Lumpy, the Konehead Lion
Richard Zimmerman
Architect, Architectural Expert Witness, Code Compliance Consultant, Author, Sign & Graphic Designer, Cartoonist
(and more at rickzworld)
No, this agile carnivore was not always Lumpy, the Konehead Lion.
Born to a proud pride, Gentoo Leaplump — a young scion lion of those famed Serengeti plainsmasters, the extended Leaplump clan — was drawn in youth to the traveling carny wending its way north along Highway B144 from Ngorongoro to the Masai Mara Reserve. Leaping aboard the dusty and dilapidated road train of carny cars, buses, flatbeds and tractors as it headed away from the family watering hole, Gentoo first met his future friend, that skinny and sibilant snake-charmer Safi sur Sibale of Seronera.
Sagacious Safi saw the sales potential inherent in Gentoo’s unique feline physiognomy. He quickly endowed his Panthera leo pal with the new moniker of Lumpy, the Konehead Lion, and established him in two crucial carny functions. Through mid-afternoon on exhibition days, Lumpy would man (er . . I guess, lion) the frozen custard stand, wowing the kiddies with his deft doling of dairy delicacies. Then, as evening would descend across the African plains, Lumpy would revert to his natural role as King of the Food Chain to “Rowr!” the kiddies with his awesome acrobatic leaping, bounding and pouncing.