Lonely Schnozz

Dreams

2009-01-21T19:02:00.004+02:00

Change is something that effects us all, it's the second thing we know for sure will happen (death being the first), I like the Chinese philosophy of "being like water", to blend with change and to use it to your advantage, it's the central concept in any Chinese martial art and I think it's a great way to learn to embrace changes in your life. I suppose it takes practice to "be like water" a certain mind set must be applied and a strong sense of intuition would help you through it, also experience plays a big role, the older you get the more you learn to adapt. Another Chinese concept is to "do without doing" (which is actually the same as being like water), it sounds like lucky laziness, but it's a skill that, if mastered could really be cool! Timothy Ferriss pops to mind when I think of people who seem to have taken these ancient concepts and applied them to their lives.

There is a bit of change happening on my side of the bubble, I'm getting married on the 9 May, and I've gotta start moving house soon and there's a bunch of other stuff, but I think this is a good opportunity to be trying some of this being like water stuff, maybe I'll learn to surf life a bit better!

It's gonna be ok!

2009-01-15T17:55:00.002+02:00

Life has its niggly things, more for some people than others, like the people in Zimbabwe or Gaza have a lot more to be bummed about than I do. Anyone who knows me will know that I’m a huge cynic and I moan and groan about most things in life, not about things that have happened to me, more like things that the world is doing, I like to scoff and roll my eyes at the world and this fills in the bored patches in my day.

I do however have a low level of self pity. Don’t get me wrong I feel down in the dumps sometimes, but not very often. I have acquired this cynical outlook on life over long periods of sickness and recovery, when you have skimmed death's ball hairs as many times as I have then the world starts to feel a lot less important and you gravitate towards the simple things and your understanding of the worlds chaos starts to diminish.

The above cartoon is a reflection on this state of mind. Schnozz’s head it detached from his body (the world) and although he is still under a black cloud of obvious negativity, he is smiling and reassuring himself of the okayness of the situation. I have felt like this on numerous occasions, but for some reason I always look for the okayness in life... “It’s gonna be ok, I have Jenna”, “It’s gonna be ok, my family loves me”, “It’s gonna be ok, I can still hear, see, taste, touch and feel”, “It’s gonna be ok, people are still making great films and writing great books”, “It’s gonna be ok, at least I’m not a poor Zimbabwean or Gazan or any other hungry, cold, unloved person” etc…

Toilet Bowl Blues

2009-01-14T17:25:00.003+02:00

Hiya folks! Today's doodle is an illustration for a song I wrote a few years ago when I was a... well... lonely person. I had just had my heart broken and spent my days locked in my flat noodling on a borrowed guitar and coming up with the most horrid emo songs you could ever imagine... not a proud moment in my life I can assure you!

You can download this particular gem by CLICKING HERE (1.06mb zip file)

Enjoy!

Vault of Horror

2009-01-13T17:54:00.001+02:00

I once modified this awesome Vault of Horror comic cover and got it printed on a t-shirt. I was very popular with my friends. Alas girls gave me the skwonky eye!

My friend Muttly and I used to watch tons of zombie films before he got married and skidaddled off to New Zealand (where a lot of the cool zombie flicks come from). We used to get Chinese food and watch these cool cult films and we had great philosophical conversations about them and debated certain aspects of the characters etc… I actually learned a lot about life from watching these zombie movies, for a horror film to be a zombie movie there needs to be certain aspects in the film, I’m not talking about the walking dead people, that’s a given, there needs to be a group of people running for their lives, one must be the reluctant hero and someone else (usually the boyfriend of one of the three women) has to be the arrogant, selfish, all-for-himself, ego maniac whose stupidity and spite gets the group almost killed. He usually gets munched by one of the living dead and we all cheer. Then there needs to be the cool guy who gets killed cos this is a tragedy. Then there has to be a quick sex scene or a flash of boobies, usually the booby flasher is killed (also must be blond). Then the reluctant hero and the last surviving chick end up running around for awhile until the movie ends in disaster or our hero gets flung back in time or the disease gets cured by daisies or something. Now you are probably wondering how this has taught me anything about life, well, if there ever was a zombie holocaust it has taught me that real friends kill friends who become zombies. ALL my friends would kill me therefore it has taught me that I have good friends. Friends are cool!

My top five zombie movies (please note that some of these films are not classed as pure zombie for they might lack the essential elements, but who cares, these films rock my balls!):

1.) Evil Dead 2
2.) 28 Days Later
3.) Brain Dead
4.) Bubba Ho-Tep
5.) Dawn of the Dead

Lazy Cartoons

2009-01-12T17:33:00.002+02:00

Cartoons to me are a bit like photo’s, I enjoy seeing cartoons that sometimes don’t make sense but the drawing has a certain feel that is appealing much like a photograph, a photograph can just be a moment frozen in time, but can mean so many different things to different people, I like cartoons that have that mystery as well, what is funny is I hate fine art that does that, which is unfortunate for me, but I love scribbles that are weird and that have a certain charm.

