dirty (naughty) seaside postcards

I thought, after the shoe throwing entry (last blog, see below) we needed something a little lighter..Not many people know this but I collect what is known as 'dirty postcards ' or saucy postcards'(WOW! I hear you all saying 'What a shock') These are very very English and are basically badly drawn cartoons with a really stupid naughty sentence written somewhere on the card (as you can see from the example above) I have been collecting them for years...It suddenly hit me today, as I pondered through my extensive collection to ask the question WHY? Well I cant really answer why I collect them but I'll give you all a little history about these cards....o.k. here goes..

Saucy Seaside Postcards are a peculiar tradition but are synonymous with holidays along the British coast. They typify the quirky humour of the British which often revolves around sex or bodily functions.

With the English invention of seaside holidays having been popularised by the Victorians, the promenades and piers started to see stalls selling seaside novelties. Seaside postcards with bawdy captions first appeared in the early 20th Century and became extremely popular during the First World War.

Characters would mostly be well endowed young women, well built older women, hen pecked husbands and red nosed drunks. Subjects usually involved either the beach, hospitals, nudist camps or indeed anything where a sexual content could be included. The predominant feature being double entendre (A word or phase having a double meaning especially when the second meaning is risqué) and spoonerisms (A transposition of the initial sounds of two words).

If you are still awake after the brief history, I will tell you that last time I was in a seaside town that use to have an abundance of these cards (southend on sea) I looked for them and looked for them...Guess what? They are all slowly disappearing.I blame the internet. So maybe its time to dust off my seaside vulgarity and frame them and hang them in a place of honor for all to see ..then again.

P.S. Most of the cards have something written on the back and that something is all rather similar from card to card.It says something like this...'Having a wonderful time. Little bobby threw up all over harry but we did laugh.It hasn't stopped raining.See you next tuesday, wish you were here...

My new hero....and I dont mean bush

I wont often post political items here on my page but this was too good to be true. Why couldn't someone in America have thrown their shoes at him earlier? Maybe it could be a new trend. Maybe wherever he goes, people of all ages could just take off there shoes and throw them at him.Or carry a spare pair just incase they see him. This (shoe thrower) man really is my new hero. It took a lot of courage to do what he did. I will follow this story and see what becomes of him, and when I say 'him' I mean my new show throwing friend...My Hero.

kiss me kiss me kiss me...then again!

"After struggling with the thought of another holiday season. Philip, slowly, but with the air of certainty, slipped into a festive mood with the exuberance of a party animal."

One day I'll post all my christmas cards from the last 20 years. This years card is a little tame by my sick standards , but I thought given the world climate (and I don't just mean the weather) I would be nice. Also as I am writing this, I feel like death. A lovely flu I picked up in Miami, I'm sure from all the coughing spluttering art people who sneezed in my face at Art Basel......Anyway, happy holidays and all that stuff and I hope you remember to give give give. REMEMBER It's better to give than receive. Well thats what we are led to believe.
Time for a hot lemon drink with honey......although a martini sounds pretty good about now. Maybe a honey lemon martini with olives and aspirin. CHEERS!

Ah! Paris...the lights the culture the chinese food?

When people I know come to Paris, to do what people do when they come to Paris, I do what anybody living in Paris would do, I take them to the best restaurant in town, My local Chinese. WHAT!!!!!! I hear you thinking...Well, I understand your reaction, but you might just be be wrong. I know there are amazing places here to eat, and trust me, if I sold my apartment and took out a huge loan, I would most likely visit them at least twice a year. But they would not even come close to my beloved Chinese place.The food is all cooked to order, the best rose wine ever and smiling faces served fresh with there version of a kind of sake. As a special treat , the sake cups have a photo of a naked woman at the bottom (or a man if you are a woman or gay) It's such a lovely way to end a cold evening, Great food and a naked woman swimming in alcohol ....OH!!!! and Paris, everywhere.

Where is this fantastic restaurant I hear you saying? Ask me and I will tell you.If and when you go, tell them the Englishman that stares in his sake cup looking like a lost soul sent you.

love sex and death in 3 minutes and 20 seconds...give or take a few seconds. In 3 acts.

I was asked to produce a small 3-5 minute film about my work to be shown at the Wolfsonian exhibition 'Thoughts on Democracy' during Art Basel 2008. O.K. enogh words.....roll the film (popcorn not included)

the latest illustration...

O.K. O.K. I know what you are thinking.What is philip doing!! This illustration is too bright and happy and nothing like his 'real work' Well you would be right thinking this, and as much as it was fun to do I now crave for a darker me (don't worry, dark lurks just beneath my skin) A change is as good as a rest they say, so consider this illustration a little rest, almost a nap... It's for The Miami Herald travel section.You get to see it before the readers of the paper will......o.k. now where did I put my tube of dark paint?

3-5 minutes all about me

This Saturday I have to present 3-5 minutes all about me and my work. To the left is the flyer for the event (click to make larger)... It should be fun.I made a very little film (which I will show on my blog in the next week or so) It seems very strange to cram all those years of work into such a small time...Oh well. I'ts late so I had better brush my teeth and go to bed. It takes me longer to brush my teeth than it will to show 6 years of my work in my film.....and I have done a lot of work.

P.S.I love the fact that my name is larger than Martin Parr