Between Vladimir Putin, monkeypox, Depp vs Heard, Will Smith’s Oscar slap and 44 days of Liz Truss, it’s been another tough but interesting year. Here’s a SCENIC WRITER’S SHACK look-back…

NATIONAL TRIVIA DAY (January)

DRAWING THE CURTAIN ON ‘LOST IN SPACE’ SITE (January)

KING OF THE MOUNTAIN (February)

ALFRED HITCHCOCK MURDER MASHUP VIDEO (February)

‘HAPPY DAYS’ SITE LAUNCH (March)

MENTAL SHENANIGANS – ‘MY FRIEND FOX’ MEMOIR (March)

200th POST (April)

THE HAUNTING OF SHARON TATE (April)

I LIKE TRAFFIC LIGHTS (But Only When They’re Green) (May)

TOP 20 FAVOURITE MOVIES OF THE 1980’S (May)

TRUE CRIME BUFFS ‘R US (June)

SUPERWRITER EUDORA WELTY (June)

PUPPY LOVE (aka ‘Teddy’) (July)

STRANGEST HISTORY PICS EVER (July)

BOOK QUIZ (July)

MANSON FAMILY VACATION (August)

Top Ten Movies of the 1990’s (August)

KISS Concert (September)

FIGHT CLUB (October)

THE DEATH OF NATALIE WOOD (October)

VOICES (Fiction Story) (November)

AMAZING HISTORY PICS (November)

TOP FIFTY CARTOONS (December)

BEST BOOK COVERS of 2022 (December)

WELCOME BACK TO WHERE YOU BELONG

HEAR YE HEAR YE

YOU NEVER KNOW WHO OR WHAT YOU MIGHT BUMP INTO

YOU’VE CROSSED OVER… INTO SHACK TERRITORY

HERMITS UNITE!

SHELVE THAT IDEA

I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT SRI LANKA

THE PEPERMINT CANDY OF THE LITERARY WORLD

No blog for you…ok just a little bit then.

Actress Betty White (Aged 99) January

Actor Sidney Poitier (Aged 94) January

Singer Meatloaf (Aged 76) January

Sister Janet Mead (Aged 83) January

Singer Bobby Rydell (Aged 79) April

Music Composer Vangelis (Aged 79) May

Australian Cricketer Andrew Symons (Aged 46) May

Actor Ray Liotta (Aged 67) May

Dawn Donaldson (My Mum, Aged 92) May

Revlon Cosmetics (June)

Brisbane Radio Station 4KQ (on-air for 75 years) June

Actor James Caan (Aged 82) July

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (assassinated aged 67) July

The 74-Year-Old Somerton Man Mystery – July

Al-Qaeda Leader Ayman al-Zawahiri (death by drone – aged 71) August

Former Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev (Aged 91) August

Queen Elizabeth II (Aged 96) September

Brazilian Soccer Legend Pele (Aged 82) December

There are a number of countries around the world – China, the U.K and South Korea among them – who are leading the way into nuclear fusion research.

Nuclear fusion is the energy that powers the sun and stars. It is ‘clean’, infinite and produces no radioactive waste or greenhouse gases.

It involves the production of plasma, which simply explained, is gas with electricity running through it. A single kilogram of fusion fuel produces as much energy as 10 million kilograms of fossil fuel. 

Researchers at the US National Ignition Facility in California performed fusion experiments in early December that released more energy than was pumped in by the lab’s enormous, high-powered lasers.

This represents a landmark achievement known as ignition or energy gain and is SCENIC WRITER’S SHACK’S ‘Scientific Breakthrough of the Year’.

Back in September, American model Bella Hadid (aged 26) had a dress ‘sprayed’ on to her while on the runaway at Paris Fashion Week.

Cambridge Dictionary – HOMER

Merriam Webster Dictionary – GASLIGHTING

Macquarie Dictionary – TEAL

Oxford Dictionary – GOBLIN MODE

Dictionary.com – WOMAN

Collins Dictionary – PERMACRISIS

Japan’s Kanji Character of the Year – WAR

And my New Year’s resolution? In 2023 my plan is to read more. And the first step to achiening that goal will be switching on the subtitles on my television.

