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take a seat
This is another image from my February trip to Mallorca. I snapped this in a tiny pebble beach in Santa Ponsa at dusk. Someone had set a plastic chair on the beach and left it there. Probably one of the locals or off-season residents, who would climb down the short set of wooden steps to enjoy the magnificent sunsets, even in Winter. There are many things I love about this image: the colours, the light, the contrast of the cheap and artificial with the natural and beautiful. But I also enjoy the sense of how you can project yourself into that seat, and how you can add details such as…
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new Irish Comic Book resource
After the Squarebound event in Dublin last weekend Irish artist Tommie Kelly realised that the Irish comic book scene could use a central resource, and in a splurge of sudden activity has put together a terrific site called Irish Comic News. It describes itself as “…a website dedicated to the Irish comic Scene. It contains interviews, a forum, event guides, tutorials and all news related to the Irish Comic Scene.” Tommie is being helped in his efforts by Patrick Brown, Hilary Lawler and Gar Shanley, with contributions from David O’Leary. Tommie has already been firing out a standard questionnaire to comic book creators in Ireland and hoisting their responses online…
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DC's Mad Hatter tea party
News and reaction to DC’s reboot of 52 titles in its catalogue this September has been rumbling on since I blogged about it last week. First I’d like to forefront a couple of repsonses that contain useful insight for the DC executives. Comic Book Resources put up part of a fantastic discussion with Dan Harmon, the creator of the comedy TV show Community, about creating a writing staff with an even gender split. It’s called “We have to stop thinking of it as a quota thing and think of it as a common-sense thing” Here’s an extract: There’s the same percentage of genius happening in both genders, but there’s less…
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summer colony
I took this image the other day while walking my dog through a patch of woods I hadn’t been through before. I noticed this colony of fungus attached of the bottom of a branch, which was just above eye level. There are so many new things you can notice every day, if you just pay attention.
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embracing the paradox
http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf This TED Talk called Reinventing Feminism is by Courtney Martin, feminist, journalist, activist and editor at Feministing.com. It’s a fine overview of feminism in the 21st century and why women should continue to agitate for change despite the times when the issues seem overwhelming. I found it personally inspiring. It reminds me that our moments of despair often contain the seeds of what can save us eventually. If we care deeply about issues it’s inevitable that lack of progress or failure will cast us into a depression. It’s okay to falter because it matters so much. That’s also the best motivation to keep striving for change.
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a journey through time and space
This is a video of VLT (Very Large Telescope) HD Timelapse Footage, taken on location by Stephane Guisard and Jose Francisco Salgado. I found my way to this glorious piece of video via the Astronomy Picture of the Day web site, although this is the longer version of the one featured on that site. Here’s some accompanying text explaining how this video was achieved: The frames have been digitally rotated so that it is the stars that stay (approximately) steady, and the Earth that moves beneath them. The video dramatically shows the actual rotation of the Earth, called diurnal motion, in a clear and moving way, as if the camera…
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bound for Squarebound
This Saturday, 18 June 2011 there is a one-day Irish comic book creators’ convention going on in the Irish Writers’ Centre in Dublin called Squarebound. The Guest of Honour is Gerry Hunt (In Dublin City, Blood Upon the Rose), and there is a €5 Entrance Fee for the entire day. Here’s the schedule of events: 10.00 Comic Cast Panel: Liam Geraghty, Craig O’Connor 11.00 Atomic Diner Panel: Robert Curley, Barry Keegan, Maura McHugh 12.00 Michael Carroll: How to Write for 2000AD 13.00 Lunch Break 14.00 Gerry Hunt Interview 15.00 Alfonso Zapico 16.00 O’Brien Press Panel: Ivan O’Brien & Alan Nolan 17.00 Irish Small Press Comics Creators’ Panel I’ll be there…
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2% is not equality
The comic book blogosphere has been obsessed by one topic of conversation lately: the reboot of the DC Comics Universe that’s coming in September. All the forthcoming 52 titles will be reset to number 1, which (theoretically) will leave the creative teams free to forge new identities for the characters. Information has been released to the fans about the forthcoming changes in a slow-drip fashion. It’s a cunning PR strategy to inflame interest and discussion about the direction DC is taking. They’ll also be offering digital downloads of the comics on the same day as the print release, which is a big indicator of where they think the market is…
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espresso day
I don’t normally fuel my day on an espresso, but this little cup is a new purchase and it demanded use! It’s a piece of Paul Maloney Pottery, and I bought it because when I picked it up I felt like Goldilocks finding the perfect bed: it was a natural, comforable fit. It’s as if the potter knew the exact dimensions of my fingers and how I like to hold a cup. When you find a match like this you bring it home, and keep it forever.
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the tell-tale heart
This is a video of the 1953 adaptation of the Edgar Allan Poe short-story “The Tell-Tale Heart”, narrated by James Mason. It’s adapted by Bill Scott and Fred Grable, and directed by Ted Parmelee. The animation is by Pat Matthews. I discovered this tonight on YouTube. YouTube has its share of dross, but it saves itself by offering up gems like this.