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I'm nominated for a Reuben award for
greeting cards by the N.C.S.! |
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I went to Chicago Memorial weekend 2006
to attend the National Cartoonist Society's annual awards function
as an honest to goodness nominee in a category! I bought a tuxedo and
dusted off my snappy reparté and hob-knobbed with a very large crowd
of my brothers and sisters in arms. This was my first NCS Reubens Party
so I got to know a lot of cartoonists who I had never met before. My
lovely wife Vicky came along and met some artists and wives of artists
as well. Sad to say they did not give me the Reuben plaque but I gained
some exposure and perhaps a little more street cred from the experience. |
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What I would look like as a South
Park Kid |
I did this with a link to the South Park site. If you would like to try it, here... http://www.planearium2.de/flash/spstudio!.html
Here's me as a SPK on his birthday!. |
First Buzzbait Fish of the Year |
 Topwater
lures are the most exciting way to catch a bass. You retrieve a chugging,
popping, or propellored lure past a bush or other structure and wait
for the explosion of a hungry fish crashing the bait on the surface.
It will surprise you when they do and the impulse to yank immediately
is strong but you have to wait for the feel of weight on your line
or more often than not you will jerk it away from your quarry. Before
sunrise and sunset are the best times to throw a surface lure. June
14th I was out and had
a good rate of success (4 fish) with the buzzbait you see still in this
guy's mouth in the half hour before the sunset on Delaware Reservoir. I
let the little fella go to be caught again someday, hopefully by
me after he's grown a little more. He was about 3 plus pounds and
tugged quite a bit on the end of my string. I caught him out of a
submerged bush after several passes through the sticks that poked
up out of the water which betrayed his hiding place. I'll have to
try this technique again real soon! |
I meet Mad magazine editor Al Feldstein! |
 Ohio
State University's Library of Cartoon Art held a luncheon prior to a gallery
exhibit and lecture by Mad magazine's original editor Al Feldstein on May
1. Invited to attend the luncheon were the members of the Great Lakes chapter
of the National Cartoonist's Society. I attended and had this picture taken
of me and Al holding a faux copy of Mad put together with GLC member's
art featuring Alfred E. Neuman. My
contribution was picked to occupy the
back cover! Al asked me to sign my page, what an honor! Al gave a lecture
telling stories from back in the day about how Mad came to be along with
a few interesting side tales about some hurdles along the way. There was
a good sized audience in attendance even though there had been little advance
publicity about the event. A reception was held at the Library where an
exhibit of pieces from the Mad collection of Rose McDaniels was shown.
Note: I had two gags bought by Mad and drawn by Jack Davis and Bob
Clarke in '96 one which was a back cover for the June '96 issue. I really
should send them some more in the future if I ever get a chance to work
on new stuff. |
Fishing Season is almost
upon us! Yeeaahh!!! |
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Winter
has done its worst but spring approaches and the time is soon coming
when I shall be 'On the water again'! There is no other place I would
rather be. This little cove is where I bent up my trolling
motor shaft last fall but my new motor has arrived and I will be ready. Oh
yes, I will. |
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Downtrodn's New CD Is Out/ (My
Son's Punk Band) |
 The
newest Downtrodn CD is
available for all you devotees
of the classic punk style put
forth by my talented kid Aaron
aka 'Ratboy' Collins. Actually
I don't know if he stills goes
by his stage name from an earlier
issue. The boys are getting
a real polished look with this
latest offering. Great photography
and studio mastering are just
the technical highlights of
this collection of angst ridden
songs from my singer/songwriter
son. The band used to do their
practicing in the front room
of our house in this quiet
little midwestern town for
a number of years as they refined
that 'Downtrodn' sound. The
locals never made a fuss and
even professed to slightly
enjoying the performances that
could hardly be contained even
in a sturdily constructed 100
year old house. His mother
didn't mind as long as she
had her Mickey Mouse earmuffs
over ear plugs and could huddle
in the kitchen for the duration
of the sessions. Now that the
gang has their own practice
space in the big city I almost
miss those evening concerts.
Almost. Check out the band's
site here at www.Downtrodn.com .
They have a new website with
pictures of Aaron,Daeron,Ken and
a whole bunch of those punk
kids that love these guys.
His mother blames me for teaching
him to play the guitar. I helped
with the cover too!- 3/23/05 |
The Kid Finally
Goes Digital |
First off I want to welcome everyone to the new web site! It has been a long time in coming but here we are in the 21st century at long last. I resisted getting into the computer age for some reason or other; mostly because I thought I was too old to learn new tricks. It has been ages since I have been in a college classroom and I thought my grey matter might not be able to cope with such a complicated science. Imagine my surprise when I found I could actually read and comprehend the technical manuals that go along with learning graphics programs! Actually the computer goes hand in hand with the cartooning profession these days and to have clung to the old ways would have meant my doom in this field of young whiz kids. One thing that has always been a dream to me all these years and which is now a reality is the capacity to send my cartoons to clients without having to rely on the postman. Once or twice I have been torpedoed by the careless postal worker who has lost my carefully crafted masterpieces of merriment. Now thanks to the new file sharing sites I can send large files (up to a gig) with a simple e-mail! No more late night trips to the Fed Ex office in the middle of a snow storm! No more frenzied rushes to beat a deadline and scream into town to mail at the last minute! I can draw a cartoon and have it on your desktop ready to print out in a matter of minutes. Yes, life is good in this here modern world. Well enough about my new found technology. On this page you will get the lowdown on what all the world wants to know. What millions are wondering at any given moment. What is on the lips of inquiring minds gathering around water coolers across this great nation and all around the globe! What is Dan Collins doing right now?! Check in here and you shall be privy to all the latest happenings in the fast-paced universe which is DanWorld. In case you can't tell, I'm joking. One thing I have always been deadly serious about is that you must never take anything I say seriously. Being serious is never any fun so we won't be doing any of that around here. This place is for fun. There's too little time left for any of us even if we live to be 100 years old so let's have a few laffs and smile! Humorously yours, Dan- 3/04/05 |
