TV scandals

I'm so bored of these TV phone-in scandals. I mean, c'mon, is it really the end of the world? do we care if the entries to a Blue Peter competition are all so shit that they have to make up a winner? C'mon, this is the sort of thing we'd all do. Let's stop being so morally superior.
When I phone in to vote for something - who knows, maybe somehow my vote won't get thru - but so what? it's not gonna kill me.
And now we have an X-Factor hoo-hah. Apparently 2000 people (it's actually around 1700, but 2000 sounds much better in the papers) have complained their votes didn't get through. REally? Shall we check all these people? Cos maybe they are bitter Rhydian fans!
It seems like Deal or No Deal has lost its little compo too because of all this. I think viewers were pissed off that they weren't told how much they could win (it's revealed at the end of the episode, so they could tell us - but so what!).
Bored bored bored.

And while I'm at it, the papers have gotta stop making things like this sound so bad - and having a go at the Beeb for actually having a Christmas party. Although I must say - ban that effing licence already and just give me adverts. I barely even watch the bloody BBC.

Phew, that got that little lot off my chest.

And please ban Amy Winehouse in 2008.

Some recent films

Recently I have seen:
Hitman - oh dear, very boring indeed. And why on earth the Hitman didn't get it on with that floozy girl is beyond me.
Golden Compass - oh dear. It was like, every 5 minutes someone would say 'we need to travel to Frarborta to meet up with Sloggengaaard'. Enough! Very silly. And I appreciate that Lyra is supposed to be feistier than your average heroine, but she's just an annoying brat in the movie, who seems to want to shove in the word 'ain't' whenver she remembers to. Nicole Kidman was very pretty though. It would be quite funny if they didn't make the sequels, in which case Daniel Craig's 10 minutes in the film will seem ridiculous!
Die Hard 4 - hugely stupid and silly, but very entertaining. Although they seemed to run out of steam at the end.

Christmas cards

Why do some people just not give Christmas cards? mostly men. a lot of my male friends say 'oh yeah, i'm crap' etc. I don't understand it! it's fun!

Shocking revelation

Growing up in a sports-loving family, there was more likely to be football on the TV rather than movies. So there are a lot of classic films I have never seen. Some of my friends go into a state of shock/start squealing when I tell them what they are...
Some of the movies include:
Highlander
Back to the Future
Dirty Dancing
Flashdance
Grease
And there are probably more, but those are the ones that spring to mind. Shocking, eh?!
I try to watch Back to the Future - but it's always part 2 or part 3 on TV. I think i started to watch the first one ages ago, but got put off by the strange make-up (where one of the young actors had obviously been made up to look like an old man).

Pretty Long Year 2

Oops I spoke to soon. Just two nights before the end of her huge, huge tour, my Tori had a bit of a wobbly and threw two girls out of her concert for messing around too much. "Get the fuck out of my show, it's a privilege to sit in your front row seats!" Oooops!!! http://www.dlisted.com/
Will I have a wobbly before Christmas too...?

New pic

Here's a new pic I did at work today, on a good old post-it (I think I do my best drawings on post-its lol).
It's a new O Men character, set to appear in the final arc of volume two (although really, she's been with me since I was drawing The Wonder Men, back when I was 12 or so).
I think she used to be called Time Mistress, but this will change for the O Men, as that's a bit crap isn't it.

Pretty long year

Well I've gotta admit - 6 more days of work left of 2007 and I cannot wait for a break. This year has been a bit hard-going and I need to hibernate to get over it, I think!
One person who has inspired me is good ol' Tori - she has been touring since June - a huge world tour - jeez, she must have done over 100 concerts? How the hell do you do that? How the hell do you psych yourself up for something like that? However much you must enjoy it, it must be so exhausting! I mean, if you're interested, have a look at the full list of concerts here: www.undented.com/tour.
And she's 43! I think she's got two, maybe three dates left - she must be so glad it's almost over! Like me, lol. Not that I'm doing a world tour or anything.

Oh, and...

oh, and I thought I'd treat myself to an X-Men trade, 'End of Greys' (ouch), the story where Rachel's entire family gets wiped out. I've read bits and pieces of it before. I really enjoyed it - however messy it was in places. Ah, good old comics. Makes me want to get off my arse and do a bit of O Men!

Some comics

I don't buy many comics these days. Well, actually, that's bollocks - i only buy Walking Dead, Powers, Astonishing X-Men and Luna Bros stuff regularly, but now and then I do splurge. Bought some really cool comics on a trip to Brum this weekend...
Initiative Annual - not a bad read, if a little pointless. Amory is too good a character to be left on the shelf.
Sword 3 - still a promising series, although I wonder when I'll start to lose track of what's going on and just buy it out of habit like I did with Girls. The art is so crisp!
World War Hulk 5 - well I'm not as impressed with this as a lot of my chums were, but as a no holds barred action comic, it's fairly breath-taking. Interesting hint about the son of Hulk being introduced next year.
Ultimates 3.1 - now I swore I wouldn't buy this, because of the creative team. Jeph Loeb hasn't impressed me since the awesome Long Halloween and Joe Madeuira - well, let's just say he's responsible for me giving up reading the X-titles all those years ago. But there was one reason i had to buy this title ...Valkyrie!!!!
All in all, not a bad little read. Loeb's script is a bit meander-y in places (not quite sure what exactly was happening on the first 3 pages, is Black Widow still alive?, when did it take place??, who's there??), occassionally unimpressive (Venom v Black Panther for a couple of pages zzzz), slighly confusing (where'd Black Panther come from), and so different to Mark Millar's stuff (okay let's lose all trace of subtlety about the Wanda/Pietro relationship).
Meanwhile, Joe Mad's art is ...better than it used to be... but woah, turn on the lights a bit, it's way too dark and murky, and too brown!
Generally though, it's a strong first issue, plenty goin' on, some little shocks, and I love where they've taken Hawkeye.

Well it worked, then...

I've been loving Cerys Matthews on I'm A Celeb - so sweet and gentle! - and went and bought her last solo album today. So looks like the publicity paid off and she got at least one album sale out of it, lol.
I hope she wins - I know she's had a rough couple of years - and it would do her the world of good - but I think Biggins will triumph!

Heroes officially rocks again (no spoilers)

Ep 9 of Heroes season two, and it's officially awesome again. Haven't re-wound bits of an episode like that for ages. Kristen Bell is great as Elle. I guessed the little twist and I think they should have held off on that for a bit - but ah well.
Oh, and the L Word finale was absolutely wonderful - so romantic. I'm so captivated by Jennifer Beals' character Bette's relationship with deaf Jodi. Such a cool show.

P.S.

Re the captain America omnibus - you know, Cap America has never been one of my favourite characters, but funnily enough, I've been playing the Marvel Ultimate Alliance game and he's one of my fave characters to play - flinging his shield everywhere. So that's my reason for buying the omnibus! Hopefully it'll be a good read - it's supposed to be.
(P.P.S. ms marvel and spider woman are rubbish in the game)

Rough

It's been a rough week - so can I just say - thank God for comics. Powers and Walking Dead out this week, catching up with Astonishing X-Men and Sword, treating myself to the Captain America omnibus. Bliss. Life is good, after all!

3-Disability!

Pretty much all of my friends have been asking if i want to check out Beowulf in 3D at the Imax - but there's one snag: I can't see 3D! I have an astigmatism - a rugby-ball-shaped eye, which stops me from seeing things like 3D and magic eye - in fact I only found this out a couple of years ago, so I rue all those wasted days trying to figure out Magic Eye pictures.
Still, weird how so many people want to see this movie!

Cover version

Record industry in running-out-of-ideas shocker!! (Very similar album covers released in subsequent weeks) Do record company people not talk to each other any more?

I did another drawing

Well it's rough, and it's nowhere near final, but this could be the cover to O Men 2.6. Not sure... I have a couple of other ideas in mind, but this is my favourite at the moment. We'll see...

The British Voting Public

No, this isn't about politics (ew), it's about reality TV. Why do the British public always get it wrong? Like, they're voting for Janice Dickinson to do the 'Bushtucker trials' each time on I'm A Celebrity - can't they see past the brash exterior and realise that she's actually a fascinating, entertaining, very funny person. She's too easy a target. Bloody vote for that utter lowlife Lynne Franks, for goodness sake.
At least Janice is gonna do well out of this show, I reckon. Kinda like this year's David Gest - except David Gest just proved to be awful.
It's like on Big Brother - let's vote out the big characters and end up with the boooooring people.
Stuuuuupid.
Omg I'm watching Janice do a live Bushtucker trail - it's hilarious! Good old Janice.

Classical Star

One of my favourite tv shows of the year just finished - what a lovely treat. Classical Star - it was so hard to pick a winner. Those kids were so awe-inspiring - made me want to pick up my flute again - I got my grade 4 exam, y'know.

Oh, and...

