Inkspot 46 by Australian Cartoonists' Association

Spring

2005

The Digital Kazoo of the Australian Cartoonistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Association VICTORIAN ISSUE

Latest Books Cartoonist-Musicians Music Cartoons Lofo Quizz International News Coffs Harbour Report ...and more! (but not much) Chris Kelly in India

Graham Fowell

Number 46 Spring 2005 www.cartoonists.org.au 1300 658 581 ACA Board Patron Vane Lindesay (03) 9523 8635 President James Kemsley (02) 4871 2551 president@abwac.org.au Secretary Steve Panozzo (02) 8920 9996 secretary@abwac.org.au Treasurer Mick Horne (08) 9527 3000 treasurer@abwac.org.au Vice Presidents Brett Bower (NSW) (02) 9589 4717 nsw@abwac.org.au Rolf Heimann (Vic/Tas) (03) 9699 4858 vic@abwac.org.au Sean Leahy (Qld) (07) 3325 2822 qld@abwac.org.au John Martin (SA/NT) (08) 8297 8516 sa@abwac.org.au Greg Smith (WA) (08) 9409 5026 wa@abwac.org.au ABN 19 140 290 841 Inkspot is produced four times a year by the Australian Cartoonists’ Association. PO Box 318 Strawberry Hills NSW 2012 ACA AFFILIATED ORGANISATIONS

National Cartoonists Society President Rick Stromoski Secretary Rick Kirkman www.reuben.org Cartoonists’ Club of Great Britain President Terry Christien Secretary Richard Tomes www.ccgb.org.uk FECO President-General Roger Penwill Secretary-General Peter Nieuwendijk www.fecoweb.org Australia Post Registration PP 533798/0015 Inkspot Editor: Rolf Heimann Inskpot Prifroader: Steve Panozzo Inkspot contributors: Jim Bridges, Terry Christien, Chad Corley, Rolf Heimann, Chris Kelly, James Kemsley, Vane Lindesay, Steve Panozzo, Robert Rousso, Rick Stromoski, Dr Leigh Summers. Cover illustration by Vane Lindesay Thanks to Gerald Carr and Alan Rose for their technical help.

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President’s Parlay

Since I was last required to fill in this

seasonal recurring blank space, I have been fortunate enough to spend a few relaxing weeks in the UK, being a disciple of that great god, cricket. Not my all-consuming passion but, for me anyway, cricket does mange to successfully divert the daily thought processes from inky characters and the dread of the storyline, if only temporarily, to another part of my id. Especially so, when sitting in the Grand Stand at Lords on a bright blue, cloudless, sunny day with the Aussies well and truly on top. Strangely work, commitments and comics seem at least twenty thousand kilometres away. On reflection, maybe I am a cricket tragic - either that or I hate work! Despite the ultimate result of the recent Ashes series, it was a brilliant experience and one that has me saving cents and accruing hours to be able to do it all over again in 2009. Thankfully, many cartooning Brits also have a love for the game of flannelled fools, which gives the historical biennial contest another dimension when one can do a little good-natured Pommie-baiting on site. Nowhere else is that more possible, nor more appropriate, than over a few cold beers and warm sandwiches at The Cartoonist Pub in London’s Shoe Lane, just off legendary Fleet Street. It was no co-incidence that I managed to arrange my itinerary to fit in with the monthly meeting of the Cartoonists’ Club of Great Britain in the aforementioned establishment. I always do. This time, as with every other occasion I’ve found myself in England, the evening with our British cousins and colleagues was one of the highlights of the sojourn. The camaraderie, hospitality and simple friendship I was shown, and am always shown, shrinks the distance between our two countries, cements the affiliation and reinforces my belief that cartoonists the world over were created with the same 2B on the same Bristol Board, or of late maybe on a celestial Wacom tablet, and the only real differences between us is that little thing called nationality. Do yourself a BIG favour if you are ever in London on the first Tuesday evening of the month put time aside to call in at The Cartoonist Pub. I am sure Terry Christien, Graham Fowell, Jill Kearney, Richard Tomes, Ian Ellery, Roger Penwill and a whole black & white army of like-minded people will make you feel like a “regular” too! Thanks blokes. (Of course avoid it if they have just won the Ashes!). In the interim visit the CCGB on www.ccgb.org.uk

Talking of websites, we have changed ours. Well, the name at least. To make life easier for both members and those trying to track down a cartoonist or two, we are now to be found at www.cartoonists.org.au. Take time to drop in, have a look around and leave your two cents worth. Webmaster Peter Broelman has been very busy of late putting up an ACA cartoonists’ profile and registry with your details and a sample of your work. If you’re reading this and you’re not a cartoonist, but one of the many editors across the country, or a “syndicate suit”, who also receive Inkspot, have a look! Something great to fill your pages or make you moneys $$$... are only a few clicks away. Thanks for the B,S&T Broels! Money! As in $$$ mentioned above. Occasionally I need to use this space to clear up a few foggy rumours that roll in from the misty sea of membership. This time it is also a chance to highlight a few organizations that have become very important to the ACA over the past three years. The Stanleys! Are they a drain on the ACA’s resources? No! In fact the opposite is the state of play. Since 2003 your Association has staged our annual awards night and conference - and produced and mailed the Year Book - with funds derived entirely from sponsorship, ticket sales and the yearly auction of members’ artwork. The Board has planned that Stanleys 2005 will be run no differently to the last couple of years. No funds have been used from your membership subs. This has enabled us to use the annual fees to run the day-to-day wheels and cogs of the ACA using some of the money to promote cartooning, in line with our Constitution, in a number of ways without exhausting the bank account. Each State Chapter now has a modest annual budget to do with as they see fit, lifting the profile of cartoonists and cartooning in their areas. From memory, because of the healthy state our finances, 2004 was the first time in the recent history of the ACA we have been able to do this. The ACA is a not-for-profit organization, but being able to have a black bottom line makes life easier for all of us, especially your Board. Thank you to those sponsors who love cartooning as much as we do. Through their support we have been able to continue raising the profile of Aussie cartooning and have our yearly back-slapping night of gongs - so, “thank you” to Wacom, Corel, The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, Thomson Education Direct, Viscopy, AppleCentre Taylor Square, the MEAA, Auspac Media, Atlantic Syndication and, this year, the Blue Mountains City Council. May your ideas flow like Merlot!

