The Brigadier Frase

Drenched up from the archival files of that collection of rogues, scoundrels, egomaniacs and raconteurs from The Home for Wayward Children, est. 1907. Courtesy of The Baron Jones XIVth

2am

Last night at about 2am I was awoken by Ainslie making retching noises from the bathroom.
When I got up and asked what was wrong she said she thought she swallowed a bug in her sleep.
Then she pointed to a spider that was on the wall near the toilet.
Ainslie has a pretty big fear of spiders so she was freaking out that she might have swallowed one.
Growing up in the bushy 'burbs of Sydney I've had plenty of VERY close encounters with our 8 legged friends. In the summer we'd have to walk around the pool to make sure there weren't any funnel webs (the worlds most deadliest spider- in case you didn't know) hanging on the bottom. It was common practise to bang your shoes well before putting them on if they were left outside.
I've had to deal with a very large and upset spider (I think it was a mouse spider) on the inside of the windscreen. While driving. Through the CBD of Sydney.
I've woken up with a Huntsman Spider-a pretty peaceful but LARGE and HAIRY spider- on my bare chest.
So while I'm not particularly COMFORTABLE with spiders I'm not unreasonable dealing with them. The big & dangerous ones I don't like around- but I try and relocate them rather then squash them.
But anyways... getting back to last night- that was the third spider of that kind we've found in our house in the last 2 weeks . I wasn't sure what kind it was. Small & black. Quite fast but not aggressive. So I caught it in a jar and released it outside then spent about half an hour trying to convince Ains that it wasn't a spider she swallowed.
Anyways, I just did a web search and found out they were WHITE-TAILS.
There's a lot of stories and urban myths about these guys and I don't think I've ever really seen one before. And now it looks like we have a few. Or it's the same one who keeps on coming back in.
Like I said before- I don't belief in killing spiders- but these guys can be pretty nasty. Symptoms range from no reaction at all large scale necrotic lesions (if you happen to be allergic to them).
Not sure what to do about it- but I will keep you INFORMED!

Nerdegeddon

I went to the Nerdegeddon Pop Culture convention last weekend here in Melbourne. It was OK. I don't really want to talk about the con itself, but rather about the swag I got.
I should remind people that I'm not really buying comics anymore. Instead I like to borrow them from the library or from other peoples collections. I'm rarely moved enough by them anymore to part with my cash (I'm so Scottish in my old age!). Except for the odd local produce!
So this is what I got:

CHARACTER SKETCHES- Gestalt Publishing.
At a hefty $16, it is quite a lavishly printed and designed book. However like just about every anthology every created the contents are hit and miss. Lovely cover by Ashley Wood.... I mean Ben Templesmith... err.. I mean Justin Randall. The highlight story I've gotto say is by Christian Read and Chris-Bret-Burns-Bones which tells of Christians experience in a children's burns ward.

WITCH KING- Autobiography of a Dark Lord- Phosphorescent Comics.
I've been wanting to get this graphic novel for awhile but I've been out of the country since it was published. Written by Christian Read and art by Paul Abtruse- both these guys are friends with whom I rallied with in the Australian comic trenches way back when. Christian offered me The Witch King as an option to illustrate back in it's -and Phosphorescent's- infancy (for those keeping score I chose The Watch instead). I think I was Paul's very first publisher as I printed a pin up of Dollboy back in issue 3. (Paul came across the original art recently and gave it too me on the weekend).
Anyways this book took years in production before it finally saw the light of printed day and I actually really enjoyed it! I was surprised at how much I did enjoy it! Although Pauls art made it quite hard to follow the story in some places I was captivated by Christians story. I was reading it way past bedtime! My big secret is that I sometimes ...er... enjoy fantasy fiction- so Christians world building and retelling of the rise of the bad-guy was a kick! The ending came as a tad anti-climatic and while a sequel is possible, I guess that part of the story isn't the important bit. It's the HOWs and WHY's that was the focus.

KNIGHT EDGE # 4- Gary Lau
Even though this is only issue 4, Knight Edge has been a mainstay in Australian comics. It's about Ninja'a and romance etc. A very nice hybrid of Manga and western style comics- which fits Gary very well! I think the more titles Gary does the better the book will get. Very nice production values and a nifty shiny cover. PLUS a selection of pin-ups in the back the best of which is by Dean Rankine which MUST be seen to be believed!

