I'm a Monster Get Me Out of Here

It’s amazing what some people to to court publicity. Some write blogs and burble away on Twitter. Others put themselves in front of a lens and expose themselves to the Great British Public by means of reality TV shows.

I have a thing about avoiding reality TV shows (I prefer programmes which involves the engagement of a few brain cells on the part of the producers). So, sadly, I won’t get to see a new Channel 4 series called The Hotel. Shame as it is local. It’s the Damson Dene Hotel in South Cumbria and the hotelier has let a film crew set up fifty cameras to capture the fascinating … really quite interesting … mildly diverting … not very voyeuristic … zzzzzz … Sorry, where was I?

Anyway, it was a potential subject for this week’s Westmorland Gazette cartoon. As you can see from the first, un-captioned drawing, I was tempted to go down the obvious route of guests caught having a naughty weekend. I couldn’t quite bring myself to do it, so that one didn’t even get a caption (or joke). I made up for it by returning to it at the end, with this week’s token unpublishable idea.

The other story I sprang upon was … tadaa, Bownessie. Since we last gathered here, dear Reader, he/she/it/they (depending whether you subscribe to the monster, bin bag or family of otters school of thought) has gone global. It has been reported as far afield as Norway. (The story has been seen in Norway, not Bownessie.) Clearly he/she/it/they is sorting out their PR machine.

Below are the five and a half ideas pitched to the editor this week. To see which one made it, rush out and buy the Gazette or see my website on Thursday morning.