Hoylus

2009-11-23T15:03:00.000Z

2009-04-02T13:20:00.000+01:00

2009-03-25T14:44:00.001Z

2009-03-09T15:53:00.004Z

2009-03-09T15:47:00.000Z

2009-03-09T09:30:00.000Z

2009-02-20T15:21:00.001Z

2008-12-19T15:22:00.000Z

2008-12-18T11:59:00.000Z

2008-12-05T11:54:00.000Z

2008-12-02T10:23:00.001Z

The 200th post!!!

2008-08-18T17:34:00.003+01:00

yes, 200 posts. woo.

Here's some strange footage of San Francisco under Empire occupation...

A kids version of the Dark Knight Trailer

Watchmen Trailer...

2008-07-18T08:01:00.005+01:00

The first trailer for the movie of the Greatest Graphic Novel of all time TM.

Once more... with Feeling, once more.

2008-07-16T17:44:00.001+01:00

so if you were a fan of Buffy the Musical, then you should probably check this out -

www.drhorrible.com

It's a new online musical from Joss whedon!

The Joker makes a 'funny'

2008-06-25T09:51:00.001+01:00

A new TV ad for the Dark Knight, wherein the Joker makes the most of Batman's obvious logic slip up.

Dr Who series 4 climax...

2008-06-23T10:06:00.002+01:00

The current series of Dr Who (series 4 or series 31 if you include the previous series (and count the TV movie as a 'series') is now entering it's finale, with the revelation that Rose has been trying to warn the Doctor of the end of the universe, or more specifically, all universes! Over the next two weeks, we'll see the return of one of the classic Dr who baddies, Davros, as well as seeing nearly all of the recurring characters created for 'new Who' gathered to face the Daleks for the ultimate showdown. Rumours abound with the idea that the Doctor will regenerate at the end of this series, that Donna Noble will die, that Rose will die, that Donna will betray the doctor, then lose her memory, that the tardis blows up, that the... Well people are excited anyways. Here's some trailers. I would recommend jumping on, but at this stage you woul dprobably be scratching your head as to what the heck is going on...

First clip of two face (almost?!)

2008-06-17T12:54:00.003+01:00

Hey,

So the viral marketing for The dark knight continues, and the latest batch of websites have thrown up a little gem.

Going to www.gothamcitypizzeria.com and clicking on the 'HA' in the main GOTHAM on the site will lead you here. A site showing the first clip of Harvey Dent as Two-Face , even though you only see a charred jaw.

"Dent? Jezuz, I thought you was dead."

"Half."

Lovin it.

still 7 weeks to go? It's a joke!

2008-06-13T17:57:00.001+01:00

Jack's newly discovered fight club content...

2008-06-13T16:42:00.003+01:00

Dr What the?!

2008-06-01T22:08:00.003+01:00

Ok, Ok. I'm a geek, a BIG geek. If you go to the dr who comic maker and click on top ten gallery, then Over 16 top ten, you'll find that my five part comic 'Deus ex Machina' now holds four of the top ten places! (not sure what was wrong with part 1!) Here's a screen shot for those of you too cool to check it out yourselves...

Wall E is alive!

2008-05-15T11:18:00.002+01:00

Wall E is the new movie from pixar that's coming up this June, following a trash compactor robot on a voyage of discovery.

This video shows how the company have produced a 'real life' Wall E for publicity.

Wall-E Spotted in LA! from Blink on Vimeo.

Brilliant!

Astonishing X-Men, the movie. Kinda.

2008-05-09T11:43:00.005+01:00

Astonishing X-men was a new title written by Joss Whedon of Buffy fame which started a few years back. He's just about to finish after 24 issues, but Marvel.com have released this - a mixed media version of the first issue, and it's ok...

Two-Face Spoilers!

2008-05-04T10:47:00.003+01:00

From the new Dark Knight trailer at http://www.whysoserious.com/happytrails/trailer.htm

We get the first official glimpse of Two-Face (note the crispy edges of his profile and natty multicoloured left shoulder of his suit!)

Actor Aaron Eckhart also gives away some huge plot points in this interview with the LATimes, including the death of a major character and the true motivation of his character after becoming Two-Face.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/la-ca-echkart-2008may04,0,3210342.story

Finally, in huge spoilery news, Lard has posted a photo (originally posted on joblo.com, I believe) of Harvey as Two-Face. It's pretty gross.

Also, it has been removed from some sites by warner brothers, so it's probably also real!

Who watches the Watchmen? Well, I do...

2008-03-07T11:32:00.005Z

It's been a while...

Here's the first official shots of 5 of the man characters of the new Watchmen movie -

What can I say? Looks brilliant. But I wouldn't expect any less from the director of 300. Of course, the plot of 300 wasn't exactly complex, which will be the real challenge here.

Heath Ledger 1979-2008

2008-01-23T07:54:00.001Z

Just heard the tragic news that Heath Ledger was found dead at his apartment in New York this morning. Wanted to post a little memorial as he's been such a central feature of this blog for a while.

Whilst early reports suggested he was found 'surrounded by pills', it now appears that Heath was suffering from Pneumonia and insomnia accidentally overdosed.

I first saw Heath in '10 things I hate about you', an enjoyable teen movie based on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, and he also featured in my (albeit ill advised) choice for Jen and my first date movie, Monster's Ball.

His most notorious and notable performance to date was in 'Brokeback Mountain' for which he recieved an oscar nomination portraying a rach hand who has a torrid affair with a rodeo rider played by Jake Gyllenhaal.

Of course, this year he will be appearing in The Dark Knight as the arch nemesis of Batman, the Joker.

Heath leaves behind a two year old daughter, Matilda.

"They say of the acropolis, where the parthenon is..."

2008-01-10T11:40:00.000Z

Happy new year...!

Separated at mirth...

2007-12-17T11:14:00.000Z

So, I know people want to hear about what's going on with me etc. and I'll get to that one of these days, but first I wanted to say - The new Dark Knight trailer is out and it rules! here it is - I also picked up some new publicity Photos of the Joker and realised that Ben Jamie is clearly the Clown Prince of Crime hiding away in Shepherds Bush from the GCPD. Let's look at the evidence -

Someone should tell Jen, quick.

And to round off my Dark Knight post, here's the creepiest poster yet... Merry Christmas...

Lardmas

2007-12-14T09:19:00.000Z

So as well as beng on the Relevant podcast, it seems Lloyd has infiltrated the world of modelling too. Opened my regular relevant mail to be greeted with the above. Oh Lloyd.

One day mate, we'll actually be on skype at the same time, so we don't have to read each other's 'are you there?' messages with a tear in our eye.

The Driftwood Pilgrim...

2007-12-11T16:07:00.000Z

Rose returns...

2007-11-28T21:52:00.000Z

Good news for Doctor Who fans.

The offical website confirms that Billie Piper will be returning as Rose Tyler in series 4!

There's no confirmation of when Rose will appear or for how long, but last time we saw her she was left stranded in an alternate version of Earth in another dimension, following the Doctor's victory over the combined might of the Daleks and the Cybermen.

With rumours that Davros, the former leader of the Daleks, will be the series' 'Big Bad', it could be that Rose returns to help smite the possibly greek, definately evil genius.

Surprisingly, that means the doctor will have three assistants to pick from next series (four if Kylie fulfils that role in the Christmas special 'voyage of the damned'). Perhaps the series finale sees an 'assistant death match' the winner getting to stay in the tardis....

long time no see...

2007-11-27T17:03:00.000Z

So I've popped in for two reasons. 1. There's a new Joker picture. Empire Jan 08 cover. Looks cool. 2. I want to keep this blog going and am building up to proper posting, so don't want anyone to declare it dead. Hang in there...

Kenny Rogers, muppets and rugby.

