Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
The iPad...
With all the hoopla over Apple's iPad, it's kind of fitting that a sketch from Mad TV has started to do the rounds on the Internet...
What's even more interesting, though, is that that video was actually uploaded to YouTube in 2007...
We can only assume that the people at Apple simply thought "No one will remember that..."
What's even more interesting, though, is that that video was actually uploaded to YouTube in 2007...
We can only assume that the people at Apple simply thought "No one will remember that..."
Friday, January 29, 2010
"WRECK AND RULE!"
Before I get into this, I want to make a declaration here: my Transformers fandom only stretches to certain points of the franchise. I owned some of the toys when I was a kid, but I never really got into the cartoon series (largely because I never actually saw enough episodes - but I still say Transformers: The Movie is quite possibly the greatest animated film of all time). Growing up in the UK, I was lucky enough to be able to read the Transformers UK comic week after week, which is where my true love of the franchise lies.
For those of you not in the know, that series reprinted material from Transformers US, but also filled the pages with brand new, original Transformers material created especially for the series. Even as a kid, I could see that the US material was utter crap compared to the UK stuff. Whereas the US strips read like exactly what they were - poorly written and drawn material to tie into an established franchise - the UK strips had crisper, cleaner art and far better stories (the truly haunting Man Of Iron comes to mind from that period). When Simon Furman took over as the main writer for the series, he began to weave brand new stories in and around the continuity of the US series, with stories such as In The National Interest and, my personal favourite, Dinobot Hunt. However, when Transformers: The Movie began to slowly appear on the horizon, Furman wrote what would become the foundation of the entire Transformers UK continuity: Target 2006.
Not only did this introduce some characters from the upcoming movie (who were also being released as toys in the UK at the time, and therefore had to appear in the comic), but it also introduced probably one of the greatest concepts my young mind had ever seen: The Wreckers.
The Wreckers were a rag tag bunch of misfit robots, some of whom were created especially for the series (which gave Furman the opportunity to utilise Topspin and Twin Twist, two new toys - Jumpstarters - that had been introduced into the line, but didn't seem to fit well into the franchise, I always thought), but they were also the elite commando unit of the Autobot resistance forces. These were the guys that you called in when you wanted shit done. Led by Impactor (an original character created for Transformers UK), and later joined by Springer, Sandstorm and Broadside (the Autobot Triple Changer toys that were being introduced into the UK around that time), they became the Transformers version of The Dirty Dozen. And, frankly, they were fucking awesome.
They quickly became my favourite Transformers team; I absolutely fell in love with the entire concept, and just could not get enough of them. I remember being genuinely shocked when Impactor died at the end of Target: 2006:
And even more shocked when they brought him back in Legion Of The Lost:
I remember having my Optimus Prime toy sending in The Wreckers, led by my Springer toy (I pretended he was fighting side by side with the characters who didn't have toys), because even back then, I knew they were the guys that Prime would defer too in his time of need. Even when Furman broke them up after the apocalyptic Time Wars story arc and re-moulded them into Survivors, my love of the characters never diminished.
After Transformers UK ended, I thought that The Wreckers would be laid to rest, given the warriors deaths they deserved and destined to nothing more than a memory of better times. But then, when IDW took over the Transformers franchise, I was pleased that Simon Furman was spearheading their reboot. Then, however, I saw this in an issue of Transformers: Stormbringer and had a genuine geek out moment:
In the very same issue, the guys were back and in full effect:
This time, however, there was something different about them: they'd gone from mean-ass motherfuckers to even meaner-ass motherfuckers. They were the way I always wanted them to be back in the good old days of Transformers UK: far more callous and ruthless, and the guys that even Optimus Prime called in when he couldn't handle the shit that was going down. This was my childhood dream come true.
