I hope everybody has been OK and been enjoying the pleasant bits of summer we've had. Maybe you've had holidays or are still having them.
Hopefully you've all had a great time and are feeling rested and have managed to avoid being depressed by some of the truly awful things that have been and are going on in our world.
But let's not go there ... this is about relative trivialities.
Well ... I did say "I may be some time" ... and I have been.
My intention was to dive into the remaining pile of artwork boxes and sort the wheat from the chaff.
But the road to Hell is paved with good intentions and my route over the decades is now several layers deep !
For ages now I have been rather dissatisfied with the dated and static feel of the website and have been wanting to do something about it.
I thought it would be a job that could be "knocked off" over a leisurely winter period in a fairly relaxed way.
I should have known better really.
I did start tinkering with ideas and approaches towards the end of Autumn 2023 but as usual all sorts of stuff kept getting in the way and time stretched ...
just as I should be used to by now.
Anyway the task kept getting put to one side and when I stepped back in March earlier this year I thought "before I get into that I'll just quickly wrap up the website job ...
it shouldn't take long." Ha !
This rambling preamble is to let you know that I have finally managed to go live with the re-vamped version and can now at last get back on the case hitting the artwork boxes.
I do intend to add quite a lot of things to expand what is now offered in the new site but before I get bogged down in those I will sort through the artwork.
The intended additions include an expansion of what is offered as H2G2 digital prints as well as including the addition of some from scans of drawings and artwork
that have been auctioned on eBay. I hope also to be able to add a section showing all those eBay items. All of that is assuming I have enough time before I drop off the perch.
In the meantime there is a LOT of additional background content in the new site including historic photos and Ciné and VHS footage shot in much earlier times including in the
studio during the making of H2G2 and stuff covering the digital story.
If any of you do get round to checking it out I really would appreciate some feedback on first impressions and please don't hold back on criticism - it is all useful for me.
Just click on the URL link under my name in the signature below.
Meanwhile ... back to the artwork boxes ...
Cheers -
Rod
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132 12 Mar 2024
Good afternoon All -
Just a quick note to let you know that this is the last mailing I will be sending out for a
while. As I said in the last one - when the current batch is all gone I will take some time
out to wade through the remaining boxes and discover what is left. I will then attempt to
sort out what I think might be of interest and what will be going into Kevin's attic !
I may be some time !
The recent batch of artefacts have now all gone or timed-out and two items of artwork
sequences still have a little time left to go -
Once I have despatched those I will embark on the sort out. I will eventually send the
next mailing once I re-start listing.
Very best wishes to All and I wish you a great Spring and Summer.
Cheers -
Rod
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131 04 Mar 2024
Good morning All - well, it probably will be by the time most of you read this.
Hope you're all OK.
The recent listings of Pan-Dimensional Beings - drawings, cels and photo-liths - have
clearly not been flavour of the month. I have 2 more short animations, one of Rotring
pen tracings on animation cel of the figure animating to become a mouse, and the other
of the reversed-out photo-liths made from those. I will list those 2 groups after the current
batch of artefacts listed at the moment -
There is another to be listed shortly and after that there is a mound of stuff made up of
spinning circles and rectangles and a load of animating 3D grids. I have decided that
nobody is likely to be interested in that stuff so I will put it aside for eventual scanning
before passing it all on to Kevin who is very disapproving of my distributing anything at
all. He can put it in his attic !
I will then take some time out to sort through all the remaining boxes and extract anything
that looks as if it might be of interest and set the rest aside.
Once again the occasional search on eBay for "H2G2_AW" should do it for any who are
interested and I will let you know when I re-start. I will also keep the Hitch-Hikers page on
my web site updated -
The last 2 are single items taken from the second half of the Pan-Dimensional Beings
rotation cycle. These are basically just numbers 2 to 6 flopped over so I decided to take
an opportunity to offer these as single items so that anybody who might like to have just
a single piece of artwork can have an opportunity to get one.
In the last mailing I mentioned the auction on Propstore last summer and in light of the
estimated value said I was intrigued to know what the winning bid was in the end. Four
members of the mailing list very kindly came back to me with the answer to that question
and in case any of the rest of you were also intrigued here it is -
I can honestly say I was completely amazed !
Once again the occasional search on eBay for "H2G2_" should do it for any who are
interested and I will also keep the Hitch-Hikers page on my web site updated -
Following on will be the Rotring pen tracings on clear animation cels and a dope sheet
from the sequence which ends with a Pan-Dimensional Being becoming a mouse.
By sheer chance a couple of days ago I stumbled across the web site of a bunch called Propstore operating in LA and London. This was because in summer last year they
auctioned a couple of H2G2 cels - Vogons and Ford Prefect. I was amused to see that the package offered included specific photos of 3 strips of 35 mm film.
