Christmas message

The "N" word.

We finally caught up on watching all the Battlestar Galactica shows. I think. The last one we watched was when they finally found earth.



I've recently been given the complete series of Buffy and Angel. While I find the pouty acting in Buffy a little too much to rewatch, I am enjoying Angel.
I missed a whole bunch of episodes when it was first aired, so I'm slowly making my way through them. I'm towards the end of the 2nd season.

Im currently quite interested in the creative possibilities presented in the current technologies in iPhones and other smart phones. I'm trying to get involved in some apps/games development.

To get my mind thinking about games development, I've fired up my PC version of Forgotten Realms: Icewind Dale 1. I spent last friday, saturday and sunday night playing it.

Speaking of fantasy, I've been working on an illustration that features an elf, a dwarf, a spellcaster and a human warrior surrounded by what lookes like either undead or skinny orcs. Maybe they're undead orcs?

For Xmas I've asked for a camping guide book and a php water tester kit for my tropical fish aquarium.



I haven't bought or read any comics for almost a year now.

GET YOUR JAZZ ON!

I've been inspired lately to dig back into jazz music- with special focus on early swinging jazz (1920-30's).
I guess this has been spurred on by my re-interest in swing dancing and dj-ing. After an absence of about 2 years my current practise of (semi) dance practise and social dancing is starting to feel good. I'm liking the excerise.
The dj-ing is fun too as it lets me get music-nerded on. So far I've been playing at a pretty cool bar in Collingwood for swing dancers and I also did a speciel guest spot the other week on Hobart ABC radio. Got a set coming up at the Melbourne Lindy Exchange, which is meant to be one of the more exlusive dj-ing gigs in the country.

For inspiration I've been re-watching the AWESOME Ken Burns History of Jazz.
I've also been digging into my cd collection and discovering some great tracks that somehow I overlooked the first time.
CD buying (esp over the internet) isn't great at the moment due to the poor currency exchange, but I've been picking up a few cd's of late at local record stores. Good thing about olde jazz, is it's quite often very cheap!
I picked up just yesterday these:


All of which have been very cool on a first listening. Lots of hot and wild stuff!

If you haven't heard on the grapevine already....

... I got engaged the other week!


Bent the knee. Made an honest man of myself and honest woman of her. Off the market.
Etc, etc.

Sydney art

Amongst all the excitement and activity forgot to write the details as promised the other week.

It is with great excitement that I invite you to view (with the option of PURCHASING) some of my artwork in my old home town of Sydney!



These limited-edition digital prints (on 100% archival cotton canvas) consist of the same collection of works from the Jukebox Jam exhibit a few months ago in Melbourne- but with a few NEW additions!

WHERE CAN I TAKE A GANDER, I hear you ask?

Well, ARTLOVERS, get yourselves down to 62 Oxford St, Darlinghurst! The venue is IKU WHOLEFOODS!




I was up in Sydney the other week installing and having a look at the place. It's a great venue and excellent location- smack bang in the always happening Oxford Street strip!



Iku Wholefoods is a small chain of funky healthy takeaway stores and they've recently opened up a large store in Oxford St. (I believe a smaller version has been there for sometime). Wanting to add a bit more interest to the great space, they now are the proud exhibitors of some of my work!


(Pictured is the manager Andrew and my good buddy Steve who gave up an evening to help me hang.)

So get along and treat yourself to some great tasting food that your body will LOVE and while you're there- check out THE ART!

I'm heading up to Sydney next week!
Got some business to attend to, but it'll mean good news for Sydney-siders who didn't make it down to Melbourne for my exhibition the other month.

All I can say at the moment is Me, My art, Oxford Street, Available for viewing/purchase. More info SOON!

One for the comic readers..

.... so you "normies" are excused for now.

I borrowed Frank Cho's Liberty Meadows from the library yesterday, not having read anything of his before. I've seen bits and pieces of his lavish artwork around and have heard people rave about him.

But I think it's SHIT!!
His beautiful artwork couldn't save his book from being thrown to the other side of the room in disgust!