2007-10-18T12:29:00.001+01:00

So It turns out the England Rugby team have been listening to Kenny Rogers' song, the Gambler, as inspiration for the World Cup. It was only right then that Mr Rogers should send this message to the England team prior to the match against France... And I thought I'd post this crazy performance of The Gambler from the Muppet Show. Think about it: a kids show encouraging gambling, smoking, drinking, and then showing an old gambler dying on a late night train. All rounded off by a nice round of applause, with the corpse still sat there. Those were the days. You wouldn't see it on Lazytown...

sony bravia rabbits.

2007-10-18T12:19:00.000+01:00

anagrams of my name...

2007-10-17T11:04:00.000+01:00

Help Impale His Joy. Oh! Jelly Pie mishap. Eel Jails Hippy Ohm. Hail pimp's joy, heel. I help ye polish Jam.

The State of the Union by David Ford.

2007-09-24T10:47:00.000+01:00

Sweet dreams, all met with derision This train, it was armed for collision It's a shame, it's a shame, it's a shame Clap your hands in the sparkle and glitter Shake your heads at the twisted and bitter Oh, they don't know how lucky they are Foot down for the alienation Look on as your love, it gets lost in translation To a language that nobody understands But there are smiles as they erode and corrupt you Of the great expectations you could never live up to We are lost, we are lost, we are lost Get you coat, because the righteous are leaving Because they can't work out what the hell to believe in It's a shame, it's a shame, it's a shame No abandon, no heartfelt desire No love could be worth getting fired For real, it's surreal, it's so real So paint over the cracks and then cover What you thought was the worst-ever pain with another And the first one, it always comes free How they love you, so cold and so vicious With friends like these, well, who needs politicians The first one, it always comes free They tell you heroin takes like ice cream Clever men know all that and all this And they will talk and they will talk and they don't fucking listen It's a shame, it's a shame, it's a shame It's no life, but God, it's a living Come on, Jesus Christ, come back, all is forgiven We are lost, we are lost, we are lost Have no fear of the state of the nation Let the facts have no bearing on public relations It's a shame, it's a shame, it's a shame What a model of Christian behaviour Preach on with the message of "Go fuck thy neighbour" It's a shame, it's a shame, it's a shame A shame, it's a shame Watch your step by the crowd of fanatics While they kill in the name of applied mathematics And you hate the system even though you invented it Go kill your brothers and claim self defense of it Picking up all the secrets and the tricks to being One of the guys whom the shit never sticks to Take your seats for the final calamity Don't you look so serious, hell, what can the matter be? Another day and the rot's getting faster And all the machines started killing their master It's a shame, it's a shame, it's a shame It's a shame, it's a shame, it's a shame It's a shame, it's a shame, it's a shame It's a shame, it's a shame, it's a shame

Robin the girl wonder...

2007-09-13T13:19:00.000+01:00

So many of you won't know that there have been 4 robins during batman's lifetime. The first is Dick Grayson, who became Nightwing, the second is Jason Todd, who was killed by the Joker and has recently resurrected when an evil superboy punched reality (yes, as bad as it sounds), Tim Drake was the next (and current) Robin and the fourth, but perhaps least well known Robin was Stephanie Brown. She filled the Robin position when Tim stood down for a time and was horrifically tortured by black mask and left for dead by one of BAtman's closest allies, in order to teach Batman a lesson about using innocents to fight crime (an odd way of protecting innocents, killing them?!) Anyways, since Stephanie's death, she's been all but forgotten by Batman, leading many readers to cry sexism - How is it you can forget a female robin, but not a male one? Jason Todd got a memorial in the batcave (and now he's alive!) whereas Stphanie gets nothing. You can read all about the fourth Robin here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoiler_(comics) Anyways, a while back, Dean Trippe set a meme to draw Stephanie Brown see entries here - http://dryponder.livejournal.com/129857.html?mode=reply Anyways, I thought I'd give it a go - hope you like it...

Craziness...

2007-09-05T12:40:00.000+01:00

Today, as the train pulled into Barnes station at 8.56am, two middle aged men scuffled with each other, flapping their arms like angry schoolgirls, trying to be the first one onto the train. Everyone around stood and gaped because it looked absolutely ridiculous, and of course it was. A South African lady, on her mobile phone, was also trying to get on the train and commented to whoever she was speaking to that 'some old guys are fighting over the train door - it's one of the most stupid things I've ever seen.' She said it in that dismissive way that business peole have of talking, and the two men kind of fell into the train and separated, huffing and grumbling. The rest of us climbd on, shaking our heads and exhaling with breathy smirks. I wonder if we're completely screwed when two men can have a fight (albeit a little, schoolgirly one) about train doors, when the world is heading to hell in a handbag. You want to fight? pick your issues.

Turning 30, the Dark Knight and some books...

2007-08-20T12:33:00.000+01:00

So I turned 30 on the 11th August. It was fun. A lovely day with a cooked breakfast, afternoon in the park, dinner at Liz and James' and then out for a drink at the Jolly's in Putney. To be honest, I did have a little too much... but I'm pretty sure I'm forgiven. My wife and others clubbed together and got me an xbox 360 which is very exciting. I'm loving Spider-man 3 and this weekend my eldest bro sent me Battle for Middle Earth II, so I'm pretty much geeked out! In other exciting news, some quite revealing Dark Knight preview pictures have appeared online. Empire seem quite confused as to how they've gone up, but here they are -

I just finished rereading the first four harry potter books. Really enjoyed them again. Of course, many people criticise the books for poor writing etc. but I think you can definately see a maturing style as you read through, and what the books have in spades is intriguing plot. Also, I've noticed is that JK is great at naming things. Seriously, is there ever a name that isn't convincing? Anyways, my copy of Order of the Phoenix is still missing, so I've taken a break and started reading this -

It's a book about a pack of werewolves who live in LA. The intriguing thing is that it's written as free verse - the WHOLE NOVEL! Very cool. It's taking a while to get used to, but I'm liking it. a Sample -

"So get this straight it's not the full moon. That's as ancient and ignorant as any myth. The blood just quickens with a thought a discipline develops so that one can self-ignite, reshaping form, becoming something rather more canine still concious, a little hungrier. It's a raw muscular power, a rich sexual energy and the food tastes a whole lot better."

Great cover too!

I've lined this up next -

It's about a cursed book and interdimensional chasing.

When you read the back of a book and it has a quote from Douglas Coupland which reads `A masterpiece . . . A brilliant, engaging story that in the end makes you rethink the nature of existence and the true structure of the world.' you kind of have to take a look. The book also looks spectacular. You can see the cover above, good retro creepiness, but it's also a little slimmer across than a normal book, and all the pages are edged in black.

Reading both of the above, I guess I'm sold on unique style over an actual content. But I'm sure they'll more than match my expectations.

So....

2007-08-08T09:19:00.000+01:00

There's life in the old blog yet. Sure, the power of Facebook rises to challenge it and it's been over a month and a half, but reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. Things that have happened recently - 1. I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It was good, if a little crammed. Also it's best moment was stolen from Aliens, so that was a bit of a swizz. However, I would now rank the seven Harry Potter books thusly - 1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. 2. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. 3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. 4. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. 5. Harry Potter and the Philosphers Stone. 6. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. 7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. 2. I also saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Movie. It was troubled. By focussing too much on inner termoil, the climatic fight at the end between the death eaters and the Order, and then Voldemort and Dumbledore was really undersold. And, as in the book, someone dying by simply falling through a curtain is not dramatic, or particularly moving. Oh, and Dumbledore doesnt' use the statues to defend himself, which was a huge oversight IMO. Film rankings thus far - 1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. 2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. 3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. 4. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. 5. Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. 3. I saw Transformers, which was a big ol' dumb movie that looked really pretty. Megatron was underused and no Soundwave. 4. Myself and Jen bought a Macbook. Lovely. Loving Comic Life. Till Apex Returns will be helped immeasurably. 5. I was best man at Liz and James' Wedding. Lovely day - Joe V helped me out during my speech by being very drunk and laughing. A lot. 6. In three days I turn 30. I'm looking forward to it. 7. There's a teaser trailer for The Dark Knight been released - and one of the voices sounds very familiar... See you again soon...

