Sorry I’ve not written in a while; I’ve not had a whole lot to say lately. Or rather, I’ve had plenty to say, but I’ve not been in a ‘proactive writing mood’, I guess. My apologies to my consistent readers — all six ov you..

Apparently this week was Stuff Week for me; or, as they call it in Germany, Stüfwoch. I’ve received:
+ my McFarlane-sculpted Vlad the Impaler Inaction Figure. Highly detailed, and sports about two to four points ov articulation
+ the Soft cell ‘Non-stop exotic video show’ DVD, which compiles all the videos made for their first album. Might I add that Marc Almond is camp as tits with pasties
+ the Thunderbirds International Rescue edition DVD set — includes both feature-length films ‘Thunderbirds 6’ and ‘Thunderbirds are Go’, and some stickers and magnets and perforated punchouts and trailers and interviews and quizzes and Easter eggs & other effluvium. F.A.B!
+ the Meat Cake Compilation, by the esteemed Dame Darcy. It’s a hardcover, and the silver-gilt page edges are a nice touch
+ the Ultra-gash Inferno trade paperback by Suehiro Maruo. IT’S. MESSED. UP. It answers the question, ‘What if Coil & Takashi Miike made a manga?’ Again, IT’S. MESSED. UP. I cannot stress this enough
+ my brand spank-me new CH-DVD-500 DVD player. Back in the saddle!

Managed to pull some strings (well, maybe a string, and it wasn’t connected to anything) and left work half an hour early, in order to catch Subliminal self play at Paycheck’s lounge Fri eve. I showed up just in time; they were the second act, and midway thru their second song when I entered. There was a small group ov people there, but I unfortunately get the impression that they were there for the other groups, so I’m glad I could show my support. Genevieve surprised me when I sat down, as I didn’t expect her to be there; Patrick had Emailed me a day earlier, saying it would just be him driving up, but Gen thought it’d be better if she came along, rather than staying at home alone with Oliver, their insane cat. And with good reason.*
Greyson’s voice kinda reminds me ov Brendan Perry ov Dead can dance, except for one song, where he sounded like one ov the Navin brothers from The Aluminum group; which is to say, a bit crooner-ish. Which is good, cos I like The Aluminum group. And Patrick really seemed to enjoy playing his synth, although I say he should start using a Moog Liberation, so he can be as cool as this guy. 🙂
After the show, we played catch-up briefly for about an hour — they had leave early, in order to make the thousand-year voyage back to Cleveland — but it was ace seeing them, even if for such a short period ov time. When Autumn rolls round, I’ve promised that I’ll visit, as I’ve not seen them since I was the best man at their wedding four years ago..

*No seriously, Oliver is ca-razay. The day ov the wedding, I crashed at Pats & Gen’s place for a few hours after the proceedings, whilst the Happy Couple was off honeymooning. Oliver, obviously threatened by this giant, bipedal cat named Dave, prceeded to incessanlty hiss & growl at me. Eventually, he had me cornered in their studio, where I locked the door, and remained there for roughly an hour. I made my escape when he finally fell asleep. It was a Day ov Marriage and Cat-induced Terror. This, then, is the Legacy ov Cleveland

The Goddess of Stuff dropped by for a bit before I sped off to work on Fri. My copy ov ‘Foot: A playful biography’ was delivered, as well as my ‘Crash babies’ silkscreen. w00t! I’m really glad I panicked and ordered it when I did, as I have print number 155 ov 160. *mops brow*

Also, I received a letter from Oakland Community College, stating that they’ve gotten my Free Application For Student Aid. Now alls I have to do is submit a couple ov forms, and with any luck, they’ll bestow a generous grant upon me, or something equally good..

The lads & I might try to catch Beat Takeshi’s ‘Zatoichi’ over at some cinema in Birmingham Sat eve..

A PS2 game that I, as well as a small yet rabid handful ov others, have eagerly been awaiting, will see a domestic release on 21 Sept. Its name? Katamari damashii. Its price? TWENTY DOLLARS. I am in love with the world! 🙂

And this might be the best / funniest thing I’ve heard all week — William Shatner (with the help ov Joe Jackson) covering Pulp’s ‘Common people’. Staggering.

Not much ov an update, I know, but I’ll doubtless have more ov an interesting post this Sun, for your edification

Making up for a shitty day at work — I got written up for pulling a recent no-call, no-show — when I got home this eve, my package from Merlin Enterprises had finally arrived. w00t!

it’s Punitive Guillotinna, a character created by another one ov my favourite artists, Yasushi Nirasawa. The guillotine actually works, too!
And until I can suss how to add permanent outgoing links to this blog (I don’t think this template supports links, but it’s aesthetically the best one on offer, so I’m not changing it), here’s some links to sites by friends ov mine:

+ Five Dollar Beer – Patrick, synthesiser boffin from Cleveland
+ The Backroom – Monti, screenwriter extraordinaire
+ The House of Rotating Knives – Jeff, Wellesian archivist & Arsenal supporter
+ Kitten with a Whip! – my Synthetik Mistress & sex slave 😉

There’s gotta be a way to add external links. I’ll check the forums & see what I can scare up. Wish me luck

EDIT (1.22am): That was deceptively easy. Look to your left!

A signed & numbered Trevor Brown silkscreen for only $100 USD?? EGAD!!

crash babies silkscreen
an extra print not included in the crash babies portfolio above – six colours – 28 x 36cm – 160 signed and numbered copies

price includes postage!

I am so buying this with my next paycheque. Or maybe the cheque after that

EDIT (2.11 pm): Okay, so I just bought one. I’m so weak.
In my eyes, this kinda makes up for the fact that I wasn’t around in the Sixties, and therefore unable to buy art from another fave artist, such as Andy Warhol. Whenever I read about how back then, he was selling original pieces for like $75 or $100, it’s like a punch in the bollocks. But NOW! Now I have a really cool piece by the notorious Trevor Brown, for an entirely reasonable price. To give you an example, I have one ov his books; ‘Forbidden fruit’. 80 pages, $50. A lot ov his books are kinda up there in price, and most are limited edition. But I’ll be looking forward to prominently displaying my silkscreen up on a wall! Once I move into my own place, that is