Podcasts about Universal Press Syndicate

John McPherson is one of the best cartoonists working today and has been for the past three decades. His comic panel, "Close to Home," is syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate. With over 800 hand-picked comics, "The Close to Home 30th Anniversary Treasury," celebrates his amazing output as a cartoonist.

Born in Portland, Oregon to Don and Wilda Plympton, he grew up in a large family of three girls and three boys. For the six children it was often far too wet to play outside. Plympton credits Oregon's rainy climate for nurturing his drawing skills and imagination. He also was a cub scout and played little league when the weather permitted. In 1964 he graduated from Oregon City High School where he participated in the art club. He went on to Portland State University, where he edited the yearbook and was a member of the film society, creating posters for them. It was here where he picked up his obsession for film – it was for this film society that he first attempted animation, making a yearbook promo that was accidentally shot upside-down, rendering it totally useless. To avoid the Vietnam War, Plympton served in the National Guard from 1967 to 1972. In 1968, he moved to New York City and began a year of study at the School of Visual Arts. Making the Big Apple his home, Plympton served 15 years as an illustrator and cartoonist. Between toting his portfolio and catching cheap matinees, he designed the magazines: Cineaste, Filmmakers Newsletter, and Film Society Review. His illustrations have graced the pages of The New York Times, Vogue, House Beautiful, The Village Voice, Screw, and Vanity Fair. His cartoons appeared in such magazines as Viva, Penthouse, Rolling Stone, National Lampoon, and Glamour. In 1975, in The Soho Weekly News, he began “Plympton,” a political cartoon strip. By 1981, it was syndicated in over twenty papers by Universal Press Syndicate. All his life, Bill Plympton has been fascinated by animation. When he was fourteen, he sent Disney some of his cartoons and offered up his services as animator. They wrote back and told him that while his drawings showed promise, he was too young. It wasn't until 1983 that he was approached to animate a film. The Android Sister Valeria Wasilewski asked Plympton to direct and animate a film she was producing of Jules Feiffer's song, “Boomtown.” Connie D'Antuono, another of the film's producers, “sort of held my hand through the whole process,” Plympton says. “It was a great way to learn to make a film.” Immediately following the completion of “Boomtown,” he began his own animated film, “Drawing Lesson # 2.” Production of the live action scenes was slow due to inclement weather, so Plympton decided to start on another film. For this one, he contacted Maureen McElheron, an old friend with whom he had performed in a Country Western Band (he played pedal steel guitar), and she agreed to score “Your Face.” Due to budgetary considerations, she also sang. Her voice, eerily decelerated to sound more masculine, combined with a fantastically contorting visage helped garner the film a 1988 Oscar nomination for best animated short. “Suddenly people began returning my phone calls,” remembers Plympton. He became very hot in the commercial business doing spots for such clients as Trivial Pursuit, Nutrasweet, Taco Bell, AT&T, Nike, Geico, United Airlines and Mercedes-Benz. His work also started appearing with more and more frequency on MTV and in the increasingly popular touring animation festivals. After a string of highly successful short films (“One of Those Days,” “How to Kiss,” “25 Ways to Quit Smoking,” and “Plymptoons”), he began thinking about making a feature film. His shorts were winning prizes like crazy and he wanted a new challenge – and, as he puts it, “I'd wanted to make a full-length movie ever since I was a kid.” What came to be called THE TUNE was financed entirely by the animator himself. Sections of the feature were released as short films to help generate funds for production. These include “The Wiseman” and “Push Comes to Shove,” the latter of which won the 1991 Prix du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival. With money from his short film prizes and commercial work, he was able to complete THE TUNE and realize a childhood dream. The completed TUNE also made the rounds of the film festivals, garnering the prestigious Houston WorldFest Gold Jury Special Award as well as a Spirit Award nomination for Best Film Score and was distributed nationally by October Films. After personally drawing and coloring 30,000 cels for THE TUNE, Plympton moved to live-action. J. LYLE, his first live-action feature, is a wacky, surreal comedy about a sleazy lawyer who meets a magical talking dog that changes his life. “Making THE TUNE, I had a lot of ideas I realized wouldn't work with animation, but would be lots of fun with real people! I