Alex Hallatt 10/27/21 Alex Hallatt 10/27/21

Arctic Circle Cartoon - Chocolate Goes Off???

Based on a true story.

I put together a pandemic stash for when we wouldn't be able to go out because of COVID in our community. COVID hasn't got to our community yet. I didn't rotate the stash in the time since the pandemic started and found that, yes, chocolate can go off!

Alex Hallatt 8/28/21 Alex Hallatt 8/28/21

Illustrated Epistle Extract: Level 4 Lockdown in New Zealand and Loving It

When I emailed our extended family to say that we were back in lockdown in New Zealand, my almost brother-in-law asked how many cases had put us there. The answer is one. This has been a focus of attention of foreign media, but was no surprise to most Kiwis who valued the relatively normal, COVID-free lives we had been living during most of the pandemic.

I’m delighted that we have a trigger-happy government that put us into complete lockdown within a day because one person in the community tested positive for COVID-19. Because we have the luxury of giving elimination another try. And it just might work.

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Level four is the harshest lockdown level in New Zealand and it is way stricter than lockdowns in other countries. Only essential workers can go out to work. Everybody else has to be at home unless you need to buy groceries, go to the pharmacy/post office, or go out to exercise. I had a cold when we went into lockdown and though I said I had no reason to think it was the novel coronavirus, the local health centre invited me in for a test (like all COVID-19-related healthcare, testing is free). The last time I did it it wasn’t so bad, but it’s really uncomfortable if you have a sore throat. Then we had to absolutely stay home for two days whilst I waited for the results. Thankfully negative.

This is an extract of my Illustrated Epistle, which goes out once a month-ish. It is a behind-the-scenes look at the life of a cartoonist (specifically, mine). I'd love it if you signed up at the bottom of this page, or here:

http://eepurl.com/cCOOeD

Or head to the archive to read more here.

Alex Hallatt 7/25/21 Alex Hallatt 7/25/21

Happy Birthday to my Nephew (Who Loves Video Games)

It was a learning experience buying his present, I can tell you.

Alex Hallatt 6/30/21 Alex Hallatt 6/30/21

Illustrated Epistle Extract: How to Have a Great Party

I celebrated the shortest day by going for a very brief swim in the harbour. It lasted two minutes. You can get very cold in two minutes and even a flask of hot chocolate wasn’t enough to bring the blood back to my fingers for a good hour.

The other thing we did to banish the winter blues was to have a sparkly soirée. 39 people plus a dog fitted into our little house and it was tremendous fun. It’s the biggest party Duncan and I have had and we learned a few things from it.

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1. Brighten up the house with candles and lots of fairy lights (bought secondhand or borrowed from friends), but make sure your ancient electrics can handle all the lights being turned on at once.

2. Solar powered outside lights are great for decorating the front of the house unless the sun hardly comes out because it has rained all week and the batteries run out of power before the party has started. I had to charge them up inside.

3. Make a note of what food people bring so that you can thank them when you eat it later. I have no idea who made the little caramel tarts but they were delicious.

4. Hide the remote for the smart TV.If it took you weeks to make the perfect Spotify playlist, you don’t want to give control to your friends when they’re drunk.

5. Leave tea, coffee, mugs, sugar, etc out by the kettle before the party starts. You’ll be in no state to make people tea and coffee towards the end and guests will try to do it themselves.