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I N T E R N A T I O N A L N E W S

Cartoonists Jailed - Algeria

Algeria has just “awarded” Ali Dilem, their famous cartoonist, the most important distinction existing in that country, so as to crown the talent and art he puts into the service of truth. On May 6th, this year, he was sentenced to 6 months’ imprisonment for a cartoon drawn in November 2001. It was aimed at the Generals who put into their pockets the money sent as humanitarian aid after the great ﬂood in Algeria. This judgment deriving from a regime practicing and defending corruption is a great award for Ali Dilem who can thus join the Turkish cartoonist Musa Cart on the podium. We all consider him as our champion. Robert Rousso FECO Group France. Translation: Batti

Burma

Reporters Without Borders and the Cartoonists Rights Network today (10th August 2005) condemned a month-long prison sentence passed on cartoonist Chit Swe. The two organizations called on cartoonists around the world to show solidarity with him by reproducing some of his drawings available online at Chit Swe, 65, an activist for the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) headed by Aung San Suu Kyi, was also given a six-month suspended prison sentence by the same Rangoon court.

Brett Bower, all smiles as he draws inspiration from a new working environment

Dial a Cartoonist Brett Bower Enterprising Sydney cartoonist and NSW VP, Brett Bower has moved his office out of the family home and into the shed. Well, actually the SSHED (Sutherland Shire Hub for Economic Development), an experimental $2.4m “business incubator”. Based on a system which has worked successfully overseas for many years, it provides a supportive and dynamic environment where entrepreneurs can meet, network and share ideas. It is located in the grounds of the Wollongong University’s Loftus Education Centre and Sutherland TAFE Campus in southern Sydney. Brett’s new phone number is 02 9545 7444.

Assassins Documented

Those that missed the 2003 documentary, “Hired Assassins” at the ABC might have caught a screening at the State Library of NSW on 7 October. The show follows Warren Brown, Rod Emmerson, Bill Leak, Geoﬀ Pryor and David Rowe as they go about their daily ritual of wringing comment from Australia’s stony political landscape. Watch out for it - it’s bound to be repeated!

A BRIEF QUIZ.

Question 1. What industry are you involved in ? Answer: For most of us it is the print media industry. More speciﬁcally the Newspaper industry. Question 2. Name three major issues that are current hot topics of this industry right now? Question 3. Were you able to answer Q.2 ? For most working cartoonists and illustrators (including myself) who derive an income from this industry, answering Q. 2 would be mostly of a guess than anything more informed If you are si�ing at a desk somewhere drawing big noses and being paid for it then you are more than a cartoonist. You are a person in business. Business person is a title most cartoonists reject, but the fact remains that we are in business and involved in an industry. (The Newspaper industry)

So, what?

We can easily ignore this detail and get on with perfecting our art. If I produce a great product eventually I will receive the rewards it deserves, right? Does all this sound familiar or am I the only one to have thought this way? Guess what? Someone producing a product of far less quality than our own brilliant effort may succeed in the cartooning business by being aware of the industry needs and creatively adapting their product to meet that need. Answer to Question 2: Circulation, Convergence, Profit. For more detailed answers, read the PANPA BULLETIN. A.C.A Club members can access a copy through their State V.P. These copies are free but very limited. A.C.A Members who wish to subscribe to the monthly PANPA Bulletin can do so online at www.panpa.org.au . Affiliate membership subscription costs $104 per year incl. postage. 4

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Cartoons create interest in raising awareness of asthma. Members donated nearly one hundred cartoons to the Asthma Foundations during this year. The cartoons have been used at functions and community education sessions to help raise awareness of asthma and the need to continue to raise funds forresearch. $4,280 has so far been raised from the twenty-two cartoons thathave been sold. A major exhibition of the cartoons will be held in on Tuesday the 15th of November in Melbourne. John Spooner has been asked to speak at the exhibition on the role of cartoons in Australian life. Funds raised by the sale of cartoons will be directed to the Asthma Foundations -Macquarie Bank Research fund that is a joint initiative to raise funds for research. Robin Ould CEO of The Asthma Foundation of Victoria said, “The efforts of members has been a great boost to the work of the Foundation. It is hoped that following the event in November we can take the target to $20,000”

Post Script to Melbourne’s ‘Searlebration” and a personal

MESSAGE FROM RONALD SEARLE By Vane Lindsay For the second time this year the Victorian chapter of the ACA together with guests, totalling in all around ﬁfty-odd, had met at the Tivoli German Club in Melbourne for a traditional dinner, this time (July 9th) to hear cartoonist Leigh Hobbs speak at length about the renowned English cartoonists Ronald Searle. Bill (WEG) Green and Kaz Cooke also added praise at this celebration. A hundred or so ﬁnely detailed photo copies ranging across Searle’s St Trinian’s cartoons, his superb drawings of fellow prisoners of war in Changi jail, to his cover illustrations for New Yorker, Lilliput and other publications (these supplied by Jim Bridges on large panels) spread around three walls of our spacious area. Leigh also read a most moving letter he received from Searle praising, and defending ugly criticisms of Australian soldiers during World War II. This reading was received to sustained applause. On behalf of our Association I have written to Ronald Searle to acquaint him of this celebration’s success and to thank him for the pleasure his work have given us. This is his reply:

Dear Vane, It was very nice of you to send me the report of the ‘Searle’ evening – and I must confess I am very touched and ﬂattered that so many of my colleagues bothered to come along and say ‘hello’ to this one-eyed, creaking exponent of their profession. As you know, I am very indebted to Australians, although sadly, all my POW chums of that epoch (that you and I know only too well) are no longer around to say ‘cheers.’ Nevertheless, we 1920’ers still try to scratch away in the great tradition of deﬂating the big heads, my greetings to all pen-wavers and thanks again for such a nice word. Yours Ron Searle

In the Master’s own hand: The postcard received by Vane

Above: The Good Book - Leigh Hobbs sharing his enthusiasm for Ronald Searles’ Genius. Below: Jim Bridges and Kaz Cooke, after Jim persuaded her to be our next MC (looks like she’s still thinking about it). Photos by John Allison

Below the earlier fax from Ronald Searle, received by Leigh Hobbs:

“To the Australian Cartoonists club. When I was a prisoner of the Japanese in the jungles of Siam, side by side with the Aussie’s, it was their humour that helped to keep us alive. So I’m a fan, and anyone who sets out to maintain that extra-specialdown-under humour has all the support of this pommie bastard. Good on yer boys and all strength to your pens.” www.cartoonists.org.au

BY CONCORD OF SWEET SOUND...