A new way to review movies...

2007-06-19T12:38:00.000+01:00

KC pointed me in the direction of this website (actually, that's not true. He actually asked me never to visit it, but that's like a red rag to a bull) Jesusfreakhideout.com is a review site from a 'Christian perspective'.

However, it's breakdown of movie content by sex/nudity, vulgarity/language, Alcohol/Drugs, blood/gore, and violence is an invaluable source of information. Take last weeks Fantastic four release. You might have thought it was a kid friendly superhero flick but no... In the 'sex nudity' category we have - "Sue's wedding dress is low cut and shows cleavage; A lot of people are shown at a bachelor's party and wear low cut, cleavage-revealing attire and are shown dancing" - Why were the batchelors wearing low cut revealing attire? and how is dancing sex/nudity? In alcohol/drugs we have - "Some people are drinking at a bar at a party and also around the party." I like how it diferentiates between drinking at the bar and those drinking around the party. Like the drinking at a bar is much, much worse. In vulgarity/language we have - "1 "d*mn," 5 "h*ll," 3 "cr*p," 2 "a" words, 9 "G-d," 1 "p*ssing me off" " but of course, I'm assuming people use language throughout the film, so they must mean 'bad language'. Violence - "we see many people on a ferris wheel as the Fantastic 4 try to keep it from falling into a river. We hear of a being that destroys planets eight days after arriving at them;" - well, from the trailers the 'ferris wheel' is the London Eye, so the 'river' is the Thames! and hearing about someone who could do something hardly qualifies - how is any of this violence?! Anyways, have fun looking through the reviews. Can you guess what film contains this piece of nudity? "Barbara shows cleavage in her dress in several scenes." highlight below to reveal the answer - It's that debauched movie 'Amazing Grace' of course!

The Batpod Begins...

2007-06-19T11:30:00.000+01:00

So Following the introduction of the Tumbler in Batman Begins, it seems the Dark Knight will see Batman wheeling around the streets of Gotham on this -

Dubbed the Batpod, it looks pretty cool, I thought of the Lawmaster from Judge Dredd when I saw it.

Here's the Dark Knight astride his steel horse...

Vote Saxon...

2007-06-18T14:43:00.000+01:00

The new Batsuit...

2007-06-15T13:07:00.003+01:00

So after the reveal of the Joker, a picture of Batman's new suit appears online. Here it is - I like it, still armour like and no bat nipples.

I've been tagged...

2007-06-14T09:12:00.000+01:00

So Lard tagged me to post the fifth full sentence of page 161 in the nearest book to me. The book is 'The Truth About AIDS - and a practical Christian Response' by Dr Patrick Dixon It reads 'He created human beings to belong to each other, and those whose families had died or were far away, to be cared for, if they wished, by other families or communities.' I'm supposed to tag people, but I can't be bothered.

Zeus, not God...

2007-06-04T12:24:00.000+01:00

Have you ever read a book and then had to pause to check whether it actually said what you thought you'd read?

Well, I'm reading 'pierced for our transgressions' at the mo, a book written Steve Jeffery, Mike Ovey and Andrew Sach, largely in response to the 'controversy' (that is, a few people in the church got upset about it, as the wider world carried on oblivious) following Steve Chalke's book 'The Lost Message of Jesus'.

Basic set up - Steve posed the question in his book - If Jesus was killed to appease God the Father's anger doesn't it make the cross 'cosmic child abuse'? Could we rather see the cross as Jesus combatting sin and death, rather than his angry dad?

The response was that people felt Steve was saying Jesus didn't die in our place, which I'm not sure is actually what he said. But anyway.

In their book, Steve Mike and Andrewa are trying to reestablish the biblical, historical and logical basis for believing in penal substitution. They feel that what people object to is often a caricature of actual penal substitution, which, if understood properly, would not result in all this 'cosmic child abuse' bunkum. To be honest, that's great. I like debate and I would welcome some reasoned explanations of the real view of penal substitution so I don't get it twisted.

However, I read this sentence (page 152 half way down)...

' This is the biblical portrait of the people for whom Christ died. We were objects of wrath, rightly facing the unmitigated, everlasting fury of an incensed God, but now in Christ we have found mercy.'

and had my wtf?! moment. "the unmitigated, everlasting fury of an incensed God."

Let's do some definitions -

Unmitigated - "Not diminished or moderated in intensity or severity; unrelieved. Without qualification or exception; absolute." (dictionary.com)

Everlasting - "eternal, lasting or continuing for an indefinitely long time, incessant"

Fury - "unrestrained or violent anger, rage, passion, or the like"

Incensed "inflamed with wrath; angry; enraged"

So we have a God who is 'enflamed with wrath', that is, an 'unrestrained, violent anger', 'not diminished or moderated in intensity or severity' 'lasting for an indefinately long time'.

Hang on - isn't this the caricature they want to avoid? How would someone go about caricaturing this? 'God who stamps on young blind puppies, whilst boiling bunnies and cackling with evil laughter'?

Feel free to have a go below, or just make a comment...

It's Northern Lights, dammit!

2007-05-24T16:15:00.000+01:00

Today sees the launch of the Golden Compass trailer, the first of a - what else? - trilogy of movies based on the 'his dark materials' trilogy. Looks great!

By the Power of Retro....

2007-05-24T11:36:00.000+01:00

With Transformers coming out later this year, and superheroes being big movie properties, we should have expected this news - He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is to be made into a live action movie by Warner Bros. (the picture above is NOT a movie still!) Read all about it here. Seems '300' will be a big influence on visuals, and, despite rumours of Brad Pitt, no one has been cast. This is great news. He-man was a favourite of mine as a kid. Let's hope it lives up to the Dolph Lungren 80's version!

Some more on Feminisim in comics...

2007-05-21T16:17:00.000+01:00

On this informative site , 'Girls read comics (and they're pissed)'*, Karen Healey gives us the run down on 'comics feminism bingo' and answers a specific objection that was raised here... "But men are drawn unrealistically too! This is probably the bingo point that causes the most fuss. When otherwise enlightened persons use the argument and are consequently informed of their gaffe, they tend to respond, baffled, “But I’m RIGHT! They ARE!” Yes! You are right! Nowhere but in comics or other carefully controlled media does one find such stunning physical specimens of manhood. Comic book guys often have symmetrical features, are well- (often over-) muscled and are generally good looking. However, you don’t find many of them striding along in bathing suits and high-heeled boots, wrenching their backs out as they hurl their hips around and thrust their tumescent, massive penises and firmly rounded butts at the reader. Why? Because that would look ridiculous. So why isn’t it ridiculous when it’s done to female characters? No one would deny that the average superhero team contains more attractive men than you would find walking down the street anywhere but Hollywood. But there is a substantial difference between the unrealistic portrayal of men and women that relies heavily on gendered stereotyping of what is attractive. Men must be strong! Women must be sexy! So when you say “But men are drawn unrealistically too!”, the bingo player reads “Men are drawn to look strong and handsome, and that’s why you shouldn’t complain..." I should not that that means 'angry' not that they're all drunk!

The first Laugh...

2007-05-21T09:48:00.000+01:00

So, I said last week that since the official Dark Knight Site was up, we could expect the false pictures to stop soon. Well, I was right - Lard talks about the viral marketing, which was a cool way to reveal this - Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight.

Anita, you may want to re think the yummy comment! The pictures used for the big reveal were this campaign poster - Things to note - Harvey Dent is the district attourney who becomes the villain two face after having acid thrown in his face. The Phrase 'I believe in Harvey Dent' was used in 'The Long Halloween', a series that acted as a 'year two' story for Batman, establishing Two Face and featuring many of Batman's rogues gallery. this image, of the poster defaced by the Joker, has led people to speculate that it will be the clown prince of crime that throws the acid by the end of the movie... All very exciting. The world is having nerdgasms.

