Gypsy In The Morning: Django Reinhardt Alarm Clock
Continuing with our Birthday Clock series: a belated January 23rd HB to gypsy jazz guitar legend Django Reinhardt (1910-1953). His large, heavy-lidded eyes reminded
me of the two bells on top of vintage alarm clocks.
He was born into a gypsy family in Belgium, hence his natural association with “gypsy music.” He discovered jazz around the age of 20. With violinist Stéphane Grappelli, he founded the Hot Club of France Quintet in 1934. It was a jazz band with an unusual configuration: stringed instruments only. The line-up varied over time, but Reinhardt was the central focus and kept the band active until 1948.
Artists of any stripe– or any striver, really– could find no better role model than Django Reinhardt. Why? He was badly burned at age 18. The third and fourth fingers of his left hand were left partially paralyzed. Out of necessity, he invented an entirely new jazz guitar technique: he played all his solos with just two fingers, using his injured fingers only for chording. He not only faced his handicap, he used it to achieve new heights of artistry.
Here’s a larger detail image of the Django Alarm Clock. Scroll down to listen to one of his most famous compositions.
You can find archival film footage of Django on YouTube, but it’s rather grainy and the sound quality is poor. Instead, I’m embedding a slideshow set to a pristine 1953 recording of Nuages (“Clouds”), perhaps his most famous composition. If you’ve never heard any Django Reinhardt, you’re in for a treat. I think you’ll enjoy the images, too– including some additional caricatures.
What do you think? Ever heard of Django Reinhardt? Do you think he makes a good alarm clock? Hope you’ll leave a comment.
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Time for more courtroom humor. I illustrate a monthly humor feature called Strange Suits for Inside Counsel Magazine. They send me four cases, I sketch out an idea for each, they pick the one they like best.
Here’s the latest winner. The case involved a company that’s suing an ex-employee for taking 17,000 of the company’s Twitter followers with him when he left. Definitely a messy situation.
Scroll down to see the rough sketches for the cases that weren’t selected.
This case involved a woman and her son who are suing Walmart. They claim they tried to return a television set and were attacked by store security guards.
French fashion house Louis Vuitton is suing Warner Brothers over the film The Hangover, Part II. Vuitton claims the movie features counterfeit versions of its luggage which could cause “consumer confusion.”
Lady Gaga is being sued by a former personal assistant who claims Gaga owes her for periods when the assistant was “figuratively, if not literally,” always at Lady G’s side.
And here’s the rough sketch for the Tweety Birds case:
What do you think? Will social media be featured in more and more court cases? Have “frivolous” and “lawsuit” become synonymous? Hope you’ll leave a comment.
If you enjoyed this post, I invite you to subscribe. You can either leave a comment and click the box that says Notify me of new posts via email, or click on the Subscribe button below the Portfolio Thumbnails in the sidebar at the top right of this page.
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And For Her Birthday, Lola Wants… A Leg Lamp??
Second in a series of clock motif birthday tributes: this one to legendary Broadway dancer Gwen Verdon (1925-2000), who won four Tony awards and is best remembered for her role as The Devil’s seductive assistant Lola in the musical Damn Yankees. Dancer, legs, leg lamp… well, it seemed a good idea when I did the rough sketch… : )
Hey, who’s that peekin’ out from behind the lamp? Why, it’s Robert Stack (1919-2003), best remembered for his portrayal of Prohibition-era federal gangbuster Eliot Ness in TV’s The Untouchables. He, too, was born on January 13th.
Here’s a larger detail image. Scroll down for a video clip of Gwen Verdon singing Whatever Lola Wants, from the movie version of Damn Yankees, co-starring Tab Hunter.
What do you think? Would Lola have wanted a leg lamp for her birthday? Would Eliot Ness have been tough enough to resist her charms?? Hope you’ll leave a comment.
If you enjoyed this post, I invite you to subscribe. You can either leave a comment and click the box that says Notify me of new posts via email, or click on the Subscribe button below the Portfolio Thumbnails in the sidebar at the top right of this page.
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