Today’s cartoon could be an example of what I’m thinking, Schnozz is perched on top of a pile of money, he is visibly upset about this situation, were all of us would be happy about it, so what does this scribble mean? It could be that the dollar signs are reversed indicating that the money is from a corrupt or evil source, however at the time of drawing the cartoon I thought that was the right way (maybe my sub-conscience had that idea?). It could be that money can’t buy you happiness, but I’m inclined to agree that it probably could. Maybe it’s because Schnozz is opting for the simple pleasures of life and this good fortune will just complicate things. Whatever the reason, I would like the viewer to come up with their own story behind the tears. I’ve adjusted my opinion of the cartoon many times, I first thought it to be a statement against capitalism, then it was a belief that too much “money” (greed?) destroys relationships, now I’m hoping you could tell me your opinion… aaaaah, sometimes it’s just nice to be lazy!

The whole mess of things

2009-01-09T13:14:00.004+02:00

I enjoy reading Jeremy Nell’s blog. I’m usually a silent reader preferring not to contribute comments and just enjoy his cartoons and satire, however last week I left a couple of comments on the Israel – Gaza mess and my opinions where taken rather badly by some of his readers. I was called an idiot and told that I didn’t have a clue. Which is fine by me, as I couldn’t care much for that sort of thing, what did annoy me however was the lack of respect that these guys had for opinions not their own, at the beginning of the Israeli invasion into Gaza I was all for the attack, I saw the reports on TV and thought “yeah, you don’t wanna mess with Israel cos they are hardcore!” Then for some reason I decided late one night to look into the situation a bit deeper, I read up on Israel’s history and the Palestinian struggle and I visited numerous news website’s and read reports and blogs and stories from both Israeli’s and Palestinians and I started to develop an informed opinion on the situation, my basic opinion was that Hamas AND Israel are at fault, I condemn the actions of Hamas and I condemn Israel for it’s disregard for human life. I am deeply saddened by the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza and I believe Israel’s actions are only going to breed more hatred from the Muslim world.

Frank Zappa once said that people will agree with you only if they already agree with you. You do not change people's minds. I believe this to be true and I was not commenting my opinions with the goal of changing anyone’s mind. I was just contributing to the discussion about one of Jeremy’s cartoons. I did not enjoy the fact that some of these guys where so blind to the real humanitarian situation in Gaza and they were saying this is war and no wars are pretty, just because it’s war doesn’t make it right.

Jeremy later posted that some people read too much into his cartoon, which I find to be a bit of a cop out, the cartoon was a truthful representation of what is happening in Gaza and I doubt giving one’s opinion about the subject that he chose to draw about is reading too much into it. It is what it is… a bloody mess!

P.S. Jeremy’s cartoon today is also great!

Speedy the snail

2008-09-26T18:56:00.004+02:00

Movies and Politics

2008-09-22T20:58:00.003+02:00

Good day to you! Last Friday I was all happy and giggly and stoked cos I was finally going to watch Hellboy 2! Alas the pile of puke that is Musgrave Centre has decided not to show the movie at all. I really can't understand why, it's directed by the Guillermo Del Toro who is crafting up The Hobbit. I think it shows either the lack of knowledge on Ster Kinekors part, that they really know nothing of their audiences, or it shows how useless movie goers are in Musgrave. I was highly peeved and after giving the poor teller chick a good dose of stink eye (hey, someone needed to take the wrath!) Jen and I opted for Taken with Liam Neeson. I'm extremely happy to report that this choice re-enforced my calm. I thought it was a classic "Skit n Donner" action flick! I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the Bourne films.

In other news, on Thursday our country will be leaderless. Thabo was ousted by his chommies on Sunday. I'm not one for politics, so why not go over HERE for political commentry.

That's all for tonight, folks!

Howzeez!

2008-09-21T09:02:00.005+02:00

Hello. I have been hard at work putting together another website for another project called Polony. You can take a squizz at www.polony.co.za we do comics and rants and the site is the home of Captain Polony and the Squirtybutt Rectestinals, which is the best band in the world!

Other than that I have been playing with some ideas for this domain, I have a kinda cool idea of where to take Lonely Schnozz next, but I'll need to take a holiday to get it done. I've missed a good couple of months of Sam and Fuzzy, this is not a bad thing as now I can read from where I left off which I prefer cos then I get more into the storyline.

Cool! See the 3 of you again soon!

Brrrrrrrr...

2008-04-23T21:54:00.004+02:00

Howzeez! Winter is sneaking it's chilly head round the corner and I have a feeling that this years Flu is gonna whack me any day now! My body is definitely not gonna be able to stop it, cos I've been through the wars in the last few weeks and I had a hell of a week at work, getting home at 5am and having to go back to work at 7:30am for 3 days straight. So I'm expecting a Corenza C and snoozing fest coming.