Statuescapades...

2007-05-16T13:14:00.000+01:00

So the latest controversy in Comicdom is this statue of Mary Jane Parker (wife of Spider-man)

Lots of comic readers are decrying the sexualised domesticness of MJ. See some reactions here... One fan even wanted to balance the books and so created a Peter Parker variant... Of course, comics being accused of sexist portrayals of women is quite a common occurance. Of course I can't think why... Yeah, there's some problems...

Let Bartlet be Bartlet...

2007-05-15T12:32:00.000+01:00

Was listening to Peter Ka on Simon Mayo the other day, gushing about the West Wing. I'm currently just finished season 5, and looking forward to picking up season 6 soon... but thought I'd gather a few of my favourite Bartlet moments found on You tube...

It Begins, again...

2007-05-14T15:26:00.000+01:00

Warner Bros have launched the new Dark Knight site (the follow up to Batman Begins)

Just a logo at the mo, but it means we'll soon be seeing photos and spoilers. Yay.

Means fake photos like this

and this

will start to dry up...

The best laid plans...

2007-05-11T18:15:00.000+01:00

Some online gamers spend a while planning their next move, but one of them gets a bit impatient..... Some bad language!!! Altogether 'leeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrooooooooyyyyyy jenkins! At least he has chicken. (turns out this is reasonably old and scripted, but still made me laugh.)

Too hot to handle!

2007-05-09T17:41:00.000+01:00

Apparently, my blog is the only one that Tom can't access from school due to 'inappropriate material'!

Hardcore. Oh, actually typing that may make it even less accessible!

In my dreams....

2007-05-09T14:21:00.000+01:00

While I'd love to say that this is the artwork for the launch of a 'New X-Men' Cartoon, I can't. It's actually fan art.

Jared M Jones AKA Ronnie Thunderbolt, does a nice line in 'animated' style Marvel characters - here's a few more he's done...

I'd love to be able to draw like this - would help with the graphic novel!!!

What's the point?

2007-05-06T23:07:00.000+01:00

I mean, really.

Click for Britain

2007-05-04T08:48:00.001+01:00

You know you want to...

My first Saturday blog...!

2007-04-28T15:01:00.000+01:00

So I'm sat in my living room as our plasterer is about to finish our hallway (a day late, and he'll probably ask for more money!). Jen's headed down the park to chill in the sun, so I'm left with little to do. Hence a Saturday blog.

I thought I'd post up some pictures that have caught my eye recently...

Here's Bruce Timm's cheeky rendition of the Julie Newmar version of Catwoman...

Alex Ross has been working on JSA covers for a while now, this one is issue 7, featuring a new version of Commander Steel.

This brilliant rendition of The Human Torch is by Adi Granov for the Fantistic Four issue 542 Cover.

Can't find who did this one, but it's a black and white twist on the Spider-man 2099 costume. Pretty sweet.

Finally for the art, this week sees the end of '52' - the year long weekly comic produced by DC Comics to fill the gap etween their 'inifinte crisis' story and the 'one year later' stories that kicked off last year. To see all 52 covers by J.G. Jones, and hear a little about how he created them, click here.

Also worth a mention was this costume created by a guy called Jacemoore. It's based on art by Humberto Ramos, which I've placed next to it - pretty cool!

My Soul is named Delila

2007-04-26T12:33:00.000+01:00

So The movie of 'Northern Lights' (Well, Ok, they're calling it the Golden Compass, the US name for the first book in the 'Dark Materials' Trilogy') comes out this December, and the website for the film here gives you the opportunity to undergo a small quiz to find your Daemon. Whilst some of the more evangelical of you out there may have just had a heart attack, you needn't worry. It's a story! In Pullman's books, People's souls live on the outside of them and take the form of 'Daemons', essentially an animal that represents your personality. I did the test and my daemon was revealed as 'Delila, the Ermine.' Who'd have thought? Announce your daemon's below....

the fate of jar jar binks...

2007-04-25T14:59:00.000+01:00

Now that's the way to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Wars.

Everyones at it...

2007-04-24T15:37:00.000+01:00

So today I discovered that comics are becoming the evangelising/envisioning tool a la mode. Firstly, the Manga Bible claims to be the first manga retelling of the biggest selling book(s) of all time. Of course, it's not, and at the moment it's only the New testament (OT to follow later in the year). Mind you, the scene where Jesus is revealed to be a nuclear powered, demon possessed cyborg with vampyric tentacles is a revelation*. Secondly, the Catholic church have developed this website. It aims to tell young people the joys of ministry through the medium of comic book, but can only manage three actual panels whilst the stories of the called are told in prose. A bit half arsed, methinks. In other news, Spider-man 3 premiered in London last night. My housemate Anna got to go, being a licensing guru for Marvel, but I didn't. Not bitter though. At all. Of course, I looked out for news of the premiere this am. Rather than focussing on the brilliance of the movie (or otherwise), it was mainly about dresses. Ridiculous. Most notably, it was about this 'dress' worn by Samantha mumba. Apparently it cost 5 million pounds! I wonder if they'd spent 6 million they could've actually made it look expensive, rather than a desperate attempt to cry 'look at me, look at me, I need to resuscitate my comatose pop career'?

Ah well, an unusually catty end for me, perhaps, but think - they gave her a ticket for the premier instead of you.

I am Hulk's quiet alterego...

2007-04-16T09:32:00.000+01:00

News today that Edward Norton will be playing Bruce Banner in the Incredible Hulk, the follow up to the uneasily received 'Hulk'. It's an interesting choice, as early reports were that the Incredible Hulk would be more action focussed than it's psychoanalytical predecessor. Norton isn't known for his action fayre, but he could lend a 'seriousness' to the role of the tormented banner that would be well recieved. here's a reminder of the best bit of the previous movie... Hulk smash...

Introducing....Monochrome

2007-04-12T14:25:00.000+01:00

A while ago I said that I had begun work on a Graphic novel project called 'Till Apex Returns', well, The first issue/chapter's first draft is in the bag and being editted, and character designs and plotting are well underway. I'm having a blast with it, to be honest.

The guy above is called 'Monochrome' - an anti-hero who plots against the corrupt 'Council', and he's one of the man characters. Monochrome means 'of one colour' and his name indicates his single focussed approach to overthrowing the powers that be.

I'm really appreciating the priviledge of having a day just to create.

In some ways, it feels as though I'm creating a new me... but that's far too pretentious a thing for me to say!!!

The Daughter of Davros...

2007-04-12T12:54:00.000+01:00

So this morning at the office the subject of Doctor Who came up and what should one of our number say but, 'My Dad was in Doctor Who'. A quick google later and, indeed, here he is...

Yes it's true. For months now I have been sat opposite the Daughter of Davros! Frances, daughter of David, Gooderson, who played Davros during Tom Baker's run, in 'Destiny of the Daleks'. Apparently he still does the Convention circuit! How cool is that!? Of course, her perchant for destruction and the way she rides around in the lower half of a dalek should have given it away...

Behold....Iron Man!

2007-04-12T10:24:00.000+01:00

Here's the first picture from the Iron Man Movie coming up, starring Robert Downey Jr. This is the Iron Man Armour Mark 1, which, at least in the comics, Tony Stark builds to escape a P.O.W. camp in Vietnam. Looks pretty good in a tick tock kind of way. Also, the next trailer for Spider-Man 3 is out, and this time we get a blink and you'll miss it picture of venom head on. Fortunately, I didn't blink, and here it is... cool.

Sorry about the lack of posts....

2007-04-11T12:40:00.000+01:00

but I just watched Pan's Labyrinth and I'm taking some time to recover... If you haven't, you should...

Your new favourite comic...