took those ideas and made J. LYLE. Besides, my hand needed a rest after drawing THE TUNE.” After a successful festival circuit, J. LYLE was released in theaters around the country. Like THE TUNE, J. LYLE was financed entirely by the animator himself. Plympton's second live-action feature, GUNS ON THE CLACKAMAS, a behind-the-scenes look at an imaginary disastrous Western, was shot in Oregon and New York. Plympton says the idea came from the 1937 movie “Saratoga”, in which star Jean Harlow died during the filming and a stand-in was used to finish. “It was supposed to be a drama,” says Plympton, “but it ended up being funny. Every time Harlow was in a scene, a box or something blocked the view.” As with J. LYLE,GUNS ON THE CLACKAMAS got a limited theatrical release. In 1996, Bill Plympton followed “Mala Noche” writer Walt Curtis around his Portland hometown to record him reading his poetry. This outrageous performance film hit the festival circuit in 1997 to stunned audiences. It is entitled WALT CURTIS, PECKERNECK POET. In 1998, Bill returned to animation with I MARRIED A STRANGE PERSON. It's a heartwarming story of a newlywed couple on their wedding night. Grant, the husband, starts experiencing strange, supernatural powers and Kerry, his wife, can't cope. Whenever Grant thinks of something, it becomes reality, yet he doesn't know where these magical powers come from. Once again Bill Plympton single-handedly drew and financed an animated feature extravaganza – only this time for adults and the politically incorrect. It was released by Lions Gate Films to good box office numbers and still plays today on cable TV. Bill's next animated feature, MUTANT ALIENS, the story of a stranded astronaut returning to Earth after 20 years in space, was completed in January 2001 and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. It won the Grand Prix in Annecy 2001 and was released in theatres in 2002. It has played all over the world to huge audiences. Bill's feature film, HAIR HIGH, is a gothic '50s high-school comedy about a love-triangle that goes terribly bad, with two young, murdered teens returning to their prom to get revenge. It stars the voice talents of Sarah Silverman, David & Keith Carradine, and Dermot Mulroney, and was co-produced by Martha Plimpton. Plympton charted new territory in animation, this time by broadcasting all of his drawing for the film live on the web at www.hairhigh.com. The film was completed in January 2004, released in over 50 cinemas around the country – and was released on DVD. Bill's short film GUARD DOG has been a hit at film festivals and it brought Bill his second Oscar nomination in January 2005. Two equally successful sequels soon followed, “Guide Dog” in 2006 and “Hot Dog” in 2008. Throughout his career, Bill has always made 2 to 3 short films a year that keep bringing in a solid income from sales around the world. His feature film, IDIOTS AND ANGELS, was completed in 2008 and after a successful run on the film festival circuit, was released in U.S. theaters in 2010. The film features the music of Tom Waits, Pink Martini, Nicole Renaud and Maureen McElheron, and no dialogue. It's a much more mysterious film than his previous ones, a dark comedy about a man's battle for his soul. “Because this film has no dialogue,” Plympton says, “I wanted music to play throughout – almost like a long opera – or an extended string of music videos. The look of the film is very Eastern European – something like what Jan Svankmayer might make, or David Lynch if he made animation – very dark and surreal.” Bill waited a little while before starting his next feature, and used the time to release several successful short films, such as THE COW WHO WANTED TO BE A HAMBURGER, SUMMER BUMMER andDRUNKER THAN A SKUNK. But eventually his plans returned to feature-length animation, and he started work on CHEATIN', the story of two lovers, Jake and Ella, who encounter jealousy and insecurity after their perfect courtship. Partially inspired by the works of James M. Cain, and partially inspired by a past relationship, CHEATIN' is a tale of exaggerated passion and star-crossed lovers, exploring the dual nature of how two people immensely attracted to each other can also want to kill each other at the same time. CHEATIN‘ may also be the first animated feature partially funded on Kickstarter, with loyal Plympton fans kicking in over $100,000 needed to finish it. Plympton's movies have won him such a loyal following that the cable channel Shorts HD bought the rights to his entire library and set up a Bill Plympton channel on iTunes, something he hopes will engage a whole new generation of fans. Bill is currently working on finishing HITLER'S FOLLY, a mock-umentary about Adolf Hitler's love of animation. He's directing and drawing another film called REVENGEANCE, written by animator Jim Lujan, which is also being partially funded through a Kickstarter campaign.