Discuss. .. (If you care)

Nicks 24th Mega Mix

It was my younger brothers 24th birthday a week ago.
While he is young and relatively tech-savvy, he still uses cd's for his personal music listening enjoyment. So I made him a mix tape. It's full of songs that I think he might like or ones that I think might interest him. A range of obvious songs that everyone should own and a few slightly obscure ones.

In the interest of SHARING THE LOVE, I've made my mix available for download for a limited time, COMPLETE with album ARTWORK!

Part 1 HERE!

Part 2 HERE!

The iRiver shuffle

Because Miss Mardi The Curatrix asked me to. And when she says jump- I jump!

You know the deal. Set your music player to shuffle, and the songs that pop up are the ANSWER to the following questions.
No skipping until a cool song comes up, this is what I got:

1. What does next year have in store for me? Purest Love by Blackalicious

2. What’s my love life like? Special Cases by Massive Attack

3. What do I say when life gets hard? Underneath it All by Money Mark

4. What do I think of on waking up? Cold, Cold Heart by Dinah Washington

5. What song will I dance to at my wedding? How About You? by Oscar Peterson

6. What do I want as a career? Horse Pills by The Dandy Warhols

7. My favorite saying? King for a Day by Faith No More

8. Favorite place? 1979 by The Smashing Pumpkins

9. What do I think of my parents? Sista Rebecca by Jimmy Smith

10. What’s my porn star name? Big Spender by Peggy Lee

11. Where would I go on a first date? Diga, Diga Doo by Artie Shaw

12. Drug of choice? I'm Sitting on Top of the World by Bobby Darin

13. Describe myself: Surrender by Elvis Presley

14. What is the thing I like doing most? Evidence by Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers

15. What is my state of mind like at the moment? Tangled up in Plaid by Queens of the Stone Age

16. How will I die? Chinatown, My Chinatown by Slim and Slam

Now it's YOUR turn!

In other news I'm a bit bummed out as I've been locked out of my Flickr account! I can't remember my yahoo email details as I only used it to get onto Flickr. I can't remember the password, if I used a real D.O.B when I registered or even what country and postcode I used when I signed up. (Was I in Hobart OR London??) All the information I need to log in. I was going to upgrade to a Pro account too.

In todays modern internet world there's TOO many passwords etc to try and keep track of. Between my normal hotmail address, the internet provider account, my pro-website account, the gmail email for Blogger, the LJ, the MySpace, the Facebook, the Flickr, the LinkedIn, the internet banking, the Frequent Flyers account, the Red Bubble and the numerous discussion boards account details..... HOW am I meant to keep track of it all???!!!!

Sometimes I yearn for a simpler time!

Vacation in The Tropics

Just got back early this week from about 2 weeks away in Tonga and Fiji (with diversions to Auckland and Sydney).
The agenda was to go sailing with the Fraser Clan (Mum, Dad, my 3 brothers, Ainslie and I) around the island group of Vava'u for a week in the north of Tonga. Then, as we had to fly through it to get back, spend some time in Fiji where we ditched the parents at a 4.5 star resort while the Ains, the brothers and I slummed it at a backpackers style island.

Flying out of Melbourne in the morning we had to spend a night in Auckland to catch our connecting flight early the next day for Tonga. We also rendezvoused with the Sydney-based family at the airport.

Auckland Highlights-
-Having dinner with Ainslie's uncle and aunt.
-Good selection of duty free alcohol.

Auckland Lowlights-
-Not buying the hard to find alcohol at duty-free, expecting to find it at other duty free locations but not.
-Having to get up at 5am to check in for a 9am flight.
-Being stuck on the runway for 3 hours waiting for the fog to clear.
-Auckland. (Just joking! OR AM I??!!)

(The plane we were on for around 7hrs.)

Landing in Tongatapu (Tonga's capital) we made a dash through customs as we were running 20 mins late for our connecting flight. We had no idea if the other airline knew that we were held up in Auckland, and if they'd wait for 7 passengers,
A slight hold up at immigration where we all went through leaving mum behind without her passport. (Confusion at check-in and immigration points would be a running theme as, for some reason, the rest of the family let Dad be in charge of their passports etc. This lead to people actually loosing their passports, and at one stage Dad actually loosing his folder with all the passports, tickets etc behind. Ainslie and I choose to keep our passports with us.)
Then another hold up at customs where dad had to pay a bribe to get his vacum-packed meat through, even though it was all certified.

