There are some who simply will not care (and rightly so), many more who wouldn’t even begin to understand. There are some fortunate folks however, who would be delighted and honoured and I count myself among them. Last night, half a dozen well meaning fellows and I had dinner with Rodney Eade, Coach of the Western Bulldogs. Hooray!
How did I, a humble apiarist and model rail enthusiast find myself in this privileged position?
Two years ago I had been drawing cartoons for ever, getting stuff published every now and then but not really. My middle age crisis and existential fear of death were such that a decision was looming, if my cartooning didn’t take a turn for the better soonish I would relinquish the “I am going to be a cartoonist when I grow up” dream. I would keep drawing of course but stop trying to flog it around everywhere sort of thing. Sigh.
Around this time I bought a stylish Wacom drawing tablet and was coincidentally posting on bigfooty.com about my recently discovered enthusiasm for the Western Bulldogs AFL team.
One of my dearest friends
I drew a series of stupid cartoons about football and stuck them on bigfooty (you can see them here if you can be bothered). I had found my muse in the form of a first round draft pick named Adam Cooney and all his friends.
One of the cartoons I drew was posted at puntroadend.com and got spotted by the lovely Jeff Richardson of the mighty Coodabeens. It is one of my favourite cartoons.
I love Richo
Jeff and I chatted and he suggested I speak to Crikey. The rest is Cartoons about dogs history, I have been employed as a full time cartoonist for over 5 months now and I have been on telly! Hanging around on football forums has made me some lovely new friends and removed all my credibility with all my other friends. The long term goal is to become the bulldogs number one ticket holder (note to self, become a lot more famous).
Some of the gang from woof.net.au get together with Coach Eade for an informal dinner occasionally. He is happy to talk about almost any and everything and is particularly good at communicating his enthusiasm for football. It is footy wonk heaven. Aside from me, all of the other blokes at dinner knew (for example), which way the wind was blowing at Whitten Oval during the fourth quarter of the 1983 preliminary final when Geelong Full Forward, Damien Nipple kicked the winning point on the run from 55 metres out to knock the dogs out of contention. Or something. I know that Woofer didn’t used to have a moustache. Dinner conversation is always off the record of course (Rocket had the Crispy Pork Belly with Shredded Cabbage, Cucumber, Mint Salad and a Sticky Orange Caramel Sauce).
I took this photo.
Rocket off the record at Touks
But I didnt take this one.
Let me lick you
I gave Rocket a firstdogonthemoon Calendar and you too can be the proud owner of a First Dog calendar just like Rodney Eade’s one! Go here! I made the calendars myself last year but this year they have been hand knitted by Chinese Orphans or trained ants or old people, I don’t recall.
Anyway, he drank lime and soda and told us about how Ben Cousins is actually from the moon and would be perfect at Richmond because they are all moon monsters (not true – I made that up). It was a lovely evening and the thought that my calendar will be hanging on the wall of Rocket’s office makes me feel all thingy. I will certainly be drawing more Western Bulldogs flavoured cartoons next year. Take note Mr Crikey Editor Jonathan “You cant just do AFL Cartoons all the time” Green.
13 Comments
Awww, glad to see you had a good time after all the twitter fanfare.
You forgot about the slef-inflating Aker doll cartoon that brought you to the attention of BigFooty.
You also forgot that we promoted you to the front page of BigFooty.com, saying “It would be great if one day you were earning too much money from your cartoons to do them for BigFooty for free”.
I am an idiot. :(
I remember that cartoon – it is funny. And there will hopefully come a time again when my footy cartoons appear on big footy. FD
Slef?
:) :)I try to ignore your fervour for the troglodytic game called footy (esp VFL footy). I cannot equate a terrific mind, gentle sensitivity, love of animals, astute and penetrating understanding of politics, and wonderful humour could bring themselves to love a religion which is played by a lot of men and gays of huge stature, limited vocabulary, and brain-dead oafs. Their true destiny-had the world stood still at eighty-nine BC-would have been to be food for the lions, and a softener-up of the crowd before bringing out the christians, to be fed to the second load of lions at the local Colosseum. :)
As for the Radio and TV commentators. Hell, they all sound as if their bal-s were caught in an iron jock-strap. It is said that the scream of agony is akin to the scream of the org-sm. It doesn’t look right without the ‘a’.
Have a good one FD.
FD I’m taking this opportunity to congratulate you on your wonderful work. To thank you most profoundly, and for adding another title. Firstblogonthemoon; it’s terrific.
And, of course, to wish you every conceivable happiness for Christmas and the New Year.
Cheers, and thanks
Venise
:) :) FD, I still haven’t received the calander. I’ll ring the office on Monday. If you just happen to be passing by that neck of the woods :), please could you tell them a mad lady in a purple dress @ with green hair was being a bit fussed? :)
Cheers
V.
Thank you Venise for your kind words. I understand the not understanding footy thing but for those who do appreciate it, it can be a beautiful thing.
Not sure where the calendar is at, I shall speak to them asap.
You lucky bastard! All those famous Tasmanians. (And they’ll always be Footascray to me.)
Slef to all.
Slef to all from me too.
Thanks for a great year, FirstDog. I have renewed by Crikey subscription purely to receive my FDOTM cartoon in the daily email.
Can’t understand Venise’s problem with AFL. It is a game of mysteries and thing of true beauty.
Ho Ho Ho !!!
fiona.
Bugg-r. MY Crikey subscription. Not By.
Slef again.
You’re right about AFL, VFL, are they the same? It is one slef of a freakin’ mystery to me. I will just have to take your word, and First Dog’s too, on the bit about beauty. Are you sure you meant beauty?
Anyway, it’s been a long day and I’m going to go to bed early.
Goodnight sweet Slef, and FD as well. And to all the other Slefs. :)
FD: I rang Crikey and a v nice lady said it was all her fault about the calendar. I said nonsense, it was probably my fault. Anyway the calendar is on its way. :)
Cheers
V.
AFL is the only footy I like to watch, and one day I hope someone will explain what in the heck they are all doing out there. I am so impressed that they can run the equivalent of a marathon each match – what other sport does that, eh?
I was in California during a Hollywood scriptwriters’ strike many moons ago, and TV was full of all sorts of stuff from around the world, including Prisoner just after repeats of Dynasty and the previous week’s VFL highlights. Sitting in a bar full of baseball-playing, Grid-iron-following Americans watching Aussie Rules with utter amazement, I was proud to come from a country where we play football without getting padded up like gorillas to shuffle ten yards down the field.