Cartoonist Barbara Brandon-Croft made history in 1991 as the first Black woman to have a nationally syndicated comic strip in the mainstream press. Her series, "Where I'm Coming From," ran through Universal Press Syndicate through 2005. Now, a retrospective of her work has been published by Drawn and Quarterly, titled, Where I'm Coming From. Brandon-Croft joins us to discuss her book, and her career.  

*Today we present the return of a classic show. * The List of Homosexual Mass Murderers: First published a decade ago, and then updated and broadcast again in 2019, this topic is self-censored by the media and western universities. Worse, a visiting Hollander told Bob Enyart, who compiled the horrifying data, "Such a list would be against the law in my country. Sadly, a far longer list, of more than 34,400 terrorist killings since 9/11 committed by adherents to the religion of peace in the name of Allah, is available over at kgov.com/terror and a shocking number of the high-profile crimes that helped to tear America apart were committed by potheads as documented at kgov.com/pot. But here we present KGOV's list of homosexual mass murderers. (Please email updates or corrections to Bob@kgov.com.) MateenGay Jeffrey Dahmer: raped, murdered, and ate 17 young men and boys.Gay Adam Lanza: murdered 28 including 20 Sandy Hook Elementary School children.Gay Luis Garavito: rapist, torturer, and murderer of more than 147 of Columbia's young boys.Gay Omar Mateen: murdered 49 in Orlando with terrible collateral damage.Gay John Wayne Gacy: Chicago, killed 33 boys and buried them in his house and yard. Gay Jim Jones: killed 917 people.Gay Mohamed Bouhlel: killed 84 in Nice, France including 10 children.Gay California Freeway Killer William G. Bonin: murdered 14 boys ages 12 to 19, sexually molested them, tortured, mutilated, strangled & dumped their naked bodies.  One was stabbed 70 times.  Another had an ice pick in his head.  Others had cigarette burns.  1969 convicted of assaulting five boys, sentenced to five years.  1975 imprisoned for another rape.  Paroled in 10-78 & began his homo rape & murder spree immediately.  Police caught him while he was sexually assaulting a 15-yr-old boy in his van.  AP 2-23-96  "WGB said the death penalty "sends the wrong message" to America's youth.  Universal Press Syndicate 960507 Gambit Weekly, New Orleans.  He had been on death row for 14 years for 1979?80 murders. Executed 2-23-96 during BEL broadcast; studio lights dimmed.Gay Patrick Kearney: murdered 32, cutting boys up and putting them into trash bags dumped along LA freeways.Gay Thomas Hamilton: murdered 16; Scotland's mass murderer liked little boys in various states of undress. Called Mr. Creepie by some of Dunblane's children. Got even by killing 16 kindergarten children and their teacher and then himself on March 3, 13.  Known by police to be "a risk to children," -USA Today 19990721, page 8a.Gay Andrew Cunanan: murderer of Zgianni Versace, fashion designer. This male prostitute was wanted in connection with four other murders nationwide.Gay Orville Lynn Majors: 60 murderers, charged with six. BEL listener Barbera Brown of Madisonville KY called on the air to say that she was a relative of Majors, and that he was a known homosexual. 6 counts of murder...  One patient died every 156 hours at Vermillion County Hospital in Indiana during his shifts. He was charged with six deaths but is believed to have murdered 60 people.Gay Charles Manson: a prostitute's illegitimate son, spent most of his early life in institutions for offences including theft, pimping, multiple homosexual offenses while incarcerated, and homosexual rape.  When released in 1967, aged 32, he used his criminal contacts to buy drugs and seduce enough young middle-class women to create The Family.Gay Donald Harvey: murdered dozens in a Kentucky hospital, between 37 and as many as 70.Gay Bruce Davis: Charles Manson accomplice who appears on the Associated Press list of the Worst U.S. Serial Killers, who molested and murdered 27 young men and boys in Illinois.Gay Nathaniel Bar-Jonah: homosexual cannibal Bar-Jonah sexually molested boys in Massachusetts and Montana and butchered at least one, a ten year old in Great Falls named Zachary Ramsay.Gay Corll, Henley & Brooks: Dean Arnold Corll's sex ring with Elmer Wayne Henley  and David Owen Brooks murdered and tortured 29 men and boys in Texas.Gay Juan Corona: murdered 25 migrant workers and even molested their corpses.Gay Richard Speck: murdered 8 nursing students, bragged about it on videotape showing him having sex with an inmate and bragging about the many inmates he had sodomized.  Died of a heart attack in 1991.Gay Bruce McArthur: A landscaper and well-known homosexual will be eligible to apply for parole in the year 2219 A.D., exactly two centuries after being sentenced for murderering and dismembering eight men whose remains he then mixed into the soil for potted plants.Gay Wayne Williams: in Atlanta from 1979-1981 killed black boys, thought to be a racist, but turned out to be a black homosexual.Gay Henry Lee Lucas: murdered thee people including his mother and falsely confessed to many others. According to transvestite Ottis Toole, they were homosexual partners, as reported by American Justice, "Myth of a Serial killer: The Henry Lee Lucas Story", episode 150.Gay Ottis Toole: a transvestite according to American Justice (episode 150) and he was a partner of Henry Lee Lucas, and bragged about murders in interviews. Toole was a rapist and a claimed cannibal, convicted for 3 murders and confessed to 4 others before his death, and he was still a suspect for other unsolved killings.Gay Frank Davis: killed two youths on a camping trip with an ax in 1983 and almost killed two others, had his death sentence commuted to a 120-year prison term.  