2007-04-05T13:32:00.000+01:00

Picked up We3 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely from the library this week. I'd heard it was good, but hadn't expected this almost flawless little gem. A lost pet Dog, Cat and Rabbit have been taken by the government and turned into cybernetic killing machines (called 1, 2 and 3), complete with explosives, armour-plating and machine guns. However, phase 2 of the experiment is ready to be rolled out and the 3 original animals are scheduled for 'decommissioning', that is, until their handler has other ideas. The rest of this fantastic comic plays out like a cross between watership down (or it's lesser known sister title, the plague dogs) and well, robocop?! The three main characters are well rounded (for animal cyborg killing machines), each one maintaining it's unique personality whilst gaining a robotic text language voice to communicate with humans. The art is sumptuous and you find yourself on the edge of your seat as We3 try and make it to their elusive 'home'. If anything, the book slightly stutters by pulling away from the inevitably depressing ending, but it's well worth the ride. We3 is currently be adaped for the screen by New Line. Oh, and I thought I'd chuck in the first four pages of my Civil War spoof Issue 2....

By popular demand.....

2007-04-03T12:25:00.000+01:00

More unintentionally funny comic book frames and covers. (Need to read the top right of this one!)

Look. Who's Back!

2007-03-30T16:39:00.000+01:00

Holy Spit!

2007-03-22T11:03:00.000Z

So recently I've been trying to get some of you to see comics in a different light, maybe consider picking one up and having a read - surely this will peak your curiosty...

Yes, Jesus the vampire Slayer.

Not fake. Promise.

Civil Who?

2007-03-21T16:14:00.000Z

Yes, it's part two of Issue one of my Civil War spoof. Why? because Lard asked for it. Blame him.

Just for your interest...

2007-03-19T12:20:00.000Z

My japanese name is 浜野 Hamano (seaside field) 雄大 Masahiro (big hero). Take your real japanese name generator! today! Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.

When Captain America bestows his mighty shield...

2007-03-13T12:31:00.000Z

So, it takes time to do those spoof things, so people will have to waiit a bit for more, but Captain America's death made the Colbert Report.... Funny.

Civil What? One for the nerds, I'm afraid...

2007-03-08T16:25:00.000Z

So... I've been talking loads about Civil War and how I was a bit dissappointed. Well, inspired by this guys spoof, I decided to parody it myself. Probably funnier (but only marginally) if you've read Civil War... first 12 pages below...

Captain America R.I.P.

2007-03-08T09:20:00.000Z

Following the end of Marvel's Civil War series, The iconic Character Captain America has been killed off by the company. Following his arrest, Cap was gunned down outside the court house by a sniper, Crossbones -

A sad day. You can read more about Captain America's history here. My favourite moment in his long life is probably his punching Hitler.

His death It won't stick though. Comic Character's have a knack of coming back from the dead. Especially if the return will boost sales. Anyways, for now, america has lost a hero. And goodness knows it needs all the heroes it can get.

Steve Rogers, Captain America: 1941-2007.

More innocent days....

2007-03-07T10:52:00.000Z

Now often people tell me that my love of comic books is a bit weird and not a little childish. well, in an attempt to confound these naysayers, I give you unintentionally funny comic book panels! Yes, through the years, as language and attitudes have changed, it's left us with some hilariously inappropriate material from the world of comics - All of these are real I promise - not editted in any way. hope you enjoy (you might have to click the pictures to read the text)...

Spider-Man, Spider-man, kills his best friend, stupid man.

2007-03-06T13:44:00.000Z

So, some footage went up from the forthcoming Spider-man 3 Which reveals a pretty big spoiler. Get through the mushy stuff at the beginning to see what must be the complete fight scene between two main characters of the series. Resulting in ones early demise! See it here (takes ages to load, but worth it!) Oh, and there's more blink and you'll miss it Venom footage, so I thought I'd copy some pictures

ooga booga!

If you're interested, I wrote a review of Children of Men for the Salvation Army that you can read here. (It says Simon Parkin wrote it. Lies, all lies!)

Also, Civil War, the Marvel series I spoke about here finished this month. It turned out that Iron Man did indeed sign up with the government to register superheroes (facist!) whilst Captain America led a band of heroes to fist fight for freedom (er...pointless!). Want to know who won? highlight text below!

Marvel Comics won of course - huge sales even though the story blew! Oh and in terms of the 'story' Captain America handed Iron Man his ass in the final battle, only to be tackled by a group of 911 workers (1 fireman, 1 police officer, 1 paramedic, 1, I don't know, postman?) which then made him realise that he had been endangering civilians whilst fighting Iron Man. Er... I guess we should ignore the fact that the whole series started off with superheroes endangering (killing actually) a group of civilians, why didn't he realise that then?

Anyways, I guess that's why they're called 'funny books'.

Updates...

2007-03-05T14:48:00.000Z

So I don't think I've updated everyone about stuff. Well, I'm now working four days a week for Oasis Trust in a new role as National Training Co-ordinator. This means I'm heading up short courses (mentoring, volunteer Youth work and Sex and Relationship Education) for Oasis along with a great (if small) team. It's a good move for me and it means a promotion, so yay! As well as that, I also have gone part time (I now work 4 days a week), so I'm devoting the extra day to writing. Yes I'm giving my graphic novel idea a real go... "The Extraordinary War - Till Apex Returns" is now underway. Here's a sample... "...I think that despite their alarm and initial suspicion following our unexpected emergence, they were still too quick to label us all heroes. Conditioned by wide-eyed childhoods filled with brightly coloured adventures and quaint morality from comic books and Saturday morning cartoon shows, perhaps they willed us so. Their world, so recently ravaged by the New Crusades, needed to believe that the ‘Extraordinaries’ were the shining dawn of a new era. I fear, however, that our all too sudden transformations and the glamour of our amazing powers led them to forget that we were just like them: flawed and human. It would have done them well to remember..." Cross fingers I can generate some interest. I know, doesn't sound hoepful! Well, Here's a funny photo - It's me three years ago. Notice the hair and extra chin. How funny. And a few of recommendations - Firstly, Black Hole, by Charles Burns. A Graphic novel exploring growing up in early 1970's America with a sexually transmitted desease that turns you into a hideous mutant. Sounds weird, and is. But it's good too. Secondly, 'Life in Cartoon Motion' by Mika. I shouldn't like it, but this hybrid spawn of Queen and the Scissor Sisters has drilled into my brain with catchy hooks and brightly coloured positivity. My Muso friends will stone me for it. Sorry Pandahead. Thirdly, The Departed. Sure it won the oscar, but it's actually good. Especially Mark Wahlberg. And who doesn't want Marky Mark to win out? Hope you're all doing well!

It's pancake day

2007-02-20T11:09:00.000Z

A Simple Protest...

