ShareWhat is a cartoonist doing on Friendly Planet Travel? I dunno. See I was walking down the street and this truck with a Friendly Planet Travel logo on it screeched to a stop and there were these people with large canvas bags and sedatives and …
Well, OK, no. They e-mailed me. But I’m happy to be here. Now, who the heck am I?
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Hey, everybody, I’m Dave Blazek and you’re going to be seeing my cartoons right here on Friendly Planet’s blog. I hope to poke and prod the travel experience until it rolls over and reveals the humor underneath. In short, I like to think I’m the oxygen mask dropping down on your flight from reality.
What qualifies me to do this? Well, I’ve been a syndicated cartoonist for 10 years now. You may know my comic Loose Parts. It runs in dozens of papers across the country and even overseas. Yeah, weirdly, I’m big in Malaysia. Grab a copy of the New Strait Times next time you’re there.
I have four books of cartoons out (they make great travel gifts and can be used to start fires). I used to write the comic “Dr. Katz Professional Therapist” through Comedy Central. I’ve worked at The Philadelphia Inquirer for (cough, cough) years. I was a stand-up comedian for awhile too. Oh, and I’ve replaced my small and large intestines with two medium intestines.
If you want to see more of my work, saunter over to LoosePartsComic.com. After you’ve spent hours here, of course.
So what do I know about travel? Probably no more than you. Though I have kayaked after a few whales, laid on a few beaches, drank in a few weird places, and been in a few rainforests. I’ve also cursed little shampoo bottles, been caught in hurricanes, slept in hotel rooms overlooking garbage dumps, sunburned my lips, and embarrassed myself thoroughly. You should have been there when I wanted ketchup and asked the French-speaking waiter for Le Sauce Rouge.
But I guess if you’re here, we’re kind of alike. We don’t do well in captivity. Face it. Travel is funny. You know why? Because one of the things you need to find humor in things is perspective. Travel pulls us out of our ruts. It lets us look at our lives from different angles. And that allows us to appreciate the weirdness of it all. If the lovely people here at Friendly Planet are smart enough to have me here, I’m going to do my best to make it worth your while.
I hope you enjoy the cartoons. The best thing I can imagine is that you’ll like one so much, you’ll pin your laptop to the fridge with a magnet. And if you see something odd you think might make a great cartoon, let us know. It’s less work for me that way.
In the meantime, it’s back to the drawing board. Pass me Le Sauce Rouge.