The Return of the Michael Hopkins Cartoons Vlog

Well, I completed my new, Michael Hopkins Cartoons Vlog video and if I'm going to be honest about it, I’d give it a rating of about two stars out of five. My critique?  Well, let's look at the negatives first (because there weren't many positives (LOL!)

• The video quality sucked (to be fair I made it at 3am), 

• It wouldn't hurt if I’d smile more during the video

• I sensed a bit of pissyness in myself

• I need to focus more on my art and less on fueling airplanes

• I really would like to see less of myself

A few positives…

• The editing of the video is pretty simple with Clipchamp (not a sponsor, but it would not bother me if they did (hint, hint??)

• I love my opening (of course I made it a few years ago)

At first I thought that I was too old to do these YouTube videos,  then I watched an episode of Robert Herjavec’s YouTube channel featuring one of my hero’s Jay Leno (see below).

Robert is only a year younger than me (62) and Jay is older than me (74). The video was great and more entertaining than anything I've recently watched on YouTube. So after watching that video, I've decided that I no dont give a shit about my age or what people think of it. If I’m too old for someone to be interested in watching my videos, don't watch them.

In conclusion, the video  turned out better than I expected, as I had very low expectations. As such, as Gladys Knight once sang, I’ve got to keep on keeping on! I’m sure the next one will be better and if I continue to improve my videos, I should have something watchable in about 10 years (Slight exaggeration). My video is below, feel free to check it out. Oh, Like and subscribe!

Next Step

I'm about to do the scariest thing I’ve ever done (appropriate, given the fact that it’s the scary Halloween season) I’m about to become a Vlogger! Oh I know that I’ve threatened this before, but now (I think) i’m ready, I’m Ready, I’M READY!!!!

Now the whole reason to do this isn't to become a famously rich Vlogger (although that idea doesn’t bother me), the genesis of my vlogging is to bring more attention to my art. Any publicity is good publicity, right? So if I go vlogging and make a complete ass of myself as long as my art get’s more attention, then my vlogging will be a success.

Although the focus of my vlog will be my art, the vlog will basically be an extension (or maybe replacement) of this Blog. As such, the vlog will be, “a place for my thoughts, observations, remembrances and general incoherent ramblings concerning the creative process behind his drawings and life in general…” I plan on also including travel vlogs of the places I go and people I meet during my adventures for my art.

To paraphrase Dr. Seuss…Oh the places I’ll go. Including…

• Michael Hopkins Caricatures Events
• Videos of me drawing (from start to finish)
• Las Vegas, Seattle, Lake Tahoe and various other travel destinations
• I may sneak you into The Daily Planet
• And much more (including several ideas that haven't come to fruition yet)

I have the camera, I have the starting equipment and so I’m ready to go. Since I've tried it a couple times long ago, I realize I’m not very good at it, so don't expect much. However, I’ll try to have some fun and we’ll see what happens.

To follow my YouTube channel, visit the link below

iamscribbles YouTube

There’s a few early videos already there, if you're interested. I definitely have some work to do and work we shall do!

The Peter Principle and Bowling

From way back, when I was a Hotel General Manager, to just noticing it again last week, there’s one constant in The Michael Hopkins’ Management Observation Theory. That constant is, you can always spot supervisor whose reached their *Peter Principle. 

*The Peter Principle states that an employee continues to receive promotions to work in higher ranks up to that point where he reaches a level of incompetence. In simple terms, the higher the hierarchy ladder an individual goes, the more likely he is to fail in his new position

According to my theory, the first sign is when the newly promoted supervisor tries to look important. One method for achieving this important look is to purposely pace back and forth while talking on their cell phone, with an annoyed look on their face (I believe this is directly inspired by the George Costanza theory that if he looks annoyed people will think he's busy).

These lost souls perform this ritual in front of the people they’re supervising (trying to look as though the fate of the world is in their hands), trying to look important and awe inspiring (i.e.,“Gee, look at that Supervisor! They must be important, they’re talking on their cell phone to someone who’s giving him vital instructions that pertain to the end of the world!!), When in actuality, it’s probably their mom on the phone. 

