Crapfergus...

My blog entries have become quite lapse of late...

Well I made it to back to Ireland for my Xmas Hols!

Hooray!--

--but we are stuck on the first leg of our journey here in Carrickfergus (actually sat in the old Carrick library as I type) We had hoped to travel to Waterford on the 28th for the second half of our trip with Jacinta's family, but we all came down with a stomach bug and have pretty much been bed-ridden for the past few days.

All being well we plan to travel on New years day (-travelling on New Years Day, now that really fills my heart with glee!)

It's been an interesting trip to say the least.

But I feel I can still try to muster the energy to wish you all a belated Merry Xmas and Happy New Year.

Speak soon.

The Dirties by the Hanuka Bros

The full comic can be found here

Ricky Gervais meets Shandling, Guest and Larry David.

One of the things about being in Canada is that I don't always get to see these type of shows until well after the fact. Well, that is not strictly true as I do have a couple of sources back home that keep me bang up to date on the UK stuff...

In saying that I would have to say these Channel 4 interviews helmed by Gervais seemed to pass me right by.

I can only locate the ten minute "highlights" version of the Shandling interview, so if anyone out there can find the fuller version, please let me know.

Straw Dogs

No not that one!

This one slated for a 2011 release:
L.A. screenwriter David Sumner relocates with his wife to her hometown in the deep South. There, while tensions build between them, a brewing conflict with locals becomes a threat to them both.

Starring James Marsden* as David Sumner:

Do I really need say anymore?

...

*Yes, I did update and take down his pic as it was seriously hurting my eyes and making me want to bang my head repeatedly off some big grey elephant balls!

Comics

I have put the full 24 page preview issue of UXB up on my newly created Comics blog which you can get to from here.*

Thanks to everyone who asked or picked up a copy and for all the kind comments. I still have a few more copies to post out and I do apologize for the delay.

I did get some very good response from a few publishers, whether it leads to anything a little more concrete-- well, I'll just have to wait and see.

Oh yeah, and I also got around to fixing the bloody typo on page eight.

Cheers.

*Update: You can also now launch an ebook which is available to the right of screen.

Session 9

Session 9 directed by Brad Anderson and co-written with Stephen Gevedon(who also stars along with Peter Mullan and David Caruso) is without doubt one of the most criminally under-rated, little-seen movie gems that you could ever have the good fortune to see. I was lucky enough to catch it in the cinema when it first came out in 2001 and have just recently watched it again on DVD. There are a lot of reasons why I love this movie: the script, the cast, the cinematography for sure, but what also gives the movie some added gravitas is the fact that it was actually filmed in the infamous Danvers State Mental Hospital.

Another reason could be in the fact that it also purposely negates the bullshit "teen" audience demographic that most horror movies of late aspire to, and rather casts an older bunch of world-weary guys that actually feel and act like "real" people. There are no cheap scares or silly sub-plots and an ending that resonates long after the credits roll.

A genuinely disturbing movie.



Sean Clark has a great walk-through of the movie at bloody-disgusting.com

What saddens me most is that Danvers was actually demolished in 2006 to put up f#cking condominiums!










more pics

If you haven't seen it yet, I would strongly recommend that you do!

Happiness Hat

happiness hat from Lauren McCarthy on Vimeo.

Thanks Jim.

The Eyewriter

"The folks at Graffiti Research Lab, openFrameworks, The Fat Lab and The Ebeling Group have teamed up to create The EyeWriter, a "low-cost eye-tracking apparatus + custom software that allows graffiti writers and artists with paralysis resulting from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis to draw using only their eyes."



Via: boingboing

Twilight it ain't!

A movie called Taintlight! C'mon that has to be a Porn Parody?



Strangely enough, it is actually a low-budget parody of the movie and no pornography is involved at all. What!!!? That's insane! Talk about misleading...

Even the tagline:

"Evil lurks in the darkest nether regions"

Yeah, lurking somewhere around his "taint!" I bet!