Murders in Kingsford Heights.  "Davis killed the teens after sexually molesting them.  Darrin Reed, 14 and Jeffrey Lopez, 15 were killed and two others were left for dead but survived...  Davis argued he was sexually abused as an adolescent at Beatty mental hospital...  he was forced to perform homosexual acts, as an adolescent, with the older inmates...  This ‘affected Davis' sexual identity,' his lawyers said." Of course, homosexual men reproduce by molesting boys.Gay Stephen Port killed at least four young men raping them as they were dying and sexually assaulted at least seven other men.Gay Jürgen Bartsch: this German homosexual murdered four boys between ages 8 and 13 and tried to kill another.Gay Gary Ray Bowles: preyed on older men and murdered six, homosexuals like himself, and was executed in Florida in 2019.Gay Robert Berdella: kidnapped, raped, tortured, and murdered at least six men in Kansas City, Missouri.Gay Randy Kraft: raped, tortured, mutilated and murdered at least 16 young men, mostly in California.Gay Dennis Nilsen: Scottish serial killer and necrophiliac who murdered at least 12 young men in London, England.Gay Stephen Port: Grindr homosexual app serial killer drugged and murdered four young men in England.Gay Ronald Dominique: raped and murdered at least 23 men, many of whom he found in Louisiana's "gay" bars.Gay Larry Eyler: murdered 22 young men and boys including a 15-year-old whom he then dismembered.Gay Arthur Bishop: this child molester and consumer of child pornography (the distribution of which the ACLU has supported) murdered five young boys.Gay Daniel Conahan: this serial killer was convicted of one and linked to more than a dozen murders of homosexual men.Gay Herb Baumeister: murdered at least 20 men with 11 of their corpses found buried on his Indiana property.Gay Joseph Duncan: convicted of murdering five, confessed to two others and to raping many young boys.Gay Vaughn Greenwood: this homosexual serial killer, known as the Skid Row Slasher, murdered 11 men.Gay William MacDonald: As Australia's first serial killer and yet only one of the millions of homosexual Stockholm Syndrome sufferers who were kidnapped and raped into the lifestyle, MacDonald murdered five people.Gay Michael Lupo: the sadistic Italian homosexual murdered four men in London and mutilated their corpses.Gay David Villarreal: brutally murdered five men in Texas from ages 18 to 78.Gay Carl Panzram: serial rapist executed at Leavenworth confessed to sodomizing and murdering many boys and men.Gay Aileen Wuornos: the prostitute who murdered seven johns.Gay Black Doodler: murdered five and possibly 11 more, homosexuals he picked up in San Francisco bars.Gay John Joubert: former Boy Scout leader said he enjoyed the "power and domination" of killing.  He was executed in the electric chair early July 17, 1996 for murdering two boys in 1983.  Joubert repeatedly stabbed and slashed Danny Jo Eberle, 13, and Christopher Walden, 12.  He also was convicted of stabbing and strangling a boy in Maine. -South Bend Tribune, IN wire report, p. A6 * The Pink Swastika: On a related program, Homosexuals Ran the NAZI Party, Bob Enyart interviewed Kevin Abrams, co-author of The Pink Swastika. That research-driven book provides extensive, carefully documented evidence from many primary sources and mainstream secondary historical sources that many of those running Nazi Germany, including Hitler, were homosexuals. Of course, those in rebellion against God have an easy way (for now) of just dismissing the truth. In this case, even primary historical sources are irrelevant to them, just as they dismiss the NAZI's own testimony regarding the centrality of the theory of evolution to their views. Instead, even though the German National Socialists tried to take Christ out of Christmas, unbelievers who reject the Darwinist and homosexual influence on the NAZIs instead insist that they were Christians. Right. * Homosexual Serial Killers: In America, the FBI defines a mass murderer as someone who kills four or more people and a serial killer as someone who kills three or more. So likewise in England, the media refers to:- Gay Steven Grieveson: as the "Gay serial killer" who murdered three teenage boys.- Gay Allan Grimson: the British homosexual convicted of murdering two men and suspected of killing up to possibly 20 others. * Dishonorable Mentions- Gay Niels Hoegel: "Nurse kills 100 patients" say the headlines. From the known demographics of such crimes, we immediately presume that the nurse is a male and a homosexual. The evidence that Niels Hoegel is a homosexual is that the media has reported nothing of his personal life. Of course, if he were a leader in his church, that would be in the headlines. But if he's a homosexual (or a Muslim for that matter) that detail would be buried or not at all reported.