• Monday 27 February 2006

d.i.y. update (back bedroom)
The back bedroom is coming on (better than the new issue of Strangehaven is, but not for a want of trying). Last weekend I washed down all the woodwork and metalwork with Sugar Soap and yesterday I glossed the same. I used Homebase's Non-Drip One Coat Gloss which is a misleading use of the terms 'Non-Drip' and 'One Coat' - or at least both at once. But better than Dulux's Brilliant White Non-Drip Satinwood paint used elsewhere in the house which not only dripped, but which dried an unpleasant shade of dirty cream.

they make me work for my money
In addition to gallivanting across Europe (it's Italy next) promoting the assorted translated versions of Strangehaven, I'm also closely involved with supplying the adapted digital files for the foreign editions. Strangehaven has been created over the years by making use of a number of different computer programs, and some additional work has been necessary. Fortunately, most of the time I had the foresight to preserve a number of different versions of the files which allows easier adaptation into other languages. The use of overlaid transparent captions and sound effects may have proved big problems otherwise.
In addition, I provide translation advice (e.g. 'What the hell are you trying to say here?'), proofing and am even creating alternate covers for Akileos' excellent French editions.

• Thursday 16 February 2006

colonel blink from The Beezer	wimbledon green by seth

• Wednesday 15 February 2006

romance is not dead
As it turned out, Mandy and I ended up going to the flicks. We saw Final Destination 3 at the local Odeon multiplex, popped home to order in a Chinese and watched Layer Cake from the Sky+ box. Which all told is quite a body count for St. Valentines Day.

• Tuesday 14 February 2006

hello young lovers
Collected my preordered dozen red roses this morning, wrapped the copy of Bombon El Perro on DVD, fetched the card and chocolates from their hiding place and I'm all set for a romantic evening. Plan is to go for a drink after Mandy finishes work, then retire for a Thai meal and watch a movie. OK, it's not original, but if it works, don't mess with the formula ...

• Saturday 11 February 2006

• Friday 10 February 2006

small press hits the big time (this week only)
The new issue of the Judge Dredd Megazine (cover dated 7 March) contains a rather fantastic survey of the British small press scene by Matthew Badham. Over seven full-colour pages, Matthew concisely describes the current self-publishing movement, and gives lots of space to a number of independent creators like the Rubins sisters, Solar Wind's Paul Scott and yours truly. A long way from the usual puff piece, it's a well-written, informative and entertaining feature. It's also very nicely designed, with lots of relevant visuals.
After having to drive into Southend this morning to find a copy at the local WH Smith (as no newsagents in the Leigh-on-Sea area sell the Megazine or even 2000AD), I was pleasantly surprised to find the lengthy article towards the front of the magazine, rather than tucked away between the ads right at the back.
The only slightly disappointing thing is that after Matthew discusses how it's still difficult to get hold of small press books, he fails to give direct contact information for any of the titles he mentions beyond a suggestion to 'Google the creators' to find their websites. This seems a little at odds with the presumed intention of the article, to help promote small press comics and their creators.
But it really is an excellent piece. Congrats to Matthew and publishers Rebellion.

• Thursday 09 February 2006

apparently now i'm a comics expert
Not long after returning from France, I received an invitation to lecture on comics at the University of Alicante in Spain for their "VIII Jornadas sobre Cómic de la Universidad del Alicante" event to be held at the end of March. Apparently the organisers of the event are great fans of Strangehaven.
Unfortunately, I had to turn it down as the dates clash with my already-booked holiday with girlfriend Mandy. As I've traveled to Portugal, France and Brighton in past months and am shortly off to Italy, it wouldn't be fair to cancel the vacation to attend another comics-fest, would it?
Hopefully I'll be invited back another year. Be patient, my Spanish readers.
The Alicante University website

we lose another great
Very saddened to learn about the sudden death of innovative illustrator and designer Seth Fisher, who fell accidentally from the roof of an Osaka nightclub on January 30th.
I had only recently discovered Seth's work through Marvel's Fantastic Four & Iron Man: Big in Japan mini-series, which I ordered on the strength of his cover illustration. I wasn't disappointed by the interiors either. Coincidentally, I saw one of his originals on display at the CNBDI in Amadora at my visit to the festival last November, which blew me away. At only 33 years old, who knows what he would have produced in later years. A great loss. If you're not familiar with his work, you can check it out on his website, Flowering Nose.

