|
The Cartoonist
 |
Monday, March 31, 2008 |
 I was without telephone and internet access since Saturday morning; in fact, both my lines were completely dead. As it turned out, somebody had stolen all the phone cables right out of British Telecom's telephone exchange here in my area. Honestly. More later - I've got to catch up with some work.
2:31:53 PM  This & That | |
|
|
|
Friday, March 28, 2008 |
|
Thursday, March 27, 2008 |
Charley's Girls on the telly. On 3SAT. A short movie by Astrid Heibach. Many thanks to Franz Bielmeier for the photos.
Charley's Girls (Directed by Astrid Heibach, FRG 2005, 22 min)
Film Synopsis: In this film, the grandson of Franz Bielmeier (one of the Girls' founding members besides Peter Hein and Markus Oehlen) gives an account of the beginnings and the early period of punk in Düsseldorf between 1977 and 1979 from his own point of view (which is charming and not in the least bit naive). [AG Kurzfilm]
Photos by Astrid Heibach
3:11:27 PM Cult | |
|
|
Prestige for men. After Shave dry herb. Gleaming ambergris, a scent of rare woods, and a finely astringent aroma of moss give Prestige dry herb that unmistakable tang.
Prestige for men. The fragrance for the well-groomed man.
Wolff & Sohn GmbH, Karlsruhe. Made in W. Germany.
Prestige for men. After Shave dry herb. Schimmernde Ambra, ein Duft von edlen Hölzern und ein feinherber Hauch von Moos geben Prestige dry herb die unverwechselbare herbe Note.
Prestige for men. Der Duft gepflegter Männlichkeit.
Wolff & Sohn GmbH, Karlsruhe. 150 ml.
12:21:30 PM Old Ads | |
|
|
|
Wednesday, March 26, 2008 |
So you know: cartooning is actually hard work. I'm probably going to bore you now with this entry, but then I really don't care. Enjoy it or don't. Anyway, I had this idea for a cartoon:
The first idea and the brush drawing.
Trying to get the copy right.
Final text, final drawing.
The coloured drawing. The big cheese. The incredible award-winning cartoon. Done.
Kids, don't try this at home. It's incredibly dangerous and takes at least a day's work getting a funny drawing done. Trust me, I'm a Cartoonist.
7:16:03 PM My Sketchbooks | |
|
|
|
Tuesday, March 25, 2008 |
|
Monday, March 24, 2008 |
 Always carry a few raw eggs with you in case you're suddenly feeling hungry.
8:57:02 AM Basil Says | |
|
|
|
Saturday, March 22, 2008 |
Hamburg-based illustrator Christoph Rehbein was killed two weeks ago in a traffic accident while riding his bike. Many thanks to Philip Bartkowiak for designing the notice and to Frank Ihler for keeping me in the loop.
11:53:15 AM | |
|
|
|
Friday, March 21, 2008 |
 Time for some more gems from Franz Bielmeier's collection. Before Mittagspause, there was Charley's Girls. The band came together sometime in 1977 and their members were Franz Bielmeier, Peter Hein, Muscha, Markus Oehlen and Peter. There's even a small Wikipedia entry about the band. In March 1978 they played at the New Orleans Club in Düsseldorf; the New Orleans was some sort of a rather weird Sado-Maso club, God knows how they got to play there. They had this slot in the door, everybody was face-checked before they would let you in. It was all rather bizarre, but a great gig — apart from the photographer, who hammered his heavy Nikon onto my head, because I was jumping up and down on his probably expensive flash (without actually realising this), which he must have lost somehow in the audience and which was now rolling on the floor. But that's a different story. Here's a selection of three tracks - and I hope you don't mind the recording quality:
Then Mittagspause. Mittagspause was Franz Bielmeier (git), Peter Hein (voc), and Markus Oehlen (dr). There was a short phase when Gabi Delgado (who would later rise to international fame with DAF) used to produce some noise with a dictaphone within the band, and then later on Thomas Schwebel joined, playing lead/rhythm guitar alongside with Franz. Luckily for them, they could rehearse in the basement of the Ratinger Hof, next to barrels of beer and boxes of wine. The Hof was a second home to the band. Here are two tracks from early 1978 from those 'cellar-rehearsals':
Photo by Franz Bielmeier
Finally, another live track, now from 1979. Mittagspause played at the Okie-Dokie in Neuss as 'Gute Freunde'. Here's Herrenreiter:
As usual, enjoy. More links and infos regarding Mittagspause can be found in the entry about my podcast interview with Franz. And here's the old Sounds article Rodenkirchen is burning.