These strips were what we used to call "strengtheners". They were actually "gash" 35 mm film that we used to get free in very large rolls from Ranks Laboratories in
Denham. If we didn't take it off them it went into a big refuse skip. We then punched holes in these strips which fitted the rostrum camera registration pegs, cut them into strips,
and used Sellotape to fix them to animation key paper, animation cels, and photoliths.
Noticing the estimated value of the Lot I just hope that whoever was bidding didn't
think these scrap bits were of any significance and add dollars for them. The link below
will let you see the old web page ... well, it does on my desktop ... but not on my old
iPad Air which produces a blank page. I've included the 2nd link to a PDF on my own
site in case you encounter the same problem.
I would love to be able to find out what the winning bid was ! I've asked Propstore if
they would indulge my curiosity but have been ignored. Oh well ...
Once again the occasional search on eBay for "H2G2_" should do it for any who are
interested and I will also keep the Hitch-Hikers page on my web site updated -
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128 22 Dec 2023
Dear All -
I had to take what I thought would be another short pause in listings as all sorts of other "stuff" was overwhelming me for a bit.
I'm not going to go into the detail of that because it's all too sad to be dwelling on during a Festive Season.
So instead I am going to once again apologise for the unexpected extended pause and thank you all for your sustained interest.
I am aiming to return to the artwork boxes again in January 2024 and I know that the artwork at the top of the pile are Pan-Dimensional Beings ...
pencil animations on paper, then the Rotring pen on clear cels, and the reversed-out photoliths.
But first of all there are the few "artefacts" that I described before that I had just started on when I took a pause.
I will send out a brief note when I have actually resumed.
Once again the occasional search on eBay for "H2G2_" should do it for any who are
interested and I will also keep the Hitch-Hikers page on my web site updated -
But most important of all is to wish you all a HAPPY CHRISTMAS and very best wishes for 2024. Have a GREAT Festive Time !
Rod
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127 06 Nov 2023
Dear All -
Once again I thank you all for your continued interest and especially those who have
been bidding and purchasing.
There has been a bit of a gap in listings. This has been partly because we've been on a
short visit to stay with 6 friends for a few days in the Georgian House at Hampton Court
Palace. Although I was on a diet of water only ... well, water and a little beer ... for the
first 3 days it was a very interesting experience. Being able to wander round the Palace
and gardens while closed to the public was a great privilege though I'm a bit disappointed
not to have bumped into Anne Boleyn. I was convinced that I sensed a particular chill in
the stretch of gallery she is reputed to wander in but I was ridiculed by my companions
who were cynical enough to insist that management would have made sure to switch off
the heating in that bit !
I paused the listings because I knew I wouldn't be here to deal with packaging and
despatch. But now we're back I've restarted and here are the first couple -
I will carry on with the Deep Thought text items such as "I Think Therefore I Am" and
follow with the artefacts I mentioned in my last mail. After that I see that there's a load
of stuff of Pan-Dimensional Beings - pencil animations and Rotring pen on clear cel and
reversed-out photoliths.
Talking of photoliths ... I always feel that these look really dull and disappointing when
viewed in normal lighting making them very difficult to display satisfactorily. As you all
know they really need to be seen back-lit so I wondered if these LED light pads mounted
behind a picture frame might offer some sort of solution ? -
Not long ago I was invited to do a Skype interview with a Youview Channel called
Retro-Spective. Eventually I hope to put an illustrated version together for my web site
but for the time being it is up on Youtube if anyone is interested -
Once again the occasional search on eBay for "H2G2_" should do it for any who are
interested and I will also keep the Hitch-Hikers page on my web site updated -
Best wishes to All - take care and I'll try to keep the listings flowing.
Rod
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127 06 Nov 2023
Dear All -
Once again I thank you all for your continued interest and especially those who have
been bidding and purchasing.
There has been a bit of a gap in listings. This has been partly because we've been on a
short visit to stay with 6 friends for a few days in the Georgian House at Hampton Court
Palace. Although I was on a diet of water only ... well, water and a little beer ... for the
first 3 days it was a very interesting experience. Being able to wander round the Palace
and gardens while closed to the public was a great privilege though I'm a bit disappointed
not to have bumped into Anne Boleyn. I was convinced that I sensed a particular chill in
the stretch of gallery she is reputed to wander in but I was ridiculed by my companions
who were cynical enough to insist that management would have made sure to switch off
the heating in that bit !
I paused the listings because I knew I wouldn't be here to deal with packaging and
despatch. But now we're back I've restarted and here are the first couple -
I will carry on with the Deep Thought text items such as "I Think Therefore I Am" and
follow with the artefacts I mentioned in my last mail. After that I see that there's a load
of stuff of Pan-Dimensional Beings - pencil animations and Rotring pen on clear cel and
reversed-out photoliths.