IDW have made me love them even more with the release of a Wreckers solo series. I'll admit, my heart kind of sank when I read the title:
Yeah, I did get my geek on and start complaining about how they dare not kill The Wreckers and destroy a piece of my childhood, but then I reminded myself that they're only comics and not really that important in the grand scheme of things. And then, you know, I actually made the effort to read the thing and realised how bloody good it actually is.
I think I can safely say that I've pretty much destroyed any remaining cool points I may have had with this post, so I may as well push on and admit that if - by some miracle - I ever got to write Transformers, I always said that I'd love to do something with The Wreckers that re-introduced Impactor.
And then I saw this in Fall Of The Wreckers:
And the issue ended with this:
So, that's one more ambition I can scratch off the list because I was beaten to it. Thank you very much Nick Roche...
I guess all I can ask for now, IDW, is that if The Wreckers are going out, please give them a worthy death. They deserve to go out like heroes.
For those of you not in the know, that series reprinted material from Transformers US, but also filled the pages with brand new, original Transformers material created especially for the series. Even as a kid, I could see that the US material was utter crap compared to the UK stuff. Whereas the US strips read like exactly what they were - poorly written and drawn material to tie into an established franchise - the UK strips had crisper, cleaner art and far better stories (the truly haunting Man Of Iron comes to mind from that period). When Simon Furman took over as the main writer for the series, he began to weave brand new stories in and around the continuity of the US series, with stories such as In The National Interest and, my personal favourite, Dinobot Hunt. However, when Transformers: The Movie began to slowly appear on the horizon, Furman wrote what would become the foundation of the entire Transformers UK continuity: Target 2006.
Not only did this introduce some characters from the upcoming movie (who were also being released as toys in the UK at the time, and therefore had to appear in the comic), but it also introduced probably one of the greatest concepts my young mind had ever seen: The Wreckers.
The Wreckers were a rag tag bunch of misfit robots, some of whom were created especially for the series (which gave Furman the opportunity to utilise Topspin and Twin Twist, two new toys - Jumpstarters - that had been introduced into the line, but didn't seem to fit well into the franchise, I always thought), but they were also the elite commando unit of the Autobot resistance forces. These were the guys that you called in when you wanted shit done. Led by Impactor (an original character created for Transformers UK), and later joined by Springer, Sandstorm and Broadside (the Autobot Triple Changer toys that were being introduced into the UK around that time), they became the Transformers version of The Dirty Dozen. And, frankly, they were fucking awesome.
They quickly became my favourite Transformers team; I absolutely fell in love with the entire concept, and just could not get enough of them. I remember being genuinely shocked when Impactor died at the end of Target: 2006:
And even more shocked when they brought him back in Legion Of The Lost:
I remember having my Optimus Prime toy sending in The Wreckers, led by my Springer toy (I pretended he was fighting side by side with the characters who didn't have toys), because even back then, I knew they were the guys that Prime would defer too in his time of need. Even when Furman broke them up after the apocalyptic Time Wars story arc and re-moulded them into Survivors, my love of the characters never diminished.
After Transformers UK ended, I thought that The Wreckers would be laid to rest, given the warriors deaths they deserved and destined to nothing more than a memory of better times. But then, when IDW took over the Transformers franchise, I was pleased that Simon Furman was spearheading their reboot. Then, however, I saw this in an issue of Transformers: Stormbringer and had a genuine geek out moment:
In the very same issue, the guys were back and in full effect:
This time, however, there was something different about them: they'd gone from mean-ass motherfuckers to even meaner-ass motherfuckers. They were the way I always wanted them to be back in the good old days of Transformers UK: far more callous and ruthless, and the guys that even Optimus Prime called in when he couldn't handle the shit that was going down. This was my childhood dream come true.
IDW have made me love them even more with the release of a Wreckers solo series. I'll admit, my heart kind of sank when I read the title:
Yeah, I did get my geek on and start complaining about how they dare not kill The Wreckers and destroy a piece of my childhood, but then I reminded myself that they're only comics and not really that important in the grand scheme of things. And then, you know, I actually made the effort to read the thing and realised how bloody good it actually is.
