I see trees of green, red roses too

The clocks have gone forward and now the evenings are lighter- Summer is on its way. Sigh...
I'm not happy. I prefer the long dark tea time of the soul that Winter provides- dark moods and being stuck indoors seem to make for better cartoon thinking. Now it's BST I fear I'm at the beginning of another 'can't think of any ideas' period.
Here's a cheery cartoon about the destruction of the planet- in this week's Spectator magazine.

Zoinks!

Ha-that'll teach me.

My 2nd hand Grundig cathode ray tube telly is not well- it comes on- it goes off- it comes on- it goes off... an electronic death rattle I think. And this is just days after I posted that cartoon taking the mick out of flat screen tellies.

I fear I have upset the gods of technology (but you'd think they'd have better things to do than irritate a penniless cartoonist- losers!)

Why Don't You

Too tired to write my usual load of waffle- anyway, here's a cartoon in this week's Spectator magazine.

Quite like the style with this one, even if I do say so myself- sometimes it's good to lose perspective.

Royale with cheese

This one, in the latest Spectator, I will explain- just in case anyone from beyond these shores is puzzling over it.
Back in the olden days, us scruffy urchins would go into the local newsagents and ask for a quarter of sweets (or 'candy', if that's your persuasion) - the quarter referring to a quarter of a pound (the unit of weight, not the currency, kids). Sherbet lemons were one of my faves, but blackcurrant and liquorice humbugs were rather good too. The cheery shop worker would pour out the confection from its jar onto a set of rusty scales, and then pop the correct weight of tooth rot into a paper bag- happy times.

As the years passed such sweet shops disappeared- but for some reason they're experiencing a bit of a renaissance these days. Most high streets seem to have them now- all olde fashioned shoppe signs, plastic versions of the glass jars, and authentic bored teenagers staffing the counter.
But, you just try and ask for a 'quarter'- I tried not long ago, and was immediately thrown to the ground by an armed response unit from the Trading Standards weights and measures department:
"DON'T MOVE! HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM! YOU WILL NOT ASK FOR FOODSTUFFS IN IMPERIAL MEASUREMENTS! THIS IS A METRIC SOCIETY!"

a hundred years ago

It's been a bit of a cartoon up n down week for me- I've had quite a few takes by some mags, but they might not appear for some time- there have also been a fair number of rejections, and I'm not sure if I’m in any of the magazines at the moment- so... it's time for a dip into the archives (you lucky people).
I think the cartoon below was my first ever appearance in Private Eye- 1998 I believe.

This is pre computer drawing-I think I used a quill, and ink brewed up from powdered oak gall.
I cringe looking at the style I used then, but the joke is still one of my favourites. After this was published I pretty much gave up cartooning and only started up again in 2008- somehow I've managed to keep going this time.

OK, right, what it is, right, is, y'know, she's saying...

Surely I don't have to explain this one...?!?!

Drew this back in 2009 and it's only just been accepted and published- never give up, fellow gag cartoonists.