Talking of photoliths ... I always feel that these look really dull and disappointing when
viewed in normal lighting making them very difficult to display satisfactorily. As you all
know they really need to be seen back-lit so I wondered if these LED light pads mounted
behind a picture frame might offer some sort of solution ? -
Not long ago I was invited to do a Skype interview with a Youview Channel called
Retro-Spective. Eventually I hope to put an illustrated version together for my web site
but for the time being it is up on Youtube if anyone is interested -
Once again the occasional search on eBay for "H2G2_" should do it for any who are
interested and I will also keep the Hitch-Hikers page on my web site updated -
Best wishes to All - take care and I'll try to keep the listings flowing.
Rod
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126 16 Oct 2023
Dear All -
Thank you to all who have been bidding and purchasing Dolphin cels.
I expect anyone who has been following the eBay listings is totally bored with endless
Dolphins by now so you will probably be quite relieved to discover that I have just listed
the last batch of Dolphin cels !
There's only a bid on the first of these which doesn't really surprise me as I guess any
remaining Dolphin interest is now exhausted !
There's a mountain of photo-liths with water splashes but as nobody has expressed any
interest in those I will skip over them and consign them to the fires of hell ... or the fire
in the paddock anyway.
I have just opened a box with Deep Thought stuff in it so will shortly be adding the pencil
layout to start that rolling.
I have also found another batch of 5 "artefacts" which I will be listing as 5 separate items
alongside the Deep Thought stuff. Here's a glance at what there is ...
Once again the occasional search on eBay for "H2G2_" should do it for any who are
interested and I will also keep the Hitch-Hikers page on my web site updated -
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125 21 Sept 2023
Dear All -
Yet again I find myself needing to apologise for a long unintended delay. Sorry !
I only expected a brief gap so that I could deal with other demands on my time but as
usual things get in the way and "stuff" happens and things become more complicated
than anticipated and before you know it huge chunks of time have disappeared. I have
to admit that this phenomenon seems to be getting more pronounced the older I get.
One item this time was our local Fun Day in August for which I am expected to design,
get printed or print myself, and place all the signage - both before the event out on the
local roads in the form of A1 size signs and 2 x 1 meter banners and on-site on the day.
In case anyone is remotely interested here is a glimpse of what the day itself is like -
As you can imagine this all represents a very large amount of work and I also try to keep
the Community web site functioning and sort of up to date and tackle local government
about drainage and flooding. As I'm now quite ancient I've been trying to unload all these
tasks for some years but have totally failed. Having cleared everything away and found
storage elsewhere I am in the process of producing a signage manual for the Fun Day
Committee so that next summer some relative youngster can take it on.
But I digress ... and how !
I've finally got back to the artwork boxes and have started listing some Dolphin animation
cels. In an attempt to make stuff more widely available I am splitting animation sequences
into smaller groups that might offer a practical opportunity to display a bit of motion.
So far one sequence of 13 has been split into 3 groups which are listed here -
I will try to keep these coming as there are a few Dolphin sequences. After those there
are mountains of photoliths of water animations. I really have no clue if anybody at all
might be interested in any of these. I can't quite imagine anyone wanting a splash ! Perhaps
I will wait to hear some responses with opinions about that. If I hear nothing I will skip those.
Once again the occasional search on eBay for "H2G2_" should do it for any who are
interested and I will also keep the Hitch-Hikers page on my web site updated -
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124 14 July 2023
Hello - me again !
You are probably aware that single Dolphin pencil drawings have been listed on eBay.
The first batch of those has just completed and I'm thank all of you who have been
bidding and those who have purchased.
As a brief interim just to ring the changes a bit a current listing is a collection of 4 cels
of the first time the Dolphin pokes its nose above water. These were re-used several
times under camera as the start of all the various antics. This item is about to end soon -
Once those are all listed I have come across some ancient artefacts of my notes at the
time which include scribbled early attempts at costings. BBC graphics came to my
rescue eventually by saying that it was an impossible task as they had no clue what
might transpire so they couldn't expect me to guess - so why didn't we log our time and
they would pay by the hour. A couple of sheets are the audio breakdown extracted from
a 16mm mag track on its way to the dope sheet.
I really have no clue if anybody at all will be interested in these but I will start listing them
in a couple of days once the remaining 4 pencil drawings are up.
Once again the occasional search on eBay for "H2G2_" should do it for any who are
interested and I will also keep the Hitch-Hikers page on my web site updated -
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123 27 June 2023
Dear All,
I know I promised not to keep bothering you but as the current listings are a bit different
I thought I should maybe flag them up.
The listing next to complete in a couple of days is a 17-page dope sheet. Before Pearce
Studios were commissioned for the series we were asked to do a trial section. The one
the BBC chose was the first half of the Babel Fish up to the point where the non-existence
of God crops up. This item is the camera dope sheet for that first section. This is why the
title on the dope sheet is "TRIAL" and is consequently the first ever H2G2 dope sheet.
I do realise that this makes it a rather esoteric item and not exactly of interest to those
in search of visuals but just might be of interest to historians and artefact collectors and
can be found here -
For those historians some other items of memorabilia have also popped up. Various bits
of storyboard and things like my hand-written notes attempting to come up with a budget
for this first trial and some other notes from a production meeting on effects extras needed
for episode 2.
