December 12, 2017

50 Cent

50 Cent

50 Cent

Tonight I have a manipulated caricature of rapper 50 Cent. The guy gas brutal features, so there were a few different ways I could have taken this one. I came very close to scrapping this one. Nothing seemed to be going right, then I zoomed back to a small thumbnail and I saw what my problem was and was able to correct it. So there's a lesson there. Don't get caught up in the details in the early stages. Take a step back and look at the whole thing. There's plenty of time for details in the end. Not to say this is a flawless caricature. It's far from it and I learned a lot from this one so I'm sure I could do a much better job the second time around. Well, it is what it is. I've posted the original source images below for comparison. I kind of blended the two.
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, businessman, and investor. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of the borough of Queens, Jackson began selling drugs at age twelve during the 1980s crack epidemic. He later began pursuing a musical career and in 2000 he produced Power of the Dollar for Columbia Records, but days before the planned release he was shot nine times and the album was never released. In 2002, after Jackson released the compilation album Guess Who's Back?, he was discovered by Eminem and signed by Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records.



I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

December 11, 2017

Truce Already

Truce Already

Truce Already

Here's a silly illustration I finished this weekend after our first snow in a long time. I had lots of time on my hands and had been fooling round this this for a while so I decided I needed to get it finished so I can move on to other things. It's called Truce Already. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un have been at it for a while. Maybe I should have called it "Little Rocket Man and Mr Diplomacy". Come on guys... can't we all just get along? Well, I'm off to the gym and I'll be getting started on something more serious when I get back. OK, maybe not so serious but different.





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December 06, 2017

Firoze Shakir - Artist Feature


Firoze Shakir

 Firoze Shakir - Artist Feature

Todays post serves two purposes, one to show you my latest caricature but more importantly I would like to introduce to you a dear friend of mine, Firoze Shakir. We first crossed paths on Google+ and soon after connected on other social media platforms. Firoze first captured my attention with his sometimes humorous and sometimes very thoughtful poetry that he used to comment on my images. The comments were always welcome and entertaining, from simple rhymes to complex pieces of poetry. I soon learned just what kind of man this was commenting on all of my posts. This is one of the most humble men I know. So humble in fact that I couldn't get him to write a bio so I'm taking a jab at it. Firoze is a very talented street photographer, photojournalist and street poet in Mumbai, India. Firoze is a man of peace, promoting all religions and faiths. Though we live worlds apart, he has become a very close friend of mine always cheering me on and complimenting on my work. He sees through all religious, racial and geographic barriers. He is a man of true character and I'm glad to call him my friend

He dedicates his life to shooting street photography but not like you might think. No pretty cityscapes or flowery vacation brochure type images. His subjects are the poor, the hungry, the sick and the lost. It’s his daily ritual to walk around different neighborhoods of Mubai and around India to capture life as it happens. He presents the raw realities of living in the slums of India like no other. You won’t find any touristy pictures on his site, only the forgotten people of India and their everyday struggle to survive. Having overcome many hurdles of his own, he uses his photography and art as medicine for the soul. His camera of choice is Cannon.

Obviously the image above is my friend Firoze Shakir. Below, you'll find the source image and some samples of his work but I want to provide you with links to his work, blog and social media. Be sure and check out these links.

Firoze Shakir Links:

Source Image

Firoze Shakir

The work of Firoze Shakir

Firoze Shakir
Firoze Shakir
Firoze Shakir
Firoze Shakir
Firoze Shakir
Firoze Shakir
Firoze Shakir
Firoze Shakir
Firoze Shakir
Firoze Shakir

Firoze Shakir Links:





 I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

December 05, 2017

Audrey Hepburn Caricature 2017

Audrey Hepburn Caricature

Audrey Hepburn Caricature 2017

This is a caricature study of Audrey Hepburn that I reworked and added some color the original source image was an old black and white. Audrey Hepburn, 1929 - 1993 was a British actress, model, dancer and humanitarian. Recognized as a film and fashion icon, Hepburn was active during Hollywood's Golden Age. She was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend in Golden Age Hollywood and was inducted into the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame. Born in Ixelles, a district of Brussels, Hepburn spent her childhood between Belgium, England and the Netherlands. In Amsterdam, she studied ballet with Sonia Gaskell before moving to London in 1948, continuing her ballet training with Marie Rambert, and then performing as a chorus girl in West End musical theatre productions.

