Toulouse Le Grandfig

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[Transcript begins.]

Professor QuippyProfessor Quippy:
Welcome to The Skwib’s first ever presentation of the Pre-Columbian Interpretive Dance Olympics, held here in sunny Southwestern Ontario, where the humidity is hovering somewhere near 90%, the air-quality index is “tubercular” and where I’m sharing the announcer duties with the lovely Dennis Travesty and her biographer and the last Dadaist, Toulouse Le Grandfig.

Dennis TravestyWelcome all. Now what can we expect to see today Dennis?

Dennis Travesty:
I’m hoping to see that hunky Cro-Magnon I saw hanging around the sausage vendor!

And then I’d like to see him dance. Oh, yes!

Professor Quippy:
Monsieur Le Grandfig, I’m told that you actually won this competition when it was held in Calakmul in 910 AD? Putting aside the issue of your longevity, what exactly will the competitors be feeling right now?

Toulouse Le GrandfigToulouse Le Grandfig:
It depends a little bit on where they have done their training.

Some of the artists will have been to the Abstract School in Schenectady New York, in which case they will be feeling a sense of confusion and intestinal cramping–

PQ:
Cramping?

TLG:
Yes, their food handling techniques are notoriously lax. If they’ve gone to the Camus School, then the dancers will no doubt be feeling a sense of ennui and their own futility–

DT:
I’m feeling ennui right now!

PQ:
You seem strangely excited by it. Ah, here comes the first dancers.

DT:
It’s the hunk! And some kind of overweight tourist…

PQ:
Yes, our first dancers are the cave man Thag and Dr. Maximillian Tundra, performing: “Thag blog funny.” Thag is wearing some kind of fur loincloth and Dr. Tundra is wearing a Hawaiian Shirt, greasy jean cut-off shorts, and what appears to be a tiny bowler hat.

Toulouse, do you know where have they done they’re training?

TLG:
Thag is self-taught. It is clear from the way he’s carrying himself to the performance area. Do you see the way he’s dragging his knuckles? That is a sure sign of an amateur. Dr. Tundra has been to the Timothy Leary School. Or he might be a science fiction writer who thought this was the way to the Con Suite.

PQ:
Well, whatever the case, he seems to be getting ready to dance by limbering up. Do you see him touching his toes? Oh, no, sorry … it’s probably a case of nerves. I know that I threw up before the Oral Defense of my thesis.

DT:
Me too!

TLG:
He said “thesis” Den.

DT:
They’ve started!

PQ:
Now, what would that mean? It seems as though Thag is opening his arms to the sky, and Dr. Tundra is lying down.

DT:
Look at his arms!

TLG:
Ah, I see what they’re going for here. The Classic pre-Columbian Duality Dance. Thag is the positive force, and Tundra the negative. Do you see how he’s hopping from one foot to the other? And how Tundra is now turning over, as though he awoke and then fell back asleep?

PQ:
And he’s rolled in his own vomit.

DT:
Ewwwwww!

TLG:
It means that a successful blogger writes something new every day. The lazy ones roll in their own filth. Or it could be something about soup.

PQ:
Soup?

TLG:
Yes, baby fricassee too.

DT:
Oh Toulouse, you’re too much.

PQ:
Now what are they doing?

DT:
Look at Thag’s calves. Yummy!

TLG:
Yes, he’s kicking Dr. Tundra, repeatedly, to show how a good blogger isn’t afraid of doing the same thing over and over. Now, do you see how he varied that kick, with the heel instead of the toe — he’s saying that even if you do the same thing, you need to make it new and interesting. Newts and bowling, by the way.

[Professor Quippy stares at Toulouse Le Grandfig]

DT:
Oh, Dr. Tundra is getting up! He’s covering his privates.


PQ:

So is he saying that a bad blogger hides his personal life?

DT:
No, Thag is kicking him there.

PQ:
I don’t think we should be airing this in prime time.

