Tomversation by Tom Falco

Seeing red; and white and blue

One July in NYC, seeing the fireworks from down the block.

I’ll be going to New York at the end of the week. I hadn’t been there since December, which seems so long ago. My life seems to be moving in slow motion again. It did that for years, which I liked. Who wants their life to fly by, right? So this past seven months went by very slowly and seems almost like a year or so ago.

I’ll be at my usual places, doing my usual things – hanging with my usual characters and probably getting bored after a week and wanting to come home, which is usually the case, but I am looking forward to going.

One of my cousins got us play tickets and we’ll go as we usually do. The fourth of July will be either in The Hamptons or the city, not sure which yet. I see that the city has moved the fireworks to another location. Again.

I finally found a perfect spot on the East River, and now it is back on the Hudson River. So New Jersey can see them, is what they are saying.

It’s just as much about the crowds as it is the fireworks.

One year, it was at the southern part of Manhattan. We stood outside City Hall and I remember people cramming onto the Brooklyn Bridge to get a better view. Another year I went to the Queens side, when it was back on the East River, so as to see the New York skyline in the background. It was beautiful, except for the crowds.

You know where the Pepsi sign is in Long Island City? Across from the United Nations? That’s where we stood, along with thousands of others. Getting out afterwards was an effort though. Streets were closed – even to walkers. So we had to walk around the block to get to the subway station, which had people backed up all the way up the stairs onto the street if you can believe that.

It was an experience. A lot of fun even with the crowds.

Empire State Building overlooking Bryant Park

The last few years I finally found a great spot on the opposite side of the river from the Pepsi sign, in front of the UN building which sort of blocked the view a bit on 45 Street and and then finally found a perfect spot a few blocks away, on 40th street, where there was an unobstructed view. And now they moved them. Again.

But no matter where you are on July 4th in Manhattan, it’s a lot of fun. You hear the fireworks from all over the city and even if you are not facing them, you can see the glow of the light on the buildings all around you. Even from blocks away. And the buildings like the Empire State Building and the Helmsley Building are lit up red, white and blue.

Manhattanhenge from last year. Almost, but not perfect.

I’ll also be there for Manhattanhenge. Hopefully this year it will be great. It was a bit clouded over the past couple of years. But again, it’s more about the crowds all filling the streets, blocking traffic, making a thing of it, that I like more than the actual event.

I’ll take you along as usual, via this blog. See you there!

Till next time . . .

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Navigating my eye care journey

I needed new contacts so I felt it was time to have my eyes checked, rather than just order the same old prescription online.

For some reason, I felt that after all these years, I should start wearing eyeglasses, because I felt I needed bifocals.

In the end, I didn’t – but that was after spending almost $500, which should have been $79.00 for a doctor’s visit and two pairs of eyeglasses.

I first went to Stanton Optical, which is just a factory, it seems. I wrote about my experience in a previous post.

Anyway, I paid $190.00 for a doctor’s visit and one pair of bifocals and other than the astigmatism, I was told my eyes were perfect.

Well apparently, they aren’t perfect, because I then went to a local place in my village and after seeing the eye doctor for what seemed over an hour worth of tests, I was told my eyes were bad and I have cataracts! Luckily he said I don’t have to do anything about it. Yet.

The doctor charged me $279.00 for his visit and I left empty handed, because he wanted me to come back for some other tests. So I never ended up with the contact lenses I went in for in the first place.

I went back a few days later, got dilated and had more eye testing to see what I need to have done, but so far, so good.

But not at first.

The doc has every type of machine invented, it seems, and I had a long battery of tests. He then told me to come look at the screen behind the desk. I got up and walked over and looked and what looked like the moon and weather. But he told me those images were my eyes. He then he told me that I may have glaucoma!

But then he sent me back for another test and said, no, wait, everything is fine! The first test was blurry.

This reminded me of the time some years ago when I had an EKG and the one tech asks the other, while monitoring my heart, “What is that line?” I freaked out, wondering, do I have a line in my heart? And the other tech tells him, “Oh that. Just smack the monitor, and the line will go away. It’s been doing that all day.”

The tv monitor and the guy who was the heart monitor, both needed a smack that day.