Following minor appearances in several films, Hepburn starred in the 1951 Broadway play Gigi after being spotted by French novelist Colette, on whose work the play was based. She shot to stardom for playing the lead role in Roman Holiday (1953), for which she was the first actress to win an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for a single performance. The same year Hepburn won a Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Play for her performance in Ondine. She went on to star in a number of successful films, such as Sabrina (1954), The Nun's Story (1959), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Charade (1963), My Fair Lady (1964) and Wait Until Dark (1967), for which she received Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations. Hepburn won three BAFTA Awards for Best British Actress in a Leading Role. In recognition of her film career, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from BAFTA, the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award and the Special Tony Award. She remains one of the 12 people who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy and Tony Awards.

Hepburn appeared in fewer films as her life went on, devoting much of her later life to UNICEF. She had contributed to the organization since 1954, then worked in some of the poorest communities of Africa, South America and Asia between 1988 and 1992. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in December 1992. A month later, Hepburn died of cancer at her home in Switzerland at the age of 63.

Audrey Hepburn & Gregory Peck



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December 01, 2017

Baron Colossal Schnoz

Baron Colossal Schnoz

Baron Colossal Schnoz

Todays post is a study on caricature exaggeration, namely a big nose. I wasn't sure what to call this one so I came up with Baron Colossal Schnoz which I thought was original. By chance, I decided to Google search the term and it led me to the Wikipedia page of American singer, pianist, comedian, and actor Jimmy Durante who was famous for his big nose among many other things, so I guess it was appropriate. I started off with this British figure who had an arrogant look about him and wanted to push the exaggeration of the face. My original intent for this piece was to exaggerate the nose to an extent that it would make up 50% of the mass of the entire head. I fell short of my goal but I think I hit a good 30% of the mass of the head. This is no small feat. I do know a caricature artist who came pretty darn close in a caricature of Fidel Castro. This great artist is Sebastián Cast and is incredibly talented. You need to check out the amazing work from this young artist. I'll add his Castro image at the end of this post. As I was saying about the exaggeration, I was going for several things here. The exaggeration of the face with the huge nose, the color scheme which is something I've been working on lately as well as the arrogant nature of the subject. I hope I got close in at least one of those areas. 

Below is a brilliant caricature of Fidel Castro by the great Sebastián Cast. Click on the image to see a recent artist feature I did on Cast after I received the painted portrait of me. What an honor to be in his portfolio.


Fidel Castro by Sebastián Cast
Fidel Castro by Sebastián Cast




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November 29, 2017

American Singer Songwriter - P!nk

P!nk

American Singer Songwriter - P!nk

Alecia Beth Moore, known professionally as Pink or P!nk, is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. She was signed to her first record label with original R&B girl group Choice in 1995. The label, LaFace Records, only saw potential in Pink, offering her a solo deal. Choice disbanded in 1998. Pink rose as an artist with her debut solo album, Can't Take Me Home (2000). It was certified double-platinum in the United States and spawned two Billboard Hot 100 top-ten hits: "There You Go" and "Most Girls". She gained further recognition with the Moulin Rouge! soundtrack "Lady Marmalade", which gave Pink her first Grammy Award as well as her first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. Pink took more artistic control and pursued a pop rock direction for her second album, Missundaztood (2001). It sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and yielded three US top-ten singles, "Get the Party Started", "Don't Let Me Get Me", and "Just Like a Pill"… Wikipedia

This is a manipulated caricature of American singer-songwriter of P!nk. It was originally requested by a friend of mine on DeviantArt and has been published several times. It was also an entry in an international before and after Photoshop contest. I’ll include the source image at the bottom of post so you can see what I started with. I’ve taken the original and spiced it up a bit as I’ve been doing many of my old pieces while my back is healing. It’s great practice. I’m learning a lot about color and these can be done relatively quickly so I’m not sitting behind my computer for days on one piece. I’m doing my best to cut loose on the color and not hold back. I’ve been playing it safe too long. I still have a long way to go but I have a since of where I’m headed now with my new work. Well, I hope it’s a good direction and you like the work that I’ll be posting in the coming months and starting through 2018. I’m having a lot of fun as I experiment and learn along the way.