The man who has no music in himself, Nor is not moved by concord of sweet sound, Is fit for treason, strategems, and spoils; The motions of his spirit are dull as night, And his affections dark as Erebus; Let no such man be trusted! William Shakespeare

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Those of us who attended the Stanleys have enjoyed musical entertainments by Warren Brown, Bill Leak, Michelle Baginski, Jason Chatfield and others - but it seems that they were only the tip of our musical iceberg! Peter Foster

Peter F

oster

Marco

Berton

Marco Berton

started to learn classical guitar at the age of four and studied at the conservatorium of music until the eighth year. He was fifteen when he decided to quit, to play more rock as opposed to classical. He appeared on several television talent shows, performing at eisteddfods and musical competitions during his early teens. It was in his late teens that he was in several bands, the best being “Sure Thing” and “Blue Dirt”. His most memorable support was for the “Sunnyboys” at Brisbane’s Love Inn at the Valley. Following “Sure Thing” he met and accompanied Vince Melouney on the Gold Coast playing venues as bass player and back up singer. Vince played with the BeeGees during the late 1960’s and was a founding member of Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs.

Drawing by George Haddon

began playing piccolo at 6 years of age. Soon after, he and his brother delighted his aunty (who was a nun) by playing ‘Knees up Mother Brown’ on their piccolos! She liked the tune and asked what it was called; Pete told her in his enthusiastic, little-boy way. His mum was not impressed. Peter studied music at Latrobe University and became a fair dinkum composer, having now written 3 masses, 159 songs (religious and other), 2 musicals with Alex Stitt (cartoonist of ‘Life be in it’ fame) and one by himself. Peter wrote and orchestral piece called ‘Gold Town’, and did the music for Stitt’s animated short, ‘Richest Dog in the World’. Recently, Peter wrote another musical - ‘Call of Guadalupe’, seen by six thousand people - and it’s going on the road, next stop Kyabram! Best of all, he has written a song about cartooning; it’s called ‘Black and White’ but is supposed to be sung in colour (see box on page 7). Jim Bridges

Kerry Millard

Kerry started to learn piano at 5 under the guidance of her grandmother. She began to sing harmony with her two brothers when they were at the sink doing the dishes as kids. Kerry now has a dishwasher so she sings a cappella in two choirs and one quartet. ‘Laanysta’ has about 18 members and has just launched a CD while ‘Swing out Mama’ is a group of 12 to 14 women whose original members all have kids at the same school. Kerry’s quartet ‘Dog Walking Backwards’ also includes Anna Schneider, David Small and Chris Kearns and has been together for about four years. They got their name when the group was in the lounge room one day having great difficulty trying to decide what to call themselves. Kerry’s dog Susie got stuck between the couch and the coffee table and had to reverse out. David said, “What about...”! Ridiculous, everybody thought, but of course the name stuck. Nowadays when Susie attends practice she either whines or throws balls at the group or sleeps through it; most audiences react better. “Dog Walking Backwards” has a repertoire which includes familiar songs with original arrangements, less familiar songs, and original pieces. And wait for it: ‘Dog Walking Backwards’ is to perform at the Stanleys!

Tracey Warren

Tracey Warren owns 383 music DVDs, 9 guitars, 6 Irish flutes, lots of harps (harmonicas), 2 concert flutes, 1 wooden shaman flute, 1 keyboard, 1 xylophone, 1 dulcimer and one solitary fiddle. She started playing recorder at 8, first guitar at 18, has written a few dozen songs and has turned her lounge room into a recording studio (I know, I’ve slept between the forest of guitars on the floor); tends to jam on Friday nights with hubby Steve and guitar maker extraordinaire Frank. This year put up a marquee in her backyard (dog was sent away for the occasion and had the dreaded snip!) and had an outdoor concert with solo blues guitarist LLoyd Spiegel. A backyard full of Tracey’s lucky friends! Jim Bridges Below: The Original Snakeskins - Alan Rose (harmonica and vocals), Andrew Langton-Joy (guitar, mandolin, banjo), Anne Ungerer (lead vocals), Roger Engledowe (guitar and vocals), Steve Hyde (bass and vocals)

Brendan Akhurst

THE CARTOONISTS’ SONG by Peter Foster

Take a 2B, sharpen as required, Start you doodling and make a funny face. Draw a ‘polly’ doing something stupid, and you will secure your place. Sketch a picture people can relate to; Make it humorous, perhaps a little rude. Catch the likeness, make the bastards honest; A cartoon that cuts to the chase.

According to Brendan Akhurst music is good for your health, and he should know, as he sings bass for the barbershop singing sensation ‘The Southern Highland Airs’. ‘Singing teaches you to breath properly!’ - and ever since he saw that Disney cartoon (probably ‘Casey at the Bat’) as a little kid, his interest in vocal harmony grew and grew. In 1997 he attended a barbershop quartet conference (!) in Darling Harbour, which awakened that satisfaction only singers know (in 4 part harmony). Soon the hills of the NSW Southern Highlands were alive to the sounds of the Southern Highland Airs (remember - they warmed our hearts and drinks at last year’s Stanleys in Bowral). Music also keeps you young, and always at the ready - Brendan carries his pitch pipes wherever he goes. Is that a pitch pipe in your pocket or are you just glad to see me, Brendon? Jim Bridges

Then you wash in a nice colour And write a caption that ‘BAM!’ Blows your readers away. Your editor boss will say that He couldn’t be fond’rer Of a double entendre... Comment that captures the day. Draw the line that people pin their hopes on And wash kant and humbug away. Colour, 3D black and white... Ole! (Well, frankly, I’m after a Stanley or a Walkley myself...)

Alan Rose

learnt to play the harmonica when he was a kid in his bungalow bedroom, which he shared with a few creepy-crawlies. One (an earwig) crept into his mouth organ when Al wasn’t looking and nearly contributed to a breaktrough in the way the harp was played Jimmy Hendrix style! Al formed his first band whilst overseas in 1990/01 doing his cartoonist apprenticeship. Called “The No Borders Blues Band”, they were multi-coloured, multi-lingual, multi-cultural. Al has jammed with a few of the greats, i.e. Kerry Simpson (no relation to Jessica or Bart), Fiona Boyse and once at a party with the Bushwackers. For the last 4 years he has been in ‘The Original Snakeskins’, a country band which started doing Hank Williams and Johnny Cash covers. Now they are a terribly serious original country band, so all he funny stuff is left to Al. One of the original songs is about a runaway train (true story) that is sung with all the stops out - until it crashes at Spencer Street. All aboard! Jim Bridges

Roger Fletcher

Roger Fletcher was 12 when he picked up the guitar. Graduated to high school bands, played for about ten years, then became a cartoonist. Years later found that cartooning wasn’t enough and so got back into music, formed an Irish country-rock & roll-trio called 3D. The three Ds stand for Driver (as one of them was), Drawer (Roger) and Drummer. One Irish MC once introduced them as ‘Threepence’! They played everywhere - concerts in the park, pubs, RSLs, even the Macquarie Library for 4 1/2 years, untroubled by egos, money, transport woes or artistic differences. Roger presently plays a couple of times a year in a band called ‘Crockabilly’ - old crocks playing old Rock & Roll. They have 16 members and have been crockabilling along for a couple of years now. Roger mostly plays lead guitar, occasionally bass. Has a guitar that B.B. King uses - a Gibson Lucille signature series. Was also given by his wife (what an angel!) an Ovation Series Guitar - that’s like giving your hubby the original of the ‘Stop Laughing’ cartoon signed by Stan himself! Lucky old Fletch! continued on page 11 Jim Bridges www.cartoonists.org.au

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MUSIC CARTOONS continued

MUSICIAN-CARTOONISTS continued Jim Bridges

Stephen Gunnell, NSW.

