An Ephiphany (of sorts)

I realised tonight that the best comic of all time would come from a combination of Neil Gaiman's writing and Ben Templesmith's art.

But honestly, as if that wouldn't kick some serious butt.

Anyway, I went out for tea with my much-loved and adored uni friends. Had a great time.

Have a tops week, all. Blake.

New Laptop, and Dark Knight in Sydney

A few things to note for anyone interested, and in the area.

The Sydney IMAX theatre is running screenings of The Dark Knight (new Batman film, for those who live in a cave, or a land of no-Batman), and the Denby Cinema's Reel Club Anime screenings are showing an anime film called Batman: Gotham Knight, which finishes on Wednesday.

My new laptop runs an absolute charm, very nice, pretty and quick. The antitheses of myself, you might imagine, however we are getting on famously.

Have a nice weekend, I'm off to make coffee.

Sometimes I get suspicious

I often get suspicious, as I have mentioned before, when my luck runs in amazingly good ways. I have been after a new laptop for ages, about a year in fact (although certain other things intercepted - car, holidays, etc) and I am getting one Friday (I was going to say tomorrow there, but its after midnight, and so it's technically today, but I have to sleep yet, so I wanted tomorrow... never mind.)
Anyway, I mentioned to a mate a while back about it, and he came over last night and told me about an exceptionally good deal on a really swish looking, performance excelling laptop. If all goes according to plan (ie, if my luck continues) then this time tomorrow I will be blogging off my new favourite toy.

Have a good one. Blake.

The Sweet Smell of Justice

Sometimes, you have to congratulate people on a bit of brilliant work.

So I am doing it here. To these people of the Presidential Memorial Committee of San Francisco, who are trying to get a sewerage plant named after George Bush. The leader of the group states it is a fitting tribute, as "we will be cleaning up a substantial mess for the next 10 or 20 years."

Well done people.

Blake.

ps - Thank you to Ben Templesmith for the heads-up on Twitter.

Back and Back

Well, I'm back, and very very tired. In fact, I am going to bed now...

The 80th Post - Melbourne, here I come

Well, this is post number 80, hurrah!

I have come out of my week-long melancholic streak which I get from time to time, and began last Thursday due to a few different things.

According to Websters dictionary, Melancholia is: "A kind of mental unsoundness, characterised by extreme depression of spirits, ill-grounded fears, delusions, and brooding over one subject or train of thoughts." So there is the story of my last week. Hurrah for that being over.

I now only have 2 days at work standing between me and my Melbourne holiday, which should be good for the soul. I need to get away (*sings* I gotta fly... away... - not sure what song that is, but it sprang to mind as I typed).

Hopefully while I am down there I will get a bit more of a handle on the short story I am working on, I think for inclusion in The Witching Hour, which as I have mentioned before is reverting back to the original premise, following the plot becoming too convoluted to follow properly. I am thinking of retaining Shaitan as a regular cameo character between tales and times though.

Review: The Incredible Hulk

The new version of The Incredible Hulk hands-down beats the old one (which was shit). I actually enjoyed the film, which was interesting because I have never been a big fan of the green dude. I thoroughly enjoyed the battle sequences, although towards the end, I really hoped that the rotors from the crashed chopper would see action as swords. I love Liv Tyler, she is my current celebrity crush, and Ed Norton pulled off the character of Bruce Banner quite well. Overall, I was impressed with this version, and I caught myself enjoying it at more than one point. 3.5/5.

FELL

No, I haven't fallen from grace (yet) - I am talking about the comic series FELL, written by Warren Ellis and drawn by the inimitable Ben Templesmith (one of my favourite artists...).

I spent today getting up to date on the amazing series which my good mate Captain Dave pointed me to the other day. I am incredibly impressed with both the short, serialised and stand-alone stories of the series, not to mention the great characters... and the Nun.