Anyway, I ordered new contact lenses online and all’s well that ends well.

I am hoping they arrive before I leave for New York at the end of the week.

One issue I have is that I can’t see a damn thing with the temporary contacts the doc gave me. Not because they aren’t the right prescription, but because they are clear.

I always wear blue contacts and the clear ones are impossible to find. I can’t tell if they are in my eyes or in the case at times. When they are in the case, I can’t find them to get them out to put into my eyes. Hence the cartoon above.

Till next time . . .

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He’s cool, she’s with Grumpy

Subscribe via email to my blog and cartoons here – the cartoons will arrive each Friday plus occasional short blog posts are sent during the week.

Subscribe via email to my blog and cartoons here – the cartoons will arrive each Friday plus occasional short blog posts are sent during the week.

CLICK HERE FOR MY CARTOON WALL ART.
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Life moves pretty fast

Ferris Bueller and friends at the Chicago Museum of Art

Its’ the 40th anniversary of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off this month. 40 years!

I remember when it first came out. I read about it first in a school newspaper, where it was being reviewed by students. I read the first couple of paragraphs and loved the movie just from reading about it. Of course I eventually saw it. Many times, after that.

I probably still have that school newspaper somewhere, I saved them all.

Cher and Nicholas Cage; Moonstruck – Kitchen scene – best scene in the movie.

For years Ferris Bueller was my favorite movie. When I was asked on security questions to name my favorite movie, it was “Ferris Bueller,” and then it moved to “Moonstruck” and now it’s something else. Interesting that Ferris was released in 1986 and Moonstruck in 1987. Two wonderful years, in a perfect decade.

I still use the line, “I don’t even have a piece of shit, I have to envy your piece of shit.” I use it to this day when I am insulting something that someone has. It could be their car, but also their house, their dog, their whatever. I have used that line many times over the years.

As for Moonstruck, that was my favorite for years, too. There’s a scene in the movie where Danny Aiello gets out of the airport and goes to a cab and says, “Take me to 19 Cranberry.”

That sounded real to me. And so I went on an excursion to Brooklyn Heights one time and I found the exact address which was Cher’s house in the movie. They used the real address of the real house, in the movie.

I have gone back many times over the years, I’ve brought people with me to look at the house, to even pretend to kick the can on the corner like Cher does in the movie. I brought my mother to see it one time.

I saw Danny Aiello in the city one time and almost yelled that line out to him, but that would be stupid and I don’t usually do that when I see celebs, so I just walked by and didn’t say anything.

I love those movies yet I’ve never done a parody cartoon of Ferris or Moonstruck – something to think about i guess.

Here’s a video, “Behind the Scenes: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which is the cast and others talking about the move, most of it in 1985-86. It just popped up last night as I was flipping through YouTube. A case of the internet reading my mind, again.

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

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Here comes the judge . . .

Subscribe via email to my blog and cartoons here – the cartoons will arrive each Friday plus occasional short blog posts are sent during the week.

CLICK HERE FOR MY CARTOON WALL ART.
YOU CAN SUPPORT ME THAT WAY.

Subscribe via email to my blog and cartoons here – the cartoons will arrive each Friday plus occasional short blog posts are sent during the week.

CLICK HERE FOR MY CARTOON WALL ART.
YOU CAN SUPPORT ME THAT WAY.

Kvetching about the tilted Flintstones

I don’t usually pay attention to Google alerts with my name on it, because it’s mostly my own writings and cartoon that I have posted myself that I’m being alerted about.

But the other day I noticed that I was mentioned in Comics I Don’t Understand, a fun blog about cartooning and cartoonists.

I seem to be the talk of the town regarding my Flintstones cartoon. It was questioned as to the meaning. I think that is quite clear. Also, the talk is about it being slanted on the page.

Here’s the image they were talking about. It’s slanted because it’s an ad, but in many other places where it is published as just the cartoon, it is straight up.

I’ve sold many licensing rights to this very cartoon, so I am assuming that people paying the big bucks for the rights, get it and don’t need it explained.

