Here's a little bit of cheer - Single Issue or Story of the Year

In recognition of excellence in a particular issue, story arc or short story in 2005 by an Australian creator/s. Print or web.

I'm mainly going to highlight stories from anthologies because there's already the small/independent/international press categories to highlight the other stuff. I think there needs to be an anthology category – but I think a lot of things, like I think monkeys evolved from humans. Of course if a story is short and I was really taken by it, I’ll list it.

Mandy Ord - Flight Path - Deevee: Flange
I read this on the way home from Brisbane Supanova and I was totally awed by the piece. I'm a massive fan of Mandy's work and I'm restraining myself from nominating her everywhere but for this piece, its too good not to gush about it. Flight Path said something. It had depth. Not many Australian comics have a real depth, most are vigoursly entertaining but few are relatable to our (australia's) culture and society. Flight Path did and it stayed with me for quite awhile.

9V - Michael Li
With an ecomonic use of words and pictures Michael sets up this whole world that is firmly believable even if it isn't our own. There's a sense of wonder and awe that is grounded in sensitivity and everyday tasks. Like Michael's first book 'time i fetched water' (also very good) 9V takes place after some grand war and follows a girl trying to find a battery to play a record she found. It's sweet without being sickly. Highly recommended. It also features beautiful art.

The playwright - Daren White and Eddie Campbell
There's a melancholy surrounding this story but in the end there's a sense of satisfaction as well (shit i think i unravelled the masterbation metaphor - wanking is all well and good but after the fact, deep down its a bit lame too). The principal character isn't living the most happiest of life but he seems quite content with his lot. That sort of complexity is quite hard to pull off (sorry) in a short page count but Darren and Eddie do it extremely well.

The seed - Liz Argall and Matt Huynh - Dreams of tommorrow
A 4 page silent comic but it features some of Matt's funkiest art and another great Liz concept. Plus the flourish of colour at the end was perfect.

Moth & Tanuki - Ian Thomas - Oztaku
There's some fun about it. Ian's isn't the best artist but his work carries his story along. Sometimes its a bit corny, sometimes its a bit melodramatic but never offensively so. Its just really well rounded.

I get the same feeling from David Kerr’s work (Day's of Asha), not excellently executed but to a high, enjoyable and consistent standard. Otherwise, Christian and Tonia's piece in Something Wicked was a highlight in that book, a bit wordy but it was one of the few 'horrific' stories which wasn't a collection of clichés or just badly done. Dan Best's and Andy Finlayson's werewolf story was quite good (though it looked better in deevee than Something Wicked). Most of the pieces in the Pirates Anthology are really good and its hard to pick out a 'best' one, the Azareth boys' "i hate pirates" comes closest. I find the Shitter strip in Phatsville very funny. Unfortunately; David Li's and Wen Huang's work in Oztaku feels like it has either stalled or grown stale (especially Wen who seems to have gotten distracted after starting of brilliantly well), but I haven’t read the latest Oztaku so I won’t close the door on that one yet.

But of course the idea is that other people nominate what they liked. There's plenty of time (nominations finish early january) so check out www.phasetwocomics.com and buy stuff.
Otherwise get ye to the nomination forms and nominate.

Click here - Webcomic or comic strip of the year

Produced by Australian creators. In recognition of excellence in comics distributed via the web or in magazines and newspapers in 2005.

I know there is a hell of a lot of web comics out there but i see very little of it because i don't try and track web comics down and view them regularly. I'm lazy that way. Plus i spend way too much time in front of the computer, getting hooked on web comics would just mean i'd lose what little non-internerd life i had left (about 7 minutes on Tuesdays). The only ones i see are ones that appear on Live Journal or are forced under my nose by people i like.
So this is what I've seen and liked

Everything by Grug
http://www.webcomicsnation.com/grug/
He has about 23 different web comics which he updates, what seems like, hourly. Or perhaps i'm exaggerating. He has cute animal strips, namely a strip featuring animals trying to escape the forest after they murder the park ranger, which I liked. Then there's one with a monobrowed dolphin, i'm not keen on that because monobrows freak me out (grugs comic self portrait is strangely hypnotic, it looks like the drummer of hanson all grown up but with beard and monobrow – I wanna turn away but can’t). Also, somehow when not drawing he's living a life which he uses as a basis for an autobiographical strip, or maybe its 5 autobiographical strips. Either way for consistency and laughs, Grug is pretty good.

Dean Rankine - Booger Boy and Grossgirl
http://www.phatkidcomics.netfirms.com/
http://www.webcomicsnation.com/deanrankine/
These appear in Mania, some US based magazines and on Dean's LJ. Its funny stuff. Almost as humourous as a 'how to draw' strip done by Dean.

Jase Harper - Big Happy Pet Land
http://www.jaseharper.com/comics.htm
http://www.livejournal.com/users/jaseh/
These appear in Mania and sometimes in his LJ. Funny stuff and its well constructed too. The thing i like about Big Happy Pet Land is that Jase has set up a world where he can tell any kind of story he wants; he's done a raider's spoof, a pirate tale and a rawk! story. Plus by using animals he can fast track characterisation; a slow stupid character - its a turtle, a bully - its a bulldog, that way he can spend more time on plot and gags then setting up characters. All very clever and well executed.

Steve Stamatiadis - Blade Kitten
http://www.livejournal.com/users/spacecaptsteve/
Consistent, well drawn and beautifully coloured. Though my attention span isn't made for serial comics that only pop up for a couple of pages every month or so, Steve's work looks pretty. And now its been cancelled – sigh.

Raymondo - Patrick Alexander
http://chickennation.com/raymondo/
It doesn't appear in Mania or Kzone and it never will. Nonetheless, its genius. For the November 24th edition I was struck, if not awed, at how good Patrick draws. It looked gorgeous. I can only justify myself by saying that I’m usually to busy giggling and the wank and stiffy jokes to notice the pretty pictures.

Of course, there's Platinum Grit, however because of a hate of shockwave I've never read it online.
Otherwise, there's Dillon Naylor in Kzone for Batrisha and there's Dillon and Ian Thomas in Total Girl with Rock N Roll Fairies. Sometimes there's little grabs of Batrisha on the internet which shows how good it is (it even rocks in german!). However, I'm not a total expert - I'm guessing people like it based on the Kzone polls they used to have on their website and the fact that it has been around for so long. Don't forget Dillon's Da 'n Dill in the Morning Herald, in colour on sunday. That particular strip has been running for 4 years which is very impressive.
Owen Heitman's 5031, is very funny when its good (it usually involves abuse of some sort) but its not that consistent. And Nate Soehardi and Patrick’s “Elbow Wallets” only just started but the first couple of strips were very funny.
Again i'm sure there's more web comics out there, i just need to be directed in the right direction.

But of course the idea is that other people nominate what they liked. There's plenty of time (nominations finish early january) so check out www.phasetwocomics.com and buy stuff.
Otherwise get ye to the nomination forms and nominate.

It looks good, it must be queer - Production Designer of the Year

In recognition of design excellence in 2005 by an Australian. Web site design, book design, lettering, promotional materials, et al.

Phosphorescent Comics for Witch King
I think Karen Howard and Annette Kwok had a big hand in putting the promotional package together for this long gestating project. Way back starting off with a preview/ issue 0 to get people interested (I hope the left over issues get used for freecomic book day). The press release was quite nice, the preview pdf worked ok, the website http://www.witchking.net.au/ looks cool and the cover looks nice. Though i haven't held the finished book in my hands - so far so good.

Katie Huang for Generations 2005
Just slick. A well balanced thought-out design featuring a cover that showcases the various artists, an insightful forward and made with quality materials. A better website and more convenient URL would be nice and more publicity, though on the later I don’t travel the manga circles much so there may be heaps of publicity I just don’t hear it.

Tonia Walden for Meus Officium est Abyssus, A Pirate Anthology and Corpse in the Chapel
I initially wrote Tonia Toddman - which isn't far wrong. With very little money Tonia makes gorgeous looking books. And they always match the curtains.

Darren Close for Ozcomic Magazine issues 5 and 6
I layed out issues 3 and 4 and it almost killed me - it didn't help that i was rushing to make a supanova deadline. But i discovered laying out a magazine is hard; there's articles, pictures, photos, boxes, captions all which have to be positioned so it runs smoothly and looks good. I have trouble matching socks. So it was hard for me, plus I don’t really have an eye for detail. However, Issues 5 and 6 look pretty good, all due to Darren's hard work.

Aaron O'Donnell for Mickey Mouse Spider
Like Tonia's stuff this is put together by hand, but this is full colour (really well coloured at that). Its a well designed package with eye catching cover, shiny pages, the various short stories are easily seperated and distinguishable (which is sometimes hard for single author anthologies) and the colouring is excellent.

Simon Sherry's cover to Something Wicked
I wasn't keen on the design of the whole book, the black shiny pages were unsettling (i think its because i'm old) but that cover would make me or anyone want to buy it. It just screams , "buy me horror fans". Simon's cover to Dreams of Tomorrow is also really good but it didn't really sit well with the theme of the book (in my opinion).

Otherwise; DeeVee Flange almost made the list but it didn't pop and Bobby N's Withheld is a nice package but I didn't think the cover stood out particularly well. The cover to the 2 Hairbutt releases were quite effective as well.

where didja get that gear? - Retailer of the Year

In recognition of Australian retail excellence and support in 2005.

i've only been in a handful of shops, so its really hard to judge and compare so I'm going to stick to last years suggestions
http://saveded.blogspot.com/2004/12/nominate-dont-celebrate.html

I'd add that i really like the simplicity of the phasetwo site, its always an easy transaction (but can the top 10 be updated?)
The only change is I'd probably add Kinokuniya to the mix.