2007-02-07T15:15:00.000Z

As most of you know, I'm a pretty laid back kind of guy, but something has recently got my back up a bit. You see, this year, the world will be celebrating the 200th anniversary of the abolition of trans atlantic slavery, and yet today it's estimated that at least 12.3 million people are victims of forced labour worldwide. Of these, 600,000-800,000 men, women and children are trafficked across international borders each year. Approximately 80 per cent are women and girls. Up to 50% are minors. Furthermore, the majority of trafficked victims arguably come from the poorest countries and poorest strata of those countries' populations. It’s suggested that 1.2 million children trafficked each year (in and across borders). So that's why I've got involved in Stop the Traffik. Human trafficking is the forced (by means of threat or use of force, abduction or other coercion) recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons for exploitation, usually in exchange for cash. When we talk about exploitation, we’re essentially talking about people being forced into prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour, slavery or even the removal of organs. Here's the story of a girl who was trafficked... Mary is 19-years old and came into the United States from Mexico. She has an 11-month-old son. Mary was persuaded to go to the US on the promise that she would have a better life and be provided with a job. However, Mary was verbally abused and raped several times by her trafficker - which is how she conceived her son. Mary reported that she previously had a miscarriage due to the abuse and at times was not allowed to seek medical attention. She was escorted to her job in a factory where she packaged vegetables, but was never paid for her employment. Mary was not allowed to leave the apartment in which she was staying unless she was going to work. She was threatened, being told that if she attempted to escape she would be deported or hurt by the immigration department. Thankfully, Mary is currently being provided shelter, therapeutic counselling, clothing, food and legal advocacy services from the Salvation Army, but many, many others are not so lucky. We have to do something!!! Stop the Traffik is a coalition of organisations and individuals united around a common cause - To declare that People trafficking is wrong and to Prevent The Sale of People, Prosecute The Traffickers, Protect The Victims. You should visit www.stopthetraffik.org to find out more and especially sign up in support, but it occured to me that raising awareness is key, so... I've developed my own small action called - THE STOP THE TRAFFIK SIMPLE (INSERT COMMUNITY WEBSITE NAME) PROFILE PIC CAMPAIGN. As part of the wider Stop the Traffik campaign, a growing number of celebs and others are having photos of themselves taken displaying a simple drawing of a key on their palm, reflecting the STT logo. See here for a selection of the photos. All I’m suggesting is that, on whatever websites we're part of that carry profile pics (facebook, blogger, myspace, etc...) we substitute our current profile photos for a photo of ourselves displaying our hands with the logo on (see my photo for an example!) then, somewhere appropriate, link to stop the traffik, either by making Stop the Traffik one of your top friends (for myspace visit www.myspace.com/stopthetraffik) or you could carry a banner. Hopefully, through this simple act, we can raise the profile of the campaign and help free millions from this modern day slavery.

Missing books...

2007-01-30T12:31:00.000Z

US UK Hi all, Looking at my shelf the other day, I noticed that some of my books have been out and about with various people for a loooong time. Problem is I can't really remember who borrowed them. So if you have a copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ('Adult' version, hardback copy, probably with dust cover removed) and/or Red Moon Rising by Pete Grieg (importantly it's the american edition, not the english - see picture of differences, and have never actually bought them, the chances are you borrowed them from me - please return!!! Cheers. P.S. I may have one of your books, I guess - I definately have one of Underwoods. So feel free to remind me of that too!

Me Dear? Pro Gay dear? How very dare you...!

2007-01-25T12:31:00.000Z

Those of you that have been following the news will no doubt have seen the coverage of some Christians campaigning outside the House of Lords against the proposed motion to make the new Sexual Orientation Regulations law throughout the UK. Read a BBC news story about it all here.

Well, the Christian's protesting have there say here and here and the Evangelical alliance (who try and straddle all evangelical opinion whilst not upsetting anyone) speaks about it here.

Closer to my everyday world, Malcolm Duncan, leader of Faithworks (the movement of socially engaged churches and projects that Oasis founded), rightly put forward an alternative view to the general perceived Christian response here.

And since then, well, our days are often filled with talk the SOR's and specifically what we think of same sex relationships.

The statement has gained some attention, with Faithworks being called a 'pro gay movement' As an example, Read the BBC news blog here.

But that's all good - I agree with Malcolm' s statement and find the reaction against the SOR's to be strange. And as for being 'pro gay' I find it an odd phrase. Can one ever be defined as ever 'pro - straight' for saying we believe in giving hotel rooms to heterosexual couples? or could we not just be 'pro service' and say that we think everyone deserves a hotel room regardless of their sexual orientation? Actually isn't a 'pro-service' approach a Jesus response? - could we call ourselves simply 'Pro-Jesus'? or 'pro-Jesus' example'?

Anyway, the other day I was delivering some training on Sex andRelationships Education and the SOR's came up in our discussion. I was pointing out that when we teach sexual health the government states that the promotion of any particular sexual orientation is not appropriate for the classroom and, as sexual health advice is generally the same for both gay and straight relationships (delay sexual activity till you are ready, be faithful to one uninfected partner and use a condom if you are sexually active), that often the issue of whether we talk about Gay or straight is comletely up to the young peole themselves. This didn't sit easily with some (who felt it might be a kind of promotion of homosexuality) and so I wanted to get us to chat about it a bit more.

Later in the course we played a game where you make one side of the room the 'agree' zone and the other 'disagree' then I read out statements and people run to the side they most agree with. I read the statement 'Companies should be able to refuse to employ people who are in same sex relationships'. Well, there was a bit of running around and then people settled. We had an interesting debate, with some saying that for secular companies fine, but for Christians no, then we had some saying Christians should lead the way in accepting others and some who were pretty much against everything!!!

Anyway, during this, the crowd of people parted and one of the delegates looked at me quizically asking 'Would YOU train a homosexual to be a Sex and Relationships educator?'

There was a kind of hush as all eyes turned to me. Of course I said 'Yes - why not?'

Which sparked more discussion, and some dissappointment, I think. Anyways, it's been interesting time. It's funny how one subject tends to rise up and dominate our thought space for a time. What do you all reckon?

Oh and you may as well see a cartoonchurch.com cartoon about it here.

Happy New Year and all that.

2007-01-12T15:49:00.000Z

So I stopped for Christmas before I could post anything festive and I was at home with no internet collection so no blogging so sorry I guess getting internet at home on saturday so will be better promise Christmas was a whirl of seeing people firstly Simon bubb actor friend appearing in much ado about nothing in West End except for the night when we went to see it when there was a fire in the theatre and the electrics were out so we went to the pub and I had to order Bubb a sleigh bell ale and a friend of his chanted liberal liberal liberal when we talked about Brian McLaren silly boy and I should have said thanks very much (Matt commented when I told him) then we went to Raynes Park to see Steve and Em over from Dubai and Jo over from USA loads of people we haven't seen for a while so it was a whirlwind of hellos and how are yous and nice to see everyone and cheap beer (witherspoons) then we had a wedding on the 23rd and it was great but kept thinking man this is close to Christmas but Sarah looked lovely and Yves is a funny dancer so it was all good the reception was in the same venue as our wedding reception so lots of memories all fun then Christmas Eve is my father in laws Birthday so we went to see de ja vu and it was ok we went to see deja vu and it was ok (ha have to do that joke) but felt that it could've ended more inevitably then we ate at hudsons in putney which was superb then home for a bit and then Christmas day James and lizzy were with us had champagne breakfast with bacon and eggs then pressies got lagavulin whiskey and gorillaz rise of the ogre book and he man and she ra christmas special dvd and lots of other things all good we bought James a Lord of the Rings TV game which is hilarious but I got a bad elbow from swinging my sword to hard (the first time I've ever had that injury honest) and then we got dressed and headed to the crooked billet for dinner they remembered us from last year so we got the table right in front of the fire and ate five courses of heaven then for a walk in Canazarro Park which was fun then home to chill waited all day to watch Dr Who then fell asleep in the last Act then played a TV version of Trivial Pursuit with the most annoying Irish presenter ever on it and then we drank loads had cheese and biscuits and generally chilled Boxing day we headed to Rugby to see my family arrived just as they were finishing dinner so we had some roast then desserts then caught up with everyone more presents then chilling came home after a couple of days and my mum and dad stayed walked in Richmond Park and then made dinner they went home and we chilled for a bit and then we saw Claire and Andy for a drink and caught up with them about their trip to Hong Kong to stay with Jackie Pullinger and then we were arranging to go to a house party and Jo and Lawrences except they hadn't sorted it between them and it got cancelled and so we had to sort out a plan B ended up in the Whistle and Flute in Putney with Jim Sparky Kath Lawrence and Angala and had a good one drank a few too many and Jen suggested shots at midnight which we did and then New Years day and we watched all 3 extended editions of Lord of the Rings and then back to work. And so happy new year to you all. 2007 feels like it will be a good one to me. I'm starting writing as part of my working week from Feb 2nd and already have a couple of contacts to work with. Hopefully things will happen. Sorry about the lack of blogging but with the emergence of the internet at home, it should a become more and more regular occurence. Here's to the year ahead... and a funny video to begin with.

and some photos from last year that never made it to the blog -

our estates version of Pimp my Moped

Sauron goes to the pub

The women of Downing House at the Christmas Carol Service 06

The death star at the natural history museum

Joe and Sparky - negatives of each other.