While I usually try not to explain my cartoons because I like to leave the interpretation up to the reader, I’ll explain it here – Fred and Wilma are House Hunting – Wilma, like most people who are house hunting, decries the fact that the kitchen counters are not granite. Fred answers that everything in the house is granite, including the tv, so why cry over the kitchen counters?

I would have explained it on CIDU, but I don’t think they like the cartoonists/artists getting involved in the conversation, so I kept my mouth shut.

One guy asked what else would the counters be other than granite? Well, according to me, the writer of the cartoon, they are not granite. They could be plain old rock, or maybe Carrera marble! But they aren’t granite.

Another guy said the cartoon should be re-written, he said, “Maybe a better joke would have had Wilma saying she liked the granite countertops and Fred replying that everything is granite; the counters aren’t special.” I don’t find that funny. But “Those who know, do. Those who don’t kvetch,” or something like that.

This reminded me of why I don’t read what others write about me and why I delete those Google alerts without reading them. But I did appreciate them noticing me on CIDU. I like that site and enjoy seeing my work pop up there once in a while.

Till next time . . .

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The lost car, that wasn’t

My neighbor, Marsha (not her real name), who is always out doing something, was taking an Italian class the other night and she “lost” her car. She couldn’t remember where she parked it somewhere in downtown Miami.

She ended up taking an Uber home that night.

The next morning, she asked if I could take her back to the college area where the class was and see if we can find the car. Downtown is only two miles from where we live, so it was no big deal, except for the fact that it was downtown and a traffic mess.

She told me she couldn’t remember if she parked in a lot or on the street, we would have to just park near the college and wander the streets until we spotted the car – a daunting task.

So, we headed out. Downtown was a mess as usual. Lots of traffic and rude drivers cutting in and out of traffic. Since things were so backed up, it was easy to search the streets since we were barely moving. But we couldn’t find the car. Was it towed?

We circled the area for quite a while and then proceeded to look for parking so we could get out and start walking around the blocks to search the blocks.

It was impossible to find street parking, so I parked in a random parking lot we passed along the route. There was no attendant.

We got out and Marsha went up to a City of Miami truck that was in the lot and started telling the guy in the truck her problem. I don’t know why, because he didn’t appear to work in the lot, but he did have a City of Miami emblem on his truck. He didn’t seem to be interested in much but he kept telling us to pay for parking, which I assumed was a meter since there was no attendant.

The guy in the truck was polite enough to listen, but I don’t think he knew what to suggest. The night before, Marsha went to a police station and told them her story, they didn’t seem to care or have a solution either, and then she told her story to her Uber driver, who was nice enough to drive her around, but no luck, so she just came home.

Marsha talked to the guy in the truck in the lot for a bit and I finally, said, “Let’s go and start searching.”

As we were about to start walking the streets, looking for the car, Marsha says, “There’s my car!”

“Where?” I asked.

“Right there!” I was standing in front of it. It literally was parked right next to where I parked my car.

When Marsha originally got out of my car, she had to be careful as to not hit my car door into the car next to me, which was her car! Yet neither of us noticed the car right in front our our eyes!

We both started cracking up over the whole situation. Of all the parking lots in in the city of Miami, I had picked that lot and parked right next to her car. I guess I should thank St. Anthony for leading us right to the “lost” car. St. Anthony is the patron saint of lost items.

The interesting part is that when we entered the lot, I didn’t just take the first empty spot, I drove around for a bit and then chose a random spot, and I guess we were meant to park right in that random spot – right next to Marsha’s car.

As we drove off, the guy from the City of Miami truck kept yelling over at us to pay for both parking spaces, only I ignored him since he had a leaf blower in his hand and he had nothing to do with the parking lot – he was clearing leaves for the city, and knew nothing about anything having to do with the lot. He ended up being a maintenance man for the city – not a parking lot attendant.

Marsha and I went for coffee after that. In separate cars.

I told her I wrote this blog story in my head as I drove. It sort of wrote itself.

Till next time . . .

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Rabbit stew, Art Grant and Josh Groban

Subscribe via email to my blog and cartoons here – the cartoons will arrive each Friday plus occasional short blog posts are sent during the week.

Subscribe via email to my blog and cartoons here – the cartoons will arrive each Friday plus occasional short blog posts are sent during the week.

