That thing that follows me everywhere

Black dog, head monster, storm cloud. Whatever you call it. Just cant escape it today

Wrestlemania

Is it Costanza? Cheney? who knows. All we sure of is the gator.

Mike Reid has died

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6921549.stm

Sad to hear. I'll never thought much of his stand-up but as an actor, he was one of the best on TV. Frank Butcher was one of the great creations of British TV. He could do the drama, (the epic Roy, Peggy, Pat, Frank quadrangle. as well as coming up with the oddest insults. Quite often, we would bellow "Turn It In" the immortal "doughnut" and the timeless "What am I? Some kind of pilchard?"

Before I left for Singapore he left Eastenders.
But both times I've been back, saw the return of Frank Butcher to the show.
The last time I went back home, he returned to Eastenders just for a couple of shows. Then , earlier this year, I had to review Eastenders which was launching on theBBC cable channel here. It was those self-same the Frank Butcher episodes.
Yeah. Not quite the Twilight Zone.

Greatest hero

..and I've never drawn him the same way twice


Hang on!?! this isn't news
This is just posting for the sake of it

Space is the place/Be With Me notebook

Two pages of doodles (one obviously enhanced) from the bext film giveaway ever– the Be With Me notebook.
Be With Me was of course the little highly regarded S'porean film that could at Cannes a couple of years ago.
Local film has a regular if far-spaced heartbeat. Every other year a film will get noticed.
Which is great, but where is the great Singaporean comic book?
Anyway, often, film distributers will send lots of little promotional items out, often a notebook.
Why was this one so special? Its was blank pages (usually they're lined), very nicely bound (not ringbound) and with a very smooth textured paper.


A great free sketchbook, that like all my sketchbooks, is taking an age to fill.

Coolest thing/ Worst thing

COOL: When The Six Million Dollar man was shown in Mexico, it was called
"EL HOMBRE NUCLEAR"
I am considering changing my name to that

WORST: Toxins have been discovered in White Rabbit sweets.

Life has no meaning any more.
Follow the White Rabbit in Formalderhyde

X-pants

just messing around, again

Apocalypse Now (and forever)

Every so often I get the need to watch Apocalypse Now. hence sketching a Col Kurtz this evening.
One of the greatest films ever blah, blah. You know the drill. But theres is good reason for the accolades.
Hard to explain but its just something to marvel at on every viewing.
Its the one film, except maybe Blade Runner in which I will get hold of every version available.
The making of Hearts Of Darkness should really be rereleased, if not expanded on.
Francis Ford Coppolla's quote on the making of it "Little by little, we slowly went insane"
is an understatement. It sounds and looks like everyone involved went through their personal hell.
Martin Sheen had a breakdown and a heart attack at 36.
But if everything had gone right, it wouldnt have been anything special. The myths surrounding its making entice new viewers, but the film is a stunning creation. Every talks about the Valkyries attack, but its capturing the swirls of smoke in the copters airstream that causes some kind of hypnotism.
Robert Duvall's ability to ignore explosions is something to behold, but the film falls to one man.
Marlon Brando. A man of such ability, he saw the exaltaion of actors somewhat ridiculous and only occasionally chose to give great performances. I think he saw Hollywood as a joke had the ability to destroy a film by simply insisting on doing a bad accent (see Mutiny On The Bounty). He could hve destroyed Coppola's film too. Way over weight and with no knowledge of the base text or script and costing millions. Coupled with the fact that Dennis Hopper was on set, physically anyway.
Yet it came together. Brando's words have been frequently quoted and referenced throughout the years.
Its an inspired performance if roughly salvaged from disaster.
For me there can't be enough extra footage and extended version of Apocalypse Now. Hopefully we will get the 6hr cut come the 30th anniversary.
For such a long ramble I should have put up a better picture

Criminal statue

Using time well while waiting for a download to finish doing its thing in the office this evening.
Thinking about it, it could be a less scary variation on those statues from 'Blink'

Found: the giant lion-eating chimps of the magic forest

http://environment.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,,2126328,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront
The only bit missing from that headline is that its in the Congo. Otherwise, exactly what the headline says.
Chances are, they look nothing like this

or this


Did you spot the difference?

Space is the place pts3&3.5

Space is the place pt2

Benitez makeover

As much as I'm still annoyed with Rafa Benitez for blaming the Champions League Final defeat on not having enough good players (NOthing at all to do with bringing on obviously unfit and too slow Harry Kewell AND taking off the one defender who was actually stopping Inzaghi from breaking loose and not taking off the way, way too slow Agger, eh, Rafa?)

