tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53928344807482690522024-03-13T14:50:40.502+00:00Policy PoliceThe official outlet for all things Policy Police.Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.comBlogger131125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-58106823887927841722021-10-21T19:55:00.000+01:002021-10-21T19:55:06.244+01:00All the Policy Police comics redone<p> All the comics are now in their third version. I started on Slideshare (they're still there if you look) - then they were put into comic-book format for print and put on Smackjeeves. SJ has gone the way of all things so I have now put them up as flipbooks on fliphtml5.</p><p>I think I've managed to remove all links from the Posts and direct people to THE STORIES above. This means I only have oe place to update if it all goes tits up again.</p><p>I still have the Marchers comics to do, but I have to hunt down the original files on my old computer. <br /></p>Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-26402561407840109472021-10-13T08:59:00.003+01:002021-10-13T08:59:30.116+01:00Fixing it all again<p> Following the demise of Smackjeeves, my initial response was "stuff it." But now I've decided to resurrect the comics again. I'm working through them all pdfing them so I can put them all in flipbooks. Going back through them again is really enjoyable, though it has convinced me that by 2025 the PP world will truly come to pass. We are all catching up fast.</p><p>More news soon.<br /></p>Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-24296769953623591662018-11-18T12:47:00.002+00:002021-10-16T09:09:10.963+01:00Policy Police:Rebranding. A 10th Anniversary Special
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The 20<sup>th</sup> November is the 10<sup>th</sup> Anniversary of
the first Policy Police episode. It needed to be marked in some way.
</div>
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<br />
</div>
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I was so overwhelmed
with happiness at the Organisation's demise, that I was no longer able to draw
on the Well of Grumpiness that fed the Policy Police. And the story went into hibernation. But recently a
friend showed me an outline treatment for a movie she wants to make,
and there, in the middle, was a character who reminded me so much of
Faren Gosman that I had to get involved.
</div>
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<br />
</div>
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But I know diddly
squat about movie scripts, so I'm now half way through an 80-page
comic book of the story. Which helps with the script. I tell myself anyway. It
amuses and sometimes delights my friend anyway, which is good enough, really.
</div>
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<br />
</div>
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In the meantime, as
an anniversary present, here's a little side story that brings the
Policy Police world into alignment with the movie world. The
comic-book-of-the movie-that's-yet-to-be-made will appear at some
point. But the timing etc is my friend's call. It's her story, after
all.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">You can find the comic in THE STORIES tab.<br /></div>
Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-37763309091835866372018-04-17T09:40:00.000+01:002018-04-17T09:40:10.757+01:00Back drawing comics again. Advance warning.
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I'm in the process
of writing/drawing another story, and I'll point to that from here
when I can. There is a kind of Policy Police link, too. But more of
that anon.</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I thought I'd just
do a post here about these guys who are helping me out with the
drawing.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Infinitely more patient than regular humans, and more human
than the wooden people you can get. I bought them second hand off a
well-known auction site, and they are most certainly bootleg versions
of Figma Archetype figures. They are pretty good for bootlegs. I'd
say the finish is not brilliant and they had been put together wrong,
but with a bit of tweaking they suit my purpose.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
They are around
about 1/12 scale and the photo shows them with a wonderfully mundane
retro office desk and chair by Hasegawa. Just the sort of thing the
Policy Police would have in their office.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Anyway. These guys help a lot. Though he's built like a boxer and she's built like a
distance runner, they are enough like regular folks to get by. I find
I have to regularly shave off some of his bulk in the drawing and
occasionally make her body shorter, but it's easily done.</div>
Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-2742583629301928002018-01-30T06:48:00.001+00:002018-01-30T06:48:35.305+00:00Policy Police: Return of the Repossessed all on SmackJeevesReally enjoyed putting this all into comic-book format. I'd completely gotten out of doing comics, so it was nice to do this stuff again. I'd forgotten large chunks of the stories, so had some surprises, too. The Buster story gave me a real sense of deja vu. I thought, "Oh, I was at that meeting." I must have used my notes from the various meetings, so though the names have changed, these things were really said.Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-52848801594268389512018-01-29T11:55:00.003+00:002018-01-29T11:55:47.395+00:00Policy Police: Rapid Response all done....and Return of the Repossessed all done save the epilogue on Smack Jeeves. Re-done all the links through from STORIES tab above. Tho' I think I ought to link straight to SJ from the main heading. Can't remember if I've done that. Will check.<br />
<br />
I guess I'll upload the epilogue for Return tomorrow and that'll mean all the old Policy Police stories are now re-housed.<br />
<br />
The reason I spotted that all this had gone awry is cuz a friend was working on something completely different and I saw some parallels. But then I wasn't able to show anything. Luckily I'd got some old print copies to hand, and sent them snail-mail. But anyhow. I am now inspired again. Mainly to help my friend and her project. But I've also written a short PP script that I'll try and work it up over coming months.Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-18649507705743563592017-12-05T20:33:00.001+00:002021-10-16T09:07:53.787+01:00Policy Police 3 beginning to reappearThis one is going to take a little more time. I only did a couple of episodes in book format, so rather than resurrect the old slide shows, I'll re-release this one episode by episode as I get it done. It'll be fun for me, too cuz I can't remember what happens.<br />
<br /><br />I think I'll release the rapid response stories bit-by-bit in parallel. Just because I can.Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-89622352474424888952017-12-02T09:56:00.003+00:002021-10-16T09:06:52.356+01:00Policy Police 2: Up Close and Personalised - now hosted on smackjeevesSecond story all done. (Look in THE STORIES for the comics, looks like re-hosting is a regular thing)<br />
<br />
Because this is the book format you get the special Bonus chapter at the end which I don't think I've published online previously.<br />
<br />
Task now is to work on PP3 I think, then the stand-alone stories that I collected in Rapid Response. May take me a number of days.Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-70728132236837187072017-12-01T07:57:00.004+00:002021-10-16T09:07:28.633+01:00Policy Police: Reaching the LEARNER. Back againDiscovered a couple of days ago that all the links to the Policy Police comics were broken. Andd frankly I can't remember where I had them hosted. So I've decided to upload all the book-format comics on to Smack Jeeves, and then re-do all the links so that they point to those.<br />
<br />And then SJ went so I'm doing it again.... You can find the comic in THE STORIES tab.<br />Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-73355899010089154862017-06-22T15:35:00.001+01:002017-06-22T15:35:31.465+01:00Trap holesNews today of the Chief Exec of Kensington and Chelsea being "forced to resign". I always think that people like this in the public sector are paid such a lot because they are expected to take the rap when the time comes. The lucky ones manage to see their time through til retirement, but for those unlucky enough to have something bad happen on their watch, they are expected to fall on their sword with good grace.<br />
<br />
But these days, as the salaries have increased, they have become more likely to complain about it. Maybe, back ion the day, you went quietly and the "chaps" saw you were all right. Or maybe it was easier to see where the trap holes were, and make sure somebody else was there to fall in.Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-69642742125881437472016-07-01T09:24:00.000+01:002016-07-01T14:12:27.128+01:00Brexit and the Policy PoliceNow that the dust has settled somewhat, I thought I'd take a few minutes and write about this.<br />
<br />
My prophesy for the campaign (see previous post) indeed came true. As soon as one of the "big hitters" for either side opened their gob, I wanted to vote for the other lot. About a week before the big day I found a few of my old policy police cards in a jacket pocket. I thought, "what would the Policy Police do?" And the cards told me....<br />
<br />
1. Your friend wasn't so lucky.<br />