I think I can safely say that I've pretty much destroyed any remaining cool points I may have had with this post, so I may as well push on and admit that if - by some miracle - I ever got to write Transformers, I always said that I'd love to do something with The Wreckers that re-introduced Impactor.
And then I saw this in Fall Of The Wreckers:
And the issue ended with this:
So, that's one more ambition I can scratch off the list because I was beaten to it. Thank you very much Nick Roche...
I guess all I can ask for now, IDW, is that if The Wreckers are going out, please give them a worthy death. They deserve to go out like heroes.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
"THE BEES!!"
Normally, I wouldn't waste my time writing about the piece of visual excrement that is The Wicker Man remake, but I finally watched it on TV during the week, and... Well, it's not as bad as I'd been led to believe, but it is just so mind numbingly dull, which is more of a crime in my book.
Whereas the original Robin Hardy film was an almost surreal, ethereal film loaded with atmosphere and first rate performances from the cast (especially the late Edward Woodward), that pitted differing religious ideologies against each other, the 2006 remake is all about Nicholas Cage's shockingly white teeth.
And punching women...
Knowing that director Neil Labute also did In The Company Of Men, you can kind of draw all sorts of conclusions about his alleged misogyny if you were so inclined. But I'm not, so I won't.
The above video literally showcases all the best bits of the film, though. Literally. Until the last 30 minutes or so, it's an unrelentingly dull piece of cinema with a central performance from Nicholas Cage that can only ever be described as subtle if you had no idea of what subtle actually was. For about 10 minutes of that last half hour, it just turns into a massive festival of campness that has to be seen to be believed. But at least they kept the ending the same, though. Even though it was stripped of it's power.
It's another case of Hollywood taking something original and unique and forcing it into one of their accepted formulas because it's the only way they know how to do it.
That said, there's one genre that I wish they had forced the remake into...
Whereas the original Robin Hardy film was an almost surreal, ethereal film loaded with atmosphere and first rate performances from the cast (especially the late Edward Woodward), that pitted differing religious ideologies against each other, the 2006 remake is all about Nicholas Cage's shockingly white teeth.
And punching women...
Knowing that director Neil Labute also did In The Company Of Men, you can kind of draw all sorts of conclusions about his alleged misogyny if you were so inclined. But I'm not, so I won't.
The above video literally showcases all the best bits of the film, though. Literally. Until the last 30 minutes or so, it's an unrelentingly dull piece of cinema with a central performance from Nicholas Cage that can only ever be described as subtle if you had no idea of what subtle actually was. For about 10 minutes of that last half hour, it just turns into a massive festival of campness that has to be seen to be believed. But at least they kept the ending the same, though. Even though it was stripped of it's power.
It's another case of Hollywood taking something original and unique and forcing it into one of their accepted formulas because it's the only way they know how to do it.
That said, there's one genre that I wish they had forced the remake into...
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Brian Blessed Week Day 7
To round off Brian Blessed week, here he is proving he can fucking do anything...
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Brian Blessed Week Day 1
Yep, you read that right. This week on the blog is Brian Blessed Week!
This is one of those rare times when a drunken idea actually turns out to be a good one (or I think so, anyway, and it's my blog, so...). So, to kick it all off, there's really only one thing that I can post...
This is one of those rare times when a drunken idea actually turns out to be a good one (or I think so, anyway, and it's my blog, so...). So, to kick it all off, there's really only one thing that I can post...
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
"Pure and Simple"
B3ta.com veteran and all round talented person Sundae_Girl_2004 (aka Sue Wibble) made this rather lovely little video...
Expect it to be ripped off and slapped onto your TV very soon...
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
"If HE can get away with it..."
Following Jimmy Palmitotti's Sexy Monday, I thought I'd try Boob Tuesday...
Yeah, OK, so the title needs some work, but for your delectation, here's Miss Lucy Pinder reading H.G. Wells' War Of The Worlds...
