Everything's Coming Up Trunko! | Just Another No-Nothing Blog Post

A day out in NYC and a stop off at F.A.O. Schwarz back in 2011 was when I picked up this little purple guy.

His name is Trunko - just one of the characters from the Uglydoll brand. Now, I’m no impulse buyer, but Tunko met all the criteria for all my plush doll purchases:

  • He was small;

  • He was purple;

  • He was on sale!!!

Plus, because Uglydoll was doing a special U.S. Open promotion thingy, Trunko’s left arm “resembles” a tennis racket.

Afterwards, when I returned back to work in Australia, I decided I needed a useless, stupid gimmick… even if it was as simple as Trunko poking out from my carry bag.

Every morning and midday, 5 days a week, for 6 months, Trunko and I would have a large mocaccino (with soy, hold the sugar) at a nearby café.

Eventually, they honored the li’l purple racket-appendaged critter with his own “branded” deverage.

He even appeared in some of his own character-driven paintings - see below.

In this piece, I got in early to work one morning (c.late 2011) and, for no reason, just painted a close-up study of Trunko. At the time, I really just needed an excuse to be creative and then post said creative to facebook. Because I crave attention. But I don’t. But, yes, I do. But, seriously, nope. Nope. Nope.

And below was inspired by my routine mocaccino runs with Trunko… again, painted before another workday commenced.

Nowadays, Trunko only appears sporadically in my creative stuff - slight cameos and such. In the physical reality, he’s retired from café-hopping with me and now sits at my desk in my home office.

And Now You Know!

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Going All In With This "Space Force" Thing

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Alternate title: “How To Get Kicked Out Of A Facebook Group Without Really Trying”

Posted this on a Facebook Group page dedicated to Starlog Magazine fans - for which I was one and also a A-C-T-U-A-L legit contributor to the A-C-T-U-A-L Starlog Magazine for a little over 10 years.

Anyways, so somebody posted something to the group - can’t remember what - and they’d mentioned “Space Force” - not the new Trump-termed military space arm of US forces (rolls eyes as I type), but the long-forgotten 1978 TV pilot of the same name.

So, I penned and posted this doodley-boo.

Reaction was………… mixed.

Plenty of likes, hearts and laughin’ emotes… then the anonymous comments rolled in.

“This is not funny!”

“This group is not political!”

“BANISH HIM! BANISH HIM!!!” (meaning me)

So, I was banished.

Ah, well… making friends. Making friends.

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1800 WHAT-A-DOPE

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Took a week off work - not to recharge batteries, take a beach vacation, or visit my folks - just, well… because! Heck, I’d accrued so many holiday leave days, the company sorta demanded I start using ‘em.

And this is how I announced it to my work colleagues.

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How To Luv A Vinyl Album Too Much By Wearing Out The L.P.'s Grooves

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Brain fart cartoon: inspired by a Facebook group post, lauding over James Horner’s symphonic score for Star Trek III: The Search For Spock.

I was, maybe, 15 when I finally held the soundtrack album in my hands - circa January ‘85(?) - vaguely remember it took a number of months to acquire the thing. FYI: wasn’t really into pop/rock muzak in my teens (yup, I was a nerd… a lonely, lonely greasy nerd).

Taking John Williams-anything out of the equation, from the remaining soundtrack albums in my (then) collection, STIII:TSFS was my absolute favorite - almost every weekend, much to the family’s chagrin, I’d fire up the turntable and annoy everyone.

And thus, this exaggerated toon.

#makingfriends

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Occupied French Vanilla, Oreos and Citrus Surprises | Another Mrs. Berry Birthday Doodle

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Once a year, I take up a pencil and draw up something speeshülly Germanian for the mother of my fan/friend in Nutley, NJ. To understand WHY I do this, it’s briefly explained it here.

Originally doodled May 18, 2013.

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Happy Dreikäsehoch! | Another Mrs. Berry Birthday Doodle

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Every May, going back to 2010, I cobble together a German-themed birthday illo for the mother of my fan/friend in New Jersey. Nope, they’re not German — but, they did take me to a German-themed restaurant in Hoboken for Mrs. Berry’s birthday get-together in 2009.

And that’s the (in)joke. Ahh, I guess you had to be there.

If you were wondering, “Happy Dreikäsehoch” translates to Three Cheese High.

Cheese has nothing to do with anything with relation to the person, the day, or the theme… I just needed a long, complicated, funny-sounding German-ish word (“Dreikäsehoch”) and this one fit the bill.

That’s supposed to be me (Bort) on the left. The sentient purple plush critter on the right is "Trunko”, an Ugly Dolls character I picked up at FAO Schwarz with Mrs. Berry in 2011… but I digress…

At left: this is the illustration without the “Happy Dreikäsehoch” titles. Yes, that’s THREE cheese slabs stacked in the background (re:translation).

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Rebels' Hoth Base Grand Opening! Free Tauntaun Rides! (with unfunny conclusion)

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Originally published in Starlog Magazine sometime in 1998.

Can you guess this is a really low-quality scan? I think the original was black & white, but was colorized decades later (I might be wrong about the former).

Anyways, the above appeared on Facebook by a 3rd-party poster.

So, with time to spare, I drew up a sequel to the above toon:

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Nobody Likes A Disrespectful Ozzel.

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Important Safety Tip: DO NOT mess with Darth “Grumpy” Vader’s Starlog Magazine collection.

Admiral Ozzel (just prior to the events in The Empire Strikes Back) learned his lesson well… until he messed up again when alerting the Rebels on Hoth to the presence of the Imperial fleet. ***SPOILER ALERT!!!***

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Über Von Doodle-Strudel | The First Mrs. Berry Birthday Doodle

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In 2009, after jokingly badgering me I had to fly from Melbourne (Australia) to New Jersey to visit my (then) newly found vet-tech fan, Karen… and flying to NJ to do just that a few months later… and after one of several guided tours of NYC, Karen (with me in tow)(#typicalaussietourist) wound up at a German-themed bistro/restaurant thingy in Hoboken for Mrs. Judy Berry’s birthday get-together.

The scene depicted below is NOT of that night... just a fun 1st Anniversary illo of (a) that birthday dinner in Hoboken and (b) the first of "Mrs. Berry's Birthday Doodles" yearly installments.

The cast of characters (from left to right): me (in picture frame); Carolyn (Karen's sister), Charlie (Carolyn's fiancee); waiter in stereotypical traditional German lederhosen; Amber (Carolyn's daughter); Karen (fan/"get your ass over to NJ" instigator); and Mrs. Judy Berry (birthday girl).

This illo was drawn digitally in 2010 and is littered with in-jokes for the time. I'd point out and explain each one -- but I don't wanna.