Bandits rob Poodles

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Keeping the Fantasy in Fantasy Football.

Week 3 in the AWFFL fantasy football league. The Penultimate Poodles traveled south to the home of the ferocious Chinese Bandits. As the Poodles traveled to the game in their lavish pink party bus, they psyched themselves up by painting their nails and using countless cans of hairspray to keep their poodle-doos in place. Entering the packed, bright yellow Kung Pao Stadium, the Poodles were overwhelmed. But then, the Poodles are always overwhelmed.

The game was a close one. The lead swapped back and forth the over and over. Late in the fourth quarter with the Poodles ahead, the Bandits pulled a trick play. At the snap of the ball, the Bandits pulled out trombones and began playing a John Philip Sousa march. The Poodles were so excited they forgot all about football and started doing their award winning marching routine. The Bandits strolled across the goal line. The extra point was kicked through the uprights (resembling giant chop sticks)... and the game was history. Final score Bandits 109 - Poodles 99.

Next week the Poodles travel to the home of the Mashers. Stay tuned.

Bob Staake

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Last year I attended a regional SCBWI conference here in Nashville. One of the conference leaders was Diane Muldrow, an editor and author at Golden Books/Random House. She spoke about her first "jacketed hardcover" picture book that she had written which was illustrated by Bob Staake. I bought a copy and got Diane to sign it for me.

Later in the year, Bob Staake put out a plea on Facebook for everyone to send him all the old pencils they had. He was going to use them in a project of some kind. I took this opportunity to send him a ziplock bag full of pencil stubs, my copy of We Planted a Tree, and an SASE.

I now have my copy of We Planted a Tree signed by both the author and the illustrator! In addition to signing the book and doing a little sketch, Bob also did a fun drawing on the return SASE I had sent. Cool!

Today is Bob's birthday. I think he is like 85 or something... but he is still going strong! He has inspired many artists with his speed, endless creativity, and productivity. I am a big Fan of Bob. FOB

Happy birthday, Bob!

Ferocious... NOT

Ferocious?... I think NOT!

You might want to sing this little song as you look at the kitty:

Soft kitty,
warm kitty,
little ball of fur.

Happy kitty,
Sleepy kitty,
Purr, purr, purr.

Poodles hock Phlegm

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Putting the Fantasy in Fantasy Football.

Week 2 in the AWFFL fantasy football league. It was a clear day with sunny skies at Flambeau Field, home of the Penultimate Poodles. The Poodles entered the pink stadium to the roar of thousands, er, hundreds... OK, tens of fans. Their rivals, the slippery, loogie hocking Phlegm, kicked off to begin the epic battle.

The Phlegm took an early lead, sliming the field and watching while puzzled Poodles slid in every direction. It wasn't till late in the 4th quarter during a time out for tea and crumpets, that the Poodles discovered that donning their hot pink Crocs enabled them to skate by the Phlegm and score touchdowns.

The rest is AWFFL history. Poodles skated by the Phlegm with a score of 127 to 81. Next week... the Poodles face the one-eyed Chinese Bandits. Poodles are now getting in some serious practice eating their Poodle Chow with chop sticks. OY!

Don't even THINK about it

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This was inspired by the Illustration Friday word "Boundaries." While coming up with this idea, I remembered a trip to Chicago many years ago. We were looking for a parking place at a crowded restaurant. As I drove by the front, there was a sign at one spot that said, "Don't even think of parking here!" It made me laugh. The first time I had ever seen a sign like that.

Don't let this image be a boundary to you. If you are visiting from Illustration Friday you can click on the blog header and see what is happening with the Penultimate Poodles. Curious?

the AWFFL fantasy football league

(click to bigger-cize) POODLES SLURP THE NOODLES

It's football time again and that means the fantasy football leagues are back in business. I am a member of the AWFFL league. That's Another Worthless Fantasy Football League. It is composed of brothers, nephews, and assorted relatives. Some of said relatives are Professional Football Fanatics and others are... well... not. Do you see me holding up my hand here? Way in the back... in the corner... next to the exit?

We have two divisions. The Dementia and the Bipolar. Luckily, I am in the Bipolar division which is the ABSOLUTE BEST DIVISION EVER!!! uh... no, I take that back it's totally the PITS!! No... it's Awesome! No, it's Horrible! I am so depressed to be in it... never mind. Deep breath... moving on...

Anyway, after the first week my team the Penultimate Poodles, triumphed over the slippery but tasty Instant Noodles. It was a very flavorful, yet highly salty game. The Poodles relaxed after their first win in the team hot tub playing with their chewy toys, eating Purina Poodle Chow and sipping Perrier water.

Week two brings us a Home game vs the Sedro Woolley Phlegm. What a bunch of slime bags!

Mysterious

This image was inspired by the Illustration Friday word Mysterious. Magicians are mysterious aren't they? I tried to use some different colors than I usually do on this image. I am also trying to get the hang of texture. I have a lot to learn here, but I am making progress!

I have magicians on my mind because I recently read a really entertaining book, Carter Beats the Devil. It has collected 4 1/2 out of 5 stars on Amazon. It is a book that has a little bit of everything in it. You have good guys and bad guys, danger, suspense, history, romance, mystery, a lion and elephant, and pirates with a plot that keeps you turning pages. If you want a fun read, I would recommend it!

(trade secret... you can click on the image to magically make it bigger!)

Oh... if you enjoy this blog, please click on the "Join this Site" button. If 6 more highly intelligent, discerning people would join, I would have 100 followers! That would be awesome! You KNOW you want to... :o)

Hallmark card contest entry

So... a few days ago I ran across a contest from Hallmark cards. The contest was to design a Mother's Day card which involved a pet in some way. The deadline to enter was just a day away. This was perfect because I only work under pressure. I have always thought making cards would be fun and here was my chance to enter something. I picked up a pen and on a piece of scrap paper, I doodled out the FIRST thing that came to mind. Here is what it looked like:

I knew if I tried to come up with something better I would get bogged down and probably get distracted and then not get an entry in. I quickly penciled a cat on a sheet of copy paper and then "inked" it in with a felt tip. Again, I could have wasted a lot of time trying to come up with the right style of cat drawing, but I was now operating "unencumbered by the thought process" as the Car Talk guys like to say. I scanned the drawing in and added some color with Photoshop. Here is what it looked like:

The inside of the card reads: "You're PUR-fect!"

So... entry created and submitted in about an hour. It was fun! Now I wait...