Is it wrong of me to want to see Lucy Pinder on there, but hear Richard Burton? If she had Burton's voice, I think I would've found my perfect woman...
And they say that people reveal too much about themselves on the Internets...
Yeah, OK, so the title needs some work, but for your delectation, here's Miss Lucy Pinder reading H.G. Wells' War Of The Worlds...
Is it wrong of me to want to see Lucy Pinder on there, but hear Richard Burton? If she had Burton's voice, I think I would've found my perfect woman...
And they say that people reveal too much about themselves on the Internets...
Monday, January 11, 2010
"What's he DOING up there?"
This, I think, is probably the last time I actually laughed at Family Guy...
Sunday, January 10, 2010
100 Cupcakes...
Every year, Steelhead Studios throw a big game party to ring in the new year. This year, they celebrated with cupcakes. Game related cupcakes...
You can see more of these here.
You can see more of these here.
"Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!"
You can't move for news stories about the snow this week, and the pointless, time filling sequences of people's photographs of the white stuff (because, you know there's no other news at all this week). Everyone's panicking because a couple of flakes of snow have hit the ground and treating it like it's the end of civilisation as we know it. Then, of course, there's those smug bastards who are taking the piss because they've barely had a millimetre of it covering their streets, as well as those hardy souls that are saying "Bah! It's only a bit of snow!"
Normally, I'm one of the latter, but, living in way up here Northumberland, I've come to realise how cut off I am during times like this. Not quite as bad as Scotland, of course, but we're doing our best to keep up.
Train and bus services are erratic, with a lot of them being stopped at certain times of night because of black ice and damage cause by the cold; the local council is concentrating more on keeping the paths and roads clear around the new multi-million pound white elephant that is Sanderson Arcade, rather than dealing with the estates where people, you know, live (and when the snow plough does turn up, it just moves the top layer of snow over to the side of the road). Just walking into town proves to be more like a major polar expedition, not helped by the fact that the snow seems to turn people on the streets into massive arseholes, who are determined to hog the dry parts of the pavements so they don't have to get their wellies wet.
It has been, frankly, insane. But, on the other hand, it's been great to be able to lock myself away and get some writing done, make some plans and try and figure out the best way to seize 2010 and get things on track.
So, yeah, the snow isn't all that bad.
Normally, I'm one of the latter, but, living in way up here Northumberland, I've come to realise how cut off I am during times like this. Not quite as bad as Scotland, of course, but we're doing our best to keep up.
Train and bus services are erratic, with a lot of them being stopped at certain times of night because of black ice and damage cause by the cold; the local council is concentrating more on keeping the paths and roads clear around the new multi-million pound white elephant that is Sanderson Arcade, rather than dealing with the estates where people, you know, live (and when the snow plough does turn up, it just moves the top layer of snow over to the side of the road). Just walking into town proves to be more like a major polar expedition, not helped by the fact that the snow seems to turn people on the streets into massive arseholes, who are determined to hog the dry parts of the pavements so they don't have to get their wellies wet.
It has been, frankly, insane. But, on the other hand, it's been great to be able to lock myself away and get some writing done, make some plans and try and figure out the best way to seize 2010 and get things on track.
So, yeah, the snow isn't all that bad.
Saturday, January 09, 2010
"Purple Bats..."
Comic artist Cliff Chiang has conjured up some stunning pieces of art for sale at the comic cons, taking album covers from the 80's and giving them the superhero treatment...
Lovely, lovely artwork. Just a shame that the albums they're based on are crap.
Lovely, lovely artwork. Just a shame that the albums they're based on are crap.
Friday, January 08, 2010
The Redemption
Anyone with any intelligence whatsoever knows that LEGO Star Wars is the greatest toy ever, but LEGO and Star Wars enthusiast Steef de Prouw took it one step further and built The Redemption, an EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate in service to the Rebel Alliance Fleet.
And, just to go that extra mile, it also has a LEGO Millennium Falcon and LEGO X-Wings!