Luckily the local airlines run on local time and there for were not in any rush so we were able to make our next flight even though we arrived 30 mins after it was scheduled to depart. I quite enjoyed this flight as the excitement of the upcoming trip began to set in. There was plenty of leg room on the small plane with coral atolls and volcanic islands visible from our window and our first experience of Tonga and it's people was pretty cool and very relaxed.

Landing at the small shed that was the airport in Neifu (main city for the Vava'u island group), we were met by a taxi driver named Mathew Tonga who drove us to our boat moorings. Mathew Tonga had a knack of popping up in the most unlikely times throughout the next week when he was most needed! He also took my two younger brothers on a personal tour around the island.

After a period of skipper meetings, unpacking and organising the galley (that's maritime speak for the kitchen), buying of supplies and sorting of snorkel gear we raised anchor and set off for the next 7 nights at a large range of different anchorages amongst the coral reefs, palm-fringed beaches and turquoise lagoons.

Activities included snorkelling at some great coral reefs. The waters in this area quickly drop deep and combined with the exceptional water visability made for some dramatic underwater scenery. While the coral looked healthy and in abundance, the range and vibrancy of colour wasn't spectacular but the variety of fish, cuttlefish, rays and sea-snakes made up for it.

There were a few exciting spots, like Swallows Cave accessible only by water, and with the light streaming in through the gap made for dramatic lighting. After checking it out in the dinghy we later snorkelled through it.



Another interesting spot was the secret Mariner's Cave. The entrance is hidden a couple of metres below the water surface and it takes a bit of an effort to dive deep enough and then to swim through the dark 4 metre long tunnel. After 1 scary botched effort I got through. Inside the cave you experience a strange atmospheric phenomenon, where the incoming swell compresses the trapped air causing the water to condense into a heavy mist. As soon as another wave enters, the fog instantly vanishes. The air pressure in your ears are affected as well. The light streaming under the tunnel makes it atmospheric too.
We took a disposable underwater camera with us so it'll be interesting to see how the shots turned out.

Besides the diving we went whale watching. Tonga is one of the only places in the world where you're legally allowed to SWIM with the whales. We'd planned this trip specifically for this time of year due to being told it was a good time for the friendly humpback whale mothers and their curious calves. However it turned out we were about a week too early. Even though we saw plenty of them, and many full surface breaches, they weren't letting us get close enough to swim with them. They were the younger whales or males who don't tend to stick around the boats as much. The mothers and calves were still on their way to the islands. Disappointing, but probably worth the experience to see a 4 tonne animal flip itself completely out of the water and come crashing down again in a volcano-like explosion of water.

We also spent some time visiting a village where a lovely couple showed us around and introduced us to the whole village. Generally speaking compared to the gushing friendliness and hospitality of the Fijians the Tongans are slightly reserved but once warmed up are extremely friendly laid back people. Needless to say we spent some time eating and drinking in the traditional way.

Kava, which is drunk throughout the South Pacific is a brown, dirty dishwater looking drink. While it's neither alcoholic nor narcotic it has a very nice effect. I drank it in both Tonga and Fiji and I would liken it to drinking coffee- except the effect is the opposite. Instead of getting a buzz, it gives you a calm relaxation.


The local brewed beer, Ikale, was pretty good too! (I didn't order that fruity looking cocktail. I was just having a sip. HONEST!)
Travelling Tip: The good thing about drinking the local beer is not only will you not find it back home, but often it's better then the imported stuff and half the price!

Tongan Highlights:
-Swimming/snorkeling in warm, stunningly clear waters with some dramatic underwater landscape.
-Hanging out with my family who I haven't seen since Xmas and haven't spent more then a few days with altogether in the last 8 years. I was initially worried about spending a week ON A BOAT with them, but it all turned out well.
- Sailing/ cruising through the islands with such an experienced yachtsman as my Dad. The best way to travel and see that part of the world.

