Wednesday 12 May 2010

RACING RESULTS - LATE NIGHT FINAL!

Two Heads are Better than One?
or
Pantomime Pony?

Scarfe: Strange New Beast?

Parliamentary horse-of-a-different-colour as predicted by © Gerald Scarfe in The Times on 8 May, 2010

Buy Scarfe books and prints

14 comments:

Chuck Munson said...

Ah! A push-me-pull-you! They do exist! I'm sure we'll see some, well, interesting things coming out of this government regardless of which way one voted!

scb said...

When a friend on Twitter posted last night that you lot had figured out who to have as head of the playground team, I thought "well, finally"! You need to take lessons from us Canucks, who are starting to view minority governments as just the way it is. (Not that it's a good thing.) We have no question about who gets to play first on the swings, the chap whose party gets the most votes is the PM, all that's in question is how long he gets to be such, and when (and how) it will all come tumbling down.

All that said, I do rather like that cartoon... It's rather reminiscent of a Pushme-Pullyou (which, in itself, is a good representation of what goes on in a minority government). Perhaps you need to get Dr. Doolittle into Parliament?

GRUPEK -- unlike a "group hug" which denotes friendship all 'round, a GRUP 'ECK is what the entire House (of the Commons variety) says when it all falls down...

Brian Sibley said...

CHUCK and SCB - Two minds with (unlike Messrs Cameron and Clegg) a single thought!

I was just remembering how circus owner, Albert Blossom, described the fabulous Pushmepullyou in the 1967 musical film of Doctor Dolittle:

I MEAN, I'VE SEEN THE WORLD! -
I'VE BEEN AROUND
I COULD TELL YOU STORIES
THAT WOULD QUITE ASTOUND YOU!

I'M NOT A FOOL!-
I WENT TO SCHOOL!
I'VE BEEN FROM LIVERPOOL TO ISTANBUL!-
ISTANBUL!-
I'M NO FOOL!
AND ANYONE WILL TELL YOU
THAT I'M SHARPER THAN A KNIFE!-
BUT I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT
IN MY LIFE!

I MEAN,
I KNOW THE GAME-
I'VE SEEN 'EM ALL!
I COULD TELL YOU STORIES
THAT WOULD QUITE ENTRALL YOU!

I KNOW ME JOB! -
PLEASIN' THE MOB!
I GIVE 'EM WHAT THEY WANT FOR JUST TWO BOB!
JUST TWO BOB!
WELL, THAT'S MY JOB!

BUT THIS IS SO FANTASTIC,
I CAN'T WAIT TO TELL THE WIFE!
GERTIE, YOU'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT
IN YOUR LIFE!

I THOUGHT I'D SEEN EVERY WONDER IN THE WORLD!-
I'VE SEEN THE COLISEUM IN ROME -
AND THE ACROPOLIS!
I MADE THE BIGGEST BLUNDER IN THE WORLD! -
BECAUSE I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING QUITE LIKE THIS!

I'M DOWN TO EARTH! -
I'LL TELL YOU STRAIGHT! -
I COULD TELL YOU STORIES
THAT WOULD FASCINATE YOU!
I KNOW THE TRADE! -
I KNOW THE TRICKS! -
I ONCE BOUGHT AN ELEPHANT FOR TWO POUNDS SIX!
TWO POUNDS SIX! -
TAUGHT IT TRICKS!

BUT FOR YOUR PUSHMI-PULLYU,
I'D PAY...

THREE POUNDS!......

FOUR POUNDS!......

FIVE! -

COS I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT
THAT'S ALIVE!

Geno said...

Ah, it seems like exciting times to be a Brit! Us britophiles only get to watch, but you, you get to live through it.

Rob Cox said...

GS seems to have Nick Clegg pretty well but I didn't recognise David Cameron! Am I the only one? It seems to me that DC has a large head but only a small area of it is covered with his features. I thought that is what caricaturists would concentrate on. But maybe that is just me!

But the 'Push-Me-Pull-Me' is a nice idea!!

Brian Sibley said...

GENO - Exciting? Maybe. Certainly anxious. Only time will tell if and how it all works out...

ROB COX - Well there's that schoolboy quiff, the slightly started eyes, the large-ish nose (like Thatcher's it will inevitably get larger in the cartoonists' eyes) and the worried marks on the forehead between the eyebrows. But you are right his features are sort of huddled together in the middle of a round pinkish blob.

Suzanne said...

Britain, welcome to our world of permanent coalition! The innocence of political commentators got me the other night: they were all acting amazed at the fact that C&C were arguing like fishwives at the debates then getting on wonderfully once the hung parliament had been decided on! Don't they realise that's what politics is all about!
C&C: I quite like that!
Anyway, thanks for the Doolittle ditty - I'd forgotten about that!
wingu: from the political expression "let's wingu it", meaning let's say the first thing that comes out of what passes for our minds

Brian Sibley said...

SUZANNE - The 19th century American poet, essayist and diplomat, James Russell Lowell once said: "Compromise makes a good umbrella, but a poor roof; it is temporary expedient, often wise in party politics, almost sure to be unwise in statesmanship."

Sheila said...

Rob: Steve Bell (in the Guardian) agrees with you: he has got Cameron brilliantly as an inflated pink balloon-head, but he hasn't quite captured Clegg. Yesterday's cartoon is here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cartoon/2010/may/13/david-cameron-nick-clegg

Brian Sibley said...

SHEILA - Thanks, Sheila! Scarfe and Steadman used to be referred to as 'The Terrible Twins' because of the viciousness of their caricatures, but Steve Bell manages to be pretty cruel while still keeping his victims appearing (almost) human.

What surprised me, having - like you - encountered the mild-mannered Mr Bell in person, is that his cartoons generate so many angry comments from on-line readers.

I note, by the way, that what you identify as a "balloon" head, others describe in terms of a condom. Neither, of course, are particularly flattering...

As an ex-Beano reader, I'm also fond of DC's appearance in Private Eye's Lord Snooty-inspired strip, 'Dave Snooty and Pals'.

Let's hope the cartoonists won't, too quickly, be making cartoons based on jokes about an 'Eton Mess'...

Sheila said...

Brian: I too think that Steve Bell sees Cameron's head more as a condom than a balloon. However, I thought The Duchess's sensibilities may already have been over-stretched this week, so didn't like to say so!

Brian Sibley said...

Very thoughtful, Sheila. Gill would have found Her Grace impossible to cope with.

Steven Hartley said...

Today, I've just wrote a post on my website, "Blabbing On Arts and Culture!" and I've wrote an arcticle about the Beano, and I feel proud of what I've written! :D

Brian Sibley said...

Excellent post on the Beano, Steven!