Oh, look!

Well, this is a step in the right direction.

For those who can't be bothered making the fantastical journey into link land, I'll sum it up for you. The Melbourne City Council want to make a register available for gay couples, who want to make their relationship in some way official. I think it's definitely a step towards civil unions, which would be brilliant!

Do you think Ash would say yes if I asked her?

Clip

Taking a break from the usual, I thought I'd throw a clip in here. (Sorry Jes. *grin*) Just because I think it's pretty.

Oh my god, how stunning is Amy Lee in the new Evanesence clip, 'Call me when you're sober'? I adore this song, and when I watched the clip for the first time, I was quite blown away. That dress is gorgeous! I was rather a fan of hers in the Seether clip for 'Broken', but I am seriously impressed by this.

So have a look and tell me what you think, eh?

Here!

Edited to post Emano's link instead.

A Random, Dated Little Tale

I was sitting in LAX, having just missed my flight and not yet been told by the airline that I had a seat on the next, so it was safe to say that I was sinking into a state of abject misery. I'd forced myself to eat, but my stomach was not cooperating, so a chunk of quarter-pounder sat in front of me on the grimy airport table. I was considering forcing it down, sipping my watery Coke, when a tallish skinny guy with blonde hair sticking out from under a baseball hat, hefting a couple of suitcases, walked past my table.

I didn't look up. There were people everywhere, trying to sleep or dragging suitcases on endless circuits. Just as he was nearly past me, the guy drawled in a Southern accent, 'I've got the strangest feeling I know you.'

I turned around, surprised, and blurted 'Really?'

'Yeah,' he said, not stopping. He hadn't made eye-contact. I saw him once more that day, although he turned when he saw me and went the other way.

Things I've Been Meaning to Blog for Ages

Hah, yes, now you get a bullet-point summary of all of the blog posts that have sat in my head and withered and died for lack of something to type them into.

• The Greek Feast was spectacular, although I was almost the only one drinking wine (am I really the only one who doesn't have their Ps? Shame!) and went very red-faced. The food was awesome, as per usual, but it was just perfect to hang out as a group once more. Hurrah for The Group and all being together again.
  
• I've been slugging away on my Nano despite being stuck a few times. At Shane's house I managed 2.5k while listening to Muse. Aside from that, I've skipped the entire thing forward about five years, so that they have more adult bodies. Lots of physical combat was sort of pointless when they were children. I shall see how this goes when the month is over, some of it might be worth saving. Might.
  
• I was taken to a very very cool bar the other night by the boys. It's called Section 8, and is basically set up in a parking lot. There's a railway transport crate that has the bar inside and the seats are stacked pallets with wooden tops. There are some trees in each corner, and the walls have graffiti all over them. The DJ decks sit on top of two barrels with a door over them. It was awesome, and I must take the Hobblings there when the Melbourne meet happens. Here's a pretty link. Although, I must admit that it looks better at night.
• I have recently borrowed BSG 1 and 2 from a very good friend, and plan to watch as many as I can this weekend. If I finish my novel. Or maybe even if I don't. Oh, the lure.
  
• I am also addicted to OK Computer, after downloading it (legally) in Sweden. I missed out on proper teenage angst, so I'm making up for it now. No, I really like Paranoid Android and Karma Police. I keep getting them stuck in my head. Oh, and Lucky is good, too. I still disagree that Muse are the poor man's Radiohead, though. They're so different!
  

I think that's about it for me. You never know, there may be more. Take that, everyone who has abandoned my blog for lack of updates. Bam.

Glory of Glories

My two newest addictions are George RR Martin and comic books, so you can imagine that my nerdhood practically explodes with glee at the thought of the two combining. I recently got my hands on a copy of the impossible to find 'The Hedge Knight' comic book (graphic novel if you want to sound mature) which is so good I very nearly had to put down a plastic bag.

The story was first published in Legends, edited by Robert Silverberg and is set about a hundred years before the spectacular A Song of Ice and Fire series. It is also the source of quite a few in jokes that you'll pick up on if you've read ASoIaF, such as the design of a certain shield.

The artwork is amazingly good. I seriously quivered with delight at some of the scenes. Everything looks perfect, if you pretend that the banners and heraldry are dirt-stained and grubby (the Fossoway apples in particular are just a tad too shiny for my liking). But the characters are perfect and the action and pace is captured beautifully. My favourite was Baelor Breakspear, he was heartbreakingly accurate. The armour! The colours! Ah, it looks divine.

If you're a Martin fan, you need to get it, get it now. If you're not, get it anyway. Martin is so very good that almost all other fantasy writers pale in comparison.