Peter Foster, Vic.

IAN SHARPE’S INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS! The Canberra Times’ Ian Sharpe has been getting around a bit. His successful exhibition at the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in February - he sold 60% of the exhibition, including dramatically abstract pieces - was the product of a trip he made to Dubrovnik in June 2004. Ian’s next exhibition will be part of Canberra’s 2006 Multicultural Festival and will be held in the foyer of the High Court of Australia. This time the theme will be China and entitled “A View of the Wall”. He will be travelling to China in October to do some sketching and take some photographs, first travelling to Beijing (staying as a guest of The Humble House of Classic Chinese Furniture of Beijing and Canberra) and then travelling to Xian as a guest of the Foreign Office of the Municipal People’s Government of Xian. He’ll finsh the tour by catching up with Phil Best in Shanghai. Best introduced Sharpe to China, along with Joanne Brooker, Chris Kelly and others, during caricaturing tours of China in 2003 and 2004, which he says was “an amazing, eye-opening experience”. Steve Panozzo 10 www.cartoonists.org.au

Jim Bridges is, like Tchaikovsky, a master of the piece d’occasion. And very polite too – his work always comes with apologies, lots of them. Like apologies to Gilbert and Sullivan - in fact apologies to all the muses. There is no occasion where Jim is not rough and ready, at the drop of a hat (and the emphasis being on rough) with a musical tribute. So be careful when and where you drop your hat. Jim is an associate member only, but one of the most active ones. He has accumulated an enormous archive of cartoon cuttings and is always keen to put it to good use. And nothing happens on the cartooning scene without Jim knowing about it. It means nothing to him to travel a hundred k’s to help a friend – or to join a singing group. And he owns a genuine Irish war drum. Now imagine his house is on ﬁre and he could save either this drum or his toaster – which would he chose? I have no doubt about it (especially since his toaster hasn’t worked for years). Rolf Heimann

Jim Bridges (right), being accompanied by Michael Lee, as he paid a musical tribute to John Rogers at Dimattina’s in Melbourne.

Congratulations to the winners of the 17th Coffs Harbour Rotary Awards, 2005 (see page 12):

Cartoon of the Year - Adrian Gittings Political: 1st, David Rowe, 2nd Alan Moir, 3rd John Farmer Open: 1st Sean Leahy, 2nd Neil Matterson, 3rd John Farmer Sports: David Rowe, 2nd John Farmer, 3rd Peter Lewis Aussie Media: 1st John Allison, 2nd Chris Kelly, 3rd John Allison Family Life: 1st Tony Lopes, 2nd Sean Leahy, 3rd Gary Clark My ﬁrst....: 1st Tony Lopes, 2nd Gary Clark, 3rd James Brennan ‘all the world’s a stage’ caricature, 1st Judy Nadin, 2nd David Rowe, 3rd Joanne Brooker. Exhibited were: Adrian Gittings, David Rowe, Alan Moir, John Farmer, Sean Leahy, Neil Matterson, Peter Lewis, John Allison, Chris Kelly, Tony Lopes, Gary Clark, James Brennan, Judy Nadin, Joanne Brooker, Mark Lynch, Lindsay Foyle, Chris Wilson, William Gaspar, Zoran Zlaticanin, Robert Sherwin, Jake Arthur, Tawan Chuntraskawavong, Gary Armstrong, Nik Scott, Hinze, Harry Bruce, Sarah Parsons, Don Smith, Mohammet Effat, Jason Chatﬁeld, Peter Ryan, David Eddington, Mark Guthrie, Ma Heng Chao, Richard Newcomb, Hugh Stewart-Killick, Jim Baker, Christopher Granet

NEWS LIMITED ARTISTS’ FILM NIGHT Sydney

Forget the Oscars, the Emmys, the Logies, the AFIs and the BAFTAs. A new night of celebrating excellence in ﬁlm making was unveiled in Sydney in September, when artists from News Limited launched the annual “Butchers of Celluloid” Film Night at the “world famous” Friend-in-Hand Hotel in Glebe. In a warm-up for the Stanleys, Warren Brown acted as MC for the night, replete with rotten jokes and unforgettable introductions to 16 short movies produced, with the theme of “I think, therefore I am”. Convenor Eric Löbbecke said, “we had 50 to 100 people there”. “They all said that they had a great time, seeing the talent that our art department had hidden in front of those computers”. Those hoping to follow in the footsteps of Cecil B. De Mille included Stephen Case, Tanya Creer, Dave Follett, Jon Kudelka, Peter Nicholson and Michael Perkins. The evening was not without Hollywood-style glamour, with John Thorby’s epic masterpiece “Spy Hunt” (starring John Moses) given an airing, complete with restored soundtrack. Plans are afoot for a similar event in 2006, with Eric already receiving expressions of interest from a new crop of potential “butchers”. Thanks to Eric Löbbecke and Peter Byrne as contributors. Below: A scene from Nicholson’s “Humble Howard”.

Top Ten USA Strips

New Hairbutt

The annual survey of the USA’s Top 50 Sunday and daily comics has just been released with Stephan Pastis’ “Pearls Before Swine” (#45 Sunday and #33 daily) and Berke Breathed Opus (#23 Sunday) being the only new strips to break into the lists. The top ten Sundays, with 2004’s ranking in brackets, were: 1 For Better Of For Worse (3) 2 Blondie (1) 3 Family Circus (4) 4 Dilbert (6) 5 Beetle Bailey (5) 6 Peanuts (10) 7 Garﬁeld (2) 8 Zits (14) 9 Hägar the Horrible (8) 10 Doonesbury (9)

Rat Race artist/publisher Jason Paulos announces the release of ‘Hairbutt The Hippo Private Eye #4’. He has also updated my website with new artwork and news of exciting upcoming comic book related projects. Preview pages from the latest issue of ‘Hairbutt The Hippo Private Eye’ can be viewed at www.HairbuttTheHippo.com and copies are available for purchase at www.lulu.com/ratrace. Customers must allow 2-3 weeks delivery, 1-2 weeks for U.S. customers.

