My comic was in on saturday - it's in the online edition here. I'll post a higher resolution version when I get the chance, since this is a bit blurry. Damn you, the Times, damn you and your blurry, blurry ways!
I think I have a comic in the book section of the Times tomorrow (as part of a DFC promotion) - keep your eyes peeled, baboon-watchers!
EDIT: ok, so apparently there is no book section in the Times on friday. Maybe my comic will be in it over the weekend? A book section sounds like a weekend thing.
EDIT EDIT: word on the street is that it will be in tomorrow's edition. Move back up to amber alert.
I've just heard that everybody's favourite new kids comic the DFC is going to be available to buy in Tescos for one week only this week, so if you're interested in taking a look, but don't want to fork out for a subscription, now's your chance - I think the issue is only going to be £2 and it's full of top notch strips, so it's definitely worth a look.
look out for this next to the beans
Unfortunately
my strip 'Super Animal Adventure Squad' isn't going to be in this issue
- I won't be appearing again for a few more weeks yet, but here's a
sneak peek at a little christmas special I'm working on - if all goes
well I should be able to show you the complete episode in a couple of
weeks time!
Ho ho ho oh no!
I have never put a lot of thought into beds. They're just there in your bedroom. You lie on them. The only time you actually use them is when you are unconscious. Why would you need to put a lot of thought into them?
It's hard now to believe I ever thought like that. Now that I have my own house, now that I am a man, I have realised the truth: that buying a bed is the most important decision you can ever make.
Let us put aside for the moment the whirlwind of confusion that is choosing a mattress - whether it is open coil, pocket sprung, memory foam or some chimeric hybrid of all three, in the end all that really matters with a mattress is comfort. Any decision that you have to make by lying down on a succession of more and more comfortable beds cannot be that taxing.
No, the real decision is the frame. Not simply because there are a vast range of frames available in a host of options, but because this bed is more than just a bed. In choosing this frame you are not just choosing a piece of furniture, you are choosing a way of life. It will be the focus for the bedroom, the first room you will see in the morning, and the last room that you see at night. Once the bed is chosen, the rest of the bedroom furniture must be selected to match - wardrobes, drawers and dressers, all are spawned from that first crucial decision - the choice of bed. But it does not stop there.
This is the first major item of furniture that will be purchased for the house. Which means that this isn't just defining the bedroom - this is now defining the ruling aesthetic for the entire building. It's no longer just a choice between getting a mahogany or a walnut finish on our headboard, this is a choice that determines what colour we will paint our living room, what kitchen cupboards we will get, what the experience of the next 5/10/15+ years of our lives will be. It's a bit of a tricky one.
So now I have to decide if I want to live immersed in a world of contemporary simplicity or classic grandeur, of angular corners or organic curves, of natural woods or modern synthetics. Also: king or double?
Having gone through a phase of admiring solid wood sleigh beds (when no one was around I would totally pretend I had reindeer attached to it) I am currently favouring a sort of contemporary retro 50's chic look:
ooh
ahh
Maybe I should just go to Ikea?
I think we may have chosen our chartered surveyor poorly. Here's a little note I think I might send off to him (please note that where I am quoting from his report that I have not made any changes to spelling, punctuation, capitalisation or grammar. He really did send it just like that.) :
Dear Barely Literate Surveyor,
We have received the electronic copy of the building survey report that you sent to us, and I have a number of points that I would like to raise:
1) There are a number of errors in the document which are immediately obvious and we would like these to be corrected since this is an official document that we will be relying upon for our negotiations with the vendor:
* the name of the road on which the house is located is misspelled. The correct spelling is [insert name of our totally awesome road here].
* numerous other spelling errors throughout the document. Please use a spell checker if you are unsure of spellings.
* in the section entitled 'Internal Joinery and Kitchen Fittings' you state that the kitchen is on the upper first floor, when it is in fact on the ground floor.
* extensive gramatical errors throughout the document. Please bring this up to a professional standard.
* In the document you state: 'It is essential, however, that your Solicitor makes written pre-contract enquiries to the appropriate authorities to obtain confirmation that planning and building regulation approvals were obtained for the alteration to convert the property into two separate dwellings. Confirmation from the Vendor regarding consents for the alterations to the internal spine partitions and the removal of the chimney breast should be obtained.' However the property is not divided into two seperate dwellings and therefore we are extremely concerned that this sentence appears in the report, and we would appreciate an explanation.