Anyhoo... this week I'm cheating and posting some old one panel cartoons that some of you might not have seen before. I've been trying my hand at the art of caricature again after 5 years, which I used to be quite good at but gave it up after one of my sketches made a drunk lady cry.

Poo Humour!

2008-04-13T11:13:00.002+02:00

Howzeez! Sometimes when a cartoonist feels that no one actually cares about his thought provoking, spiritual and precious work, he has to resort to "Poo Humour" to please the masses.

This week is going to be hell at work! When, oh, when will I get my cartooning break (violin music here)

Kiff, cheers, bye, wowee, click picture, grows bigger!

Chedder kicks Gouda's ass!

2008-04-05T21:42:00.005+02:00

Following my doctor's suggestion, I've started doing Tai Chi. This calms my brain and provides much needed relaxation into my life. Thanks doc!

If you are a bit skeptical about the benefits of Tai Chi I must persuade you otherwise, friend. I mean, just the name of the moves (Parting White Horses Mane) should stroke your stoke gland!

I've been thinking of what kind of music Schnozz would listen to and have come to the undeniable solution of Cat Stevens, now Yusuf Islam.

Self Help.

2008-03-31T22:38:00.004+02:00

Most of the Self Help books I've read actually made more sense if you read them upside down. It's kinda like the phenomenon of playing music backwards, some okes think this is devil worship, but if you play, say, Nickelback backwards it actually sounds better!

I've done some spring cleaning to my Blog, I've taken away some of the previous rants... cos I felt like doing it.

Years ago I fell in love with a schweet cartoon called The Western Nostril, then I forgot about it and now I've found it again! Yay!

Did you know, if you click on the cartoon above it grows bigger? It's true, try it!

Scared of life?

2008-01-16T07:51:00.003+02:00

Lenchin?

2008-01-09T08:11:00.001+02:00

Lenchin was the name of my girlfriend's first dog. Who the hell names their dog Lenchin???

Snails are legends!

2008-01-05T07:47:00.001+02:00

My love for snails in cartoons stems from the brilliant work of Gus Ferguson, one of South Africa's all time great cartoonists.

Rolo man

2007-11-12T18:02:00.003+02:00

This cartoon is inspired by my Step-Father, Craig. He never gave up on finding his true love.

A week late!

2007-11-03T08:52:00.001+02:00

Hiya! Looks like I've missed a week of updating my blog! I've noticed I seem to be a weekly blogger. I missed last week cos of being flippen busy at work! Here are a few sketcharoonies from my new sketchbooks. I wish I could sketch as regularly as Jason or Rico. I'm getting there!

I'm going to art lessons with this cool artist Steve Mandy, it's been awesome! Also went and learned to make Sushi with my brother at the Fusion Cooking School, it was great and I hope to go to a Thai cooking class next. I love Thai Green Curry!

Drawings.

2007-10-19T21:11:00.001+02:00

Ze Chicken of Love!

2007-10-12T20:27:00.001+02:00

CHECK THIS! Pretty cool I think! It’s great to see I’m not the only one scribbling on things for free!

Today was my last day at work. I start my new job as a web designer on Monday! The ladies at my previous employment gave me a swell bag as a going away present, it has nice pocket thingies to keep my pens and sketchbook in, so that is nice!

Remember when I said I was gonna stick new schnozz cartoons up? Well I haven’t gotten around to be doing some “Schnozzing” cos of life being full of niggly things! I’m going to a wedding tomorrow so hopefully I’ll see/hear/notice stuff that will make my brain juice leak out into my sketchbook and produce one of these rare Schnozz cartoons!

Strange

2007-10-06T10:57:00.001+02:00

Hello there! Wowee, I had a strange week! Last Saturday I ended up at a dinner dance at an old age home! Jenna and I where the youngest there by 70 years. All I can say is old grannies are savages! Then on Sunday we had to drive 6 hours to a very strange place called Morgenzor to have lunch with my Granfather who is ancient! The town of Morgenzor is like a ghost town! Nobody lives there! There are run down old houses that appear empty and there was this one particular house that turned out to be the hotel. This hotel had the eeriest old decor with candle chandeliers and draping curtains! It reminded me of Hotel California by the Eagles! The lunch was fantastic non the less and they had good wine!

Anyway... if you enjoy calming music and fun with pixelated characters then check out Nifflas' Games! I play Knytt stories to relax!

Poems

2007-09-26T21:20:00.001+02:00

Mr Pants

2007-09-18T23:03:00.002+02:00

Mr Pants is an early character of mine that I haven't used for years. He has a floating eyeball cos that stuff is freaky, man.

BOx of Head

2007-09-13T22:44:00.000+02:00

Did you know that taking a snooze after lunch is good for you? It's true!

Chopsticks!

2007-09-10T21:36:00.000+02:00

Hello! Do you like Chinese Food? I love Chinese! The only crappy thing about Chinese for me is my absolute uselessness with chopsticks... and I don't care what anyone says, it's not Chinese Food without chopsticks! Luckily I stumbled upon THIS which makes my brain happy and my tummy full!