The dailies top ten were: 1 For Better Of For Worse (1) 2 Blondie (2) 3 Hägar the Horrible (4) 4 Garﬁeld (3) 5 Beetle Bailey (6) 6 Zits (8) 7 Foxtrot (9) 8 Dilbert (10) 9 BC (5) 10 Peanuts (7) The survey, compiled by Media Research Associates, is taken from comic pages in the US and Canada that have a circulation of 50,000 or greater.

SYDNEY MEMBER Desmond Milligan (Above) (“Pat” to us) appeared in I TOLD YOU I WAS ILL: THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF SPIKE MILLIGAN which was screened on ABC-TV in October. An intimate and deeply personal portrait of Pat’s comic genius brother, the film (which had it’s genesis at SpikeFest in 2003) unearthed the Milligan family’s archives to reveal Spike as a brilliant, tortured and visionary man who trod the thin line between genius and debilitating depression. Jon Kudelka contributed some animation to the film. As well as seeing Spike from his family’s point of view, the film also featured comments from Joanna Lumley, Eddie Izzard, Michael Palin and Eric Sykes. Much of the story is located in Woy Woy, referred to by Milligan as the “largest above ground cemetary in the world.” A DVD is currently in production. Further details at: http://www.spikemilliganlegacy.com

Info supplied by Jason Paulos Rat Race Comix

Mr Squiggle rides again A capacity crowd packed the Mosman Art Gallery in Sydney for the opening of “Who’s Pulling the Strings?: The Art and Life of Norman Hetherington”. Norman, whose cartooning career started in 1937 at The Bulletin, is better known as the alter-ego of the legendary Mr. Squiggle, a marionette who, in the course his 40 years on Australian television, inspired countless numbers of Australian kids to draw. After a rambling (and rather irrelevant) speech by the outgoing Mayor of Mosman, the evening picked up when the ABC’s James Valentine declared the exhibition open, and the throng of friends and locals was treated to a special performance by Mr. Squiggle and his special friend (and Norman’s daughter), Rebecca. There was no sign of Miss Pat or Miss Jane, but no-one was complaining. Among the audience were Richard Jones (who is teaching cartooning workshops during the Festival), ACA Secretary Steve Panozzo, retired Fairfax Community Newspapers chief Peter Allen and Norman’s Archibald Prize portrait artist Nick Stathopoulos. Norman’s wife Margaret, who scripted each Mr. Squiggle episode and wrote the unforgettable theme tune, kept a watchful eye on proceedings. Cartoon below: Detail of a 1959 Bulletin cartoon by Norman Hetherington, showing Mr. Sqiggle on TV.

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HEROES Reprinted from “The Cartoon!st” Rick Stromoski is the new president of the NCS. The year was 1969. It was the summer of the Miracle Mets and I was attending my ﬁrst Little League sports dinner at the Pines Manor banquet facility on Route 27 in my hometown of Edison New Jersey. I was the starting catcher for the Midtown Little League Minor Yankees and I was thrilled because that very night, a real major league professional baseball player was coming as our guest speaker. He was Ken Boswell, journeyman second baseman of the soon to be World Champion New York Mets. I attended the banquet with my Father and about three hundred other kids and their Dads, all of us dressed in our best suits. It was a hot August night and I was wearing the only jacket I owned, a blend of some sort of steel wool and plastic packing material that made me itch and sweat at the same time. My tie was a leftover from my Catholic school days and my dress shoes were my older brother Tommy’s. My own dress shoes had been chewed by our dog Duchess that very afternoon so I had to wear Tommy’s which were slightly loose on my feet. I awkwardly clumped around throughout the evening but I didn’t care. I was going to meet a real professional baseball player and get his autograph.The closest I’d ever gotten to a real ballplayer prior to this evening was from the upper deck of Shea stadium so this was going to be something really speciaI. Occasionally, I would pull the Topps baseball card from my jacket pocket and stare at it, imagining Ken Boswell’s signature across his face. It was like Christmas in August. As I stood in the overcrowded dining hall chatting away with my friends and teammates, sipping a watered down rootbeer cooled by metallic tasting ice (a precursor to my experiences at future Reubens) we anxiously awaited the arrival of our hero.

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Our Dads were mostly mingling in and around the bar telling off color jokes and drinking man’s drinks like scotch and Reingold beer while smoking cigars. I still to this day can’t smell a lit cigar without thinking of Little League baseball. Our anxiety grew as the evening wore on and still no sign of Mr. Boswell. The decision was made to start the dinner and have our guest speak afterwards. We sat down to a meal of prison grade steaks, waxed beans and twice baked potato. As the remnants of our meal were being cleared from the table by the wait staff and the dessert was brought out, it was beginning to dawn on most that the possibility of Mr. Boswell showing up was becoming all the more remote. I would not lose faith however, and I assured my teammates that he would indeed come and sign our gloves and cards. The team awards were given out, the dessert dishes were cleared and last call to the bar was announced. Still no sign of our guest speaker. Many waited as long as they could, but after a while most began the long walk to the parking lot to their cars, sad faced kids in tow. Some even in tears. But I had faith. Ken would still make it. My Dad and I were the last ones to leave the Pines Manor that night, urged home by the waiters stacking chairs and clearing table cloths. My Dad and I rode quietly home and I thought long and hard about the lesson I learned. I thought about it for a long time. I remember reading the exact same scenario in Peanuts where Charlie Brown is let down by his hero, Joe Shleblotnik. But this wasn’t a comic strip. This was real. Months later, as I watched the Pines Manor begin to burn to the ground, I thought back to that hot August evening. A night full of disappointment and shattered dreams of 300 little kids. I though about the irony. I thought about the bizarre twist of fate. I thought about how that it was imperative that I get rid of the gasoline can. But before escaping into the woods, I pulled a dog eared Topps card from my pants pocket and tossed it into the rising ﬂames. As I ran into the darkness, I felt vindication for all those little boys who were let down that hot August night, the words bursting from my lungs, “TAKE THAT KEN BOSWELL YOU BASTARD!!!”

