May 22 - We Are Na Ali'i... Seriously

Here are some of the students and faculty Ricki Lee works with at Calvary High School of Hawaii in Honolulu, where she teaches English and Japanese as well as coach the three-member cheer team. From left to right are school mascot Ono Grindz the Ali'i Sheep, Ricki's mentor Mrs. Yamashita (aka Tutu Huhu), Ricki, cheer captain Tita Silva and her class-clown boyfriend Jared McMooney. The L in "School" perpetually falls to an angle because the pegs behind the L won't stay put in the concrete, but as an inside joke the administration just leaves it that way to remind themselves and the student body that despite our best efforts to keep up outward appearances, all of us are still imperfect and sinful before a perfect God--but thanks to the finished work of Jesus on the cross, we stand before the Father as if we never sinned.

April 18 - Don't Get Huhu in Ricki Lee's Classroom

Ricki Lee teaches English and Japanese at Calvary High School of Hawaii, a tiny private Christian high school in suburban Honolulu. Tita Silva is the short but spirited captain of the CHS cheer squad, which Ricki coaches. Tita's temper tends to be just as short as she is, and she often makes a fool of herself when she gets huhu (angry) over the dumbest of things. Now she is learning the hard way during detention that you don't do such things in your coach's English class, and she can't blame her Portugese and Samoan heritage for her huhu. Hence the sneer. Bart Simpson isn't the only one, you know.

February 18 - Snow on Mauna Kea

Mauna Kea, an extinct volcano that is the highest point on the Big Island of Hawaii (over 13,000 feet), gets dumped with snow every time winter storms pass through the Hawaiian islands. Nobody expects snow in Hawaii, but Mauna Kea's sheer height virtually guarantees it. Residents from neighboring islands come to the Big Island every winter to ski and snowboard on the "Pineapple Powder".

In this cartoon, Ricki Lee & Tony and the boys are playing in the snow on Mauna Kea. Notice the shaka salute on the snowman's left arm and the lei-covered cross in the foreground, an affirmation of the family's Christian faith (and of my own).

December 21 - The Live Nativity

The first Ricki Lee & Tony web comic strip. Merry Christmas!

Welcome to the Ricki Lee & Tony Blog!

Welcome to the official blog of Ricki Lee & Tony, a series of YouTube animated movies and drawings that I have been creating since 2004. On this blog I will be posting my latest comic strips, illustrations and animated movies featuring this most nuclear family.

But first things first: let's introduce the family. Ricki Lee & Tony live with their kids and Chihuahua in sunny Newport Beach, California, not Hawaii as the cartoons may suggest. They are dressed Hawaiian touristy style in these cartoons because these transplanted Easterners have fully embraced The OC's famous beach lifestyle.

Ricki Lee Smith: The mom, 30 years old, married to Tony and mother of two boys, Isaac and Robert. Her claim to fame back in college was becoming the first (and only) female member of the Chapman University ice hockey team--and one of its best. She became a high school teacher right out of college, but is now a stay-at-home mom until her kids are old enough to go to school. She always wears a baseball cap, which she calls "her trademark" and has been wearing caps since her Little League days. Despite being a doting mom, she's basically a grown-up tomboy, which is why she and Tony get along so well (usually).

Robert Antonio "Tony" Smith: The dad, 31 years old, a professional NHL player. For obvious reasons (legal, of course) I can't have him on a real NHL team, but I can tell you he cut his teeth (literally) in high school hockey back in his native Chicago, on the Chapman team (where he met his future wife) and on a minor league team called the Albuquerque Chihuahuas. When he's not thrashing people to ribbons on the ice, he likes to tinker with electronics, deliberately crash toy trains head-on, play in the sand with his boys, waste time with his vintage Atari 2600 and evade Ricki Lee's honeydo list.

Issac Smith: The older son, 3 years old, likes to play with his toys but never puts them away, occasionally has moments of clarity when Mommy gives him a timeout in the sitting corner. He once played barber shop cutting all the fur off a willing Xena with Daddy's electric razor. He talks with a preschool lisp which is reflected in his talking lines. Other than all of the above, he's a good kid. Really. Trust me.

Robert Antonio Smith Jr., alias "The Baby": The aforementioned alias, about 6 months old, and already knows how to say "Mama" and "Dada", occasionally tries to mimic whatever his parents say. Like his father, he is unusually mellow, often staring Droopy-style at the viewer when the punch line occurs or drinking from his baby bottle, which he pops out of his mouth when indignant or surprised.

Xena: The family Chihuahua, given to them by a family friend. She got that name because when she's excited her high-pitched barking sounds like the fighting yell from the title character of "Xena: Warrior Princess". As sweet as a princess and just as conceited, Ricki calls Xena "her little girl" and is the .25 in their 2.25 children because she's such a runt. (See the "Mele Kalikimaka" cartoon above for a look at Xena.)

Other characters:

Gladys Rogers (aka "Grandma Rogers"): Ricki's mom, 55 years old, a very sensible and practical woman who drives her daughter nuts with that sensibility and practicality. Loves to babysit her grandsons. Likes to joke that her no-nonsense style is a reflection of her industrious Swedish heritage. Gladys is also a cancer survivor; her breast cancer is in full remission.

Dee Dee Rogers: Ricki's teenage little sister, 19 years old, a freshman at Chapman, part of the women's basketball team, and a commuter student still living at home. Is the first choice for babysitting the boys. She is also a teenage alcoholic, having begun drinking after her beloved grandmother died. Like her late grandma, she is a devoted and sober member of Alcoholics Anonymous, and attends a student AA group at Chapman.

Well, there you have it. I hope you'll enjoy the cartoons as I post them. I invite you to post me your replies as we move forward.

Watch Ricki Lee & Tony's animated movies at my YouTube page: www.youtube.com/richartrod