Fear of a pandemic grips the planet. Economic collapse has put millions out of work. Outside the window of the Cock and Bull Bar, an angry throng marches down the street for May Day, carrying red and black flags, shouting for justice and revolution. I feel suddenly like I’m in Paris, 1968.
I tried to nod at what my friend Rick was saying, and look sympathetic, but it wasn’t working.
So, he inked for me my pencil drawing of the lovely Illeana Douglas. This helped:
Next he did a couple of cowboys, slightly mirroring the mood at the table:
I think that’s Warren Oates and Jake Busey.
Things were better. Then another friend Marr showed up (yay!), and we finished our beers, and headed to a much more expensive bar. There, an artist friend of ours who has shown up in these pages, Jeff Leblanc, was having a birthday celebration:
That’s him with the always sympathetic Eric Theriault, who is nodding and trying to look interested.
Because this is a sketch blog, and this is how I roll, I drew a sketch of Jeff:
He would do the same for me. Only it would take about 2 hours, and be much better.
Beers here cost about as much as a whole pitcher at the other place. But I bought a pint in honour of Jeff, blowing my weekend savings. Rick meanwhile had onion rings, which he photographed lovingly:
Later that night as I was heading home on my bike via rue Rene Levesque, I happened upon the protesters. They had camped in front of the government building, and were apparently having a tam-tam party.
I, meanwhile, remain optimistic about things, despite bouts of panic. For no reason at all, here’s a picture of my cat, Mr. Boggedy, looking silly:
Tags: black and white, collaboration, Gagnon Fridays, Jeff Leblanc, Marr, Montreal Comic Jam, photos, Richard Gagnon, sketches