Anyway the title got me thinking of other such porn parody names, some of which are listed below:


Come with the Wind
Diddler on the Roof
To Drill a Mockingbird
Whore of the Worlds
Five Sleazy Pieces
All Anal on the Western Front
Forrest Hump
Das Butt
Edward Penishands
How the West was Hung
Two Mules on Sister Sarah
Willy Wanker and the Fudge Packin Factory
Sperms of Endearment
Tea-Bagger Vance
Anal-ize This
Beat the Cock
The Blown Ranger
Chinny Chinny Gang Bang
Poke-A-Hontas
CockTale
Das Booty
Deeper Impacts
The Deer Humper
Dick, Tracy?
Drilling Miss Daisy
Erectnophobia
Facial Attraction
Fists of Fury
Frosty the Blowman
G*A*S*H
Genital Hospital
Ghostthrusters
Good Will Humping
Great Sexpectations
Hannah Does Her Sisters
Honey, I Blew the Kid
Indiana Bones in the Temple of June
Inspect Her Gadget
Jungle Beaver
Jurassic Pork
Lawrence of a Labia
Lethal Weapons
Mousecunt
Murphy's Brown
NYDP Blew
Rambone
The Rockford Piles
Romancing the Bone
Rosemary's Beaver
Saturday Night Beaver
Shaving Ryan's Privates
Schindler's Fist
The Sheets of San Francisco
The Sperminator
Sperms of Endearment
Suck Rodgers in the 69th Century
Tango and Gash
Terms of Endowment
The Twilight Bone
Twin Cheeks
Waddzilla
Who Reamed Robin Rabbit?
Yank My Doodle, It's a Dandy
Hairy Nutter and the Sorcerers Bone
Shitty Shitty Gang-bang
Black Cock Down
Come in 60 Seconds
Moby's Dick
Enema of the State
Lord Of The Rims
The Da Vinci Load
Fill Bill

God! "Yank my doodle, It's a dandy"

Classic!

The Beef Delusion

The picture above has been my desktop image in my place of work for the past year and I have to say that I find great peace of mind and a certain amount of solace when I gaze upon it.

However after much meditation, the profound nature of this seemingly innocuous photograph has become startlingly apparent. It is not just Coyote McCloud's questioning stare or Clara Peller's obvious and quite tangible realization that she does not have enough beef! Look at her pained expression; she was expecting a larger beef portion and someone did not deliver. I don't think the fault lies with Coyote as he seems to be sharing a similar moment of genuine surprise! Though on closer inspection, he appears to have less concern and even seems to have the beginnings of a smile dancing across his lips. What is he hiding?

Take a look at this:



Yes, at first look, the two pictures appear to have absolutely nothing in common.

For a start, it's a chicken that is placed before Jesus, not beef!

However it is well documented that Jesus abhorred chickens! In fact if you go right back to the old testament you will see that no chickens were invited to go two by two onto the Ark. Why? Because no chickens existed at that time. There is not a single mention of a chicken anywhere in the Five Books, not one in the entire Old Testament, although in fairness there is mention of winged fowl. [Genesis 1:21]

Perhaps God was still struggling with the creation of the first chicken and maybe we could even go so far as to speculate that he never did get the design quite right. Therefore aesthetically its existence in his eyes was a constant reminder of "failure"
The conjuring of an egg from their anus may have been a good idea on paper but later possibly viewed as a precursor to the future miracles that were yet to come and there may have been a decision on God's part to keep that kind of "miracle stuff" for Jesus. Either way their very existence still rankles with many Christians today.

So you have to ask yourself: Why then would Jesus have a chicken on his table...

The artist Caravaggio has captured the relevance and inherent visual metaphor of this biblical moment rather succinctly. The boy from Galilee is "chicken hating" plain and simple! Even disciple Paul is attempting to leave his seat in abject fear, having full knowledge of the wrath that JC could bring down on them for bringing such a dirty bird to the table.. (it may be worth noting: Judas was thought to have liked chickens...make of that what you will!)

And then we also have that hand gesture Of Jesus, that is strikingly similar in pose to the picture of the old lady above.

I would put forth, with some certainty that the chicken is only on the table to help drive home the fact that Jesus is actually questioning his disciples with:

"Where's the beef?"

In this one it is even more obvious. In fact it looks like everyone is saying:



"Where's the beef?"

And again:


"Bread!?"

"Where's the beef?"