Prison Break season 3 is finally picking up - and it's good to see the fans online are into it again. Bellick and T-Bag seem a bit underused though, and I'm not sure how excited I am by the small details of the escape. But Susan B. Anthony is awesome, even though I can't quite forgive her for killing ******. Let's hope she is in the Cherry Hill spin-off.
She's actually a weird character - she's damaged - but how will we ever feel sorry for her, after what she's done. As one of the PB writers says in an upcoming interview, it's quite unique to have a character that is so mental!
Oh, and L Word season 4 continues to rock. I"m loving Jodie, the deaf character, and Papi, the spanish ho, is always great fun. Awesome row episode last week on Living - Jennifer Beals is absolutely superb. She's so vulnerable but it's fascinating to see how she messes up her life constantly.
Jenny has got to go...

My Heroes (no spoilers)

Ah that's better - Heroes has improved vastly. A good twist (I guessed it!) and finally, the characters are doing stuff (Niki is great).
The show still has its problems though. There really are some characters that can GO. please go away mohinder, ya can't act. And Matt Parkman - he just sucks the life out of the show. Get over it with your 'issues' and your 'I love you's'. It's a shame the show didn't have the balls to do something a little more drastic with Molly and Matt in this episode, but still - much, much better.
So next ep is a flashback one - a good idea I guess, and the trailer looks great, but I dunno if it's completely necessary? I'm sure it'll be good though, and is set to show Elle and Adam in a completely different light.
Oh, and did you guys see Tim Kring's apology for season two? lol! I thought it was just me. I was like 'why am I not enjoying Claire's romance?' 'Why am I getting bored of Hiro in the past? Do i have a heart of stone?' But no, Kring hates it too lol.

Bad decision

So you have this amazing - AMAZING - cover, and it could well pretty much double your sales for an issue, plus boost the generally flagging magazine market. I mean, I like Kylie, but i'm not the hugest fan in any way, but I still bought the issue.
But what do they do to taht wonderful cover? Bag it and have the actual final cover (on the bag) feature promo for the Q Awards, and pics of jonathan ross and Kylie looking like an old fuddy-duddy. Stuuuupid!!! A head should roll for that decision.

Reviews

Some quick reviews!
Medal of Honor: Frontline - I finally finished this game today - thank god! I mean, I like a game with a lot to it, but this just went on way too long. It's a good game, but frustrating - like if you die you have to go all the way back to the start of each mission. Allll the way back. And it's frustrating that a huge shotgun blast will 'tickle' your Nazi enemy while a shot from a tiny silencer gun will obliterate them. Also a bit weird that the game starts off totally differently to how it continues - a bizarre and confusing beach landing thing, whereas the rest of the game is first-person-shooter. A good game, but nowhere near as good as Castle Wolfenstein.
Heroes season two: slowly getting better, and a big new storyline promised for next week (out of nowhere). Glad the Oirish people have been left behind now, but Peter's irritating new girlfriend is still around sigh.
Prison Break: This show has become very strange, and I am not sure it's working any more. I hope people are still liking it. One of the problems is the lack of decent characters. Linc and Sucre are just Linc and Sucre - whereas they could so easily exaggerate them a bit and have Linc be this huge brutal thug, and Sucre could be comic relief. Missed opportunities! Still, there's always the spin-off.

SPANDEX

Well after vowing to take a few months off from drawing - and not do anything until the new year - I have failed miserably, and couldn't help myself.
I'm maybe a third of the way thru O Men 2.6 which is a killer of an issue. 2.7 is going to turn the entire series on its head. Then I might take a break for the final five-part season two climax issues to focus on...
SPANDEX!
I absolutely love these guys to pieces, and I cannot help myself from drawing them. So I think the plan with these guys is to release a digest book containing 6 20-page stories (I'm in love with digest books - I love the format of the Scott Pilgrim books and seeing Becky Cloonan's new pirates digest was the final thing to convince me). And that will be it for them, I think - I am just going to do what I need to do with the characters and then leave them to go off and have fun. Six really tightly written, fun stories.
So yeah, I think that's the plan - finally. I've also been thinking about other formats for the whole thing - like making it available to mobiles and ipod - and I really want to do something with the GArfield-type format - 3 panels - but I don't think Spandex is right for that.
So I hope you like the pic - I love it. The guys are: Liberty, Diva, Glitter, Miss Fantastic, Mr Muscle, Butch and I've forgotten the front-guy's name.
Can you guess their secret? lol...

Great TV

My favourite show at the moment is Classical Star on BBC2 on Tuesdays. To say it's X-Factor meets classical music is to really under-sell it, as it is such a classy programme. 9 highly talented young classical musicians all competing for a record deal. It's so, so good, and there have been some shocking departures each week (Ben the flautist in week one, who arrogantly thought he was the Robbie Williams of the classical world, and tonight the young Russian violinist who was so, so good). Best moment so far was Emily playing the funeral piano song to a group of youngsters and one member in the audience bursting into tears.
So I reckon Tyler to win, or the Irish pianist girl.
Just two weeks left - try and catch it next week.
And I don't just watch TV - I did do some O Men tonight.

Looking Better

YOu may recall a 'post' a few weeks ago about how poor the L Word has got of late.
Well they turned it around! They finally replaced all the characters that they lost - and the replacements are great. We have 'Papi' the latino lez who is such a gruff slut, we have got Cybill Sheppard who still only gets shot from the shoulders up, and we have got a big black butch lez who is such a great character (altho not great enough for me to remember her name). Oh, and a cool deaf character, altho she does sound a bit funny.
So well done The L Word!

Being preached at

I just watched Crash yesterday - the Sandra Bollock movie that won the Oscar.
Er...right.
I mean, it was okay and it kept me entertained, but jesus, stop preaching at me in every single scene! everyone stop getting so worthy and haughty about where you're from!
It was kind of a mess of a film - every scene was just so annoying and 'challenging'. And was it really that worthy? Is the best thing to happen to Sandra's character to fall down the stairs? And yeah right, so everyone just bumped into each other like that.
And what's with the pop videoes at the end? And did Thandie Newton tell her hubby about her 'explosive' day? He didn't seem that bothered that she almost got blown up.
I didn't really get this film - and I think it could have benefited from an extra hour maybe.
But that crap beat Brokeback Mountain for Best Film? C'mon...

The trouble with comics

You see, this is the problem. Reading New Warriors last night, the new issue - i had no idea who ANY of the characters were, barely any idea what was going on, and pretty much didn't care. In fact, the only thing I liked about the comic was the cover - which was nice and unusual (as a brief aside, I loooved the unusual 1602 covers and really wish Marvel had been brave enough to make the guy do the interior art too, instead of horrible old Kubert).
So back to New Warriors - yeah they have the recap on the first page, but it doesn't explain enough and it doesn't say who the characters are - which would help.
Also read She Hulk - which was okay - but it was really hard to decipher what was going on thanks to the backgroundless artwork (something you could never accuse O Men of, obviously). Standards have slipped!
And finally, flicking thru Previews - and what a state the X-titles are in. I think the problem is that the teams are so badly defined at the moment - they're all over the place. Just focus them down, make it less confusing. New X-Men is the worst culprit - how big is the cast? Like, 30 characters? It's sad that Marvel have pretty much ignored the X-titles in favour of the Avengers.
I honestly, honestly think comics could be doing so much better with minor tweaks here and there.

Heroes season two (no spoilers)

Heroes season two is really testing my patience at the moment. I've just watched episode 5.
A review of the first episodes in Entertainment Weekly recently was hilarious and so true. 'Hiro's in feudal Japan. Claire's trying to fit in in High School. Peter is in ireland. Which week is this? Every fricking week.' It has been a bit monotonous, with only a few decent flying scenes waking me up from time to time...
What are they doing??
And some of it just isn't very well done. I'm not gonna even mention the Irish scenes/accents, which are beyond appalling. New character Monica (I think) has a great power, but it's coming across a bit laughable. Hiro is becoming a bit irritating. And why do they do the white-eye thing when you can clearly still see their pupils? And some of the 'new' powers - well I don't like that idea...
And where has this virus story come from all of a sudden? And where are half the characters in each episode? And why does Dania Ramirez keep pulling funny faces?
Mohinder needs to go - his acting is appalling. And Matt is making me laugh so much. He's all very gay - living with Mohinder, and then just having a 'sweaty session' with Nathan in this episode.
Also, part of the story is too Watchmen (as last year's was too Days of Future Past - and the writers still claim not to be comic fans).
I'm not sure why it's not working this year so much. I'm hoping it's gonna pick up soon. At least Kristen Bell is in it now...
Oh and I have come under so much flak on Facebook for writing Statuses like 'Martin is glad Simone is dead, she is so boring' and 'Martin is sad that Eden is dead'. I mean, c'mon, this is season one! Everyone's seen it!! Jeeez! I wait til it's been on BBC2! It's not as if I give away a season two spoiler like '**** is gonna *** in episode **!!!'

A remarkable achievement

Well with around 20 Essentials and Showcases on my shelves - all unread - I finally got round to reading one of them. Batman and the Outsiders! it was very funny! I love how they move in with Bruce Wayne, see him in the Batcave, and then have no idea that they are one and the same.
The best bit was when Geo Force's sister Terra had died and he was very upset - so his team-mates turned up and told him to 'warm up the ouija board' (honestly).
but no, it was all good fun, and i enjoyed it. i didn't particularly learn anything about Metamorpho, and Katana seemed slightly more interesting than she seems to be now (I wonder if her sword still talks to her). Halo is such a fun character, and it was a shame Looker didn't debut in this volume - she looked cool (I think she died in infinite crisis :-(
Hmm so next up i think will be Essential Moon Knight 1 (the 2nd book looks amazing - all Bill Sienkiviecz - classic stuff) and I quite fancy Green Lantern showcase too.

