SURRENDER!!!!

I asked my wife what springs to mind at hearing this weeks Illustration Friday topic word "Surrender" and to my shock and awe she said "Surrender Monkey". I thought she was just adding Monkey to any word I said (this is usually a complete winner with me) but I usually have heard of the term. This one I hadn't.Sounds derogatory and offensive doesn't it?

Turns out it is!

What was even more of a shock was that the phrase was coined in 2005 on The Simpsons. This is shocking as my wife has never seen an episode without switching it off.
The phrase first appeared in an episode of The Simpsons entitled "'Round Springfield" . Groundskeeper Willie, the school janitor, is teaching French due to budget cuts, dressed in a striped shirt and a beret. In a heavy Scottish accent, he greets the class with "Bonjourrr, yah cheese-eatin' surrender monkeys!" The "surrender" element of the phrase refers to the Anglo-American perception of the Battle of France as being virtually a "surrender" to Nazi Germany. The Cheese bit being self explanatory and the monkey bit being a comedy word.
This phrase was then picked up by other U.S. media outlets, such as the National Review Online, New York Post and commentator John Gibson of the Fox News Channel towards France who oppose the U.S. in international forums in particular, the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

(All of this info was stolen mercilessly from Wikipedia)

In short this was a huge turning point in my marriage. My wife gave me a an excuse to draw a monkey that was inspired by the Simpsons that might even raise a smile from my British ancestors. I have never been more in love.

ANYWAY - It's not really my thing to be posting stuff against the French so I went with my NO SURRENDER MONKEY. I hope I dodged the bullet of offending anyone.

I also had an idea for it but I had already done something similar before but here is Sir Diddymus from the movie Labyrinth done in paper cut -
Never Surrender!

You remind me of the babe....

Sometimes things are said out loud, an opinion, that when thought seemed to be the truest thing in the world but when said provokes so much disagreement and rage in others that fights begin, wars are raged, seas boil and people die. I am of course referring to the statement once muttered that "David Bowie's best work was in the Jim Henson movie: LABYRINTH"
I don't remember who first uttered this notion, they are probably dead now, the stuff of myth and legend. The movie Labyrinth and its characters was the inspiration for a new set of paper art pieces I have been working on though. Here are the first three in the series - Ludo, Hoggle and Sir Diddymus and Ambrosius




















All three of these pieces as well as some smaller Ludo cards will be at the Saint Paul Art crawl this month, October, on the 8th, 9th and 10th. 2nd floor of the Rossmor building (500 North Robert Street, bound by 10th Street and 9th Street, next to and above Key's cafe)

You have no power over me!