Anyway - that sort of stuff will be dropped into the mix as time goes by.
The other items listed at the moment are a series of individual animation key drawings
by me for the Dolphins. These are part of a short sequence but because that sequence is
incomplete and because I would like to spread the chances for more people to be able to
acquire an item if they wish I am offering these as individual items.
Once again the occasional search on eBay for "H2G2_" should do it for any who are
interested and I will also keep the Hitch-Hikers page on my web site updated -
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122 7 Jun 2023
Dear All,
Once more I must tender my abject grovelling apologies as I promised that I would resume
listing artwork in January ... and once again I have failed miserably. I have no really
acceptable excuses except for just general "stuff" ... family, endless maintenance, more
loss of old mates including my old school mate Nick who was rhythm guitar and backing
vocals in the Deadbeats and then the Roadrunners back in 1963-66. Also said goodbye
to June - my girlfriend of the last 2 years at St Martins.
But mostly once again it's just creeping old age ... and prevarication.
Anyway - finally back on the case again and the first listings are up -
I intend to try and keep things going along steadily so I won't keep pestering you every
time I list the next thing. The occasional search on eBay for "H2G2" should do it for any
who are interested and I will also keep the Hitch-Hikers page on my web site updated.
Best wishes to All - take care -
Rod
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121 22 Dec 2022
Dear All,
Just a quick note to wish you Festive Greetings - and a thank you to all of you for showing such sustained interest after all this time. Thank you also to those of you who have been bidding on the eBay auctions.
The Animator from the Dolphin sequence has just completed and I will be taking a pause for a Festive break and will restart early in the New Year. The first items will be The Writer (Douglas Adams) from the Dolphins
sequence followed by the United Nations.
Once upon a time I used to get irritated with people everywhere ripping off H2G2 stuff and tried to make a point of contacting the perpetrators. There was a bunch with an extensive Facebook presence
using the Babel Fish artwork to market an electronic device that did exactly as described in H2G2. I kept pointing out to them that as I thought their product was brilliant all they had needed to do
was ask. But instead they had just helped themselves so I would carry on asking publicly why they thought theft is acceptable. In the long run I did get a sort of apology as in "it wasn't us Guv,
honest, it was our Agency bunch." They did however at least do as Facebook required and removed it from their advertising.
Elsewhere sites like REDBUBBLE were overflowing with mugs, T-shirts, prints, phone covers, etc, etc, and on and on. In those days I still had enough energy to bother to contact REDBUBBLE but they
were extremely reluctant to listen to anything that might threaten the 80% they were taking. Those sites that did get taken down simply reappeared with a new account a few days later.
So I tried contacting the individuals involved to ask if they would be happy if I nicked some of their designs and started flogging them online.
Most simply ignored me but there were 2 honourable guys who were extremely apologetic and said they had no idea there was still anyone around who would care.
That is of course a good question ! They asked if I would accept a small quarterly percentage of sales even though these were actually minimal.
I was not, and am not, concerned with the quantity of dosh involved ... it is the principle of the thing. I have no desire to market T-shirts and mugs etc so I of course agreed and feel I should acknowledge and
applaud their honourable behaviour by giving them a bit of publicity -
Nick Horne - several pieces he has reconstructed from scratch in Illustrator making them resolution independent.
On another matter entirely I have recently been contacted by a member of the mailing list
putting forward a proposal for consideration. As requested by Tommy Esson I include below
a message from him to you all. I have absolutely no objection to Tommy's proposal and my
only comment for your info is that I have scanned every item that has been auctioned since
AW_004 in Jan 2011 and have kept all the invoices which include names and addresses.
Please do read Tommy's message below and get in touch with him if you would like to.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and I do hope that things
around the globe really do start improving for everyone everywhere.
Take care - keep well - stay safe - stay SANE !
Rod
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Hello fellow collectors!
My name is Tommy Esson. I’m a 34-year-old, life-long Hitchhiker’s fan in the US, and started collecting Rod’s animation artwork in 2016. I’ve only won a handful of pieces thus far, but each one elicits an “I can’t believe I own this” feeling, and I’m endlessly boggled by the near-complete survival of this material in the first place when so little else from the show remains. I feel grateful to all of you (even those who’ve outbid me) – for helping to extend this preservation; for providing the incentive and encouragement that’s allowed these offerings to continue; and for simply appreciating the historical and creative value in the fantastic work of Rod and his team. We’re clearly all buying out of love and nostalgia, and you can’t definitively say that about many auctions.
