Novelty & Gag Toys

For half a century, artist Paul McCarthy has made work inspired by a most abject muse: the toxic male ego at its most infantile and belligerent. Sailors, pirates, cowboys, U.S. presidents from Reagan to Trump, even Walt Disney, that authoritarian inventor of antiseptic fairy tales, have materialized in various guises in his fornicating sculptures and gross-out films. Yes, the Los Angeles artist knows how to generate a headline, such as the time in 2014 that his sculpture "Tree," an 80-foot inflatable resembling a luminous green butt plug, was vandalized in Paris. But girding this sensational work is an unblinking examination of our crude national id, accompanied by a lifelong drawings practice that has served as a way of tackling these ideas visually. Over six decades, there isn't a way in which McCarthy hasn't employed drawing: as storyboard, as architectural schematic, as gag, as poignant visual diary, as conceptual piece, as charming doodle. In February, the Ha...

Mark Kennedy, Associated Press Published 6:20 p.m. ET June 2, 2020 Whether you're a doctor or nurse, a janitor, or a grocery store worker -- if you're going to work every day so we can stay safe: we thank you. USA TODAY NEW YORK — The funny papers this Sunday will have more than laughs. More than 70 comic strips and panels — ranging from Garry Trudeau's "Doonesbury" to Jim Toomey's "Sherman's Lagoon" and Jeff Keane's "Family Circus" — will each have six symbols hidden in the artwork to honor workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. Look closely and you'll find a mask for medical workers and caregivers, a steering wheel for delivery workers, a shopping cart for grocery workers, an apple for teachers, a fork for food service workers and a microscope for medical researchers. In "Sherman's Lagoon," the six items are hidden in the ocean's reef. In ...

Charlie Forster was at the library one afternoon in March when he ran into a friend from Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh. "I was like, 'Do you want to come over to my house?" he said. "So we took the bus home and made grilled cheeses and watched that movie 'Her,'" which explores isolation and relationships nurtured via electronic devices. Little did he know that the coronavirus that was spreading across the country would give him and his friends their own lesson in being alone. Their new life started to become clear not long after, when Charlie checked in with another friend about plans to meet for lunch. "She was like, 'My parents -- my mom just read an article about social distancing and is outlawing any get-togethers,'" he recalled. And so that was it. That bland Friday afternoon of grilled cheese and watching "Her" was the last social occasion of senior year, filling in for gradu...

It won't look like it did before everything shut down in mid-March, however. There's no indoor dining, you're limited to parties of six or fewer and tables are going to be farther apart. Stores are limited to half the usual capacity. And it's reservations only at the salon. Other highlights: You've still got to wear a mask. But you can now gather in groups of 10 or less, following social distancing guidelines. Here are the latest updates as the Chicago suburbs and Illinois begin phase three of the reopening plan: Truffle pasta, but not many masks in Forest Park As the sun began to set on Madison Street Friday between Harlem and Des Plaines avenues in Forest Park, loud music blared from motorcycles and cars with rolled down windows. People laughed and talking loudly from inside restaurants with open fronts. One man even smoked a cigarette, one foot on the sidewalk and one foot on the bar's wooden floor. Covered patios connect...

The NBA still has a long list of considerations to parse through before attempting to relaunch its season — so many, in fact, that a final resolution plan may not emerge from a highly-anticipated Board of Governors call reportedly scheduled for Friday. This should register as a relatively low priority for now, as the league navigates an unprecedented global health and economic crisis, but the question of game presentation is one that will eventually need addressing. Without fans in arenas, silent games are a prospect that would pose unique challenges to both athletes and broadcasters — even setting aside the financial ramifications of losing gate proceeds (which, according to a recent estimate, account for 40% of the league's revenue) through the end of this season.  "I think it would take a little bit of competitiveness out, because obviously I think the fans and atmosphere make a big thing about the game," Zach LaVine said of the possibility of empty-are...

The year 1995 could really be counted as year zero of the digital world we live in today. Amazon, Craigslist and eBay all launched. Microsoft took its first significant plunge into the stirring waters of the World Wide Web. The PlayStation made its North American debut. Toy Story, the first all-CGI movie, hit the big screen. Future YouTube star Logan Paul was born. People were going online in ever greater numbers. According to a Times Mirror Center survey in mid-1995, about 24 million Americans used a home computer on any given day, with about 12 million subscribing to an online service, up from 5 million six months earlier. There were massive jumps in the number of websites -- from about 2,700 in 1994 to 23,500 in 1995, and from there past 257,000...