The DVD sleeves for HLWW are now finally done and dusted, though there'll be another set of designs to do in the near future. The current batch are covering much of the 2007 Vancouver event and took a little longer to do than I'd anticIpated because of other commitments and a changed schedule of release. However I'm pleased with the unique branding & packaging and the five separate titles should be on sale soon via the official site.

If you have any spare Vice, I'll definitely be your President...

Vote or Die!

It's been one of those 'blah' weeks where little things kept going wrong - nothing earth shattering or cataclysmic, merely a minor series of chores and irritations that I could easily have done without. However any week you can walk away from is a good one. And hey, I won £5 on the lottery - that'll go in the travel fund jar. Go, me... well, eventually!

Yes, more washing and brushing up for the blog/website. Having done a fair amount of design work for other people's blogs and businesses over the last few weeks, I noticed that I'd just started to repeat a few stylistic bits I'd done here and I didn't want to plagurise myself so I've continued to tinker and tweak. I make no promises that this is the end of said tweaking as I want to get just the right balance between professional and personal over the different pages that will make up the package and the 'There Goes The Day' branding.

I think I've seen all the major comic-book films of the year - are there more to come? But it's been (and currently still is) a great year for comic book adaptations in general. I was pleasantly surprised by Iron Man which has Robert Downey Jnr, Jon Favreau and designer Adi Granov to thank for it's impressive debut outing for Marvel Studios. This was quickly followed by The Incredible Hulk which might not have been quite 'in' but was certainly a credible effort and more evenly enjoyable than the off-kilter Ang Lee outing of 2003.

Mark Millar's Wanted was deliciously over-the-top and un-PC and, ultimately a great guilty pleasure (his Kick-Ass goes into production soon and is destined to have Fox News and The Daily Mail foaming at the mouth).

Then there's The Dark Knight which is genuinely one of the best movies I've seen in years. As mentioned previously, there's been a big hoo-hah in the UK about the rating and yes, I agree it's an obviously solid '15' and poor little twelve year olds may have their poor brains warped by the darkness that permeates every frame - but spare me the lip-quivering of the politicos and Daily Mail who blame the film-makers and the BBFC when their eight year old is traumatised by it. 12A may be an advisory certificate, but I have little sympathy with those who ignore such advice and take eight year olds in! Then again, I DO think the BBFC got it a bit wrong. But, hey, everyone's a critic, right?

Hellboy II: The Golden Army opens here shortly, but I got to see it last week. The story could have been tightened up a bit, but it's a joyfully bizarre romp and no-one can realistically dispute that the visual imagination of Guillermo del Toro remains as amazing as ever. I remember Ron Perlman from back in his Beauty & The Beast days and he remains firmly on my 'want to interview' list.

Oh and thanks to Gillian for highlighting the below video on her blog and pointing me in its original direction. It's one of many vignettes out there and kinda sums up this blog entry better than I ever could. Which is a hell of an exit line for those of you who had to sit through me...

A few weeks ago I doubt anyone could find South Ossetia on a map - in a few weeks they may not be able to anyway. Today you have most of the world leaders talking about the horrendous situation there. It's true... truly horrible photos and accounts of man's inhumanity to man, or more accurately explosions and gunfire and bombs inhumanity to man, but after several millenia I think we've more than proven our ability to be all too inhumanly human whenever the mood or land-grab arises. Pardon me, I'm channeling Methos.

A few weeks ago some happy chappy was telling me we're only ever a week away from a revolution. It wasn't some Socialist Worker newspaper seller, either. It was in reaction to the oil crisis and the fact that if petrol-stations shut or were unable to provide fuel then it would take around four days for there to be a lack of basic food (water, milk, bread... chocolate!) getting to most outlets - a few days later people would likely be prepared to break the law to provide for themselves and families. A sobering thought.

*Yawn*. Long day.

Those more observant people may have noticed that the Blog has undergone something of a major wash and brush up (or, more accurately, is still undergoing it). This is a symptom of me needing some time away from the writing of the articles and the designing of all things Highlander WorldWide (having its own update this coming week), my parentals going mad with paint-brushes and because... well, I just felt like it. I've been tweaking the look for the last few weeks but when I found a template that allows not two, not three, but technically seven (count 'em) 'columns', I knew I'd found what I was looking for to mix and match the elements I wanted here. So much to say, now the space to say it. I know, I know. I'm easily pleased and need to get out more...

Naturally, the tweaking had its up and downs and when some material disappeared from the old site when I wasn't even on it, I knew I had to update this page quickly so the masses (yes, all of you!) weren't disappointed or confused. Or no more than usual. Consider it a work in progress (Kinda like me).

The black link bar under the header is a nice addition (soon to be better populated with Moz-links) and the blog area has more possibilities too. Hopefully all the old blogs entries are still there in the archives and are just hiding. I'll be separating some of the personal and professional stuff off, but this will be the hub-page, the place that all the important things revolve around. (Kinda like me).

Oh, and the picture at the top of this post? Absolutely nothing to do with anything. Just the most bizarre image I've ever found on Google and that's saying something. It's so wrong, it's just right. Kinda like...

A while ago I was joking to someone about my role behind the scenes in the HLWW organisation. In a moment of perhaps ego-tempered-with-humour, I said I was the 'Josh Lyman' of the group, the one most likely to crack a one-liner while putting some words together that sounded good for any of the key decisions made. (I just realised that would make Carmel Macpherson, Martin Sheen, which I hope she takes as a compliment!).

But it also got me thinking about how much I miss The West Wing and especially Bradley Whitford as the aforementioned Josh. I mean, seriously, there are plenty of funny tv shows out there, there are plenty that are reasonably clever and well written, but I can't think of any show since WW went off-air that anywhere in the ballpark of this superbly written outing (honourary mention to Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, also by Sorkin for at least trying). There are just SO many scenes in The West Wing that are punch-the-sky fun that it's hugely depressing that there isn't currently a show that could compare...and whatever political persuasion you are, Barlett is the kind of leader most people would like to think they deserve - even with his imperfections and foibles.

I was trawling YouTube for some of my favourite memories and found loads of classics, from dealing with bigots to the assassination attempt, to CJ in full-flow to the debates, to Toby singing the MASH theme and the final scene of the entire run... however my favourite is and always will be, I think, a slightly lower-key moment, but one that is ALL about character and is probably one of the best pay-off romantic lines ever uttered on television.

Over to Josh, Donna, red lights and Sorkin at his best, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMe0ARDqS6k if it doesn't play here...)

There's a report in the paper today that the gap between Obama and McCain in the run-up to the US elections is narrowing and this may be down to the fact that Obama is...and you gotta love this... too THIN. Yes, apparently some political pundits are saying that because so many Americans are technically obese, they may be a bit miffed if asked to vote for someone who's in good shape.