Tongan Lowlights:
- Really stretching it here, but the weather wasn't 100%. It was quite windy at times and the occasional dark cloud.
- Not swimming with whales.
- Some of the restaurants in the towns were pretty average.
- 1 instance of running out of petrol in the dinghy at night when the wind picked up and was quickly pushing us out to sea. We were laughing about it at the time, but then Dad said we could either yell for help now when people could hear us or wait until it got serious and then we'd be too far out from people. (Not really a lowlight as it makes for a good anecdote).

From Tonga we flew into Nadi, Fiji where we grabbed a boat ride out to the Mamanuca Island group. We dropped mum and Dad off at their fancy resort and we went to our backpacker/budget place.

(A local village dog was as friendly and hospitable as the (human) locals.)

There we drank, ate (they had a great chef in residence), swam, snorkeled, relaxed, partied, played volleyball and hung out with the other guests and locals. We had a few quiet nights and a few nights where they felt the FULL FORCE of Los Frase Bros. Hearts were broken. Dance-offs were fought and won. Bar tops were stood on and rafters were swung from. Much shit was spoken.

(Drinking games. Young Nick is sloshed!)

One afternoon we went for a walk along the tidal beaches with our cameras where we were checking out and taking photos of all the weird cool shit.

I was enjoying playing with the macro setting on my little Canon IXUS 70.
Hermit crabs became my muse as they were easily herded and cute!

(These strange aquatic crustacean/arachnid hybrids with their waving spiked tentacles were abundant in the shallows. )

See more photos of weird shit (and holiday snaps) at my Flickr site.
Naturally pro-photographer Ainslie got WAY better shots of just about everything then I did. However we're both inspired to get out more taking wildlife photography. I might even look at getting a D-SLR.

Fijian Highlights:
- The Fijians and doing things on Fiji-time.
- Fiji Bitter.
- Pimms on our porch
- The great food
- Spending time hanging out, goofing off and getting drunk with my brothers
-Meeting some nice people from all over the world. (mostly Canadians and Poms)
- Weird cool shit in the water

Fijian Lowlights:
- Snorkelling with a hangover.
-Shitty hotel we stayed in at Nadi on the last night as we had an early flight the next morning.
- Too many tourists
-Heavily populated snorkel spots complete with jet skis.


From Nadi we flew to Sydney were we TOOK the old shit-box Batmobile and drove to Melbourne the next day. Doing the trip in one day, it wasn't too bad. I do like a good road trip! It gave Ainslie and I plenty of time to debrief and plan our next trips!

Sydney Highlights:
-Scoring a car
- Collecting lots of old books and photo albums from storage
- Meeting the new family dog
- Catching up and going to a nice restaurant with new Sydney-siders Dave & Sam.
-Roadtrip

Sydney Lowlights:
-Coming back to winter
- Not hanging around in Sydney long enough to catch up with people.
-Having the holiday end.

Making every minute count

Here is an article from SMH about 2 very good and old friends of mine and their life caring for a disabled child whose death is inevitable.

Their sad yet fulfilling story is well worth a read.

And for a bit of fun I've dug up a photo of me as one of their grooms men from 1994 ( I think). We were all of 21 yrs old.


(I'm the one on the far right).

Five-o busts ain't no thing.

I just came home from having lunch with a friend and as I was riding up to our driveway I saw a police van out the front with a uniformed cop standing there. I was about to ask what was up (even though I knew what they were doing) when he told me to step to the side.
Then a plain clothes cop walked our next door neighbour up the drive and into the panel van.
I was caught in between wanting to rubberneck and just leaving them all to do what they needed to do.
Our new neighbours are pretty rough. They look like old jailbirds. I have no problems with them aside from having to smell their stinky chain-smoking odor. They've been straight up with me and I've had a few chats with them and even helped them hook up their (stolen?) Playstation.
However the other (young ladies) neighbours don't like them much at all.

I've been watching a lot of The Wire in the last week and while I ain't no player and not in the game- Five-O rousts don't faze me much.
Speaking of The Wire, all the slums, projects and public housing developments remind me a lot of various places I lived in back in London (but with more flashier cars).
Do you remember when the London Police were using our flat as a stakeout? And that was when I lived in a half-decent neighbourhood.

Trying to stay positive.

I came across the Dear Catastrophe Waitress album by Belle and Sebastian today in my studio and thought I'd give it a bash.

WHO KNOWS..... I might have LIKED it and done another reverse.