Original Source Image:
P!nk

Sneak Peak at P!nk:



I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!


November 28, 2017

Rapper Jay Z

Rapper Jay Z
Shawn Corey Carter, known professionally as JAY-Z, is an American rapper and businessman. He is one of the best-selling musicians of all time, having sold more than 100 million records, while receiving 21 Grammy Awards for his music. The man with the million dollar lips. This image was a poster commission from a while back. I have many of these in my store and have had some requests to add a little flare to some of them so I reworked this one and several others. All are available in my store now and several more on the way. I'll be posting more tomorrow.



Hope you enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!



November 27, 2017

Snoop Dogg - Increasizzle the Pizzle

Snoop Dogg

Snoop Dogg - Increasizzle the Pizzle


Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr., known professionally as Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, television personality, and actor. This is another variation on an older commission of Snoop Dogg. I was looking for a Snoop Dogg "izzle" phrase for the title and came up with Increasizzle the Pizzle which if I used the online izzle translator properly means Increase the Pease which is a quote of his. It sounds like something he would say. I'm sure someone will let me know if it's incorrect. I wanted to do something with the izzle "twizzle" which means twisted and rolled but couldn't find a fit. I just had to go with the marijuana background theme and color scheme on this one. A version of this caricature was also featured on martijuana.com a while back and received great reviews. I'm sure he has many fans there. This image and several hundred more are available in my online store for very reasonable prices. In fact, some are free downloads so check them out here. It will be well worth your time. I offer these custom celebrity caricatures many of which can be found right here in my store but I can do the same for you if you wish. They're a lot of fun and make really good gifts. If you're interested in a custom image of yourself or someone, please feel free to contact me for details. I pulled an all nighter last night working on some new material for the second time in 3 days so I'm beat. I think I'll take a little break. I'll be back tomorrow with more new work.

 Here are a few Snoop Dogg moments:




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November 26, 2017

Slash - Shredded

Slash - Shredded

Slash! Todays post is another color study of an old image I created for a Photoshop contest at the site formally known as Freaking News. I'm really trying to push the limits on color which is not my nature but I'm trying to change that. I've been far too timid with color as long as I can remember. This has a lot to do with the reason I turned to digital art in the first place. My oil painting tended to get muddy or at least subdued as I struggled with color. It's much easier to go back and change color and saturation in Photoshop. As I said in a previous post, I'll be posting several of these older pieces as I experiment with color for the most part. Lots of new work on the horizon. My back is healing quickly so I'll be able to sit behind my computer long enough to finish some new images I've started which are very complex. Hope you enjoy these along the way. It's certainly fun revisiting these old images and I'm learning lots along the way. I have many ideas in my head ready to get out. I'm looking forward to putting out there just what's going through my head. Scary stuff! ;) Below a little taste of Slash in action.




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November 25, 2017

Time Magazine Person of The Year

Time Magazine Person of The Year

Time Magazine Person of The Year

Time Magazine Person of The Year 2017... If you watch the news, you're familiar with President Donald Trump's recent claim that Time magazine contacted him saying that he would most likely be named TIME Magazine's "Person of The year" 2017. Trump claimed that the magazine would require him to do and extensive photo shoot and interview which he declined. Trump tweeted; "Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named “Man (Person) of the Year,” like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!" Time magazine later came forward and said that he had not been contacted. This was a total fabrication by Donald Trump. This president has done and said things on a daily basis since he became president that are baffling, absurd, controversial and down right crazy. Though this may seem trivial to some, it shows just how unstable this man is and his way of thinking. Who would make up such a story and post on twitter like he did? Did he believe the story he made up? Why would he do such a thing? Did he not think that someone with our news agencies wouldn't check up on his story to see if it was true? I think that this is an indication of just how unstable this man is. The most powerful man on earth living in a fantasy world. So, this is my response to his false claim. Rowan Atkinson's character Mr Bean as Natalia Beanovich, an ex-Russian spy and super model named TIME Magazine's Person of The Year 2017. I say that my story is just as credible as that of the President of The United States. It's all very embarrassing.


