(sort of today's zomby) AND SOME OTHER STUFF AS WELL!

Hello once again, dear readers.

Due to the Christmas holiday and a heavy work schedule, I've been taking most of this week off from the old blog-a-roo. But here are some cartoons to make up for it. Instead of doing a typical Zomby!!! adventure, I've decided to do another variation on Tom Wilson's venerable Ziggy. Namely, I've taken a few recent panels and transformed the unlucky protagonist from a miserable idiot into a blissful idiot. Here's how it turned out:

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I don't know about you, but I like this little guy. He's optimistic and he's clearly learned life's greatest lesson: take pleasure in the little things. Bweakfast, kitties, comprooders... they're all here for our enjoyment.

I'd like to close out this little post with a few songs which have taken up residence in my subconscious lately. Hell, I should be charging them rent! First up is comedienne Tracey Ullman and her 1983 smash hit, "They Don't Know." Yes, Ullman first reached our shores not as an actress but as a singer. Her remake of this lovely Kristy MacColl number reached as high as #8 on the Billboard charts. The video is great, too, with a surprise cameo near the end.

Almost 20 years earlier, The Newbeats reached #2 with their pop soul tune, "Bread and Butter," which I first heard as a jingle for Quaker Rice Cakes in the 1980s. I'd heard the Newbeats' record on the radio many times and always assumed that the lead vocal was by an African-American female singer. I can't tell you how surprised I was to see an actual performance clip of the Newbeats and discover that their leader was in fact a slim, blond-pompadoured man named Larry Henley. Rarely has the disparity between sight and sound been so drastic:

And finally, since this is the last day of the year, I thought it was time for a reflection on the events of the last twelve months. All in all, 2011 proved to be a tough year for power mad dictators. Let's face it: that's a stressful job. Sure, it has its rewards, but dictatorship is rarely the type of career which ends with a cake and a gold watch. So as 2011 draws to a close, I thought I'd leave you with the catchiest song ever written about a brutal dictator. Honestly, this song -- "Amazin' Man" by British satirist John Bird -- might well have you singing Idi Amin's name while you do laundry or run errands.

Idi, Idi, Idi Amin! Most amazing man there's ever been! He's the...

Damn it!

(today's zomby) AND CAN YOU GUESS THESE MOVIES BASED ON THE FOREIGN POSTERS?

Whew!

We got through another Christmas, huh? Good for us! Here's a little game to help ease you back into normal society. I'm going to show you some foreign movie posters with the titles and credits removed, and you're going to try to identify the films. Sound good? These are all very famous and popular American movies, so I'm not playing dirty. Apart from covering up the names, the posters have not been altered. Good luck!

(For you defeatists and up-givers out there, the answers are provided in the comments section.)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Okay, class. Pencils down.

(today's zomby) AND MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM ALLAN, TOM, AND STAN!

Heading out for the three-day Christmas weekend in a bit, folks. Here's a new Zomby!!! cartoon for your perusal. In case you feel yourself overdosing on holiday cheer and need some relief, I'm also including a few of my Yuletide musical favorites from three of the all-time greats, Allan Sherman, Tom Lehrer and Stan Freberg, at least two of whom are Jewish. (Freberg was the son of a Baptist minister, in case you were wondering.)





And if even these are not strong enough, here's an extra strength tune by Rudolph and Gang. (WARNING: NSFW language, though it's Christmas so why are you at work anyway?)



I'm not sure why this video was accompanied by pictures of British politician John Prescott. I have nothing against the guy.

KIM JONG-IL: HIS FIRST INTERVIEW AS A ZOMBIE!

Kim Jong-Il looking healthy and relaxed. (source)

It is a matter of longstanding policy on this blog to bring you interviews with dictators soon after they have passed away and returned as zombies. After my conversations with Osama bin Laden and Muammar Gaddafi, I believe I have become the recognized leader in this very specific field. Now, as 2011 draws to close, I am privileged and honored to bring you this brief chat with North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong-Il on the occasion of his demise.