A very very good comic

I'm not a fan of Black Canary by any stretch of the imagination - but I have to say, the first issue of Black Canary/Green Arrow was very, very good. Best comic I've read in ages. Great art, really good writing and a couple of scenes that really stuck with me. Well done DC!

Poor old comics

Sometimes I get depressed about the state of comics. Funnily enough, it often happens after reading an issue of Comics International. Things like when I see the Top 100 sales, and the top titles can only muster about 100,000 sales (jesus, I sell more O Men. Not really. I wonder where O Men would come in the chart...). And I look at the reviews and I see how lacklustre everything seems to be. Titles like Countdown, which just make no effort whatsoever to make sense or be self-contained or be value for money. I bought a handful of comix this weekend, treated myself, and I can't say I was blown away really. They just don't seem to be whole packages any more, no letters pages, always aimed at the six-issue collection, making individual comics almost redundant. Leading on from that, you've got the comic shops themselves. Miss an issue and you're stuffed - the back issues sections just don't exist in most shops - it's sad. What is the point? Do the Big Two actually want to just move to trades?
Comics could be so good again, if they just made more of an effort - target them, make them make sense, make them accessible, make them good reads, value for money. Have we all given up? Should we go back to an era of just one X-title or just one Batman title?
But then after getting depressed, I think of how amazingly popular comics are in Japan - so the medium obviously still has legs, thank goodness.
And of course, there's always O Men 2.6, which I started recently lol...

I did a drawing

I did a drawing! My first one since, hm, July, I think. Well done me.
It's kinda based on a shot from the amazing Death Proof movie, and it shows my O-ladies Kelly, Molly, Mary and Grace having a little ride out - and they won't be meeting up with Stuntman Mike, don't worry.
As a car piccie, it's kind of my apology for that abysmal car sequence in O Men 2.4, which was universally panned ha ha (even though I actually used photo reference for it!!)
While I'm on the subject of Death Proof - I was watching Kill Bill earlier today, and in the anime sequence where the Deadly Assassination Squad kick the shit out of the Bride - it's a neat little reference to the cicle-punch ending of Death Proof. Very neat.
Oh and am I the only one to notice that some of the girls from DP pop up in Planet Terror?

Buffy cover

Take a look at this Buffy cover...
Am I the only one who immediately (wrongly) thought that it's supposed to be a pic of Buffy (yeah yeah i didn't notice the Faith stuff lol), and am I also the only one to think it is extremely risque indeed!!!!

Re-evaluating fifty-poo

I hated 52 when it first came out. Too many z-listers, cruddy art, all in all, not impressed. Plus it irked me that they didn't seem to use the full potential of the weekly story device - ie, sometimes only using one or two days per issue.
But now I'm re-reading it all in the trades and I am absolutely loving it. Maybe that's the best way to read it.
Perhaps part of the reason for this is that Countdown is so crap. Really bad art, a very lightweight story, minus-Z list characters, and a story concerned with tying in too much with current events in the DCU. Plus I miss the little next issue preview panels. 52 is such a dense, engaging read, and, sadly, you can't compare Countdown to it.
Maybe 52 is just a one-off classic... I hope not.

The Sob Factor

So the X-FActor final 12 have been decided for this year. Two things surprise me - first, that they're actually doing X-Factor this year, considering last year's was so disappointing, and secondly that they haven't learned from their mistakes. Those wretched sob stories! 'I live at home with my mom!' 'I've got a job I don't like' Shut up!!! And the woman whose father sent the application form in just before he died - stop it! Stop talking about your dad - you're just making a mockery of it.
Honestly, this year's finalists all seem totally on the verge of nervous breakdowns - it's incredible!
MInd you, there's somethign to be said for it, i guess. The finalists are all teh cryers, and we got to know them, while the rejects all seemed generally happy and didn't show much emotion, and maybe they just didn't show they wanted it enough.
So of course now the next stage takes place, and these poor guys get thrown to the wolves. I really don'tt hink Sharon's girls stand a chance, along with people like NIki. Oh dear, more tears ahead...

Death Proof

Finally got round to seeing Death Proof today - and i am still buzzing from it - wow!
It's completely daft, completely irritating (less talk puh-lease!) but when it gets going it's absolutely awesome. That crash scene - you'll know the one i mean - with teh Hold Tight music - is just so stunning.
I think it's a movie you have to be on the same wavelength with. I adored the actors and the acting in this film - it was so un-movie-like, so natural. I adored the silliness of the focus on Jungle julia simply sending a text message (c'mon, don't we all mis-spell stuff lol) and the music in this movie just rocked. Even Vanessa Ferlito's lap-dance scene was superb - and this is a woman whose face has terrified me since 24 season three.
I can't wait to watch it again, and I definitely can't wait to watch Planet Terror!

FOPP is back!

you know when things start to go wrong - and everything seems to go wrong - and then something else adds to the woes - like the awesome record shop FOPP closing.
well i popped into town today and, lo and behold, they've reopened it - yay! i mean, only 6 branches have opened in the UK, but jeez better than none. treated myself to two Sonic YOuth albums - a fiver each - a band i've always wanted to investigate, but never heard them. but now i can, thanks to fopp!!!

James Patterson

I love James Patterson's books - they are very silly but they are very involving, and best of all each chapter is about 2 pages long - perfect for my attention span. The Alex Cross books are great, even though I can never remember who's who in his family and if his wife is still dead or not (that's not a spoiler, she's always been dead).
I'm not enjoying the Women's Murder Clubs Books so much though (or whatever they're called). I don't think he writes women very well, it all seems very forced, and with Cindy, Claire, Jill and Britney (I made that last one up) it feels like I'm reading about the Bratz. But ah well, it's a quick read.
I also love the way he crams in a popular music reference as if he's desperately trying to be trendy. There's always a 'Phyllis puts on a (insert trendy artist) CD as she makes love' reference. He even included Tori once!

New seasons

Just watched ep 2 of Prison Break season 3 and ep 1 of Heroes season 2.
PB is awesome - just sooo crazy and daft - it's just one silly scrape after another, very intense. Reaaaally unconvincing plot development with Sucre in this one though, hmmm. Oh well. New bad gal Susan B Anthony is superb, as much as I want to hate her, knowing what's coming up.

Heroes Ep 1 - don't worry, no spoilers - well this is a show that can go anywhere at this point, can't it. It felt like more of a prologue episode than anything else. And where was Ali Larter? They still haven't figured out what to do with her yet, have they. I was kinda worried because I heard casting stuff about 'irish gangs' and I just thought 'is that the best they can come up with' - but that seems like a side-story and that there are much deeper issues going on - almost Zenith like (hopefully). Some great stuff from George Takei and the Petrelli mother though - very Dynasty, very Watchmen - and Ando, altho still not really a huge character, is so cool. Huge focus on Mr Bennet - not my favourite actor by any means - but a really good charcter. Was it me or did Claire look a bit....dumpy?!
It feels like I missed a season though - two big things going on, which haven't really been referenced before.
So a bit of a slow start. I'm intrigued to see where this is all gonna go - I hope it's gonna be exciting.
Oh god, and that little brat Molly - she needs to die please. Very very soon. Horrible.

Oh, and finally, funny how the bad guys in PB and Heroes are both called The Company. Would love it if they were the same organisation lol

Sob stories

I love the X-Factor, but surely there must be some big changes this year. Last year's show was pretty abysmal, I think. I blame Sharon! She encourages all the sob strories and all the crying - I bet she thinks it's a good tactic - but c'mon, what happened to these people enjoying the music?
And these sob stories are ridiculous! "i'm auditioning becuase I had a burst appendix" (*I* had a burst appendix when I was 11 - but it didn't make me audition for the X-FActor!), and so on and so on.
Can't really see any clear finalists yet - maybe the young blonde girl with the operatic voice, maybe the waif-like scottish lad - pleeeease not the army guy - we really don't need another Robson and Jerome.

Prison Break

So Prison Break season three has been advertised and promoted absolutely everywhere. How does Sky have so much money? They must have spent millions. And what will the ratings be? one million? two million? cos isn't that all that Sky gets? How on earth do they do it.
(good first ep though - i've seen it already! and read teh first 6 scripts! i can't say anything but...jesus christ...)
Update: So the ratings are in - half a million for the first episode. But wait - that is good news apparently, a record breaker! Erm. Wasn't it doing two or three million on Channel Five? Fox shouldn't have bothered selling it...

What KT did next

Ha ha, sorry Rol!!
My itunes rampage began today!! with my 100 quid itunes vouchers.
i got:
pj's white chalk - sounds okay, not amazing
jose gonzalez - not blown away yet
kt tunstall - i really wasn't sure about this because i felt it would be really bland - but y'know what? it's actually really good!
and then my workmate russell recommended 'Bats for Lashes' and i popped onto the itunes store and saw the words 'like' 'tori' and 'amos' so bought it immediately. and it sounds awesome!!

Does anyone really care about...