You can see more of this wonderful creation - including some more detailed photographs - here.
And, just to go that extra mile, it also has a LEGO Millennium Falcon and LEGO X-Wings!
You can see more of this wonderful creation - including some more detailed photographs - here.
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Friday, January 01, 2010
Blog Take Over Day
Romance writer Sally Quilford has suggested a "Blog Takeover Day", where someone - a real person or a fictional character - can take over your blog for a day. So, because it's now 2010, and I've got nothing better to post, I thought I'd let Carrie Hartnoll, the lead character from Babble take over for today...
Over the last year or so, I've gradually watched my life slowly fall apart.
Everything I ever hoped for, everything I wanted, it's all slipped away from me and I haven't been able to do a fucking thing to stop it. Yeah, you can sit there and shake your head and tell me it's my own fault, but as anyone who has any concept of life outside their window will know, sometimes things that are out of your control take over and ruin things for you. Sometimes, you have to give yourself up to the will of the systems that make up this world and just go with the flow, then deal with all the shit they drag you through.
Me, I lost a great job that I loved, so now I'm holding on to whatever crappy minimum wage bollocks I can to keep the fucking dole off my back. I'm a fucking number on a spreadsheet now, another face on the production line, wondering where the the life of happy endings and fulfilled dreams has gone.
Lately, I've found myself living in the past quite a bit, sifting through old memories (and not always good ones); a simple sentence from a woman on the street or a song on the radio sparks something off and, eventually, I find myself drifting back to my days at university. For me, that was the only time in my life I've felt completely happy and free - and I don't mean that because I was a student and I had the world at my feet. No, it's because when I was there, I met someone, a guy who was just... Well, he was everything I wanted.
His name was Alan, and he was a lecturer; that's all I'm going to tell you on such a public forum, because it might get out and damage his career. But the time we spent seeing each other was just the most brilliant, most exciting time of my life. I was, for the only time I can remember, genuinely happy. And by that, I mean I was content, like I'd found the piece of me that was missing; this was a guy that I could happily spend the rest of my days with. It sounds stupid, but I remember waking up next to him some mornings and just...smiling, because that was the only way I could express these huge feelings that were pinging around inside of me.
It's the little things I remember most, though, those stupid things that you do when you're in love; I remember laying with my head on his chest, listening to him breathe, waking up in the morning and getting lost in his eyes, the way he held me; I remember the specific way that he brewed his tea, cuddling up on his sofa to watch Arsenic & Old Lace, just...being there with him, sharing our lives. Everything about it just...made sense. To wheel out a tired old cliche for a moment, it felt as if we were meant to be together. Even the break up was perfect.
I look at the guy I'm with now, Damon, and sometimes I wonder why I'm with him. I make no bones about the fact that we originally hooked up as a bit of fun. I was single, and not looking for anything serious; he was a good looking guy, a little bit younger than me, and seemed to have his head screwed on, so I went for it. Then... Well, I don't know. Somehow we ended up in a relationship.
I know it's unfair to judge what I have with Damon against what I had with Alan, but my feelings for him were real. There was a connection between us that Damon and I don't have; I've tried to find it, but it seems like Damon's nothing more than a pretty shell that has to learn all of his emotions from watching Hollyoaks.
The worst part is, though, there's a bit of me that keeps thinking that I'll never find anyone like Alan again, and Damon's the best I'll ever do, that I'll be forced to settle into this life of mediocrity that's being laid out before me. I know Mum wants me to settle down, and she seems to think that Damon and I are a good match, but it feels like I'm settling for something...less.
I know that I should just call it a day with Damon, walk away and start over, but we've invested a lot in each other, and I feel as if I owe him a chance to try and make this work. Or that's what I keep telling myself, anyway. The truth is, I'm just too scared to walk away from it. After everything I've gone through, losing my job, being bounced around the dole's back to work schemes, losing Dad... Damon's the only stability I have right now, and, as pathetic as it sounds, I need that right now.