How embarrassing I thought...as the first 30 seconds sounded pretty cool. But then it went down hill fast.

I could only get through the first 3 tracks until I really couldn't listen to it any more.

BUT... to balance out the negativity, here are some things I'm LIKING:

Music:
Yesterday I bought the new Raconteurs/Saboteurs album, Consolers of the Lonely and I'm liking it. On a couple of listen through I don't think I like as much as the first (i really enjoyed that), but it's still very good!
I also bought "The Curse of Lightning" by Melbourne band Wagons, which I'm digging too! (There's a track on it that'll be making an appearance in my exhibition.
I've also been getting into The Lucksmiths a bit.

Comics:
Devoured Blankets by Craig Thompson. A great read that crawled into my head and stuck around for a few days. I haven't read his stuff before and I can't remember- is Goodbye, Chunky Rice meant to be better then Blankets? Is it similar stuff?

Also read the first Sleeper by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips which was fun. Will go and get the other volumns.
Speaking of Ed Brubaker... I re-read a bunch of 100 Bullets and by being able to take a few steps back from the monthly read started to piece together what is going on in the over all story-arch. I feel like an obtuse dumb-arse.

Meow, Baby! by Jason was a fun romp. As was the re-read of pre-insanity Frank Miller's Batman: Year 1. Good to see that still holds up.

TV:

Bought season 3 part 2 of Entourage. Once you get into it this series is soooo easy to watch. I was only going to watch 1 ep today, but I think I ended up getting through 3. It's pacey, high energy format makes it addictive watching. Have to get tough and ration my viewing as I could easily get through it in another day or 2.

Season 3 of Battlestar is starting to get interesting too. About 3 eps behind the current USA release. For a series that has many lame-arse and bumpy episodes, when it gets good... IT'S GREAT!

EATING my hat.

Long time readers would remember when a few months ago I made some sort of peace with my long term WAR against Radiohead.

And even LONGER readers might recall when I made a LIST of bands that even though I SHOULD, I didn't like.

Just to show that an old, grumpy spotty dog can infact change it's spots and ALSO learn new tricks, I'd like to amend that list.

Ella Fitzgerald is OK. In fact I'm not sure WHY I had her on that list in the first place. I've always liked her. I don't LOVE her like many people do, but some of her work I REALLY dig, while others leave me a bit cold.

The thing with all these old jazz-type artists is their HUGE body of work, so it maybe hard to get a good grasp of what they're like by only 1 album. It maybe that 1 album you stumbled across was a weak point in their otherwise good recording career. OR it's that 1 album that you really like compared to the rest of their body of work.
An example of this might be Miles Davis. His "Kind of Blue" album would be in my all time top 5 albums, but I don't really like much of his other work.

So in light of this I'm taking Fletcher Henderson of the list. I'm more and more liking his stuff.
Same with Sidney Bechet.

The Bloc Party have grown on me too. Even though I've had their (first?) album for a few ears now, there random appearance on my shuffle has ground me down into quite enjoying them.

Where as my enjoyment of The Arctic Monkeys was more sudden. They were on the cusp of stardom when I first arrived in London, and I remember the NME and various people "in the know" were billing them as the next GREAT thing but for some reason I dismissed them. But, I think it was a few months ago, I listened to them while I was jogging with headphones on. It's amazing what the difference the context of experience can effect your perception .
So Arctic Monkeys are off the list.
Thats not too say I'm a huge fan of either them or Bloc Party. But they don't deserve to be on the list. If a band came along with the interesting song writing of Bloc Party coupled with the gutsy rock stylings of Arctic Monkeys- then we'd have a fucking good band!

But thats about as far as I'm prepared to go for now.


THEY have to meet me half way.

My apologises for that last post...

.... I think we can all agree I didn't know WHAT I was thinking!

HOWEVER..... that exhibition has left me wanting an old-skool console game.

I've found some nice looking Super Nintendos, NES Nintendo and some Sega Master Systems on eBay that I'm very tempted about!!

Sat 19th April

Can you BELIEVE that April is ALMOST over??!!
Anyways... I made it home safely.... Don't worry Lyndall, I Bi-cycled home safely!!
To quote Egg-chan.. "It wasn't easy!"