If I could see, I wouldn’t be here

I went to get new eyeglasses.

After most of my life wearing contact lenses, I felt that eyeglasses were the way.

For one reason, bifocals are needed to see distances. With my contacts, as friends know, I would slide one of the contacts to the side to be able to read things. Yep – I would literally slide the contact away from my pupil so I could read close-up things.

But as time went on, lenses are needed for close-up viewing, too. So, it’s eyeglasses with bifocals – the old man way.

I went to a well-known eyeglass place, and the lady asked me as I entered, if I was there any of their deals. Of course, I said yes, what else was I going to say?

I told her I was there for the deal that gives two pairs of glasses and an exam for $79.00. She replied with something like, “Well pick out what you like on that back wall over there. You see it?”

I replied, “No, I don’t see it. That’s why I’m here.”

While other people that were there, laughed at what was my idea of being funny, she took it seriously and apologized for saying that. I had to tell her it was a joke.

In the end, I left with one pair and paid $190.00. So much for the $79.00 deal that shows on my tv every few minutes. All lies, I guess, including another promise broken – the one-hour production time, turned into 2 weeks for some reason. So I actually paid $190.00 and left empty-handed.

I’ll show you the look when the glasses are ready. In two weeks.

Till next time . . .

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Transforming spaces with unique cartoon wall art

Doing my thing at the beach house. The art on the wall says, “I think my favorite color is ocean.”

So I started something different – I’ve been selling my cartoon wall at – it’s pop art images of my cartoons, framed and in large formats.

Picture it – large pop art images, pop art decor, which are cartoons – cartoon wall art. These are small and large unique art for homes and unique art for offices, as well. It’s playful and whimsical interior design. But it’s also minimalist pop art for home or office.

I’m not sure where the idea came from, but I’m loving it. I have a friend who does large modern abstract pieces who mentioned the cartoon art to me a couple of years ago. I wasn’t quite sure what he was talking about at the time. I thought he was saying I should draw my cartoons on large canvases like he does with his abstract work.

I then thought he meant I should draw cartoon characters on top of his abstracts, which would be an interesting concept. I pictured myself with a black marker, or with black paint, drawing cartoon characters on top of his finished work, but I didn’t think that is what he meant. It was sort of like putting graffiti on top of his already completed art. But maybe that’s what he meant, I never did ask him or get into the whole concept of what he was talking about.

But now I’m doing large frame prints of my single panel cartoons, and these large pop art images look incredible in the right setting. It’s art for offices, art for bars or art for coffee shops or basically anything. There are many pieces that are pop art for summer houses and cartoon wall art for beach houses and art for kitchens and art for restaurants and just about anything. The art literally adds character to any space – cartoon characters!

At times, people would reach out to me asking for licensing permission to use certain cartoons for their businesses – they wanted to print the cartoons on business cards and mailings and promotional items. They just emailed me out of the blue asking to pay for licensing permission to use my work.

This Flintstones parody was one of the first that sold to realtors and such. They loved to use it on promotional material. Now it’s wall art! This image for instance would work well as art for realty offices or art for architectural firms or pop art for mortgage brokers or even art as housewarming gifts for new homeowners.

This coffee print comes in square and long and thin, in the original comic strip format.

Maybe 15 or 20 years ago, I would see a guy at art festivals all over South Florida, where he would show and sell his comic art that was in the form of short comic strips and images in small frames – maybe 8″ x 10″ size.

They were unique pop art cartoons based on professions – art for dentists, art for medical art for doctors, art for lawyers, and so on. And he sold a lot an his booth was always crowded at these festivals. I haven’t seen the guy in many years, but what I’m doing is sort of that. Only with a single panel blown up.

Right now I’m selling on Etsy, and eventually, I’ll have the wall art on my own website. But right now, I like the idea of strength in numbers. With all of the traffic Etsy gets, I’m more apt to be seen.

I know I should get off my ass and do art festivals and shows. But that’s not me. So for now, I’m selling online.

As they sell, I’ll perhaps add personally signed pieces. For now I am offering unique art for offices and wonderful fun unique art for homes.

Anyway, here is the link to some of the stuff up and selling right now.

I’ll let you know how it all goes as time goes on.