Featherbottom - 184

Featherbottom - 183

Featherbottom - 182

I am a little uncertain about today's German version. Luckily, I found a German expression "sich ein Ei legen" that means roughly the same as "lay an egg" in the sense of making a goof up. "Krähen" means to crow, literally, not in the figurative sense of bragging. But I used it anyway as it kind of made sense. This was the translation for the gag I came up with: "... und das ist nicht die Art von Ei, damit Sie prahlen, sich gelegt zu haben." Just to cross-check, I ran it through Google Translate, and it offered me "das ist nicht die Art von Ei, die man beim Legen kräht". It sounded much cleaner than my version, so I used it. But I'm not sure if by leaving out the "sich", I have lost the idiomatic meaning of 'to lay an egg'. I would appreciate feedback from native German speakers.

Today's French version was pretty nerve wracking too. After lots of digging, I came up with a French expression 'faire l'oeuf', that means approximately the same thing. I ran the translation past Blandine, and she found it OK. So I'm confident about that one.

Featherbottom - 181

Featherbottom - 180

Featherbottom - 179

OK, I hate giving up!! After deciding to dump Featherbottom, I'm back in the ring to take another swing (as AC/DC sang). And I'm back to the single pane format. I think where I went wrong last time was in getting too tied to the concept of Featherbottom being an investment banker. Most other single pane cartoonists don't put such limitations on themselves. Now Featherbottom is completely freestyle, which gives me a much wider scope to create gags. Also, I've decided to simply the artwork even more. Here's the first attempt with this new concept... 

Mount Granier and the vineyards of Savoie

Last day of our long trekking weekend in Savoie. We drove back through the vineyards of Savoie, in the shadow of mount Granier - a mountain that we can see all the way from Lyon on a clear day. Here we were right up against it. Oh yes, we also picked up some bottles of Savoie wine from the gold-medal winning vineyard of the region (Domaine Philippe Chapot).

Valmeinier - Lac Curtalès

Second day of our trek in the hills of Valmeinier in Savoie region. Destination: Lac Curtalès. About 4 times the distance of Lac Vert (last post), through absolutely breathtaking scenery. The whole trip takes a good part of the day, and parts of it are risky (you can start a rock slide if you don't step carefully) and it's strenuous for out-of-shape middle aged folk like us. But the experience is memorable. For large parts, you have the experience of being alone in a rocky wilderness, especially if there aren't other hikers around - which there aren't because the crowds prefers the shorter and easier Lac Vert trek.

Valmenier - the green lake

This long 15 August weekend, Blandine and I took ourselves down to the nearby region of Savoie to trek in the hills of Valmenier. First Trek - destination "The Green Lake" (Le Lac Vert). So called because it glows emerald in the bright sunshine.

The Emu Farm - 3