Note from the President #105 (1987)

A lot of it we've got on film. . .video, actually.

Bought a camera especially for the event. The original idea was to show all of the footage we had at Mid-Ohio Con. "Continuous showings" type of thing. Well, when we reviewed a lot of it, well, that idea sort of died a natural death. We (me 'n' Ger) 'd just both say in unison, "Man. Maybe not." and we cut out bits. A lot of it isn't on film. I remember in particular arguing with Bob about the way we were going to do the middle with the Carrot convincing Cerebus that he's necessary. It was arduous going because I had a sense of how I wanted it to feel , but I didn't have Bob's rhythm down. Or, really, it was more that I had a kind of Flaming Carrot cadence in mind and I was trying to get Bob to plug in authentic phrases. Make it sound like the Carrot. I remember he got kind of huffy with me one day because I wouldn't tell him when he had a bad idea for a word. He'd have these Alice in Wonderland streams of nonsense going and he'd need the next word and he'd say "helicopters" and I'd say "Great. That's it." Because it sounded right. I could picture Roxanne lettering "helicopters" and it was funny. But he was, like, "No, helicopters is dumb. Tell me when it's dumb." and looking at me like I'd stuck gum in his hair. I'd get sort of frantic, too, because you are suddenly aware that you're working with someone who is not on a monthly schedule. But bang! out of nowhere, there'd suddenly be a few more pages finished or with aardvarks and carrots finished waiting on some stone heads.

I even filled in solid blacks. Haven't done that in five years. Longer.

Couple of things took some getting used to. Like Bob has the television on a lot. Not even watching it particularly - it's just, you know, on. So I'd be drawing away, roughing in dialogue and erasing it and the fucking Flintstones are talking to themselves over behind me. And after a while you're like, listening . Fred and Barney join the army by mistake and end up being put in the I}ew astronaut program to be shot in a rocket to the moon, At this point I'm penciling the stone heads on pages 18 and 19 with the giant moon, so, I sort of go "mm", you know? Like, synchronicity or what, eh? The other thing was the phone. Me, I answer the phone on special occasions - Shrove Tuesday, Easter, anytime the stock market crashes. Bob is, like, forever on the phone. At least ten calls a day. I kept telling him "Bob, you could put the Carrot out weekly if you'd just stay off the damn phone." He said it was an unusual number of calls, but I don't know. I have this genuine phobia of ringing telephones and door-knocking. The way some people are about finger-nails on a blackboard. He comes by the phone thing honestly, anyway. His mum and dad came for a visit while we were there (I know, I find it hard to believe he has a mum and dad, too, but there you are. And they're lovely people, as well). Now Bob's outside, up a ladder getting leaves out of the eavestroughing and the phone rings. So, his mum answers and says "just a minute" and goes and gets him. He gets down off the ladder comes inside, has, like, a twenty second conversation, "bye", back outside, back up the ladder and back to scooping leaves. Five seconds later the phone rings again, mum answers "Just a minute" and goes and gets him and I swear he comes back in and answers the phone without batting an eyelash.

Okay, now you can get Bob's side of it.

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