However, gotta say the new look Senor Benitez is sporting is, well, it really suits him. It looks pretty damn cool. For him. Almost as though he's been replaced by an evil, slightly better looking twin.This new look could be to challenge Mourinho for title of dapper manager.
Either that or he's trying out for the role of a drug baron in 24.

Whatever he looks like, we have to start winning early. Its a bit rubbish to do well in the Champions league but have to struggle to qualify for it every year.

Old sketch very calming

Just some random sort of-typography via letraset on top of an old texture background.
Dont know where the original is now. Might be in an old sketchbook. Maybe I'll find it a get a higher res version.
Still, oddly calming to look at.

Space is the place

Health campaign-50's style

Cloverfield = Gojira

Can you tell what it is yet?

The hottest trailer in ze vurld right now. Just now here. It plays before Transformers in more American parts of the world.
Home movie of a surprise party is interrupted by some very load howling.
Guest run to the roof and see downtown Manhatten explode in an expanding fireball. Everyone panics and runs to the street. They here the roar again and some stuff fly into the sky. One piece of debris heads straight for them, ricochets off a skyscraper and smacks into the street. The debris? The head of the Statue Of Liberty.
No title, just a card to say a JJ Abrams production and the date. 01/18/08 which is American for 18th Januray next year.

These images come from the naughty version that someone secretly filmed inside a cinema.
Nothing about this film seems official.

What has become clear is that it is being filmed under the name Cloverfield.
Rumour as it that it will be filmed in the camcorder/Blair Witch style.
IF this film turns out not to be a new version of Godzilla, I will be very surprised.
Everything fits for it to be, even down to the almost too innocuous dummy headline.
Fake titles are nothing new. Return Of The Jedi was filmed under the title Blue Harvest for secrecy

Reasons that it is Godzilla?
(1)Its New York.
(2)Theres a huge howling very much in the Jurassic Park T Rex style.
(3)What could be more in the classic Godzilla bad-tempered property damage style that chucking the head of ol Lady Liberty herself.
(4)Time has healed. Not for depicting attacks on New York, but for the travesty of the last attempt at Godzilla to have been forgotten/forgiven so that the public will be ready for a new take.

Here's some maths to explain



The only downside is that the 90s version of Godzilla had the best trailers possibly in the history of cinema.
Will this follow suit

Smoking again

Question: What do you hope to convey with this illustration?

Answer:Er, yeah, er, cos like smoking is like rilly,rilly bad?
And like, all the doctors, yeah, they like, see a million dead people every year, and like cry and stuff?

Smoking ban

Yes smoking is cool.
Smoking is also incredibly stupid.
If what was sold in a pack of cigarettes was just pure tobacco, then fine.
But it isnt. Look at the chemicals put into a cigarette, then look what they are also used for.
To willingly inhale smoke is bad for you anyway, but enhanced with toxin smoke is utterly stupid.Don't winge when someone says not to inflict it on other people.
Singapore gets its own indoor smoking ban soon.
The funny thing is that reports from UK, New Zealand and Ireland who have their bans in place
already is just what a smokeless bar smells like.
Chairs now smell of stale sweat, vomit odour lingers longer and the air is alive with the stench of toilets

The image at the top is a slight return for my Niven's Own; Classy fags concept. I actually made myself a Nivens own pack that lasted until a year or two back. There will be more

Re: Wiki-tampering

Funniest thing from today

Hollywood Zombies

When I was a kid, there was the Garbage Pail Kids. Revolting versions of the cute Cabbage Patch things. Well, more, deliberately revolting.
Now they're trying again with Hollywood Zombies.
Some of these are already out of the zeitgeist (some American Idol loser?). And the art is variable. George Bush gets a lot of attention to detail, Naomi Campbell is phoned in.
Still, 5mins of fun
Link to more below
http://photos.tmz.com/galleries/hollywood_zombies

New project

Something Ive cooked up that involves
women, art, ink and cool. In that order.
something like this preliminary sketch...

...just better

Holiday Sunset

Almost time to go back to work.
So here is a stunning sunset that scorched the skys over Mana Mana beach.

Ignore the picture...

... check out the texture

Outie

Of course I dont have one. I'm not one of the devil's children.

Doctor Who pt 3

For what its worth, the last installment of the Doctor Who bonanza

My Wishlist for Season4

Bloke assistant:
I was joking on a forum that the new assistant should be a bloke-Total couch potato, more interested in Xbox than seeing the birth of an universe. possibly the Doic goes back for Sally Sparrow from BLINK, but somehow ends up with the DVD guy. Failing that they should get Nick Frost in.

