The original Fozzie Bear

I found these photos on my old camera taken back in 2006 at the Teddy Bear Museum in Stratford-upon-Avon (now relocated to Polka Theatre in Wimbledon). As we made our way through this lovely museum (created by Gyles Brandreth and his wife) there, above the door was the original Fozzie Bear! donated to the museum by one of my childhood heroes Jim Henson! I have always loved the Muppets and the Henson legacy and Fozzie has always been one of my favourites so much so that I was completely taken aback when I saw him! I looked up at him with my mouth open in awe and then I did something that I shouldn’t have done… I ignored the “no photography” sign and took a couple of quick shots!
I quickly put my camera away again and walked out through the door as the curator (Mrs. Brandreth?) who had undoubtedly seen the camera flash proceeded to gave me a ‘long hard stare’. I’m not proud of what I did, and I apologise here and now, but give me a break! THE Fozzie Bear!

© Arfon Jones 2011. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Comic Consciousness: A Comic Festival Flashback!

'Comics 99' was devised and produced by Kev F Sutherland and held at the Watershed Media Centre and Swallow Royal, Bristol the first of five annual events devoted to comics that ran until 2004. I hadn’t been to convention for over 3 years and was eager to go to one again, and so embarked on the long train trip to Bristol with my good friends Dave and Dan in April of 1999. Had a great time too but sadly my attempt to document it went awry, the photographs didn’t turn out so well with only this one being clear ‘ish’.
Never mind we will always have the memories. Here are six of those memories from Comics 99…

1) The World's Biggest Comic. Produced especially for Comics 99 the world's biggest comic featured the work of 100 leading comic artists of the time. It featured on Blue Peter the week leading up to the convention and at the end of the convention the artwork used for each panel was auctioned off individually with all proceeds going to charity. 

2) One Cosplayer! We didn’t even call it that back then! I saw one woman dressed as Catwoman and that was it!

3) Staz Johnson seemed annoyed with me. *

At least I thought so at the time, I hope I was wrong. Mr Johnson was signing and sketching for fans and very kindly drew a lovely sketch of Poison Ivy for me. As he worked on the sketch I asked if I could take a photo (I was documenting the trip for art college) he looked up and asked me why? “To prove that you did it” I said, “To who? Why do you want to prove that I drew this?” he asked. A little intimidated I clamed up, he agreed and I reluctantly took the photo as he finished the sketch. My friend suggested afterwards that he might have thought I intended to sell the sketch and was using the photo as providence. I wasn’t, and still have the sketch to this day (right). 

4) The comic-movie screening. To save money on accommodation (all of us students at the time) we bought tickets for an all night screening of comic movie adaptations that where running through to the next morning. I recall it starting with Spawn and eventually falling asleep during Prince Valiant. The organisers of this event were not happy that we were doing this and so kicked us out at around 5am we spent the rest of the morning on benches reading comics waiting for McDonalds to open so we could have breakfast.  

5) Drawing of Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner by Chuck Jones in the café. During a break between the aforementioned movies I went into the canteen for a cup of tea and to my delight I discovered that I was sitting underneath a framed drawing of Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner by Chuck Jones! Having been a fan of his work all my life I was in awe, I had never actually seen his work ‘in person’ before.

6) Alan Grant was a very nice man.

Alan Grant was giving a talk, being a fan of Batman comics I was a great admirer of his work but sadly couldn’t afford the seminar (students…). However, one of the organisers allowed us to go in and meet him in exchange for manning the door.  He very kindly signed a comic for me and gave us signed copies of The Bogie Man.

* UPDATE 2015: Staz Johnson speaks! “Interesting, sorry if I was a bit offhand to you back then. Your mate might have hit the nail on the head though. It was around that time that I discovered a lot of the free sketches I'd been doing for 'fans' had turned up on Ebay & as a result, I have been charging for sketches at cons since the Bristol show in 2000. Either that or I was just not happy about having my photo taken... something I have never liked. :-)” I’ll have to seek him out at my next convention as he’s promised me a better reception second time around! 