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This told me that either way there would be losers as well as winners. Either way people I knew would be disadvantaged. The point as not to treat it as a personal thing. It was serious and I had to come to a decision I thought was right in my heart of hearts.<br />
<br />
2. And if it all comes crashing down?<br />
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In the epilogue to Up Close and Personaliased, Angelus tells the Kid that in that case we pick ourselves up and start again. Having kept sheep for a couple of decades I can recognise the look of dread panic in the eyes of people in work or the media or the stock exchange. With sheep they usually get over it. Or they die. Very occasionally. You just can't keep panic up over the long term. So you pick yourself up and start again.<br />
<br />
3. You know what to do.<br />
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This was the clincher for me. It was my Martyn Lewis moment. I knew I had to go with my gut instinct. People who know Policy Police know I'm no friend of the State. So the chance of a smaller state trumps the chance of a bigger one. Job done. I knew what to do.<br />
<br />
4. Didn't know you had it in you.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jLJAMJvyEYo/TV94LWU7WjI/AAAAAAAAAFA/jUG2wmpjmJMQJubZHmT14-LOutjYoNbPACKgB/s1600/Policy%2BPolice%2BCard4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="138" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jLJAMJvyEYo/TV94LWU7WjI/AAAAAAAAAFA/jUG2wmpjmJMQJubZHmT14-LOutjYoNbPACKgB/s320/Policy%2BPolice%2BCard4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
It's only afterwards that I've realised the full implication of this. That it was a brave decision. Since, so many people have been having the screaming abdabs and pouring out bile. I now realise I've committed a great faux pas in polite circles. There's a kind of Bateman cartoon in there somewhere. "The man who praised Brexit in the university common room."<br />
<br />
At the time I took the card to mean that I had to hold my nose and choose one of the options on the ballot paper. Up until then I had kept alive the 3rd option of drawing a huge cock and balls on the paper. But that wouldn't have been brave. Just silly.<br />
<br />
So that's what I did. Voted leave. You can say it's cuz I'm old, or stupid, or a <strike>xylophone</strike> <strike>saxophone</strike> thingy. But I regret nothing. And the Policy Police showed the way. Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-48399455210686910112016-01-19T13:24:00.001+00:002016-01-19T13:24:43.924+00:00I'd laugh, but...Oh dear. Got my first EU referendum propaganda through the door today. From the "in" side. These things are always so awful - a fake newspaper full of hooky statistics and scaremongering. Makes me want to vote "out". Only I know that as soon as I get a communique from the "out" lot, I'll want to vote "in".<br />
<br />
In the end it may well come down to which side aggravates me the least.Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-69028800776549177622014-08-20T12:35:00.000+01:002014-08-23T19:07:16.242+01:00Anna Bloom - first drypointI bought the ink, but everything else was lying around the place. The plate is a piece of caravan-roof aluminium from when I built a teardrop trailer. I used a needle in a dentist's tool holder (our previous house had been a dental surgery prior to us moving in, so I inherited a lot of grizzly stuff). I'd already made a press for bookbinding from wood and a car jack. Children's craft foam substituted for the felt blanket....<br />
<br />
The picture shows my original drawing, the plate and the first print. I'm reasonably pleased with it. I wasn't sure about how the text would come out, but apart from the crabby letter "c", its at least readable. Wondering whether to go over it.<br />
<br />
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<br />Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-15516240010862750112014-08-05T15:02:00.001+01:002023-07-18T13:26:21.896+01:00Translation studiesI went on a course last week to learn about collagraph and drypoint printing. Taught by Christine Tacq an Leonie Lachlan (see <a href="http://christinetacq.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">here</a> ). I had lots of fun getting covered in ink and getting to grips with far less forgiving and precise techniques than the computer-based stuff I've been doing lately. Most of what I did was inspired by a postcard of Kirchner's "Panama Girls" - this is one of my favourites:<br />
