Geez! I forgot the video! Heads or Tails?
This design would cost a mint
Heres the Kubota vs Concrete fight to the death video I failed to link the first time around. Watch it and relive your Tonka Truck childhood!
Hey, Everyone! I’ve fallen behind on my babbles but will make up ground as soon as possible. A once-a-week newsletter schedule was my ideal plan to coincide with my editorial cartoon releases, but, well, you know, LIFE got in my way.
And concrete. It’s hard to concentrate through the BEEP-BEEP-BEEP of a skilled Kubota track loader expert demolishing my 100+ year old garage floor to make way for a new one.
Before I get to the cartoon, let me share why a professional’s experience in the construction biz is far better than anything this weekend warrior would anticipate.
Pay the pros for what they knows
My two-story garage has a 24-foot steel beam traversing the full width. It carries a substantial load and is held in place by triple-tethered 4x4 pressure-treated posts on each end. I had long forgotten to properly anchor the posts because gravity and pressure had seemingly secured their positions. I asked the contractor to cut a pad around the base of each post so as not to disturb them.
Initially, my idea appeared sound, and they made the cuts. But concrete busters know a think or ten about the movin’ and shakin’ they cause, so I was dispatched to the local hardware store to buy some manly man angle brackets and lag screws. Once attached, the wrecking crew felt safe to continue demolition.
It’s a good thing they secured the posts because THIS is what happens when the earth moves.
Sunken Rice Paddy
Kubota means “sunken rice paddy” in Japanese. They are a John Deere competitor and a big name in farming and construction equipment, so I’m sure this machine, with the right attachments, can sink a paddy. Or collapse a garage.
This video won’t win any awards, but it is more interesting than watching paint dry. Watching the full 1:12 is not obligatory, but I’m still a little boy fascinated by construction toys, and maybe you are, too.
Ultimately, I got my new floor, which will serve as a platform for woodworking and drinking summer ales while it rains.
An elite job by an elite team whose company name, appropriately, is Elite Concrete. How neat!
Back to cartooning: Less is more example #687,493
Cartoon strip artists are advised to chop off the last panel to see if their setup and punchline combo work better. This is often the case for new comic strippers because there is a tendency to over-explain the gag, which dilutes the overall effect and diminishes reader satisfaction.
The same principle applies to single-panel cartoons. Can I get by with less? Will fewer words and graphic elements get the job done? Can I lead the reader to the edge and let them finish the narrative? Good cartoonists develop an innate editorial sense of clearing out what is unnecessary. Call it their D.O.C.E., Department of Cartoon Efficiency. My skill in this area is a work in progress.
Here is the conceptual rough draft of my editorial cartoon. I was determined to show Trump’s reaction to Canadian Prime Minister Carney’s announcement.
Trump’s orations are often childish and can be funny, but when they are predictable, they lose their punch. It occurred to me that the Loony coin was the punch line, and anything after that was a cartoon denouement, the cigarette after the loving. So I cut Trump out and ended up with a more impactful cartoon.
On the matter of over-explaining, I will do precisely that.
If this cartoon still doesn’t make sense, folks colloquially call the $1 Canadian coin the Loonie because the reverse side features a picture of a solitary loon.
Photo credit: CoinsandCanada.com
In hindsight, I will apologize for using an online Trump likeness and ask the copyright police to cut me a break. Fair use? I hope so!
😂
What, no Jimmy Hoffa?