Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Journal Science Report: Snowmen Are Dirty


Photo by Pentti Impiƶ 2007

In today's Men's Health and USA Today is the story that snowmen, according to the new journal [sic] Science, are a landmine of germs, noting that bacteria called Pseudomonas syringae are waiting to attack in many earthbound snowflakes. Is nothing safe anymore?

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Snowman Legal


Nothing can prepare you for a fascinating, ingenious product called Method and apparatus for facilitating the construction of a snow man/woman. I warn all readers of Today's Snowman that it is literally impossible to get through the excruciatingly dull and endless explanation but I provide you with a couple of excerpts (the above drawing is NOT related to the patent to protect the originator) for the first ever patent for making a snowman.

If your like me, you enjoy building snow men . . . big. The bigger the better...It is said that the most ingenious ideas are the most simple in design. The Wheel. The Toaster oven. And, yes, now the ultimate Snow Man. Of course, in hindsight the wheel is not so inventive, but at the time it was an earth-shattering innovation. I do not pretend that the ultimate Snow Man will be as revolutionary to the advancement of mankind, but I do contend that as far as I know no one has ever conceived and reduced to practice such an apparatus. I do contend, however, that my innovation is a heck more fun, err than a plain old wheel, and will inspire tons of enjoyment and play for hopefully a long time...The fundamental building "block", or component, of the invention is the creation, for the first time, of a snow sphere that is much lighter in weight than a snow ball or boulder of the same size made out of snow. The snow sphere is made of a material that is rigid enough to support a layer of snow, yet made of a material or construction that causes the snow sphere to be much lighter in weight than a snow boulder of similar size... If you actually want to read more, US Patent 7264531.

(For all you freelancers out there, there is a current bill which will change the rights artists have on their work. For more details and how you can help please visit Freelancer's Lament.)

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Snowden Snowman Winner


Congratulations to the winning snowman, Tirehead in this month's snowman contest, the last of 2008 made by Alicia, Jeremy, Jesse, & Matty and photo by Jaci! They have won a signed copy of The History of the Snowman book and a year supply of snow. Alicia's acceptance speech; "Thanks to all our snowman fans!"

Today's Snowman's monthly snowman contest will resume in January 2009. Prizes next year will include official snowman calendar and mugs.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Things Are Heating Up For the Snowman


Unfortunately, this is a family blog so we'll have to leave these snowman girlie playing cards to the imagination. But trust me, things heat up and it's not only the snowman that is naked.

Speaking of voyeurism and heating up, here's an intimate glimpse of my financial woes. When one is a freelancer he or she will undoubtedly experience more than their share of career crossroads. I'm at one myself as the realities of making ends meet as a cartoonist are forcing me to explore some options, although I better do it quick. The past few weeks I've been busy 1) drafting a possible children's version of the snowman book. 2) working on a snowman calendar 3) starting up again a project I began 7 years, a graphic novel comedy on 19th arctic exploration and 4) working on a script for a film studio interested in pitching a snowman special to cable. It goes without saying, all of these ventures are on spec. Meantime, I'm illustrating (my work can be seen in this month's Consumer Reports, Money Adviser and this Monday's sports section in the NY Times) and trying, unsuccessfully, to sell cartoons to the New Yorker (I'm in this month's Prospect – the second cartoon on the site).

Special thanks to fellow freelancer and talented writer Mary "PaperGirl" Fons for writing up the snowman for a few publications and mentioning my book.

My brush with fame moment of the week? A couple of days ago I met renown chef Gordon Ramsay at his book signing in Manhattan. I'm a huge fan (of his BBC shows, not the cheesy American reality shows) and I gave him my book. The hothead TV star was extremely nice, taking the time to chat with me.

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