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Stuff and Nonsense

Oh. Hi. Missed me, did you? I haven’t felt like writing anything for a while. There’s been some worry about mom’s health (there still is, but I’m not going into details), which has kind of sapped my will to write STUFF on here.

Or even Stuff and Nonsense… 😉

I’ve recovered a bit of faith in my drawing abilities, I think. I just completed my third NetworX strip as part of my “Networks” column for Comics International. They’re simple, dumb little things, but there’s satisfaction in creating effective staging within a mere three panels. You can’t say much; the challenge is making it count.

Hmmm. Now I have to do a drawing of Orson Welles for The End is Nigh #3. Mr. Ed is writing a War of the Worlds feature and has given me an ultra-ambitious description of the illo which I am going to stubbornly downgrade to something much more simple! 😉
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Brighton Comic Expo Report

I have been somewhat tired and distracted, but I thought it was about time I posted the full Brighton Comic Expo details on here!

On the whole, it was a fabulous weekend. Last Friday (18th) was a late afternoon set-off for me, leaving for Brum at 5pm. This was a bit later than planned, so a taxi was needed to speed things along. Travel the whole weekend was expensive, coming to a total of just under £95 in the end! Anyhow, in spite of the lateness I got into London, Euston at 7.30pm and met up with Paul. From there, it took us another hour-and-a-half to finally get to Brighton and check into the Hilton Metropole (where the Expo itself was being held).

Here’s a Saturday sea front view…

Brighton Comic Expo Report
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Browsing Birmingham

Paul Gravett came down for a visit today, which was a chance not only for him to have a good look around Birmingham, but also for me to see stuff I haven’t seen for ages. There’s much more to Brum than meets the eye, you know.

We had a nice look around the pre-Raphaelite display in the museum/gallery—some stunning work to be seen there. Mom tells me the last time I went there was when I was just about out of nappies.

Nearby, Paul posed for a snap:

Paul in Front of Fountain
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In Search of the Third Man (2000)

I said I would comment on my recent reading, so there!

In Search of the Third Man (2000)If you’re looking for an extensive account of the production of the 20th Century’s greatest British film, Charles Drazin’s effort is well worth it. In Search of The Third Man (2000) can’t be faulted in terms of research and detail.

However… I think I saw question marks over the bits where Drazin got into more subjective areas—for instance, the pointless comparisons of director Carol Reed with Hitchcock, providing a rather meaningless and impertinent excuse to be critical of Hitch (for repeating himself endlessly and never taking chances, etc.). It’s true that Hitch had formulae, just as it’s true that Reed really didn’t… he didn’t make any two films alike, nor did he have a particular way of doing things that attracts special viewer recognition… but I don’t believe this can be made into a virtue any more convincingly than it could be seen as a failing. Hitch catches some heat for no good reason.

As does Orson Welles. Taking no chances is a bad thing in this book, but being a maverick with a healthy, independent ego is also apparently a bad thing! Welles is surely the anti-Hitch, though they both have in common the tragic flaw of not being Carol Reed. Welles acolytes have occasionally tried to suggest that OW practically directed and wrote The Third Man himself, but this is a senseless claim. The highly relevant fact that Welles personally made no such claim is dismissed by Drazin as false modesty! I mean, what was Orson to say to make the author happy? Highly puzzling.
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When’s the Baby Due?

I was outbid on the Orson book! Losing one’s virginity isn’t a guarantee of reaching orgasm, etc. 🙂 I’m bidding on something else at the moment, but I’d better not get smug about it.

E-mail news: being a bit flabby is one thing, but being told you look pregnant is another! I don’t tend to fish for compliments I don’t deserve, but this is ridiculous! My name is not Fern Britton and I don’t have my own personal ozone layer. Yet.
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In the Mood

In the MoodAnother warm, though not excessively bright, day. The hot stuff is coming! As you can see, I’m making a token effort to get in the mood for the weather… alas, less clothing only tends to prove I need to lose a few pounds. *sigh*

I’ve been thinking about money a lot again recently. I’m not stressing over it, though. I still want to be able to earn some cash from writing at some point—the recent writing I’ve done has been heaps better than any of my earlier work—but it’s going to be a slow road ahead unless I get lucky. (BTW: I’m talking about journalism, not creative/fiction stuff, which is a lost cause to all but the stubbornly dedicated and hugely prodigious.)

So the rat race beckons a little again. I’m resisting. At this exact moment in time, life is fairly comfortable, so I’m not letting the pressure bring me down. In some ways, though, I think the routine of a regular job would benefit me: it would break my horrendous sleeping patterns, for instance. I keep fairly busy—I do most of our shopping these days, as mom’s health is not great and she wants to hold down her part-time job for as long as she can. So I don’t feel useless. But an income can boost a person’s self-esteem and routine isn’t always a bad thing. Hmmm.
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Local Culture

Went to Merryhill today, as I hadn’t been for a few months. This requires me to get a bus into Dudley first, as no nearby buses go straight to Merryhill itself. So, what the hell, I thought this snap of a major ‘landmark’ at the back of Dudley’s small shopping plaza, facing the bus station, might interest those who’ve never been:

Local Culture
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