TLG:
No the kids should see this. Do you see how Dr. Tundra is now huddled next to the bleachers, hugging himself and crying? They’re saying that too much self-love is not funny. You have to make fun of yourself if you’re going to refer to yourself, that’s why Thag is beating him with the sturgeon?

PQ:
Actually, I believe that’s a wiffle bat.

DT:
I love wiffles! With ice cream!

TLG:
Exactly, Den! They’re saying that puns can be humorous too!

PQ:
Now, why are there a troop of large apes entering the dance area?

DT:
Well, duh — monkeys are hilarious! And those are über-chimps.

PQ:
But why are they wearing tutus and fezzes? And why do they have tubas?

TLG:
Custard?

PQ:
Is that little one wearing a tiny Napoleon outfit? He’s adorable.

DT:
Wow, Thag is really laying into those über -chimps.

PQ:
Yes, the little one can’t seem to keep them in their ranks. He does a lot of shouting, doesn’t he.

Beware the Angry MonkeyTLG:
You see how Dr. Tundra is crawling away, hiding under the bleachers? And how Thag is wading in, knocking the über -chimps unconscious? That’s a metaphor.

PQ:
For what?

TLG:
Writing. The key to successful writing is never letting the critics get you down. Just wade into the crowd of monkeys and let fly. Only a failed writer will crawl away.

PQ:
I guess most of the crowd are failed writers too. They’re really emptying the bleachers quickly. Oh, look, some of the chimps –

DT:

Über -chimps!

PQ:
Über -chimps, are bringing the mouthpieces of their tubas to their lips. That can’t be good …

TLG:
Yes, yes, yes. This is great. Every pre-Columbian Interpretive Dance should end in some kind of catastrophic bloodshed. And onions.

[Catastrophic, Tympanic membrane-busting, sound. Transcript ends.]

The preceding was a dramatization; no actual tubas were hurt during its production, though Dr. Tundra did throw up. Its production was in answer to a “non-meme” created by the Menacing Brent Diggs, proprietor of the Ominous Comma, Lord of the Baleful Apostrophe, and Master of Threatening Punctuation. If you would like to participate in this “non-meme”, all you have to do is:

  1. Write a funny post that includes an actual and helpful technical blogging tip or educational material helpful to new bloggers.
  2. Challenge five other experienced bloggers of funniness.
  3. Post it.
  4. Link and badge up if you so desire.

I’m sure that most of the other funny blog writers at humor-blogs.com and alltop have seen this challenge, so I will “not-tag” the following bloggers: Mark, Archer,Ellison, Jon and Leslie. Now, if you have a humor-blogs account (or would like one), please express your joyous need for soup and tell everyone you loved this post.

Angry menFebruary 29, 1933, Capipi Bumonsis

I sense the voyage is about to come to an end. The customs agents here are strange men. Their beards are not mellow, but wild and full of strife.

Oh, for a helping of soup!

But there is no rest. The man with the cane spots my imagined tail, and I am nicked. The police are angry.

They make me play whist.

About the Photographer: Toulouse Le Grandfig was a surrealist painter, photographer and writer who never gave up dadaism. Unfortunately, he was beyond the reach of traditional foot architecture.

For most of his life, the artist was perpendicular, occasionally ingested the bodily fluids of other mammals, and seldom baked.

Humor-blogs.com is cooking. You should go there and vote for this post. We will send you muffins to say thank you. Speaking of muffins

Bugler's Mouth strikes the ship!April 12, Jungian Analysis

Swollen cheeks and brass protuberances strike the crew of the Good Ship Plotkin. It is the worst outbreak of Bugler’s Mouth I’ve seen since the Great War. One by one, the crew is afflicted, and I am left alone to man the ship with “Ahoy Gregor you great walloping pederast.” Alas, my monkey burns…

Next Time: Angry Beards

About the Photographer: Toulouse Le Grandfig was a surrealist painter, photographer and writer who never gave up dadaism. Also, he played with an incomplete deck of cards.