The reason you’re hearing from me is that I recently reached out to propose the possibility of forming a “contact group” of collectors from amongst the mailing list who may be interested – voluntarily – in sharing a form of contact with others to maintain some threads of connection between Rod’s art pieces and their whereabouts. I've considered for a while that it may become rather difficult or near-impossible to track down a particular item at a later date, either in order to try to "reunite" elements of a certain sequence or perhaps to one day contribute to a joint exhibition of some kind. By the same token, while I have no particular intention of selling the pieces I've purchased, I would prefer to present the opportunity to you all if I eventually decide to do so. Such contacts could also potentially facilitate trades, or even just queries regarding related pieces that may serve to better contextualize the pieces we own.
You may choose to remain anonymous, and that's perfectly fine. But I suspect there are probably some who would similarly appreciate knowing how to get in touch with the relatively small community that treasures and preserves Rod’s artwork. Here’s how I envision it working:
Those who would like to join may email me at tesson@vt.edu and specify contact info of your choosing (email, phone, social media, whatever) that you are comfortable sharing within the group. You can also include – if desired – your name, a list of pieces in your collection, and/or a “wish list” of previously-sold items you’re interested in acquiring – totally up to you. I will then compile the information into a reference document and send that out to the contact group members. This will not be publicly posted anywhere; it will just remain privately exchanged amongst those individuals who reach out to me.
Thanks for reading!
- Tommy
120 19 Nov 2022
Dear All,
I hope you are all doing ok wading through the awful mess our world seems to be in at the moment. I guess it has probably always been in pretty much of a mess but I was just a lot younger
and had no time to brood on it. I need to apologise to you all for the VERY long gap in both communications and listings of artwork.
An awful lot of “stuff” seems to have been getting in the way but the truth is really just advancing old age.
Once upon a time I would have just worked more hours and however much needed doing would have got done. Anyway, I am turning my attention back to the boxes of artwork at long last.
The increasingly difficult times we are all going through make it extremely unlikely that anyone has any spare dosh to spend on indulgence and non-essentials but I have been reminded by recent
events that I need to get on with this anyway.
While at St Martin’s in the late 1960s 4 of us shared a Victorian terrace behind Olympia. Dave and Tony came to my aid in the early days of Pearce Studios when we became overwhelmed with work
and Dave carried on for the next 13 years. Rudy and I regularly went to live Blues gigs over the next 50 years, sometimes joined by Dave.
Sadly we have lost both Rudy and Tony this year ... so the omens are not great for Dave and me !
This salutary reminder of the shortness of remaining time has focussed my mind on the remaining boxes of artwork and the need to get them sorted.
Our kids all live busy lives and I‘m sure they would never have the time or inclination to do this. So I must do as much of it as I can as quickly as possible or what is left is likely to eventually end up in a skip !
So after all that rambling waffle here are the first 2 listings -
The box I am now going through contains stuff from the Dolphins sequence and I aim to carry on adding a couple of items regularly - maybe even daily if I can sustain the
momentum. But I won’t inundate you with constant notifications as that could get annoyingly tedious for you. For those who are interested I will instead update eBay
listings on my web site.
If you are checking regularly on the web site please remember to refresh the page (circular arrow icon in your browser) to make sure you are looking at the latest version
of the page.
Alternatively an eBay search for H2G2_AW_ should return anything that is active.
I wish you all the very best,
Rod
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119 22 Dec 2021
Dear All,
Please accept my grovelling apologies !
I am horrified to be confronted with the fact that the last mail I sent out was a year ago.
I suggested in that one that I was aiming to get going on sorting out more artwork during
the winter. Needless to say I failed again ... MEA CULPA !
During last winter I had to get my head down to redesigning and rebuilding our local
Community Association web site. I first did it in 2009-10 when our local internet access
was pitiful at modem dial-up speeds of kilobits per second. So the site was intentionally
sparse and extremely simple and visitors had to be offered a choice if any images were
involved. In ten years things had changed significantly with speeds ranging from 8 to 28
Megabits per second and expectations had changed accordingly. So I was asked to redo
it. The ten years also meant that the site had expanded into a sprawling beast. Anyway,
it took all the time I had for about 4 months or so and the result is this -
As I knew I would have to I then plunged back into the effort to complete the external
repairs and maintenance that I had to abandon in the previous Autumn. Needless to
say this last Autumn rolled around with much still left to do. In my dotage the machine
is gradually winding down and inevitably grinding to a halt !
So much so that towards the end of this last summer I decided that although I felt fine
while doing a four hour morning of garden labouring (my career in recent years) I was
finding it more and more difficult to recover from it afterwards. So I finally decided it was
time to resign. As it happened some others in the crew for various reasons and at various
ages had problems of their own and were pulling out and the lady whose business it was
also had health problems and the team closed down completely. So both Val and I are
now without employment.
So hopefully I really CAN finally get round to tackling those boxes of artwork again. I do
sense a bit of a gathering sense of urgency to get it done as I really don't want to think
of Anna and Ewan being left with this hanging over them when I drop off the perch !
Don't mean to sound gloomy and doom laden as I am really a "glass half full" kind of
bloke and feel amazingly privileged to be still enjoying so much especially when there
are so many who can't and who have suffered during these crazy times. In my early
20s, working late at Li Pearce's studio, Li's friend the doctor sat sipping scotch with him.