But of course the idea is that other people nominate what they liked. There's plenty of time (nominations finish early january) so check out www.phasetwocomics.com and buy stuff.
Otherwise get ye to the nomination forms and nominate.

Oi you be a Dear - Australian Achievement of the Year

Australian artist, publisher, entrepreneur or event. Business or creative.

This type of category is always hard to fathom, hard to figure out - what's an achievement? What deserves recognition? What’s special and what’s matter of course? A lot of work goes on quietly behind the scenes, that no one sees or at least realizes how important that work is or could be. But in no real order, what springs to my mind.

Graeme (Anomic) McDonald's publicity for the 24 hour event
This year, the event went off really well, better then expected when you consider the shifts in domains and messageboards.However because of Graeme's media saavy, the challenge improved output/registration by 40% over the previous year, there was national print and radio coverage and alot of more bandwidth traffic.

Gary Chaloner and 2004 Ledger awards
Just in case some one accuses me of circle jerking - fuck off, I'm busy. Ahem - It was pretty well organised last year and whilst i did criticise it a bit, my whining was meet with sincerity and interest. I don’t think its perfect yet, the “holier than thou, glory hound” (an actual quote from someone) part of me won’t think its perfect until everyone of my demands is met; like I believe judges should receive booze money. Anyway, usually whining in this community or scene is met with more whining, until there's so much whining, it all ends in tears – which leads in to my next nomination – but more of that later. Back to the Ledger awards, I think Gary is building something that will only increase in creditability, stature, visibility and importance in the future.

Maggie McFee and the messageboard peace
Back to the whining, Pulp Faction doesn’t have that much of it. Whilst there is a small flare up every now and again, Pulp Faction is relatively civil and educational place to go. Imagine an American presiding over a place of peace and tranquility – though she does have numerous Australian lapdogs and they are the luckiest lapdogs ever. Ruff, scratch me more. Pulp Faction is a cool spot and it would be nice if there were more interviews, stuff like “Draw me a..”, “The monthly challenge” and the plethora of anthologies being organized through the messageboard is awesome. Plus its a great place to find out what's going on at the Comic Cafe this week!!
On a similar note, whoever runs Comics Lifestyle needs some recognition, it’s a real eye opener on what else is out there, outside the messageboard sphere..

Makepeace and the Monthly Challenge
Having seen at the least 4 other attempts at a monthly art challenge on various australian comic boards this is slowly taking off. And the actual output is consistently good so congrats to MakePeace/MikeDelight/Nickname (though I’ll be disappointed if all the regular participants of the monthly challenge are actually Makepeace aliases – though he should be recognized for the output).

Grug and the daily grind
He's a comic creating machine and i think the only Australian creator still creating a new page of comic a day. There might be more, I dunno. Doesn’t matter, he’s still a machine – with a beard.


Otherwise, Dave Blumenstien looks like he's doing a real good job at the New Castle Young Writers festival, I'm actually considering going to Newcastle instead of Supanova, but with them scheduled so close i may make it to both. Lookout! Also, yes, the whole point of being a comic book creator is making comics, but Troy Kealley's production and organistional work on Something Wicked is a decent achievement for a self published book, Operation Funnybone may also fall under this category.
Likewise, the patience and determination of Ben Howard's release of the Witch King book is also to be admired.

But of course the idea is that other people nominate what they liked. There's plenty of time (nominations finish early january) so check out www.phasetwocomics.com and buy stuff.
Otherwise get ye to the nomination forms and nominate.

my nominations

-are based on what I've read, obviously. Most of my australian comics are either bought from phasetwo or directly from the creators at supanova or through the mail.

When i'm nominating stuff i usually discount reprint compliations, like the Platinum Grit trades, the phatsville minis (gold plops, fat ankles), etc because even though they're good - they've already been new. Old hat. I'm up in the air with web comics printed on paper.
Also, i pretty much discount 24 hour comics because they've got their own awards.

Comics i haven't read, that i know of, that were released this year

12 Hour Party People
7 pages #1,2,3
Adolf Hitler - Vampire Hunter
All the Same
Apocalipsis
Bossa Nova Baby
Foolproof Anthology
Golgotha
Groovy Gravy #10 (I think that came out this year)
Minute of Angle #1
Pito #3
Scrambled #4
Self Medicated Man #1
Welcome to the Peanut Gallery

Otherwise - if its sold at phasetwo ive got it.

Its a shame that the two 'biggest' australian books ship in december making it hard to really judge the books. I've read The Dreaming on the web and there was the PDf preview for the Witch King.

Over the next two weeks i'll be breaking down my nominations, highlighting stuff you may have missed but essentially its me just shouting about stuff that i like. but of course the idea is that other people nominate what they liked so there's plenty of time (Nominations finish early january) so check out www.phasetwocomics.com and buy stuff.
Otherwise get ye to the nomination forms and nominate

draw art - win prizes

Stolen from Comics Lifestyle, Vibewire has an art competition running

Streetwise at 21

Streetwize, probably the widest distributed comic in the land turns 21 and has an exhibition (PDF)

i got pwned

This morning pulp faction was attacked by a hacker who's power shut down a popular open source messageboard. That's showing the man! Shutting down a BB board, apparently requires the same skills as taping something off the radio. Anyway, while it was happening a couple of people (including me) had some fun with the hacker, who goes by the name - seanism. And I discovered making fun of people in public is fun, especially when they are less fortunate (like 15year old hackers). And it got me banned.
I've been really banned from two messageboards, in my wild and crazy youf.
Tony Isabella - i don't know why i was there, i can't remember, but at some point while i was there Isabella, as he seemed to do regularly was all whiny on how DC ruined his Black Lightning character. It was brought up, that it was work for hire but Isabella clung on to the only thing that ever gave him any notoriety (besides writing the DC fanclub newsletter). He then started getting shitty at Dave DeVries, the Australian writer who took over writing Black Lightning when Isabella was fired, calling him a scab and a hack. He was quite upset that Dave did not ask his permission to write Black Lightning. (also he made the jibe on what an australian would know about inner city america - probably the same as the what a 50 midwestener but whatever)
This got my back up, because i had met dave a couple of times and he had helped me with a uni assignment and was quite nice. So I just wrote that a) calling someone a scab in Australia was different to using it in the US, since unions were a large part of our society, ie calling someone a scab in oz was quite the insult. I also, quite snarkly asked, what union Tony belonged to. I also enquired if he had contacted dave asking permission to write the Phantom (Dave and Glen Lumsden had done the previous Phantom story for Marvel before Moonstone purchased the rights and hired isabella).
Well it went back and forth, until Isabella pulled out his 'I've got Depression, I don't want to talk about that period in my life' card. At that i pulled back, i think i sent him an email apologising (i remember writing it i don't remember sending it). Later i discovered he deleted my posts and when ever i tried to post, my new posts would be deleted too. At no point was i abusive, just argumentative.
The second time i was banned was from the DC boards. There was a thread about homosexuality in comics, and there was a little turd homophobe that was being quite disgusting in his hate. abhorrent even. Of course the little shit posted under his own name (including middle name) and with a quick google, i had tracked down him and the prestigious protestant high school in melbourne he went to. I then posted the school student conduct guidelines "a blah blah blah student will always be tolerant and respectful to those around him, etc" and then showed how young lord homophobe broke his school's conduct rules, point by point and suggested that people email his school and let them know about their students conduct. Well, the thread was pulled down, deleted and i was banned. Young Lord Homophobe was not banned, when i contacted the board adminstrator about the banning and the discrepancy I was told i could come back in two weeks. I declined but Young Lord Homophobe did behave himself thereafter (well for the couple of days i hung around the DC boards).

i wasn't really abusive in either case, but it was all quite fun nonetheless - sigh

verily

Odin's beard!

This weekend in brisbane

Stupid people review good movies - Part ii

Stolen from Amazon

The Getaway by a 12 year old viewer

I waited over a year to see this film, it wasn't worth it. I wasn't aloud to see it because it was supposedly too violent. When I did see it I was really disppointed. There was very little violence at all, and what there was went too fast. In the final shootout at the end (which I thought would be a huge, explosive borderline massacre by the police) was a poorly choreographed hotel gunfight. Steve McQueen could have done better. Peace out.

The Unabomber used to sign his letters 'Peace Out' - then they exploded. Ironic, isn't it?


Lawerence of Arabia reviewed by Leonard Sneredley

bought this DVD as a way to show off my new DVD player to my family. I had seen the movie several times in the theater, and knew its bright colors would be beautiful on my TV screen. To my horror, I saw that Columbia had seen fit to alter a masterpiece. Yes, the film came complete with those horrific black bars at the top and bottom of my screen, which obscured about half of the picture. I've seen those bars on the "artsy" videos on TV, and I sometimes enjoy them. But this is a classic work of art! You don't try to make it "hip" and "relevant" with modern touches. It would be like adding a moustache to the Mona Lisa.

Until Columbia drops the act and releases "Lawrence of Arabia" without those bars, letting us see all of the picture, stay away.

Dear Mr Toyota, I purchased one of your cars and have noticed that the speedometer goes to 240km/h. The speed limit is only 110km/h, i demand a refund on the unused portion of speed. Stop being wasteful. Yours sincerly Leonard.


