I used to love it and used to spend hours as a kid attempting to copy the toons.

I used to read MBUK every now and again but a few articles were published with a fair few fibs in so decided against it. Plus it was never that well written.

I really like MS, and do 'get' it. I think Jo captures the subtle culture of mountain biking (or some mountain biking) and the South Downs landscape in the same way that Helms captured all the subtleties of club road riding. I dare say some people don't 'get' Helms, but again I thought his cartoons were great, and he'll be sadly missed by many.

Oh and Jo, I'd certainly buy a book of Mint.

a sheep riding a bicycle

I did once see a sheep steal a bicycle! We were lunching at Martindale church, and a sheep came up to get a bit of discarded sandwich under a bike. When the owner shouted, it jumped up and ran away with the bike on its back 🙂 Absolutely hilarious, but in those days I didn't carry a camera 🙁

but "Mother Nature" isn't about attraction but fecundity, which doesn't relate to beauty at all.

nature can be beautiful in many ways, that can be related to human beauty through metaphor and simile.

The cliffs and rocks down here in Cornwall give a sense of toughness, a hard beauty that could be mother natures old miner husband who shows the toil of his life on his face.

The Alps stand high and in their strength and size there is great age and wisdom, you may only spend a short time with them but they will teach you many things, like an evening of stories with mother nature herself.

And the rolling hills of England are lush and green, their soft shape inviting you to carefree, playful days. There's no sharp edges to snag on, just a youth and vibrance that may remind you of breezy summers with mother natures 18 year old daughter 🙂

Feeling relaxed delusional? 🙂

And the rolling hills of England are lush and green, their soft shape inviting you to carefree, playful days

nicely lyrical, but that's only part of the landscape, natural or engineered, and I revel in the whole of it, whether lush or stark, rolling or precipitous, warm or piercingly frigid.

SFB I agree with you on this, which is why I'm miffed my response to your logic was placed at the base of page 3!

i liked the one where a dropped ball bearing bounces high and low across country and ended up under the fridge. think it was on a large poster way back. would look good in the shed if anyone knows where it can be found?

I also remember these words from a strip from a looong way back "if i didn't know there wasn't a reason for all this, i'd be crying"

Maybe you are so in tune to your cycling world, and the absolute, harsh and astounding nature of nature

well, I'm certainly immersed in biking, though not overly fond of harsh – though I do particularly cherish those moments (frequent recently) when I've been out in the bitter cold yet been too hot myself, as the effort of riding raises you above such vulnerability (so long as you can keep moving). I feel a continuous awareness of rocks, jutting hills, glinting water, silhouetted trees, secretive mist that makes routine urban life seem more like a dream.

what are you on about sfb, i just don't get it
🙂

what are you on about sfb

beats the hell out of me 🙂

nicely lyrical, but that's only part of the landscape, natural or engineered, and I revel in the whole of it, whether lush or stark, rolling or precipitous, warm or piercingly frigid.

Ah but that's the beauty of a good metaphor: while both rolling hills and fresh faced 18 year olds look soft and inviting when viewed as a whole both are likely to have hidden scars and dark woods. But for most people our doe eyed remembrance of summers and loves past tends to gloss over these imperfections.

so there we have it, SFB. You actually enjoy the things a fair number of us all enjoy about our lifestyle choice (can't diminish it to hobby), but you're more of an umami than a menthol kind of chap eh?

Fair do's.

Now you've been nudged, maybe the sheep and his crew will grow on you…….

The only cartoon that comes near MS in terms of escapism is Bill Patersons Calvin and Hobbes. They both have that touch of the surreal that's grounded in situations we've all been in. Summer leaving answer machine messages like an old girlfriend. who's not wished that They could buy a summer backdrop?

if anyone knows where it can be found?

under the fridge. you just said.

:p

lol, i asked for that one. 🙂

and I revel in the whole of it, whether lush or stark, rolling or precipitous, warm or piercingly frigid.

A cynic might say that is delusion and that you have never *truly* experienced nature, only a narrow perspective on it shaped by the framing effect of a camera viewfinder; it's funny that you should try and provide a counterpoint to drawings of the countryside by using photographs. Photographs are not the same as the experience and are as subjective (framing, selection, editing etc) as any painting.

What's to gets anyway? It's not as if anyone is trying compel others to erect fetishes to the sheep God. Jo draws, paints and writes about his take on mountain biking and it resonates with a number of people who like how he sees things – it porbably coincides with some aspects of their take on mountain biking. And they are numerous/voiciferous enough for their appreciation of the sheep to be seen as one of the many components of the culture of mountain biking. Just as for some people stopping to photograph every few hundred yards of a ride is a way of trying to capture the 'truth' of the experience – for some that has a resonance, for others it doesn't.

+1 for a Mint Sauce book.

Sometimes Mint Sauce really resonates with me, other times less so but I always enjoy the visual splendour even if I don't always "get" the plot/joke/allusion/etc.
(Perhaps it helps that I have ridden the South Downs, IMO JB captures them perfectly).

I'd love to see Jo do something for ST but I'd like to see something new. Leave Mint where he is, there's a lot more to Jo than cartoon sheep.

(FWIW, my favourite cartoon is was the DH cat from WMTB, I seem to have lost my copy)

only a narrow perspective on it shaped by the framing effect of a camera viewfinder

I use my eyes first, compared to which any camera is a very poor substitute.

it's funny that you should try and provide a counterpoint to drawings of the countryside by using photographs.