Insert obvious dice-short-a-few-spots joke here. Then insert your vote here. Don’t mention “insertion” while you’re here.

The FatesSS Plotkin, circa. 1901

I separate the mists of time like the Great Jabber Monkey’s own cosmic speculum.

The Fates glare at me as I slowly walk up the gangway: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos.

“You cannot avoid your destiny,” Clotho says to me, her sea-cap at a jaunty angle.

“No,” Lachesis affirmed. “There is no escape.”

“Arf!” said Atropos, and then piddled on Clotho’s gaberdine cruiseware.

Next Time: A Brassademic

About the Photographer: Toulouse Le Grandfig was a surrealist painter, photographer and writer who never gave up dadaism. Also, he played a mean sousaphone.

The staff apologies for the inadvertent classical allusions used in this post. If you would go here and tell us off, we’d appreciate it. Then mess with these people.

Dennis TravestyBrighton, circa. 2000

This young gent claims that his name is Dennis Travesty. Don at Prancing Fairy College.

I call him Coclear Implant. Wonder at his hat. The shoes.

And where, do you ask, are the monkeys in this photo? They consumed his artificial eyelashes shortly after it was snapped.

And still, I travel…

Next Time: When Fate Has Its Say

About the Photographer: Toulouse Le Grandfig was a surrealist painter, photographer and writer who never gave up dadaism. Also, he never said never … well, almost never.

You know who’s really attractive, especially when they’re wearing pants and paper bags? This fine group. You should check them out. And then eat more stew.

Onion-lovingShattolott City, 1932

The man who loved onions.

He loved onions

Loved em. Really.

He loooved them. If you catch my drift.

The authorities frowned on his vegetable affections, but he would not stop. I sing joy monkey monkey at his happy artifice.

But in this country, I did not eat.

Next Time: On the Fields of Eton

About the Photographer: Toulouse Le Grandfig was a surrealist painter, photographer and writer who never gave up dadaism. Also, he never wore that frilly gown. Never!

Seriously, you have to click on this link, sign in and vote, or The Skwib will cease to exist. We’re fading already!

In the land of the AmazonsHermitage Villas, 3000 BC

I’m in the land of the Amazons. The women are giant. And cruel. They play a game called “Truncheons and Skulls” with the men.

The winners levitate the unfortunate survivors; these poor devils are forced to laugh at their ignominious floating before they are consumed by carnivorous haberdashery.

I weep. My cigar is flaccid. All-told, I am sorry to have left the boat.

Next Time: Onionania

About the Photographer: Toulouse Le Grandfig was a surrealist painter, photographer and writer who never gave up dadaism. Also, he was fond of mulit-layered conundrums that could be fried with garlic.

Humor-blogs.com is sorry to have left the boat. You know, you’re never supposed to leave the boat. Watch for tigers if you do.

Lok-laach-doJanuary 22, 1978

It appears that in the future, the world is inhabited by a strange race of bird people. I am a happy fellow indeed!

Lok-laach-do is my boon companion, though he is molting.

His teeth are the razors in my soup! His hat is silly! Most egregious is his mustache.

And now, I sing.

Next Time: Land of Large Women

About the Photographer: Toulouse Le Grandfig was a surrealist painter, photographer and writer who never gave up dadaism. Also, his pate was paddled.

You know who could use a good paddling? Yeah. Them too.

Buster Keaton's inner earJanuary 12, 1932

Our first port of call was Buster Keaton’s inner ear. I think we have discovered why he is always falling down. He has a lovely — if transgendered — higher primate living in his cochlea. Perhaps if she . . . he. . . it. Lovely it! Did not spit so much like a camel while Buster danced the tango.

Pity Buster and his aural inhibitor — his perilymphatic fluid sullied by transpittle, not transducing at all like mine, or your’s, or even like all the monkeys’.

Also, it seems that I am travelling backwards in time.

