LARRY ROIBAL

Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

There was a time, not too long ago, when having a woman run for president, be nominated to the Supreme Court or take on the job of Secretary of State was unthinkable, but WWII accomplished what activists couldn’t. With all able bodied men off to war, women entered the work force. Norman Rockwell’s portrayal of Rosie The Riveter appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post 66 years ago today, May 29, 1943, and the iconic image became a symbol for a new generation of women. When the War was over, men wanted women to return to the home, but the genie was out of the bottle. Gone was the iconic Gibson Girl hosting tea parties, the strong independent woman was here to stay. Women presently make up nearly half of the work force. Now if only they could receive equal pay.

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Ball point pen on this mornings job listings

Harry Truman said, “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog”

Burris has become such a pariah, I think even canines are snubbing him. The countdown has officially begun on his short term as US Senator.

Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

President Obama nominates Sonia Sotomayor to replace retiring Justice David Sutor. If confirmed she will be the first Hispanic to serve on the Supreme Court. Sotomayor was born in the Bronx, New York and was raised in a housing project just a few blocks from Yankee Stadium. She earned her A.B. from Princeton University, graduating summa cum laude, and obtained her Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School where she was an editor of the Yale Law Journal. In 1991 Sotomayor was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and 1n 1997 she was nominated by President Bill Clinton to the US Court of Appeals.

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Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

In a young presidency already filled with tough challenges, North Korea may prove to be the toughest.

Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

….nough said.

Ball point pen on paper

Today is my son Andrew’s 21st Birthday. Andrew is a senior at Rowan University finishing his undergraduate degree in Mathematics. He will be studying abroad in Rome Italy this summer and plans on applying to graduate schools upon his return.

Apart from his scholastic career, Andrew plays the guitar and bass. Working from my home studio, I’ve had the privilege to see and hear bands form and practice in my basement. He and his mates have played gigs at the famed Jersey club The Stone Pony, where some of the biggest names in music, including Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Cheap Trick, Joan Jett, Elvis Costello, Peter Frampton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Patti Smith have graced the same stage. He is currently playing bass for Dan Wythoff performing gigs in New Jersey and in and around Philadelphia. Andrew also writes music reviews and conducts interviews for the on-line music magazine Praise For Wallflower.

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Above left: Andrew playing at the Stone Pony

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Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

The sleeping giant awakes. After the banking industry has all but ruined the worlds economy, the banking committee is coming to the rescue.

Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

Pete Townshend is 64 years old today. Best known as The Who’s guitarist and primary songwriter He wrote over one hundred songs for the band’s eleven studio albums, including the rock opera Tommy and the two albums I wore out as a kid, another rock opera, Quadrophenia and the classic Who’s Next.

Yes, he is the one

Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

President Barack Obama received an honorary doctor of laws degree Sunday during the commencement ceremony at Notre Dame University. While a small number of pro life protesters were arrested for trespassing, the majority of students and faculty at the Catholic University welcomed the president. Obama acknowledged the irreconcilable differences of opinion on the abortion debate, but urged both factions to stop demonizing the other and begin to work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions by reducing unintended pregnancies.

Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

The Montclair Art Museum in New Jersey is a small gem of a museum. It houses fine examples of the Hudson River School, and works by three of my favorite painters, John Singer Sargent, William Merrit Chase, and Thomas Eakins. Controversy erupted this week when the Museum planned to sell more than 50 pieces from it’s collection, including a portrait of the Museum’s founder, William B. Dickson painted by the great William Merrit Chase. The grandchildren of Dickson are outraged. The painting has roots in the community and is part of the museum’s history. Dickerson not only founded the Museum but was a former vice president of US Steel and a long time resident of Montclair. Chase of coarse was a great painter and teacher. He founded his own school in 1896 across the river in New York’s Greenwich Village that would later become Parsons School of Design (my alma mater). The family can’t understand why the museum would no longer want the painting, but having donated it, would like it returned to the family. The museum says it has the right to sell the painting because it was an unrestricted gift.

Legally the museum may be right, but critics claim it is breaking a museum code of ethics by selling works to pay it’s bills. Works altruistically donated to be enjoyed by the public. I can’t help siding with the family in thinking that Montclair Art Museum is the logical home for this portrait.

UPDATE: 5/16/09 From the front page of todays Star Ledger: Montclair Art Museum has decided not to place said portrait up for auction.