Something about Mary - by gerhardt

Nothing funny or sexy that is. This movie had one funny scene and that was when the cop bounced Stillers head off that table. That's it, nothing before or after. It was way over hyped and so is Diaz. She is not the Goddess everyone seems to think she is,there are alot more prettier actresses out there than her,Julia Roberts for one. And Roberts can act too. If you want a movie watch this,if you want a Funny movie,see Deuce Bigalow,it's worth the hype.

The Farrley Brothers need to make a european sequel; There's something about Maria featuring more headbutting and redheads. (gerhardt is not completely stupid)

My Ledger Recommendations/Nominees

There's a link in Gary Chaloner's Blog concerning my nominations for the 2006 Ledgers.
I'm slowly going through my collection of what has been released earlier in the year and waiting for some orders to be delivered from Phasetwo and Lulu before I really start. My plan is to begin around the end of Novemeber and have it finished by December 10.
And looking at the Ledger's forum; the threads have recieved on average about 400 hits which is very impressive for a threads with minimal posts and a forum which has not recieved a large amount of publicity outside the blog/LJ/Messageboard sphere.

The Shield - Bush Administration Allegory

Captain Monica Rawling is Dubya Bush. The new captain, there because of politicing. Implements a radical plan to change things around. It started off popular but things turn to shit and she becomes unpopular, her men get attacked while doing their duty. Possibly stupid and easily manipulated.

Vic Mackey is Dick Cheney - Playing both sides of the game for his own needs. Will probably have a heart attack soon.

Councilman David Aceveda is Bill Clinton. The old boss, now interested in having dirty sex with prostitutes and undermining the new administration.

Officer Julien Lowe is Colin Powell. Slightly gay and against the new regime's tactics but carries on because its his duty. Will be a fall guy, shuffled off because of his resistance.

Detective Shane Vendrell is Karl Rove. The guy in the background who is really a bastard and fucks things up.

Officer Danielle "Danny" Sofer is Condaleeza Rice. She loves the new regime and everyone wants to dick her.

Detective Armando Renata is Scooter Lewis Libby. Side kick to asshole Shane. He'll end up dead and the fall guy for Vic's and Shane's bastardry.

Mandela-Man

Welcome to Capetown, MandelaMan

dad comics

Some friends of mine were excited about going to see foo fighters, which are a good band but they have that whiff of dad rock, which in this case is ok, because my mates are dads, but still. It got me thinking.

I have this theory that one of the reasons that manga is so hot right now, is that in terms of options, in the past someone interested in comics only had batman/spiderman/superman to go to. And honestly, how many teens want to read about old characters that their dads probably read? Teens are all about rebelling against the mainstream. Its not superheroes that are turning off new readers, its just that they are old characters that offer nothing new. Has there been a new character that has taken off at Marvel or DC since Wolverine or Punisher? Is it because the 40 year old fans can't handle change?

The majority of Marvel and DC are Dad comics, made for nostalgia for 30-40 year old men.
This article sort of proves my theory.
Europe is always held up as a bastion of good comics, presenting solid mature stories in a wide variety of genres sold in bookstores. And yet
"Manga and manhwa are grabbing market share from the Franco- Belgian classics,"
Classics - No titles are specified except for Asterix but it kind of shows that kids are looking for the 'new' and are dismissing the comics of generations past. And for the moment its manga (for this generation at least). Which means if some of the european publishers were a bit more saavy they could have got in before manga took hold, but the only one who tried, Humanoids, were too pricey, inconsistent and only concentrated on the sci-fi market.

Colin Wilson's Birthday

I would link to my Colin Wilson 24 hr story but that doesn't exist anymore.
Colin does exist and has so for 56 years.

Dreaming Newsarama

http://www.newsarama.com/tokyopop/Dreaming/Chan_Dreaming.htm
In about a month's time Queenie Chan's Dreaming will be released through ToykoPop. I'm actually excited about it, the art looks nice, the story is intriguing but its really nice that the story has an Australian flavour.

Ledger Categories 2006

2006 Categories

Peer Vote (popular):

Australian Achievement of the Year
Australian Talent deserving wider recognition
Australian Retailer of the Year
Ledger of Honour

Favourite Comic Book or Graphic Novel (from anywhere: X-Men, Eightball etc)
Favourite International Creator (from anywhere: Grant Morrison, Mike Mignola etc)


Judging Panel Vote:

(All Australian)

Artist of the Year
Writer of the Year
Small Press title of the year
Independent Press title of the year
International Press title of the year
Webcomic or strip of the Year
Story of the year (from an anthology or single issue)
Designer of the Year (letterer, colourist, covers, package, website)

A flyer will be created, that can be downloaded and distributed to comic shops around the country, which will hopefully get people not connected to Australian comics involved and get them interested in local product.

you don't win friends with salad or steak

Saturday night, my mother organised to have a dinner with family friends to celebrate my engagement and birthday. Of course this was two months after the fact and somehow also involved me having to cook for 12 people. The largest group i've ever cooked for was 8 and that was fucking hard. But that time i learnt lessons, one of which was never do it again. When i explained this to my mother, she got her ethnic on and made me feel guilty in two languages.
So,
Entree - plain spaghetti with napolitatna sauce. The sauce was made during the day and the pasta bought. you only need a big pot for water and small pot to reheat the sauce. Hints i've picked up about sauce
- keep it plain, me and emma make big batches and freeze little containers of it
- there is nothing stopping you from chopping other bits (vegies or meats) and adding them on the day before serving them. So the same sauce can be used with chicken on monday, eggplant on tuesday, olives and sun dried tomatoes wednesday, etc
- use alot of olive oil, it gives it a nice silky body. i'm lucky because my dad has a bunch of olive trees on his farm and we make our own.
- if you use fresh tomatoes that aren't exactly ripe, add pinches of sugar. I sometimes do this with canned tomatoes too.
So the entree only took two hot plates and little prep time (on the night).

For the main I did a surf and turf using an outdoor bbq, which gave me plenty of room to do all the steaks at once. I was convinced, by others, to do fillet mignon, which i'll never do again because wrapping those fillets with bacon took ages (ahead of time) and necessitated a last minute dash to the shops to get more bacon. The steaks were topped with skewered sweet chilli marinated prawns (3 large prawns each skewered using two parrallel skewers, it looked cool). Steaks take about 8-10 minutes to do. In theory.
On the night, while the steaks rested i quickly cooked the prawns, then plated everything and served. I was quickly cleaning the bbq when people started coming outside "I like mine welldone" "Its still red inside" "Bit more".
Ah fuck, its supposed to be pink inside, its supposed to be medium rare. Sigh. Sorry to freak out vegetarians, but the flavour is in the fat and blood - overcook and the blood disapperas and the fat is just char.
Usually I would have done a roast, but considering that a serve of roast should be about 250-350 grams, that would be a 3.6kg peice of meat (to feed everyone) which would have taken ages to cook (45minutes per .5kg, i think) and it would mean that the whole oven would have been taken up with meat, with no room for vegetables. Fish is out of the question for more than 6 people and I don't like cooking chicken. That's why i did steaks. And it bit me in the ass. Anyway, served with the steaks was a whole batch of roast vegetables (out of the way in the oven and with little prep work needed). Because I have an aversion to room temperature foods, i don't eat or prepare salad. Someone else did that. My shame at 'stuffing' up the main course was dampered by opening up some cabernets and doing damage to my dwindling wine cellar.
Dessert was handled by Emma, dishing out a tiramisu, which i was told rocked. (I don't actually do dessert either because i pretty much only eat ice cream - i don't do cake). After cleaning up, which always sucks when you are drunk, me and emma went to a 30th, which always rule when you are drunk. So it evens out.
Next time, when it comes to large dinners, I'm doing a massive lasagne because you can't go wrong there. I hope.

comments

I've changed setting so i shouldn't get so many spam comments; though i liked the attention i have to move on.

now anonymous posters can, once again have the ability, to comment

Stupid people review good movies

Grabbed off Amazon.

Great Escapeby A viewer

This movie is so bad, I have no words for it. It has plenty of character actors. yet not one shred of realism.The German war camp is seen as so relaxed, it does not even make sense that anyone would try to escape from it. The reality of WW2 is, many POWs fared far better than those who were not captured. Many US troops were killed in combat during incredibly risky, almost suicidal missions, while the top brass like Eisenhower stayed back in England and had sexual affairs. I have a feeling he would have been disappointed and mislead by the Dirty Dozen.

In this movie, those that do escape from it are given extremely lenient punishment--something that never would have happened in reality--if you were caught escaping from a german POW camp, you were shot on the spot--no hang dog look, give me my baseball glove and take me to solitary garbage!
Apparently killing 50 escapees wasn't enough.

Doctor Zhivago - by Jamie

I am writing this review for my film appreciation class at Lowry High School in Winnemucca Nevada.
Doctor Zhivago was a very long an boring movie (3 hours-17 minutes)! I just kept on going without having any exciting parts to it. At times it was hard to understand what was going on. I don't even know what the point of it was.
The only good part about this movie was some of the scenery. The snow, trees and mountains looked pretty good. The photography was exceptional The movie needs to have a better plot to it.
The only part i really understood about the movie was that Lara (Julie Christie) was Doctor Zhivago's(Omar Sharif) mistress.
I wouldn't recommend watching this movie. Rent or buy some other movie instead.
Thanks Jamie for giving me a choice. And you score a F.