As Clara and Coyote have beef and not chicken between their bun only helps to compound that fact! They are questioning "Is there room for the existence of the beef within the bread of reason?" In conclusion the question based on that rational takes on a much more profound meaning.

"Where's the beef?"

An age old question that is still in universal usage...

I feel this is something we should all be asking ourselves on a rather regular basis!




Of course later Jesus would use the term "What's your beef?" in speaking to Judas...but that's another story.

War Paintings

More can be found here

Thanks Jonathan
More people should be visiting this mans site; but if you decide not to, I have a feeling he won't give a fu#k either way!

Captain Planet Saves Belfast

Truly educational!


And in addition:

Sometimes the comments section are actually funnier than the piece itself(though in fairness not really in this case...)However the vid below is certainly worth checking out:

If Bosch did movie posters...

I was in awe when I first came across these African movie posters some time back (thanks Johnny) So you can imagine my joy when I find a site that has a bundle that I had never seen before...





Still my favorite has to be this one:


Now if Cujo had have actually looked like this in the movie I would have shit my pants! Imagine that monstrosity lumbering towards you; it's the size of a horse for fu*cks sake!

The rest can be enjoyed over at Robot Nine

Mary and Max

As Mary and Max chronicles Mary’s trip from adolescence to adulthood, and Max’s passage from middle to old age, it explores a bond that survives much more than the average friendship’s ups-and-downs. Like Elliot and Coombs’ Oscar winning animated short “Harvie Krumpet”, “Mary and Max” is both hilarious and poignant as it takes us on a journey that explores friendship, autism, taxidermy, psychiatry, alcoholism, where babies come from, obesity, kleptomania, sexual differences, trust, copulating dogs, religious differences, agoraphobia and many more of life’s surprises

I have just sat through this little master-piece and believe me when I say that it is one of the best animated features I have ever seen. In fact, I go as far as to say it is one of the best movies I have seen this year, animated or otherwise.

Highly recommended!

Feed the world

Lady on red...

About to take down the evil ChrisdeBurghlar with her anal hook gun.






After typing the word "gun" Colin immediately realized how truly unfunny that attempted play on words really was!

But having reread the ChrisdeBurglar part, he did snigger a little.

eXploded...

John K

If your interested in cartoons and your not following John K's blog...you should be! He's like a one man animation college with some excellent tips and pointers for anybody who hopes to (or for that matter, already does...) work in the "wonderful world" of animation.

A couple of his more recent posts in particular certainly struck a chord with me:

http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/2009/10/are-cartoonists-valued-in-cartoon.html

http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/2009/10/michael-moores-capitalism-review.html

Beer Run

This was floating around the studio yesterday. Stick with it, as around the 1 min mark it really kicks into gear...(Or all his gear really kicks in- one of the two!)

Worst Shopping Run Ever - Watch more Funny Videos

REDRUM

Two months later...

Here are some of my Stanley Hotel pics for your viewing pleasure. I should mention that you may find some of these images rather disturbing...

You have been warned...


That's the hotel.


Flag blowing in wind.


Leather armchair(s)


Elevator


Stupid guy in blue T-shirt, not only deciding to get into my shot, but looking at me while he walks! Idiot!


Piano.


Car. Apparently it runs on water. Genius!


Chairs.


Balls. They say they move by themselves.


Tables and chairs. All dolled up posh looking because there is probably yet another wedding taking place. So I can look forward to the house band playing "Wind beneath my fu#cking wings" ...AGAIN.


Back of the gaff.


Kubrick letter. That is also my first experience of an orb. No! It is not a camera flash!


Miniature house where seventeen dead dwarfs all reside. One of them is called Chris.


Typewriter.


Entrance to the bell tower. I swear I would slap that kid so hard and ram that crayon so far...


Table and chairs sat against a wall at the end of a corridor.


Another corridor.


...


Music room. Orbs.


Billiard room. Orbs.


Dust my ass.


Same room.


Purple orb; this one appears to be wearing glasses and smiling.


This one appears to be wearing glasses and smiling.


Fuzzy orb.


Saved the best for last: My only encounter with "Nobby the ghost." He's a cheeky one that Nobby, pissed in my ear he did.