Those Olympic posters

Oh dear. The Olympics people have tried to reach out as part of their Cultural Legacy and have distributed a series of posters by top British artists. They're not popular, and neither were they likely to be. They've been commissioned from, in my opinion, artists chosen because they are Britain's most famous or successful artists. However the works themselves are in many cases obscure and have served only to alienate the casual viewer.



Howard Hodgkin and Bridget Riley have produced pieces which, if seen on canvas in a gallery, would be fine parts of their oeuvre, but which on a poster or postcard look like nothing at all. One Twitterer has compared Bridget Riley's piece to a dishcloth design, and thanks to Hodgkin's (above) Twitter is full of people reviving the phrase "a child of six could do it" for a new generation. As for Tracy Emin's effort, well she's not in the business of impressing non-art-lovers and this contribution won't change that.

It is a great shame that the curators of these posters have chosen big names over appropriate works. They have driven a wedge between the public and the art world when this could have been an opportunity to involve and to build bridges.

While I'm on the subject, my contributions to the Royal College of Art's RCA Secret exhibition go on show soon. Go along, try and buy me. You might end up with someone proper famous instead.

Nambygate now in annual size for Christmas

Great news for all our readers! Yes, comic fans, The Rev F Sutherland's Tales Of Nambygate, which has been available as a book for a few weeks now, is now available as a Big Book.

The 120 page collection of classic strips from the golden age of Gas & The Damage magazines, is now yours for the taking in a massive 10"x8" Annual-sized book from Ka-Blam, for only $8.99 + postage, why that's just pennies in real money. And if you order it now you'll have it well before Christmas.

But why take my word for it, when you can have a glance through it on the website.

These classic strips, by such luminaries as Leesh V Daft Nurk, Dan & Ethel V Skurf and of course the Rev F Sutherland, were serialised in Gas and The Damage in the early 1990s, and are collected here for the first time.

Nambygate school has been sending boys ill-prepared into the world since time inappropriate. Enjoy now three generations of exploits by old boys, from World War Two to the present day. From Air Ace Battler Britten, via schoolboys like Naughty Newton and Sticky Smegg, to the latter day exploits of Bobby & Julia (Genevieve - Ed) dammit Genevieve in Phallas The Soap Opera, the interlinking adventures are some of the most painfully pun-filled nonsense ever sold to man.

The hardback pocket-sized version is still available from Blurb, the choice is yours.

Hoy! Berol! Leave them pens alone

Dear Berol, where have the pens gone?

I learnt with astonishment today that Berol, the pen people, have discontinued the Best Flipchart Marker Ever. It's this one...

...The Berol Colour Marker Wedge Tip in Black, and it's quite simply the best flipchart marker I have ever used. As you can see from the evidence of my Comic Art Masterclasses on my website I use quite a lot.



I have had to resort to buying up the remaining stock on eBay and Amazon, but after those have gone, what will I do? Permanent markers soak through the paper and aren't a good idea to let loose in a classroom of kids, bullet-tips don't give the variety of line, and dry-wipe markers are useless on flipcharts.

If anyone knows where I can get hold of Berol Colour Markers after eBay and Amazon have dried up, do let me know. And if anyone can explain why they've stopped making these excellent pens - it's as if I'm the only person left who uses a flipchart anymo... oh God, I'm the only person left on the planet who uses a flipchart anymore, aren't I?



UPDATE 3/1/11: Berol have replied:

Good Morning

Thanks for your email.

Apologies but the only replacement I can suggest is purchasing the Berol Colour Marker assorted pack which does also include a black.

Kind Regards,

Emma Clowes
Customer Services Office Products UK & Ireland


To which I have replied:

Hi Emma,

Thanks for the reply. Since the black still exists, in the colour assorted pack, but I don't need any of the colours (and who, let's face it, ever needs the yellow?) is there any way I can get the blacks individually?

I'd then, gladly, buy them individually. In orders of 12 at a time.

(Let's see how we progress)

Youtooblings: Fresh Meat, Annoying Voices plus

Youtoobling™ is my fun hobby of a night off, whereby I find videos on Youtube, they lead to other videos and you never know what you'll find (though you can bet there'll be a high proportion of pop music from the 1970s, almost inevitably). Here are some recent sessions, enjoy...

Annoying Voices 25th October:

Noah & The Whale, Tonight's The Kind Of Night #youtoobling #annoyingvoices

Birdhouse In Your Soul, They Might Be Giants #youtoobling #annoyingvoices

Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmmm, Crash Test Dummies #youtoobling #annoyingvoices

Perfect Day, BBC Children In Need #youtoobling #annoyingvoices



Tiptoe Thru The Tulips, Tiny Tim #youtoobling #annoyingvoices

I Am A Bird Now, Antony & the Johnsons #youtoobling #annoyingvoices

Lucky Number, Lene Lovich #youtoobling #annoyingvoices

England My Leotard, Not The 9 #youtoobling #annoyingvoices

Great Gig In The Sky/Nurofen ad #youtoobling #annoyingvoices

Don't Let It Die, Hurricane Smith #youtoobling #annoyingvoices

Without You, Mariah Carey #youtoobling #annoyingvoices

Oh My God, Janice Litman Friends #youtoobling #annoyingvoices

From OMG to.... Oh My Orchestral Manouevres In The Dark #youtoobling

The Thingummybob, Gracie Fields. Star Trek TNG #youtoobling



Fresh Meat 28th October:

Fresh Meat themed #youtoobling begins with Madness, Our House on The Young Ones

TVOD, The Normal FreshMeat Tribute #youtoobling

Where has Oregon? Perry Como Delaware FreshMeat Tribute #youtoobling

Howard (Devoto), Shot By Both Sides. FreshMeat Tribute #youtoobling Magazine #totp

Whitehall, Up Against The Wall. Tom Robinson Band, FreshMeat Tribute #youtoobling

Josie, Steely Dan. FreshMeat Tribute #youtoobling @4od @channel4comedy

Someone called Kingsley sings Let It Be. Very random choice for FreshMeat Tribute #youtoobling @channel4comedy

David Watts, The Jam #youtoobling

What, Soft Cell #youtoobling

Wot, Captain Sensible #youtoobling

Who What When Where Why? Manhattan Transfer #youtoobling (written by Rupert Holmes)

Soap Opera, Rupert Holmes #youtoobling

Our National Pastime, Rupert Holmes #youtoobling

Escape The Pina Colada Song, Rupert Holmes Midnight Special #youtoobling

Babooshka, Kate Bush #youtoobling

Daniel, Bat For Lashes #youtoobling

Daniel, Elton John #totp (with extra hidden Noel Edmonds) #youtoobling

Godfrey Daniel, Neil Innes #youtoobling Holy Flying Circus @rutles

Warm Leatherette, The Normal #youtoobling

Cheeky Girls were on Buzzcocks 31st October:

Touch My Bum by The Cheeky Girls #youtoobling™

Ketchup Song Asereje #youtoobling™

Rapper's Delight The Sugarhill Gang #youtoobling™

Rapture Blondie #youtoobling™



One Note Samba Scat Ella Fitzgerald ©#youtoobling

Speaking In Tongues III Sheila Chandra #youtoobling™

Awopbopaloobopalopbamboom (I have no idea what this clip is from) #youtoobling™

Tutti Frutti Little Richard #youtoobling™

Cosi Fan Tutte Mozart #youtoobling™

Hits Of The Year, Squeeze from Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti #youtoobling™

Slap & Tickle Squeeze #youtoobling™

The Slap (I'm told it's rather gripping) #youtoobling™

The other slap: Level 42, Running In The Family #youtoobling™

Don't Knock The Bald Head (good luck watching this, it's 90 mins long, well done youtube) #youtoobling™

Suedehead Morrisey #youtoobling™

Skin & Bjork, Army Of Me Top Of The Pops #youtoobling™

Oliver's Army Elvis Costello #youtoobling™

In The Army Now Status Quo #youtoobling™

You're In The Army Now, Phil Silvers Jimmy Durante #youtoobling™ Catch 22 Bilko

Army Dreamers Kate Bush #youtoobling™

Blackadder, the final moment "The Great War 1914-1917" #youtoobling™

Billy Don't Be A Hero Paper Lace #youtoobling™

Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods, Billy Don't Be A Hero #youtoobling™

Down Came The Rain Mitch Murray #youtoobling™

Umbrella "Pop Punk Cover" #youtoobling™

Kev F



PS: For the record, I just totted up the above Youtoobling vids (there's 58 of them) and the breakdown is:

2000s pop - 7 vids
1990s pop - 5 vids
1980s pop - 12 vids
1970s pop - 20 vids
1960s pop - 4 vids
1950s pop - 3 vids
1940s pop - 1 vid
Mozart - 1 vid
Not music - 5 vids

Halloween live

Altogether now - Hallo, my name's not Ian.

Edinburgh Sock Puppets?

We've done a string of gigs in the last week, some better attended than others. Hull had a good turnout, Barton an even better one. But our show on Thursday, it has to be admitted, had the poorest turnout of the week. Why would that be, I wondered. Until I saw our show's listing in the programme and on the poster outside the venue...



(click to enlarge) Edinburgh Sock Puppets? Edinburgh Sock Puppets? Who the bloody hell are the Edinburgh Sock Puppets?

Somehow, through Chinese whispers which none of us can explain, we ended up with a listing in the programme which contained our photo, and our quotes and reviews, but a totally different name. (They'd amended the website and did their utmost to publicise our show). The audience were lovely by the way, small but perfectly formed.

Halloween - I done a pumpkin

It's a tradition, I made a pumpkin:

Another fine tradition of mine is posing, cheesily, beside the drawings I've done on the flipcharts as part of my Comic Art Masterclasses.


(The above was at Dean Close School in Cheltenham, the school that gave us the Reverend Marcus Morris, hence the unusual inclusion of Dan Dare in the mix)





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