Fight Club by ldren30907

Those that like it aren't worth talking to. I do ask Fight Club fans a question - have they ever had the crap beaten out of them? I mean REALLY had the crap beaten out of them. The film's premise might seem a lot less valid if one has been in such a situation. This move is for dumb little boys (and sadly, some dumb little girls) who haven't had a hard enough life. To give credit where it's due, Ed Norton's performance was wonderful.
Explains why i don't like Star Wars, I've never been at war in the stars. but alec guiness is awesome

2006 Ledger Eligible Comics and Creators

Are you ledger eligible?

Its true that part of the australian psyche is not to big note yourself but listing yourself as eligble for a ledger award isn't big noting yourself, its making it so others can big note you.

If you think your comic is noteworthy or you enjoyed someone's comic work either list it here or go to the ledger forums. I'm waiting for a big delivery from Phasetwo but most of you have got stuff from Supanova that must be good.

I'll probably be doing a run down of my thoughts in mid novemeber once i track down the stuff released at supanova and read through the stuff i've collected throughout the year.

blood letting and keeping up with the joneses

I donated blood for the first time today. i did not get woozy during or after. I felt slightly disappointed at this.

Its also Hard Refuse week, here in adelaide suburbia. Again its disappointing when our neighbours have piles of crap and we only have some old light fixtures and computer speakers.

keep on bloggin' in the free world

Gazza
Dazza
and Mazza (Or Alex Major)

can you google me?

This blog is connected to Sitemeter, that tells me all sorts of information like referrers; how are people finding my site.

Now since i mention a lot of Australian creators, whenever someone googles a creator i sometimes get a hit and enrty in my referrers list. I doubt that this is comprehensive, no where near - but its interesting all the same.
In the past couple of weeks these Australian Creators have been googled (in no order)

• Owen Heitmann
• Troy Kealley
• Doug Holgate
• Jules Faber
• Alex Major
• Erin M
• Gary Chaloner
• Komala S
  
• Darren Close
• Mandy O
• Rowan Cassidy
• Ben Hutchings
• David Blumenstien
• Matt Bayliss
  

You are being stalked.

Jumping on the Chan Wagon

Embarrassingly, Queeni Chan is a new name to me in the whole realm of Australian Comics. I had heard of her but in my mind i classed as a deviart fan artist (nothing wrong with that - i get my kicks out of sequentials so pin ups don't impress me - please don't hate me).

However, her name came up again recently when there was a rather interesting discussion at Warren Ellis' Engine messageboard, concerning the fairness of the ToykoPop contracts. i hadn't realised/heard she had a book deal with Tpop. So some googling later
http://www.queeniechan.com/
some very nice work, indeed. Lots of juicy sequentials.

I could say, one to watch but I think I'm late to the party, people have been watching her for ages.
So, come December pick up her ToykoPop book, The Dreaming.

On a related note; I'm surprised to see Generations 2004 and 2005 at PhasetwoComics, i thought they were small print run comics that got sold out. Not that i'm complaining i've already ordered them.

finger tap

Item - Ledger Judge, Roger Langrigde in pretty comprehensive interview talks about his start in New Zealand.
Item - I want Maggie Gyllenhaal's box to be mine.
Item - I didn't think much of Batman Begins, but the special edition collectors' DVD contains comic books. While it has happened in the UK and US, I don't think comics are usually distributed with DVDs in Australia.
Item - Making fun of people's photos is fun easy mundane (though i think i saw ex-wives 2-5 in there).

Snova there

It was Emma's birthday over the weekend so we went down the coast and after a nice lunch we found a little market where i discovered so old comics. To make up for not being at supanova i bought

Da 'n dill #1 and 2
Burr 'n Spud #1
The programme for Ozcon III
Classic Illustrated: Lawrence of Arabia (i dunno why)
Doom Patrol #28 (to hopefully resell)

Hope people had fun

satorial sageness for supanova (and beyond)

Overcoats and trenchcoats
You do not and never will look like Neo. However you will look like Neil, the guy who lives down the road who is not allowed within 100 metres of children.

There is no need for any guy to wear an overcoat in Australia - EVER. Unless they want to look like a complete and utter tool and the object of ridicule.

Fullbleed shirts

No.

No. Seriously. No.

Open shirts
Refering to the first photo. The whole 'open shirt over a tshirt' is dead, it died with Kurt, it was messy but it couldn't end any other way. If you want to showoff your favourite tshirt but are afraid of being cold, come join us in the 21st century, wear the tshirt over the shirt, its wacky but works.
Most guys do this to cover up their portliness but it makes it worse. They end up looking like they are wearing a muumuu. Baggy clothes mess people's silhouette up, making them look bigger. So go figure hugging fatboy.

Hints and tips

• Regarding Cargo pants; light coloured no- No. Dark coloured maybe but ask yourself have you ever put anything in those pockets?
• You are allowed to wear shorts before sunset, but after the sun goes down go home and put on some grown up clothes.
• Do not wear plastic rimmed sunglasses inside, especially sports sunglasses (oakley, arnettes, nike, etc)
• If your jeans are skyblue or lighter, you must have borrowed them from your sister in 1989, give them back

And its because I care.

Alas poor aussiecomics.com, i knew him well

Apparently aussiecomics.com has disappeared, i'm not sure if it is forever or temporarily.
It also means if people go looking for the 24 hour challenge site, they won't be able to find it.

Does anything rhyme with pyramid?

I always find articles about other country's (not japan or usa) comic scenes as interesting. In Eygpt a start up is doing well with superheroes.

awesome-awful

Dr Zhivargo, on seeing it for the first time, has entered my top 10.

This article at CBR is the most embarrassing piece of comic related writing ever. But I did learn from now on i will not watch anything Emma suggests unless it involves race cars.

Ledger's Judging Panel

It's quite an honour to be a judge in this year's Ledger awards.
However, I do feel like quite the wingnut when compared to the other judges on the panel.
Publisher, creator, publisher, creator, fanboy.

world wide weber

Some pages from Cool Hand Weber new project
Preview 1
And halfway down
Preview 2
They are from 6 months ago but he's up to page 200 in the project. And i'm kind of excited about seeing the finished book.

Frank's book Crab Allan is one of my favourite graphic novels ever Fullstop I would also say go to www.phasetwocomics.com or www.kingscomics.com.au and buy it because you won't be disappointed. But i can't. Because you can't buy Crab Allan from them or anywhere else that i'm aware of. And its a shame.

Going to have to keep an eye out in Previews when his Adventures in Tymm book comes out, by way of Platinum Studios.

More weber goodness

tv bits and shits

I'm not going to make excuses or try and pose but last night i watched the last half of Australian Princess.
Thankfully.
Otherwise i would never had heard this
"Princess Diana was such an angel, it was so bad that she died the way she did, just like Tupac"
(not exact dialogue)

Otherwise, The Wire, the best cop show ever gets a second season on Channel 9, midnight. If you can find the first season - get it. Its better than The Shield (which has gotten a bit shit over the last 4 episodes - ever since Lem burnt the money - though last night it picked up).

soft shoe (yes its a slow day)

I own about 40 pairs of shoes, possibly more. Mainly sneakers, which i hang onto until they fall apart. I also have a fair few work - 'nice' shoes for work and special occassions. I most recently bought some white shell toe adidas (i wanted black superstars, like run dmc but black sneakers are hard to pull off - satorially). Anyway, I've had my eye on these for awhile

On a conceptual they look cool, but up close they look really tacky. So I'm torn.

On a related note; Bathing Ape is doing retro marvel sneakers, which would look cooler in canvas.

Small Gods on a Cross

Disappointingly, Sydney writer, Jason Rand's Image Series Small Gods is being cancelled with #12. However, on the good side, the creative team will be working on a new book for Image specifically the Shadowline, er, line.

winamp wizard

I wasn't tagged but i've got space to fill. I used a bit of google to help with the lyrics, because i need context. For those who don't know, its the (in my case) Winamp crystal ball - ask the question, press shuffle, press play, the answer is the song played.

How does the world see me?
Poncho's Lament - Tom Waits
"and i'm glad that your gone, but i wish to the lord you'd come home" = love/hate

Will I have a happy life?
The Question of U - Prince
"If I sell my soul, now what will it cost?" = hmm, make the effort and happiness is mine

What do my friends really think of me?
Beta Loser - Darren Hanlon
"Since when did our relationship become obsolete?" "I've been superseded" = sniff

Do people secretly lust after me?
Long Time Coming - Anna Waronker
"It's been a long time coming, coming" = its seems yes, and when they fantasise about me, I'm really really good (which is a nice change).

How can I make myself happy?
Gossip folks - Missy Elliot feat. Ludacris
"Musi ques, I sews on bews, I pues a twos on que zat, Pue zoo, My kizzer, Pous zigga ay zee" = Apparently eccies, baggy clothes and fast food

What should I do with my life?
Step right - Violent Femmes
"Step right up" probably says it all but i prefer "3 for a dollar"

Why must life be so full of pain?
Pressure Zone - Beck
"Wrestling with butcher girls"= hmmmm, apparently for no reason at all

How can I maximize my pleasure during sex?
A little bit of soap - De La Soul
= sigh, thanks

Will I ever have children?
We know - Talib Kwali feat. Faith Evans
=well tell me Talib, tell me

Will I die happy?
Strangers on a train - Handsome Boy Modelling School
If it involves having sex with a stranger on a train, then yes i will die happy, unless my significant other finds out - then no.