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Lil Wayne Toasted

Lil Wayne Toasted

This image of Rapper Lil Wayne (Official Wiki Page), was originally a commissioned piece for FHM magazine several years back and as many of the images I did for the magazine, it was a bit reserved. I'm not entirely sure why everything I did for them has to be so subdued. I assume so nobody got offended. Well, we all know Lil Wayne wouldn't be Lil Wayne unless he was toasted so I spiced this one up a bit for my image archives and added the marijuana theme. I also used this one a while back for marijuana.com but the images were web based and very low resolution, so I just tweaked the old one a bit for that commission. One thing that was good with that client was that pretty much anything goes so no worries with offending anyone. I'll be posting several of these tweaked old images in part to update my product portfolio and because they are only updates to the originals, they're good for this time I'm still slightly out of commission with my back. I can do these fairly quickly so it works out good for now. I have many in the making though that are much more complex experimenting with color, saturation, texture and the use of patterns in the backgrounds. I'll also be pushing the exaggeration a bit more in many of the upcoming caricature illustrations so stay tuned. If your interested in any of these images, you can check out my store or simply click the images for more details. As always if you have any commission inquiries, please feel free to email me at rodneywpike@gmail.com or fill out my contact form at the link provided. I have a few of these finished so check back tomorrow for more like this.





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November 24, 2017

BB King and Lucile 2017

BB King and Lucile 2017

Tonight I'm posting a caricature of Blues King, BB King with a slight twist. I've been experimenting with some new techniques in an attempt to freshen up my work and add some interest. These first few images that I'll be posting are just thoughts and ideas thrown around and this is the first of several to come over the next few days or weeks. In these new images, I'll be experimenting with much more bold color and saturation as well as textures and patterns and you'll see more what I'm talking about over the next few posts. This one was very loose and quick mainly trying to get the basic color scheme down. The images will become much more complex, abstract and bold as time goes on, or that's my intent anyhow. I have several in the making but am not able to post any of the more complex images as I'm still recovering from back surgery and not able yet to put in the hours needed to finish these complex images. You'll see what I mean as time goes on. For the time being, I'll be posting my thoughts in color, patterns and textures very loosely applied.





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November 22, 2017

Happy Thanksgiving 2017

Mr Bean Thanksgiving 2017
Happy Thanksgiving from Mr Bean, JC Leyendecker and myself. Looking forward to some great food tomorrow and a new year just around the bend.

Update: I went to see my surgeon today for my two week checkup since my back surgery and all is well. Healing super fast and I'm feeling so much better. I was concerned about having major surgery on my back as I watched my dad go through so much back in the 70s with his 4 fusions. Thankfully, they've come a long way since then and it was a relative breeze in comparison. Still a bit of healing to do but I'm already feeling much less pain behind my computer and have several new pieces in the making. I'm trying to spice things up a bit. I hope you like the new work. I'll be sharing a lot of new fresh work in the coming days and I have so much planned for the coming year.  





Thanks for stopping by. Have a great Thanksgiving Day!!

November 05, 2017

Vladimir Fedotko Featured Artist

Today I’m featuring an incredibly talented and unique artist who I recently connected with on facebook. His name is Vladimir Fedotko. His work in Photoshop is unlike any I’ve seen before, especially with his use of color and patterns. Somewhat reminiscent of Max Sauco’s work as far as the surrealism and astounding proficiency in Photoshop but with a brilliant use of color that I’ve not seen before. His use of patterns in his backgrounds reminds me a lot of the great Alphonse Mucha. This artist has taken Photoshop and photo manipulation to a whole new level though it is obviously more than mere manipulation of photographs. His use of patterns, his sense of color and composition are amazing.
One thing I see in his work as well is one thing my very first art teacher impressed upon me. The use of negative space and he certainly understands this. This guy has it all. Now, that being said, there are some of his images that may be considered a bit risqué but certainly not distasteful. I'll be watching this guy very closely and hopefully learn a bit from his pioneering style.
Vladimir Fedotko (Владимир Федотко) Born in Leningrad, photographer and photo manipulator currently lives and works in St. Petersburg, Russia. After discovering Adobe Photoshop in 2005, Fedotko has used a combination of traditional drawing, photography and computer processing to create his unique images. You can check out an archive of his work chronologically here: http://fedotko.35photo.ru/ and if you’re on facebook, you’ll want to follow his profile here. Here are a few more of his amazing works:



I hope you enjoyed this preview of one uniquely talented artist and his vibrant and creative images. I can't wait to see what the future holds for this artist and his work after only a short time working in Photoshop.