But I still can't help daydreaming about seeing Alan again...
Babble is an original graphic novel by myself and Bryan Coyle, due to be published by Insomnia Publications. For more information, please visit www.babblecomic.com.
Photograph by Bryan Coyle.
Over the last year or so, I've gradually watched my life slowly fall apart.
Everything I ever hoped for, everything I wanted, it's all slipped away from me and I haven't been able to do a fucking thing to stop it. Yeah, you can sit there and shake your head and tell me it's my own fault, but as anyone who has any concept of life outside their window will know, sometimes things that are out of your control take over and ruin things for you. Sometimes, you have to give yourself up to the will of the systems that make up this world and just go with the flow, then deal with all the shit they drag you through.
Me, I lost a great job that I loved, so now I'm holding on to whatever crappy minimum wage bollocks I can to keep the fucking dole off my back. I'm a fucking number on a spreadsheet now, another face on the production line, wondering where the the life of happy endings and fulfilled dreams has gone.
Lately, I've found myself living in the past quite a bit, sifting through old memories (and not always good ones); a simple sentence from a woman on the street or a song on the radio sparks something off and, eventually, I find myself drifting back to my days at university. For me, that was the only time in my life I've felt completely happy and free - and I don't mean that because I was a student and I had the world at my feet. No, it's because when I was there, I met someone, a guy who was just... Well, he was everything I wanted.
His name was Alan, and he was a lecturer; that's all I'm going to tell you on such a public forum, because it might get out and damage his career. But the time we spent seeing each other was just the most brilliant, most exciting time of my life. I was, for the only time I can remember, genuinely happy. And by that, I mean I was content, like I'd found the piece of me that was missing; this was a guy that I could happily spend the rest of my days with. It sounds stupid, but I remember waking up next to him some mornings and just...smiling, because that was the only way I could express these huge feelings that were pinging around inside of me.
It's the little things I remember most, though, those stupid things that you do when you're in love; I remember laying with my head on his chest, listening to him breathe, waking up in the morning and getting lost in his eyes, the way he held me; I remember the specific way that he brewed his tea, cuddling up on his sofa to watch Arsenic & Old Lace, just...being there with him, sharing our lives. Everything about it just...made sense. To wheel out a tired old cliche for a moment, it felt as if we were meant to be together. Even the break up was perfect.
I look at the guy I'm with now, Damon, and sometimes I wonder why I'm with him. I make no bones about the fact that we originally hooked up as a bit of fun. I was single, and not looking for anything serious; he was a good looking guy, a little bit younger than me, and seemed to have his head screwed on, so I went for it. Then... Well, I don't know. Somehow we ended up in a relationship.
I know it's unfair to judge what I have with Damon against what I had with Alan, but my feelings for him were real. There was a connection between us that Damon and I don't have; I've tried to find it, but it seems like Damon's nothing more than a pretty shell that has to learn all of his emotions from watching Hollyoaks.
The worst part is, though, there's a bit of me that keeps thinking that I'll never find anyone like Alan again, and Damon's the best I'll ever do, that I'll be forced to settle into this life of mediocrity that's being laid out before me. I know Mum wants me to settle down, and she seems to think that Damon and I are a good match, but it feels like I'm settling for something...less.
I know that I should just call it a day with Damon, walk away and start over, but we've invested a lot in each other, and I feel as if I owe him a chance to try and make this work. Or that's what I keep telling myself, anyway. The truth is, I'm just too scared to walk away from it. After everything I've gone through, losing my job, being bounced around the dole's back to work schemes, losing Dad... Damon's the only stability I have right now, and, as pathetic as it sounds, I need that right now.
But I still can't help daydreaming about seeing Alan again...
Babble is an original graphic novel by myself and Bryan Coyle, due to be published by Insomnia Publications. For more information, please visit www.babblecomic.com.
Photograph by Bryan Coyle.
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