Alex Hughes - Test Blog

The Canal

2008-04-13T16:03:00.001+01:00

this is yet another test

Lifeblog post

2008-04-13T16:02:00.001+01:00

Lifeblog post, originally uploaded by alexhughescartoons.

This is a test

Iron Man

2008-04-13T14:31:00.001+01:00

Iron Man, originally uploaded by alexhughescartoons.

This is a test

Crushed car at the Custard Factory

2008-04-13T01:17:00.001+01:00

Crushed car at the Custard Factory, originally uploaded by alexhughescartoons.

Testing testing

2008-04-13T01:16:00.001+01:00

12/04/2008, originally uploaded by alexhughescartoons.

one two three

Test

2008-01-31T17:13:00.001Z

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

First (and probably last) post of 2007

2007-01-01T22:16:00.001Z

Just testing out New Blogger, rather than Old Blogger, hence the new look...

Testing... MSN Online indicator

2006-09-25T14:47:00.000+01:00

Testing again

2006-07-05T14:42:00.000+01:00

Just testing a new service that allows me to blog directly from my mobile. Try http://www.bluepulse.com . Lets see how it works...

[ Sent from my mobile phone using the Blogger widget from www.bluepulse.com ]

Oh, well...

2005-11-12T11:53:00.000Z

... picture blogging may not work (yet) but I can still post text from my mobile!

Testing...

2005-11-12T11:25:00.000Z

... My new camera phone and how it works with Blogger. Looks like this could be fun!

You have received a Media Message
This Media Message has been sent using an O2 camera phone.

If you do not have a camera phone, get one today! Either visit
http://shop.o2.co.uk/shop/ or come and see us at your local o2 store.

Please note: You cannot reply to this message via email.

The Garden

2005-06-25T08:19:00.000+01:00

As promised quite some time back, here's some pics of the new garden...

Kitchen Floor

2005-03-31T22:22:00.000+01:00

My Newly Polished Kitchen Floor

OK, possibly not the most exciting blog entry, and the first in a while, but here's my new (old) kitchen floor. Having discovered the original red-tile floor hiding under the crappy lino I decided to rip up the offending plastic and clean and polish (and in one bit, repair) the tiles I found underneath. Luckily, they were mostly intact with one or two concretey bits that were easily covered.

In other news, I started doing caricatures for 'Glory Ball' on Challenge TV: 5 a night, 5 nights a week (at about 7:50pm). I'll be posting a selection of these in due course.

Also, I'm off to Shrewsbury for the Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival (22nd-24th April), which happily also includes my birthday, on the 22nd. If you're in the area, let me know!

Taxing times...

2005-02-07T01:11:00.000Z

Well, sorry for the slight absence recently - been a bit quiet really, the only real excitement being the annual bloodletting by the taxman. Oh, joy...

Other than that, there's a big big job in the offing for me (hopefully), although it looks like the Dubai job might be off.

In other news, I attended the Tribune re-launch party at the Palace of Westminster last week, which was jolly interesting. Also, managed to ship the big pile of cartoons off to South Africa for the forthcoming exhibition. I might even post some of those on here some point.

On a more serious note, my father suffered a mini-stroke a couple of weeks ago, which is causing much anguish for us all. He looks like he's on the mend, but he's been in and out of hospital recently a fair bit, and is still in now. I hope you'll join me in wishing him a speedy recovery.

Anyway, back to making money, so that the taxman has something in July...

Jingle Bells, Batman Smells...

2004-12-22T16:19:00.000Z

Etc.

Well, here it is (damn, sounding like Noddy Holder again). Two shopping days to Christmas and I've done precisely sod all. Well, not exactly, I've attended three parties as a caricaturist, and drawing dozens of other personal caricatures, not to mention cards.

Anyway, as I close up the studio for the festive season I'd like to say thanks to everyone that's helped me this year, and a big Hi! to all my friends, new and old.

Back in Brum

2004-11-28T14:10:00.000Z

Well, I'm back - arrived at 05:30 GMT this morning (or thereabouts). Knackered and smelly, will post a full update and more piccys when I've recovered...

Penguins! Baboons! Dassies! Seals! Steve Bell!

2004-11-25T14:44:00.000Z

Back again - still in Cape Town, and what a busy week...

My week in pictures:

Arrival in Cape Town

Lion's Head - near Table Mountain

A dassie - native to the top of Table Mountain

The gang on Table Mountain - Me, Matt H, Lou, Tanya, Jonathan Zapiro (hugely famous SA cartoonist) and Matt B

A seal - snapped at the Waterfront

Cecil Rhodes - with appropriate bird satire...

Jackass penguins at Boulder Beach

Penguins with Steve Bell (appropriately enough)

Another bloody penguin

The English Tourist Abroad

A wild baboon - snapped from the car window

The Road To Nowhere - town planning in Cape Town

Statue by a local artist (whom we met, but whose name I temporarily forget)

School Photo - with Pieter-Dirk Uys (SA's most famous comedian, after the show). L-R: Paul from the British Council, Me, Matt B, Lou, Tanya, Jonathan Zapiro, P-D Uys, Michelle - boyfriend of:, John Curtis (one of the winners of the SA end of the competition), Steve Bell and Matt H. Phew, what a long link

Who says satire is dead - snapped at the Robben Island Ferry Terminal...