Next Time: Come Fly With Me

About the Photographer: Toulouse Le Grandfig was a surrealist painter, photographer, and writer who never gave up dadaism. He was a prodigious eater of soup.

Humor-blogs.com is tomato soup. Alltop is Cream of Asparagus.

Agamon and Piffles on board the PlotnikDecember 37, 1932

My voyage begins on the Ukranian Steam Ship, the Plotnik. On the first day, I met our captain. A diminutive, if stern fellow, by the name of Agamon Destroyer of Life. His constant companion was a mute who went by the name of Piffles. (Though he also answered to “Ahoy Gregor you great walloping pederast.”)

We set sail from Kiev, a week before I left Paris. The sea breeze! The flying monkeys of the Ukraine. Ah, it was a dream come true.

Next Time: Buster Keaton’s Inner Ear

About the Photographer: Toulouse Le Grandfig was a surrealist painter, photographer, writer, and a tremendous watchtower, glistening in the fetid fields of the mind. He ate truffles, magnets and things that made him feel “squingy.” Also, he was a parakeet.

Humor-blogs.com is not a parakeet. It is a dolphin. A flappy, exuberant dolphin of joy. Alltop is a cruller.

Entry 2: Dictated: April 26, 1951 (continued from Part One)

For our first session, I thought I would try to understand Grandfig’s psychosis through the medium of his art. I brought in the artwork he had been working on for a hat-maker, and had him role-play what the characters were saying to one another. [Figure 8]

Hat dudesFrom recording of patient interview, April 26, 1951:

Dr. Cornelius: So what are the men in this first panel saying to one another Mr. Grandfig?

Gradfig’s voice: Hey Bob, how are things going with the new job?

Great Jim, I’ve just been assigned to CEO cleanup in sector 6.

Really, how’s that going?

Not well. They keep eating everyone. But at least I have this hat. Of course, it would be nice if it had a laser defense net too!

Dr. Cornelius: What is a laser defense net?

Grandfig: Something to keep the CEOs at bay. Long enough to find a baby or something to throw at them anyway.

Dr. Cornelius: What?

Grandfig: Should I do the next one?

Dr. Cornelius: Uh, I haven’t fully absorbed the first, but yes, let’s.

Grandfig: “Hey Steve how’s that hat feeling. Is the laser defense net uncomfortable?”

“Mrfpp, mdhgtr, pank mawlk … mipe.”

“Yeah, I had a cerebral embolism once too.”

Dr. Cornelius: So you think the man with the pipe had a cerebral embolism?

Grandfig: Of course not. Jones is an idiot.

[sound of heavy sigh]

Dr. Cornelius: How about this last one?

Grandfig: Oh, they’re in love.

[recording stops]

Apparently, Mr. Scott’s amateur diagnosis is correct. Clearly, there are repressed issues afoot, so for our next session, I asked Grandfig to create a painting of his family, and he produced Figure 9:

the family of T le G.

I administered 150 mg of thorazine immediately.

When Grandfig had calmed, I asked him why he was so obsessed with anthropophagy. Had he eaten people?

He was groggy, but he answered. “Not in this timeline Doctor. And in the Land of the Future, all I ever ate was one foot. One foot! You can’t be a cannibal if you eat one foot. Especially if you didn’t know it was a foot. You know I don’t mind telling you, I wish I’d never had my tail removed, then none of this would ever have happened.”

Entry 3: Dictated: April 27, 1951

Thanks for the thorazine!When I dropped by Grandfig’s secured room to see how his night went, I was surprised to see that he was gone. All that was left was a postcard and a small can of food. I ripped off the label, for the record.

The content of the postcard is clearly indicative of some kind of deep paranoia, probably brought about by eating a foot and/or being abused by homosexual Nazis. I must say, I was worried about the veiled threat that I would see Grandfig “in the future.”. The food was clearly mislabeled, as it turned out to be some kind of canned meat.

It was, however, delicious.

You can finds all sorts of canned meat here and some botulism here. My apologies to the authors of The Big Bus.