Last year they were magnificent. The year before that set the standard. And now it’s time to hit the high notes once again.

In what can sometimes resemble a sea of tin-plate dinghies, these book covers are all daringly different luxury cruise ships.

(1) Literally eye-popping energy with a little penguin in the bottom left corner.

(2) I remember those colored circular stickers very well. And there’s a few faces I might want to blot out in my old school photos as well – if I could ever find them.

(1) Never underestimate the power of The Blob. Love how it’s just off-kilter as well, almost eclipsing the “L”

(2) It must have been a challenge to design a cover that could hold its own against the glorious subtitle “A Heartbeaking Work of Staggering Penis,” but I think this does the job beautifully.

(1) The playful pink poltergeist strikes again! Untidy or uncanny? Either way this cover has presence. At least we know it’s a glorious day outside that just ajar door.

(2) See the little human casting the long shadow? See where they’re standing? This one’s for anyone whose ever stood in the margins. With those staring eyes in the dark it would work equally as well as a Stephen King horror cover.

(1)The slightly uncanny, person-ish shape appears to be reaching out from behind prison bars. Wait, no! That’s a street intersection. Wait again…no, they’re definitely French windows. Ok, so maybe that’s actually the mythical dolphin-dog standing on it’s hind legs while trying to unlatch the door to it’s enclosure. I think you get the idea. Whatever way you look at it this cover is intriguing.

(2) For a non-fiction book about ghosts and hauntings, this cover is suitably mystery-shrouded. Not sure if you can see it along the right hand edge, but bonus points also for one of the more innovatively placed ‘Author of...’ mentions.

(1) When the flight attendants go through the emergency procedures on a plane, no one pays attention. When you put those same boring procedures on the cover of a novel, suddenly it’s interesting.

(2) Those slightly menacing red lines through the words may mean either there’s a psycho killer on the loose or a mad scribbler can’t hold it in any more.

(1) Gotta love mushrooms sprouting from a vaginal coral in a disembodied hand!

(2) The quality of that red ‘n green turtle saddle indicates it might just be hand-stitched.

 

(1) Gripping cover bar none.

(2) Precious Purple Rapunzel!

(1) The vagina images just keep coming.

(2) Love the multicolored 1970’s movie-credits font.

(1) Spot the nun. And bonus points for the funny angle on the dangling crucifix.

(2) Doesn’t look like anything else out there. This is what chaos on a book cover looks like.

(1) Weird and precise and, because of the shadows, a little threatening, somehow.

(2) Love Bird Woman’s thumb hooked around the C.

(1) Go the hand-drawn text!

(2) A splash of color in the most psychedelic way.

(1) MOTHER THING is a great title and the cover is a fiendishly comical delight.

(2) Two portraits juxtaposed in a very interesting, splotchy way.

(1) Which side indeed. A clever and convincing—and fun—take on the signage-style cover.

(2) Um……okaaaaaay. Viva la black hole spacetime!

(1) A blazing worm will get my attention every time. Including THIS time.

(2) A probing book that aims to get to the bottom of it’s subject. Sorry.

(1) When you’re an author and your first name is Rainbow – yes! – you get to feature an oval shaped upward-downward rainbow on your front cover.

(2) Color text on a B & W background works for me. Every time.

SEE IT HERE

As anyone who’s shown even a casual interest in this site over the years would know, SCENIC WRITER’S SHACK and whacked-out cartoons frequently sit side-by-side on the same food-stained couch (this site). There’s one or two thrown in for comic relief, most posts.

Now that we’re in the ‘look back’ month of the year, it seemed like the right time to gather a collection of some of the best together in one glorious, cackling heap.

Here are 50 cartoons from 2022 that might just bring on an ice-cream smile. Or, sticking with the cold dessert descriptions, maybe a snow-cone titter. Or failing that, possibly even a good old fashioned sorbet snigger. Not that anyone’s ever heard of one of those before.

Whatever your pleasure, SWS is confident there’s something here for everyone. And that includes… YOU!

‘Teddy’ Donaldson couch-surfing

Would love to know your Top 3 from this lot. Even just one cartoon that caressed your funny bone. Comments are hugely open.