Visitors

Wednesday 30 July 2014

Based On A True Event

I did the pencils for this some time ago. It was prompted by the fact that our young spaniel thinks fox's arse-waste smells wonderful if it's rubbed in liberal quantities around the chest and throat. Can you imagine some doggy advert in Horse and Hound? Merde de Raynardine - Oh how it lingers! Well that's obviously how our dog thinks, because we almost got to the point where no walk was complete without a roll in the latest fox offering.
We didn't quite encounter the mayhem depicted here, but if she realises that the shower has been turned on specifically for her, she tries to slope off and hide under the armchair. I hasten to add that she is isolated in the lobby if she stinks. She's only allowed near the furniture while I prepare the flea shampoo. Oh yeah. Fleas. Dog ownership is just one long round of unalloyed joy.
If fox poo becomes a bit monotonous she'll ring the changes by rolling in the putrefied remains of some unfortunate creature. The more advanced the state of putrefaction, the better. Beast or fowl, it doesn't matter. As long as it stinks!
And then she expects my unconditional love! And yet she gets it. Bloody hound.

Monday 28 July 2014

I Really Ought To Blow My Own Trumpet A Little More.

One gazillion umpty weeks ago I won the caption competition for two weeks running. The second winner is presented for your delight and delectation on the left here. Did I shout about it? Did I draw anybody's attention to the enormity of this event? Did I stoppeth one of three in order to go on and on and on and on and on and on about this fact? Did I eckers. In fairness, in my mind's eye, I did do an endless number of backflips down our street, hooting like an early Daffy Duck (Ref: Porky's Duck Hunt). But, that's not the point is it? I should have done all these things (except the backflips. I have a bit of a dodgy knee at the moment.). So, why didn't I?
Um. Don't know.
Right. To business. There are two Laurel and Hardy films that I can watch repeatedly and still laugh each time. One is Way Out West (the one with that glorious rendition of The Trail of the Lonesome Pine.) The other is The Music Box in which Stan and Ollie are tasked to deliver a player piano to a house at the top of a long flight of steep steps. The words "heave" and "ho" predominate in this film and make no discernible addition to the eastng of the job. If you haven't seen it, please do watch it. It is a masterclass in demonstrating Sod's Law and I love it.
I'm not altogether sure how this idea came about, but I thought of  M. C. Escher's Ascending and Descending and put the two together so that Stan and Ollie's labours truly become Sisyphean. The optical illusion is called a Penrose staircase and, to begin with, I tried to draw it freehand. Several times. Without success. In the end I traced over an existing example. Why try to re-invent the, er, staircase?
I should also add that if you click on the pic, you should see a larger version which, in turn, will demonstrate just how much research I undertook in order to produce the cartoon. Which won the Cartoon Club of Great Britain Caption Competition. For the second week running.
Just thought I'd mention it.