I read with sadness this past weekend of the deaths of cartoonists Bill Tidy and Trog (Wally Fawkes). I was a big fan of both men and, along with Quentin Blake, Tony Hart, Willie Rushton and a certain disgraced Australian, they helped to inspire my childhood love of drawing.
This then got me thinking about cartoons in general. I've had a few published over the years in various magazines ... here's a selection:
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And that made me think about some of my favourite cartoons. This one is pretty high on my list - it's by the late, great Kevin Woodcock:
Copyright (c) Kevin Woodcock and Private Eye
And this one by RGJ:
Copyright (c) Richard Graham Jolley and Private Eye
And that got me thinking about the whole 'swimming with dolphins' thing.
It's a bit of a cliché isn't it?
But, apparently it's still the Number One thing to do before you die, or so says a poll of 20,000 people conducted by the BBC.
More important than saying goodbye to friends and loved ones? Or helping a starving child? Or donating money to help find a cure for cancer?
Dolphins are wonderful creatures and I'm sure that swimming with them is quite lovely. I know people who've done it and they tell me just that. But the Number One thing to do before you die? Come on ...
I think that Karl Pilkington - Ricky Gervais's oddly philosophical mate - has sussed out the appeal. As he says, 'I wonder if it’s just the location that makes people pick it. If dolphins swam in the Thames, would it be as popular?'
He has a point.
But would swimming with mackerel be quite as life-affirming, even if it happened in a tropical ocean?
It's curious where a train of thought can take you.
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