Rick Stromoski

soup2nutz@cox.net

A nother Inkspot and

so much news from the Bunker Cartoon Gallery. The Rotary Cartoon Awards have been announced at our usual gala event. Almost 100 people attended to see some of Australia’s, and the world’s, best cartoons. The standard of entries was extremely high this year and as I tap, tap, tap away here at my desk in underground Coffs Harbour I can hear peals of laughter from an appreciative audience of tourists and locals who have come to see the exhibition. Hundreds of works were received for consideration this year and I was relieved not to have been on the final judging panel. There were so many strong works, well-drawn (or painted) many of them also being hilarious, deeply satirical or plain old ‘cutting’. Congratulations to all the winners. It was also a delight to meet up again with cartoonists who have exhibited at the Bunker, or who have attended the Awards previously. I would like to take this opportunity to thank those cartoonists who made the evening special for all who attended and very special indeed for the Bunker’s work experience student, Jake Arthur. Jake, a 15 year old budding cartoonist from Foster, applied for work experience at the Bunker some time ago. Scheduling him to work experience prior to the Awards allowed him to find out how the gallery runs during installation week but more importantly, gave him an opportunity to meet several cartoonists whom he holds in high esteem. Many of you generously gave Jake time on the big night and discussed everything from techniques to career moves. I opened a letter from his mother today thanking us for facilitating the work experience project. In it she mentions how thrilled Jake was to be here and how much he valued meeting the professionals! So thanks guys and gals, from both of us! Forthcoming exhibitions at the Bunker include Nude Rude and Lewd: the Bunker goes Blue. I am still hoping for more works to install at this Adults Only exhibition. Should you wish to be part of the show please send works to me (clearly marked on back in pencil with name and address) by 17th of October. This gives me time to make labels and install works. The works should reference sexuality in some way, not necessarily explicitly, but that will also be acceptable. Works will be on the walls by 28th of October and the official opening night will be on 5th November. This is to accommodate key players in the opening night extravaganza. Scantily clad

Above: A difference of opinion between Gary Clark and Neil Matterson? Right: No arguments about the merits of David’ Rowe’s caricature of Russel Crowe. Below: Guests at the Gallery

Following the naughtiness of Nude Rude and Lewd comes a lovely exhibition of work by Joan Morrison. Joan worked as an illustrator and cartoonist for Smith’s Weekly from the late 1930s. The works are delightful, humorous and brilliantly executed documents of social history featuring curvaceous ‘gels’ who made a mockery of the social mores of the time. Joan’s daughter Anna Webb kindly contacted the gallery offering us the show. Lindsay Foyle will open the exhibition at a date to be advised, possibly mid December. If you have any ideas for exhibitions, including the exhibition of your own work, don’t be modest, just drop me a line at bunkergallery@bigpond.com!

Leigh Summers

Director Bunker Cartoon Gallery 02 6651 7341 bunkergallery@bigpond.com

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Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival Greetings cartoonists, illustrators, caricaturists, humourists, masters of visual irony and satire- I’d like to introduce all of you to the newest member of the Viscopy staff - me! I suppose it doesn’t matter much who I am, in the grand scheme of things, though my name is Chad Corley and I’m the new Membership & Distribution Manager. That was Ross Sharp’s position before he moved on to new vocational challenges in Queensland. As you will discover at this year’s ACA Annual Conference and Stanley Awards, I’m a different kind of person from Ross -- and I have a funny accent for a person living in this part of the world. James Kemsley also informs me that we may be up for a bit of cricket, which may be worth a laugh or two for those of you that get to experience my attempts in that endeavour. Regardless, rest assured that one of my better qualities is an ability to have a good-natured jab at my own expense. Speaking of my good qualities, I would have to add that foremost among them is an outright passion for copyright and moral rights issues. Yes, I am a bit of an intellectual property nerd. In the two months since I’ve begun working at Viscopy, I’ve already spoken to myriad artists encompassing seemingly all disciplines imaginable. Some are new to copyright, some have infringement concerns; others are interested in how the distribution is going (more on that in a bit). And still others just seem to just want to talk. I don’t know how highly my ‘compassionate ear’ rates, but I do know the answers to a lot of questions about intellectual property -- and that’s merely one element of my job that you are free to capitalise upon. Because many times, the solution to a tricky copyright question is just a phone call or an email away. Your membership in Viscopy does qualify you to ask those questions of me. And out of respect for you, I will do my best to answer them accurately and effectively. And about that distribution, you ask? Well, Viscopy is continuing to grow -- membership now stands at over 5350 -- and every distribution is bigger than the last, I’m happy to report. In quantitative terms, it breaks down like so: Over $365,300 distributed in August for the six months ending June 30, including over $210,400 for Australasian artists. In all, over 450 Australasian artists were paid, and the increase in overall royalties paid from our December 2004 distribution was 6.3%. In closing, I’m looking forward to meeting those of you that are at the annual convention. I may not be a top-notch bowler, but fortunately that’s not one of the things that Viscopy expects me to do well. When it comes to copyright and intellectual property, however, that’s my game. Cheers,

Chad Corley

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During April, we indulged ourselves in a cartoonists’Jolly called the Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival - and our mutual mate Dean Alston joined us as well - Kems reckons he should move here or at least keepit as his little retreat! Shrewsbury was originated and masterminded by our Roger Penwill (he of FECO fame) and the result was absolutely delightful to be typically English. Rather appropriate as one of the themes was Englandand the English to coincide with St George’s Day on that weekend. We also played host to a bunch of French cartoonists, amongst them Carlos Brito, the spitting image of your James the Kemsley to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar (if celebrate be the right word for the French) which resulted in a collective on-thespot cartoon battle on a giant canvas. You guys will have met our Bill Stott recently, well he shared an exhibition with Mike Williams also at Shrewsbury - quite brilliant! If you’re familiar with the term ‘pub crawl’, we were able to take on a new version, ‘exhibition crawl’ - moving from one opening to another - fantashtick! And so on to Hastings in East Sussex by the sea (early June) to do a recky on the possibilities of having a future cartoon festival with hopefully lots of razzamatazz. Not a lot of people know this but there are some 20 Hastings’s around the world including of course, Hastings River and Hastings Range in NSW and Hastings, Victoria as well as Hastings in Tazzy and should I mention the one in NZ? Amazingly Deano wasn’t at this do but only missed it by a whisker after joining us at our June Club meeting the previousTuesday! Our respective websites have a lot of similarities don’t they? Are the ACA members any more up for logging on than our lot? There’s probably a nucleus of 25-30 members regularly partaking - by all means visit us on www.ccgb.org.uk We have The Political Cartoon Society operating out of theWest End of London run by Dr Tim Benson naturally dealing with a lot of historical themes and issues but intriguing nevertheless. At the present time there are all the caricature versions of Winston Churchill by the wealth of cartoonists of the daylead by David Low of course. www.politicalcartoon.co.uk

Terry Christien Chairman CCGB

BOOK REVIEWS The Bad Guys are Winning

Cartoons by Cathy Wilcox, Published by Lothian 128 pages, $19.95 Reviewed by Rolf Heimann