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Jerelle Kraus is the award-winning New York Times art director whose thirty-year tenure includes a record thirteen years at Op-Ed. A champion of illustration, she’s commissioned the brightest stars in the industry to reflect the nations political and cultural pulse. Hundreds of artists, expert at pushing the buttons of the most powerful and the boundaries of what’s acceptable. Unfortunately, the realities of publishing, have allowed a few vocal critics threatening to cancel a subscription to influence what the rest of us see on the pages of our Times. Some of the most thought provoking and interesting drawings went unpublished….until now.
All the Art That’s Fit to Print (And Some That Wasn’t): Inside The New York Times Op-Ed Page

A must have book of great art.

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Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

Tom Adams is the CEO of the language-learning company, Rosetta Stone. Since he joined the company in 2003 it has grown into the leader in the industry. A native of Sweden, Tom grew up in France and England. He holds a B.A. in history from Bristol University, England, and an MBA from INSEAD. He speaks Swedish, English and French fluently and has a working knowledge of Spanish. His Chinese is basic, and he is currently learning Russian. Rosetta Stone made its debut yesterday as a public company on the New York Stock Exchange. It closed up 40% on it’s first day of trading.

Translation: Ca-Ching!

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Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

Steve Lonegan earned his B.A. in Business Administration from William Paterson College and his Masters in Business Administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He went on to own custom home building and cabinet making businesses. He was elected as Mayor of Bogata in 1995 and was reelected in 1999 and 2003. Lonegan is presently opposing Chris Christie for the Republican nomination in the upcoming New Jersey Gubernatorial election.

Stay tuned

Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

Jack Kemp was cut from a different cloth than many republicans. “The party of Lincoln needs to rethink and revisit its historic roots as a party of emancipation, liberation, civil rights and equality of opportunity for all.”

An all-star quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, twice champions of the American Football League. He connected his concern for minorities with his respect for his black teammates. A self described bleeding heart conservative, Kemp was elected to Congress representing suburban Buffalo and served from 1971 to 1989. He left the House for an unsuccessful presidential bid. He later served as President George H.W. Bush’s housing secretary and ran for vice president as Bob Dole’s running mate.

Jack Kemp passed away at his home in Bethesda, Maryland on May 2nd after a battle with cancer. He was 73.

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Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

Today I continue posting my doodles from our trip to London and Paris.

British actor Peter Dennis passed away in California on April 18th. Dennis fell in love with the literary works of Alan Alexander Milne and Illustrator Ernest Shepard at an exhibition in London and gradually made it his life’s work to tour America and Europe with his one man show of readings from Winnie-the-Pooh and other classics from A.A. Milne. He also appeared in dozens of television shows including Murder, She Wrote, ER and in the films Sideways and Shrek. He was 75.

Above, just beyond my doodle, is London’s Green Park. Donna and I stayed in a hotel just a block away. One interesting dichotomy between London and Paris are it’s parks and gardens. The French proudly proclaim man’s triumph over nature, and what a triumph. It seems throughout the entire city of Paris, not a leaf is out of place. Each tree a large topiary standing in perfect rows. Every hedge, shrub and flower is perfectly manicured and strategically placed to please the eye and serve a grand design.

The English gardens and parks are more natural, designed to allow those living in a congested city to commune with nature without leaving town. Both provide valuable public spaces for people to gather and decompress, they just have a different philosophy about how to present it.

This concludes the vacation posts. Sorry for being even more self indulgent than usual, Next week I’ll be back to doodling a daily portraits on my morning paper. Cheers, Au Revoire

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Ball point pen on the London Daily Telegraph

Today I continue posting my doodles from our trip abroad. Alan Bristow, a buccaneer leader of the British helicopter industry past away at the age of 85. Having pioneered helicopter flying during the Second World War, he went on to build the largest civilian helicopter fleet in Europe. A lifelong risk taker, Bristow was a man of a thousand hair raising stories. He thrived on adventures and survived any number of scrapes and air accidents.

On the subject of adventure - If you’ve traveled all the way across the pond, there’s no reason not to visit Paris even if it’s for a day. I did this doodle aboard the Eurostar traveling 186 miles an hour between London and Paris. We saw some beautiful English and French countryside, were served a wonderful breakfast of crepes and English sausage and were in Paris in a short 2 and a quarter hours. We spent nine hours in Paris, in which time Donna and I visited the Eiffel Tower, took a Seine River Cruise, visited Notre Dame, had a sandwich, a glass of wine and did some people watching in an outdoor cafe, and made a quick lap around the Louvre. On the trip back to London we enjoyed a late super of salmon and French wine…. Voila.