After a bit he said "watching the way you work and drink and smoke I don't think you're
going to make 50 Rod." I can remember laughing and thinking "50 ! Who wants to be
THAT old ?" As it's turned out I'm very grateful I did get past it and another 23 years on
top ... 24 years coming up in a bit. How lucky is that !
In the meantime I wish you all the very best for as Happy a Christmas and New Year as
possible. I hope to be able to mail you again before too long to get things moving again.
Please take care and keep well and safe ... and SANE !
Rod
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118 19 Dec 2020
Dear All,
Here's hoping you and your loved ones have managed to stay safe and well and SANE
through these difficult times.
In a strange way I have found the enforced slow down very useful indeed as it has allowed
me space to get a load of stuff done that I would have struggled to find time for. At the end
of 2019 I got some quotes to do desperately needed maintenance work to the outside of the
house. The quotes were actually perfectly reasonable but I simply don't have the level of
savings required so I decided there was no choice but to do it myself.
So all late Spring and Summer and early Autumn was filled solidly with repairing and painting
the house exterior. Needless to say it didn't get finished and by the time I had to put away
the paint and brushes etc I already had a fairly daunting list of stuff to carry on with when
Spring rolls around again.
One thing I have not been able to get my head around yet is delving into the next batch of
artwork although I may be able to force myself into it as winter drags by. There are many
other things on the winter list but I will try to start doing a bit from time to time.
In the meantime I just want to wish you all the very best for as Happy a Christmas and
New Year as possible.
Take care - keep well - stay safe - stay SANE !
Rod
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In this dodgy and uncertain time I just want to wish you all good luck and best wishes.
Although I find myself with time that I could apply to sorting through more artwork it doesn't really
feel right to be doing that at the moment. We haven't a clue what the future holds or if we can afford
to get through it and still have resources to carry on if we survive. So the notion of anyone feeling
like splurging money on stuff at the moment seems very unlikely anyway.
All rather depressing so I thought I would include some things to cheer us all up …
At our humble "Thursday guitars" the other day we had a first stab at a piece inspired by this …
My Zimbabwean roots were stirred by the ladies of Sinamuva from Umlazi in South Africa.
You may have known about Playing for Change for ages but I only stumbled across them a short
while ago. As a Bob Dylan and Jimmy Hendrix fan from ancient times I also love this …
There's a Zimbabwean guitarist in amongst that too and I just love the Sitar playing and there's
some class lead guitar from Warren Haynes all mixed in with such a lot of fantastic global talent !
There's loads more of the good stuff if you search for "playing for change".
I can almost hear everyone thinking "what on earth is he going on about ?" Yes, sorry, getting
carried away on a music buzz that for me makes everything feel a lot better. I hope there's a
bit of a lift in it for some of you too.
My old mate and once-upon-a-time assistant Kevin Davies recently sent me a link in a mail with
the subject "sincerest form of flattery !". I thought you might find it amusing if you haven't already
seen it …
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113 22 Dec 2019
Dear All,
Just want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and also to thank you all for
your continued interest. I am constantly amazed that after all these years there is any remaining
interest at all in what was after all a rather humble collection of stuff a very long time ago !
I apologise for another gap in listings - I'm afraid I get snowed under with other stuff and before I
know it loads of time has passed. I will be getting back on the case during January.
Best wishes to all for a GREAT Festive Season.
Cheers,
Rod
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112 05 Nov 2019
Hi All,
Here are a few more MICE items as mentioned before. I need to apologise because I have been
caught up with other stuff and the first 4 of these now only have a short time left to run, completing
on Thursday evening.
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111 31 October 2019
Hi All,
I would like to thank you all for your continued interest. I must say I am amazed that anyone is still
interested in this stuff after all this time ! My memory of it now is of a great time of frenetic and
ridiculous hours that involved being on the edge of panic (Don't !) constantly for several months
way back in 1980. But it was nevertheless a wonderful time of exhilaration and joyous creativity at
the same time. But we were all young then - well, relatively ! - and could cope with the crazy
situation.
Anyway, thank you to all those who have been bidding and winning recent offerings.
I have now posted a few more from the next batch I have come across in the current box - which is
nearly empty.
The first of these are the last remnants of the Babel Fish material - God's disappearance in a puff
of logic.. I have pondered and prevaricated over this particular item as to wether I should offer this
animation sequence as 11 individual items rather than a complete set but have come down in the
end on an offering of all 11 as a set. This is really because I couldn't really get my head around the
notion that anyone would be interested in a small blob of clear in a black surround ! It seems to
make some sort of sense as a complete set but not really as a single item with a little clear blob on it !
Anyway - here it is - the first item below - and the other 3 are the beginnings of a series of things to
do with MICE. There are more items from this which are in progress and will be added shortly.
