Part 2 of the whimsical series Giraffe Riders! To be continued.
Giraffe Riders! Part 1.
Welcome to my latest fit of whimsy, o long suffering readers. I’ve been studying giraffes (as you may know) for weeks, and here’s the first installment. To be continued! Thanks to AZ for inspiration for this idea.
I made this comic on my Android tablet, using Autodesk Inc.’s Sketchbook Pro for Tablets. It’s a little bit fiddly, but I think it came out all right.
I’d like to thank Karen for suggesting the comic.
This is what happened to me at the Cotswold Wildlife Park at the weekend while standing on the raised giraffe-viewing platform. The sheer magical magnificence of it was spoilt only by the lively argument I was having with another visitor over whether one was permitted to pet the giraffes. Ironically, I was the one maintaining that one shouldn’t, and so I was under strong moral obligation not to. Though I did want to, very much indeed.
I clearly remember a book from my early school-days called “Nobody Listens to Andrew”, with the leitmotif “There’s a BEAR in my bedroom!” (which all the adults ignore, of course.) I strongly empathised with that Andrew. You can still buy that book, I find.
Remember, your blood pressure may go up as well as down. Your kidneys may be at risk if you do not keep up the payments.
I suppose this comic is nothing new in places where there’s no free, national health service. But in the UK we used to have one, that all of us were proud of (excepting the present government, of course.)
And I don’t usually do political satire. But I did so much want to use the sentence “your illness is important to us.”
Transcript:
999 calling…
RING RING
Thank you for calling NHS Direct PLC Premium-Plus-Extra service…… All of our customer representatives are busy, but we will answer your call as soon as our shareholders allow. Your illness is important to us. Please hold the line…
While you’re waiting, why not take a couple of aspirins?
Did you know that with NHS Direct PLC’s Extra-Super Service you pay for two illnesses and get the third absolutely free?
Get that heart bypass operation you’ve always wanted, on easy terms with NHS Direct PLC…
Not a comic, just a doodle, but I felt I ought to post something… I’ve been rather lax lately. Anyway, we went to the farmers’ market in Sandford last weekend. They had a brilliant stall where you could choose smoothie ingredients and then liquidise them with a pedal-powered gadget. Yum!
RIKS! RAKS! POKS!
I’d like to thank Karen for helping me to arrive at this idea.
And Wikipedia for help with the Finnish translation.
On a hill on the edge of the town of Faringdon in Oxfordshire, England, there is a folly tower erected in 1935 for the somewhat eccentric Lord Berners, famous for, amongst other things, dyeing pigeons in different colours. The folly carries a notice “Do not feed the giraffes” several metres above the ground on one side, but the only giraffe we saw was the one that sneaked into my quick sketch.
Thanks to grj for the house party and the walk to the folly on Sunday.
Well, we’re hoping they’ll be back again this year. We can see the shoots and the flower buds: let’s hope they’re not discouraged by the continued cold weather and change their minds at the last minute.
It turns out that I made a mistake. The “Newt Rhino” I posted earlier may in fact have been a Rhino Newt. This one is the real Newt Rhino. I hope. I’m sorry for any confusion or inconvenience I may have caused.