Got a bunch of Holgate's books as well.

SURE SHOT Presents CHECKMATE WORDSWORTH/SPAGHETTI WESTERN- SureShot comics.
I really dig Mark Selans SureShot Presents series that aims to publish some of Australia's best cartoonists in little A5 mini's! Although I don't mind the lo-fi-ness of the publication I can't help but feel that colour covers would help the success tenfold. This flip-book features 2 of Holgates own stories that he's done in past 24 Hour contests and shows just why he's as good as everyone says he is. Both are very character driven stories and are very charming in the artwork. I've yelled at HOLGATE many times in the past for not rubbing out his pencil lines- but in Checkmate Wordswoth he's practically SLAPPED me in the face with his lovely artwork SANS-inks! Looking forward to MORE Wordsworth- a true international adventure hero!

THE AMAZING JOY BUZZARDS #5- Image Comics
I was beginning to really enjoy this title until the story kinda lost it steam a little bit around issue 3. Was really looking forward to this issue as it was exciting to see one of my best mates guest drawing one of the more exciting titles around. What SHOULD'VE been a mind bending comic that SHOULD'VE rocked the industry to it's knee's ended up being very low key. Don't really know what happened there and it's a real shame because Doug's art here is at it's BEST! Pity the story let him down as it was quite cliched and forgettable. How come people are dropping the ball when it comes to exciting Mexican wrestling stories?! ACE cover! Did I mention that?

PREHISTORIC AUSTRALIA- Random House
This is the first in a bunch of books focusing on "Amazing Australian" things. Written by Kevin Patrick and illustrated and designed by Holgie. This turned out very nice and the guys should be well pleased! A great present for any youngsters! Kevin's enthusiastic personality infects this book with his zest of cool and exciting facts and information. Lots of dinosaur drawings that hark back to our formal training as Plant and Wildlife illustrators. Good to see that Doug hasn't forgotten any of the old tricks!


And thats all I got.

Just between you and me (and don't tell anyone else) it's got me very keen to get back to doing my own comics again. I've got a few things in the works and my current paid work is a comic so WHO KNOWS what'll happen at the next Nerdcon?!

Flamin' Myer

At the risk of incriminating myself, I was in the Hobart Myers last saturday and left disgruntled as they didn't have what I was looking for. I was also reminded how daggy and outdated the store was. It hasn't been re-decorated since the 70's.

An hour later it was evacuated and not long after the whole building burnt to the ground.

From Ains' mums house in West Hobart we had a good view of the spectacle as we partied on to celebrate Ains's birthday.

At about 6pm:


Then, about 30 mins later it started to fireball:


Luckily no one was hurt. However the heritage listed exterior of the building was totally destroyed. The nearby small stores would've been affected by the fire from smoke damage, ash and water damage from the firehoses.
The cities only comic shop is situated right next to Myers (it shares a wall)- so it's a good chance thats trashed!
One of my friends owns a custom culture clothing store nearby too. The CBD was closed down and lots of people are now out of jobs.

The cocktail bar had a special drink that night called "A Flaming Myer". It was pretty tasty.

Spring... it's here!

There were just two doves rooting in the tree outside my window.


Don't you love spring!!!

That real change in the seasons... where the cold and wet (sorta) slowly rolls into the UV baked, drought-ridden, dusty oven-like temperatures of summer in Melbourne.

Things are looking pretty good.
I've just handed in the first pencils of a cool project that I'm having fun with.
Drawing like a demon.
Got 2 new playlists that I'm cranking out. One rock, the other hip-hop.
About to head into town for a spot of latenight shopping. It's Ains birthday on sunday.
We're celebrating it down in Hobart. I'm heading down tomorrow for the weekend.
Got a new wallpaper courtesy of Jones and the his latest Wayward Cartoonist challenge for the HBO theme. (Mines a'coming!)


As the sun slowly sinks down outside I can still spy one of the doves sitting in the same tree.

Is that the afterglow I detect or are they contemplating the mistake they just made?

Wondering if the other will ever call them again?