The Louvre has nine miles of corridors which is a lot to see. but in truth there is a lot that is filler that would never hang on the walls of the Met. (my favorite museum) If you have a game plan and know what you like, you’d be surprised at how much you can see in a short time. We had purchased tickets in advance and didn’t have to wait on line. Everyone of course wants to make a mad rush for the Mona Lisa and I must admit we did too but I suggest seeking out the grand canvases of David. You’ll see a fine painter and get a little history of France by viewing David’s “Coronation of Napoleon”, A Cecil B. Demille cast of thousands, each one a portrait.

Also, today is our daughters 19th Birthday!

Happy Birthday Alyssa!

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Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

The Swine flu was a very big story in London last week. A Scottish couple, honeymooning in Cancun Mexico, were the first known cases in Britain. They had the unfortunate luck of sharing the nine hour flight home near five guys who were coughing and shaking with the chills. The couple was recovering in quarantine but not before passing it on to members of their family, a six-a-side football team (soccer) and the best man.

Just beyond my doodle stands Big Ben and beside that, Westminster Abbey. Donna and I enjoyed visiting both the Abbey and St Paul’s Cathedral on this day. The Abbey is of coarse older with it’s flying buttresses reminiscent of Notre Dame Cathedral. The Abbey is where all the great and good of England are buried or memorialized.. Along side Kings and Queens lie Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton, Tennyson, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling and Sir Laurence Olivier. Many deserving are buried elsewhere but have memorials at the Abbey, include William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, John Keats, T.S. Eliot, Jane Austen, Sir Walter Scott, and Winston Churchill, who was offered burial here but declined.

Sir Christopher Wren’s St. Paul’s Cathedral completed in 1708 is a marvel in engineering, The dome is 173 ft high. We climbed the 259 stepped spiral staircase to the whispering gallery within the dome. The view from here is stunning, but many climb just to try out the acoustics that gives the gallery it’s name. Words spoken to the side can be heard clearly on the other side of the dome… yes, it works. I think this is where Verizon got the inspiration for the “Do you hear me now?” campaign.

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Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

Today, I continue my doodles on London newsprint.
I really liked the way the London media presents the news. No nonsense. Unfortunately the content these days is the same no matter where you travel. banking, and financial crisis.

From the Financial Times of London, (yes, it’s salmon colored) Josef Ackermann accepted a new three year contract to continue his duties as CEO of Deutsche Bank. Ackermann has managed to steer his bank through the financial crisis better than many of his competitors.

But he’s not without controversy. When Spiegel reported a statement made by Ackermann to Deutsche Bank’s annual meeting of senior executives. “I would be ashamed if we were to accept government money in this crisis.” it outraged German officials who believe that he undermined the bailout program by stigmatizing those companies who accepted aid.

Here my morning paper is pictured in front of the National Gallery. It houses a great collection of paintings by Valazquez, Vermeer, Monet, Rembrandt and others. We continued viewing masterpieces at the The Tate Britain. Although Donna and I were disappointed that Waterhouse’s Lady of Shalott was out on loan, some highlights from the Tate were the Sargent’s “Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose”, Millais’s “Ophelia” and Donna’s favorite, George Clausen’s “Girl at the Gate” (she’s got good taste), BTW, admission to both museums was free!

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Ball point pen on the London Telegraph

Donna and I held our annual after-tax-season-pallooza in London and Paris. We arrived in London at 9:00 am Sunday, April 26th. Feeling a bit jet lagged, we thought we would keep the first day light. Sit in a pub, absorb some local atmosphere and make an early night of it. On the advice of my friend Stephen we headed out on the underground to Embankment Station to hang at Tattershall Castle - a floating pub just opposite the London Eye, we could have a few pints with a great view of London. When we exited the tube we found that the London Marathon was in progress and we were near the finish line. Even though we could see our intended destination we couldn’t cross the street. We walked along the Embankment towards Westminster Abby and closer to the finish line. We snapped a few pictures of what was a beautiful day and spectacle, but the crowds got so heavy we ducked back down into the tube and headed towards a more peaceful part of town.

The Olympic Champion, Sammy Wanjiru from Kenya, won the race in 2 hrs. 5 min. 10 sec. Most of the news coverage however was about Great Britain’s own Mara Yamauchi who finished second among women with a time of 2 hrs. 23 min. 12 sec.

Stay tuned for more doodles on the foreign newsprint.

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