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Not a creature was stirring, not even a kitten; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that Kevin Edler's cats would soon be there; |
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While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads; And mamma in her 'kerchief, and Joe Ruisi in a stew, because he remembered a parking ticket - long overdue, When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. |
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Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. The moon shone o'er a new-fallen snow and onto the lot, Which gave Pete Delgado a twisted Stephen King plot; When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, But lots of zombies at the wrong time of year, |
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I knew in a moment it must be a storefront St. Nick. Off duty and drunk he'd just come from the bar, where he'd run into Sean Boley in a scene too bazaar. "Say the names of the reindeer!" Sean challenged the man, I dare you to say them all by their name if you can ... Now DASHER and DANCER and PRANCER and VIXEN! And COMET and CUPID and DONDER and BLITZEN! Should have been what that pseudo-Santa had said, But what came out proved him a big old fake instead! |
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When they meet with an obstacle, a mounty in the sky, So to Finn Andersson's, the coursers they flew, With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too. And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof The prancing and pawing of each little hoof. |
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Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound. He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot, And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot; Larry Miller swore Santa was protected by elves, It's clear Larry's liquor had come down from its shelves; |
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VAL said he had found them on sale at Off-The-Rack. His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow; The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath; |
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That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly. He was chubby and plump, but no longer a jolly old elf, And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself; Poor young Charles Filius was only trying to help, But Nick's diet was killing him so he let out a yelp, A shake of his fist and a face that was red, Made psuedo-Santa something to dread; |
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As Erik Sandberg's elf filled his head; With all kinds of things he shouldn't have said! So Santa hitched to the next town to repair his old sled; He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight, "HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!" |
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Some housecleaning was needed but no one did mind; As they sat and they pondered the baby so fine, And marveled at what the Angels, and sheperds and wisemen opined! |
| Joe Ruisi received his art education at the University of Hartford as a fine arts major. His paintings proved that he was born to be a cartoonist. Even work experiences in a trade show exhibit company, ad agencies, and commercial art studios could not snuff out Joe's burning desire to produce cartoons. His work has been published in various publications in the USA, Canada, Europe, and Asia. In addition to children's book and greeting card illustration, Joes' work has appeared in many magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post, Sun, Country Woman, Boy's Life, Stitches, Family Digest, and The Christian Voice. At home, Joe is the editorial cartoonist for the Myrtle Beach Herald a local weekly newspaper in coastal South Carolina. |
| VAL’s cartoons are displayed and collected in many websites, museums, galleries, and private collections including The Peace Museum (Chicago, USA), BC Space Gallery (Laguna Beach, California, USA), Collection of Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago City (USA), Collection of Ms. Kim Phuc - “The Girl in the Picture” - from Kim Foundation (USA), Cartoon Museum of East Europe (Ploiesti, Romania) just to name a few. Recently, VAL’s cartooning carreer has taken a big leap when he started to work with The New York Times Syndicate. |
| Charles A. Filius was born in a house he helped his father build in a small town 2800 miles east of Los Angeles. His career in cartooning began within the confines of those early formative years of grade school ... which were spent happily filling in all those wasted, empty margins so common to all text books and exams of that era. A consummate professional, Charles has worked in virtually all phases of the graphic arts from production through management. Keyline Art and Mechanicals, Layout, Design, Logos & Corporate Identity Packages, Newsletters, Cartooning, Illustration, Cross Platform Computer Graphics, Slide Presentations, Publication Design, Custom Marine Graphics, and Advertising just head this list of his areas of expertise. Charles has been freelancing since August, 2001, for a wide variety of clients. His wide range of clientele provide him with an even wider range of projects, including designing a tarot deck, book and poster illustrations, and more. He currently resides in southern California. |
| In 1973 he was born in Sweeden. (A very happy occasion for him) Later in life he studied philosophy, music and art. Finished Serietecknar och Illustratör skolan in Hofors, Sweden 2003. For the past 3.5 years Erik has been freelancing with a monthly published comic strip for the University of Umea, Sweden, unofficially named "The Faculty." Current personal projects include a childrens book, a long adventure comic, a 40 pages long humorous comic and conceptual design for computer games. |
| Rich Diesslin is a freelance cartoonist with a bachelor's degree from Purdue University and an Master's from the University of Dayton. He is the creator and cartoonist of the KNOTS or Not (or KNOTS) scouting cartoons and a cartoonist for the London's Times Cartoons. He is the cartoonist of A Journey Through Christian Theology, Fortress Press, and companion A Journey Through Christian Theology Color Cartoons CD. His new book, released this fall, is The Cartoon Gospel of John, a commentary with full color cartoons, from ACTA:Chicago. |
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This year's cartoonists are Finn Andersson, Sean Boley, Pete Delgado, Jr., Rich Diesslin, Kevin Edler, Charles Filius, Lan Hoang Vu, Larry Miller, Joe Ruisi, and Erik Sandberg! Thanks Guys!!! Also thanks to our "Friends of TCDC" web sites that are helping to get the word out. This year's cartoon look at Christmas has evolved (quite on it's own) into a silly look at Santa Claus. Many of the Santa's are the storefront variety, not to be confused with the positive traits of the real thing. The only guideline is a G-rated cartoon themed along Christmas and the Holidays. Each cartoonist has a page for his cartoons and you will find a wide variety great cartoons! It is all tied together (if you can call it that) with an extremely weird revision of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (below and on each page). We, the TCDC cartoonists, hope you enjoy our cartoon tribute to the Christmas season and wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Enjoy! |