I traversed the bright city lights and rode along Swanston St. PREVIOUSLY we went to check out the computer game exhibition in the city..... and then the BAR crawl....I followed some hippy chick who looked sober enough to navigate the crazy city streets but I had my come back if she decided to "diss" me on my "swervy" riding style.
ATLEAST I HAD MY LIGHTS ON, HIPPY CHICK! (Which she did not and I did).



There was a black hole in my trip where I can't actually remember which way I went but I DO recall passing a fellow bi-cycle rider and I was about to converse with him but he took an abrupt left-hand turn.

But thats OK, course by THAT stage I'd sobered up enough to ENJOY my ride (NOT sober enough to ride home SAFELY or LEGALLY ) but singing the QUEEN Flash Gordon soundtrack out loud certainly helped me get home!!!

I had to drop in to the BP petrol ST to get some Pringles for DINNER where I did CONVERSE with a smacky looking dude also on a bike. We exchanged glances and then shouted out "RIDE SAFE, BROTHER!"
Which, from memory, he gleefully accepted!
And then... and this is the BEST part... I rode round the corner (just moments from home).. and came across another female rider... with a GLEEFUL smile on her face!!!
I was about to greet her with a "RIDE SAFE, SISTER!" when I realised
SHE was MY Ains!!! Come out to meet me on the streets!!



YES!!!!!



How COOL was THAT??!!

Mices

After coming back from Hobart at Easter we were SHOCKED to discover that we had some unwanted MICE squatters in our pad.
We weren't sure how many there were at first, as we only saw one running around our kitchen floor and leaving it's little evidence everywhere.
This was worrying enough, but then I discovered that it'd chewed through the plastic bag of my bread and ate a little bit if about half of the slices. Not only that but it'd also chewed through the metallic foil wrapper of Ains easter egg and had a go at that too!

THESE RODENTS HAD TO BE DESTROYED!

So we bought one of those no-mess traps where the mouse crawls into a trap and it all seals up so you don't have to deal with the blood etc.


But that didn't appear to work so we then escalated the level of hostilities and bought 2 old-skool traps. Baited them with smelly cheese AND smeared them in peanut-butter THEN sticky-taped it so the mouse would have to really work at it.
About midnite we were listening from the bedroom to a mouse trying to have a go. It took about 5 minutes before we heard the SMACK of the trap.

We crept to the kitchen expecting to see a bloodbath or maybe a headless mouse running around the room. But it was a nice clean hit. The bar went right through the mouses neck- behind it's skull. Probally killing it instantly.
I wrapped it all up in newspaper then in a plastic bag and then through it all in the bin.

Humans 1. Rodents 0.

VICTORY!

Or so we thought.....



.... I've gotten bored with this story so I'm going to end it here. The short version is we got one more in the no-mess trap, but because we couldn't SEE inside we weren't sure there was a mouse in there. Until it started to SMELL.
I caught the baby one in a box and released it into the park a few blocks away, next to a cheese factory.


Yes I am a pussy.


THE END.

Making with the funny!

Normally I'm not that good at impressions but about every decade I can channel the spirit of someone and do, from what people tell me, a really good impersonation.

Last decade it was Garth from Waynes World.

This decade it's Gordon Ramsey.

The Frase party Mega mix-master-tape!!

Take your ears on a 1-stop pleasure ride!!!

HERE!

