Thoughtballoons - Blonde Phantom

This week Thoughtballoons features our first female hero, and by far the most obscure character we've yet had to come up with a 1-page adventure for. Blonde Phantom was a pulp heroine introduced in the 1940s by Timely Comics (the original name for Marvel). Louise Mason was a mild-mannered secretary of PI Mark Mason by day... and a sexy crime fighter by night. This was a great opportunity to write...

Off The Wagon

I have a confession to make.After years of restraint, circumspection and self-discipline, I have slipped.I have fallen off the wagon.I'm drinking again.No. Not alcohol. (Sorry, Penelope.)Not alcohol, but almost as bad.The dreaded bean. Coffee.I managed to kick the habit three years ago, fighting my way through the withdrawal headaches to the point where I actually believed I didn't need it anymore....

KNIGHT AND DAY (2010)

MyRating: YYY1/2Director: James MangoldCast: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard, Paul Dano, Jordi Molla, Viola Davis, Maggie GraceMPAA: Rated PG-13 for sequences of action violence throughout, and brief strong languageTom Cruise has been in the rough spot for years, since his jumping couch drama in The Oprah Winfrey Show. That has become an iconic moment in the movie history (like the wind...

30 Songs - Day 8

Day 08 - A Song You Know All The Words ToA sad fact widely known The most impassionate song To a lonely soul Is so easily outgrown But don't forget the songs That made you smile And the songs that made you cry When you lay in awe On the bedroom floor And said : "Oh, oh, smother me Mother..."So sang Morrissey in his tribute to those long teenage hours spent studying lyrics. How many hours did I spend on my bedroom floor, lyrics sheet in hand - or,...

True Things About Me

“This is the story of a woman brave enough to risk it all” says the blurb, which makes Deborah Kay Davies’ debut novel True Things About Me sound like some kind of dramatic, bodice-ripping romance or courageous struggle against adversity. It’s the kind of nonsense I’d expect to find on a Barbara Cartland or Mills & Boon… and it does little to prepare the reader for this disturbing insight into...

TOY STORY 3 (2010)

MyRating: YYYYDirector: Lee UnkrichVoice: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Ned Beatty, Don Rickles, Michael Keaton, Wallace Shawn, John Morris MPAA: GYou know you will have fun when you decide to watch a PIXAR's movie. PIXAR's movies always have great and wonderful stories, like no other studios did. Not DreamWorks (Shrek series), nor Blue Sky (Ice Age series). And PIXAR's animated graphic is the...

Top Ten DJ Songs

A long time ago, in a whole other lifetime, I used to write and publish a comic called THE JOCK. In it, a group of rebel DJs fought for freedom and real music in a world where mindless corporate muzak had become the opiate of the masses. A book where the hero was a DJ...? Why not write a comic about a super-powered traffic warden or altruistic ambulance-chasing lawyer while I was at it? No wonder...

Back & Forth

The back problems continue.The MRI scan I had a few weeks ago showed up a large broad-based central disc protrusion just above the base of my spine. My GP suggested I see a specialist as I may need an operation to correct this. Being that this whole thing has been going on 9 months now, I decided to pay for a private consultation to speed up the process (rather than waiting another few weeks for one on the NHS). It cost £150, which isn’t cheap, and...

Thoughtballoons - Superman

This week's Thoughtballoons character requires no introduction... so I shan't give him one......other than to say I'm not a huge Superman fan. There are a number of reasons for this, but the two biggest reasons form the basis of my own one-page script this week. It's a little bit of a cop out... but it's all I could come up with. As the title says, Writers' Block Is My Kryptonite. For some slightly...

IT'S (THE FABULOUS) PIXAR!

Why do people love PIXAR's movies?For fifteen years, PIXAR has made many CGI-animated feature films that were associated with excellence, high quality and outstanding creativity. All of its movies have met with critical and commercial success, praised by the critics and loved by the audiences.PIXAR Animation Studios is one of the most critically acclaimed film studios of all time. It began in 1979...

Charlie Brooker Rules Misanthropy

I'm not going to do a conventional review of Charlie Brooker's The Hell Of It All, I'm just going to pull out a selection of quotes and let you make up your own mind...Here's a sentence rarely used to open newspaper columns: why don't most people just blow their own heads off?Nothing beats living alone. Why shackle yourself to a fellow human being for the rest of your days? Because you're in love?...

The Dark Side Meme

Via Sunday Stealing...1. You’re building your dream house. What’s the one thing that this house absolutely, positively MUST HAVE? (other than the obvious basics of course)A library.2. What is your dream car?It's more of a nightmare...3. What is your favourite website that isn’t a blog?Wikipedia.4. iPhone 4 or Droid, which do you want?What, an actual droid? Like R2?Whatever, I don't want an iPhone,...

30 Songs - Day 7

Day 07 - A Song That Reminds You Of A Certain EventI haven't forgotten this ongoing musical meme, honestly. Sometimes there just aren't enough blogging days in the week.I wasn't looking forward to Sunday the 31st of August, 1997. Back then I was working in radio promotions and had been tasked with organising a huge Party In The Park event with loads of shitty pre-X-Factor style boy and girl bands and a humongous crowd of listeners. Worse still, my...

THE A-TEAM (2010)

MyRating: YYDirector: Joe CarnahanCast: Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson, Sharlto Copley, Jessica Biel, Patrick Wilson, Gerald McRaneyMPAA: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence throughout, language and smokingThis movie is based on a popular TV series of the 1980s. Many people must have some old good memories of the 1980s, no matter how were the situations...

While Everyone Else Was Watching The Football...

...we went for a walk in the woods. Despite what I was saying yesterday about not having enough time for all the things I want to do... the older I get, the more important I feel it is to take time to appreciate the beauty of the natural world.I've written before about how privileged I feel to live in such a beautiful part of the world, surrounding by so much sublime, awe-inspiring countryside. And...

Paralysed By My Day Off

I had a day off on Tuesday, and for a moment I was paralysed. There was so much I wanted to do! Not concrete plans like a day trip to the seaside or even a film I wanted to catch at the cinema (I can't remember a time when I've been less inspired by the choice of movies on release). Some of it was just basic household chores - washing a blanket, cleaning the mildew from the porch. I knew I wanted to go for a walk as it was such a beautiful day -...