The Catch Up

See, this is why I don't like being away from the precious internet. Although I did have a bloody good weekend. I even managed to do a bit of writing, thank bob. Friday was spent travelling down and then making my frantic way to SYN, as the train was late. I arrived just in time and met Charles Firth. He was bloody hilarious, and was happy to talk about his new book, American Hoax. We did have some slight technical difficulties (my microphone fucked up) but all was well. Then it was off to my new job for the first night. I'm working Friday and Saturday at a dodgy little Italian pizza place/restaurant. The pay is rather bad, but the job is piss easy, and I kicked complete arse at it.

It was actually surprising, because Auto basically made me feel like I was completely shit. It turns out that I actually can do the job really well. So that made me feel better. I'm still going to look for proper work, though, because two nights a week (I only did a total of seven hours the other day) isn't really enough.

Saturday, I went into the city and found that Minotaur actually have no bloody idea when it comes to comic books. Or, at least the guy who was there doesn't. He actually told me that they only stocked Amazing Spider-Man up to issue 411. Dude, even I know that that's a crock of shit. I've seen 530-something on their shelves. Idiot. So, after a massive tasty lunch with James, Michelle and Michelle's Mum and sister, we wandered around. I eventually went to visit Cherry at Chocolate Buddha and we went on various missions to find things like soft drink and screwdriver sets. After that it was work again. I then failed to go to Richard's party, which I felt slightly shit about, but a whole lot of people bailed and I was buggered after work.

I ended up mooching around with Sean on Sunday, as he was so drunk the night before that he left his phone in the toilet (not the actual bowl) and slept in, missing work. We had some tea and got ready, then went down to his work. He took a bribe of chocolate, and we pigged out. We then got some chips and ate them in the park, then got a whole lot of videos (including Fame) and watched them. After that, a bunch of us went out for curry. Yay! Oh yes, and I found a better comic shop. My allegiance has switched to Comics 'R' Us. Lame name, but the main staircase is covered with extremely cool Civil War posters, and they have a really good range. Including, to my delight, both Supreme Powers (Hyperion!) and the Sentry. Hurrah.

Monday was largely writing followed by an amazing night out at Auto. God, I love going there and not having to work. There was much beer flowing and I hung out with James and Michelle and a posse of their science friends. They'd all just finished their thesis's, so they were up for a massive one. Cherry joined us, and I ran into Kate! Kate from uni! That was brilliant. We ended up eating Hungry Jacks and getting home late. I tried to pissed-message Hobblings, but I was out of credit. Sigh.

And now I am home, after having a Max Brenner pig out and going on radio today. I need to write. Because I'm very slack.

Must resist urge to blog...

Marian Fisher

I know that this is old news, but I think that it is exquisitely sad and horrible and beautiful.

Read the article here

This made me cry. I don't really know what else to say.

This is real heroism, real courage.

Souvenirs

Instead of re-hashing the excellent blog posts that are floating around out there, I thought I'd talk you through what I picked up on my travels. This will hopefully be exciting and not at all boring. Right, I shall start with NY.

T-shirt - The Strokes:

Purchased in the Virgin Megastore in the company of Q. It's black with shiny gold writing, but would probably suit someone with a flat chest better. Love the Strokes! This represents quite a bit of New York to me, as of course they are a band right out of the Big Apple. We did listen to them over breakfast a time or two, mostly because I had the iPod and I made people. Oh yes, and thinking of the Strokes makes me think of Drew Barrymore, so win win.

T-shirt - Silver Surfer:

The comics! Oh, the comics. And getting excited over Civil War with people! And being hugged by Keppet. *grin* Yep, this one will forever remind me of all of the being a nerd I did while I was on holiday. And it's shiny. Two shiny t-shirts. Well, I never.

Chopsticks:

From San Fransisco, in the same place that Keppet got her photo album. They're all carved and pretty with blue patterns on them. Seeing as the Chinese food rocks in San Fran, I was perfectly happy with pretty chopsticks to remember it by. Lovely.

Spidey Wristband:

From Universal Studios. More me being a nerd. It's red, and has his mask on it. I think it sums up the cheese aspect of Universal Studios perfectly. Oh yes, and my brother wanted to steal it.

Thwipp!

Oh yes, and we haven't told people that we saw the Mule from Serenity in the famous cars parking lot! The Mule! It was all yellow and battered and we were the only people on the tour who knew what it was...

Go!

I started last night after midnight. I keep having more and more ideas of what I want to do, which is a very good thing. So far, I'm reasonably happy with the quality of my writing, but from last year, I know that it's going to get much much worse from now on. Ah well, it doesn't have to be good writing, right?

How is everyone else going?

You can read my stuff on the Nano website.

Good luck, everyone!