Now for another Tiddler strip...

I never had a cat switch off the alarm before (a good excuse for turning up late for work, come to think of it), but I have had angry friends and colleagues phoning me after midnight, complaining that they'd just had a 'silent' phone call in the middle of the night, and when they tried 'last caller' the call turned out to have come from my phone.

It wasn't me phoning, I swear I was asleep. It was all very mysterious, but I eventually worked out what happened. My cat Jones had walked across the desk in my studio and stepped on one of the predialled numbers set up on my office phone, thus calling the angry party's number.

In order to do this, Jonesy would have had to step on the hands-free button so the phone would dial out without the handset being lifted, then step on one of the predial buttons, in that order. There were dozens of buttons on that phone (it was also a fax) but it would only work if she pressed those two buttons in that exact order.

Just about possible for a cat with small feet, and if it had happened just once, I could have put it down to accident or coincidence. The trouble is, it happened twice, which is a little more sinister. Both times after midnight, too. To this day, I wonder if I had offended Jonesy in some way... 

Thursday, June 28, 2007 11:06:20 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)    Comments [0] 

Here's another episode of Tiddler, written by Antonella and drawn by Singaporean artist Hou Soon Ming...

Thursday, June 28, 2007 1:13:17 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)    Comments [0] 

Here's another Tiddler strip, written by Antonella and drawn by Singaporean artist Hou Soon Ming...

Wednesday, June 27, 2007 5:06:30 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)    Comments [0] 

Here's a strip Antonella and I did for a while for the Italian magazine English4Life (Casiraghi/Jones, pub.) This was a magazine aimed at teenagers, using a unique method for teaching foreign languages, in this case English.

We came up with the concept for the strip, a horrible, flea-bitten hotel (based closely on a three-star seedy flophouse I once spent a night in in Kensington), run by a constantly bickering married couple not unlike Margaret and Dennis Thatcher... 

The original idea of the strip was that in each issue, a hotel guest from a different part of Europe would turn up, and thenceforth have a terrible time because we Brits just aren't very good with foreigners, are we? However, we soon abandoned this concept in favour of humour about the everyday goings-on in a seedy hotel.

Part of the concept of the magazine was that each issue had a free CD featuring an actor reading the lines from all the cartoons. It was a odd experience, hearing an actor reading out the lines Antonella had written and I had drawn, especially when he did the voices. When I drew the Margaret character, I had Thatcher's false emphases and strained low tones running in my head, but for some reason the actor chose a screeching falsetto, something like Monty Python's "pepperpot" female characters. I don't know, but somehow I feel that if Thatcher had actually spoken like that in real life, she would never have been elected and we would all have been saved a great deal of trouble... 

Tuesday, June 26, 2007 9:34:36 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)    Comments [0] 

This is a strip written by Antonella and drawn by Singaporean cartoonist Hou Soon Ming, wo we first contacted via an ad in John Freeman's website. It was intended as a daily newspaper strip aimed at the far Eastern market. Enjoy!

Tuesday, June 26, 2007 9:13:11 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)    Comments [0] 

Another Dennis strip, for all of you who've ever seen your cat looking like they're about to throw up while simultaneously searching around for the most expensive, least convenient household object they could possibly throw up over...

Monday, June 25, 2007 12:16:46 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)    Comments [0] 

Here's something I did a couple of years ago. It was written by Clive Ward and produced for Smut, and easily maintains the stadards of decency and good taste readers of that esteemed organ have come to expect... so be warned - ADULT CONTENT!

Saturday, June 23, 2007 12:06:41 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)    Comments [0] 

Here's another Dennis strip...

I tried to put a collar and lead on my first cat, Monty. Needless to say, it was a disaster. Putting a lead on a cat seems to be a signal that says: "Panic, try to walk in four different directions at once, then sit in the middle of the floor and complain". I tried to take Monty for walkies once, then never again.

On the other hand, we had a cat called Dylan who liked to follow us whenever Antonella and I went for a walk. He'd trail about ten paces behind, stopping passing traffic, trotting in and out of people's gardens as we passed by, investigating, great fun he thought. The trouble is, he never wanted to come home when we did. We became known locally as the couple who shout "Dylan!" a lot. Also, he started following our lodger to work...

Friday, June 22, 2007 10:21:49 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)    Comments [0] 

Here's another Dennis The Cat strip, this time one I did a couple of years ago. Anyone who has ever lived with a cat will instantly recognise this situation...

Thursday, June 21, 2007 10:35:42 AM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)    Comments [0] 

I got a phone call a short while ago from Tim Quinn, and old friend and colleague who now runs a music promotions business, Mighty Quinn Promotions.

He told me about the MIKE SMITH APPEAL. About four years ago, Mike Smith, formerly of the Dave Clark Five, suffered a fall at his home that left him paralysed. He's about to come out of hospital, and Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits, Mike's wife Charlie and many others have organised a Ebay auction to raise funds for a specially-equipped van to help Mike get about.

The auction takes place tomorrow  20th June from midday EST, and lots of celebrities have contributed. Ringo Starr is putting up a signed drumhead, there's a guitar from Pete Townshend (slightly foxed!), Mick Fleetwood has given a signed drumstick, and there's lots of other once-in-a-lifetime stuff contributed by Mike's many friends.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007 7:51:55 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)    Comments [1]