If you want to find out about the crazy, Nixon-mask-wearing, prostitute-hiring, gun-buying Nun, you will simply have to read the series. The trade (collected first 8 issues) goes for about $30.00 Australian, and the comics themselves are roughly 2.50. They are made specifically for people with no money that want a good read.

Check it out HERE.

Blake.

One of those days all week...

Well, I have had one of those weeks. You know, the kind that make you want to curl up into a foetal position and pretend the world doesn't exist? That kind.

But Blake, I hear you ask, what on earth has happened that is that bad?

I will tell you - I was nearly killed last Thursday by an idiot doing a u-turn illegally and nearly t-boning me as I exited a carpark, I have had all manner of ridiculous developments (followed by non-developments) in my (lack of) lovelife, and I realised that what I wanted to do with The Witching Hour will not actually work, which has put me back to phase one.

*Groan*

On the plus side, next week I am going to be in Melbourne, and I am looking fowards to having a week of getting over crap. Hopefully I will come back a new man. Hopefully. I won't have the internet there, though, which will be hard to cope with - especially given my propensity to waste time on here...

What has happened that is good though?

Well:

> My darling Bec got her P-s, and I am incredibly proud.

> I discovered that Warren Ellis has written a book that is rather good fun

> I have decided that the best thing to do for The Witching Hour is to stick with the original plan of separate stories. Sometimes the original is the best. Essentially, I realised that what I had made was a very complex, rather clunky tale that would eventually die under its own weight. This is avoidable, and I believe that I can make it work on a number of different levels, with me being able to keep all the characters I love, and remove the ones I am not fussed on.

> I am going to see the new Hulk movie tomorrow night, which will be interesting. I hated the first one, and am not a fan of Hulk in general. It will struggle hard to get much praise - stand by for a review.

> I have come up with a new story which will fit into The Witching Hour, featuring all the classic elements of Lovecraftian horror.

> I won 2 ebay auctions, allowing me to actually obtain the parts I need to make a certain model.

Overall, a hectic week, with a lot of crap, but on reflection, a lot of good stuff too.

I might even edit and post up the newly written The Romance of Melancholy poem before I head off. Plus a quick drawing of the Necronomicon...

Blake.

New Coldplay album

I really love the band COLDPLAY. I have done for years, and in fact they were possibly one of my earliest favourite bands. That being said, you can imagine my excitement when I learned of a new album coming out after (I think...) 4 years.

I went in to Sanity today and purchased the album, rushing back to my car, not waiting to get home to listen to it. I put the CD in, and recognised the opening music.

That's right. I recognised the opening track on a NEW album?!? What's worse is I recognised the second, third and fourth songs as well. Confused, I looked over the cover to see if there was any explanation. There was none.

Cautiously, I took the CD out, only to discover the girl at Sanity had put in the "A Rush of Blood To The Head" CD instead. Not happy. Expect a visit in the morning, Sanity-girl...

I had A LOT of sleep today. I mean, a huge amount. Out of the last 24 hours, I have slept for roughly 18. Finally catching up on it all. Hurrah.

Getting back to writing now that the Semester is done, and I have some time to actually concentrate on it. Hoping to move into Chapter 2 this week, although I am a little stuck on the intro bit to the chapter. Anyway.

Looking fowards to about a million things at the moment, currently pumped for:

> My soon-coming holiday to Melbourne
> The Dark Knight - new Batman film
> Star Wars: The Clone Wars - animated film coming August 15, looks tops
> Batman: Gotham Knight - a really funky-looking anime Batman film featuring Deadshot, a very awesome baddie.

Rock on folks. Blake.

Something in the air

There is a palatable sense of excitement in the air of my bedroom. I have finally finished all my assigments, assessments, tests, whatever, and I am FREE BABY!

WOOOOOOOOOOOT!

I am rather thrilled, as you may have guessed. I now have free time. I am looking fowards to wasting it doing all manner of fun, but unproductive things.

Also, I will now have time to write more of The Witching Hour, which I am hyped for.

Wishing you were are happy as I am. Blake.