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I want to try more of this stuff now, so as I was already thinking along the lines of early 20th century german, I thought I'd try and work on some illustrations based on Kurt Schwitters' poem "Anna Blume". When I looked at the parallel german and english versions in Hans Richter's book on Dada, I realised that they were saying some different things. I can see why the translator went for "they don't know a hawk from a handsaw" for "sie wissen nicht, wie der Kirchenturm steht". They are both obviously colloquial metaphors vaguely connected with building... but I felt "they don't know how the church tower stands" was far less... cryptic. Having now translated the whole thing myself, I feel that the english translation was far more poetified (using "beast" instead of "animal") and more surrealified ( saying "icy fire" instead of "cold embers") than the original. To me, Schwitters was a practical man (witness the various Merzbaus) and lived large chunks of his life in grotty poverty (so will have seen many a fire go out). So this is my translation, for what its worth. I also decided to translate the name, for the sake of a pun.<br />
<br />
Some edits to the poem on 22 August 2014:<br />
<ul>
<li>Removed "beef" from tallow as I decided it was unnecessary</li>
<li>Added "so" - now says "How can people talk so?" works better rhetorically I think</li>
<li>After much struggling with "ungezahltes Frauenzimmer" I decided on "undocumented" instead of uncounted - I remembered <a href="http://amandapalmer.net/blog/20130307/" target="_blank">Amanda Palmer's TED talk</a>, so undocumented it was. Frauenzimmer is either an archaism along the lines of gentlewoman or something slightly disrespectful, maybe like "her indoors" - I went for "lady" as being something old-fashioned a love-sick loon would use.</li>
</ul><p>
More edits from June/July 2023</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>"Lady" has now become "damsel" - I think it works better as a romantic thing.</li><li>"Animal is now "creature" - ditto above, really</li><li>I've now revisited the illustrations and am powering along with them. <a href="https://stevedavies1st.blogspot.com/search/label/Anna%20Bloom" target="_blank">It's all now over on stevedavies1s</a>t which is now where my "art" stuff is.<br /></li></ul><p style="text-align: left;">
<br />
</p><div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>ANNA
BLOOM</b></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">O you,
beloved of my twenty-seven senses, I love you! - Thee thy thou you, I
you, you me. - We?</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">This
doesn't belong here (by the way).</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Who are
you undocumented damsel? You are - - are you? People say, you would
- - let them talk, they don't know how the church tower stands.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">You wear
your hat on your feet and walk on your hands, on your hands you walk.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">O, your
red clothes, sawn with white pleats.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I love
Anna Bloom red, I love you red! - Thee thy thou you, I you, you me.
- We?</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">This
belongs in the cold embers (by the way).</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Red bloom,
red Anna Bloom, how can people talk so?</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Prize
question: </span></div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Anna Bloom has a bird.</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: medium;">Anna
Bloom is red.</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: medium;">What
colour is the bird?</span>
</li>
</ol>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Blue is
the colour of your yellow hair.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Red is the
cooing of your green bird.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">You simple
girl in everyday clothes, you dear green creature, I love you! - Thee
thy thou you, I you, you me. - We?</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">This
belongs in the ashcan (by the way).</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Anna
Bloom! Anna, a-n-n-a, I trickle your name. Your name drips like soft tallow.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Do you
know, Anna, do you know yet?</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">One can
read you from behind, and you, you fairest of them all, you are from
behind as you are from the front: “a-n-n-a”.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Tallow trickles caressingly over my back.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Anna
Bloom, you dripping creature, I love you!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Kurt
Schwitters</i></span></div>
<br />Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-2208256445975910882014-04-29T12:38:00.000+01:002014-04-29T12:38:20.943+01:00The State and II hate the State bureaucracy. There's something about encountering it that can leave me paralysed. In the US it's still just about possible to try and escape it and go live in a shack in the woods... but only just. Here in the UK it's been impossible most of my life. I can remember a guy who lived in a chicken shed when I was a kid, but that's about it...<br />