Black Canary?
they should kill her off at the wedding and create a historic moment!
(Sorry Jamie)

I am 10

At work, I will be 'celebrating' my 10th anniversary this week. It's okay though, I celebrate it with 10 others, so I'm not the only one.
Personnel phoned me up on Thursday and asked me if I wanted 200 quid's worth of champagne or 200 quid's worth of vouchers. Vouchers, of course, please. So, tell me, have a think - what would you go for?
Have a think...
You said HMV, right? lol. So did I at first.
Well I finally decided to split it between Amazon and Itunes. I wonder if i made the right decision. Amazon is very useful, and I often buy from 'used and new' so I should be able to get loads. I was gonna go for Forbidden Planet - but I guess I can get most of my stuff from Amazon, and I get 30% off at FP anyway. Still, imagine blowing 100 quid on comics mmmm
Itunes - well, I dunno if I made the right decision there, especially since I just discovered a naughty downloading website lol (I don't normally download naughtily). Plus it did seem a bit 'wasteful' to go for 100 quid on itunes. I mentioned it to a colleague and said I was thinking about the starving kids in Africa and feeling selfish - he just said that they probably couldn't do much with 100 quids worth of itunes vouchers...
So I dunno if I made the right decision, but the decision has been made, so that's it.
Of course, maybe I could have put it towards helping to replace my dying washing machine - but...nah, way too sensible...

Break-up songs

Some other bloggers do song lists, and I thought it was my turn. Plus a couple of mates have been du--, I mean, let go by their partners recently, so here are my top three 'getting over being dumped' songs.
1. Breakin Up by Rilo Kiley: The happiest dumped song I've ever heard, very funny! If you have been dumped, give this a spin and it will not only cheer you up, it will make you want to start dating again - purely so you can get dumped again!
2. Cloud on my Tongue by Tori Amos: As with many Tori songs, I don't really know what she's singing about, but I saw a live version of her doing this song once, and there's this build-up to a really tense moment where she calmly sings 'You can go now... You can go now', and then the song kind of made sense to me. Yes, you can go now.
3. Bloody Mother Fucking Arsehole by Martha Wainwright: Oh yes, this is for an angry moment and really helps get that person out of your system. Was very useful for me about three years ago (you know who you are, 'T', lol!!!)
(no, not you, Tara!)

Walking Dead

I only buy two comics these days - Walking Dead and Powers. Well, I say that, but i probably buy more than that if I think about it (The Authority - there, you see?), and tonight I treated myself to Infinity Inc, The UN-men and something else that escapes me.
So anyway, i read the latest two Walking Deads tonight.
It's an odd comic. It's great, but it doesn't always hit the spot at all. It doesn't help that Kirkman always over-hypes his issues - 'next issue: everything changes!' - er yeah, Glenn gets a haircut (why does he never get stubble?).
And the covers are veeery misleading - making the issues appear more exciting than they often are.
And get them out of that bloody prison.
The letters pages can be a real chore to read - and as a fan of letters pages, taht's an odd thing for me to say. And Kirkman's brush-off of criticism and just about everyone's wish for an answer to why the zombie plague hit, is brattish. In fact, I wonder if he's a bit of a childish fanboy type bloke. His 'dedication' to Mike Weiringo in issue 42 misfires completely, and comes across as someone sulking.
But it's still, I quite like it...

Comics for girls

So tonight, my lovely assistant Hannah from work, came along to FP with me. She had no real interst in comics, so I asked her to point out the one comic she would buy. Guess what she chose?
The Black Canary Wedding Planner - ha ha!
So well done, Dan Didio - perhaps your company isn't going down the drain after all...

Outsiders

Well I just bought my lovely copy of Showcase presents Batman and the Outsiders. I think I will really read this one. No, it won't just sit on my shelf. It won't. Although the art is fairly appalling... But there's a lovely little treat, in the shape of a Teen Titans crossover issue, with Perez art.
As always, it's a shame it's not all in colour - surely publishing is getting to the stage where they can make this affordable?
But anyway, it will be nice to learn more about characters such as Black Lightning, Halo and Katana - who DC, as usual, never really explain what they're all about to new readers.
Katana particularly interests me, because I can't really see the point of this character yet, and she seems like a fairly lame superhero.
One thing about her - she's referred to as a 'She-Samurai' at one point. What a fantastic name!!!! She Samurai!!! Call her that, instead of Katana, and she could've been as big as Batman.
Maybe I'll steal the name...

The McCanns

I don't think anyone knows what to say or think about the whole McCanns situation. It's not looking good for the parents is it. I think I'd have been a dribbling wreck a long time ago if it was me.
It's kind of weird to go from a situation where a paper like the Express will have them and Maddy on teh front page every single day for months on end - and now suddenly little doubts start to appear.
Personally, I think the evidence is starting to mount up a bit, and there's stuff I'm not sure they can explain.
But I don't see how any human being could like for so many months in so many press conferences. Nah. And even if they killed her accidentally, these guys are doctors, for goodness sake - sensible, intelligent people.
But at the end of the day, there isn't even a body, so how can it be murder?

Strange blog

My old chum Jay (hello Jay!) got in touch with me and told me that my Blog is weird. Is it? I thought it was quite toned down. Jeez, you should read the stuff I think about publishing and decide not to!

Noel...

So I wonder if it was Noel's idea to have an ALL-FEMALE week on Deal or No Deal...
The dirty old bugger...

Saying something nice

I thought i had better counter-balance my Keira Knightly vitriol with something nice - a bit like a karma balance thing.
So all hail actress Shawnee Smith! I think she rocks in the Saw movies - I love how they've weaved her in and out of them, and I hope she will be in Saw 4.
Apparently she was in an X-Files episode - Firestarter, where phallic spores burst out of peoplle's throats - will have to re-check that episode out.
See, I can be nice.

Keira Shitely

I don't know why, but i have this irrational hatred of Keira knightley. It's very strange, especially because I didn't mind her in bend it like beckham. but now i just find her annoying, and i also can't stand her 'no, press people, don't take photos of me on the red carpet with my bones showing, cos then i'll have to whinge on about how the press invade my privacy and how i'm not anorexic' routine.
and now she's sunk to new lows with a dreadful looking new film, atonement, in which her accent sinks to new posh lows.
worse still, this movie seems oscar bound, so there will literally be no escape from this wretched girl.
in fact, i may stay up on oscar night next year. the last time i did that was the return of the king year (which i thoroughly enjoyed) so i might stay up to make sure she doesn't win!!!

good lord have you ever read such a frenzied attack on someone lol

The L Word

Well I'm just watching the first episode of The L Word season four. This show is really struggling. The last couple of seasons have been fairly abysmal, with couples that just ain't working, bizarre storylines, and the ever-annoying Jenny and Max. You just get the feeling the show is struggling, and the anemic, roped-together titles sequence (which they've had to rejig because two main characters left the show - and it seems like their heart wasn't in it) is sad to watch (and jeez they still have that hideous theme music). And the show desperately needs new characters.
And why on Earth would Living tv would buy the series and then show it at midnight on a Friday???
ah well, i'll see how it goes.

Civil Idiots

Well done to Mark Millar and Steve McNiven for their constructive commentary on the Civil Wars series in the latest Wizard magazine. It was so nice to hear that you know nothing about comics and don't really care about them whatsoever. It was very 'funny' to hear you talk about the fans 'wanking' over the sexy pictures of Sue Storm. And it was really insightful to read about the thrill you got out of drawing Dagger's arse.
Yeah, nice one guys.

Sad news

ha ha not really sad news. But apparently Showcase presents Suicide Squad has been shelved. It's a shame, I was looking forward to this - even though I borrowed all the issues off my friend Marcus, and thought it was crap on a re-read. But Enchantress was so much better than she is in Shadowpact, Luke McDonnel's art is so cool, and the Bronze Tiger is one of my fave characters.
In the meantime, I will have to enjoy Showcase Presents Batman and the Outsiders - which I actually might read, rather than put on my shelf gathering dust.
Oh, and I have decided to try and track down the run of Justice League Detroit - I have a few issues - including the finale of the run (awesome) - but I have decided to check it all out - hey, it's got Zatanna in it! And Luke McDonnel art!!!

J.L.-Lame

I'm just reading the first collection of the new JLA series.
What the...?
Is it me, or is it really disjointed? Quite hard to follow (well, that is probably me, isn't it).
Who cares about the Red Tornado? Why does Vixen spend her whole time just flying around? (Actually, Vixen has got really cool powers - but she's still not quite A-list is she.) Is it me, or is Black Canary a bit obselete now? Do kids these days really care about her? I'm more of a Marvel man, but I don't mind DC - but DC have done nothing to 'sell' Black Canary to me, in all my years of reading.
Why does Geo Force suddenly pop up from nowhere?
And the cover of the book - what a mess. Let's put JLA and the actual cover pic as teeny tiny as possible, because no one cares about comics, and BRAD MELTZER needs to be as huge as possible. Shame that putting 'from the author of the Book of Fate' just reminded me of that recent spate of Dr Fate comics, rather than an obviously more high-brow proper book...
(Oh, and why didn't they put the actual first issue of the new jLA series in the collection? issue 0? D'oh!)