- Gay Anthony Morley: A gay chef murdered his partner, cut out part of his leg, seasoned it with herbs and fried it, a British court heard. Anthony Morley, 35, chewed one of the pieces before throwing it into his kitchen trash. Morley is a former holder of the Mr. Gay UK title. - Gay Aaron McKinney was being pimped alongside Matthew Shephard, with whom he occasionally had unnatural physical relations, before he and Russell Henderson murdered Shepherd over drugs, a crime that was not the homophobic attack that McKinney played it as and was then recklessly promoted worldwide by the media.- The Doodler: Five San Francisco homosexuals were murdered and others assaulted in 1974 by a man known as "The Doodler" who will, with high likelihood, turn out to be himself a homosexual.- Gay Cop Killer Matthew Riehl: Colorado's pot-smoking homosexual Matthew Riehl tried to kill five but shot four and killed one officer. * Bible Verses Against Homosexuality: Newsweek's Lisa Miller was caught red-handed intentionally misrepresenting the Bible and claiming that it does not speak out against lesbianism. Bob Enyart confronted Miller on air and then she was likewise confronted in person when speaking in New York City at Dinesh D'souza's King's College during the Q&A by a student and BEL listener. New Testament: 1 Timothy 1:9-10 "the law is not made for a righteous person, but for... the unholy and profane, for murderers... for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers ["Thou shall not bear false witness"]... 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 "...the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God... Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous [lusting for what you must not have], nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners..." Romans 1:26-27 "...vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful..." And as Jesus taught in Mark 10:6 and quoting Genesis, that "from the beginning of the creation, God 'made them male and female.'" And in Mark 7:21 "out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual immorality, murders..." And Matthew 23:23 "Woe to you... for you... have neglected the weightier matters of the law" [and the lesser] and in Matthew 5:18 "Not one jot or one tittle [dotting an i or crossing a t] will pass from the law till all is fulfilled." Old Testament: Leviticus 18:22 "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination." Leviticus 20:13 "If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them." [Tragically, 35 million human beings have died tortured deaths from just one disease out of the many that are the normal consequences of homosexual behavior. Acceptance of homosexual became a curse to these people and their loved ones, though many are in denial about this.] Genesis 19:4-5 "...the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally." The New Testament draws the lesson from God's destruction of that city. Jude 1:7 "Sodom and Gomorrah... having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." Genesis 2:24 "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." As naturally as could be, this verse from the time of the beginning of creation very naturally affirms the two sexes (male and female, father and mother) indicating that a man has both a mother and father, not two fathers or two mothers, providing the natural, healthy context for the Scripture's future disgust with and condemnation of homosexuality.  * Expert on Breast Cancer Abortion Risk: Karen Malec of AbortionBreatCancer.com and Leslie Hanks of Colorado RTL were interviewed by Pro-Life Colorado's Jo Scott. Read the startling press release!* Palin Defends Chemical Abortions: The CBS transcript of Sarah Palin shows: Palin: "absolutely" will fight global warming Palin: evolution "should be taught as an accepted principle" Palin: God's hand in creation should not be part of state policy or the curriculum Palin: "as for homosexuality" "I don't know what prayers are worthy of being prayed... I am not going to judge... adult personal relationships" Palin: personally against the Morning After Pill but it should not be illegal Palin: on abortion for rape, she would 'counsel' for life, but never support jail Palin: a pro-life vice president doesn't make laws, so her beliefs are not relevant* McCain Lies to Christians, Kills Kids: Please see American Right To Life's powerful press release about Dr. Dobson violating his pledge made invoking God! John McCain funds the killing of countless children for example by voting to allocate monies on Oct. 27, 2005 for tax-funded surgical abortion if the baby's father is a criminal, that is, a rapist. See McCain's Yea vote to authorized funding for surgical abortion to kill an unborn child whose father is a criminal, "if the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest." Also he votes millions to foreign and domestic abortion providers including Planned Parenthood and one week after Rudi Giuliani dropped out of the race, Republicans for Choice endorsed McCain. Today's Resource: Watch Bob quickly unravel Terry's red herring claim, that homosexuals can be righteous Christians. In the BEL Terry's Call DVD (or download), see a series of startling, and then heart warming phone calls, Terry is lead to the Lord shortly before his death from AIDS.  