WK: Before we begin, what do you want me to call you? Dear Leader? Our Father? From experience, I know that you power-mad dictators have a real "thing" about titles.

KJI: Hey, buddy, you can call me anything but late for "crazy practice!"

Crazy practice....? I don't, uh...

You know, lessons in acting completely batshit insane! You think I got like this overnight? No, I had to work at it! I mean, just look at my hair. Who was doing the "troll doll meets Kid 'n' Play" look before me?

Uh...

Exactly! Nobody! And you know who my wife is?

Er... it says on Wikipedia that you...

A game of Frogger!

Frogger? Like the arcade game?

I don't know!

But you said...

I say a lot of things. And my loyal subjects believe every last one of them. Like when I said I invented rainbows? They believed me. When I said I was all four Beatles? They believed me. Legally own the moon? Believed me. My toenail clippings cure gout? Believed me.

I get the idea. So the people of North Korea seemed to be pretty broken up over your passing.

Oh, hell yeah. Wait 'til they learn I've been dead nine years.

Nine years? But...

Hey, I'm like a David Lynch movie, man. Don't try to figure me out. Just sit back and enjoy! Speaking of which, do you want to go hunting unicorns with me, Jesus, Santa Claus, Ganesh, and the 1976 Baltimore Orioles?

Actually, yes. Yes, I do.

Well, grab an invisible pogo stick and let's get going! Oh, wait. Hold on a sec. I'm getting a text from Nicolas Cage. We're pretty much besties.

I can believe that.

Then you're well on your way to being North Korean.

Ha! Good one!

At this point in the interview, Kim Jong-Il folded himself into a small cube and was escorted away on a velvet pillow by an honor guard consisting of Barney the Dinosaur, the Wrathful Buddha, six members of the Rockettes, and one mysterious being who seemed to consist of pure light or possibly pure energy. I tried to follow after them, but when I reached for my invisible pogo stick, I found myself grasping at nothing but air.

(today's zomby) AND, YES, "ZOMBY" HAS BEEN RUNNING FOR A YEAR NOW!

Actually, no, Zom. You're not. But I once read a lengthy, scholarly report which concluded that the word "irony" had been used to mean so many things that it has come to mean pretty much nothing.

But on to more important matters. As of today, December 19, it has now been a full year since I started doing Zomby!!! As a way of marking this occasion, I'd like to present an assortment of my favorite cartoons so far. (If this seems a little self-indulgent, remember that I'm choosing only 17 out of more than 250.)

BONUS: These are in reverse chronological order, so the last few are from the time before Zomby got eyebrows!






























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In all sincerity, thanks to anyone who has ever spent even a few seconds reading a Zomby!!! cartoon.

(today's zomby) PLUS ME and some other people LIVE! IN CONCERT!

Chances are, you did not attend the 2011 Holly-Palooza Concert in lovely Glenview, IL last Sunday. Well, never mind! Thanks to YouTube, you can watch a portion of the concert from the safety of your very own computer. Watch as I and my fellow members of the Glenview Concert Band perform our rendition of Leroy Anderson's classic, "Sleigh Ride" under the baton of maestro Ken Bartosz:



I'm in the back row, playing the euphonium. Can you see me?

(today's zomby) AND, YES, ZOMBIE CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS!

Still looking to add that last-minute dose of zombie charm to your Christmas tree? Then why not accessorize that plastic pine with these adorable zombie Christmas ornaments...

Get it? Mistle-TOE? Oh, we have fun!

These are a real thing you can actually buy!

(today's zomby) AND A LOVELY ZOMBIE CHRISTMAS CARD!

And speaking of Christmas and the living impaired, here is an actual zombie-themed Christmas card which you... yes, you!... can purchase and send to your loved ones this holiday season:

(source)

You'll shoot his brains out!