I didn't, I was using words.

Photographs are not the same as the experience

which may be why I didn't mention them but referred to the actual characteristics of the countryside.

What's to gets anyway?

that was my question

Just as for some people stopping to photograph every few hundred yards of a ride is a way of trying to capture the 'truth' of the experience

actually, I stop to get my breath back – the camera is just an excuse…

I wish I was this man's crotch:

Well that was a good read – thanks for all the strips. Here's the best van I ever saw ever, in Glentress car park. Simon MUST get this. It's just nice is all. Like your pictures you know?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/allankelly/3711904769/in/set-72157604079122726

Cheers, al.

Oh, and here's my favourite ever picture of a sheep ever. Taken leaving Newcastleton after SSUK09.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/allankelly/3622302263/in/set-72157619692484396

Cheers, al.

Oh, and what it's like is Cerebus by Dave Sims if you've ever read that. Started as a joke "Aardvark as Barbarian Warrior" strip, and became a deeply political and emotional commentary on Sims' life as well as history and religion. Sadly disappeared up it's own ar5e, which MS has not done.

Cheers, al.

It's not about 'getting it' , or ' not getting it ' . Is it ?
Isnt it just , ' is ' .?

Like I said , I kinda like it .
I never really did rush out to buy MBUK once there were alternatives to buy . Ones that didnt involve me visiting ' specialist magazine shops ' for american mags , anyway .
I'm sure it just went a bit like this .
Jeremy Torr …" so we're doing a 'proper ' magazine now ? I'll do a how to goddamn wheelie article .Eh ? "
Tym Manley …." Yes .And We'll need a cartoonist . All the crazy kids want cartoons these days .It's the latest thing. "
Max Glaskin.. " There's this kid who does some quite clean inoffensive MTB related cartoons for our piece of A4 folded fanzine . I'll get him on the horn "
J.Jonah Jameson.. " Get Parker in here ! ( chews cigar ) . Some guy's changed the middle letter of his name .Drop the goddamn wheelie article. Timothy is a perfectly acceptable name . Communists everywhere !!"

or something .

Maybe some of the more recent participants of ( our ) sporthobbypastimesundaytimewastingpointlessexercise cant relate to it .
I actually remember seeing the very first ones . With my eyes on paper . Not some scan .
I am a terribly nostalgic person who is probably going through a mid life crisis , and I just kinda like the fact that it takes me back to a place in my mind .
But . An old advert for a Panaracer Smoke does the same thing .

I get a thrill from operating my Hite Rite .

I like rigid forks.

Last week I was wearing legwarmers .

Just let it be .

"it's not how much you do . It's how much love you put in the doing "

Okey dokey . The fava beans are done .

TIM . Rivi . Sundays . Getting it . Optional

As you scanned the above post before you actually read it , did you notice where I inserted sex?
Do you get that ?

You dont have to understand it .
It just is .

It just is .

I think that was my mistake, expecting more – but I always do 🙂

I like –

Ogri as well.

And –
Joe Barr & friends.

But I really miss –

Bloom County.

Wow, yes I have 3 Ogri books, wonderful stuff :o)

Why do I not have /get /understand ogri ?

Exactly .

Or woodturning monthly for that matter .

Is there a cartoon in the peoples friend? I dont really care .

It just is …bedtime .
I are definitely eating less coffee from now on.

SFB: Not all cartoons are jokes. MS is not a joke, it's visual poetry.

From the strip that Poddy posted: "It's not mother nature, it's her 18 year-old daughter". You're a bright guy; you can understand what that's about.

I have never understood why JB/MS is bound to MBUK, a mag aimed at a young audience. His work is much better suited to the ST crowd IMO. I might be a regional thing I suppose, given that MBUK is in Bath.

Hi, can I do my usual spam the Jo Burt thread and mention that I still have 3 medium and three XL Jo Burt Russ Appeal shirts left.

Gwan Gwan Gwan Gwan Gwan

"I are definitely eating less coffee from now on."

Most people dilute it with water before ingestion.

SFB: Not all cartoons are jokes. MS is not a joke, it's visual poetry.

yet some appear to think otherwise, hinting obscurely at hidden depth…

From the strip that Poddy posted: "It's not mother nature, it's her 18 year-old daughter". You're a bright guy; you can understand what that's about.

yes I understand mixed metaphor

"I have never understood why JB/MS is bound to MBUK, a mag aimed at a young audience. His work is much better suited to the ST crowd IMO. I might be a regional thing I suppose, given that MBUK is in Bath."

the average age of the MBUK audience is considerably higher than you may think, and JB/MS live over 120 miles from Bath, several regions away 🙂

I was always very partial to Calvin and Hobbes,
HERE
and if I rememeber correctly,Calvin's Dad was an occasional mountain biker……….

SFB: Not all cartoons are jokes. MS is not a joke, it's visual poetry.

Actually whilst you might not laugh out loud at them, the ones I found from '94 and '95 were humorous in the same way as other comic strips (standard twist at the end sort of thing).

I don't mind MBUK really, although I always feel a bit embarrassed for the guy who pulls the funny faces in their pics.

Is this where I admit that the first page I check out in MBUK is Mint?

If Mint were to hang up his Pace/Cotic bike…how would you release the need to share your views on our sport JoB?

Is there another side of JoB that could be nudged in the STW direction?