Take a short-statured trip back to 1982 to explore the one-off TV Christmas special, “Ziggy’s Gift,” starring no one’s favorite funny papers hero and featuring a beautifully animated puddle of dog pee.On This EpisodeMike Westfall (@fallwestmike), 2 heads shorter than everyone else in his universe.Chad Young (@horrormoviebbq) from the Horror Movie BBQ.Topics and Tangents“Ziggy’s Gift” on Dinosaur Dracula After Dark.“The Point,” a Harry Nilsson album turned into an animated movie.Ziggy’s toothpaste looks like Beetlejuice sandworms.Ziggy Theories: Is he adult Charlie Brown? A vegetarian? A guardian angel?The time Chad met Billy West, who stood on a chair because he thought Chad was too tall.The time I inquired about a job opportunity that wasn’t what I expected.The terrifying robot Santa window display reminded me a little too much of the equally terrifying “Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure.”Frank Welker voiced 25 characters in this special if you count each individual turkey.Ziggy’s kettle has “the Glow” from “The Last Dragon.”We compare the “Linus moment” trope of remembering the true meaning of Christmas to the newly named “Skeletor face turn” of becoming filled with Christmas spirit.Previous Episodes of This Podcast MentionedSeason 1, Episode 4: The Gift of WinterSeason 1, Bonus: The Adventures of the American RabbitSeason 2, Episode 7: Will Vinton’s Claymation Christmas CelebrationSeason 2, Episode 17: A Pinky and the Brain ChristmasSeason 2, Episode 18: He-Man/She-Ra: A Christmas SpecialSeason 2, Bonus: Garfield’s Halloween AdventureSeason 3, Episode 3: A Wish for Wings That Work“Ziggy’s Gift” ©1982 Universal Press Syndicate.The Advent Calendar House is on the web at adventcalendar.house, on Twitter @adventcalhouse, and part of the Christmas Podcast Network.

