Long time readers of Tic Toc Tom will know that when the word walrus is used… ever… in any context, it has something to do with Ken Gallant.
The reason for this is that in art school, we gave him that nickname.
One day he was wearing a Beatles shirt (or was it a hoop skirt?) and because none of us had anything better to do, (stuff to do in art school doesn’t count as important. It’s mostly talking about how colour ‘feels’ and why every piece is the most important thing in the world.) we started to call him that. It made little sense back then and slightly less today.
Over the years we’ve teased him tirelessly about it however, Walrus Boy (see what I did there?) has always been a good sport. I suspect it’s because he knows any resistance would result in even more teasing. That’s because we take our bullying very seriously!
Ken has never even complained about the non-walrus teasing. For instance check out this little gem from way back in the early 90s.
Or how about this more recent update (you can tell it’s more recent because it doesn’t look like we used a crappy photocopier from the corner store – pixels are the best!).
Yup. Ken has taken it all in stride. And after all these years, I think I finally know why.
It’s because he’s better than us. And not in the “he can hold his breath longer and catch more fish under the ice” kind of way. But because he’s a good sport and a good artist and an all round good guy.
So, happy birthday my friend! I wish you all the best.
And those were the last compliments I will ever pay you.
Paul Marhue
