistic plate arrangements. Before my customers feasted on their meal, I whet their appetite with a feast for the eyes.
They always came back for more.

It’s all in the presentation.

The same is true for cartooning.
I’m still cooking up a storm but Brad is doing all the presentation work.

Let me explain. Brad and I will get together like two chefs and brainstorm a menu. This is fun. We consider who will be attending the big feast, come up with some themes and begin writing ideas about what and how to serve these ideas.

After we’ve decided on the main course we begin to write strips that will tie into the main theme. When we were writtng the Rockin’ Rhino story line, we thought; “Hey, what if Todd went to the zoo to live sketch real rhinos for the project?” This prompted Brad to write some funny zoo gags.

After the menu is down and we have a couple of weeks worth of strip ideas, Brad goes to work on refining the story, writing character driven humor with only the best quality and organic ingredients. He then sends me a rough layout of the strip. It’s basically the menu.

I take the menu and start to prepare the ingredients to order. I’m cutting, slicing, adding spice… I’m still a little messy here. My goal is to get the arrangement just the way I want it. When I am satisfied with the finished pencil, I’m ready to ink.
This is the cooking process. I’m adding heat with just the right touch. No undercooking. No overcooking. We don’t want it well done, but we do want it done well.

When done, it is almost ready to serve. This is where Brad comes in and gets all puckish with his plate. Wolfgang Puck-ish that is and garnishes a masterful presentation. He adds color, attitude, texture.

See the penciling, inking and coloring process below. Brad’s refined palette is done completely with photoshop. And there’s no messy clean up!
I’ve come along way since San Diego.

(The finished ink page, using Windsor Newton Series 7 brushes)

 

(colored in Photoshop)

(From 2007- featuring recording artist and friend, Jon Michaels,  and vegan cooking superstar, Christina Pirello. Jon wrote Christina’s theme for “Christina Cooks.” He also wrote our theme song, once featured on our Green House website, “The World Goes On.” This comic shows an earlier incarnation of the Green House concept, where Todd has created a superhero earthworm character, that follows him around like Hobbes to Calvin. No one else sees “Earth Worm-the World’s Most Down-to-Earth Superhero” except Todd.  . . and us, I suppose! Our plan for the new version of The Green House is for a similar relationship to develop. . . but Earth Worm’s is going to have a little different personality. . . stay tooned!)

Back on our heels . . .

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Do you remember Earth Shoes? . . . all the rage back in the early 70’s. At least they were among my friends. Do you still wear them? I wasn’t aware that they were still around. . . then again, I never consulted my three female family shoe experts. I would have probably gotten a little eye roll, head shake and a reply of, “Zappos, Dad. I can get them here tomorrow. Times have changed! Then. . .

And now. . .

Same old brown tree, funky logo though! Do you have any fond memories of your first Kalsos?

Share them here or on our Facebook page: At the Green House