Recommended Reading

This is mainly a note to myself so I won't forget, but others might find it useful.
I recently asked around for reading recommendations for "important" and good books that I might enjoy.
These are what some friends replied:

#"Dunno about important. But recently read The Book of Dave. Loved it!"

#"Alain de Botton, "consolations of philosophy". It is great fun and quite profound at the same time. It's possibly my favorite book."

#"John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men. Short little novel (so won't be a massive in between book). Story of poverty, the working man in depression America, friendship and fate! Excellent!

#"Rona Jaffe's "Mazes & Monsters", the *ahem* true story of depressed D&D players in the 70's committing suicide by getting drunk and (hence) lost in the tunnels beneath their uni. From the perspective of a street hardened PI who has an ethnic sidekick."

Quick! TO THE LIBRARY!

FOOTball!

I watched the opening game of the Rugby World Cup- France vs Argentina on saturday morning.

Enjoyed it and am looking forward to seeing the rest of the games.

Rugby Union players are such monsters. In particular this French fella:

SEBASTIEN CHABAL (aka The Caveman!)







Now THATS a sport worthy of the Roman Colosseum!

Krakovian breakers

The city of Krakow is home to the worlds first university. To this day the city has a strong legacy of learning. This is evident in the highly skilled and talented musicians that you'll see playing in clubs and busking in the main square.
A range of traditional, folk and jazz type.

And then there were these guys:


The weren't the BEST breakdancers I've seen. Maybe they'd be better if their sound system was bigger, so you could.... actually HEAR the music.
Respect must be given to them for their hardcore-ness. Notice they don't use a mat? That 2nd guy, the one spinning on his bare-back on that hard cobble stone, came away with bleeding grazes along his back.

You know thats going to sting in the shower!!

Killing fields

Tomorrow I'm popping up to Sydney for a few days.

I WAS going to pick up a car and load it up with stuff thats been sitting at my parents house for years and drive it down to Melbourne. Stuff like the rest of my book collection, a kick arse fishtank, a bunch of comics and maybe a book case.
However the car fell through so I'm catching a plane back on monday.

On the saturday I'm going to play paintball skirmish with my younger brothers and his friends as it was his birthday the other day.
I've played paintball atleast half a dozen times- but it was all a few years ago now. It's awesome fun but very punishing on your body. The running, the throwing yourself against rocks and tree's, the leaping over ravines and not to mention the impact welts when you get hit.
I'm out of shape and afraid sunday I'll be a wreck.


Speaking of sunday- I'm catching up with some good old friends for an afternoon session at the pub. It's been too long between drinks!!

Sober thoughts.

I'm sitting here at my laptop, with a drink of water in my hand.
Now normally I'm prone to rant on my blog while I've got some alcoholic beverage in my hand. Maybe a beer. If it's late at night chances are it's a scotch.

BUT even though it's friday afternoon and FAST approaching Beer O'clock- I'm drinking my 2nd pint glass of water.

Maybe it's because I've just gotten in from riding my bike into the city (30 mins each way)- or maybe it's because we don't have any beer in the house.

ANYWAYS.... here are some random thoughts.

1. Comic shops suck! Comics suck! I went into Minatour here in Melbourne for the first time in months. I also purchased a comic for the first time ALL YEAR (the latest Dee Vee). Not quite sure why I came away with such negative feelings. Maybe it was the foul body odour of some of the people in the store, or perhaps it was the shit comics available. Actually there were a handful of comics I saw that I wouldn't mind reading- but not buying. Especially when the comic prices were double the US cover price- EVEN THOUGH the Australian dollar is doing so very well as the American dollar. WHAT'S UP WITH THAT??!!

2. Deadwood season 3 is out on dvd. Costs $50. I almost bought it, and am now wishing I did.

3. There are lots of fucked up people in Melbourne.

4. I enjoy my local library. I went in on my way home and picked up a large swag of goodies. Walter Mosley novel, 2 cds (Duke and a Sidney Bechet which I'm quite digging), a bunch of dvd's ( Vietnam- that old Aussie tv series with Nic Kidman, Crocodile Hunter movie and a BBC best of wildlife doco) and a graphic novel. I've steadily been going through the libraries collection. I love being able to read these shitty comics without having to blow my money on them. It's also good as the clear contact them- so they don't get too fucked up when you throw them across the room in disgust.