What is some good advice for me?
Down Slow - Moby
no lyrics = fate hates me/i'm perfect

What is happiness?
So whatcha want - Beastie boys
Well if the film clip is anything to go, bouncing around in baggy flannelette in the forest with a bunch of guys will make me happy

What's my favourite fetish?
Please wake me up - Tom Waits
"Her out-fit was all made of vinyl, like nothing I've ever seen" = could have been worse and shuffled to Rain Dogs. And most people will be surprised that my fetish involves females.

How will I be remembered?
The luckiest guy on the lower east side - Magnetic Fields

Supanova and comics

What comics are being released at this year's Sydney Supanova?

All I know is stuff I've read at Pulp Fiction and people's blogs. So i'm probably wrong in some bits, but feel free to ask the appropriate artist where their comics are because you want to buy them.

Or leave a reply correcting me.

What will be there? Well a quick look at the Artist Alley List provides this list

Phosphorescent Comics
Essentially the only publisher in Australia not related to a kids magazine. Standard american style comic format. They have Witch King coming out later this year/early next year (but you can order it know thru Previews). I recommend Azerath, whilst the plot doesn't seem to be moving much, its an enjoyable read and the art has improved.

Happy Platinum Kitten Mourning Circle
I think this is a collection of people occupying a table selling a number of different books. Most notably Matt Huyhn's Happy Birthday Anyway and Pirotess' new anthology (that seems to have come together incredibly quick) All the Same. Also did the last Moshi Moshi ever come out? Or is All the Same really Moshi Moshi 12? Anyway Matt's stuff is gold - buy it all.

Edit (courtesy of Komala) -
HPKMC is Matt, myself, Nate Soehardi, Trudy Cooper and Arabel. Our Minions for the Day are Libbie on Saturday and Dan Douglas on Sunday.

I've been pretty quiet about it but the plan is to release Moshi Moshi 12 on top of the other two books, so I'll have three books out for Supanova.

Cult Fiction Comics Australia
Comics on CD, mainly new wave superhero types. I've never really seen their work because I'm not a comic on screen kind of guy, so i don't have much to recommend.

Batrisha/Dillon Naylor
Usually rivals Phosphorescent Comics for best decorated booth/table. I'm a big fan of Dillon's 2 Minute Noodles stuff, so feel free to annoy him and ask when the next issue is out. Funny that Dillon's stuff is probably seen by more people in the world than some of the other Comic guests but he's listed last.

Operation Funnybone
Another of the big anthologies appearing at Supanova. I've seen the cover, which looks nice and it has a whole bunch of local people doing stuff for them. Since money from this goes to charity I recommend it fully, and even if it didn't have a charity involved, it still looks like a cool book.

Mickey Moose
I'm assuming that this is Alex Major's Mickey Moose. I thought Alex was in France. Alex is an enourmous amount of fun at convention, dare him to do stuff. And he makes good comics too.

Siberian Productions
Most famous for Billy the Demon Slayer, Laocorn's Full Moon Rising was a decent read.

Trinity Comics
Home of the Wraith. Last Sydney con they gave away wriath pens. Frank also loves signing comics (ergo the pens). Checking the Wraith website; there's a wraith dvd, wraith script book, a wraith hardcover novel and of course the wraith comic.

Storm Publishing
Producers of Jaegar a long running series (19 issues!!!), I've never read.

Littlehammer Studio
Producers of Diabla, one of my favourite local comics - so buy them (the early ones have Finch in them). If there is no new issue (i think the last thing they released was a preview of issue 5) please have a crying tantrum on the floor and tell Marcelo that Mark Selan sent you. (Sometimes David Tang shares with Marcelo, so pick up Knee Pockets too)

Geeen Comix
Ben Hutching makes comic gold. All of it, even his bookmarks are genius. Buy everything.

Phatsville Comix
From the weird to the creepy. The individual Phatsville comics are really good, but there's two compliations of work clled Fat Ankle and Plump Oyster. Ones really really good, the other is wierd but ok. I'm not sure which, buy both to be on the safe side.

Anime@UTS/E.G.G.
Dunno. Guessing something anime related.

Shifting Time
Comic based on a webcomic, called Shifting Time.

Bishie Art Group
Dunno. Guessing something bishie related.

Kirsten Ewens
Never heard of her but congratulate her on topping the HSC in Japanese at her school.

Radiotak
Troy Kealley will be offering Something Wicked and possibly his Owen Driver comic (Troy does awesome car smashes). i also believe he's sharing a table with Liz A who will be selling Dreams of Tommorrow (which features me!) that showcases a numer of creators' (and me) dreams of the future (including mine). And he'll probably be selling OzComics magazine too.

Naomi Hatchman
Another new name (but is a very hummable name, naomi hatchman, hmm hmm mmm, naomi hatchman)
Google tells me she's a scifi/horror writer but i'm not sure what she's selling.

Knight-Edge
"Knightsedge #4 Lau or don't bother turning up". Gary's style has improved since he started his animation course, his storytelling and prowess with different styles has gotten really good. Ask him for a sketch of Goku, he does those really well.

SUAnimé
Dunno. Guessing something anime related.

Corner of Awesomeness
Ask Patrick for Cunt, if he has any Cunt to spare. He did Cunt about 4 months ago in 24 hours. The man may have stopped your access to cunt but that's the man's choice. He'll probably also have cookies and the very awesome Raymondo.

Sporadic Comix
I'm not sure if this means there's a new Sporadic. Sporadic was an anthology for Brisbane that came from nowhere but was very impressive. They sell badges as well (badges may not be included)

Amber Campbell
A familar name but nothing i can put my finger on.

Rowan Cassidy
Squeeel!!!!
www.rowancassidy.com

If there's someone who can buy me stuff going to supanova, can they pick this up for me. I'll be ya mate (I'll reimburse you). Or convince them to sell through phasetwo.

OzTAKU
I think there's a new Oztaku coming out for the convention - the book has been passed on by Diamond, which is a shame and a bit weird, considering some of the stuff that gets listed at Previews. However from a shaky start, the book gets better every issue, with highlights from Ian T, David Kerr, Wen Huang and David Li.

501st Legion Terror Australis Garrison
Nerds looking for virgins to dress up in plastic (its not as exciting as it sounds).

I don't see Suburban Knights/Foolproof listed, or Crumpleton Experiment's Daniel Reed.
But newly listed is Queenie Chan and Katie Huang selling the excellent Generation anthologies. (awesome - can they be convinced to sell these through phasetwo).

Comics and Oz

The preview to Witch King looks absolutely gorgeous, the colouring and inkwork sets Abstruse's linework on fire.
(Can someone confirm that the rumour that Paul Abstruse is now living on an island off the coast of Goa having made his fortune from some sort of herbal bubblegum)

Writer, Shane McCarthy was name dropped by some wingnut fellow(slightly harsh, yes but he was awfully excited and longwinded) on JJJ's Jay and the Doctor Morning show.

Ben Templesmith's work on Fell is interesting since it seems a bit different from his normal horror work and the book itself is one of the better reads from Warren Ellis since the early Planteary and Authority days. It's a nice and succinct story, that doesn't feature a grizzled shouty man or a sassy powerful female assistant cliches Ellis seems to rely on and has Templesmith doing a lot of panel to panel sequential art. This book was enjoyed.

David Yardin's always outstanding work can be seen in Black Panther #8 and #9

And i'm still waiting for the Platinum Grit's i bought off ebay to arrive....

I'm bummed out that i'm not going to Supanova because its seems everyone is going to be there and some awesome work is going to launch.

pointless australian comic related travel story

I went cold turkey on the whole comics thing while i was away. On my first day in London i did spot 4 comic shops, which i believe was more than Fraser had found in his 2 weeks in London but i digress.
I had arranged to meet Scott on a particular street corner, at a prearranged time. I had never met Scott before but had seen photos, where he usually wore a hat or sunglass of some description. Subsequently my powers of recognition were low; skinny brown haired hipster. I had to keep an eye out for someone who had a certian level of scottnesshotness. (it didn't help that he was late) So for 15 minutes there was a lot of internal "not him, too fat, too short, scott doesn't seem like a cargo pant wearer, no, no, too black, too asian, too tall, too much wheelchair, too much oestrogen " until a dumpy dwarf with a ratty afro and an equally dorky friend came up and asked "Are you Mark?", suprised i replied "yeah, how's it going?"
"Cool man, nice meeting you!"
"yeah, me too"
"We've been looking for a drummer for a really long time"
"cool, huh, what??!! You're Not scott are you?"
"No"
"I think I'm the wrong Mark then"
"oh wow"
"good luck on the drummer search"
"Hehe yeah"
Then it was back to the wait wait wait. He finally turned up, meal was eaten, pints were had while drummer mark probably waited on the corner.

