There are those among you who will still harbour the idea that the French like nothing more than to aggravate the English.
But I would suggest, going by our recent afternoon of entente tres cordiale, that this is probably what the experts call ‘projection’. ‘Projection’, they tell us, is when you think that others are thinking what you secretly think, allowing you to cuddle your mean thoughts close to your heart, all the while telling the world that it was ‘them over there that started it’.
I used to know a fellow back in England whose face would go crimson if you simply said the word ‘French’. Honestly. It was a thing to behold.
Anyway, you’re here for the cartoon strip, I’m sure, so here’s the latest for you, the last being the most recent. More on the convivial afternoon after the light entertainment.
It started as just a whim.
There’s a very ancient and friendly French custom called ‘l’apero’, which is short for ‘the aperitif’. You are invited into each other’s houses and pass a convivial hour or two sipping at drinks which are, for the most part, provided from the host’s stores. These drinks are most definitely not tea or coffee.
As is the way of these things, if there’s much jollity, it can go on for considerably longer than a couple of hours, resulting in steaming thick heads the next morning. These heads are known in France as ‘le guele de bois’, which translates as ‘the wooden face’. Splinters and all.. On any given Monday, France is awash with wooden-faced indiviuals trying to tell themselves that the glass must have been damp, or something.
On Saturday just past, I suggested to Leona that we have an ‘apero’, to which she readily agreed.
I sent a text message to a couple of couples who are our very good friends here in Chef-Boutonne and then remembered that our neighbours, Alain and Françoise, who live exactly opposite us, had asked us in the previous Sunday for a couple of beers, so I rang their doorbell. I don’t have their phone numbers, so can’t yet send a text.
To all these parties, I asked if they’d like to join us for ‘l’apero’ at around five-thirty. Everyone was happy to drop by. We had already invited a young (well, younger than us) couple who live out of town, he being French and she being Irish. Their daughter is a bit of both and being ten years old, she’s completely bilingual.
Leona being Leona, brought up in Northern Ireland, decided that food must be available. Anyone who has dropped by for a cup of tea with a neighbour in Northern Ireland will know that you never just get a cup of tea. There will always be a dish of biscuits at the bare minimum but if it’s something agreed in advance, there will be sandwiches and some kind of tray bake as well. White tablecloths will be spread, too. It is a formula not to be trifled with. And, yes, there is often trifle.
There’s no need to start making things from scratch, though, so Leona cooked up a couple of pizzas and warmed a quiche, prepared some home made coleslaw and chopped up a salad.
Everyone brought some beer or wine and so off we went. They all exclaimed that they had expected a glass of something and a drink or two but after half an hour, there were eleven of us round the table, the food going down very nicely with a wash of something stimulating to help it all down.
This was ‘l’apero’ mixed with a Sunday afternoon on Northern Ireland. A very charming mix.
After the vittles had been seen off, I felt the inspiration to get hold of one of my guitars and have a warble. Damien, the French husband of the Irish woman, picked up another and off we went, happily kicking up a ruckus which everyone seemed to enjoy. We sang Irish songs and some American ones and then Leona fished out what we call ‘the noise bag’, which is filled with little drums, tambourines and various things full of beads that you can shake to ease the rhythm along.
It also contains Leona’s kazoo.
The great thing about a kazoo is that it can be used when, in the original song, there is an instrumental solo. Can you imagine that great song ‘Easy’ by the Commodores, in which the greatest guitar solo of all time is rendered by the cheery rasp of the kazoo? The depth of emotion can be profound..
Well, that, as they say, is how we roll when we have our pals together. The wine and beer flowed and as all good clichés have it, a good time was had by all. Everyone had a go. Those who could play guitar did so and everybody sang, after their own fashion.
Our French neighbours, though, were completely astonished. I think they enjoyed the afternoon. I mean to say, they didn’t leave until nearly ten o’clock even though they had to be up for five in the morning. They thought, as did everyone else, that there would be a couple of glasses and a bowl of crisps but they reckoned without the Northern Ireland version of the afternoon invitation.
And they didn’t try to aggravate us even once!
I reckon we’ved raised the bar for hospitality in our little corner of town.
Let’s see what happens next.
The New Format Merrie England
I’ve taken to Webtoon, as you may know, converting my strip cartoons into the new phone-friendly format. I did this because the old format is dying out; the newspapers aren’t looking for strip cartoons in the old style any more, as they are all losing revenue and don’t want to pay for content.
This is bad thinking. There’s a great opportunity here, staring them in the face.
If you know any media magnates out there, tell them they can use my strips - either the old format or the new - and get them sponsored. We’ll split the take! That means the cartoons cost nothing and are actually a new generator of revenue.
You’d think that the great media brains would have spotted that, wouldn’t you?
Here’s the latest free video for you. I bet ypou know at least one person who’d like to see how to draw a dragon. Well, share this with them!