Moments of Truth

Cartoons by Bill Leak published by Scribe, $39.95 Reviewed by Jim Bridges This full colour glossy hard back (small coffee table variety) book charts the period in Australian life, when truth was thrown overboard in ‘The Tampa Election’ of 2001, to the present uncertain times - ‘a time when cynical manipulation of published opinion and political bad faith, reached unheard levels.’ Bill calls it an ‘iconoclastic counter history’. Truth is also the book’s plot, sub plot and ultimate reason for it’s being. It charts the many ways truth has been maimed, mangled and ultimately murdered in this time. Every cartoon seems to be about some ‘Moment of Truth’. Bill’s personal truth has always been hard edged; he goes for the jugular every time and doesn’t tend to take prisoners! Famous quotations from the past, i.e Plato (370BC), to the present accompany the cartoons, thus giving the words a new lease of life and reminding us that things haven’t changed much, certainly not for the better. ‘Liar birds’ Blair and Bush stick their heads into the sand while little Johnny Howard on tippy-toes pushes his head up George Dubya’s arse! Howard sprouts a lying rat’s tail; Phil Ruddock leads sewn-up-lipped refugees by the string in their lips; the statue of Liberty (in Sydney Harbour) tells all ‘to piss off’; weapons of Mass ‘Distraction’ are searched for as hundreds die in the background. The book is relentless, and PM Howard and his cronies (on all sides of politics) are attacked mercilessy and ruthlessly in a book that concertinas 4 years into 186 pages. This book also charts the time when traditional cartooning changed over to computer use. It may be to Bill’s advantage to use a computer instead of his unique colour & ink combo he has utilized (and which obviously takes a lot more time) in the past. But it’s a loss to his many daily fans. One hopes that good draughtsmanship will one day ﬁnd its way back to our shores along with the tossed-overboard truth that this book so chillingly chronicles.

How often have we heard female cartoonists complain that they have to be twice as good as the rest to make it in a man’s world. Well, Cathy Wilcox is twice as good. Her little pocket cartoons have delighted readers of the Sydney Morning Herald for ages, and heralded morning delight for Age readers. It has been over ten years that Cathy’s first cartoon collection ‘Throw Away Lines’ appeared, and although she believes that her latest book is ‘destined for the same obcurity’, she is wrong. Her first book is a collectors item and ‘The Bad Guys are winning’ will be as well. True, cartoon books have never been money spinners for publishers, and Lothian are to be complimented for producing such a fine collection. ‘Pocket cartoons’ are small space fillers for newspapers, providing a little throw-away line or visual comment about an article. I have noticed that Cathy Wilcox’s tiny contributions are often better than some main cartoons that take up twenty times the space. It is great to see her work reproduced here in a larger than original format, and on good paper. I have been informed that her expulsion from kindergarten, as described in the foreword, is fictional. Well, you can never believe what you read. Can you believe what you see in a cartoon? Definitely, in Cathy Wilcox’s case, there is not a single cartoon that fails to hit the bull’s eye of truth.

The book is generously illustrated, not only with cartoons and photos of Vane in the company of fellow cartoonists, but with pictures from his childhood. And recognising familiar features in the face of a child never fails to amuse! The depression years are vividly recalled, the suburban environment, the simple games, (even the old school songs!) then the war years, Vane’s involvement with the New Theatre, his trip overseas and the years of gradually establishing himself as one of Australia’s most iconic cartoonists. He is a man who paid his dues, as the saying goes. His life-long love of books has given Vane an education that belies the fact that he had to leave school early. He’s a self-made man if ever there was one. The second part of the book deals with his involvement in the publishing industry and all its changes over the years - not only technological ones. His meeting with many famous ﬁgures are described, usually with great affection and respect, and occasional with surprising candour. The book is a pleasure to read. Beyond that it is a historical document of such value that it would merit an index of names and events. Well, you can’t have everything. The book was published by ‘Trojan’ - in a limited edition, which makes the book all the more collectable. (Below the cartoon that nearly cost Vane his job!)

A Life so Far

by Vane Lindesay, published by Trojan Review by Rolf Heimann Our national patron Vane Lindesay has ﬁnally published his memoirs – ‘A life so far – some fragments recalled’. As Vane is not only a cartoonist, but also a book designer and writer, it was natural that the book was launched twice – once in the Library of Victoria, and some days later at the traditional gathering of cartoonists at the Il Gambero, where Vane’s publisher Chester Eagle recalled the history of the whole venture.

NANCY BEIMAN has just signed a contract with Focal Press to NANCY BEIMANN has just signed a contract with Focal Press

to write an animation textbook which will be published in 2007. The book, tentatively titled PREPARE TO BOARD: STORYBOARD AND CHARACTER DESIGN FOR ANIMATION, will include examples from Nancy’s students as well as professional designs. Nancy’s illustrations are featured in BASIL BIGBOOTS THE PIRATE (Cool Dude Press, 2005) written by the famous Australian writer Patricia Bernard. Animal pirates teach children a geography lesson while searching all over the world for a ‘pirate shop’. And ﬁnally, Nancy’s short ﬁlm YOUR FEETS TOO BIG will be screened at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts as part of a Jazz in Animation festival in September.

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BOOK REVIEWS continued

Egg Story 64pg, A5 B&W, $US3.95 San Jose, CA: SLG Publishing (Slave Labor Graphics), 2004. ISBN 0-943151-94-5 Reviewed by Ian C.Thomas “Growing up. Leaving home. Falling in love. Witnessing madness and murder. Becoming a ninja. This could be a story about any of us. But it isn’t. It’s a story about eggs.” And there is so much more - there are many levels to this deceptively simple-looking graphic novella. Egg Story centres around sibling eggs, Feather and Five Spots, following their remarkable journey from egg farm, to fridge, to the world beyond. Broken into five parts, the narrative effectively separates to focus on not just these two, but various other egg characters they meet along the way. Characterisation is consistent and beautifully written, with the individual personalities clearly defined. Our egg protagonists soon discover the fate that awaits them and each react to the strangeness of this new world in their own way. Author/artist J. Marc Schmidt apparently found the initial inspiration for his story with a sketch made while he was teaching English in South Korea in 2002. He spent a week writing the script in New Zealand, then hired a room in the Blue Mountains (Norman Lindsay’s home), pencilled the pages over a month, returned to Sydney and inked them over ten days. This focus really shows – there is immediacy and continuity in both script and art. The clean, black and white artwork is strong and effective, lending reality to the eggcentric world that Schmidt has created. His affection for his characters is clear. I found it easy to completely suspend belief while reading, ignoring cheeky inconsistent leaps of logic, while being drawn into feeling sympathy for these characters. While the eggs are simply drawn, they are effective protagonists, communicating a gamut of emotions with a few deft brush-strokes. As simple images – eggs with faces and arms – they are masterful pieces of character design, with Feather as a ninja egg being the most distinctive image of all. The human characters, who could have been simplistically portrayed as monsters, instead come across as simply in another world, driven by their own concerns and preoccupations. Panelling throughout is tightly structured – often nine to a page, but also structures of four, six, sixteen, etc. The assured combination of picture and text are an object lesson in timing for strong comic storytelling. There are dark undertones to much of the story, but Schmidt always laces this with humour. In the cracked egg subplot I even found parallels with contemporary zombie infection stories, though again the conclusion and the way Schmidt treats this material couldn’t be more different! Definitely don’t be tempted to peek ahead, the story holds many surprises, and is ultimately optimistic. This inspired, tragicomic, funny, heartwarming graphic novella is recommended reading for all ages! See: http://eggstory0.tripod.com 18 www.cartoonists.org.au

