BEST OF BRITISH - RENT-A-GHOST LTD. ...

Copyright REBELLION

I'm sitting here feeling miserable 'cos I've fallen victim to another cold, not too long after having just got over one.  Can't stop sneezing, and my nose is running like a hosepipe that can't be turned off.  What I need is a chuckle or two to try and cheer myself up, so with that in mind, here's a strip from BUSTER & JET, published almost 44 years ago in September 1973.  It's RENT-A-GHOST Ltd. (not the TV show), drawn by REG PARLETT.  You can read it too, 'cos I like to share.  Enjoy!

(And no, I've never heard of ghosts who eat real food  either, but I guess anything can happen in a comic.)

BABE Of The DAY - JORDAN CARVER...

I've told these women before - they

don't need a gun.  A nice, home-cooked meal

will suffice, ladies.  Anyway, here's JORDAN

CARVER fancying her chances.

ANYONE REMEMBER THE MICROTEE 'T-SQUARE' FOR PAPER...?

My original Microtee T-square bought in 1985

You've no doubt read me wittering on before about the passage of time and how the quickness of it surprises me.  32 years ago, I sat in a Portsmouth cafe with one of my pals, Dougie, and examined a Microtee non-drawing board T-square I'd newly bought from a bookshop and stationers just around the corner.  I was at the start of my freelance career and staying in Southsea (well, Fratton in fact), and Dougie had accompanied me for the first week of my few months' stay to try and take his mind off the then-recent break up of his first marriage.

My 'new' Microtee T-square bought in 2017

The Microtee slid down the side of a sheet of paper, helping the user draw parallel guidelines without the need for a drawing board and T-square, and was quite a neat idea, although I never fully exploited its potential and merely used it as a standard ruler.  I suppose I was more interested in the novelty of the design than its actual usefulness.  I still have it to this day, although it's showing its age after 32 years.  One look at it and I'm back in that Portsmouth cafe in 1985.  (I recently acquired a slightly 'fresher' one from eBay, as my original one has a couple of hairline cracks that could curtail its lifespan if I'm not moderately careful with it.)

Anyway, seeing as how I'm thinking about Southsea and Portsmouth, I decided to show some photos of myself and Dougie from our time in Pompey.  And no need to worry about the bold Dougie - he 'copped off' with a gal he met while I was seeing him off at Victoria Coach Station, thereby restoring his waning confidence in his ability to pull the 'burds'.  He's now been happily married (to a different lady) for the last 27 or so years, and, whenever we happen to meet up (as we did just last month), we enjoy reminiscing about our time in the home of HMS VICTORY back in the mid-'80s.

Now, if you're anything like me and enjoy poking about in other people's photo albums, then you might find this post interesting.  If not, there must be some wet paint somewhere that you can watch dry and thereby pass a bit of time.  (Hey, where'd everybody go?  Fair weather friends indeed!)  But I digress.  Did anyone else ever have a Microtee T-square and do you know if they're still made today?

And, in the unlikely event that you were wondering how we've both weathered the passing years, above is how Dougie and myself looked about a month ago.