Guilty Pleasure

My current guilty pleasure on a Saturday afternoon is Living's marathon session of Jerry Springer. jerrrrry jerrrry lol. I'm sure I'll soon get sick of it, but for now it's great fun. Although the transvestites who have girlfriends are pretty obvious men. My fave 'episode' was the one the other week when the 19 year old girl told her boyf she had a new fella - and out comes this one-legged 60 year old hehehehe

Medal of Honor

Well I'm playing Medal of Honor on PS2 (I actually got past that impossible beach bit at the start - hooray for me - and none of the rest of the game is actually like that, which is a bit misleading) and it's pretty awesome. But one thing that is bugging me - when I 'sniper' (snipe?) those Nazis and when I shotgun them, they actually don't seem to go down! They act as if they've stubbed their toes. And then I try my 'silent pistol' on them and they drop like a little Nazi fly! Strange game. But a cool one - almost as good as Castle Wolfenstein, but not quite.

Why oh why

oh why oh why doesn't Zatanna have her own comic series? she is fantastic! i want to see this before i die of old age.
and why oh why is my O Men 2.5 cover not 'uploading' properly on the left.
And finally, I'm re-reading 'Girls' and enjoying it much, much more this time round - always best to read these things in one go rather than have to wait month after month, I guess.

If you go down to Gosh Comics today...

Popped to FP and Gosh today. I feel so guilty because I love the Gosh guys, but I get 30% off at FP, and I'm not made of money so I go to FP. It's a bummer, as Gosh do tend to stock some cool stuff that FP don't.
But aaaanyway, such nice people at Gosh, and I dropped some O Men in there and had a nice chat with the small press guy Jon, who has an exhibition coming up soon.
So the point of this post is just to say that if you are new to O Men and fancy giving it a whirl, you can find the first Season Two collection (collecting issues 2.1-2.3), and Issues 2.4 and 2.5 (not sure if they've put them on the main shelves or in teh small press bit downstairs).

Cool graphic novels

Treated myself to some graphic novels today and quite a mixed bunch, i think you'd agree!
30 days of Night, MPD Psycho, Alan Moore's Complete Wildcats, Apollo's Song, aaaand Essential Dazzler 1 lol!
I'd day I had eclectic tastes but I think most comic readers do!
Also got my hands on some of the rare comics I buy these days (oh no, I'm not going off comics - I just read them for free from work): Walking Dead (boooring issue!), Astonishing XMen (boooring storyline!) and Powers (I think I missed an issue).
Looking forward to reading Thunderbolts, X-Men and New Avengers when I get back to work - not quite worth buying I don't think (I ain't buying anything drawn by Humerto Ramos).

A spoiler offence

Last week, after the Heroes episode, the Beeb showed a preview trailer for the next episode - which showed a complete spoiler. It's a spoiler which, when I saw it the first time round, really really shocked me, and it's what hooked me on the show. It's basically about who Peter meets on the subway train. When I first saw it, I was like 'wow, this is so cool, who could it be, who could it be....oh my god!!!'
So well done BBC2 for ruining it for other fans. And they just repeated the trailer before the actual episode tonight >:-(
What is it about Heroes and spoilers though. When I watched the NBC episodes, each ad break seemed to have a preview of a big upcoming spoiler. i was able to work out the identity of a character's father from a preview thing and I knew who played Linderman from another too.
Anyway, on another note, how exactly do Clare's healing powers work? Like, she just survived death and the autopsy lady pulled a huge branch out of her head - so what if parts of her brain were on that branch?? would she get brain damage? And she had her chest opened up - would it just all go back together? hmmm.

O Men 2.5

...is DONE!!!!!!!! Yaaaay!!!!! Thank goddddd.
Well, that's to say, I had my sample copy back from the printers and I just need to make a couple of minor changes, but then it's all done - phewwwww.

The Simpsons Movie

I went to see the Simpsons movie on a whim the other day and as former editor of the comic I do of course have the supreme opinion on this lol. kidding.
it's a cool little movie - made me laugh a lot - fave jokes were 'boob lady' and code black/carl. oh and bart's thing of course.
it was missing something though - like a reason for the movie in the first place. like, as bad as a fully 'real-actor' movie would have been (like the Flintstones ones) they could have maybe done a real-world segment. or maybe have a big superhero section. i dunno - it did need something extra, like the halloween eps often offer.
ah well, just praise the lord there was no musical number in it - i haaate them.

The day the bridge fell down

Wow that bridge falling down in America is really scary news. It also reminds me - does anyone else remember that US mini-series from the 80s called The Night The Bridge Fell Down? It was so gripping but I missed the second part (had to go to bed, was young). Did I imagine it???

I'm sorry, but i hated...

Transformers! Sooo dumb! too American! and the main kid - shut up!!! shut up!!!!! stop speaking!!!

Bad Timing

So maybe I picked the wrong time for my big O Men publicity blitz lol!!! it's San Diego comic con!!!
http://www.newsarama.com/
(PS - re O Men 2.5 - i scanned in my last page last night to work on. Pretty much nearly all done now. Just one more contributor's page to come in, but it shouldn't be a problem!)

Lesbian Action

I've nearly finished Six Feet Under season two and just ordered numero 3 - so in the meantime I'm catching up with The L Word Season Two (lesbo-drama). This is kind of a great show - but sort of flawed. I mean, it can be very very silly at times. Pam Grier is utterly, utterly useless in it and adds nothing to the show. Mia Kirshner - so good as Mandy in 24 - is a stuttery mess in this (everyone's stuttery and neurotic on this show) - and her character, who could have been a really intergral, sympathetic part of the show is just plain irritating. Jennifer Beals is ace - but sometimes is just too much of a silly bitch to like. So let's hope S2 is good - cos I've seen s3 and that ain't...

Six Feet O Men

six feet under has been coming back into my life a bit recently, and that's no bad thing.
i've written about this in the editorial for O Men 2.5, but basically, the issue tells about a dozen or so deaths - and when i approached the issue, i had to think about how to not make it so, well, morbid. but of course, six feet under managed it.
it's funny, because i got my friend Sina to do a 2.5 page and told him that one of the panels should like like a six feet under scene - and he went out and watched an episode - and ended up watching the whole series lol!
and i've had a sick day at home today and i think i must have watched about 6 episodes of season two - working my way thru it.
it's such a wonderful show - quite funny, just crazy characters. mother ruth is just hilarious, and rachel griffiths is just superb - what the hell is she doing as this dowdy new character in brothers and sisters? i'm just seeing again the moments when she goes completely off the rails - dabbling in prostitution and i'm sure there's a threeway scene coming up lol.
Memories of the show - I think it went off the boil a bit in season two, season three was veeery atmospheric and very depressing, season four got a whole lot better and then season five was perfection itself - with an unbelievable final episode :-)
i think i need to get another episode in before bed :-)

O Men sitrep

Just thought I'd pop in and chat about where I am with O-stuff.
O Men 2.5 is going surprisingly well I think, touch wood. I have 6 of the 9 contributors' pages in and they've all done me proud. I have done about 7 of my internal pages, leaving another 7 or so to do - plus all the back-up material too - there's gonna be a special anthology section at the back, featuring bios of 2.5's gang and also bits on the abandoned Stories of O anthology.
The aim is to get this one out for Caption, which I think is just about doable.
Elsewhere, 2.4 is now available, but I seem to have forgotten to do anything with it, so I need to get cracking. Having problems with Book ONe of SEason Two at the printers - not sure what's going on, but hopefully that'll be sorted soon.
So I haven't had time to do anything on my side-project, but am confident that I can get on with that in August. Am also v excited about O Men 2.6 and 2.7...

Oooooh!

Just received the cover to the O Men Anthology issue (2.5). OOooooh!!! Here's a small teaser - I don't want to show the whole thing just yet...

New cartoon

What a thrill to have a new comic strip of mine published in a cool Tori Amos fanzine called Little Blue World! The LBW guys are so nice and they have given me a real big-up - putting 'new Tori Toon inside' on the cover!
Here's a sample from the strip. Very proud!
The mag's web address is www.little-blue-world.com, if you're interested

2.5

Three pages in so far from other artists for O Men 2.5 - and it is looking unbelievable. Plus, a few of the other guys seem almost there with their pages. I can't wait!!! Wish I could post panels but there are too many spoilers...
In the meantime, the jury's out on whether I'll actually be able to finish my part of the issue. We'll see. I'd love to be able to do it. Might take a couple of days off here and there.
I'm also trying a new style on this issue - kind of Steve Yeowell-y.

Wot a Week!!!

What a week!!!!!!!!
jeez!
My feet haven't touched the ground. Home to Brum last weekend, meeting old friend on MOnday, Tori on Tues and WEds (including missing my last train on Tues and getting home at 1), leaving do on Thurs and another one last night (where my friend Oz somehow mistranslated 'just a coke please, i don't want to drink, I want to go home' into a couple of double bacardi and cokes). I haven't been asleep before 1am once, I don't think - and work has been crazy - doing some interviews for a new Editor - and I wish I could talk about them here because it has been quite eventful, but I can't.
And my diet?!!! MacDonalds at the weekend (I accidentally asked for a Whopper Meal first - in MacDonalds!), greasy burger on Tues, KFC on Wednesday, burger on Thurs, chicken and chip on Fri. Wow. This is what happens when you're out and about. Anyone got the number for Weight WAtchers? And I've only just finished cleaning my flat - as it just became a total bomb site.
So wow - never been so busy - but things should calm down from now on and I should actually hopefully be able to do some bloomin' O Men!!!!!!