How X3 Could've been...

2006-12-14T10:56:00.000Z

So I didn't like x3 that much... but if it had been like this, maybe we'd have all had a better time.

Two fun things...

2006-12-13T12:42:00.000Z

Here's me Warholized. You can be too. Can you guess what 'shirkolepsy' is? What about 'Namenesia'? Well, for the wordsmith's amongst you, you can spend some time making up words from everyday definitions for other people to vote on at verbotomy!

Monkey Magic....

2006-12-12T15:41:00.000Z

So, last night I went with my good friend James the Petrucci to my first Parkour class. James is a bit of a regular and has been trying to convince me to go for a while, so I finally bit the bullet. I was quite apprehensive as, of course, the intimidation factor is high - I mean, have you seen Casino Royale or District 13? That stuff is incredible, surely me hurling my hefty frame at a nine foot high wall would result in a broken me or indeed, wall. Well, after making the long journey to Kensal Rise, I was more up for it. Wearing my best cargo three quater lengths I was feeling more 'street' (sad, I know) and I guess the adrenalin had kicked in.... So we headed to the gym where the training was taking place. We got there a little late, so the warm up had already started. The room was packed - about 50 people! - and James was a bit aghast himself (about double the number normally - I guessed that a few people had been inspired by the new bond to take a look, I was right). It was being led by Dan from Urban Freeflow and all I can say was the warm up almost did me in. We did excercises called monkeys, spider monkeys, climbing monkeys, funky monkeys, barrell o monkeys (the last two are made up!) and by the end I definately realised I was a chunky monkey - a ball of sweat and shakes! It was a great relief when we all got the equipment out to actually practice some parkour moves. We set up a circuit with 5 bases and got into teams - realising I could be in for some embarassing moments, I stuck with James and suggested we join a group of nervous looking girls who had removed their shoes and socks and were stood looking lost (remember, they're about to scale walls - why try that in bare feet?!) I figured however embarassing I was, at least I wouldn't lose a toe. So - Base 1. wall runs. Essentially run at a wall and jump kicking off against the wall with one leg to gain extra height to reach the top. Then 'monkey' along the top (or in my case dangle, edge along gingerly and gasp for breath) and drop down on a crash mat. Base 2. Cat leaps. Run at a wall with a balance bar in front of it, jump and grab the bar, allowing your feet to hit the wall behind. then hoist yourself up so that you could mount the wall. I managed the jumping and catching, but straightening my arms, whilst they were under the strain of my shocked hefty form was too much. Base 3. Vaults. This was actually pretty fun. run to a vault and get over however you want. Sounds easier than it was, but at least I didn't crash and burn. Base 4. Precision Jumps. Stand on one reebok step then leap to another directly ahead. the point is to keep your balance, with out touching any support. Turn 'round then jump back, again balancing. This was kind of fun, but I have fear in just jumping. I need to get over it. Base 5. Free run A little course of gym horses and other equipment to get over as fluidly as possible. This was tricky as I felt you had to try and look cool. I'm not to good at that at the mo. Still, it was pretty fun. After all that, we ended with a 'warm down' which involved us doing stomach excercises which were supposed to have us never touching our shoulders or legs to the ground for about twenty minutes. It goes without saying, but I managed about 20 seconds before I decided the best way to warm down would be for me to do half what was asked and spend the rest of the time gasping for breath! At the end of the evening I ached pretty bad, and for some reason I couldn't get my little finger of my left hand to join the other fingers in a flat hand. Odd. I'd also picked up my first Parkour injury, a pretty cool wrist graze. However, after the initial shock I have to say I had a fantastic time. Everyone there was really friendly and Parkour is definately addictive. I'd recommend it. I'll be going back I think - watch the skys, I may be leaping from a building near you soon...

Below is a video of Urban Freeflow including some footage of the kind of lesson I went to last night.

The Eastbourne Supremacy...

2006-12-05T12:25:00.000Z

Hi All, So it's been a while. I've been away on some training with work and various other things... Had another life weekend in Eastbourne. A fun time was had by all. It's always amazing that a bunch of people all pretty unsure of faith and all that meet together with a load of Christians and then 6 weeks later we're all dancing in the basement of a hotel in Eastbourne. Sounds cultish, probably is.

Jon is celebrating a great performance of 'Friday I'm in Love' at the Karaoke. If a Brit award winner hadn't been there, he'd probably have won the award. Robbed.

Here's some of the girls (l-r) Lizzie, Laura, Kath, Fliss and the lovely Hoylette Some lads (l-r) Graham (worse for wear!) Lawrence, John and the lovely hoylus.) Every week I listen to the superb Mark Kermode podcast, reviewing the new movies, so celebrated is his work that the bbc have chosen to create The Kermode Advent Calendar - tune in every day to hear some gems of critique on this years releases. Something I've been thinking this week... Truth? You can't handle the Truth! How many of us would really want to know what people say about us? Well, myself and Sparky have agreed that next time we meet for a beer, we're going to ask each other 'what have people been saying about me?' - a recipe for disaster?, or the key to a new era of truth and justice?

Growing Hair and T-Shirt Sale...

2006-11-14T15:48:00.000Z

So after a year and a bit of having a shaved head, I'm now attempting to grow the hair back. I wish I had photos for you, but my bluetooth is still playing up. It starting to look a bit odd, but it'll be fine I'm sure. Jen is trying to get me to wear a hat, but to be honest, my head is quite large, so I can't get many hats to fit!!! True! I wanted to draw your attention to the Threadless website, which has just started it's winter sale. If you're looking for good Christmas pressies for the T-shirt loving guy or gal in your life then this is the place. Tees are now $10 for a limited time! Here's some sample designs - and here's where you can visit to buy.

Fireworks 06

2006-11-07T15:53:00.000Z

So, a group of us went to see the fireworks in Battersea Park on Saturday night. It was quite surreal, as the bonfire literally exploded into flame and, following that, the scene could only be described as something like judgement day or a registration camp from the movie Children of Men. People milled around in groups, huddling for warmth, whilst two huge spotlights traced the sky and an annoying pleasant voice kept telling us not to crush children against the railings and that the event was sponsered, even though we all paid a fiver. hmmm. Anyways, when the fireworks finally started - It turned out there was a space them, adding to my feeling of impending doom - check out the whole display below (you can even hear the screams!!!) (highlights are the Close encounters beginning and War of the Worlds Ending!)

Whos News is Good News?

2006-11-06T15:03:00.000Z

So I've been thinking (albeit briefly) today about the gospel and what we think it is.

some thoughts-

In the past, I've been shown such things as the 4 spiritual laws to explain the gopsel, but isn't that quite reductionist? As a guy from a largely evangelical background, I can recite the 'we're created in God's image, but we fell from relationship with him, nothing we can do can get us back, but God comes in the form of Jesus to die in order to pay for our sins, and now if we just accept (by praying a prayer) we're ok' mantra at the drop of a hat, But I find more and more that this is unsatisfactory. For example - what do we make of Jesus saying things like this - Matthew 5:20 "For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." and in Matthew 25, it's clear to see that how we treat the poor is a defining factor in our acceptance by God. and what about when we read in Matthew 7 that "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' Now, maybe our gut reaction is to kick against 'works' as a means of salvation, but how could we conclude that they don't have a large part to play? In James letter, he famously says 'faith without deeds is dead'. Why is it that many of our gospel messages leave this deeds part out? Should we be rethinking what it is to 'be saved'? And, to throw another tangent in the simmering pot of sulphurous musings, what is ti to 'know God anyways? Is it as John says in his first letter - Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. Which, whilst mentioning the 'atoning sacrifice of Jesus' also suggests that as no one has seen God, we can only truly know God in sharing love with others. Or am I reading that wrong? So, if we must reduce, should our new Salvation Mantra be - 'Love God, Love Others and do good (especially to the poor)'?

