So, what happens next?

“Holy macca noodle!”, exclaims Charmy. “That is a terrible riddle, Frenchy.”

“Why?”, asks Frenchy who continues in a mocking tone… “Was it too hard for your pea brain?”

“No!”, retorts Charmy. “You just caught me off guard. I had no idea you would actually know any tough riddle”.

“Why? Because I am so cute?”, asks Frenchy. “Men just do not think someone as cute as me can be smart”.

“Frenchy, that is not true with me”, ensures Charmy.

“Thank you”, says Frenchy. “You are a great friend”.

“No problem”, says Charmy in a kind, sweet tone. “I have known you a long time now. I know you are a bit, un, behind the bubble”.

“Hey!”, yells Frenchy. “What do you mean by that?”

“I rest my case”, says Charmy.

“Look, I am very intelligent”, Frenchy informs Charmy. “I have a million riddles you will never figure out.”

“Okay, go for it”, says Charmy.

“Okay,” says Frenchy as she taps her chin, thinking up a good riddle.

“Millions of them…”, taunts Charmy.

“Hey!” responds Frenchy. “I am just trying to figure out the best one”.

Charmy slowly shakes his head as if to be in disbelief.

“Alright”, says Frenchy. “Which set of candles burn longer? The candles on a three-year-old’s cake? Or the candles on a fifty-year-old’s cake?”

“Oh, you can’t outwit me, “Charmy informs Frenchy. “Both burn the same length”.

“ERK!”, yells Frenchy as she imitates a buzzer, “The answer is NEITHER”.

“That makes no sense!”, says Charmy in a totally disgusted tone. “How is that possible?”

“Matches don’t burn longer”, Frenchy educates Charmy, “Candles grow shorter. Neither are growing LONGER”.

“Grrrrrrrrr!”, growls Charmy.

“Yeah, who is the dumb blonde now?” asks Frenchy. “Oops, sorry. I forgot you haven’t got any hair.”

TOON in next week for the story to continue in the next comic strip.

HOLY MACCA NOODLE – MEANING

I am sure you are all wondering about the catchphrase I have been using, “Holy Macca Noodle!”. Everyone’s first thought is that I made up this crazy catchphrase for my comic strip using nonsense words. That is not the case at all. The phase has a ton of meaning for me. This catchphrase is a personal tip of the hat to someone whose own creativity has inspired me since I was seven years old.

Nope. You are all thinking in the wrong realm of creativity. It is true, my own creativity was inspired by so many great illustrators and cartoonists. From my dear friend the late Norm Breyfogle to illustrators like Brian Bolland, Neal Adams, Jim Lee, and my good friend Doug Hazelwood. I love to name-drop the few pros who actually know that I exist, lol.

Some cartoonists have inspired me as well. From the first cartoonist to inspire me, Peanuts creator Charles M. Shultz to groundbreakers in the industry like Berkely Breathed, Gary Larson, Bill Watterson, Don Martin, and Stephan Pastis, there are quite a few cartoonists over the years who have inspired me and my own unique drawing style. There are a lot of independent cartoonists, like myself, who also inspire me today… just to name a few, Rick Brooks of Mr. Morris and Tim Jones of Sour Grapes.

So, who is referenced in the catchphrase “Holy Macca Noodle”? When I was seven years old, my uncle gave me a stack of 45 RPM records, For you youngsters, these were small records with a song recorded on each side. They were referred to as singles. The A-Side would be the cut radios would play. The song on the other side was usually not near as good as the A-Side because they would save the best three songs from every album for their own Singles release.

So, I am playing these records one at a time. There were some records from the 1950’s including Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Most of the records were from the 1960’s. Out of the 57 records, one blew my mind and changed my life forever. From the opening riff “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” by the Beatles, I knew I was a fan for life of the Beatles. The B-Side was the song “I Saw Her Standing There”. I kept playing them both over and over again, wondering how can both songs on a single record be so awesome? Over the coming years, I would discover album after album that EVERY song the Beatles would create would be awesome.

As we all know, we lost John Lennon in 1980. Ten years later, we would lose George Harrison. Paul McCartney kept rolling right along with one amazing album after another. I cannot tell you how many times I would be drawing in my room as a kid listening to Paul’s album Ram. The music of Paul McCartney has always been with me for every event in my life. Every song takes me back in time to one event or another. “Holy Macca Noodle” is a tip of the hat to Paul McCartney, known is some circles as Macca. I feel so Blessed to have Sir Paul’s music in my life, so I refer to him as Holy Paul… or Holy Macca. The word “Noodle” refers to his brain and the creative music it has churned out for his fans. “Holy Macca Noodle” refers to the brilliant mind of Paul McCartney and how lucky we are that God blessed us with his powerful, musical works.

And know you know!