Growing pains

By MartiAnimals, That's life

I fondly look back at the early days when both my daughters were young and keen to get measured using the door frame to record the results. Standing on tippy toes was a trick both tried regularly. I could laugh at the time because for me there was no competition…yet. However, I knew the time would come that they would surpass me and surpass me they did this year. At the tender ages of 13 and 15 they now tower over their tiny 5 ‘7″ mother. However, I’m not the shortest in the family. Our pet golden retriever Ollie will always be the shortest. 🙂

What height stories do you have?

November 21, 2017

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The end of the rainbow

By MartiThat's life

For overseas visitors, you possibly aren’t aware of the result from the recent vote by Australians on ‘same sex marriage’. I’m so happy that the final vote was in favour with 61.6% Yes. Now all we need is the government to pass the legislation in parliament to make it official.

November 16, 2017

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The internet

By MartiIT and Computer Stuff, That's life

This is one of those cartoons where context is all. So if you don’t live in Australia, you probably are not aware of the National Broadband Network (NBN) debacle currently going on here. According to NBN’s website, NBN

“was established in 2009 to design, build and operate Australia’s new high-speed, wholesale local access broadband network. Underpinned by a purpose to connect Australia and bridge the digital divide, nbn’s key objective is to ensure all Australians have access to fast broadband as soon as possible, at affordable prices, and at least cost.”

It’s fair to say it has not lived up to their bold vision. Rather than go into the nitty gritty details, I thought these Newsline headings would provide a flavour of the issues faced.

“ACCC to review NBN after complaints about network soar… THE consumer watchdog has launched an inquiry into NBN Co’s standard of service as complaints about the network continue to rise.” News.com 2 Nov 2017

“NBN’s constipation: Problems go much deeper than a lack of fibre…EVERYONE thinks they know the problem with the NBN. The truth is, it goes far deeper than we know – and it can’t be fixed.” News.com 25 Oct 2017

“Almost half NBN users report problems, with delays and slow speeds top hurdles.” Courier Mail 23 Oct 2017

“NBN director Michael Malone says complaining customers should be sent ‘to the back of the queue” Business insider, 30 Oct 2017

From my perspective, I only wish we hadn’t converted. Our internet drops out regularly (2-3 days vs once a month on the old system) and often when it’s running, the bandwidth is so tight that only one person can use it at a time. Bring back the good old days, I say…

What do you miss from the ‘good old day’?

November 3, 2017

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Flying high

By MartiWork

October 27, 2017

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This way up

By MartiAnimals

October 20, 2017

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Close inspection

By MartiAnimals

Inspiration for my cartoons comes from many different sources, but unsurprisingly the internet claims the biggest portion of the pie. In this instance, it was the TED Talk by Shawn Achor, psychologist and author of The Happiness Advantage, in his presentation on The happy secret to better work.

The TED Talk blurb, reads as follows

‘We believe we should work hard in order to be happy, but could we be thinking about things backwards? In this fast-moving and very funny talk, psychologist Shawn Achor argues that, actually, happiness inspires us to be more productive.’

Just a little bit intrigued? Well, with over 16 million views, you probably can’t go wrong. Watch it here and then

Let me know what you think

October 5, 2017

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The big wave

By MartiThat's life

Just having a bit of fun with the famous woodblock print, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, by the nineteenth century Japanese artist Hokusai.

Japanese woodblock printing involves the artist’s final sketch being glued to a piece of wood, typically cherry. The horishi (block carver) then carefully carves away the line work to create a relief of the former art work, which is destroyed (or rather removed) during the carving process. This process is repeated for each colour, resulting in a series of blocks, ready for the surishi (printer) to then rubs with paint for printing. This process enables a number of prints to be made, but is limited by the life of the wood; typically 5,000 prints.

So the end print is a collaboration between artist, carver and printer. Interestingly, the ownership of the final work belonged to the hanmoto (publisher), who could do as he wished with the blocks and prints.

I love this print for it’s line work and limited use of colour, but it was the curling waves that inspired me to draw this cartoon.

What art or artist inspired you to do something new?

September 29, 2017

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Fifty shades of diversity

By MartiThat's life, Word play

Well, it’s been a long time coming this cartoon…

I started earlier this year, thinking it would be a fun exercise to draw as many different aspects to diversity through the cartooning of different faces. Well, let me tell you, fun it was, but easy – not. You see, my imagination started to run dry after only four faces. So, I had to seek inspiration external to my own little bubble and hunt for ideas elsewhere. And where else is a better place to start, than right here at home in Melbourne, during my daily train travel to work.

Those of you who live in Melbourne, would know that we are proudly rich in our strong ethnic background. Along with this comes the joys of a diverse culture which is expressed through everyday life here, especially in the choice of food venues…But I digress…

Pretty much, every face you see here (except for the original four, and perhaps just one more – can you spot it?) travelled along side me in the train to work. Fortunately for me, the majority of people these days are so absorbed in their technology that they were blissfully unaware of the cunning exercise being undertaken.

What do you love about the diversity in your home?

September 22, 2017

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One word to describe a culture

By MartiWork

My little in-house community art project continues. This drawing portrays our company’s ability to form strong alliances with other parties to enable us to bring the best offering to the table for our clients.

You may recall, this project is all about using images and words to describe a workplace culture. My fellow workers come up with the words and I draw the cartoon to best describe it visually. Each word is a new picture and over time the culmination of words and images forms a collage, expressing what it’s like to work in the business.

So what word would you use to describe your workplace culture?

September 8, 2017

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Lights! Camera!

By MartiThat's life

It never ceases to amaze me what wonders technology can bring into our everyday lives to make life easier, yet at the same time, perhaps more absurd than ever before.

Let’s consider the snapping of the ever humble selfie. I mean, I thought it was simply a matter of extending one’s arm out so that you take on the appearance of a Romanesque sculpture and then trying to look normal whilst getting your thumb to click the ever elusive button to take the shot. But technology and our love of all things gadgety has enabled businesses to boom in a society that loves sharing images of themselves. Check out MacWorld’s 7 selfie enhancing products. Personally, I think you can’t go past the Joby GripTight GorillaPod Magnetic XL. I think using it might be simpler than calling it by name.

So, what’s your selfie tool of choice?

Fear not, no judgement here. You’re in the safety of the world wide web.

September 1, 2017

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