Below is my latest drawing, it is a caricature of my son. My son’s a brilliant individual, who’s currently serving his country in the U.S. Navy. I created this drawing when he asked me for a caricature of his alter ego (a musician who’ll make his mark on this world after his time with the Navy). It's definitely him, sans the current U.S. Navy hairstyle...

It's currently pouring down rain in Reno, Nevada and I'm watching The PBA Foxx View Lanes Open on YouTube (and finishing this blog posting). I think this tournament was  played last week?? That doesn't bother me as I have it on for background noise while I'm working. I do like bowling, both watching the professionals and bowling myself. At best, Im an average bowler. The average bowler in the PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) makes about as much as I do, delivering Jet A to aircraft so people can pay exorbitant prices to travel uncomfortably to various destinations...

And now the list you all have been waiting for, The Michael Hopkins Cartoons Blog Favorite Professional Bowlers

Male

• Brad Miller
• EJ Tackett
• Wes Malott
• Kris Prather

Female

• Dasha Kovalova
• Verity Crawley
• Daria Pajak
• Danielle McEwan

That's enough rambling for now, I'm going to bed...

This and That

August 12th !?!?! Holy crap Batman!

Yep, August 12th was when I wrote my last blog. Actually, there wasn’t going to be any more written blogs as I was going to transform into video blogs. However, my introvert-ness has gotten the best of me and I’m still trying to find the courage to start my video blog. I got the camera and the phone and the idea…now I just need to forget about what everyone is going to think of my video blog and just do it! It’ll happen…just be patient. As for now let's highlight a few things that have been happening in the world of Michael Hopkins Cartoons…

First off I've sold some more art through Fine Art America. Although it's a small piece of art (a greeting card), it was nonetheless my art. Also it was my first sale in the United Kingdom, so I was pretty stoked!

Below is the announcement and a picture of the drawing.

"Michael Hopkins sold a greeting card of Airbus A320neo to a buyer from Norwich, Norfolk - United Kingdom."

Fine Art america is kinda cool, because you can access prints of my art in various sizes and on various materials (from postcards to full size prints). 

Here's the link, check it out Michael Hopkins - Fine Art America

Last Friday I had two, Michael Hopkins Event Caricatures gigs, in less than 8 hours. This kind of thing used to stress me out, but now I find it a challenge. Its funny how our perspective changes as we grow more confident with our skills. Maybe that will happen as I start my video blog and gain confidence, well see. Anyways here’s a few highlights from those gigs. Also,  I've added a few photos from my gig a few weeks ago, up in Washington State. Enjoy!

And a few more from Washington State...

And finally, I got back in the Aviation caricature mode with my rendition of the Convair B-58 Hustler. Developed in the 1950's, the B-58 entered service in 1960 and flew for over 10 years with the Strategic Air Command (speaking of which, that's also the title of one of my favorite classic movies starring Jimmy Stewart)...anyways.

Transitioning?

It seems we have some active transitioning taking place at the Daily Planet. What else would explain the transformation of male employees into sixteen year old girls? Although these “males” physically would never be mistaken for females, their actions lately bear a striking resemblance to adolescent teens in a social clique (as defined below by Oxford Languages).

noun

a small group of people, with shared interests or other features in common, who spend time together and do not readily allow others to join them."the old-school clique”

Yep that pretty much describes these pathetic individuals. Now of course males can be in cliques, however these girls' propensity to start giggling and whispering in hushed tones when employees (who they've deemed unworthy of being in their presence) makes me realize that I haven't seen this type of behavior since high school. 

What I realize now (that I didn't realize in high school) is that these social cliques are for lemmings who have no self esteem and very little self worth.  They use these cliques to try and raise their low self esteem or make themselves feel better about their pathetic lives by putting down others or excluding others from their clique (which no rational human being would want to be involved in, in the first place). So where are these "clique members" from high school now? They’re living in their past on Facebook or hoping with bated breath for their next high school reunion, where, for a few precious hours, they can live in a past existence that in reality, mattered to no one, except themselves...

The thing to do, it seems to me, is to prepare yourself so you can be a rainbow in somebody else's cloud. Somebody who may not look like you. May not call God the same name you call God - if they call God at all. I may not dance your dances or speak your language. But be a blessing to somebody. That's what I think. - Maya Angelou

Agreed.