Tori #2

Second Tori night last night - and still brilliant. Did some of my utter favourite songs - Liquid Diamonds, Tombigbee, Doughnut Song - and did better versions of Precious Things and God than she’d done the previous night. I have to say I preferred the first night though - there was something intense, disturbing, on-edge - almost frightening about the whole thing. Maybe it was just because this tour is all new to me - but I do think last night’s songs were just kinda less energetic - especially Devils and Gods and Glory of the 80s - where she kind of just moved less. More straight-forward. You can’t really compare anything to the electifying moment on Tuesday where she forgot her lines and then just stood up and launched into a fuck-stormingly frantic version of Bliss. Plus Isabel last night - as cool as she was - just couldn’t match up to the shocking sexiness of Santa in that veeery short dress the night before. And I wanted Isabel to do Dark Side of the Sun. Also, less improvs last night and no fuck-ups, which really added to the Tuesday concert. It was great to see Beauty of Speed though - and the little grin on Tori’s face as the beautiful colour show took place behind her during that song. It was kind of a ‘hey, it all came together and it’s so pretty’ look - and it was.
Still dying to see Tori do Garlands, Roosterspur Bridge and Etienne live - will I ever see this!!!
Anyway, more details here: http://undented.com/tour/266/london2

Tori and O Men

So Tori was AMAZING last night - one of the best concerts I've ever seen her do. Very rocky and very very innovative. She really turned her songs inside-out - it was beautiful. Highlights were Siren, Spring Haze, Putting the Damage On and, well, just the whole thing. And I've never seen so many people headbanging at a Tori concert lol.
It really boosted my creativity too - all night I was thinking of O men stuff - things to do. I am in two minds whether to aim for August with O Men 2.5 as, basically, I am a bit frazzled at the moment, but seeing Tori last night really invigorated me and I am gonna give it a go. A slow go, lol.
And also I went to see Tori with a very old school friend called James - who I haven't seen for 16 years. It freaked me out that he was so thin and his voice was so deep and he'd changed so much, but it was so cool to see him.
Anyway, clips and photos here of concert: http://undented.com/tour/269/london

Guess who's...

...seeing Tori again tonight!
(Martin explodes again)

The Shame

i have joined Facebook...

The King

I was gonna write this on my chum Andrew's blog comments section, but it ended up spiralling out of control and i didn't want to use too much room. So off the top of my head, here is my mini personal guide to the best and worst of Stephen King...

Absolutely Essential:
Salem's Lot
Misery
The Stand - of course
Bachman Books - evil, amazing

Really, really, really good:
Carrie
Dead Zone
Insomnia (but this one ties in a lot with the Dark Tower)
Four Past Midnight - veeery clever.
Skeleton Crew/Night Shift - wicked short stories

A good ol' read - good for the beach:
Cujo
Everything's Eventual - stunning short stories
Green Mile
Pet Sematary

My absolute personal faves but maybe not for everyone:
Desperation/Regulators - kind of alternate reality novels but not, using the same characters, but not.
Gerald's Game - this one just grabbed me, and the last half terrified me.
Needful Things - crazy
Tommyknockers - this one almost made the top section - but not quite

Disappointing!!
Dark Tower

Really quite bad:
Black House/Talisman - i have tried around 6 times to read these, but have failed every single time.
Christine - zzz
From a Buick 8
Girl who Loved Tom Gordon - snoooze
Lisey's Story - coma-inducing

Porn star

According to the imdb, I have appeared in a 'handful' of hardcore gay sex movies:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1542394/
I don't remember this at all. Maybe I am in denial or maybe it was during my 'lost years'...

The King

I am a total geek in some ways, and I'm sure everyone's got a bit of geekiness inside of them. One of my biggest geek-sadnesses is for Stephen King book covers. I am fascinated by the different types available all over the world. I love buying the US versions so i can be 'different' on the train in the morning (altho the US Cell cover was gross) and life cannot be more exciting now that they are re-releasing them all with swanky new covers!!! plus there are some that i actually don't own! mmmmmm

Guess who's...

...seeing Tori amos in concert tonight...
(And tomorrow night)
(martin explodes)

Silly problems

So while I am waiting for my Virgin Media debacle to be un-debacled, Sky isn't doing too well. My Broadband box has already stopped working, so they're gonna send me a new one. And my Sky TV isn't the best - i keep losing the picture, mainly when it rains - so I dunno if it's an 'atmospheric' thing or the fact that they put my Sky dish under a hedge or what...
These things are sent to try us I guess. Gah!

Stunning

i went a bit mad on the old itunes yesterday, getting siobhan donaghy, ryan adams and editors, but also getting catherine feeny and rachael yamagata (one of her songs was on brothers and sisters).
i have to say - wow, siobhan donaghy's album is amazing - unbelievable. I can't recommend it highly enough.
This is the girl who left the Sugababes a few years back and produced a stunning solo album which got ignored because the record company decided to invest in Rachel Stevens instead - d'oh. The new album's had kind of lukewarm reviews but all mostly good - and it's really fresh and original (well, apart from where she rips off Cocteau Twins on one song).
So guys, check it out - it's called 'Ghosts'.

Doctor Who

my friends were all shocked this week that I actually enjoyed a Doctor Who episode. In fact, I went out halfway thru but i taped it - which is unheard of. I'm not sure why i liked it so much - maybe it's cos a lot was going on or maybe it's that John Simm was superb as the Master (I think the hardcore fans are resenting his take on the character). Martha's great, Cap'n Jack was a bit of a waste of space. But it was cool - if a bit pantomimey in places.

Brothers and Sisters

Channel 4 just started showing Brothers and Sisters last week. I quite like the look of it, but i did find the opening 2 eps a bit lacklustre. Rachel Griffiths not playing a crazy bitch? No fun. And Sally Field is too much of a drama queen for my tastes. And the concept just seems a little dull. Can't quite see the potential yet. And I so would have had Ally McBeal going out with the younger brother instead - no, not incest, just going out - good chemistry.

Perverse!

And once again, dear readers, let us look and laugh at the latest JLA cover.
i had a flick thru the issue, #10 out today, and ...is it me, or is it absolutely chock full of sexual imagery and phallic symbols????
Maybe it's just hot in the office...

Bye Bye Isaiah

sooo glad that Isaiah Washington has been SACKED from Grey's Anatomy for calling his colleague the F-word. ha ha haaaaaaaa
Bye bye loser!
ha

Good music

Loving the new Smashing Pumpkins song - Doomsday Clock - which is doing the rounds online. Also loving the new Editors single, and looking forward to buying the new Editors, Ryan ADams and Siobhan Donaghy albums on Monday. Was also thinking of getting CSS but I think they might be a bit too irritating...

O Men 2.4

So finally, it's DONE!!! All thanks to my workmate and part-time music legend Bob Kelly (http://www.kellysheels.co.uk/index.cfm - turn the sound down, it's loud) who put the PDF together for me. Soooo many headaches with this one but it's done now, so I'm moving on with my life lol.
Copies going out today...when I've stapled them...

A new project

I'm working on a new comics project - well, at least I think I am. The guys who created it seem quite happy with what they've seen so far. i am entirely unsure if this is a good idea or not, what with my O Men and especially the amount of O Men work I've still got to do in the coming months, but I read the script yesterday and fell in love with it and just had to give it a go. prob best not to mention what it is just yet, but i'll just say it's Birmingham-related!
So who knows if it'll work out - i hope it does, and I've really enjoyed it all so far!

If I wrote for Marvel...

- I would recommend a comic series focusing on SHIELD! not just nick fury. why don't they do this? look at how well shows like West Wing work - it's a great set-up. they'd need some new characters though.
- After reading Ms Marvel last night - as much as i love her, the new series just ain't working for me. They should introduce a new character with her old name of Warbird. it's a name that never worked for Carol, but if they built a character up around the name, it'd be tres cool.
- I'm not a huge fan of the Sentry. Good mini-series, but beyond that, he's pretty bland. But I was reading the latest Illuminati comic - featuring the Beyonder - and I was thinking, how cool would it have been if they'd have used the Beyonder rather than the SEntry. You know, have the Beyonder in the Avengers etc.
(Incidentally, there was a mistake in that Illuminati issue - it was referencing the Secret Wars and showed Prof X saying there he could hear the thoughts of 20 or 30 people on the Secret wars planet - hello, what about that chunk of Denver that was on the planet too? silly Bendis!!!)

Fantastic Four 2

i saw this last night, and i wasn't expecting miracles - and i didn't get them.
as with the first movie, the chemistry just wasn't there. it just wasn't right. Chris Evans was just too cocky and annoying. The Thing was just too stupid (and that loud voice burp thing was so good - not! - they repeated it twice). There was more chemistry between johnny and sue than reed and sue (altho having said that, the reed/sue chemistry is a problem in the comics these days anyway).
and there were some supremely stupid moments. what happened to Galactus? didn't they think we'd be a bit disappointed by that? why did no one tell Alicia she was standing the wrong way in the church? and Doctor Doom on the surfboard. you know, guys, if he never did that kind of thing in the comics, there's probably a very good reason. And why isn't Doctor Doom Latverian? And why did he become reduced to saying awful villain cliches in the fight at the end? And if someone told me their name was Norrin RAd, i probably wouldn't say 'Well Norrin blah blah', i'd go 'what? Norman?'
but part of me did enjoy it just a little bit - i'm not as close to the FF as i am to the Xmen, so i certainly didn't feel as homicidal as when i saw X3. and i have to say, i was in hysterics at some bits, like when sue got the flame powers and when stan lee couldn't get into the wedding. Yeah I think i was hysterical.