© Arfon Jones 2010. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Operation Bath Duck Update: Scout Duck: 019

Scout Ducks continue to report in from across the globe each one with a wonderful tale to tell but I simply had to tell you about Scout Duck: 019 who reported in yesterday from Codfish Island, New Zealand. Apart from holding the record for being the furthest travelled scout duck his location is also rather amazing as he reported back from the New Zealand’s Kakapo Program!
The Kakapo also known as the owl parrot, is a large, flightless nocturnal parrot or as Douglas Adams once described “'the world's largest, fattest and least-able-to-fly parrot”. Native only to New Zealand and listed as a critically endangered species (at the time of writing this there are only 131 known to be in existence) it truly is a remarkable bird. Its not only the heaviest parrot in the world it’s also believed to have a life expectancy of 90 years! When the continents shifted and New Zealand broke off, their habitat had no mammalian predators, this resulted in the Kakapo loosing its ability to fly. When humans arrived on the islands centuries later they took advantage of this bird’s inability to escape, harvesting the birds. They also introduced predators such as cats, rats and stoats to the island worsening the situation for the ground nesting Kakapo who was almost wiped out. Despite conservation efforts made in the ninetieth century, numbers continued to dwindle, then in 1989 the Kakapo Recovery Plan was implemented. All surviving Kakapo were transferred to two predator-free islands, Codfish and Anchor where the bird’s breeding is closely monitored by a group of scientists, rangers and volunteers, tirelessly safeguarding the remaining 131 Kakapo in the world.
I commend their efforts in preserving this magnificent species, wishing them every success in their conservation work and thank them for taking part in this venture by homing, scout duck 019.
To find out more about the Kakapo and the conservation work please visit their site or make a donation towards Kakapo recovery programme.

© Arfon Jones 2010. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Rhyl's Palace of Pleasure (or... Rhyl's Rusty Lady)

The Palace of Pleasure (or ‘Palace o leasure’ as it was later renamed) was an amusement arcade in the seaside town of Rhyl, North Wales. I first noticed this building and its wondrous state of disrepair back in 2003. Both my friend Dave and I delighted in its creepy run-down look and felt that it had an air of Joker’s hideout about it (the Joker would often occupy an abandoned amusement buildings or ‘fun’ related factories or warehouses). I was passing through again in 2006 and to my delight it was still there, and as I happened to have my camera with me this time round I pulled over to take some photographs. There seemed to have been an attempt to bring a touch of Las Vegas glamour to Rhyl but to no avail, and not even 'Herbie Cabs' could save this sorry looking building from its inevitable fate.

As the years rolled by bits continued to fall off as the rust and cold winds from the Irish Sea ravished its structure. I made two more stops before the palace was eventually levelled in 2010 to make way for Rhyl’s newest development plans. I wish I could accompany these photos with one taken during its heyday, to provide a comparison to how it looked before it was left to rot. If anyone out there has a photograph of Palace of Pleasure and its rusty lady during the glory days please get in touch as I would love to be reminded of how it once looked.

2006

2008

© Arfon Jones 2011. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Chernobyl

Being only 7 at the time I wasn’t able to comprehend the full extend of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. My memory of the event is hazy but I certainly remember hearing the word ‘Chernobyl’ and ‘radioactive’ for the first time. Amongst the reports on the television, concerns were raised that the radioactive plumes from the plant had blown across Europe and reached the United Kingdom making rain that would often fall on us in North Wales hazardous. My memory then fades, I recall further reports about Chernobyl in the news and I remember being taught what a power plant was and discovering that we had one 30 miles from us. Fast forward three or four years later something strange happened, the word ‘radioactive’ a word I had previously associated with danger seemed to be not so bad. Despite being frowned upon by the likes of ‘Captain Planet and the Planeteers’ radiation was capable of a wondrous thing, aside from providing us with electricity… radiation could also mutate things! Radioactive waste, distinguishable by its day glow qualities could both mutate a turtle into an anthropomorphic ninja and cause insects to increase in size! The line between grainy Public Information films and television shows like ‘Toxic Crusaders’ had become blurred. The reality of radiation and its devastating effects on people and the surrounding environment distorted.