<br />
Anyway, I ended up working for the State by accident. I sort of bumbled my way into it. I thought I was going to work at some kind of charity. I was, but it was one of those Fake Charities that are set up to do the State's work while allowing the State to fiddle its own tax returns.<br />
<br />
I was surprised to find out that:<br />
a) we had no constituency that supported our work through voluntary donations or support;<br />
b) people I worked with aspired to to be "proper" civil servants. Weird.<br />
<br />
But I hung in there. Well, first of all I needed the money, and second some of my work was interesting. And third I could kid myself that I was being of some wider benefit.<br />
<br />
It didn't last. Couldn't last really. I found it increasingly hard to convince myself I was doing more good than harm. But why did I stay?<br />
<br />
There came a point when I realised that the Organisation had no future and that the redundancy package on offer was a good 'un. Trouble was, this was before the 2005 General Election. So when the same ol' government got back in, I knew I was in for 4-5 years more. But. You bite the bullet and get your head down. And invent Policy Police.Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-60523005039845831922014-02-17T21:37:00.000+00:002014-02-17T21:37:14.531+00:00The Marchers: Number 9<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-60oC9PSnJP4/UwJ_GKnmYnI/AAAAAAAAAcU/gxeURvusp6o/s1600/Marchersxv09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-60oC9PSnJP4/UwJ_GKnmYnI/AAAAAAAAAcU/gxeURvusp6o/s1600/Marchersxv09.jpg" height="320" width="226" /></a></div>
Phew. After an enormously long time, I managed to fit this into my busy schedule. I love the way that "the girl" has elbowed her way into this little strip. She didn't exist at all when I started out on this one. And here she is - poised - at the beginning of a wonderful new career. That's young 'uns for you.<br /><br />Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-66688561288694991862013-11-25T18:58:00.003+00:002013-11-26T15:08:49.381+00:00Workers Institute of Marxism Leninism Mao Tse Tung ThoughtWhen the story of the three "domestic slaves" set free the other day included "Brixton" and "Political ideology" and "1970s", my thoughts immediately turned to these guys. And it looks as though it really was them.<br />
<br />
Back in my old scuffling days we used to look out for these people when on demonstrations, especially in London. They used to sell a closely-typed duplicated newletter that carried stories about the "desperate antics of the fascist bourgeoise" and heart rending tales of various "worker comrades" and the terrible oppression they met on a daily basis. And the "gang of four in the imperialist heartlands - Birch, Baines, Reakes, Evans" (these were the leaders of 4 other tiny British Maoist groups). We spent hours rolling about with laughter at the truly bonkers ranting of this lot.<br />
<br />
And they're here (I was going to say the rump of them, but you can't have a rump of something that was so small to begin with), still barking after all these years. Part of me is really glad to know that.<br />
<br />
PS Added 26 November. Reminded by a news report this morning that it was "this very year, 1977" that the People's Red Army of China would sweep out across the globe and liberate mankind. I never knew how they squared 1978. Apparently they then claimed that China had used computers in satellites to take over the West and the Soviet Union. Turns out that bit was true. Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-21227854264023876332013-11-18T21:42:00.002+00:002013-11-18T21:42:39.429+00:00The Marchers: Number 8<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wai_gpPhrRU/UoqIeLnThCI/AAAAAAAAAbw/2j-UgBMtaVA/s1600/Marchersxv08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wai_gpPhrRU/UoqIeLnThCI/AAAAAAAAAbw/2j-UgBMtaVA/s320/Marchersxv08.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
Got a new battery for my laptop, so able to work in bars and stuff again.Yay!<br />
<br />
Been wanting to tell this gag for SO long. Feel so much better for getting it off my chest.<br />
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Coming to the end of Phase 1 of the Marchers - 1 more episode to go - not that there's much Theoctitus left, it still has that momentum. Lots of ideas going in all kinds of directions from here on. And I've had a couple of ideas for other strips, too.<br />
<br />Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-44718270107524269512013-10-22T21:19:00.001+01:002013-10-22T21:19:14.889+01:00The Marchers: Number 7A bit of fun and high jinks for a change. You can't keep a good character down...<br />