Drawing (literally) from her own experiences, Jan tried to reflect real life and real emotions, with empathy for anyone with too little time, money or patience. Her first comic strip, Patience and Sarah, began as a weekly feature in a local alternative newspaper and ran for 3 years. It was reprinted in parenting magazines and books in the years following, giving Eliot the courage to try a second strip, Sister City, which ran weekly in her local daily paper the Eugene Register-Guard. It ran for 5 years, when the strip was picked up by Universal Press Syndicate and renamed Stone Soup (https://www.stonesoupcartoons.com/) . On November 20, 1995, after many years of wishing and hoping, Eliot saw her creation launched nationally as a daily comic strip. About EugCast: EugCast is a volunteer powered, cooperative chit-chat where we talk with people who may or may not live in the Eugene, Oregon area. We think they have some really cool stories to share, but we’ll leave that up to you, the listener, to decide! https://eugcast.com [EugCast on Facebook] https://www.facebook.com/EugeneOregonPodcast/

John Glynn, President and Editorial Director of Andrews McMeel Syndication! John is President of the world's largest content syndicate (f/k/a Universal Uclick and Universal Press Syndicate). They market, sell and distribute content to newspapers, Web sites, mobile sites and other digital and print clients across the globe. He oversees the selection, development and management of more than 250 features including brands like Garfield, Peanuts, Dilbert, Dear Abby, Motley Fool, Calvin & Hobbes, Doonesbury, Cathy, Ziggy, Foxtrot, NonSequitur, Pearls Before Swine, For Better or For Worse, Miss Manners, Big Nate, Marmaduke, Lio, Richard Roeper, Get Fuzzy, Ann Coulter, Donna Brazile, Steve & Cokie Roberts, and many, many more. He also supervises what has become the world's largest comics Web site in https://GoComics.com and the Andrews McMeel Network of sites that attract more than one billion page views a year. About BizTank Career Exploration Program BizTank provides local Junior and Senior high school students an opportunity to gain exposure to the world of business through a stimulating and interactive program. Consisting of three unique eight-week seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall), meeting once a week on Wednesday nights. Sessions are spent covering a range of topics, such as startups, marketing and on-trend business subjects. In addition, students record, edit and create their own episodes for the Kids in the Tank Podcast. For more information visit us online at https://biztanknonprofit.org/

Ray Robertson is back to talk about the benefits and characteristics of AppleScript, and how he will introduce attendees of the CMD-D Down-Home Scripting Boot Camp. Ray discusses what he and scripting guru Sal Soghoian will be teaching, why you don’t need any prior scripting experience to benefit from the conference, and some of the extra-cirrucular activities that are available after conference hours. This edition of MacVoices is sponsored by Smile, the makers of PDFpen and PDFpenPro, PDFpen for iPad, PDFpen for iPhone, PDFpen Scan+, as well as TextExpander for Mac and TextExpander for iPhone and iPad, as well as the new TextExpander for Windows. Great software to help you get more done. Show Notes: Chuck Joiner is the producer and host of MacVoices. You can catch up with what he's doing on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the show: iTunes: - Audio in iTunes - Video in iTunes - HD Video in iTunes Subscribe manually via iTunes or any podcatcher: - Audio: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesrss  - Video: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesvideorss Guests: Ray Robertson started working with automation technologies shortly after purchasing his first Mac. With a background in typography, he began by using macro programs and database publishing utilities for an Atlanta-based typesetting firm. In 1998 Ray started his own company focused on AppleScript solutions and training, Scripting Matters, successfully using scripting to automate Atlanta's infamous traffic out of his working life. As a teacher, he organized and co-taught AppleScript Pro Sessions, a five-day in-depth training event. He has led seminars for Adobe and Apple, including a very successful European tour focused on automating the Finder, InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator with AppleScript. Through custom development and/or training, Ray has helped many prominent companies, including Accuweather, Comedy Central, McGraw/Hill, Pearson, Reebok, and Universal Press Syndicate. Ray's primary focus is helping clients rapidly improve productivity, sometimes reducing weeks of tedious work to a few hours. Whether working with custom development or training, Ray knows good listening and communication skills are just as important as technical expertise. With a background in desktop publishing instead of IT, he readily understands the challenges many people face in deadline-driven environments. He is passionate about making automated solutions easy to use and maintain. Over the years, Ray has also established a great network of skilled developers and consultants. He has partnered with other developers to create very sophisticated solutions using multiple scripting languages, including JavaScript, as well as more higher level languages, such as Objective-C. Ray has also done some iOS programming, creating an early iPad app which was recognized as New & Noteworthy by Apple staff. In 2014, he acquired Automated Workflows, and continues to operate that company as well as his own. Ray earned his BA with summa cum laude honors at Berry College where he served as editor of an award-winning student newspaper. After many years as a recreational racquetball player, Ray now focuses on qi gong, yoga, tai chi and pilates. He and his wife, Marina, live in a small community outside the metro Atlanta area.