Anyway, in PARIS, i did want to check out a BD shop, just to see if graphic novels were as big as people say they are in France. I also had received a request from Cool hand Weber for a "Spirou" book. After two days, I ran into Album, two decent sized stores on opposite corners of an intersection, near St Severin; one store dealt in french BD and the other in english comics. I entered and was geniuly suprised at the range of stuff; the BD format doesn't really thrill me (thin hardcovers) but the range was quite exciting. After a bit of a wander (they seem to arrange books by publisher - grrr) I made sure i looked as lost as possible so someone would ask if i needed help, then i could stammer some french, they would then take pity on me and speak english and all would end well (this was the standard game plan, for me anyway, emma being young and pretty could get away with "English? ENG-lish?"). A pretty female asked if I was alright and i felt all giddy - oh beautiful french comic shop girl - she helped me with "spirou" but i got curious.
"Avay-vooo dez roman p-argh Kollen Willsun?" (Google translate won't help - 'do you have any books by Colin Wilson?')
Blank look
"Kollen Willsun?"
Her english was better than my french, but still
"rite naim don"
I knew Colin had done "Young Bluberry" but had no idea what 'young' was in french, i had to stop myself from saying "petite blueberry" so I took at stab with
"artiste - blueberry"
This got a puzzled look and a "ahhh - Mobieus?"
"No - Kollen Willsun" I wrote down Colin Wilson and passed her the paper
"Ahhh, Ko'lynne Whil'sohn" she exclaimed in recognition
She then tapped away on her computer
"I'm soree we do not have anything by this artist"

All disappointing news should be told by pretty french girls, it lessens the blow. So with a 'merci' i was out with the huge but cheap Spirou book. Later i went into Virgin looking for French hip hop (i love french hip hop), they also had a huge BD range and a couple of stores near Notre Dame made me weep wishing that level of comic goodness was the norm and not the exception in Australia.

Best meals

Because i'm ruled by my belly and i get lots of pleasure from eating and drinking

1. Wine tasting
One night my cousin's husband took me wine tasting in small winery on a hill. To prepare our stomachs we ate lamb off the spit, raw onions, fresh bread and drank red wine; all outside by the vines just pawing at food with our hands, getting all greasy.I tried telling dirty jokes in a foriegn language but i believe alot was lost in translation and my limited vocab. It was all very manly.
We then siphoned wine straight from the barrels to taste. This particular winery specialed in white, which I'm not that keen on so i was not impressed until i tasted ice wine. It's wine made from frozen grapes and therefore not made in Australia and it was awesome, like a reisling with a more rounded sweetness and smoother finish.

2. Spaghetti with Scampi
We stayed in the smallest village in Cinque Terre (northwest coast of italy) and in the town centre next to our apartment was a little resturant. We had dinner there a couple of nights because it was convenient and they made really good food(though laziness was the main motivator). I like seafood in pasta but usually in resturants they serve it in a rose or cream sauce which i'm not that enamoured by, at home i make spaghetti vongole, but thats just cockles, olive oil and garlic.
Anyway, I discovered scampi are prawns with claws and when mixed with sauce and spaghetti by a professional they taste awesome. The following night I upped the ante and ordered the spaghetti marinara, by the time i had got rid of the cockel, mussel shells, shelled the scampi and lobster tail i was exhausted, plus I'm incredibly slow with the whole spaghetti twirling thing. The hardest work i've ever had eating a meal - but it was worth the effort.

3. le Cheeseburger with cheese
At work, we have had a number of dicussions on what constitutes a hamburger; my view pretty much boils down to a steak sandwhich is not a hamburger. Hamburgers need to be made of minced meat, beef preferably. I had few burgers while away; burgerking in Kuala Lumpur, a pub burger in london that was ok if not a bit dry and bland, another burger in london from a 'burger studio' near Coventry Gardens that was pretty ok - but the frenchie cheeseburger was le manifique. It was simply minced beef topped with melted cheese but the cheese had flavour and the meat was cooked medium so it still had some moisture. Served with fries and drunk with a proper merlot it was like eating really really good steak, it took all of emma's powers from stopping me eating there every night.

4. Horse meat
Foal horse meat, to be exact. I ate snails, frog's legs, duck and horse. Snails are pretty much a nuggety oyster, with lots of parsley and garlic to give it flavour, frog's legs are exactly like chicken but a pain in the ass to eat - they serve you the back half of the frog but you can only eat the puny thigh - and it made me naseous because they servie it crumbed which is not my favourite way of cooking food. It was an incredibly lean meat, like kangaroo but not as sweet. Usually lean meats are very dry and lack flavour, but this was nice and moist and in terms of flavor it was oooooookay but not great. Essentially like rump steak, however it gets included in this list because its horse.

5. Fried up fish
It was simplicity; fish caught from the river, fried and served. It was also very good. Nice little pub with huge oak tables next to the river (from where yon fish be caught). Most interestingly, was the manner it was served; it was presented whole but with one side sliced as a fillet, so you had the best of both worlds. My slicing skills are rubbish and I can't fillet a fish to save my life (but i'm getting pretty fancy with squid) so it was an interesting technique to see.

back to the land of oz and comics

It got weird

Ledger Awards eligibilty listing begins

4 Years in the making

Also from Phosphorescent, Azerath #6

Australian Graphic Novelist, I've never heard of, gets ink

And before I left, i submitted a couple of local graphic novels (Crab Allan, BrickDog and Other Stories, and Batrisha) to www.prc.sa.edu.au and i found out that the books will be passed on to another Panel Member, which is promising.

And Colin Wilson's art can be seen in Losers, which is in English!

Top 5 highlights

1. Getting engaged.
I won't go into details (because its mushy and rooooomantic) but it was nice. It will be a big surprise to most people but it did not involve a 2 minute wait and the appearance of two blue stripes.

2. Watching the Eiffel Tower light up.
We were riding up to the top when the lights came on so it caught us by surprise. During the day the tower, is a bit meh, but when you add electricity it becomes cool. On following nights we would walk over (we were staying 500m from the tower) and watch the pretty lights twinkle, sipping from a bottle of red and eating a fresh hot crepes.

3. Cooking school in Sorrento
My birthday gift from Emma. I was able to cook in a proper kitchen, with assistants for 4 hours with the tutelage of a professional chef. It was awesome. They also sang me happy birthday in Italian. Bellisimo!

4. Venice Film festival and the rain.
For the most part Venice sucked. But after a crappy (but relatively cheap) meal I walked past Orlando Bloom. I know it was Orlando because he walked hunched and had a posse of hanger ons. He also had that crappy beard thing he tries to grow. Having seen Kingdom of Heaven on the plane i did not try and chat because it was clear we had nothing in common.
From there, emma and i meandered through the little streets until we came to a large piazza which had a big outdoor screen set up showing Brokeback Mountain in English. We bought tickets and sat down. As soon as the movie started we could see lightning flash to the East, at first as tiny little light pops. Soon it got more intense and the volume of the thunder slowly got turned up. Then the odd drop of rain was felt. It was kind of intense just waiting for the downpour, hoping it would wait till we finished watching the movie. but it didn't.
Due to only being dressed in tshirts and Emma already feeling sick from exhaustion we decided to bail early.
But not early enough - the night ended with us running through the narrow and craggy venetian alleyways trying to find our hotel. I had thought it would be a good idea to buy an ice cream (i stand by the idea that its always a good idea to buy ice cream) which was slowly melting in my hand as it got drenched.
We thankfully found refuge under a bridge, which gave us a chance to figure out where we were using the shitty map on our hotel pamphlet and my lonely planet guide.
Getting orientated and memorising "3rd left, 2nd right, 5th right, to the end and left, bridge, 3rd right", I ripped some gig posters off the wall to use as an umbrella and off we went.

Running like loons in the rain is cool.

The film itself was really good, probably the gayest western since "All the pretty horses" but hauntingly sweet, its a shame we only saw half.

4. Gettin' my family on in Slovenia
Besides my parents and a cousin all my family is in Europe, so i rarely get to see them (this was my fourth time). So the visit involved drinking cheap beer ($2 for half a litre!!!), tasting lots of wine (everyone it seems has their own vineyard - usually about 100m of vine on a hill so they only produce a couple hundred bottles), eating a lot of meat (apparently vegetables is too much of a reminder of the socialist days) and me speaking really bad slovenian (which got better with alcohol). Catching up with everyone was a blast and though in practice they barely know me they made me and emma feel like we had always been there.

5. Watching the sun set in Sorrento.
Perched high on a cliff face, in a small village outside of Sorrento, our hostel (a former monastery) had a very nice little restuarnt around the corner. We'd sit on the terrace and watch the sun set; to our left and in the distance the town of Naples and to our right Sorrento and other smaller towns on the Amalfi Coast. The sun would set over the distant isle of Capri, such that the sun would be cradled one moment and gone the other leaving behind a crack of light that would rest on horizon.
Probably the most relaxed I've ever been.

I can't wait to go back.

oooohhh aaaahhhhh

I'm back in the country, and back to work. I'm already counting my pennies so i can get back to europe again.

I'll have highlights later - interesting ones, i promise.

stuff overheard while away

At Stonehenge
Tour Guide: Did you feel any psychic energy
Tourist: Im a child of Christ, none of that satan stuff for me

At Westminster Abbey
Teen Tourist: I think thats where they made Churchill King

Lobby in Paris
20 year old female tourist speaking to the Conceriege: My friends would never believe im wearing sweats, i only like own two pairs of sweats
Friend of 20 year old female tourist speaking to the Conceriege: I wear sweats all the time
20 year old female tourist speaking to the Conceriege: Yeah she does, but thats ok, people are different

In Monterosso
Woman at outdoor cafe with walkie talkie: Can you see me chuck? Im just down the road by the water, i can see you. Wave your arm. Can you see me now? You look so cute.

updata e picolo

i am 30 and engaged, living it up on the amalfi coast

so life is pretty good

Day two

The second day was much better. The weather was nicer for a start.
the only dramq through the night was at about 1am when the airconditioner started leaking on to our bed. This necessitated a call to the concerige and zombie walking to another room. And crashing again.

