CROP and a few comic strips

I try to walk an hour or more several days a week in effort to live a healthier life. Today, it was cold and dreary and I debated whether or not to skip it today (I didn't). This Sunday, I'll be walking for a cause as my wife and I will be walking as part of Greensboro's annual CROP Walk. My first CROP Walk was in 1983 as part of my Eagle project for Scouts. It was ten miles long and in the summer. I then helped my Church organize and be part of Rocky Mount's first CROP Walk, also ten miles. Since then, I've walked in many such walks when I could and sponsored others when I couldn't. I've walked in Rocky Mount, Chapel Hill, and Raleigh. This will be my first year walking in Greensboro's.

At some point, they've gotten shorter, 10 kilometers so more people can get involved from the youngest to the oldest. One of my buddies was doing training for a marathon and he ran his a couple of years ago. I'm not complaining as I'm not sure my feet would let me walk ten miles these days. But, the sad truth is around the world, people walk not because of simple exercise benefits, to enjoy nature or the company of others. They walk because they have to. To get food. To get water because there's no well in their town much less at their home. To get their children or themselves simple check-ups from visiting doctors. We choose to walk because they have to.

Our donations will support life-saving programs around the world.  Join us as we work together to solve this world-wide challenge.

You can be the difference.  Visit my personal page, where you can make a secure online  donation.  Your gift can help save a life!

http://www.churchworldservice.org/site/TR/CropWalks/General?px=1020245&pg=personal&fr_id=15792

Bwa-ha-ha?

I often enjoy the Zits comic, a few times it's even laugh out loud funny. I see a lot of truth in its depictions of teen-age life. I often wonder if the zig-zag pattern that's in almost every strip isn't meant to be a nod to the late great Charles Shulz, reproducing the pattern of Charlie Brown's shirt. This one made me wonder something different. I associate the depiction of laughter as "bwa-ha-ha" pretty much with Giffen and DeMatteis stint on the Justice League, in fact it's often referred to in comic circles as the Bwa-ha-ha League like the JLA it replaced is called Justice League Detroit by its fans and detractors. Are the comic writer and artist fans of that era of the League? Or has the sound-effect actually entered the lexicon of public acceptance for depicting laughter?



Their heads are made out of rubber...
I am not a huge fan of "Rhymes with Orange". It's sometimes funny and I kind of like my comic strip artists showing some kind of talent with actual art and storytelling. But, I have to admit this one had me laugh and going "bouncy bouncy" all the day long.



Bad Pun
Stephen Pastis came to town recently. Unfortunately, not conducive to my schedule but I would have loved to hear him talk. Pearls Before Swine is often a wonderfully irreverent strip, one that even takes pot shots at its own creator. No one is spared Rat's judgment.



Crossovers
Sometimes it just seems as if comic strip artists talk with each other before submitting their strips. I remember one day where it seemed half the strips chose to tell golf jokes. Not only that, but two actually told the SAME JOKE! This isn't quite in the same category as only two strips the other week seemed to borrow the same idea. I have to wonder how many people under the age of 30 actually would recognize Harold and the Purple Crayon? Still a great idea and totally works for the Lio strip. 

 

 
 

We can be a hero and make a difference.

On October 12, I am again walking in the CROP Hunger Walk and I would love to have your support. Our efforts will support life-saving programs around the world. Join me and our family and friends as we work together to solve this world-wide challenge. You can be the difference, and you can start by making a donation. Visit my personal page, where you can make a secure online credit card donation. From there you can even choose to get involved in a CROP walk near you through donating, walking or volunteering your time.


For more info:
We walk because they walk:
Hawa gets water in Geles, a village in the Darfur region of Sudan where the Action by Churches Together-Caritas coalition has provided wells and other services. While the CWS-supported coalition effort focuses primarily on the needs of people internally displaced by the widespread violence in Darfur, it is also assisting nearby villages, many of which are hosting uprooted families.In the arid northwest of Kenya 350 Turkana families in two villages are gaining clean water and sanitation facilities, with the help of the CWS Water for Life/Water for All program and a local partner. The people are providing the labor and some of the materials. The new wells will free up the women and girls from walking long distances to get water. Latrines and bathing cabins will help to prevent illness.

As a CROP Hunger sponsor, you help us reach out to children and families in Darfur, Kenya, and elsewhere with the gift of clean, fresh water and other empowering tools of hope.

A little help makes a big difference:
$25 – can provide blankets to a family of five displaced by violence or natural disaster
$45 – can provide 30 jerry cans to carry clean water for drinking and cooking
$150 – can buy a hundred chickens and two wire chicken coops, providing two families with a reliable source of eggs, protein, and income
$500 – can provide small start-up loans that enable women to jump-start a business, such as making school uniforms
Together, we can make a difference!

Thank You,
Edward Lee Love

You Can Be a Hero

"We walk because they walk" For food, for water, for education, for medication. For 60 years people have participated in CROP walks, born originally out of desire to help the needy in post WWII Europe. Up to 25% of monies raised go to local charities. You can go to www.churchworldservice.org to find out more about CROP and other efforts that Church World Service are involved with in fighting poverty and world hunger.

I walked in Raleigh's CROP walk this past Sunday. Nowadays it's a 5K (3.2 miles) walk. Back when I did one as my Eagle project as well as helping my Church sponsor the city's official walk the following year, it was 10 miles! My Eagle walk was during the summer if I recall correctly, along a 5 mile stretch of under construction highway that was still cordoned off. Now, that was a walk! A few years later as I participated in one at Chapel Hill, it was 10K, approximately 6 miles. I remember looking down on that measly little hike.

Now, I'm personally glad they are shorter. I am definitely not in as good a shape as I was at the age of 17 and 18. And while I would normally heartily endorse having the walk in October, North Carolina is in a record breaking drought, and the temperatures sadly are inching back up. Yesterday, it was a nice 85 degrees. However, I count my blessings as today and the next it's back in the low 90s! But aside from the sweating and heat (and no Diet Cokes as part of the soft drinks at the end), it was good being out and doing just a little bit of something to make a better world. A sweaty Sunday afternoon and slightly sore feet is in reality a very little cost on my part. It was time well spent with friends and my girl friend as we talked and laughed. And amusingy watched teenagers with all their energy chaffing to walk faster and out-distance their parents trudging along at a snails' pace (with my girlfriend and me somewhere in between).

I enjoy superhero comics and pulp literature. Great escapist fun. A big part of that enjoyment stems from I like stories about good vs. evil, though nowadays it seems hard sometimes to tell the good guys from the bad. However, there are many charities and organizations that require only a little of your time to help be a positive force in the world. A 3 mile walk. An hour of effort. Cannot really complain about that.

Now, my friend Richard who is running a 29 mile marathon for Leukemia and cancer research in South Carolina? And he's older than me! Now that's a Superhero!