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Possibly my favourite so far. Especially the last frame. Somehow akes me think I ought to think of a Christmas card or a Special at the very least.<br /><br />Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-67103186048373880362013-10-19T11:38:00.002+01:002013-10-19T11:38:42.822+01:00The joys of advertisingIt's always a delight when I get a parcel from overseas that has used local newspapers and other ephemera in the packaging. I'm like one of those legedary kids who spend more time playing with the box rather than the Christmas present. This time I got a DVD from Malaysia wrapped in what appears to be a flyer for the local equivalent of Lidl.<br />
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This one's my favorite.<br />
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It gives an insight into how people in distant places see you. AND THEY KNOW THE TRUTH. Wouldn't you just love some Fat Spread on your burnt bread right now?<br />
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<br />Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-41349180582664198012013-09-16T22:04:00.001+01:002013-09-16T22:04:52.468+01:00The Marchers Number 6At last a new episode. Slowly dying battery on my old laptop/tablet is part of my excuse. But anyways, here we are.<br />
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<br />Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-72180480512358061402013-07-15T21:35:00.001+01:002013-10-22T21:19:32.921+01:00The Marchers: Number 5Here at last. The old Trotskite did start out as bein someone specific, but he ended up looking like so many of these wizzened old strugglers. There are just so many about. Could be any of them.<br />
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I'm still kind of with Theocritus, too. Praxinoa and Gorgo meet an old crone who makes a cryptic allusion to the Trojan Wars... Plus ca change.<br />
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<br />Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-10433035083037688712013-06-03T22:16:00.001+01:002013-06-03T22:16:30.080+01:00The Marchers: Number 4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here comes episode 4. It's like how we're put on earth to embarrass our children. I stated out thinking I'd have a thought bubble in the last frame saying "embarrassing..." But I don't think it needs it.<br />
<br />
Still pretty much a straight lift from Theocritus, really. My 19th century copy says that people thought Idyll XV seemed modern back then. Still does in a spooky way, I think.Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-53188998879317490182013-05-11T16:02:00.000+01:002013-05-11T16:04:21.571+01:00HitorishizukaThis is another one of the Japanese TV dramas I've got from jpdorama.com. I don't know why I decided to buy this one. The blurb only really refers to episode 1 and doesn't really do the story justice. It must have been the pic of the gorgeous Kaho on the cover.<br />
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Hitorishizuka is a kind of shrub, apparently, with small white flowers. But (based on my scant knowledge) I think there might be a sense here of "Shizuka alone" (Shizuka being the name of the protagonist) and also maybe "the quiet one".<br />
<br />
Shizuka (Kaho) goes missing after graduating from Junior High and we witness her story obliquely, through a series of murders and untimely deaths that she is implicated in. Over the 6 episodes we build a picture of Shizuka and her motivation. And at the end, she does achieve some kind of redemption. Through love, I guess.<br />
<br />
It's a bleak tale, and nobody comes out of it well. There are police who fail to join the dots (wilfully sometimes) and put the organisation before truth. There are petty, cowardly yakuza. Child pornographers and pimps. All human life, as it were.<br />
<br />
Kaho puts in a really good performance as Shizuka - I believed in her character's ability to manipulate people to get the results she wanted. She is the only character who appears in all 6 episodes, but she is supported by a whole bunch of really good character actors. I particularly enjoyed Matsushige Yutaka as the vice cop in episodes 3 and 4.<br />
<br />
A cracking yarn, and well worth getting hold of if you can.<br />
<br />Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392834480748269052.post-19848987968569415562013-05-06T21:32:00.003+01:002013-05-06T21:32:52.306+01:00The Marchers: Number 3.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Doing this as and when I can. I reckon I've got about 20 pages/episodes kind of planned that mostly add up to a story. So I'll keep at it and see if I can get back into a routine.Steve Davieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14632721276707446839noreply@blogger.com0