cheap pens

hi there


pretty much what the title says, i suppose. although there will also be, look you see, a look at the images for this month off of my Star Wars "concept art" calendar for those of you who like that sort of thing.

once again, then, that there The Viz, what i have read for some 30 or so years, has beckoned me to write in with the promise of winning something. in this instance, and i do believe my readership is intelligent enough to have worked this one out, the prize on offer was a cheap pen or two. as it turned out, two.

there they are, then. presented in some new "app" what i added to my phone. yaycam i think it is called, or similar, and this is the "vintage" mode. i cannot see it lasting on my phone for long. other than adding a watermark to the image, what i trimmed off, it seems to beautify my screen with adverts as i use it. also, nut sure how some streaks of lines down the image are supposed to mean it is "vintage".

so what expectations did The Viz have of me, and others, in respect of being considered worthy enough to get a branded cheap pen or two? to be honest with you much of their focus was on ensuring that you sent them a Royal Mail large letter stamp to get the pen/s, but ostensibly one had to enter a competition.

yes, after a hiatus or if you like absence of some five years, the celebrated "defacement competition" has returned to The Viz. it was last seen in 2012, and it is entirely possible that this return, in the pages of the August 2017 edition, is a one off.

exactly what is it? well, they print a picture, as you can see, and encourage you to send in a copy of it what you have defaced. they make it quite clear that absolutely no artistic skill should be used, and that it must be as crude as possible. basically, you are requested to send it in with an assortment of obscenities and  general profanities scrawled across it. should you elect to draw some vulgar or quite crass likenesses of sexual reproduction organs (and related) on it then this is welcomed.

no. whereas i complied with their requirements i did not retain a copy of what i sent in. to be quite frank, indeed explicit, i doubt very much that if i had kept such a copy that it would be at all suitable for the pages of this blog. every now and then you have to do something that you don't like in order as to get what you want; apparently in particular if it relates to cheap pens.

the Star Wars concept art images for the month of September 2017? sure, and as a really nice touch i note with interest that some (two) key dates in the Jewish calendar are highlighted on the date section. 

more from The Empire Strikes Back, then. this looks like that bit where the whiny farm boy who is pretending to be an orphan goes off to that swamp planet to meet the midget puppet thing what is like the Spock of the Star Wars universe.

that's right, Yoda he was called. should i recall correctly, they kept the identity of Yoda a secret in the promotion for the film. and then published a picture of him in a children's readalong book several weeks prior to the film being released. a classic makers of Star Wars trick, than. from what i remember they kept the plot details of the widely loved, critically acclaimed first prequel, The Phantom Menace, a secret successfully. until they released the soundtrack album a couple of weeks before the film and one of the tracks was called [character name removed] Noble End. taking away some of the tension.

yes, indeed, that is my two smart Viz cheap pens off of The Viz in the more traditional mode of Commodore 64. to be honest with you, they are of a not bad quality at all. plastic, yes, but still. i recently used one of them to write down a serial number off of something and it performed all that was asked of it in an entirely satisfactory way.

from my side it is with nothing but pride that i add these Viz cheap pens off of The Viz to my collection of other stuff what i have won / got / sent off for to The Viz. the highlight of these such or said items would probably be the Jeremy Clarkson Top Gear People's Presenter Of Hearts Fracas commemorative plate. although, sentimentally speaking, i do really rather like my unique, personalised Profaniosaurus Crossword Loser mug. and all them I Spotted Jimmy Hill pencils and the slightly less cheap pens what they have sent.

it is, then, with great excitement that i look forward to seeing what The Viz comes up with next for me to write off to them and ask if i may get them to send.




be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!