5. For the first time in years I've been sketching and doodling for my own enjoyment. I cannot remember the last time I sat drawing while watching tv. And it's for my own pleasure! The problem with this burst of creativity is now I've got schemes building up and the problem with that is if you have to many balls in the air- you end up not getting any of them done. So I'm trying to keep it simple and achievable for now.

6. It takes 3 pages on Google image search "Scott Fraser" before you come across anything about me. And then nothing for the next 10 pages. (I got bored and gave up).

7. My two younger brothers are coming down from Sydney to visit next weekend and I'm not sure where to take them. It's not as if Melbourne has great scenic tourist attractions. There's plenty of great bars and restaurants- but not much else!

8. I might be heading up to Sydney the following weekend to, amongst other things, play paintball with the brothers.

9. I really feel like a beer now.

'Arry Potter

On saturday we were in Kmart buying a new kettle and I walked past the display for the new Harry Potter book.
I picked up a copy and turned to the very last page. I read the page and put the book back.



So.... I can tell you who DOES NOT die.

Also, the very last sentence that finishes up the entire series?
-Isn't very good.

New website

I've given my website a complete extreme makeover!

I couldn't really justify having a Flash website anymore, and for what I had in mind I set about trying my hand at creating a site with Dreamweaver. Haven't looked at that software in years.

So go and have a play! Let me know if you come across any problems with it!

There's also some new work up there that you might not have seen before!

www.sdfraser.com

(now that I've gotten my website out of the way I'll get about to writing more here!)

Edit

Just went and added photos to my previous post about our arrival.

BACK!

Just a quick note to say we're back in Melbourne now. Arrived early yesterday morning and hopefully we should be resonably jetlag free- due to our 4 day stop over in Bangkok.

Had an ACE trip.

It's nice to unpack the bag and not have to repack it tomorrow, have clean clothes, not have to spend half of tomorrow jumping on buses, trains, plans and taxis. It's nice to be able to drink the tap water.

However the open road is a powerful drug- so we'll soon see how long it takes before I get bored here.

Travel stories to come.

By the by, you can get me on FACEBOOK. It's all the rage over in Europe. Still getting my head around it- but so far it seems alot nicer to use then My Space.

Arrival: London 07

Our plane left Melbourne last friday night at around 11pm- which was good.

We popped some herbal sleeping pills, put the ear plugs in and the eye masks down and passed out for the next 7 hrs, waking up at around 5am as we approached Hong Kong.



It was a humid morning in HK. Temps of 31 degree's with some light showers clearing.

Lush green hills surrounded the airport.
1.5 hrs later we were back on the plane heading towards London.

An hr into the flight we discovered NONE of the onboard entertainment worked in our seats. Neither did the reading lights. Water started to drip from the ceiling above the seats infront.

12 hrs to go- with NOTHING to do.

I chose to obtain a trance-like mediative state. Staring into nothingness, not moving (which was lucky- AS THERE IS NO ROOM TO MOVE IN ECONOMY!).

Ains chose to weep. Weep, despair and get free vouchers for duty free from the air stewards.

Amazingly, somehow, we made it to heathrow with our lives and relationship intact. We lost some sanity though.

However we were quickly re-introduced to London bullshit incompatence as our plane made it's way to the gate.





There was no gate for us....





We had to wait on the airstrip for 30 mins while Heathrow, y'know, found somewhere we could, like... GET OFF!



Then.... once we got to a gate.... we had to wait a further 40 mins while, y'know, Heathrow found some landing crew to, like, open the FUCKING DOORS!

The air stewards started of appeasing the passenegrs with good humour, but by the end of it they stated "We'd try and tell you a joke, but quite frankly we're as pissed off as you guys!"



Once off and through customs we had to, like, wait another 45-60 mins for our baggage to get OFF THE PLANE!



I think only one baggade handler was actually working that day. I think he had to walk to the plane, grab a hand full of bags, walk all the way to the baggage carousel, throw them on it, stop for his smoko, then repeat.



Heathrow have aplan to appease the customers when waiting for their luggage. They throw a decoy bag out on the carosel that gets everyones hope up. But after 20 mins of watching this bag go around without getting picked up, you soon realise the scam.