I went to Victoria station to organise a day trip for Sunday and a coach to get my mum to Slovenia, by way of Stansted Airport. With that out of the way it was of to Tate Modern. Emma and my mum were off to Buckingham Palace and Harrods for the day; including a fish and chip lunch and high tea.

Anyway, Tate Modern was very cool. There was an exhibition of Frida Kahlo's work, who's work i like but monobrows freak me out and she does a lot of self portraits.

After about 2 hours of wandering with the audio tour stuck to me ear it was off to meet up with Scott Fraser. He brought Ansley, who i called Rita and Annalise, because i'm tired and stupid. Lunch was good, much better than the crappy food of the previous day; pasta sauce with no flavour but with a skin and margarita pizza without basil. Then we went for a pint.

that turned to three

we spoke about humans needing to regain monkey tails to exist in the modern age, the connection between redheads and the diggsville mafia and other stuff which i don't remember

no clowns

We've all just survived our first day in london. None of us slept well in the past 40 hours but we made the most of it.

We are zombie tourists. Emma is barely human and my mum is soldiering own with her bad feet, luckily for her she leaves for slovenia and rest in a day.

Its raining and cold so most of ou plans went out the window. We saw buckingham palace (but didn't stay for the changing of the guard) and then after some grumpiness and sleepy headed arguing walked around the Tower of London, literally and then went to the British muesuem which was good.
Problem is that we are all too polite but with short tempers

"I'll do what you want to do"
"I'll see whatever!"
"Me too, i'll just follow, so you chose"
"no, i don't care you chose!"
"somebody chose!"
"no you chose!"
"Why should i choose! You do something for once!"
"Me, what about you!"

Our feet hurt, the street planning is a shambles, so we get lost often and have to walk extra. And I can't understand why the tube system has more stairs than actual track.

Emma hasn't finished a meal yet because the food is not the greatest. She did though ask about what kind of animals did picadilly circus have - honest so not all is lost.

I've noticed that british girls; kinda hot, which surprised me. London guys, i kind of have beat - ah to be single.

Tommorrow, plans to go see the Tate Modern, walk around oxford/bond street and look up scott and lisa.

oh as if anything else was possible - the flight sucked, even if the food was ok and the inflight movie choice all right, me+plane(turblence)=hell

Travel Itineary

Aug 19-22
London
Doing very touristy things (if anyones in london email we can catch up on saturday).

Aug 22-26
Paris
4 days of just walking around misprouncing french words

Aug 26-30
Amalfi Coast
Doing a couple hour cooking school but mainly going town to town and wandering.

It gets hazy after the Amalfi Coast but

Aug 30-Sep 5
Cinque Terre, Florence, Venice
i want to go fishing at cinque terre, make jokes about David's genitals and ride a gondala

Sep 5-12
Slovenia
Try and not embarrass my mother drinking homemade wine. Also show off Emma to the family.

Sep 13
London

Then home September 15

I've noticed some comixers are celebrating my birthday appropriately

Otherwise i'm going to try and blog various going ons and checking email

boner

First off, i have to apolgise to Andy Finlayson. We were meant to do something for FunnyBone. I didn't want him to waste his time if the script was too risque. Well i never heard anything back, so i assumed they were so ce la vie

I did two scripts, forgive the formatting.

Operation Tug#2 Page 1 Panel one Standing Outside a hospital room a doctor and parents (mum and dad) are talking. The doctor is facing the father more so than the mother. There's a windown in the door, looking into the patient's room. Mother and father look a tad stressed. Doctor - Since Nathan starts Chemo tomorrow, we need to talk about- Father - Yes Panel 2 The doctor stares at the father, a bit put off that he's been interrupted Panel 3 The doctor now faces the mother Doctor - hmm, this is a difficult topic to broach Mum - what is it? Panel 4 The doctor stares at the mother, a bit more put off that he's been interrupted Panel 5 Doctor - The radiation is going to affect his sperm count and in circumsatnces such as these it's felt advisiable that a sample be taken so if nathan wants children in the future he and his partner will be able to concieve. Mum - Does this mean another operation to take a sample? Panel 6 Doctor - Well there is an operation, but it's highly evasive and expensive. Doctor - There is nature's way. Or Ways, we can have a nurse insert a PAGE 2 Panel 1 This is seen through the window of Nathan's door, from Nathan's POV. He can see his father and the doctor. The doctor is sticking the finger of his right hand into a circle made of his forefinger and thumb of his left hand. Panel 2 The mother is aghast, hand to her mouth. The father is in the panel as well. Doctor - the stimulation produces a sample Mother - Oh dear! Father - No, no, no Panel 3 Doctor - then there is the old fashioned way Doctor - if you like, i can discuss the matter with him Panel 4 Father - no, no Father - should we call Father O'Legan? Panel 5 Mother - I'd like to think that priests know very little about teens and Mother - you know Panel 6 The mother puts her hand to her mouth like she's whispering Mother - mas Mother - tur Mother - bation Page 3 Panel 1 A panel where the doctor and father just stare at the mother, in a bit of disbelief. Panel 2 The doctor and father start laughing and the stupidity of the mother's comment Mother - well Mother - in a perfect world Panel 3 The father takes the specimen jar from the doctor Doctor - well i suggest you don't ask the nurses to help Father - No, this is something I should do Father - Take this in my own hands Father - You know what i mean Panel 4 The father marches into the son's room, very determined. Nathan is about 12 years old, he looks sickish but happy to see his dad. Son - Nathan, son Panel 5 The two shake hands Father - mmm Father - good grip, you'll need that Panel 6 The father passes the specimen jar to his son Father - Do your mother a favour and fill this up. Father - Just don't think about your mother otherwise cancer will be the least of your problems when you grow up.

Forgive the formatting and shit final punchline. i didn't bother with camera shots or angles or any of that shit. Artists are visual people and Andy is smart, capable artist.

I prefer the second version, to a degree

Operation Tug#1 Panel 1 Dad, doctor and mother outside patients room. The dad is entering the room, quite determined. Mother is looking concerned. Dad - No, no, no, this is something a father should speak to his son about. Panel 2 Dad is walking into room, his son is in bed. He's about 12. Dad - Chemo starts tomorrow, how you feeling? Son - i dunno, alright Panel 3 The two handshake Dad - Good firm grip you got there son Dad - You'll need that. Panel 4 The dad is sitting on the bed, the son is sitting up. Dad - Son, tommorow the radiation is going to do something to your body, its going to affect you, well um Dad - Hmm Panel 5 Another view of Panel 4 Dad - Ok, Son, you know how i told you about the birds and the bees, well sometimes you don't need a bee Dad - Bees can do it by themselves. Without a bird. Birds can do it by themself but its a bit more complicated. i think, or is that for bees, i'm never sure which is which, but, hmmmm Panel 6 Another view of panel 4 Dad - Brass tacks son. Your mother wants grandchildren one day and we need a, well a sample. Son - Blood sample? Dad - No, son PAGE 2 Panel 1 Dad - I went to on the internet to look up some info on teens and mastu... Dad - Well let's just say that I had alot of explaining to do to the IT Manager Panel 2 Dad - Have you ever Dad - oh god Dad - pleasured yourself? Son - Like eating biscuits without mum knowing? Panel 3 Dad - Is that what they call it these days? Dad - So you've Dad - you know Panel 4 The dad makes a wanking gesture Panel 5 The son looks confused. Son - Play monopoly? Dad - Yes! Wait, no i'm not shaking dice Panel 6 Dad - Son, we need you to flog the old fellow Son - But i like ganddad Dad - No, you have to spill your seed PAGE 3 Panel 1 The son looks shocked Son - But we're catholic! Dad - Your mother wants grandchildren in the future, so don't worry about God Panel 2 Dad - Do you want me to get Father Michael? Son - I'm not going to do THAT! in front of Father Michael! Panel 3 Dad - No, no, no Dad - Look, here's a little bottle. Son - But, um , but errr Panel 4 Mum is listening through the door, she wants to go inside the room Dad (of panel) - It's ok son, I'll leave the room Panel 4 Back in the room, the father is up Son - But dad, I can't Dad - Its alright, its natural, I'll be back in a minute Panel 5 The mum storms into the room, freaking out the son Mum - For the sake of my happiness, fill this up so i can have grandkids Panel 6 Son - But I just had a wank 20 minutes ago

I like the idea of the jokes in this one; surfing the web for teen masturbation at work, the handshake joke, the final punchline but everything around it is too clumsy. A couple of jokes a duplicated in both but that's because I'm not that clever to think of new jokes.

I should have just stuck with Edward Fingerhands

Catch up with local comics

Apparently James Kemsley, as president of the Australian Cartoonist Association has been invited to the Bucheon Comics fair I spoke about a couple of months ago. I wasn't aware that country's industry presidents get a free ride and i'm sorry if i wasted anyone's time applying to get a sponsored trip to Korea.

