BOUNCING ALONG

This past week has seen a series of events, all of which could lend themselves to an old cartoon. The start of the Easter School Holidays, the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, the Hong Kong Sevens Rugby, and the advent of British Summer Time and the annual battle with all the various digital time keeping devices programmed into every piece of equipment nowadays. The final of Dancing On Ice and the start of the Formula One World Championship. Out of all these I plumped for a Motoring Cartoon from the early 1920’s by George D Armour (1864-1949), showing the dangers that driving at speed can bring.

Transcript below:

MRS O'BRIEN: (who has been instructed that she must on no account speak to the chaffeur when driving). "Chaffeur! chaffeur! I must spake! Mrs Rafferty hasn't been on the back sate of the kyar fur the last ten minnuts!"

RED NOSE DAY

Friday 18th March 2011 was ‘Red Nose Day’, being the biennial telethon highlight of the charity Comic Relief. Originally it was set up in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and the comedian Lenny Henry in response to the famine in Ethiopia, and whose stated aim is to “bring about positive and lasting change in the lives of poor and disadvantaged people, which we believe requires investing in work that addresses people's immediate needs as well as tackling the root causes of poverty and injustice”. http://www.comicrelief.com/about-us

One of the fundamental principles of the charity is where every single donated pound (£) is spent on charitable projects. All the operating costs, such as staff salaries etc., are covered by corporate sponsors, or by the interest earned on the money donated, while it is waiting to be distributed. Since it’s inception in the 1980’s over £650 Million has been raised. Each year the style of the ‘Red Noses’ change and in 2011, for the first time, there were three different types available. Charles Grave (1886-1944) cartoon below draws attention to another form of Red Nose.

Transcript below:

 
LONG-SUFFERING VICAR: (to teller of plausible tale). "I'd no idea that the lack of the train-fare to Leighton Buzzard could have such an extraordinary effect upon the nose."

WOOF WOOF !

The Annual Crufts Dog Show has just announced the winner of the Best in Show from a total of 21,000 other dogs. This annual competition organised by the Kennel Club, began in 1891 and celebrates its 120th anniversary this year. The Best in Show prize has been awarded for the past 83 years, during which time 41 different breeds have won the title. This year a black flat coated retriever called ‘The Kentuckian’ was declared Best in Show, and a Basset Griffon Vendeen resplendent in the name ‘Soletrader Peek A Boo’ was Reserve Best in Show. The names folk give their dogs are often weird and wonderful, though pedigree breeds often have to have these grandiose names to show their lineage. Thankfully the Best in Show retriever is just called ‘Jet’ when he’s home in South Queensferry, Scotland. George S Dixon (b. 1890) cartoon highlights the often very British obsession with dogs being virtually human in many owners eyes.

Transcript below:

OLD LADY: "Now, before you give him his food I want you to say, 'Diddums Dinkie want oos dindins?' And if he yawns he's not quite ready."

THE TYRANNY OF SLANG

World Book Day this week was an ‘event’ designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading for the enjoyment of all. Children especially are encouraged to explore the pleasures of books and reading, and so build up a love of words. Writing narratives in any novel often relies on the use of slang to add an air of authenticity to the story, depending on the characters and where they are placed in society. Frank Reynolds (1876-1953) cartoon highlights the pitfalls of the use of slang in everyday life!

Transcript below:

MISTRESS TO NEW MAID: "Mary, you haven't half dusted the drawing-room."
MARY: (highly gratified). "Ah, not 'alf I 'aven't."