Anyways, FINALLY with our bags claimed, we made or way OUT! Ainslie had to step right into her sisters Hens' party while I made my way to The Rad pad, Borough.



Once off the train and into London I was hit with the smell of London in summer and that pugent scent sparked a stream of really good memories. Such adventures we had!



London in summer is truly fantastic! Everyone is out and in very good moods. The weather is super! The sun is your friend here, not the burning sphere of destruction it is in Australia. There is loads of stuff to see and do and there is a real sense of inspiration and awe!



After a shower and change of clothes I went to a friends bbq, where I zombied through the night. Then crashed for a solid nights sleep!



Sunday ex house mates, Anika and Anna and I walked to Spitafield markets where we meet up with two other good friends. Had an amazing cheap lunch! (You can get cheap, good food in London- it just takes awhile to work out HOW).

The girls were going to spend the rest of the afternoon in the park, but i had to jump on a train and head north of London in Harpendon to a family get together. Traditonal English roast!


Oh yeah... daylight saving!! It was still light at 10pm when we jumped on a train to come back!



Yesterday (monday) we walked into the city via the whiskey shop. Nice way to start the morning while spending about an hr talking scotch and getting free tastes of top premium single malts. It was great! The great thing of scotch is the diversity of noise and palletes! It almost rivals wine!

I think I know what purchases I'll be making at the end of the week. Got my eye on a rare lowland malt that's no longer in production- and it's a reasonable price! Ains has her eye on another lowland malt thats quite fruity and flowery. It has a nose of peaches and pink carnations!



After getting a nice buzz on we were going to the Tate Modern, but we passed that and crossed the Millenium Bridge and headed towards St Pauls Catherdral- my favourite building in London. We were hungry so we hit a beautiful pub designed in the early 1900's in Blackfriars for a pint of English ale (Timothy Taylors) and some pub grub!

We then walked up to Travalgar Square and went to the National Portrait Gallery- which was ace and very inspiring!

Followed by a coffee break then a spot of shopping in Covent Garden and then back home.

The old neighbourhood is looking pretty good. Less like a warzone ghetto and more like a nice area. The high street has a few new restaurants and we had dinner at one of them. Lebanese.
Once again, great food and amazingly for London- excellant service! We drank a quite nice Lebanese white wine!

Today Ains has gone out to face the BRUTAL Oxford Street shops. I couldn't bare it, so I'm just chilling at the flat- planning to do some work type applications and maybe head out for adventure this afternoon.

There's a rabbit warren of back alleys and shops in between Carnaby St and Soho that I want to explore. I also want to return to the Natural History Museum and get a photo of the Blue Whale skeleton- but if I go alone- who'll take the photo of me and the whale??

Or I might pop into my old work. I was planning on doing that later in the week but.

London is RAD!

Street art

This is part of a mural near where I live, and every time I go past it, I'm driven crazy trying to remember what that character was originally from!
Was it Seasme Street or an old tv ad for telecommunications??!! Or what?

Help, please!

HWC: Guitar

I haven't posted any of my artwork here for ages, as I've been using my Live Journal for that.
However I thought this was worth spreading the news about.
Some of us artistic reprobates have banded together in a weekly drawing challenge in order to stimulate some inspiration and creativity

HWC: Guitar

First of the "Home For Wayward Cartoonists" weekly challenge. This weeks theme is "GUITAR".

Not one for the cock-out rock, I looked at other geetar types of music.
I cranked it old skool with watercolours. I haven't touched them in...7 years. They say it takes 10 years to master watercolours.... despite the less then stellar results, it was very fun using them again!

Anyways:

Inspired, I did another! "The Wildcat Serenaders!"


And a digital version:


Check out the HWC for more scandalous hi-jinks from dubious and untrustworthy vagabond cartoonists!

---

Evolution

For the Creationists out there, I have undeniable proof that Evolution is for reals.

Check it:
Prehistory Frase.

Mens fashion

I'm thinking about getting a new tie for an upcoming wedding and just watching tv, it looks like the current fashion is to make ties out of shiny wrapping paper...

... don't know if I like it.

Man about the house

Q: How many Frase's does it take to change a light bulb?


A: One. Just one.