Ray Robertson is back to talk about the benefits and characteristics of AppleScript, and how he will introduce attendees of the CMD-D Down-Home Scripting Boot Camp. Ray discusses what he and scripting guru Sal Soghoian will be teaching, why you don’t need any prior scripting experience to benefit from the conference, and some of the extra-cirrucular activities that are available after conference hours. This edition of MacVoices is sponsored by Smile, the makers of PDFpen and PDFpenPro, PDFpen for iPad, PDFpen for iPhone, PDFpen Scan+, as well as TextExpander for Mac and TextExpander for iPhone and iPad, as well as the new TextExpander for Windows. Great software to help you get more done. Show Notes: Chuck Joiner is the producer and host of MacVoices. You can catch up with what he's doing on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the show: iTunes: - Audio in iTunes - Video in iTunes - HD Video in iTunes Subscribe manually via iTunes or any podcatcher: - Audio: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesrss  - Video: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesvideorss Guests: Ray Robertson started working with automation technologies shortly after purchasing his first Mac. With a background in typography, he began by using macro programs and database publishing utilities for an Atlanta-based typesetting firm. In 1998 Ray started his own company focused on AppleScript solutions and training, Scripting Matters, successfully using scripting to automate Atlanta's infamous traffic out of his working life. As a teacher, he organized and co-taught AppleScript Pro Sessions, a five-day in-depth training event. He has led seminars for Adobe and Apple, including a very successful European tour focused on automating the Finder, InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator with AppleScript. Through custom development and/or training, Ray has helped many prominent companies, including Accuweather, Comedy Central, McGraw/Hill, Pearson, Reebok, and Universal Press Syndicate. Ray's primary focus is helping clients rapidly improve productivity, sometimes reducing weeks of tedious work to a few hours. Whether working with custom development or training, Ray knows good listening and communication skills are just as important as technical expertise. With a background in desktop publishing instead of IT, he readily understands the challenges many people face in deadline-driven environments. He is passionate about making automated solutions easy to use and maintain. Over the years, Ray has also established a great network of skilled developers and consultants. He has partnered with other developers to create very sophisticated solutions using multiple scripting languages, including JavaScript, as well as more higher level languages, such as Objective-C. Ray has also done some iOS programming, creating an early iPad app which was recognized as New & Noteworthy by Apple staff. In 2014, he acquired Automated Workflows, and continues to operate that company as well as his own. Ray earned his BA with summa cum laude honors at Berry College where he served as editor of an award-winning student newspaper. After many years as a recreational racquetball player, Ray now focuses on qi gong, yoga, tai chi and pilates. He and his wife, Marina, live in a small community outside the metro Atlanta area.

From 2007: Lee Salem is a guy I’ve admired for many, many years. As the president and editor of Universal Press Syndicate, he is the man responsible for recognizing a slew of creative talent that impacted American pop culture and the funny pages over the last 30-plus years. The origins of Garry Trudeau and “Doonesbury,” Gary Larson and “The Far Side,” Bill Watterson and “Calvin and Hobbes,” Lynn Johnston and “For Better or Worse” and Cathy Guisewite and “Cathy,” all can be traced back

Ann Coulter - author and legal correspondent for Human Events and writes a popular syndicated column for Universal Press Syndicate

In this episode we talk to  Lalo Alcarez - Nationally syndicated comic strip artist & Producer/Writer of the upcoming Fox Television series, Border Town. Lalo and Ryan talk comedy, satire, community and working within a system that was never really meant for "us."  LALO ALCARAZ BIO Lalo Alcaraz is perhaps the most prolific Chicano artist in the nation, according to this bio. Lalo has been busy for over two decades chronicling the political ascendancy of Latinos in America and vigorously pushing the boundaries of Chicano art in the Post Chicano Art Era.  He is the creator of the first nationally-syndicated, politically-themed Latino daily comic strip, “La Cucaracha,”  seen in  scores of newspapers including the Los Angeles Times (syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate, home of “Doonesbury” and “The Boondocks.”) Lalo has produced editorial cartoons for the L.A. Weekly since 1992 and also creates editorial cartoons in English and Spanish for Universal.Building on his success as an artist and writer, Lalo’s next project is a re-boot of the famed Pocho.com, his pioneering humor, satire and cerveza webzine/blog/news site.

Ann Coulter is the author of seven New York Times bestsellers —Guilty: Liberal Victims and Their Assault on America (January 2009);If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans (October, 2007); Godless: The Church of Liberalism (June 2006); How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must)(October, 2004); Treason: Liberal Treachery From the Cold War to the War on Terrorism (June 2003); Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right (June 2002); and High Crimes and Misdemeanors:The Case Against Bill Clinton (August 1998). Coulter is the legal correspondent for Human Events and writes a popular syndicated column for Universal Press Syndicate.