That’s a breast drill (also known as “chest drill” among those who think “breast” sounds naughty). I like to drool over old-school mechanical tools and machines that in the modern world have been made obsolete with the introduction of electric or petrol powered tools and machines. (I have a very nice old mechanical sewing machine that I like for its simple, sturdy build and its total self-sufficiency. :3 )

I’ve never used a breast drill, though. My parents had a hand drill once, but they probably got rid of it before I had grown old enough to use it. I only remember my mum saying it was “shit”. I don’t know if it really was (maybe it was bad quality and/or not very well maintained), or if she was just using it the wrong way. Hand drills and chest drills rely a lot on the pressure you are able to put on them with your own human weight.

Since Willie is not so strong and this is hard wood, I let her use a breast drill instead, which is more powerful than a hand drill …

Maybe I’m taking all this carpentry too seriously, but hey – how many comics are there out there that actually show someone repairing stuff like this? I’m always disappointed when artists cheat on these things, or convey that someone is capable at something by just having another character comment that they are good, instead of actually showing that they are good.

Anyway, I’m kind of looking forward to having more speech bubbles on the next page, to cover up that wooden paneling …

It seems I can’t draw at all anymore, and the second panel has a rather strange composition, but I’m not going to whine about that.

* * *

I’ve been following the efforts of the Gaza Aid Fleets over the years. Protesting against the strict embargo that the Israeli government has enforced on Gaza by bringing “forbidden” supplies like medicine, modular homes and cement to Gaza on ships is a sweet idea (and incidentally relates a little bit to the story in Driftwood).

So this morning I woke up to the rather shocking news that the IDF navy has killed at least 10 people on the Gaza Aid Fleet during a raid carried out in international waters. At least 30 people have been injured. Several IDF soldiers were also injured.

So far it is not at all clear how exactly it happened, although Israeli politicians and their right-wing fans abroad are already quick to present the most favourable and still somewhat plausible, though probably not quite true, scenarios in the media. The IDF has been jamming all transmission from the Gaza Aid Fleet, and while the navy boats have embedded journalists with them, they are not allowed to report anything before returning to shore – and what they will report then might not be entirely objective.

Phew, finally!

Trunnels are wooden nails that swell and shrink with the wood they’re holding together, so they are more sturdy than metal nails.

* * *

Monday, May 24th:

Last weekend’s new page is the title page for chapter 8. I was debating whether to put the title page first or after page 1 or 2, but in the end I decided to put it first …

So here is the first page of chapter 8. I’ll try to draw one page a week. That might not sound like much, but maybe it’s still better than the Shturmovschina method I did for the end of chapter 7 (nothing all year, and then almost one page a day for a couple weeks).

Also, happy Victory Day! Without these guys and gals, maybe I could not be here in Berlin today.

How I made this:

I drew Aeron and Willie on one piece of paper, and all the seagulls randomly around them, where there was free space. Then I drew the frame on another piece of paper. I scanned both, added the frame as a new layer over Aeron, Willie and the seagulls, and then cut out the seagulls from the background and arranged them neatly, resizing them when necessary.

* * *

I just have to mention a recent musical discovery I made. I was listening to the “Tyneside” tag radio on Last.fm, and then I noticed that all the songs that made me PMS-cry uncontrollably were by Bob Fox (songs like Still Growing and She Waits And Weeps). Sad songs sung with a Tyneside accent (he’s from Sunderland), often about working people from the declining industries of the area. In the end, the first music I have ever bought off iTunes are some lovely Bob Fox songs that are very nice and inspiring to listen to while I work on Driftwood.

He even has a song addressed to a character called Willie – All In A Day, a monologue from one shipbuilder to another.

All in a day, Willie, all in a day.
She’s leaving today, Willie, sailing away.

But come tomorrow, Willie,
When the peeping Toms will can their final pictures
And come tomorrow, Willie,
When the cocktail party faces stiffen hard,
And come tomorrow, Willie,
That same steel wind will whistle off the river,
Come tomorrow, Willie,
I’ll see you up at seven in the yard.

Though when I listen to it I like to imagine that it’s something Willie’s father could have said to her back when he was still working in the shipbuilding yards in Newcastle, before they closed down and he became unemployed. :3