derek acorah, TV psychic	max headroom, psychic TV

• Thursday 02 February 2006

back in britain
Yes, I'm back from the arctic wasteland they call France, wholly invigorated by the astonishing Angouleme festival, where I sketched like a madman for my nouveau Gallic readers in the blank page of the new French edition of the book wot I wrote. Full report on impressions of my second visit to the Festival International de la Bande Dessinee will appear here presently.

a mini disaster movie of my very own
I had intended on filing one last entry prior to leaving for the land of garlic and onions, but my beloved Ferrari laptop was temporarily out of action due to a bizarre and unfortunate circumstance.
I had switched the machine on so it was able to go through its boot-up routine as usual while I was preparing my luncheon. My mug of steaming hot tea (no milk, no sugar) was placed alongside the laptop on its dedicated coaster while I finished toasting several slices of wholemeal bread while continuing to amuse pet bulldog Babs by throwing and kicking her rubber ball. As I made my way back towards the dining table, I flipped the ball with my foot in an attempt to clear Babs' square head, but with a prestigious leap that Alan Gilzean would have been proud of, she butted the ball towards the dining room table.
The ball next bounced off the top edge of a dining chair, then clipped the top of an odd-looking frosted glass vase (a Christmas gift from Colleen and Rupert) before coming to rest on the carpet after a few further detours courtesy of the walls.
Meanwhile, the vase's contents - a number of unpeeled lychees (don't ask) - flew in all directions and Babs disappeared into the sanctuary of her bed. The vase rolled around the table top, tracing a circumference wide enough to knock my mug of tea off from its coaster and sideways onto the tabletop.
Not only was this an awful waste of tea, but the surprisingly large amount of dark brown liquid was distributed across most of the table's surface, and from there on to a white dining chair, onto the white carpet and especially relevantly, my trusty laptop.
Not really sure which to attend to first, I unplugged the laptop, mopped the tabletop with ultra-absorbent kitchen roll to prevent further drippage, attended to the carpet with Shaw's Stain Eliminator, and finally removed the chair cover to wash after first spraying with De- solv-it.
When finally able to review the damage to my portable computer, I made sure it was perfectly dry and switched it on. I was greeted with an extraordinary fizzing and crackling and so switched it off again. After attempting to dismantle it by removing several dozen screws, I had to admit defeat and reassemble it. After several further false starts when the notebook's wireless card and touchpad pointing device persisted in behaving rather erratically and unpredictably, I decided to pack it away until after my French sojourn.
Fortunately, my presumably now fully-dried out computer has been working fine since my return and posting to my blog is once more possible. Hurrah!

• January's Jovial Jitterings

cds of the month


Back With Two Beasts [The Church] *****

Redbird [Heather Nova] ****

cinema
Final Destination 3 ***

films on sky
Kill Bill 2 *****
Layer Cake ****
Club Dread ***
Cellular **
The I Inside ***
Ladies in Lavender **
Non ti muovere ****
School of Seduction **
Connie & Carla **
Sky Captain *
Johnson's Family Vacation **

dvd
Bombon El Perro ***
Crash ****

tv
Invasion ***
Desperate Housewives ***
Supernatural **
Gideon's Daughter **

restaurant
Sambouca (Westcliff) ****

footie results
Chelsea 2 Pompey 0
Chelsea 1 Barcelona 2 sob
Chelsea 3 Colchester 1
Middlesboro 3 Chelsea 0 ugh
Chelsea 4 Everton 1

squash results
27/02 Gary 2 Steve 1
20/02 Gary 2 Steve 3
16/02 Gary 7 Steve 0
13/02 Gary 2 Steve 5
09/02 Gary 1 Steve 3
02/02 Gary 3 Steve 3

blog archive
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
18 September 2005
04 September 2005
21 August 2005
14 August 2005
07 August 2005
31 July 2005
24 July 2005
17 July 2005
10 July 2005