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Chrissie

Hot and Saucy

Well… the extent to which I will discuss the last six days is: I’ve been working at the Hot Sauce offices on a Jonathan Ross show that is comics-related. I don’t want to divulge the subject until it seems appropriate to do so, but suffice it to say, I believe it will be a very interesting and worthwhile project.

Today, after a week of helping with research materials, briefs and arranging interviews, as well as contributing some questions for interview subjects, I was around for the shooting of some original artwork from Jonathan’s collection. JR had places to be, so I was quite honoured to be asked to stay around and help select which pieces to shoot. It was a fun day. On the whole, it’s been an enormously positive experience.
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PC vs Mac (Not Really)

In my latest flurry of gadget-buying, yesterday came the Canon mini-DVD camcorder. It wasn’t rashness on my part, but something I’d intended to get for quite a while. There are always things you wish you’d been able to film, and as Paul and I have one or two interviews planned (first one coming up early next month, no names mentioned just yet), it was a good time to grab it.

It’s a very nice piece of equipment. It has a widescreen option, which is pretty cool. My only (minor) disappointment is that there is no input for an external mike, which isn’t totally necessary but would’ve been a useful option to have. Great value for money overall, though.
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Gallery of Wonder

Meeting Jonathan Ross and crew at the Hot Sauce offices, Paul and I were treated to sensory overload, trying to take in just a portion of the original comic artwork he has stored in a number of drawers (not to mention the small selection hung on sundry wallspace, including the toilet!). JR could start his own gallery single-handed. The artists covered are innumerable, though there is an emphasis on Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, who have drawers mostly to themselves. To say the collection is awesome would be no kind of understatement.

The offices also are crammed in every corner with all kinds of toys, videos and media. It’s quite an experience to browse the place. Here’s JR sitting at his desk…

Gallery of Wonder

And here’s me and Paul posing with JR and the slightly wonderful double-page spread from Devil Dinosaur #1:
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Freedom and Stuff

We had our fourth monthly London Comics meet yesterday, which was cool. With that and several people urging me to stay in the London area, I guess I’ll be looking for somewhere in this vicinity to move to. Where, I’m not sure. Last minute attempts to find a sharer here have failed to elicit any response per se, and I’m sick of being on my own in a place far too large/expensive for one person, so onwards we go.

Sarah, who was at the meet yesterday, has posted her page for the Freedom anthology, which I think is fabulous. Hope you agree.
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White Space

Let’s talk about ambience. It’s by way of a ‘sort-of’ criticism of this house. It’s not a major problem, but what interests me is how so many people appear to disagree with my viewpoint.

Most of the walls are white.

Worst of all, for me, is the living room being all-white. I’m countering it to some degree—I’m filling as much wall space as I can with original artwork and prints. It improves things a lot. (Okay, so I might move. But the new place will 95% probably have white walls too, and I’ll be dealing with it the same way.)

I hate white walls. To me, it lacks atmosphere—it creates a feeling of sterility. Some people call it neutral but I call it sterile. If I had the autonomy to repaint this place, the living room would be a subdued purple or a reddish-brown. Whatever you hang on a wall like that really pops out, pleasingly, and the backdrop is so much warmer and friendlier.
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To Move or Not?

Okay… one more stab before making a final decision on whether to move from here.

I’ve had problems finding someone to share this place. There were a couple of possibilities, but ultimately they wanted somewhere cheaper and nearer the city centre. (Bit of a contradiction in terms, that, unless you want to live in a complete dump. The centre is only a 25-min tube ride away anyway.) The other problem is that I’m a bit ‘funny’ about who I’d share with.

Absolutely no religious nutters, no crack addicts or hookers, no Nazis. Etc. I don’t suppose those objections are so unusual, thinking about it. 😉 But no doubt I can be cranky and eccentric sometimes, which isn’t to everyone’s liking. And I’m quite nocturnal more often than not.
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