I keep getting e-mails asking me to post a photo of myself since the weight reduction surgery. Here's a shot of me at a post-Christmas party last evening surrounded by three very talented men. I'm the tall one. The man on the far left is Ian Whitcomb, the eminent musician and musicologist. Second from the left is Richard Sherman, who (with his brother Robert) wrote most of the great Disney songs, including the tunes for Mary Poppins. At far right is the great satirist and cartoon voice actor, Stan Freberg.
But the most talented person at this party was none of the guys around me. There was a gentleman there making balloon animals out of ordinary skinny balloons, and guests were challenging him to replicate classic cartoon characters. Here we see Jerry Beck — one of the Brewmasters of the fine website, Cartoon Brew — showing us what he got when he asked the balloon artist to whip up a Droopy. And this wasn't even the most amazing balloon creation of the evening. The brilliant glamour artist Olivia De Berardinis, whose stunningly beautiful women appear regularly in Playboy in the old Vargas slot, went home with a balloon likeness of Bettie Page.
The artisan who rose to these challenges was Buster Balloon and here's his website. If you have a party in Southern California and you want an entertainer who'll delight your guests, hire this man. And invite me so I can see him work his magic again. (He also created a Balloon Elvis for someone. If you ferret around on his site, you'll find a photo of him with a similar balloon sculpture.)
Back in my early teen years, I used to make balloon animals at birthday parties for younger kids. I'd make a horsie and then have to tell everyone which of the five possibilities was the head. So I'm in awe of someone who can do it well and Buster is the best I've ever seen. Just had to share that with you all.