Random Thoughts and Demons

Random thoughts at 3:18am while waiting for a flight from Oakland…

My new website, Michael Hopkins Cartoons, is now working and available on the internet! The genesis behind the new site is to create an online location where fans of my art can access everything that I have created through one location. To use airline terminology, a kind of *hub and spoke system for Michael Hopkins Cartoons stuff. 

*hub-and-spoke

adjective

ˈhəb-ən(d)-ˈspōk 

: being or relating to a system of routing air traffic in which a major airport serves as a central

point for coordinating flights to and from other airports

My new site does exactly that, which includes the following,

• The Michael Hopkins Caricatures Online Store 
• Michael Hopkins Event Caricatures 
• The Michael Hopkins Cartoons Blog 
• My webcomic, Cosmic Fowl 
• My webcomic, Missed Approach 

I have also included an event calendar so people can see where I'll be appearing at events (and I have some ideas for some pretty quirky events, so stay tuned). This way, people who are interested, can get their caricature drawn. I'll also have my prints available at these events. So, checkout my website and let me know what you think.

Michael Hopkins Cartoons

My plans for the future also include a revamped iamscribbles YouTube channel (because my last attempt sucked!)

Welcome to My Nightmare

I actually had a nightmare last night, something that was totally unexpected. The premise of what seemed like a short nightmare, was that I was living in a house which had several items that were possessed (that’s right! evil spirits!!). Anyways... these items had to be removed from my house to exercise these demons (which I did, thank you)…and then I woke up. 

My amateur analysis of this dream is that I have to remove certain things/bad habits from my life that are impeding me from achieving my goals (i.e.,success). Although I'm not going to get into what these personal demons are (that's too personal), however, they are in fact, impeding me from achieving my goals. I definitely can identify these demons and I'm definitely going to exercise (exorcise?) these personal demons (that was a bit of a clue)...and no, I don't use drugs or drink too much alcohol, so guess again :)

Well, the flights here, so I need to go pump some Jet A into a well used Boeing 757.

 Enjoy the rest of your sleep!

 

Lollygagging

One of those thought provoking moments happened the other day, while discussing my future caricature events with a *wantrepreneur.

*wantrepreneur a person who aspires to be an entrepreneur, especially one who never realizes this ambition -https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wantrepreneur )

I realized something during our conversation, this guy’s got his shit together more than I do (which doesn't mean he's got his shit together, it just means that he's got his shit together more than I do) The difference between him and myself is that he has specific, formulated and even some activated plans. I don't know if I’d agree with him that his plans are good plans, but at least he's got plans and I respect that. Lately, I feel like I’m just lollygagging through this life of an artist (with an end goal of self independence (or happiness, as I like to put it.) He’s proactive about his goals, I’ve been reactive about mine.I need to become proactive.

Skip : You guys. You lollygag the ball around the infield. You lollygag your way down to first. You lollygag in and out of the dugout. You know what that makes you? Larry!

Larry : Lollygaggers!

Skip : Lollygaggers.

Bull Durham (1988)

To that end I have decided to quit lollygagging. Sure I've gotten by as a Lollygagger. Luckily my talent has been carrying this reactive person through life lately. However, the talent side of my brain is getting tired of carrying the load, so it's time to wake up the other side of the  brain and become, Proactive Man!! (UGH! I’m going to need more coffee…). With that end in mind, I'm working on my first step.. I’ve reutilized the name Michael Hopkins Cartoons, built a new website and now I’m just waiting for Internet Gods to recognize my URL, michaelhopkinscartoons.com (in the Internet Gods defense, it’s been a while since I used that URL) Through this new website, one will be able to access all my stuff though one website

• The Michael Hopkins Cartoons Blog
• The Michael Hopkins Caricatures Store
• (Booking) Michael Hopkins Event Caricatures
• Missed Approach (webcomic)
• Cosmic Fowl (webcomic)
• A list of upcoming Michael Hopkins Event Caricature Events. 

So as of this moment in time, I'm still waiting on Squarespace to get it's shit together and help me get my shit together. I'll keep you updated.

Following are a few highlights from my latest gigs. Enjoy!