Not As Smart As You Think...

Dolphins. People like them, and what's not to like? Dolphins are beautiful, sleek, playful, and intelligent. Really, really intelligent we are lead to believe. What I take issue with is the "dolphin worship" that takes place in certain circles. There are people who believe that dolphins are the smartest, most wonderful, magical, and spiritual beings ever to inhabit the Earth. Why--if only they had opposable thumbs, then they could probably rule the world. (If only we would let them!). Meanwhile chimpanzees don't get enough credit. Chimps have 98% of the same DNA as humans. They have proven language skills, and are highly intelligent too. Probably even more so than dolphins. Dolphins have bigger brains but, there is growing evidence that a larger brain size does not necessarily equal greater intelligence. Certain parrot species are proving this daily. People really like chimps, but you don't see them being "worshipped" like dolphins. You see, chimps have an image problem; they are hairy, smelly, throw feces at each other, and remind us too much of ourselves. There are probably dozens of New Age shops across the country named "The Crystal Dolphin". But you will never see a New Age shop called "The Crystal Chimp".

In this cartoon, I like the idea of the dolphin trying to convince the researchers that they're expectations are too high, and are wasting their time. If he plays this right, they might even let him go.

[Apologies to all my New Age friends, you know I love you.]

Dueling Hypnotists

We Americans love a challenge, it's in our DNA I suppose. And we love dueling things like banjos, and such. This toon is merely a "what if" senario that came to my mind one day, probably while in the trance-like state of daydreaming.

Inappropriate

While this cartoon is just having a bit of fun, it has been said that we are only as sick as our secrets. What if for one day each year we could openly proclaim just one of our secrets and there would be no penalty for doing so. No penalty, no matter what it was. Perhaps letting our secret out into the light of day, and hearing others do the same, would be quite liberating. Maybe our secret would not be so awful or shameful any more. It might give us some much needed perspective. People have actually said to me the very things that are in this cartoon. No matter where I go in my travels through Life, I find that people will confide the strangest things to me. I take my role as "father confessor" very seriously. On a similar note, check out http://www.postsecret.com/

Technical Difficulties

When I was a kid, our family had one huge, black & white TV. Back then, most TVs still had tubes in them. You had to turn it on, and let the tubes "warm up" for a minute before the image would appear on the screen. Anyway, one time our local TV station was have "technical difficulties" and asked it's loyal viewers to "please stand by". Being the helpful child that I was, I took the "please stand by" quite literally and was eager to do my part. I remember standing next to the TV hoping that by following the instructions, our TV would return to normal soon. I was informed by my older brother that standing next to the TV was not going to help anything! Before I could sit back down, the TV returned to it's regular programming, already in progress. I was sure that I had made a difference somehow. My brother maintained it was a coincidence, and I had better stop blocking his view before something bad happened to me!

Many years later, I had an office job where one of my duties was to handle low level IT issues. On many occasions, when I got close to, but not yet touching a malfunctioning PC, printer, or copier, etc. ....normal functions would instantly return. It did not happen every time of course, but my "ability" became a running joke among my co-workers. If true, what a marvelous gift this would be. Almost like a super power. Perhaps my brother was wrong about me after all.