C*R*A*Z*Y

saw the most amazing film recently, which completely reduced me to tears. CRAZY, a french movie about a very disfunctional family - was so sweet and sad and funny, with a lovely little 'twist' kind of thing at the end (like something you should have realised about the movie, but i didn't at all). so cool.

Evil Virgin Media

Remember my struggles to get Sky/BT/Broadband etc - which i've been trying to sort out since Feb? WEll it's not over yet. I got a bill for 50 quid thru from Virgin Media, my old provider, and they are saying that I didn't give them proper notice and so i am still their customer - even though they took their Virgin box away from me 2 months ago, and I've also had a BT phone line in since that time. Silly, silly people. And isn't my phone call back in Feb saying 'I want to leave you guys' enough notice?
so unfortunately i had a huge argument with a patronising and rude VM guy on Wednesday (the conversation ended with me saying 'oh fuck off' oops) so i've now resorted to writing a very stern letter...

I'm baaaaaaaack

hey guys
oooops, no posts for a week!!! been a busy one, i guess!
just a few quickies for ya:
- almost there with issue 2.4 - yay! i just have one panel to do - but it's a doozy of a panel involving a fire engine, a police car, an ambulance and a library - and i can't draw any of them lol. and then i need to put the pages together for the printer
- apprentice - wow talk about a wrong decision. simon is an IDIOT!!!
- I keep missing Big Brother - very unlike me!
- i just got my hands on the new Stephen King book (Richard Bachman) book, Blaze, to review for an online thingibob! Soooo excited!
- new Comics International came out this week - the second monthly issue all year. Some terrrrible typos on the cover and a lot of dated news and adverts - but it's got a couple of O Men things, so that's all that matters really lol
That's it for now...!

28 weeks later

Saw this last night (finally!).
Was good, but preferred the original. Using the music from the first movie was a nice touch, i guess, but it did also date the film.
Made me jump out of my seat in places.
And the little lad looked like the singer from Keane - i expected him to burst into song at any moment. I wish he had done - instead of doing really STUPID stuff that helped wipe out the population of the world.
And that poor wife! Ouch. Left to die, bitten, eyes gouged out, set on fire... Ouch again.
So an entertaining movie, but not one of my faves.

2.4

Right, this weekend I'm locking myself in so i can finish O Men 2.4. Hopefully. Unless my laptop dies... Or if i go online from 7pm Friday until Sunday 11pm, which i did last weekend (must...not...go...online....)
Just also working out with the printer the best way to do it all - it's an unusual issue, very experimental ;-)
(not like the final issue of Promethea tho - that was rubbish)

Apologies

Apologies for my bad mood of late - something triggered it a bit. If you read between the lines of a recent post you might be able to work out what it was lol ;-)
I am appalled by Emily's treatment on Big Brother. Yeah, she was stupid, but she didn't mean to be offensive. And watching Big Brother's Big Mouth afterwards sickened me a bit - everyone getting on their high horse. It's not as if she threw Charley to the ground, beat her up and said 'i hate you you f***** n******'. Emily's extraction from the house at 3am was like some kind of Nazi move. The nation needs to get a grip and come to terms with certain realities. And you know, if the word is so bad, and yes it is, then the rapper guys need to stop putting it in their songs etc. Just ban it. None of this 'we can say it, but you can't' shit.
And where do you draw the line? Using the word 'gay' to describe something as rubbish seems to be acceptable these days, but it shouldn't be.
(Martin makes a feeble attempt to address global issues, can't think of any more words, and gives up)

Facebook Shacebook

I wrote a little piece about Myspace a while ago, and now it is the turn of Facebook. What is the point of this site apart from letting people pose and be self-obsessed? I don't understand. I don't have time to sit around taking photos of myself all the time. I don't care who has just 'made friends' with who. I do think these new things are the domain of 20-somethings, not a miserable 33 year old though, lol. Everyone at work seems to be on it all day!
Sorry, I am miserable today, aren't I. Maybe the internet has frazzled my brain. It's like 'Pulse'.
(And yes, I know having a Blog is a bit self-obsessed.)

What is Happening to me?

Oh dear, it's all going horribly wrong. I mean, don't worry, everything is cool, but now that i have broadband at home (for the first time ever!) it's not really all going to plan. For instance, Friday night, instead of catching up with O Men 2.4, i found myself online on chatsites and surfing and IM-ing for 6 hours. Same on Saturday. Sunday, sat down at 4, started off quiet, then I"m on there until 11, chatting to friends (old and new lol).
But the upside is that O Men is actually doing okay, I'm almost there, and I am hoping that an internet-free weekend will get 2.4 done and dusted...
Hoping...

Big Brother

Oops, news just in, my favourite contestant, Emily, has been booted out of the house for using a racist word. That’s a shame, she was my favourite. I loved her devious ways!
And bollocks was it racist. It’s not as if she said “I hate you, you ******”, she was just being silly. Sigh. They should have kept her in, warned her, and let her show that she’s not a racist and that people can learn from mistakes.
I haven’t commented much on Big Brother this year, I just don’t feel into it at the mo – maybe it’s cos they’ve messed with the format a lot. I guess it has been good though, with plenty of rows!
Here are my thoughts on the contestants:
Lesley – Excellent, love her, hope she stays
Carole – fat, boring
Laura – lovely, she should win!
Charley – ugh, horrible – but great value
Sam and Amanda – calmed down now, so less irritating. Quite sweet.
Nicky – ugh, horrible, nasty, moany. Great value!
Shabnam – irritates me. Weird face. Like an alien.
Tracey – funny. Keep arguing, luv.
Chanelle – cool, but would have been better if Emily had stayed in so they could have a nice rivalry.
Ziggy – is he attractive in any way? Yuck.

‘Reality’ TV

So Kristina and Simon are in the Apprentice final. What a swizz. You see, apparently, it was all staged. We didn’t see this, but the story is that Simon was fired, Katie was hired and then she decided she didn’t want the job, so they brought Simon back in and re-filmed it all. So now it’s no competition – Kristina will win, not that dozy, finger puppet-like dimwit Simon.
All this fuss recently over phone-in rip-offs and racist Big Brothers – and I actually find this worse, because they’re deceiving the viewers, deliberately. This could really blow up in their faces (although it probably won’t).
And these elimination shows – they’ve got to stop deliberately getting rid of the strong contestants at the start. Apprentice was left with a bunch of idiots and demons who would never get the job. Bring back the guy from the first week, I say.
And finally, just a quick mention of Alan Sugar on the Jonathan Ross show a while ago. On the Apprentice he is this astute, impressive personality – on the Jonathan Ross show he was a bumbling, pathetic old fool. What happened? Maybe he was determined not to reveal anything about the show, and it all got too much.

Corrors

Comedy moment on last night's Corrors. Prostitute Leanne had been kidnapped by crazed Paul and thrown in the boot, and their car was involved in a big accident. Mom Janice found out what was going on and ran to the car, concerned that Leanne had "stopped banging". Well, she couldn't really do much with a punter in the boot, could she... hehe

It worked!

It worked! and i set my laptop up! yippeeee! i've never had broadband at home! it's amazing! i love it!!
i can do o men now! (or spend the rest of the weekend on the internet...)

Mission Laptop III

Day 13:
This could be the day. They sent me my third laptop charger. Obviously, again, I wasn't at home to pick it up, so I had to fetch it today. As an extra challenge, it wasn't collectable from my local post office, it was at the DHL HQ in Vauxhall, an area I'm not really familiar with. So it involved getting up at 6.30am, getting the 7.30am train, and wandering around Vauxhall for half an hour. I actually spotted the place from on the train, but getting into it was another matter. It was like trying to break into a prison and of course I went completely the wrong way.
So I now have the charger. It didn't come with a plug lead, which is helpful, so I just spent my lunch hour going to a computer shop and got one - hoorah!
So could this be it? Will it work? Can I start working on O Men again after two weeks? Will I be able to hook myself up to broadband, finally after 5 months?
You just know it's all going to go horribly, horribly wrong, don't you...

Apprentice

For the second week running, the wrong person went in the Apprentice - and even worse, I am out of the office Apprentice sweepstake...
And now Big Brother has begun. I hate the all-women idea - the show needs a mix. Plus the whole idea of BB is that these people all get locked in together right from the start until the end - so introducing guys in gradually is a bit crap.

Lost!

Wow, I'm back in love with this show again. I got very jaded with it in Season Two, and almost stopped watching after the dull-dull-dull Desmond and Hurley episodes this season - but I'm glad I stuck with it, as SEason Three really picked up. I finally saw the finale last night - good lord! Some random thoughts - don't read it if you don't want it spoiled...