Then I figured that less comically done it could be a welcome change. Someone less impressed by the Doc but unable to leave. Basis for great buddy movies.

And hopefully whoiever they get doesnt need to go through the whole "Gosh its bigger on the inside than blah blah blah" routine

More Tardis:
RTD should start saving those budget pennies by doing some earthbound stuff and put it into Tardis sets.
At least One episode set running around the Tardis. Maybe pop past the old control rooms?

More episodes per season:
Frankly, it was just getting going. People arrive and leave too quickly. Martha's off already. The Simm Master's shot his load and the daleks have been used only a few times and its overload.
If they cant stretch to american style seasons they should stop pretending thats what theyre working with.
The series has been established, play a longer game.

New baddies:
No more Daleks, Cybermen and the Master can take a break for a season too. (When he does return it should be as an ongoing foe. Single episode running battles.) But plenty of new villains to be had out there. Or old ones even.

Sonic Screwed:
Enough of the be all and end all device. Dont have to lose it but its just too handy. For the writers and the Doctor.

Badass-ish:
Like what the Doctor did to the Family of Blood. Lets see him get stone cold with the bad guys again. but not too much

Which Doctor Who are you?

My results are here.
I always thought I'd be the 1st Doctor or the 4th. Bad tempered old man or erratic genius in a big scarf.
Ah well, smart handsome one in the suit will have to do I suppose.
link at the bottom of the table

You scored as 10th Doctor, Rude and not ginger. Dressed in a smart suit and very helpfull, you don't let people get away with things, and with your glasses you won't miss much! 9th Doctor 92% 10th Doctor 92% 4th Doctor 92% 1st Doctor 83% 3rd doctor 58% 5th Doctor 50% 6th doctor 42% Davros 42% 8th Doctor 42% a Dalek 33% 7th Doctor 25% 2nd doctor 17% What Doctor Who character are You? created with QuizFarm.com

Doctor Who

This image of my personalised Tardis is to signify the end of Season 3.
By all accounts the DW ratings juggernaut contiues to steamroller UK TV. Soon the world too if the UK hype has any basis.
Good news really. David Tennant looks to be the best Doctor, depending on your age, after Tom Baker, or indeed, ever.
But how did this season go?

GOOD STUFF:
One of the best assistants with Freema Agyeman as Dr Martha Jones
Finally an assistant who out and out fancies the Doctor. Quite refreshing rather than the usual platonics.
She was also the strongest, less simpering assistant, possibly ever. That includes the men.

The second half of the season had some of the best episodes yet.
Standout episode being Blink by Stephen Moffat.
A genius episode, not least because it barely featured the Doctor,
You didnt know what was going to happen, you werent three steps ahead of the plot, and like the bst time travel stories, left you marvelling at the concepts of the plot.
A great Who episode. No huge effects but stunning villains in creepy angel statues.

Derek Jacobi as the Master. He later regenerated into John Simm, but his chracter change from a gentle scatty professor to a stone cold villain was something else.

Captain Jack is the Face Of Boe!! Which if they ever get round to how the buff american gets to become a giant scaly head in a jar over the course of a few million millennia , would be pretty cool.

BAD STUFF:
Not too much but the Daleks episode turned out to be a real clunker.
In fact a few f the first half episodes were not wondrful.

13 episodes a series? That means that after 3 years theres 1.5 american seasons.
Its been proven that Who doesn't need huge sets. They really need to expand, because this season was only just getting going.

We need to see more of the Tardis interior. Its meant to be vast labyrinthe. This one room deal is too much like the Peter Cushing film version.

Too much sonic screwdriver. Too handy for the writers to solve any situation

Can't wait to see why the Titanic crashed through the Tardis wall this Christmas.

More Bintan wildlife

Praying Mantis this time. Yep, those fun beasts where the female eats the head off the male after mating.
Pris woke me from my sunbathing attempt to see a praying mantis on her beach chair.
These intrepid photos were taken using the macro function on my camera.

What wasn't captured was the bit where the mantis lept at me onto my camera causing Pris to yelp, which caused me to go
ARRRGH and to roll backwards and much stupidity to be seen by anyone else in the area.

Name this Lizard

Not like "Jim" or "Susan" but the species.

A family of about three were living in the pond outside the chalet on Bintan. (Hols dontcha know)

The big one was B-I-G big. Two steps from being a Spielberg extra.

Just dont know what theyre called. Beautiful creatures anyway.
Anyone knows what species they are, please let me know.
(And no, its not a Komodo)