How do you fill your time?

2006-11-02T10:44:00.000Z

So, while the debates continue below, I thought I'd take a break to fill you in on some stuff that interested me. Recently I've been listening to the 'Worship Central' podcast . Well, I like to hear what's going on in the world of Worship leading. I have no other reason.

The most recent edition answered the (apparently) most asked question of worship pastors/leaders - how do they fill their working week? Here's the answer -

Lead worship on Sunday.

Administration – including - a. Plan who'll be in the bands for the Sundays. b. Photocopying the music. c. arrange the time for the band to turn up d. Setting up equipment
Pastoring the worship team, including - a. Having coffee b. Chatting
Having time and space to be creative practically meaning - Take off every Wednesday as a creative day. including - a. Write new songs. b. Reading c. Having a kip d. Going for a walk
Worship leading in other contexts. Including - a. Small group b. Services c. Conferences

Oh, we should also note the guys chatting are part of a team of five who share the admin!

At the other end of the scale, Fox released an extended teaser trailer for 24 series 6 last week. See it and witness a guy who has slightly more on his plate....

Dixie Chicks and Protest Songs...

2006-10-30T16:32:00.000Z

Back in 2003 The Dixie Chicks caused controversy in the USA by saying they were ashamed that President George W Bush came from Texas (their home state). Albums were burnt, protests were held, ticket sales slumped and even death threats were made. Now, the series of events has been made into a documentary and here's the trailer -

It seems the issue of free speech just won't go away (not that I want it to!) - I read this earlier in the week too - It's proposed that flag burning become an offence in Britain.

We already have a law (since August 2005) that says we can't protest outside parliament without police permission.

How much free speech is too much? Does it matter if flag burning becomes a crime?

Preserving the Rainbow...

2006-10-24T15:14:00.000+01:00

This guy is way off mark on a lot of things, but this not the least... In response to the 'What would Jesus Drive?' campaign (admittedly cheesy but raising the important issue of our carbon emissions destroying the environment), the guy basically proposes this - "Friend, Jesus Christ did not come into this world to save the environment. God Almighty is not in heaven nervously "pacing the floor" worrying about the pollution. The Lord is not in heaven "wringing His hands" over the ozone layer. Jesus Christ is not in heaven interceding for the environment and the EPA? He’s not concerned about the environment. . . BUT HE’S CONCERNED ABOUT YOU!" I guess this would be the other side of the debate - A bishop saying driving a 4x4 is a sin. So what do we think about Christian faith and the environment? Is recycling a moral issue? If we drive a 4x4 should we burn in the CFC free fires of hell? and if we think it is, and we should, then do we really do anything about it? I saw an advert the other day that made me think - 'Ignore the pot of gold - enjoy the rainbow' I guess I would apply this to my faith - the promise of heaven is great (the 'pot of gold', so to speak), but the The world is a great place too. We should enjoy it while we can. And to conclude today a video showing that he-man may well enjoy his rainbow too...

Prophet of the streets...

2006-10-23T11:07:00.000+01:00

So myself and Joe V were strolling home from Hombre (more on that another time perhaps) when we bumped into a guy who's currently homeless (Juie Brett would be proud of my grammar there). He asked us for some change, which we gave, and then sparked up a conversation about what we did for a living. After chatting to Jerry, or JJ, for a bit, he told us that he used to be a counsellor for teenagers at his church down in Kent until his wife passed away and he succumbed to alcoholism. He then asked if we we're Christians. 'Yes' we said. 'Born again?' he said. I felt we should maybe discuss what he meant by that, but settled for 'yes.' 'yeah you are.' he said. Then turning to Joe V said - 'you're an evangelist, a good one.' and then turned to me and said 'and you're a pastor, you're training to be a pastor'. Now, this means nothing if you don't know me and Joe, but he'd managed to pin our church niche pretty much spot on. And whilst I'm not academically 'training to be a pastor', few would deny that I'm constantly thinking about what it means to be church and how I can best be involved in that. Well, as if to calm us he added the obvious, 'I have the gift of prophecy.' So, a bit more focussed, we chatted a bit more, he sang us a couple of songs he'd written for his daughter, and then we said goodbye, us a little encouraged and humbled, him off to grab a Mcdonalds with the change we'd given him. It was an incredibly surreal, wonderful encounter with a prophet on the streets. God bless JJ and all the guys currently living on londons streets.

Acting 101

2006-10-19T15:40:00.000+01:00

Just chatting with Matt and we agreed this is so funny I have to blog it. enjoy!

Blogs 1st Birthday

2006-10-12T15:45:00.000+01:00

So this post marks my 1st anniversary of blogging. yay me. erm... not sure what to say, as this post could turn out remarkably like my 100th post one. Instead here's a video of David Bowie on Extras - Which makes me chuckle. erm, oh you can edit your own pupmkin by clicking on it above too. I don't think I mentioned it yet, but myself and Jen are now two weeks into our first life course as leaders. The course has been revamped and so far it's been fun. We (with Joe V and Coupe) have a group of about 20, which is big, but everyone seems up for chatting about God. I look forward to telling you all about the goings on as they go on. Here's a promo vid - It's also been good to see guys that came on previous life courses as skeptics now volunteering on the course as group helpers, even though some may still not claim the label 'Christian'. I like the messiness of that, and want to acknowledge my respect for these guys as they recognise that helping people discuss issues of faith and explore Jesus in particular has been a valid exercise in their lives. It's often said that as Christians we're merely beggars telling other beggars where we found food. Imagine then, being a beggar who hasn't found food themselves, yet is happy to guide others to where they believe food may well be found. Really humbling (if I didn't mash the metaphor too much!) Comingback to the blog , I hope the second year will take a more philosophical tone, if I'm honest. I would like to get some debate going and prize open some of my misconceptions for a good airing. Hope everyone sticks around! And I know I get cussed for this, but I've been listening to wicked the musical on youtube.com (some of you may remember I recommended the novel earlier this year) and it seems to have just the right amount of cheese for a West End Show (i.e. LOADS). some are often concerned by how much interest I take in musicals, but I assure you, it's a small dint in my otherwise robust manliness. Well, that and being interested in show biz gossip and not liking football. Anyways, Here's a clip of Idina Menzel, playing Elphaba (the wicked witch of the West) singing 'defying gravity' the end of Act 1 show stopper -

The Simsims

2006-10-05T17:03:00.000+01:00

I'v ebeen making simpsons sims of some of my friends.... admit it guys - this is much better than heatwatch! An actor's life for him... and the hoylus himself. this site is great!

Sing, McFly, Sing.

2006-10-05T15:16:00.000+01:00

So Biff from Back to the Future (Tom Wilson) now does stand up comedy and has a little song about being famous...

more trailer pics for 300...

2006-10-05T15:04:00.000+01:00

blogspot couldn't handle this morning, so here's the rest of the grabs... Return of the king... The Two towers Return of the king...again Trrrroooo.... er.. Sppaaaaarrrrtttaaa!

Men in Pants.

2006-10-05T13:12:00.000+01:00

The trailer for 300 came out today. As my phone still can't link to my computer, I thought I'd do an old 'screengrabs from the trailer post' Anyway, 300 is based on the graphic novel of the same name, by Frank Miller, who also wrote the Sin City series, and co directed the Sin City movie. To quote the speil - '300 is a ferocious retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. Facing insurmountable odds, their valor and sacrifice inspire all of Greece to unite.' From the trailer we can conclude a few things - Firstly, it's highly stylised, which bodes well, as Sin City's impact was in it's style. Secondly, it seems to be, erm, 'borrowing' from some other movies, specifically Gladiator and Troy. Thirdly, no one in it is wearing very many clothes. This is good or bad depending on whether you like that kind of thing. Anyway, 300 is released March 9 2007. At least, in the states. corn, woman, kid. Yep, Gladiator. This is from Alexander. Troy.