- The length of jack's beard gave away the flash-forward twist! You could work it out - he's never had a beard like that before. It was VERY clever though and really opens up a lot of story possibilities. I'd love to have been a fly on the Lost Writers Room wall when they came up with that one.
- Charlie's death was sad! I was wondering why he shut the door and I'd forgot he HAD to die to save clare and aaron. They shoulda had a mini-flashback or sommat.
- Hurley and Sayid rocked - for once! Shows like this need to remember to keep reminding us why these characters are so awesome - not just have them sitting round saying 'dude' all the time.
- Soooo glad naomi died. She got on my nerves.
- I need a rousseau flashback - NOW!
- Those Other girls were vicious.
- Thought the radio tower might have been a bit more inventive - if you compare it to the sound barrier etc.
One of the most satisfying lost finales, definitely.

Pirates 3

I must have had a dozen or so people emailing me to tell me what they think of Pirates 3. It's weird, cos that film doesn't really register with me. I hated the first one, mainly because it was way too hot in the cinema when I saw it, and I just didn't get into the plot - plus i despise Kiera Knightley ("ooh look at me, i'm so beautiful, quick let me pout again, i'm so thin!"). So it's obviously bigger on other people's radars than mine. Hmm.

Craptop

The 2nd laptop adaptor they've sent to me doesn't work. I kind of had a feeling it wouldn't. How hard can it be???? So it's looking like I've lost 2 weeks off my O Men schedule. Bah.

List

A couple of other bloggers have been doing this. I don't know why I decided to do it too...
01) Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-man is the first comic book I really got into.
02) The Walking Dead is one of the comics I currently collect.
03) Zatanna is one of my all-time favourite superheroes.
04) Optic Nerve is my favourite non-superhero comic.
05) Batman is a very overrated character
06) Rob Liefield is, in my opinion, a very overrated comic artist.
07) Grant Morrison is one of my favourite comic book writers.
08) Going to Nostalgia & Comics (in Birmingham) as a kid on a Saturday, and grabbing a dozen or so new comics and sitting on my beanbag reading them while Gladiators was on is a happy comic book memory for me.
09) Jaime Hernandez is awesome at drawing female characters.
10) J H Williams III is one of my all-time favourite comic artists.
11) Glyn Dillon is an artist I'd love to see drawing a monthly series.
12) Cerebus is a comic I've meant to read, but haven't done so yet.
13) ??? is a welcome '80s comeback.
14) Strangers in Paradise is a comic I've never read or paid much attention to.
15) Superman is a popular character I've never really paid attention to.
16) Sandman/The Invisibles is a title I would recommend to my friends.
17) Titania is one of my favourite comic villains.
18) X-Men is a comic I'm glad they made into a movie/movie franchise.
19) ??? is a comic they totally ruined by making it into a movie. (it cannot be done, such is the power of the medium! ha !)
20) Adrian Tomine is someone I would really love to meet at a comic convention.
21) Frankenstein is a character I can see myself being for Halloween.
22) X-Men is a comic I used to love, but now I'm not so hot about.
23) Jill Thompson is someone I would love to work on a comic book with.
24) £4 is the most I'll spend on a 22-page (average sized) comic.
25) Crazy Jane is something/someone they should bring back.

Fave vid

This is my favourite video at the moment. Some great drag king action...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poBPu8quCkk

Good comics

Read some good comics at the weekend. Was very impressed by the art in Heroes for Hire – by Clay Mann. Really enjoyed Mighty Avengers 3 and the art in Newuniversal was jaw-dropping. I’ve never been a huge Salvador Larocca fan, but he’s really come into his own now. Nice to see some decent art in Shadowpact but it’s still an odd little comic – and how can they make Enchantress so boring? She used to be really intriguing.
I also bought the new Fell trade on Saturday – wow, what a great little comic, and a bargain too – 8 quid for 8 issues. A nice little read – something cool happens in each chapter, and I like the way that the storylines continue and evolve as the series progresses, rather than it all being a load of one-shots.

Lost

Set my video for all sorts at the weekend, while I was away, and came back to a blank screen. I think it was interference caused by rain (rain stopped play). So I am gagging to watch the Lost finale and really annoyed that I can’t join in on the finale conversations at work. I don’t really know what’s gonna happen – all I’ve heard is that there might be quite a few deaths and something about that guy’s eyepatch.
I can’t really think who will die. Maybe Jin. I don’t think Charlie will die. I hope Naomi dies.
Hope I can hold out and not hear spoilers over the next couple of days…

Craptop II

My new laptop adaptor has turned up today at work. I hope it’s the right one. I’m looking at it and the socket looks maybe too small again… Fingers crossed.
I was thinking how those PC World adverts look so amazing and like a fantasy world, and the reality is ‘sorry, can’t help you mate, we don’t stock what you want – next!’.

Train

I am in Birmingham, birthplace of Martin Richard Peter Eden (me).
The plan was to get a single ticket home, then my folks were gonna take me to Oxford on Sunday so I could meet my new nephew, Harry, and then get the coach back to Landon from there.
So guess how much a single ticket cost? £27.40!!! Blimey, that's gone up a bit since the 15 quid two or three years ago (this is from Marylebone. Euston to Brum is prob 100 quid or something now, considering it used to be 40). so anyway, i asked how much a return is - just 60p more - £28. Why are singles and returns so close to each other.
I said to the guy, 'would it have been cheaper if i'd have phoned in advance' (it usually is by Euston, but not normally through Marylebone's tinpot Chiltern Railways) and he said that an 'E-ticket' (booked online) would have been £5. Blimey. Bit of a difference. Benefit of hindsight, eh?
D'oh...

Disco Dazzler

i was just sharing the excitement with a friend over the upcoming Essential Dazzler release, and it got me thinking about how much I loved that series. They don't make 'em like that any more do they (Martin says for the 100th time on his blog). In fact one of my favourite EVER comics was Dazzler 13, when she got thrown into Riker's Island and had to face the Grapplers (including Screaming Mimi, who was so cool and is now a bit lame as Songbird). Aaaahhhhhh.
Interesting fact: one of my Marvel submissions was a strip featuring Rogue versus Titania and Mimi (three of my favourite characters). I drew it on Bristol Board and everything. It was terrible, but I still got a nice Spider-man letterheaded rejection from Stan.

Embarrassing illnesses

Channel 4 have started showing a programme called 'Embarrassing Illnesses' on Thursdays at 8.30. It's kind of a compelling programme, but one that you really have to watch from behind the sofa. And I always end up eating my dinner while it's on. And the nudity!!! Last week there was a roomful of naked rugby players checking their testicles and this week we had lots of boobs. At 8.30.
Last night, I unfortunately caught a glimpse of a bleeding ******** (I can't actually bring myself to say it here, suffice to say, it's a male part). Funnily enough, I find it hardest to watch the foot fungi though - the bunions and the general horribly foot-y things. Yuck...

Lost and Heroes

i am going into hibernation so that I don't find out anything about the Heroes and Lost finales. I won't see Lost til next week and I am four or five eps behind on Heroes - looking forward to a li'l marathon! Anyway, I hear they are good and it's cool that there seems to be genuine excitement about these kinds of shows again!

Craptop

My laptop adaptor came on Wednesday (except of course they would only send it to my billing address so I had to pick it up from the Post Office yesterday morning) and i tried it out last night - it doesn't work. Doesn't fit in the socket. aaaaaaaaargh!!!! So hopefully I have a new one coming on Tuesday or Wednesday. What a disaster for the world of O...

New Omen Comic

Today sees the release of a new Omen comic...But not mine!!! Aaargh! Someone else has named their comic the Omen. At least it's the Omen whereas mine is The O Men. But still - eek. Well I wish them all the best but, er, I kinda hope they disappear quite soon...

Craphouse

I just heard that Grindhouse is going to be split into two separate movies over here in the UK :-o
I heard someone mentioning the movies on the radio - they were like 'and the new Tarantino movie Death Proof opens soon' and i was like 'ha ha you fool! it's Grindhouse.' But no, it's now Death Proof and Planet Terror! outrageous!!! what'll happen to the spoof trailers in the middle??? aaargh why do they have to mess things up!!!

Reality round-up

Apprentice: blimey, the wrong person went last night. Tre should have gone. Basically Jadine got fired because she got upset about missing her little daughter after two months of being away from her. Harsh. Compare her to the guy who left on the 2nd week cos he missed his kids. I didn’t like Jadine at first, but she really grew on me and did well in the task last night.
It’s weird, cos I find it hard to see who will win – they all have so many flaws. Tre -too aggressive; Naomi – a bit too sly; Simon – loves himself and the camera too much; Katie – kind of evil (but not so evil last night, and I do feel a bit sorry for her); Lohit – who?; Kristina – too scheming.
Actually, Kristina grew on me last night… I do think Jadine, apart from a minor blip at the start, would have been a strong contendor.
Deal or No Deal – wow, what a crap week. Where are they getting these contestants from? Screamy, weepy Lynne on Sunday, boring Peter on Monday, slightly annoying Jo on Tuesday, and salt-of-the-Earth/get-off-my-TV Jeff last night. Blimey. It’s enough to make someone stop watching. There isn’t even anyone sexy worth watching at the moment lol.