We interrupt regular broadcasting once again to bring you a few cartoons from our resident cartoonist…
1.

Castlewear – Created by Don Cheke
You have heard the saying that a man’s home is his castle. Well, I couldn’t agree more and whenever I think of this, I have two thoughts. The first is about appropriate clothing, which we can see by the image above includes whatever a man chooses, after all, it is “his” castle. When I was originally planning to produce the Man Book and thought of some mock entries, this thinking played an integral part. Section 1729, regarding Male Attire states, “It is proper and acceptable for a man to walk around the house all day long wearing only a tank top and boxer shorts. With regards to this particular entry, “house” includes the front and/or back yard.” In this case, and in my humble opinion, a crown wouldn’t go amiss either! 😊
2.
The second thing that comes to mind is the surveying of one’s domain. It is especially great if the “castle” includes a balcony or a deck from which to perch and scan the surrounding area, and the peasants below. Do you ever just stand, hands resting on the rail, taking in your whole kingdom? Loaf sure does, and so do I.

Surveying the Domain – Created by Don Cheke
3.

Ruminating – Created by Don Cheke
Are you familiar with the phrase “chewing the cud,” or more specifically, what is called ruminating, when referring to cows? In case you are not familiar, it is the process of swallowing, un-swallowing (regurgitate), re-chewing, and re-swallowing grass, which enables cows to chew the grass more completely, which improves digestion. Sounds appetizing doesn’t it!? Rumination in humans refers to a psychological state where one focuses repeatedly on distressing thoughts or feelings, caused by any number of things. This is typically unhealthy, since it continues to stir up negative emotions, and stokes the inner fire. In reality, it is the antithesis of productive problem-solving. I can think of many things that can set me off on the path to rumination. One of the most obvious for me, is when I am driving, and someone rudely honks at me or flips me the finger. I typically feel irate and then it takes me hours to stop ruminating about the event and stop thinking about all the ways I would like to retaliate. Unproductive indeed, especially when they are long gone and probably never give the encounter a second thought.
The cartoon above is my attempt to illustrate rumination. Loaf has assumed the position and is grumbling away to himself. Perhaps I should have illustrated steam coming out of his ears, since he continues to get himself worked up over the latest vehicular slight he experienced recently. Ol’ Bessy, the jersey cow, thinks Loaf looks like a delicious cob of corn but is feeling too lazy to get up and walk over for a taste. She is digesting after all, and that is hard enough work as it is.
4.

Barbequed Bird – Created by Don Cheke
As you know, if you have been watching these comics from the beginning, Loaf and Little Loaf have been trying to give away their pet ostrich, the disrespectful pooping machine as it came to be known as. They tried to give it away at Loaf’s garage sale and later at Little Loaf’s seed and stuff sale. No takers! No interest at all! Even a trip to the zoo and the local SPCA ended in disappointment. Too big, too costly to feed, too rambunctious, were the typical responses. Leaving it out of its cage at night, or dropping it off miles away from home, and still the bird found its way back, thinking it appropriate to leave additional mounds of poop on the lawn to indicate its displeasure at being abandoned. Although Loaf is a tolerant man, even he has his limits and the time came for the bird to take part in the now familiar nursey rhyme. This little piggy ostrich went to market, 😊 and now it is going to be the family’s supper, and a few lunches after that. Gosh, it must weigh 150 pounds! That’s bigger than the Thanksgiving turkey! LOL!
5.

The Art of Silence – Created by Don Cheke
In one of my blog posts I mentioned that I am wrong about 99.9% of the time. If my wife and I are discussing something, and there is some disagreement, be it about happenings out in the world or something from our family history, I will invariably be wrong. I don’t know when it happened, but I have noticed this over and over again over the last few years. Sometimes I think that I should just stop talking since it makes me feel inadequate and borderline crazy when it turns out I don’t really know what I am talking about, or how do you say it, WRONG! I know other fellows at the lodge can identify with such things, but for some reason it doesn’t bother them at all. Sadly, that just isn’t the case for me; I simply want to be right all the time! As I pondered this business, I thought that perhaps I could put a couple of Band-Aids over my mouth and when questioned, I could mime that I am practicing “the art of silence.” Afterall, if I don’t say anything at all, I won’t be saying anything wrong. Right!? 😊
6.

Loaf Dubronovich for President Buttons – Modeled & Rendered by Don Cheke
The feature image for this blog post, seen again here, is a 3D model rendered in KeyShot. It was specifically created to introduce this comic interlude, something to show the progress of Loaf’s success as a cartoon character, and all-around good guy. The pin-on buttons show that Loaf is now running for president. You might be thinking that Canada doesn’t have a president, they have a prime minister, and you’d be right. You might think that perhaps he is going to run in the US election, and if voted in, will show the Americans some of the gentle ways of Canada. Nope, Loaf is running for president of his local diner’s club. He wants to get voted in so that he can always name the restaurant for the club’s monthly “dine and chat” outing. 😊 One of Loaf’s tag lines for the election, due to his size, is “eating for two.” He thinks that makes him doubly important. 😊
We now return to regularly scheduled programming….
Donald B. Cheke – August 26, 2024