The atomic movies of the 1950’s have always been a source of fascination to me I love them. Whether it’s a dinosaur buried for millions of years or a colony of ants just add ‘atomic’ to the plot and you have my undivided attention. The same can be said about my reading habits Gamma explosions, radioactive spiders and the righting of society’s wrongs adorn my shelves and bedside table. These tales share a common theme a moral about man’s dangerous pursuit for knowledge and venturing into God’s domain when dealing with atomic energy and then a ‘happy’ ending. In realty however this is not the case, far from it when dealing with radioactivity.
Something that the people of Chernobyl discovered at great cost, A mistake made in 1986 is still a very real problem in 2011. The recent events at the Fukushima power plant brought attention to Chernobyl yet many still do not know the depth of the Chernobyl disaster and charities and charitable organisations that make a difference to the lives of those suffering the ongoing effects.

Next week will be the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster and the Voices from Chornobyl site invited artists inspired by Chernobyl to share their art in a bid to help spread awareness of the 25th anniversary of the disaster.

I was inspired to paint, ‘The Cooling Pond’

The dominant feature of this painting is the catfish, which draws the eye. However, on further observation we can see that this natural setting is in fact in the shadow of the Chernobyl power plant, altering the perspective of the piece. The piece can be viewed at Kaldi Coffee in Atwater Village, Los Angeles.



For further information or to make a donation please visit the following sites

CHERNOBYL CHILDREN'S PROJECT (UK)

VOICES FROM CHORNOBYL

Images courtesy of VOICES FROM CHORNOBYL site and Cindy Marie Jenkins ‘The Cooling Pond’ and content © Arfon Jones 2011. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Stuart Ashen’s Poundland Peril

I am not a huge fan of Youtube videos that feature people 'reviewing' things. I find that most videos feature someone wittering on about something in their collection (I detest any video that start with “Hey everyone, wassup?”) However, these videos make the talented few shine all the brighter, case in point the videos of comedian and technology reviewer Dr.Stuart Ashen. Ashen delivers videos that are both interesting and funny were he reviews electronic knockoffs, bad games and items bought from Poundland and they are very good!
I have been subscribing to his channel for a few years now and back in October Ashens set the Not-100-Videos competition. Inviting viewers to submit artwork that incorporated what his videos were about and what they meant to us. Once correlated the pieces would feature in a future video where a winner would be announced. So I thought I would have a go, assuming that you are interested in how I work, I shall talk you through the creative process...


After some thought I decided to create a cover for a fake Spectrum game called ‘Stuart Ashen’s Poundland Peril’ depicting Ashen weaving his way through a Poundland shop dodging enemies and elements from his videos. Once I had finished the drawing I photocopied it to thin a3 card.


Using acrylic paint I apply the background colours and re-apply outlines and detail that was lost.


4 hours later with the main colours applied I add shadows, define outlines and add further detail and colour as I go.


7 hours later the painting was complete ready to be photocopied.


To maintain a Tony Hart, ’Hart Beat’ feel I stuck the print to pastel blue card,wrote my name and age on the back and posted my entry.


As promised Ashen produced a video announcing the winners of the competition. So impressed with the standard of the entries received he decided to feature each one in a series of 3 videos.
At the end of 2 of 3 I was delighted to discover that ‘Stuart Ashen’s Pondland Peril’ had won the fine art category! As you can see from the video standards were very high.



And here we have my prizes! The fake PSP that plays old Nintendo games, Ashenthology 1 dvd “And Bully's Special Prize!” a Lego Samurai figure! My thanks to everyone who left comments on the page and of course to Stuart Ashen for arranging the competition and selecting my painting!
“Potato!”



© Arfon Jones 2010. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Comic Consciousness: Marvel Comics Sold Here!

I was just going through my photos when I discovered this one taken in 2009, I’m rather fond of this sign, it hangs outside Nostalgia & Comics in Birmingham and assures us all that they sell Marvel comics (which is always good to know!)

I have been a fairly frequent customer of Nostalgia & Comics since the mid 1990’s and it really is one of the finest comic shops in the land (and they tell me that they were also one of the first comic shops to open in the British Isles) so well worth a visit if you are ever in Birmingham. 

© Arfon Jones 2011. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.