Thursday 17 July 2008

You Make Me Feel Like Dancin'

Wow. You guys. You guys.

Since yesterday's rather pathetic plea for cash donations to help renew my hosting for my www.thecarrottykid.co.uk domain, you gorgeous, lovely people have taken pity on my terrible plight, and left me richer to the tune of some forty pounds.

Big, sticky thank yous go out to Summer, Shawn, Stephen, Richard and Diane. You are all one hundred percent spectacular. Thank you!

I am genuinely touched and humbled by your generosity. It's the spirit of kindness and humanity on display that has really made me a richer man today.

Well, that and the forty pounds, obviously.

All this loveliness has made me want to dance with joy. In fact, let us all dance together. Let us dance naked, like this lot in this excellent video for a song called Toejam, done by the Brighton Port Authority (aka Norman 'Fatboy Slim' Cook, Talking Heads' frontman David Byrne and Dizzee Rascal). This video made me smile, the song is lovely and it features the most inventive use of censor bars I have ever seen.

I bestow it to you as a big, sloppy thank you to all of you who donated to Carrot Aid.

Enjoy. And thank you again!



- Fanton.

Wednesday 16 July 2008

Money For Nothing

Money, money, money
Must be funny
In the rich man's world.

- Abba, 1976.

Ah, how wise those Swedish songsters were!

Money must be funny in a rich man's world, because it sure as heck isn't funny in this particular poor man's world.

Yup, I'm utterly skint this month, due to a hilarious (read: depressing) chain of events involving the Student Loans Company, my bank and a shed-load of charges. Bastards.

As such, I have precisely fifteen pounds to see me through the rest of the month, which means I could well be dead by the time you read this, if my new diet of super-cheap pasta and baked beans conspires to kill me.

To rub further salt into my penniless wounds, I received notification that my renewal payment for www.thecarrottykid.co.uk (my excellent webcomic) was declined, due to the aforementioned lack of funds, which is doubly annoying because I spent the past two days working on that damned site, only to learn it could disappear just like that.

I have tried to reason with my webhost, but they tell me its an automated process, and after an unspecified period of time, accounts that are in arrears will be deleted.

Sigh.

As well as wiping the Carrotty Kid from the internet, this'll also have a knock-on effect on all the sites in the Likely Empire, as Lord Likely's site and this very blog both use The Carrotty Kid's webspace to host various images and bits and pieces.

IT COULD MEAN THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT.

I don't like to beg, but as the forces of evil rise against me, I figure I might as well throw down my hat and ask for a few pennies from benevolent passers-by.

So, I give you: Carrot Aid.

If you have ever found yourself chuckling at my crazy cartoon carrot, or if you have simply enjoyed the bright colours and swirly lines, then perhaps you would like to donate a little bit to the Carrot Aid Carrot Fund. Or, if you are an avid follower of His Lordship, maybe you too could see your way to throwing a few coins in my virtual hat? Pretty please?

Obviously, I'm not going to force anyone to part with their precious cash, nor will I hate you if you don't give anything, but in these desperate times, desperate measures are called for, so I thought I'd give it a try anyway.

You can give to Carrot Aid via the ChipIn widget below, or via PayPal directly. Or, alternatively, you could buy one of my fabulous t-shirts on redbubble.com, and thus get something back for your donation!







Just two pounds could save me from having to eat Pot Noodles ever again.

Fifteen pounds could save a young carrot's life.

Thirty pounds could help keep a sozzled aristocrat in whisky and gin for an entire day.

Thanks in advance to anyone willing to stump up a few coins to allow me to continue churning out my high-quality comedy products. I promise to pay you back in sheer wealth of chuckles!

Maybe.

Cheers!

- Fanton.

Monday 14 July 2008

I Wish I was a Doodlebug

It's Doodle Time!

The lovely Claire is once again throwing open a doodle-based challenge to all those who read her frankly fabulous blog, A Little Piece of Me.

The challenge? To doodle, dammit!

I missed the last Doodle Week, (due to me being slightly crap at getting around to stuff) but this time I'm ready. I even have my finest crayons at hand.

The theme of today's Doodle Challenge is the Doodlebug, and so here is my take on this particular theme:


Man, I wish I was a Doodlebug. Those extra limbs would come in handy for completing the many projects and ideas I have floating about, but for which I never seem to have enough time.

Curse you, Doodlebug! Why must you mock me this way?

Talking of doodles and projects that have been neglected (God, I'm great at linking things together) today also heralds the return of my semi-successful webcomic The Carrotty Kid. It's been six long months since I last did any carrot-based cartoonery, and I have missed the little orange bugger a bit. Look, here he is now, doing some kung-fu or something:


Bless him. Why not visit the homegrown hero at his website, so I don't wind up having wasted an entire day? Please?

Right, I'm off. I think I've got artists' cramp. Then again, it might just be wankers' cramp. It's hard to tell, really. I've done a lot of drawing today, but I've also done more than my fair share of tossing, as well. Ah, well!

Next time I take on Brent's challenge, thrown down from the almighty Comma! Will I succeed, or fail terribly? And why is everyone out to challenge me, anyway?

Find out at some point this week!

Tara for now!

- Fanton.

Tuesday 8 July 2008

The Shirt Off My Back

Hey, consumers!

Do you like t-shirts? Do you like wearing t-shirts? Do you like wearing t-shirts with vaguely amusing pictures upon them?

You do? WELL YOU'RE IN LUCK!

In association with the fine folk at redbubble.com, I have designed not one but TWO wonderful t-shirts for you to look at and then buy and thus keep me alive for another month.

First up, this jolly little number featuring a certain Mr. Grim Reaper:


Oh, Mr. Reaper! You'll be the death of me! Buy this shirt, HERE!

Secondly, it's the return of everyone's favourite homegrown hero, The Carrotty Kid, who has gone from failed TV pilot, to failed webcomic and is now a lovely t-shirt, ready to adorn your chest or breasts. KA-POW!


Buy that tasty little number, HERE.

Who knows? If enough people buy a shirt, maybe I can stop eating the stuff I find on the floor.

redbubble is quite a funky Australian-based site, of which the marketplace is only a small part. There is an excellent social side to the site, allowing you to meet some sickeningly gifted artists, chat to them, and then you can gaze in awe at their fabulous works. It's a bit like a gallery, except there's no creepy guards following you about making sure you don't touch the Pointilists.

I thank the sexily talented cleandemon for drawing my attention to this wonderful world of wonder.

Bye-bye!

(Buy buy).

- Fanton.

Wednesday 2 July 2008

What Time Do You Call This, Sonny?

Hello!

I have rather neglected this blog and all my blogging activities of late, for which I humbly apologise and beg for your forgiveness.

I have been struck with a mixture of extreme laziness and apathy of late, but I took some tablets and it seems to have cleared up nicely.

So: I am back, and ready to roll. As well as all my blogging stuff, I'm also working on what may turn out to be a proper, full-paying cartooning gig; as well as toying with some new ideas for Lord Likely...so watch this space.

In other news, I may be a little distracted this week, as I'm counting down the days until the grand finale of the current series of Doctor Who airs. Last week's cliffhanger had me literally soiling myself with excitement, and I simply cannot wait to see how it all pans out.

If you've yet to see last week's Who, then look away now. For the rest of us, here's the teaser for next Saturday's episode:



Oooh! I just did a little more wee.

I'll be back with a better-quality post soon. Until then, take care of yourselves, and each other.

Byeee!

- Fanton.