Sergio Aragones, famed cartoonist for MAD is also known in Los Angeles as a bon vivant, and man about town!

Sergio Aragones at Carney's Hot Dogs

I’ve known Sergio for many years, through CAPS and NCS when I belonged to those clubs, and occasional cartoon get togethers. He really is a fascinating man – married three times, and was a real ladies man with starlets and others in Hollywood before that. He’s charming, and a big talker – but he has the creds, from MAD Magazine mostly. Of course, those were the days when MAD was monthly, not quarterly, and they took all the contributors (cartoonists and writers) on trips around the world every year! (As well they should, since they have a really awful old-fashioned and stingy Work for Hire contract.)

Anyway, Sergio has a studio up on hot Ojai, which I visited once, on a day spa trip up there. Very fun, and so is he.

I knew from seeing a thumbnail of this that this was one of his early drawings, and so it is – 1978. From the 99Cent Chef Blog, who is a character himself, doing a roundup of hot dogs in Los Angeles.

On a much sadder note,  one of the best editorial cartoonists in our generation, Paul Conrad, died last week. I didn’t know him as well as Sergio – only briefly met him at Impolitic, a gallery in Santa Monica that we both had our work in. Impolitic had great parties, and I think he came to most of them, although he didn’t seem interested in anyone, and just wanted to chat about his cartoons. He was a great talent.

More cartoons:

1. Terrible news: Marty Murphy passed away.
2. Lose weight, lose years.

Of course, I mean the remaining six on Bachelor Pad.

This was such a CHEAP, CHEAP show – get out of my life. The dates are so lame – I think they were all within 3 miles of the house or so. So boring to look at. And since it’s cheaper to film in daytime, the lame “contests” – as if spin the bottle was a contest in any way – and I hope they saved money on that one by using one of their own empty wine bottles – have the contestants all squinting, all ugly, in the hot sun.

Now, the people: I really liked Gia, even though she played the game so poorly. Wes seemed pretty sincere – I was one of the few who liked him in Jillian’s season. It was Fleiss who did a number on him.

I liked a lot of the women – Nikki, Ashley, and especially Krisily – she’s an outspoken girl of my own heart! That’s exactly how I would have played it, too, and lost! All gone now.

Peyton was the last girl I liked, and now she’s gone. I could call the remaining six names, but why bring myself down – they’re all undeserving of the win. I have to say, however, that even though Kiptyn fancies himself a good person, I DON’T THINK SO. Cannot stand fake Tenley, and David Good is the worst.

On a much more interesting note, I saw Vienna today!!! I hardly ever recognize anyone, and it’s not a spot where I would expect to see even a reality star: in Joann’s Fabrics, in Glendale! It’s not the biggest Joann’s, either, but they have a big sale this holiday weekend, and I need new curtains. ( The retarded manager here decided that to cut trees back to wood – I mean, not one leaf left, in the middle of a heat wave, for NO reason whatsoever – was the best way to attract new tenants. Not. And deforested trees means less privacy for me. :()

vienna girardi with jake pavelka and dog

So I went into the store, and barely looked at a blond woman coming out. I didn’t think twice about it. She wasn’t striking, not super skinny, just the same blond that 90% of women here in LA are. There was a man walking 5 paces behind her, with a dog on a leash. I was so annoyed that someone thought it was a good idea to bring a DOG into a fabric store – it’s not Petco, honey – that I scowled and looked back at them, and something about her WITH THE DOG suddenly rang a bell! I went back out the door and they were already headed into the crowded parking lot, so I tried to memorize the dog, since I’m not very good at faces. Yep, it was this dog!

Not this man, though, of course. Instead it was a dark haired man, nice looking, exactly her height. She looked a little petulant – there was a long line at the counter, so that must have been painful. No smile, and even though I despise her for selling her sex life to the tabloid – and I’m the only person in the world who sides with Jake, it sounds like – it’s sad.  She’s a healthy young woman with $90,000 in her pocket, a new job, and a guy to hold the leash of her dog, and she just bought fabric (or Halloween decorations) on sale. What’s not to like?

I never really figured her for a homebody, either. Was she brought up so well that she learned needlework and sewing? Does she need new curtains now, too, with papparazzi after her? Does her dog need a fall coat? Happy sewing, Vienna.

Photo from allwomenstalk.com.

More cartoons:

1. Am I a famewhore?
2. Jake lands with a thud, but the kids are all right.

For Illustration Friday: star gazing.

aliens subscribe to people magazine

Or planet plumpers. Who knows what that star is…most are planets, right?

Since I’m a night owl, I often look at the night sky and try to remember the constellations. I also take a moonlight hike with a group if I have time, and we all have a party at the top!

This is the month for shooting stars, and tonight I shall look for them.

Caption: Scientists talking to department head: We were going over those radio waves from star 54527, and, well, they’d like the latest issue of “People”.

More cartoons:

1. Jones writes on MySpace about Disneyland party.
2. How much sonar does it take to kill a whale?