September 2006

2 Sept. Strip 24.
Dixons.
Once ubiquitous technology store, until the curse of Riverfields fell upon it and all the stores had to be rebranded as Curry’s.digital. Famous for its Saturday staff, usually inarticulate schoolkids who know nothing about the technology they are selling and invariably try to sell you an unnecessary warranty to go with your purchase. Dixons still exists as on online brand.

3 Sept. Strip 25.
Dale Winton.
Daytime TV celebrity of the orange permatanned kind. Gay in that reassuringly sexless way that grannies love. A national treasure. If you’ve seen Trainspotting, that’s him hosting the game show in one of the smack-addled dream sequences.

23 Sept. Strip 42.
Picasso’s crying woman.
Contrary to the opinion of people who think their 5 year old grandchild could draw better than that, this kind of thing is actually very hard to draw with any conviction. I don’t think I managed. It was at this point I started to consider moving to colour, so it would add clarity to my draughtsmanship.

25 Sept. Strip 43.
VAT.
Value Added Tax. An invisible tax to most people nowadays, as this 17.5% tax is included in the sticker price of most stuff in the shops. However, if you’re registered for VAT, and have a business where you charge VAT on the goods and services you provide, you can claim back the tax on all purchases to do with your business. It’s a very complicated way of doing things, but it keeps a lot of otherwise useless taxmen in employment. There is no VAT on things the government considers to be ‘essentials’, stuff like food and childrens clothing. Books are considered essential too. What a civilised country the UK is.

26 Sept. Strip 44.
Jeffrey Archer.
Popular novelist, Ex Conservative MP, Ex candidate for London Mayor, habitual liar and convicted perjurer. I’ve only read one of his books – a barely fictionalised account of the battle between someone who isn’t Robert Maxwell and someone who isn’t Rupert Murdoch. It was enough.