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November 02, 2017

Special Council Robert Mueller - Collusion Investigation

The sherif's in town! A quick caricature study of Special Council Robert Mueller in heading the collusion investigation which has been all over the news lately. I'm trying to get a few last minute images up on my web site before I go in next week for back surgery. Five more days. I'm ready to get this thing behind me. Wish me luck!




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October 30, 2017

Trump - Collusion Confusion

Big new this early this morning from Robert Mueller's investigation related to the Collusion Confusion with Donald Trump. One man arrested and more to come I'm sure. I've put together a little something for the occasion and your viewing pleasure. This features President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Special Council Robert Mueller as well as a rat, the smell of which brought all of this to the forefront. Stay tuned for more fun stuff. I'll try and get in a couple more pieces before going in the hospital next week for back surgery.



I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

October 27, 2017

Humpty Trumpty

Humpty Trumpty
Every day I turn on the news and there's yet another story about President Trump and the headlines seem to just keep getting more absurd. I've been putting together a few new ideas on Trump themed images as I did so many times for former President Barack Obama and was talking to my neighbor about it. He suggested I do a Humpty Trumpty image so here it is. This is not fake news though. This is an actual photo of King Trumpty busting a yolk over his new wall. Ok, maybe I touched it up a little. I couldn't resist using an Asp Caterpillar for his hair. In fact, I didn't want to mess his hair up so I put his crown on the ground.

I ran across this rhyme on Mad magazine's site:

Trumpty Dumpty
A Nursery Rhyme Updated:

Humpty Trumpty
wanted a wall,

Lining the border,
30 feet tall.

The Mexican people
agreed with a lout,

“We’ll pay for the thing,
if it keeps
Trumpty out!”





I hope you got a laugh. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

October 26, 2017

Trump Impeached

Trump Impeached
Ok, so I was searching something on the internet a few days ago and came across the term impeachment and to my surprise, almost all of the google images related to that term were specifically about "Trump Impeachment". I know I'll take some serious heat from my Republican friends on this post and suffer a hit to my social following but so be it. I'm not against Trump at all and for the majority of my life, I've voted conservative but you have to admit, Donald trump is far out of line and something needs to be done. Is impeachment the answer? I don't know but he is out of control on many issues. Regardless, I typically try to keep my political and religious views to myself, even though I do make posts with political content but this time I had to say how I feel about this man running our country. I would hope he could find it within himself to turn things around but I and many others including his own Republican Senators have either serious doubts or have lost hope. I know there is fake news out there on both sides. This is politics and it can get dirty but I try to watch both conservative and liberal news and my deduction after looking at both sides is that Donald Trump should not be in office. Is he really the best that this nation has to offer for out commander and chief? Is he the man to control our national security? Can I trust my children's future on his decisions? I wish he was but I'm afraid I can't. Feel free to post your views on this subject.




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Trump or Treat - Just in time for Halloween

Trump or Treat
It's the Season for Treason so Trump or Treat!! I'm throwing a bone to the Democrats today and will probably take flack from Republicans but it's Political Satire and this is the way it's always been. If it were a Democrat, he or she would get the same and I'm sure their time will come soon enough. I did plenty of these sort of images with Barack Obama over 8 years in office such as "The Nightmare Before Congress" featuring Former President Barack Obama. I was trying to think of what to do for Halloween as far as President Donald Trump is concerned and the "orange " pumpkin, Trumpkin came to mind. It was convenient as I didn't have to pull back the color saturation much on the orange... Ok, that was uncalled for but I couldn't resist. Below is an image I did a while back, "Dr Trumpenstein" which seems fitting for the occasion as well. So, don't take this too seriously. It's all in good fun. Join the "Nightmare Before Congress" movement today and get your Trumpkin before its too late. Sorry for all of the puns.
Dr Trumpenstein
Happy Halloween!



