Mar 19, 2011

The 1876 Christmas Day ‘O'Shannessy’s Wake Speech’: Cultivate or Perish.












“Cultivate or perish!”

      With those resounding words Abe Leprachaun, clay pipe clenched firmly between his teeth, began his famous 1876 Christmas Day ‘O'Shannessy’s Wake Speech’.
      The rest, as we all know, is history.
      But what most of us don't know is, that two weeks later, on the 16th March, in a totally unrelated incident, the infamous Great Irish Potato Chip Plague began in a small fish and chip shop in the South of France.
      Spread quickly by word of mouth, the Great Irish Potato Chip Plague (THGICP) effected all the nations of the world, ravaging fish and chip shops from Argentina to Alaska, from Tobruk to Tasmania, from Uzbekistan to Kyrgyzstan.
     An unmitigated disaster, not only did THGICP callously shrivel potato chips into small black soggy things, it increased their calories by 15 percent.
     Result?
     Millions of fat bottomed potato chip addicts waddling the streets of Cairo, London and Paris, searching hopelessly for some way to hide their newly aquired "assets".
     Over the next ten years many cures were tried - among them the ‘bum girdle’, the ‘cross dresser’ and the “mooch cradle” .
     All failed.
    Then, in January 1877, a hitherto unknown doctor named Dr Iva Turnipass appeared. And with him, an extraordinary invention, an invention that would, not only shave millions of tons of cellulite from bottoms all over the world, but also result in a miraculous cure for facial cracks, ugliness , chin hair, love handles, intumescence, loftiness, magniloquence, meretriciousness, orotundity, ostentation - and unsightly ‘snow-flake’ dandruff.
    This invention, of course, was known as (cont: page 87)



 
 













Authors' Note:
Is it safe  to stick out my nose out yet? :)

Of course, being a night loving Marsupial, I read the Illustration Friday prompt as "Cultivated" not 'Cultivate'. And so my little St. Patrick's Day Leprechaun chaps are highly cultivated in appearence, with their fancy pipes, flash clothes - and really silly beards.

And thankyou to all those visitors, old and new, who commented on my last two posts. I'm looking forward to visiting your blogs in the next few days.








As an aside, I noticed that both Shirley and Amalia are donating their amazing work or parts thereof to help the victims of the Japanese Tsunami. So please check out their sites if y ou get a chance.

You might also like to check this piece by The Labrat, who is a great artist but very slack.

Thank you very much for looking at this.

52 comments:

  1. CIAO Andrew, your work is simply amazing: great colours and details. COMPLIMENTI!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mr. Finnie, thank you for your highly educational post!
    Great detailed work, I see all characters on your picture are really breathless listening to that guy. Yes, breathless....Have a nice day(s)
    Greetings from fibbing vegetable

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey, sorry I have been so bogged down I have not done much other than to peek here and there at various blogs over the past few weeks. This is wonderful; I love the story and that poor pig is still running from the grill or was it the dragon?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Always amazing illustrations!! Those details mesmerize me!! The low table that is actually a cage for chickens, all the expressions on the faces... and the story. Feel like a child again! So much talent and skills, love your work.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Comme à chaque fois, je ne peux que vous dire que j'adore votre travail... l'ensemble des détails et les attitudes...
    La cage à volailles, j'en ai repérée une aux puces et j'ai une petite idée de transformation...
    Pourquoi pas en faire une table de salon!!!
    Je vous fais de gros bisous et à bientôt,

    ReplyDelete
  6. Really interesting and out of the ordinary.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Is it safe to stick out your nose? Isn't it about two feet long by now? ;) Oooh, I must really seek out Dr. Turnipass. Do you think his magic elixir can also cure pancakeassitis? I hope so.

    What a fine, cultivated bunch! Love those opera glasses. And oh my, but that rat is big! Must have been munching on shriveled black potato chips, me thinks. And it looks like someone is making a shadow puppet of a bunny on the wall. teeheehee!

    Pinch me! I must be dreaming. How can anyone be this talented and hysterical??? HA!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Andrew...I'm always smiling after I visit your site. Love these guys, and the little splashes of color: the purple waistcoast, the green bowler, the red horse...so much fun to examine close up! Hope you had a great Saint Paddy's Day!

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is FUN-NEE, Andrew. And you ARE a fine artist
    ...amazing talent, and you share it willingly.

    I'm still laughing!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Amazing work. Love your attention to detail, shadows, etc.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wow a lot going on in this piece. Great work.