* The document also states 'We inspected the property whilst it was partly occupied and partly furnished with floors covered by fitted carpets and no searches have been made for hidden defects except where specifically stated.'. However we know that the property was unoccupied and unfurnished at the time of the inspection (which is in fact stated elsewhere in the report). Please correct this error.
2) you state that the house was built in the 1950's, but that the roof covering is in excess of 100 years old. Please can you explain how this is the case?
3) There are a number of gramatical errors in the document so severe that they render it illegible. Can you please explain what these sections are supposed to mean:
* 'There were no signs of any woodworm infestation or the like however it is always for infected timbers to brought into the property and as a precaution treatment should be undertaken.'
* 'These comprise solid brick terminated with glazed tiles and rendered on the surface, And these appeared to be in reason able structural condition and there were no signs of any significant structural movement however there was some misalignment to the front right hand party wall and the left hand party wall and these will require at the time of our inspection.'
* 'And the cover was lifted and the Wc appliance was lifted and all appeared However an inspection chamber was located within the floor to the main entrance hallway lobby within the lower ground section.'
* 'The rear garden is generally enclosed by close boarded timber fencing around the periphery of the external parts of the garden. to form flower beds. The majority of the concrete hard standing and concrete slabs which will require resetting during the normal course of maintenance..'
I look forward to hearing your response.
Sincerely,
The Baboon
I am a farmer who raise ducks and cows. The animals have a total of 9 heads and 26 feet. How many ducks and cows do I have?
Submitted by The BlueTie.
I have 5 cows and 4 ducks, but only because one of my cows has two heads. It is a portent of the end times.
So did anyone buy the Times today? If you did you might want to sneak a little peak at page 34 (the kids page) of the Times2 to see my FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATION THAT I DID FOR THE GOD DAMN TIMES.
Cripes.
EDIT: thanks to Kate for providing a link to the online version: HERE!
Well the party was a lot of fun, and you will be relieved to hear there was free food and wine (although the savouries had all gone by the time I got there, so I ended up eating about a hundred pieces of cake in an attempt to stop myself getting too drunk. You know, rather than not drinking as much, which would obviously have been impossible). I didn't speak to Philip Pullman, which is probably a good thing, but I did meet a few other comic people which made me feel almost legitimate. I also had a camera poked into my face at one point which caused me to completely lose the ability to talk (you can probably see how terrified I am here). In general it was an excellent experience, and got me really excited about being involved in the whole thing - I just really really really hope that people buy the thing so I can keep drawing comics for them!
Ok, I think things are close enough to fruition to reveal what's going on - the project I'm working on (which you can see a snippet of a few entries back) is for a new children's comic called the DFC, which is launching at the end of May. I've spent the last 2 weeks at home, finishing off my first 11 week storyline (I say finishing off - I have been working every night this week, and still have two more to colour) and I've surprised myself with how non-crappy it's turned out.
It is an incredible amount of work though - I worked harder in the last two weeks than I have in years (but don't tell my boss that), and while I really enjoyed doing it, now that I'm back at work I'm not sure how I'm going to keep it up. They want me to do 2 pages a week for my next storyline, and while this means more money it's not enough to give up the day job just yet, so I'm going to somehow have to combine my day job with doing 20-30 hours of comic work a week. I'm not sure how I'm going to manage that without collapsing in a frazzled heap after a couple of days - I think my only hope is to ask my manager very nicely if there is any way that I can work part time and get a day or two off every week, but I'm really not sure how that's going to wash. They did give me the last two weeks off with basically zero notice, so there is some hope. Fingers crossed!
The other obvious casualty is going to be Beaver and Steve - the last few weeks I've been mostly relying on guest strips, and the one comic I did manage to produce was just not fun at all to make. Unless I can get some serious time off on a regular basis I am afraid Beaver and Steve might have to come to an end, or at least a lengthly hiatus. I really hope I can figure out a way to keep it going as well - I still have a pile of ideas lined up for it - but right now I don't see how that's going to be possible, which is kind of sad after putting so much work into it. Beaver and Steve will never die though, as long as we keep them alive in our hearts. Or in some sort of suspended animation.
More updates as they come...