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October 20, 2017

Happy Birthday Snoop Dogg

Snoop Dogg
I'm reposting this image of Snoop Dogg which was originally a commissioned work for and FHM Magazine feature on his Birthday. Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (sometimes shortened to Snoop and formerly called Snoop Doggy Dogg and Snoop Lion), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. (Read more)...
 
Plizzanet Earth with Snoop Dogg

Happy Birthday Snoop Dogg!!

   


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October 18, 2017

Premonition From 2010

Premonition
This is a very old Photoshop contest entry from 2010 called "Premonition". This was actually one of my very first photo-manipulations at Freakin News which is now gone, sadly to say. This image was a "Freakshow" contest entryway back and was a prediction of what was to come of the Obama administration. I had long ago forgot about this image. It's certainly not one of my best but while sifting through my archives, I came across it by accident and it sort of rang a bell. Don't get me wrong. I'm not against former President Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and certainly not John McCain who in my eyes was a great American War hero. Though surreal in nature and maybe a bit harsh, this image, which was made in 2010 does somewhat reflect the times as far as these individuals are concerned. Barack Obama is aging after many years of service as our President, Nancy Pelosi is somewhat a has been in the news today, and tragically, a great Vietnam War Hero and ex POW, John McCain is suffering from a very aggressive brain cancer. I hope this image isn't too morbid for you. It just struck a cord with me when I ran across it. I'm sure some of the old Freaking News choppers would understand.







       
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Down with my back

Down with my back
A quick silly image to try and make light of this "Pain in my Back"!

Only a couple of people out there are aware of the problems I've had with my back especially over the past year. I didn't want to say anything for several reasons. I wanted to be sure I had exhausted all options before I announced taking this step. It's been a long road. My back problems started at a very young age and I've dodged back problems most of my life. Over the past year, I went through hell with the VA system trying to get some relief. Note: See my friend and fellow Navy Veteran, Rock Cowels facebook page "Dead Veterans Don't Need Benefits". Harsh but true. After a full year of runaround as the VA system was clearing 10 city blocks in New Orleans to build an obnoxious 1 billion dollar plus hospital that is still not fully functional today since the flooding of the last one in 2005, I finally got out of the VA system and found a real doctor. My issues are far more serious than the VA said even though they wanted to get me hooked on opioids with no resolution to the problem. I now have a surgeon who has done all he can shy of surgery to get me some relief. I've finished a round of cortisone injections which gave me some temporary pain relief but I'm at a point now where I can hardly sit behind my computer anymore. So,  I saw my doctor this morning and surgery is scheduled for the 7th of November. I have 2 ruptured discs at L4-L5 and L-5 S-1, 4 fractures as well as a severe misalignment due to a Spondylolisthesis which I was diagnosed with as a teen... (All of which were missed by the VA system with numerous x-rays and MRIs). He will be doing a fusion of L-4 L-5 and L-5 S-1 with two rods. I've avoided this all of my life and it has now apparently caught up with me. I'm hoping for a quick recovery as I have been in the gym every day for years now and have strengthened my core. I'm not totally out of the game though. I will be posting a few images I've been working on over the next three weeks. After that, I'll be down for a while but when I recover, I'll finally be able to put in the kind of hours I've wanted since launching my new web site and will be able to promote it more with fresh new content. Wish me luck!! 







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October 14, 2017

Remembering my Dad on His Birthday

Today I'm remembering my Dad on his birthday. Malvin R. Pike born October 14th, 1919. He would have been 98 years old today. I always said my dad would live to be 100. He was a strong man, always fit. Born a poor share cropper from a very large family, he had to grow up fast. He quit school to work the farm in the 6th grade and later finished his education while working at Exxon. He served bravely in WWII and was wounded 4 times. Of course, they didn't count shrapnel holes as wounds back then. Four purple hearts,  two bronze stars and numerous other accommodations, he was on the first wave of Higgins boats to land on Utah Beach on D-Day, June 6th 1944. After the war ended, he started work at Exxon where he remained until he retired. He married my Mom, Mary Matherne Pike shortly after returning from the war and had six kids. I was the last of the six. Below are a few more pictures of he and my mom.

Happy Birthday Daddy!











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