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paul gravett

Flaming June, Huh? Where’s Bleeding Terry?

Oh, haven’t I been quiet. Here I am, disappointing an audience of thousands! The arrogance of celebrity is an awful thing!

The dog had his second jabs last week, so he’s allowed outdoors in seven days or so. The fact that we still have him is a minor miracle—mom’s found it particularly tough to cope with his antics. He needs proper exercise badly.

I’m still on the old computer. I tried formatting the hard drive last weekend as a last resort. It being so large, this took the better part of 24 hours, at the end of which I found the process had settled the issue permanently—chug chug chug on the bios screen ad infinitum, unable even to boot from floppy! It’s dead, Jim…
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In the Shadows

Right, my tentative PDF project now has an equally tentative title: Shadows and Reflections. Contents? Arts, media, films, etc. Plus, hopefully, some original comic strips.

I’d like to do at least one issue and see what happens from there. A handful of people are involved, in theory, including my old pal Paul Gravett (now that he’s almost finished his book on Manga!), but it’s early days and we need more contributors on board.

I’m also doing a mini-comic just for the fun of it. The (again) tentative title is Day in the Life. I scrawled a script and drew three panels yesterday. If you don’t know what a mini-comic is: it’s a format that is roughly half A5 size with a single panel per page. It’s a good method for publishing very short stories dirt cheap. I did one about ten years ago, but it was crap! I fancied having another go, so what the hell.

In the Shadows
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Expensive Trip!

It was nice to get down to London and catch up with Paul again, but there’s always a reluctance to come home! Let’s face it, this is a pretty dismal area. Birmingham, the city, is okay enough, but the rest? Pah!

Paul and I went into the British Museum for a while and looked at a lot of old Egyptian thingies. He tried to take a couple of snaps, but neither came out very well. The last time I went in the place was a school trip back in 1981; it brought back a lot of memories, even though it’s changed a lot since then. The main memory, alas, is of me dying of thirst and not being allowed to go to the canteen for a drink until we’d looked at everything we were supposed to see. School trips simply aren’t designed to be enjoyed.

Expensive Trip!
Horrible, weird, blurry pic in the British Museum. Better luck next time, Paul!
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Convert to the Ring

Well, much to my surprise, mom did finally decide to give Lord of the Rings a fair hearing. We watched the first two episodes recently. Not on the same night, okay! 🙂 She hates this kind of thing normally, but all the hype and good reviews weakened her resolve. Of course, she ended up thinking they were terrific, and we plan to see the final part at the cinema soon. (Not right now; we’re both suffering from yet another cold virus at the moment. Lovely.)

Watching The Two Towers a second time helped resolve some of my own reservations about it. I’m told the extended version has better editing, but on the whole, I enjoyed it better than the first viewing. Look, I won’t forgive Jackson for the Christopher Lee thing in a hurry, but that doesn’t mean I don’t admire this work on many levels. It’s a genuine achievement.
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Stuck in the House

Terrible, rainy weather today. I’m not really stuck in the house, but I had a couple of non-urgent errands that this wretched downpour has dissuaded me from doing today. (Okay, I’m a wuss. Sue me.)

I had plans for last Wednesday. Saruman himself, Christopher Lee, was signing his autobiography, Lord of Misrule, in London at Forbidden Planet on Saturday and Borders on Wednesday. I thought I’d go for Wednesday. Alas, irrevocable transport problems put the kibosh on my plans… I did finally make it into Brum, but too late to get an affordable train that would’ve been on time. My only choice was a Virgin train for £30. I was forced to admit defeat.

Stuck in the House
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London Stuff

My London trip last Friday went well. It was nice to have a break from all this house move stuff. The new place is still a mess and I’m starting to find it rather depressing. I know it’ll be sorted out eventually, but meanwhile, life is damned uncomfortable.

Anyway, London: I only got one half-decent snap. This is the Golden Jubilee Bridge, which Paul and I crossed to reach the South Bank and the National Film Theatre.

London Stuff
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Strictly Window Shopping

Shopping Day today. Choice of venue: Birmingham. I rather like doing this on a Thursday, and thankfully, my sexy government fandango being on temporary hiatus meant nothing cramped my style. 😉

In Waterstone’s, I spotted This is Orson Welles. This is a collection of interviews Peter Bogdanovich conducted with the great man, plus extracts from the Touch of Evil memo, etc. I almost bought it. I mean, it’s just too good! But the price tag prevented me (£16.50). Anyone feeling generous? 🙂 I should compile an Amazon Wish List.

Strictly Window Shopping
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