Larry Roibal

Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

Overcoming the humble start of being born in a tin shack in Tennessee, having his mom die and his dad run off when he was just a year old, being raised by his grandparents and picking cotton as a boy, Isaac Hayes would teach himself to play piano, organ and saxophone and go on to become a music icon. He won an Academy Award, Three Grammy Awards and became a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He died yesterday at age 65.

Also…While I was taking a long weekend at the beach with my family, my blog was highlighted by The Star Ledger staff reporter Kelly Heyboer. I have doodled over Kelly’s byline on a number of occasions and wanted to say thanks to Kelly and the entire staff of the Ledger for keeping New Jersey informed and providing me with daily inspiration and a fresh supply of newsprint.

Ball poiunt pen on newsprint and paper napkin

Over the past few months I’ve been having a blast posting my daily doodles, these next few days however, will mark the first weekday without a new drawing. I’m headed to the beach for a long weekend, and even though I’ll do some drawing, I won’t have access to a scanner. Here is my version of the summer re-run…. a few of my favorite doodles over the past few months. Be back on Monday with an all new drawing!

Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

Michel Martin has been a journalist for twenty five years covering major events in print and then as a correspondent for ABC News. She brings all of that experiance to her NPR Radio show, Tell Me More.

Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

The Fed basically has one tool in the shed. If inflation is detected, they could increase interest rates and slow the economy. If a slowing economy is detected, they could lower interest rates and spur the economy. Since business is reluctant to raise prices during a slowing economy, inflation and a recession  are almost always mutually exclusive. But our government has thrown another variable into the mix; a huge debt and a falling dollar. Even if world prices stay the same, the shrinking buying power of the US dollar will make it seem like inflation. Now we have a slowing economy and inflation, so what can the fed do?…. nothing.

Yesterday the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged.

Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

The simplest solution is the best.

Sometimes I callenge myself to draw a likeness with the the greatest economy of strokes. If the strokes are in the right place, nothing more is needed.

In politics, nothing ever seems as simple as, we need oil, we have oil within our borders, lets get the oil.

Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

Growing up, I had a Great Uncle Nick who would captivate us with the tales of how he and his family escaped from Russia as a boy; Alexander Solzhenitsyn wasn’t as fortunate. Having survived eight years in a Russian gulag, his Nobel Prize winning books chronicle the horrors of Stalin’s slave labor camps. Solzhenitsyn died yesterday. He was 89.

Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

Some bloggers, armed with strong hit counts, have an over inflated view of their contribution to the public discourse and have developed an adversarial relationship with traditional media. I’m not in that camp. I’m a full time illustrator. I don’t have the time, nor the budget to track down a story. I have never filed a freedom of information request. I rely on traditional media to stay informed, not just as a blogger, but as a responsible citizen. Some may have noticed the Star-Ledger’s bylines peaking out from behind my daily doodles. The Ledger is New Jersey’s largest daily paper. My brother and I had a Star-Ledger paper route as boys. and I’ve been a subscriber and reader ever since. In recent years the Ledger has won two Pulitzer Prizes and numerous other national awards, but like many in the news industry it’s suffered financially of late. Yesterday The Star-Ledger’s publisher George Arwady announced that the paper needs to cut it’s staff by 200 full time employees or it will be forced to sell. Either way it’s bad news for anyone trying to stay informed in New Jersey .

Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

Today I’m posting four unrelated doodles. scandal, hope, distractions and deficits…same old, same old.

CAN A DOODLER GET A RUNNING MATE!!!
SHAKE IT UP! SHAKE IT UP! . . WOO!

Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

Yesterday, US District Judge William Martini, sentenced former mayor of Newark Sharp James to a slap on the wrist, proving that in New Jersey, crime does pay. The corrupt pol was tried for illegally steering public land to his mistress and cronies and was convicted of fraud and conspiracy. Martini ordering Sharp to serve 27 months and pay $100,000 fine.

Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

I have a photo shoot in New York for a book cover illustration I’m working on, so today is another quicky.

Right or wrong, I think that tapping our domestic oil reserves is a good place for McCain to go drilling for votes, but his gas tax holiday for the summer months crusade is loosing it’s window of effectiveness. It’s almost August and congress will soon be headed home to their districts until after Labor Day. It’s beating a dead horse.