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110 19 October 2019
Hello All,
Unfortunately one of the items in the recent batch that completed on Oct 15 has not been paid for.
When I tried to follow up it turns out that the bid was more than 3 times what was intended and the
Customer didn't even realise they had won the bid. So I have been asked to cancel the transaction.
I have not done this before but had some notion that it was possible to offer it to the next highest
bidder but have been unable to discover how to do that. I find the eBay automated systems pretty
clunky to deal with to say the least ! Perhaps they could do with a UI designer !
Anyway, on reflection I decided it would be rather unfair to ask for a bid that had been reached under
conditions where it had been inflated falsely. So I have taken the only option that was offered to me
by the system and have re-listed it as if it failed to sell. It seems like the fairest thing to do.
So if anyone wants another stab at it AW_166-ADAM_Text is now listed again here -
The final Babel Fish related items in this box are 11 animation cels forming an animation sequence
of GOD's disappearing puff of logic. The attached shows the start position GM and animation
position 7 (the 8th cel).
I need a bit of feedback please as to wether I should bother to
post these or not. I can't imagine them being of much interest but I'm constantly wrong about stuff
so please let me know what you think.
Perhaps I should post all 11 as one item rather than 11 singles ?
Cheers,
Rod
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108 09 October 2019
Hi All,
Been a bit of a gap - sorry, but now back on the case again. Getting to the bottom of this box
now and several odds and ends to clear before the box can go into the recycle bin. Some of these
are not actually "artwork" at all but more like "artefacts". I don't have a clue if these are actually of
any interest at all but I am treating the first of the posts below as a test piece. If there is no interest
I will simply dispose of similar stuff - also into the recycle bin !
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106 11 September 2019
Dear All,
The last time I listed any artwork on eBay was 28 March 2017 !
Since then various people have contacted me asking if I will actually be carrying on. Each time I have
reassured them that I really do intend to but just needed to sort out a few other things first. So to all of
those I have done that to I offer my humble apologies for taking so long to actually get round to it !
One of things that was getting in the way was a fairly large 3D build and animation project that I had
promised to send a link for when it was done but I have to back-track on that as well I'm afraid. Just
as the finished project was about to be launched the client was unfortunately diagnosed with cancer
which was going to plunge him into fairly long-term treatment. Understandably the whole thing was
put on hold and is still in that state.
Anyway, I can finally say that I have at long last faced the daunting task of tackling the boxes of
artwork and the first batch I am listing is a Babel Fish animation turning into the Ear Canal.
4 items of that animation of 10 positions are now listed and I will be adding the other 6 over the next
couple of days.
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105 21 December 2018
Dear All,
My apologies for the recent fiasco of sending a mail that should never have gone out at all ! I had
actually been in the process of saving as a draft so that I could nip off and grab a snack for lunch
… then clicked the wrong button. That dreadful sinking sensation when the realisation dawns that
you have just exposed your stupidity to the whole planet and there's absolutely nothing you can do
to stop it !!
When that happened I was in the process of saying that yet again I find myself having to apologise
to you for still not getting back to sorting out the boxes of artwork. What has kept me from it for nearly
2 years now has been a very long term project that turned into much more work than anyone
anticipated. It is now complete but I'm afraid that contrary to what I said about telling you all about it
I am still bound by Confidentiality and cannot yet do so.
I can say that it involved a local project which involved building a 3D digital model of pretty much
the whole of the centre of the village we live in to animate 3D fly-rounds and fly-throughs to
try and persuade local people of the desirability of this local project proceeding. The digital model
was built, dressed with surface textures, flight paths rendered to thousands of HD frames to create
4 animated movie loops, the web site built to include the 4 movies, and an open day exhibition
designed and visualised.
Sadly at the very point that this was all about to be launched the person for whom this was all being
done was diagnosed with cancer and is currently undergoing chemo treatment. Needless to say he
has put the project on hold for the foreseeable future.
So now I am redirecting my attention to all the stuff that has had to be put to one side in order to
focus. One of those things on my list is to immediately resurrect the task of sorting through the
artwork boxes to extract anything that might be valued by someone so that the remaining worthless
bits can be disposed of.
January is my target for getting things rolling again on that front. I will still be having to maintain
my new career of garden labourer to the Ladies' gardening team but I will be striving to fit around that.
In the meantime I wish you all a very HAPPY CHRISTMAS and a Great New Year and may 2019 be
good to you all.
Best wishes to all,
Rod
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104 11 September 2018
Dear All,
Sadly I have been obliged to remove 41 addresses from the mailing list as a result of not receiving
any reply after 2 attempts to request confirmation for GDPR purposes.
You are receiving this because you have opted to remain on the mailing list - thank you.
I am sending this out in haste as I am due to be away for a short while and I thought you might find
the following event of interest to you
Thank you for your continued interest and support.
Best wishes to all,
Rod
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103 30 August 2018
Dear All,
You are receiving this because you are one of a group of 62 on the mailing list from whom I received
no reply to my request for confirmation that you would like either to remain on the list or be removed
from it.