    ReplyDelete
  12. You have a really unique way of interpreting these themes, I don't know how you think of them! I tend to find myself lost in your artwork because there's so much to look at and not a single detail seems to be left out!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Beautiful, luminous, incredible composition. Have I mentioned already that your work never fails to make me think of the 'Thunderbirds' marionettes? I was afraid of (and therefore fascinated by) that show as a child...I still find it creepy.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Andrew, always wonderful, and I always enjoy visiting. I haven't been managing too many smiles lately, but you got one from me today. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  15. This invention, of course, was known as Hot Crossed Buns!
    ...Swirl of cape, evil laugh and swing off chandelier ...gone in a blink I am.
    Bwwaaahaaahahah!


    Super fun as always Mr. A

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hahaha! This is classic “Finnie”! Thanks for starting off my visiting rounds tonight with a bang! Fantastic work and story my friend. I’m still searching for page 87.... It usually follows 86....hmmmm sounds like the invention of the rose colored glasses ;o) Hope you had a great St. Patty’s Day!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I don't know Andrew, but I swear by my mooch cradle. It does wonders for my.. er.. mooch.


    I love the pig with raised hooves and that wtf look on his face.

    Someone could make a fortune from that invention. I know of some people that might benefit from it.

    As usual you leave us with a cliffhanger, wanting more!

    ReplyDelete
  18. What a impressive image, Andrew!! Amazing, as usual!

    ReplyDelete
  19. the whole scene is astounding, but I find I'm really captivated by the cropped image at the bottom of the post. It's very active yet gives me room to breathe. pulls me in and out repeatedly.

    nice.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Darn those black chips! I loved the sogginess! I guess now that Spring is coming on this side of the world I'll have to give them up-- YOU on the other hand can just wear a long sweater. Hmmph.

    These kids are really quite cultivated indeed, wish I could get my boys to dress so snappy... or at least comb their hair...

    ReplyDelete
  21. Where in the world do you get these ideas? I marvel at your creativity!--all the people and their expressions, and the details....

    ReplyDelete
  22. ...do you think...

    (my last magic word was mebacc, by the way. As in 'hello again. Mebacc.')

    ReplyDelete
  23. I'm calling for backup to fill your inbox.

    Stay tuned....

    ReplyDelete
  24. I have to go see my Armenian phrenologist first.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Good grief, she has a tummy ache! Do something, man!

    ReplyDelete
  26. What will Ces say to the Armenian phrenologist? "Lay your hands on me."

    ReplyDelete
  27. you know i think im kinda obsessed with irish... irish faeries because they are weird, like me... i believe that irish leipreachán who often hide gold under rainbows is my destiny this is very i said very captivating andrew... something i dont understand... why do you keep stealing the skull from me?

    ReplyDelete
  28. My goodness gracious, Andrew...this is AWESOME! I am so delayed in seeing this very cool piece. OH my gosh...what is the invention known as?! How do you keep us hanging. I love the bum cradle...did you ever see the Seinfeld episode of Kramer and George's dad designing the "bro" or the "mansere" (for the upper torso on men). Too funny. Anyway, I digress. I have to look up the word intumescence..you have me looking up words now, Andrew! The palette and all of the characters you conjure up are wonderfully illustrated..so many details to sink my teeth into.

    Thank you my friend for the link shout out...very kind of you. I hope you've been well. I've been swamped but needed to pop by and see your absolutely creative and visually amazing piece. Take care!

    ReplyDelete
  29. I have been completely sidetracked by the feverish commenting marathon here I forgot to tell you that these are very cute leprechauns. The first two on the left, front row look like oriental women pretending to be males. The woman on the right hand side looks like she has a thyroid gland problem. All make for a very interesting scene. Jack Hennesy there in the middle looks like a slick fast talking leprechaun who will charm a woman and then break her heart! I love the pig!!! Very captivating. A children's story for adults!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Amazing... i am speechless!!!:-)) great work:-))

    ReplyDelete
  31. Their expressions, I love how enthralled they all seem to be! so many details to take in, to by amazing by and the light
    the light is marvelous
    and those chips
    warning taken!

    ReplyDelete
  32. that is... funny, you.

    oh, and hi.
    happy weekend.

    -me
    (talented person... i wish i was)

    ReplyDelete
  33. OK, I want to know where the heck page 87 is? How am I ever going to know what the invention is? I might need the thing one day. You never know.

    This image is packed. I've looked at it three times now and I keep finding more STUFF! Do you have a score card, so I can keep track of everything?

    ReplyDelete
  34. Cultivate or perish? A very good question, and I think that little pig might have the answer. Although it looks like he's running away from the bum girdle right about now. :)

    Your bunch looks amazing, Monsieur. Just the kind I would hang out with at the fish and chips shop. Black soggy things and all.

    (^_^)

    ReplyDelete

Hya! Thank you so much for leaving a comment. I appreciate your time and thoughts.