And to end on a serious note - Nelson Mandela's cell on Robben Island

Right, that's all for now - as you can see we've been enormously busy, probably won't get time to post before I return, but hope to see you all again soon...

p.s. forgot to say - picked up a copy of the Guardian today - my cartoon for the New Internationalist is on the letters page...

Cape Town...

2004-11-21T08:22:00.000Z

Back again - have arrived in Cape Town now. Loads of piccys, unfortunately this computer doesn't like my camera... Anyway, been up Table Mountain on the cable-car and seen the dassies (giant gerbils). Having generally a fantastic time, and getting a tan. Hope it's not too snowy back in Blighty!

Will post more when I get a chance...

South Africa Pictures

2004-11-16T15:37:00.000Z

Well, here we are in Jo'burg! And it's very hot. We've been set quite a punishing schedule by the British Council - since we've been here we've been to Soweto, visited Nelson Mandela's family home and the Museum of Apartheid.

Anyway, here's a few pics - watch out, they're big pics, and I haven't had time to edit them:

Arrival in Jo'burg - Left to Right Matthew, Tanya, Louise and Matt

No Guns!

Nelson Mandela's house in Soweto

Me and Nelson Mandela! At the Apartheid Museum

Weaver bird nests in the garden of our B&B

Power station in Soweto

Anyway, that's all for now, more updates when I get a chance...

Quick update...

2004-10-19T23:40:00.000+01:00

Not been on here in a while, so I thought I'd just post a quick update...

Nothing big happening really, but I have finished landscaping the garden. If I remember, I may even post piccys of it up here, but don't hold your breath.

Curiouser and curiouser...

2004-08-05T11:37:00.000+01:00

Those of you who've been following my blog will remember a few months ago I made a list of alternative Alex Hugheses - well, I've found another: Alex Hughes Bob-cat Hire, curiously, based nearby in Herefordshire, but more curiously at a small village called Snodhill. Now, anyone who has studied my strip Anoraknaphobia would notice it was set around the (previously fictional) village of, you've guessed it, Snodhill - if, for example, you look closely at Welford's t-shirt, it claims to be from the 'Snodhill Real Ale Festival'...

It's a funny old world after all...

Still Grinning...

2004-07-20T20:37:00.000+01:00

Well, it's been a while since I last posted (again). Must get better at this.

Anyway, what's happened since the last one? Well, basically I've been very busy (more details at a later date), which has left me somewhat knackered. I was also off at the Big Grin cartoon festival in Nottingham the other week, which was fun. It was the first one of these I've been to, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I enjoyed myself, and hopefully helped promote the word of cartooning in the East Midlands. My lodger's back from South America, oh, and we're both going to sign up for Spanish classes some time soon (I just fancied learning a language, any language, whereas she wants to talk to her boyfriend in his native tongue), so that should be interesting, especially as I'm usually quite bad at languages (O-Level grade U in German - I didn't know they went that low either).

Oh, well, best get back to the drawing board...

...if you can call it that

2004-06-23T00:22:00.000+01:00

Call this a summer? Where'd it go? I've got stuff to do in the garden, but it's currently under water. Well, not quite, but it's certainly unseasonal out there.

Anyway, I'm probably grumpy because it's cold and wet and it's midsummer and I've got a tonne of work on right now. Not that it's not a good thing, it's just that it's left me a bit kerknackered.

And why two blogs in two days after a couple of months of nothing. Well, it's happened again - another fan of the band [spunge] has contacted me about getting a tattoo from my artwork done. More soon - he's going to send me pics when it's finished...

In the summertime...

2004-06-20T00:14:00.000+01:00

Back again... it's been a while this time, so I'd better recap. Well, not a lot to recap really, the new lodger has settled in nicely, even though she's off to French Guiana to see her brother and Bolivia to see her boyfriend for the next three weeks or so.

I've commenced work on the great landscaping project in the garden. Roughly halfway through, but it's starting to shape up nicely. I may even put up photos on here, if I remember that is. Would have done some more today, but the weather has been a tad up and down lately, and, frankly, considering it's midsummer in a week or two is bleedin' cold.

Anyway, that's it for now... will post back when there's more to post. Probably.

Back again...

2004-04-18T23:07:00.000+01:00

Well, here I am again, still a little slow in posting. Anyway, a quick round-up: I now have a lodger again, who is very nice; the fence in my back garden blew down in the winds the other week, but has been replaced now; and the roof above my boiler started leaking, and has been temporarily fixed. Looks like things around the house are back on track again, finally, and I've started by stripping the wallpaper in the box room, which, of course, now needs plastering. Hopefully going to get started on the garden soon, when the weather dries up a bit.

Oh, well, I suppose the big news of the week is that it's my birthday on Thursday. Yay, another year older, whoopee. Thirty-three years old. Not planning anything special, but any presents would be greatly appreciated (good grief, that sounds mercenary).