As I received no reply from you I should strictly interpret that as a NO and delete your address from
the list.
Before doing that I am just making one last attempt to give you the opportunity to make an actual
decision in case you missed the last mail or just overlooked it or it dropped into your junk folder etc.
It may be of course that these addresses have been changed and simply not updated to me.
If you do receive this please click on your REPLY button and in the subject line or content please
confirm your preference by typing YES or NO.
A YES reply will add your address back onto the list and a NO will of course result in your address
being deleted.
If I receive no reply from you to this mail by Sept 10 I will treat it as a NO reply.
You will of course be able, if you wish, to rejoin the mailing list at any time here -
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102 24 May 2018
Dear All,
As usual in my world things get left until the very last minute despite all the best intentions.
I am very aware of what a massive gap there has been since I last put any artwork on eBay and
used this mailing list to let you all know. This is not because there is no remaining artwork nor
is it because I have decided to throw everything left into a skip or onto a bonfire. My lame excuse
is that I have been overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I need to get sorted and the list that awaits
my attention and gets longer and longer.
I know I said at Christmas that I would be resuming artwork activity and I know that I have again
failed to live up to that but I assure you that the project I have been involved in for at least 14
months is now finally drawing to completion and I expect to be clear of it by the end of this month.
If anyone is vaguely interested in what it might have been that has kept me snowed under all that
time I will send out a link for general interest once the material is publicly available.
Anyway, the real purpose of this mailing is because I am not really sure what my legal obligations
are in connection with maintaining this list of email addresses once the General Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect on 25 May 2018 … tomorrow !
Some of the advice I have been given suggests that it is not good enough to offer an "opt-out" or
"unsubscribe" option and that it is necessary to obtain an explicit "opt-in". Communications I have
myself received on this matter seem to fall into both categories but my friend Robin the Barrister
has strongly advised that I need to state my "Privacy Policy" and ask for an explicit YES or NO.
So here we go … PRIVACY POLICY … very simple indeed :
I hold a list of names and their email
addresses in the form of a group in the address book app on a Mac. These names and addresses
are never used for any purposes other than to provide general information connected with animated
graphics from the 1981 BBC TV series of Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the availability of
items of artwork from that series listed on eBay. I am an individual working alone and to my knowledge
no other person has access to this data or can obtain it. Except to wish a Happy Christmas and New
Year to those on the list it has never been used for any other purpose nor will it be nor will it ever be
passed to or sold to any third party.
So that I have fulfilled any legal responsibility I may have in this I now ask you please to click your
REPLY button and in either the subject line or body content type YES or NO. If your answer is YES I
will retain your address in the group as it has been until now … and of course if your answer is No I will
delete both your name and email address. If I receive no answer of any kind by the end of May I will
sadly be obliged to remove you from the list. If you find this has somehow happened without your
being aware of it you can of course re-join at any time here -
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101 23 December 2017
Dear All,
I have just seen that you have heard absolutely nothing from me since the end of March. I feel very
bad about that and I suppose the only excuse I have is advancing years ! Things seem to take me
two or three times longer than they ever used to. That's partly to do I suppose with the fact that I
no longer have clients leaning over my shoulder imposing deadlines !
Whatever the reason I do feel as if I spend my time running to keep up these days and wonder how
I ever managed to find time to do any proper work. I do actually have a commercial(-sh) project
now in progress which involves building a very large 3D digital model and eventually some fly round
and-or through animations.
But generally the rather tiny pensions do not quite make the annual budget balance so my new
career over the past two or three years has been as a garden labourer for the team of Horticultural
Ladies my wife Val is a member of. Quite challenging physically which is good but sometimes leaves
me less than enthusiastic at the end of the day about restarting to try and extract stuff from the
remaining boxes of H2G2 artwork. Having said which I had thought it would only be a short gap but
it's turned out to be quite a long time ! My apologies and I am going to do better from mid January.
There were two things I always wanted to do if I ever found I had a bit of time to myself again. One
was to try and indulge my enjoyment of actual drawing with "real" media again, and the other was to
rediscover my enjoyment of playing the guitar in the hope of trying to get a bit better at it. Since giving
in to the threat of expulsion from St Martins in 1966-67 if I didn't give up the band and knuckle down
to some "proper work" this has been something that has been pushed into the background ever since.
Last year's Christmas card was prompted by my new "career" … this year's is prompted by my
pleasure in being able to finally achieve one of those items on my list thanks to my Thursday afternoon
jamming partners Brian and Steve (who look absolutely nothing like any of the Santas !). We played
our first (unpaid) gig last month !
So all I need to do now is summon up from somewhere the courage and confidence required to
pick up pen and brush and make that first mark on a virgin piece of paper. Will get there eventually !
In the meantime I wish you all a very HAPPY CHRISTMAS and a Great New Year and may 2018 be
good to you all
Best wishes to all,
Rod
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