Truly Confused: Excerpts from a Perplexing Life 40pg, A4 B&W, $6.95 Box Hill: Paper Tableaux, (reprinted 2004) Reviewed by Ian C. Thomas Writer/artist Dave Hodson is well-known for a variety of work, including his moody collaboration with Greg Gates, Tide of Dreams, his strip Aus it Was in Australasian Post, and currently his band reminiscences in anthology comic, The Ink. This book is a compilation of Hodson’s True Confusions strips – 1-2 pagers that originally appeared in the long-running Australian ‘80s anthology Fox Comics - here arranged for the ﬁrst time in roughly chronological order. The back cover describes the content as “one man’s doomed attempt to make sense of those inexplicable daily events that confound us all,” and the book follows an autobiographical stream-of-consciousness approach, using a narrative voice accompanied by closecropped snapshots of a life. Hodson packs his pages with informal grids of unruled, roughly even frames. These contain minimalist cartoony drawings in clean black-and-white: it’s a simple, relaxed style that belies the often serious content. By scattering what would be a paragraph or two of straight descriptive prose across these stacked in images, Hodson doesn’t use the pictures merely to illustrate his narrative: they further it with well-chosen details, expanding the sense of the story, and occasionally even contradicting the text. The stark minimalism enforced by Hodson’s tiny boxes leads him to select details and excerpts from his world – a hand, a chin, part of a house – and this combination of word and image fragment nostalgically conjures up images of Australian suburban life in the ‘50s and after. The sardonic observational nature of the text often has an air of non-sequitur – as a writer, Hodson uses a philosophical style, tending to give with one hand and take away with the other. The wry result of this unique comic approach is unmistakeable. Editor/publisher David Bird’s decision to collect Dave Hodson’s vignettes into chronological order has a powerful additional effect: these pieces are bravely autobiographical in a personal way, but collected they build on themselves, cohering into a poignant and revealing whole. Hodson’s cumulative observations about his suburban life and those around him, particularly his father and grandfather, make this book more than the sum of its parts. The result is akin to the style of some reﬂective semibiographical Australian novelists, presenting a sense of former time and place. The only piece that jars this mood is the seven page Elvis Lives, near the end of the book, with its shift of style and pace, but this is effectively a “bonus track” in the collection, and as such is welcome. It’s followed by a perfectly chosen closer – a sweet onepager about Hodson’s shadow, following his journey from tiny child to lonesome adult looking back on life (and similarly, this collection).

Heart Cancer

A novel by Bill Leak ABC Books $29.95 Reviewed by Jim Bridges Bill Leak often signs his work as ‘Bleak’. His artistic hero is Goya. In his cartoons he ruthlessly aims for the jugular. Consequently Bill’s humanistic side seems permanently hidden behind the savage thrust of his decapitating satire, as he daily rips into his chosen subjects. This ﬁrst novel is no exception, only towards the end does he lower his weapon and his guard, and allows us to see a ‘softer side’. The title’s metaphor is apt, as the book slowly sucks all the character and themes into its creative vortex. The book contains a lot of pain, along with booze, drugs, sex, broken relationships, busted families, guilt, - but ultimately has love as the true survivor. Knowing a little about Bill puts me at a disadvantage, as I keep seeing bits of him in different characters, most obviously in its non-hero Frank. Reading this novel makes me see Bill’s cartoons in a new light. Bill’s a good writer, paces his plot and emotional characterisations well, and conveys a strong sense of Sydney and its ways. He gets stuck into advertising, the art scene - including the Archibald Prize, which he mentions enough times to almost make it a sub plot. Bill certainly proves that he is more than a ﬁne draughtsman who likes to kick political heads.

Congratulations Judy Horacek ‘Where is the Green Sheep?’

by Mem Fox and Judy Horacek has won ‘Book of the Year - Early Childhood’ in the Children’s Book Council of Australia Awards for 2005. The book also won an award from Speech Pathology Australia for the ‘Best Book for Language Development: Young Children’ Award.

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he ‘Stanleys in the Mountains’ are not over yet, and already plans are under way for the 2006 event to be held in Ballarat, Victoria.The Fine Arts Gallery of Ballarat is cooperating in an exhibition of paintings by cartoonists, and an exhibition/competition of cartoons with the theme ‘Good as Gold’ is most likely to be staged at nearby Clunes, some 20 minutes from Ballarat. Clunes is the place where the ﬁrst gold was found in Victoria and so picturesque that the last Ned Kelly saga was ﬁlmed there. Ballarat itself is a most historic regional centre, it’s the scene of the famous Eureka uprising and where Lola Montez is said to have slapped the mayor (or was that Bendigo?). There are also numerous wineries in the region,

and the Botanical Gardens contain the avenue of Prime Ministers’ busts, many of which were done by fellow cartoonist Peter Nicholson, who’s promised to be there. There has been a trend of every Stanleys’ event outdoing the previous one (just like the Olympic Games, each one of which is traditionally labelled ‘the best yet’). Where will it all end? Remember the Tower of Babel! And if there are a couple of hitches in the Blue Mountains event, look at it this way: It’s God’s will; she is taking us down a peg or two so that no Stanleys can claim a satisfaction rate of 100%!

The historic Clunes Town Hall, painted by George Haddon for the Royal Auto Magazine

“As I rode in to Ballarat, I met a man who wore no hat; And when I said he might take cold, He cried, ‘The hills are quite as old As yonder plains, but not so ﬂat. So I rode on to Ballarat.” C.J.Dennis

So ride with us to Ballarat in 2006!

Vane not in vain...

members of the ACA’s Victorian chapter got together for the launch of Vane Lindesay’s memoirs Some Fragments Recalled. Back row from left: Peter Croft, Rolf Heimann, Anne Maudlin, Peter Foster, Vane Lindesay, Hazel Daniel, George Haddon. Front: Tony Bramwell, Gerald Carr, Peter Mahoney, Chester Eagle, Margaret Morrison.