Photo by Carmen Knoebel
 The rest is history. Mittagspause then morphed into Fehlfarben, and Franz set up his Rondo Label and the new band Aqua Velva. There are rumours floating about that the complete Rondo catalogue will be remixed and republished soon. Now that would be nice. Very nice indeed.
3:05:25 PM Cult, MP3 | |
|
|
|
Thursday, March 20, 2008 |
|
[...] it also helpfully explains exactly how to "pogo":
"...the Pogo is a highly energized dance form, a theatrical and emotional reflection of today's society. Frenzied movements tell a story of confrontations and frustration....The Pogo is composed of an alternation of moving and holding stances, freestyle, move and hold, move and hold, and on and on." 
11:04:10 PM Cult | |
|
|
|
Wednesday, March 19, 2008 |
Now that Stage6 has been closed down, I recommend veoh for all your viewing purposes. Enjoy.
9:17:31 PM Cult | |
|
|
I just happened to come across this link again. They're fab, they are. Apart from that: I'm busy designing posters for a client of mine, so I will probably not be able to update this damn weblog before the weekend. Which is Easter, and nobody will care anyway. BCNU.
2:20:02 PM Art & Advertising | |
|
|
|
Tuesday, March 18, 2008 |
Why am I getting between 120 - 250 hits every day from this website, which apparently is for a Japanese Rock Band? Oh, the mysteries of the Internet.
7:05:19 PM This & That | |
|
|
|
Monday, March 17, 2008 |
|
Sunday, March 16, 2008 |
 Always stay calm when you happen to be in a desert.
1:51:53 PM Basil Says | |
|
|
|
Saturday, March 15, 2008 |
The Internet is a fabulous thing. First, I've now got the new domain zeigermann.co.uk, thanks to my (also new) service provider UKonline (who, btw, is fab). I've only got 100MB webspace there, but it should be enough shuffling stuff around and also to save me some bandwidth here at The Cartoonist.
Then, Franz Bielmeier was so kind to send me a few CDs in the post with old Mittagspause and Aqua Velva Material on them, most of it never heard before. And I've got the permission to publish a few of the songs right here, which coincides perfectly with my new 100MB webspace. Let's start with Aqua Velva; Mittagspause will follow later this month. Or next month. Or whenever I'm in the mood.
Aqua Velva, ca 1980/81
- La Cucaraca (Aqua Velva) — MP3, 3MB
- Wurm/Leberwurst (Aqua Velva) — MP3, 2.8MB
- Kohlenklau (Monroe) — MP3, 1.6MB
Enjoy.
1:23:23 PM Cult, MP3 | |
|
|
|
Friday, March 14, 2008 |
I actually quite like Zattoo. I'm getting lots of Swiss channels.
1:40:48 PM This & That | |
|
|
|
Thursday, March 13, 2008 |
I always thought the chap's name was William Benton, not Bention. Looks as if your DNS entry is a bit screwed up. But then, if it's on the internet, it must be right.
11:31:47 PM This & That | |
|
|
|
Wednesday, March 12, 2008 |
|
Places that used to have a beautiful gloom and are now used up. Bad fashion. Anything that shows a fading Germany. 
11:07:42 AM Art & Advertising | |
|
|
|
Tuesday, March 11, 2008 |
|
Monday, March 10, 2008 |
|
Sunday, March 9, 2008 |
 Always check your bedding for spiders and ants before you go to sleep.
10:26:59 AM Basil Says | |
|
|
|
Saturday, March 8, 2008 |
|
Friday, March 7, 2008 |
|
Thursday, March 6, 2008 |
Geoffrey Fletcher, The London nobody knows. Penguin Books 1965. A fabulous book, still available in the Used Books section at Amazon. But there's more — only this month the documentary of the same title was made available on DVD. Here's a review in the Guardian, and of course, it's already on YouTube. Anyway, both book and DVD are highly recommended.[...] The London Nobody Knows, a 1967 documentary stroll around the city with James Mason. No horseguards, no palaces, but Islington's Chapel Market, pie shops, and Spitalfields tenements. Carnaby chicks and chaps, the 1967 we have been led to remember, are shockingly juxtaposed with feral meths drinkers, filthy shoeless kids, squalid Victoriana. Camden Town still resembles the world of Walter Sickert. There is romance and adventure, but mostly there is malnourishment. London looks like a shithole. 
12:31:44 PM London | |
|
|
|
Wednesday, March 5, 2008 |
|
Tuesday, March 4, 2008 |
|
Monday, March 3, 2008 |
|
Sunday, March 2, 2008 |
 Always make sure your headbone connects to your neckbone, so you can never lose your head.
12:29:25 PM Basil Says | |
|
|
|
Saturday, March 1, 2008 |
|