---

Edward Grugg's 24 Hour Comics is All Time Top 10 at Webcomics nation. Congraulations Edward!
Other Australias represented are

• Little Timmy The One Legged Peasent Boy And Friends By Edward J Grug III and Lee Hislop
• Morton Stone, UNDERTAKER by Gary Chaloner
• Naomi and Poggie By Alex Major (Where has Alex Major gone to?)
• The Journal Comics of Edward J Grug III By Edward J Grug III
• JACK COLE, A Life in Comics
• Osborn and Reynard By Edward J Grug III
• Reuben And Delilah by guess who
• Snuggles By Edward J Grug III, Colours by Matthew William Boyd Langfield esq
• Those Scurvy Dogs By (-sigh-)Edward J Grug III
• My Nose Smells Like Bleeding By Guy Howlett and Edward J Grug III
• Red KELSO by Gary Chaloner
• The BRONZE Man by Gary Chaloner
  
• Dean Rankine provides a whole bunch
• Theodore Possum In The Year Three Million And Six by Edward J Grug III
• The Jackeroo by Gary Chaloner

---

Otherwise Nate Soehardi is no longer drawing Suburban Knights, which is good as long as he's drawing something

---

Cover of the Funnybone book looks good

Is there a full list of everyone involved?

---

Colin Wells and my entry to Liz's Dreams of Tomorrow held up production because I'm forgetful.

---

I'm sending in samples of Crab Allan, Brick Dog and other Stories and Batrisha to the organisers of South Australian Premier's Reading Challenge

burger and me; phase 2

Crown and Sceptre
Burger and beer
9/10
A seasoned burger, which still had a nice meaty taste, and served on a foccacia style bun which was unusual but good since it wasn't as brittle as normal toasted buns. It was a really nice burger, though I drank it with a stella (part of the deal). The bacon was crispy and the cheese nice and bitey. A decent sized burger, it was not too dry, but not juicy either and it was light on for lettuce and tomato which i prefer. The chips were soggy.

The historian
Burger and beer
9/10
Wasn't part of a deal so i got a schooner of pale. The historian burger was good, 2 winner burgers in three days. This was served on a more traditional bun and about the same size as the crown and Sceptre burger, maybe a bit smaller. This was heavier in salad but the green and red didn't overshadow the cheese. It was a swiss cheese and it was awesome. The meat was pretty plain but nice and moist and it tasted like beef, something a lot of burgers don't do.

The Marakesh
Burger and beer
3/5
A small, tiny pub off rundle mall that i walk past everyday but forget that its there. The staff were really chatty and gave a lot of choices, egg/beetroot/sauce/onion, which is nice but it would have been better if i didn't have to drink tooheys dry to get the burger and beer deal. I went to the Marakesh after a workmate said it was great for burgers. After a short wait, i discovered she was wrong. very wrong. it was masses of shredded lettuce mixed in with litres of bbq sauce, way too much sauce. Enough sauce for 3 burgers. It was messy and very very saucey.
After two weeks and about 9 burgers, burgerfest would have to come to an end.

Movie Movie

This makes me happy


Otherwise what i've watched in the last month or so

Alexander
Hi my name is Anthony Hopkins I'm here to hammer in the subtext, welcome to the bronze age.
It felt like it was 4 hours long and not 2.5. Awful.

Alfie
The most depressing film i have ever seen. I haven't seen the originally but i'm assuming that it had a structure. Awful - however Jude wears nice clothes and Marissa T. is hot. Again Awful.

Assualt on precinct 13
This is apparently a sequel to Training Day, where Ethan Hawke gets to shoot people and cause explosions. Good.

Avengers
I bought the box set and i love Diana Rigg. I wish i looked good in pin stripes. Good to Great. (depending on the episode)

Blade: Trinity
It seems Goyer saw Daredevil and Van Hesling and thought 'yeah, that's a good idea'. Wise cracks are not always wise. Dumb.

Constantine
Never read the comic. The holy shotgun is probably the dumbest thing i've seen but otherwise its enjoyable. Kind of good.

Deadwood
Why didn't anyone tell me how great this is? Its great. However Calamity Jane had a moustache and I'm not sure if the word fuck was around in continental US. (I heard it was used by australian soldiers in WW1 and spread from there).

Heist
An actual thriller with proper twists. Good.

Infernal Affairs
Bit late on the bandwagon but Andy Lau makes good films (whose names i can never rememeber). This is probably one of the best films i've seen this year. Great.

Jaws
Emma, as she does, was desperate to see Jaws and after reserving a copy, she walked around the house going DA ...NA.....Da..Na..Danadanadana DAnanaaa. Then after we watched it she was disappointed "I thought there was more danana!".
Otherwise, probably Spielbergs best. Great.

Jaws 2
The video store said they lost their copy of Jaws 2 but i found it two weeks later in the Bond section. There was enough danana to satisfy Emma. Dumbly OK.

Princess Blade
The fight scenes were pretty decent. It was shot nicely. Otherwise Meh.

Sky Captain and the World of tommorrow
It was alright, it wasn't as fun as i thought it would be. i think it will grow on me with extra viewings. . Entertaining.

Terminal
A film about the belittling effect of Bureaucracy? No. A film about nationality and individuality? No. A film about stationary in a world of movement? No.
Spielberg makes a film where Tom Hanks plays a magic negro character and helps out the people around him. Snore. I got slightly intrigued when the "Greatest day" was brought up when all the jazz greats gathered in Harlem. Jazz, especially bebop, sounds disorganised at times but is highly structured. Getting all those jazz greats in the one spot was a monemental chance (considering how often they toured at the time -WW2 had spread jazz all over the joint and these guys would have been in demand). So you have this contrast of organised and disorganised plus chance. Airports seem disorganised but are in fact highly organised and hanks character is screwed over by chance. So it would have been great for some sort of connection. But no spielberg doesn't do subtext.
Lame.

War of the Worlds
I had no problem with this what so ever. Especially for $5. Good.

Thanks

Every now and again i'll check the mail and there will be a little a5 yellow envelope and it'll bring a smile to my face because i've been visited by the comic fairy.
It'll be a copy of the latest issue of Seven Swords by Scobie, a good little mini that comes out regularly and though the art isn't spectacular it carries the story along nicely.

So thanks Tonia for the little surprises and big generousity

book book

With one week to go, I've finally found my travelling book.
The basis for one of my favourite Tv shows, Homicide: Life on the street


Homicide; A Year on the Killing Streets bu David Simon

600 pages long, 8pt font - its a meaty paperback that will last the distance between long flights and train trips.
And for $6. Bargain!

Now i can concentrate on finding accommadation and stuff

Exhibitions

Featuring David Heinrich and James Fosdike.
David I've meet fleetingly at a Gutters and Panels drinks, to the best of my knowledge he was involved in the Barossa Studios with Glen Lumsden and Dave DeVries, but i'm racking my brain if i've ever seen his work in any local books.
David's Portfolio
I haven't met James but he worked on BrotherBoy and SisterGirl, which was pretty ok for a government funded educational comic
James' portfolio

And its curated by a girl i used to know. Adelaide - small town.

Details
54 Exeter Hotel Hung, Drawn and Sorted
An exhibition of illustration by David Heinrich and James Fosdike at the Exeter Hotel. Artists David Heinrich, James Fosdike A 246 Rundle St, ADELAIDE www.visualante.com.au O Open everyday 11.00am til late

Exeter is a decent pub too.

My comic radar also spied

132 The Rhino Room Urban Love Story
The dust clears and you are surprised looking into strange eyes. Photomedia inspired by manga and graphic novels. Artists Aurelia Carbone A Upstairs, 11 Frome Street, ADELAIDE O 10.00am - 6.00pm Mon-Thurs, 10.00am - 9.00pm Fri, 10.00am - 5.00pm Sat, 12.00pm - 5.00pm Sun. EO 6.30pm Aug 4 This venue has toilets

I'm sure there are more comic related exhibitions at www.salafestival.com and if not I'll be sad.

Still tossing up if i'll organise a exhibition for Australian Comic Book Week.

Abbie Cornish vs Batman

In Australia, local film Sommersault made 2.1 million dollars. At $17 a ticket, it can be assumed about 125,000 people saw it.

In America, a top 5 selling comic sells about 130,000 copies to comic shop retailers.

It puts something into perspective, I'm not sure what, but it seems interesting.

Belated birthday

Happy Birthday D.
hope you are home soon

Bing

the best example of a "comics aren't for kids, well except for the ones the can't read" article

Article Inventory
bam, pow, biff - Check
reference to comic movies - Check
Manga - Check (extra points because of the use of quotes)

unfortunately there is no mention to Maus - Art Speigleman weeps

otherwise, its a great initiative; in South Australia there are 600 schools, each with their own library, plus another 50 council based libraries. That's a pretty good market to hit.

Funnybone site up now

http://www.funnybone.org.au/

A good looking site, a small group of contributors listed so far but a solid bunch of sponsors are involved.

I do suspect that my submission involving cancer suffers and masturbation was rejected.

It looks exciting.

New Australian Comic Publisher

Where did this come from?

http://www.gestaltcomics.com

It has government funding and some big creators involved Shane McCarthy and Ashley Wood- looks good.

Any information on who and what would be cool

Excelsior in the Upper House!

All political articles should be like this
that way I'd pay more attention to politics

Of course following this logic; John Howard, man frozen in time, would be Captain America.
Mark Latham would be Wolverine, a loner and an outcast with a temper. Peter Costello is either Doctor Doom or Nightcrawler (mainly because of the teeth and the smell he leaves behind - oh and the spawn of satan thing). Amanda Vanstone, commandering detention centres is Emma Frost; leader of the Hellfire club (thankfully without the camel toe). Ferrari driving John Hewison who lacked ticker is Iron Man. Bomber Beasely is Nick Fury. Ruddock is Spiderman, because with great power comes great resposibility (which should be spread about as thinly as possible in times of crisis). Brendan Nelson would be the Punisher and MAKE THEM PAY.

Now i have to try and figure out who Downer would be-