Scotland: The Promised Land

There's a Glaswegian singer being interviewed on the radio right now and I am in love her voice. Not her singing voice but her accent. It's not one of those heavy Scottish accents where you KNOW they're speaking the same language but still you have NO IDEA what they're saying. It's a lovely lilting accent.
It's bringing back memories of my short time in Scotland. When I left Australia in mid 2005 I travelled through America and ended up in London. Even though I had plenty of friends and a very cute lady-friend in London, I was never intending to stay there as I really had my heart on living in a smaller city. I had a job lined up in Glasgow and spent about 2 weeks there and Edinburgh. LOVED IT!
I still remember the first Scottish bartender who served me - I had NO IDEA what he was saying but it sounded awesome! And then there was the cute girl in the bottle shop (Maybe she wasn't THAT cute in hindsight but her accent was awesome) who got me pissed while taste-testing whiskies! In the short time I was there I also made friends with a few local jazz players. Good lads who I saw play in Glasgow and then we hooked up a few days later in Edinburgh. We were watching a Charlie Parker tribute night at a jazz bar in the cellar of a Chinese Restaurant and we went upstairs and had some food in between the sets. It's also the first time I had Chinese beer. I also made friends with a guy in Hungry Jacks one night. He was from Africa (can't remember where abouts specifically) and had been in Edinburgh for a few years. We were talking about what the city was like to live in and the weather compared to where we both came from. The subject got onto music and it turned out he was something of an accomplished jungle DJ. And the best thing was his name was "Tiger".
Anyways I returned back to London with the intention of moving back up there in a month or so when the contract started. But due to some tragic events beyond my control and my own fuck-ups the Glasgow gig fell through.
Despite my best efforts for the last 3 years I have not set foot back in the land of my ancestors. The weather maybe shit up there, but fuck- it'd be worth it to be surrounded by people talking with that accent!

Happy Hallmark Day

Something I've relented to after years and years of bad Valintine's Day is to stop with the moral objections and just go with it. It ends up being much more enjoyable.

So I'm off to the shops to collect the ingredients for a 2 course fresh seafood culinary delight and suitable alcoholic beverages. I might even have a look at the chocolates. Which should be interesting as I don't eat the stuff myself so don't really know what to look for.

So it's my 33rd birthday next week.
It's that milestone age for great people to die.
Even though I think I'm pretty GREAT, I'm not really worried about meeting a fatal ending sometime this year. But lets see how it pans out.

Now I've been thinking about what presents I'd like. I know that some of you readers unfortunatly don't get to see me often- or at all these days due to the tyranny of distance. Hell- some of you guys reading this have NEVER even met me. But thats OK. I'll still graciously accept your birthday gifts. And what a GREAT way to integrate yourselves into my life!
So this is what I want (I've selected dvd's for ease):

Battlestar Gallactica season 3
Entourage Season 3
Six Feet Under Season 5
Walking With Cavemen
BBC Planet Earth
Austin Stevins: Snakemaster

Thats all I can think of at the moment- but surprises are always nice as well!

GAH! More comics talk!

I bought my first comic of the year yesterday.


Scud used to be one of my favourite comics and creator Rob Schrab was a strong influence on my own comic style.
However the series ended abrubtly a few years ago. This new series picks up where it left off and concludes the story in 4 issues. Haven't gotten around to reading it yet.

Also in the dreaded comic store I was pretty tempted to buy the new Groo The Wanderer series- but they didn't have the first issue (of 4). I think I'll wait for the trade.

I REALLY dig Sergio Aregones. Before he made it as a cartoonist he was a singing waiter in a NY resturant. FACT!

Project 02-2008

My next project of 2008 is to try and sell a bunch of comics I don't really want anymore. Good stuff from around 2000-2005.

To that end I've JUST signed up to eBay.
I've never used it buy or sell before so I don't really know how it works.
What I was intending to do was either scan or take photo's of the books and sell them in the series (e.g Green Arrow #1-10 for $20).

Has anyone had any luck selling comics/books on eBay before?
Just WHAT do I need to know??!!

And when it's all up I'll OF COURSE let you guys know where and when so you can get in on the BARGAINS!

Radiohead

I have not liked Radiohead for YEARS!!

However, just to lighten the old-man angst that seems to be a constant theme around here, I have VERY recently begun to ENJOY 2 of their songs.

They are "The Bends" and "Fake Plastic Trees" from the album "The Bends".
I added them to a playlist by random and it's not too bad. Dose not ROCK MY WORLD or anything- but I think thats the point of Radiohead. Pasty whiney Poms don't rock.

Who knows- I MIGHT give the whole album another try!

The following people can kiss my arse:

"Dr" Gillian McKeith.
Ikea.
Cormac McCarthy.


To be cont'd.

Project 01-2008

Today I had to euthanise one of our little fishies as it was taking a long time to die and the other fish were eating it. While it was STILL ALIVE!!!!

But thats OK... because I'm BUILDING a fish EUTOPIA where death and disease and cannibalism do not- nay, CANNOT exist!