Monthly archives: November 2007

Let's never have drink like a pirate day

This entry was posted in Alcohol Pirates on by

Yetserday was Fuck like a Pirate day. We already have Talk like a Pirate day. But, reading about prates at the moment, I’d recommend not drinking like them (ninja drinks sound a bit more appealing.

Rumfustian Recipe: Beat two egg yolks into a bowl with one teaspoon of sugar. In a saucepan, bring one cup of ale, two ounces of gin, two ounces of sherry, one cinnamon stick, several ground cloves, and one lemon peel to the boiling point. Turn it to a simmer and add the egg mixture. Stir briskly with a whisk. Serve in a warmed mug and top with grated nutmeg.

When I am King you will be Queen

This entry was posted in lyrics Marillion on by

After quoting Marillion last night I found this morning that I only have two of their songs on mp3. This is a quite big gap in my collection. In 1986-88 they were my band of choice for angst-y stuff. It was either them or The Smiths and, frankly, all the Smiths fans I knew at the time were wankers I didn’t want to have anything in common with. We know who made the lasting impact, but at the time I made the right choice.

I was walking in the park
Dreaming of a spark
When I heard the sprinklers whisper
Shimmer in the haze of summer lawns.
Then I heard the children singing
They were running through the rainbows.
They were singing a song for you
Well it seemed to be a song for you
The one I wanted to write for you

Lavenders blue, dilly dilly, lavenders green
When I am king, dilly dilly
You will be queen
A penny for your thoughts my dear
A penny for your thoughts my dear
I.o.u. for your love
I.o.u. for your love

Lavenders green, dilly dilly, lavenders blue
When you love me, dilly dilly, I will love you
A penny for your thoughts my dear
A penny for your thoughts my dear
I.o.u. for your love
I.o.u. for your love

Lavender dreams dilly, dilly lavender true
When you miss me dilly dilly, I did miss you
A penny for your thoughts my dear
A penny for your thoughts my dear
I.o.u for your love
I.o.u. for your love
For your love

Marillion – Lavender

American Signage

This entry was posted in Comics flickr photo signage on by

Big Bike, originally uploaded by spinneyhead.

The US trip saw the rekindling of one of my old interests- photographing old commercial signage. I have enough pictures of old factory fronts, shop signs etc. from Mancheser to make a fairly substantial coffee table book. I’m going to start work on it as my next project after finishing the comic for mobiles.

After Manchester, I’d love to do other cities. Who’d have thought Manhattan could be one of them. There are 82 of the photos of signs I took in New York State (some from Buffalo and Hudson to complement the Big Apple ones) in the American Signage set on Flickr. If anyone would like to commission me to fly back and do a properly thorough job on the city the email’s in the side column.

Are you following me?

This entry was posted in lyrics Marillion on by

Just been ton see Beowulf, in 3d. I was going to put the lyrics to Grendel here, but that’s a bloody long song. So here’s something else by Marillion instead.

I found smog at the end of my rainbow
I found my thoughts shift slowly into phase
Declared the constitution of the walkway
I realise its time to plan the day, the day

I’m a market square hero gathering the storms to troop
Cause I’m a market square hero speeding the beat of the streetpulse
Are you following me, are you following me?
Well suffer my pretty warriors and follow me

I got a golden handshake that nearly broke my arm
I left the ranks of shuffling graveyard people
I got rust upon my hands from the padlocked factory gates
Silent chimneys provide the silent steeples

Cause I’m a market square hero gathering the storms to troop
Cause I’m a market square hero speeding the beat of the streetpulse, the streetpulse
Are you following me? are you following me?
Well suffer my pretty children and follow me, follow me

Change, change, change!
Change, change, change!

I am your antichrist show me allegiance
Are you following me
I am your antichrist pledge to me defiance
Are you following me
Suffer my pretty warriors
Suffer my fallen child
Are you following me
The time has come to conquer and I’ll provide your end
Suffer!
We march!

I give peace signs when I wage war in the disco
I’m the warrior in the ultra violet haze
Armed with antisocial insecurity
I plan the path of destiny from this maze

Cause I’m a market square hero gathering the storms to troop
Cause I’m a market square hero speeding the beat of the streetpulse, the streetpulse
Are you following me? are you following me?
Well suffer my fallen angels and follow me

I’m the market square hero
I’m the market square hero
We’re market square heroes
We’re the market square heroes
Are you following me?

I’m the market square hero!

Marillion – Market Square Heroes

David Bentley Ltd

This entry was posted in Discontinuous Infill flickr photo Salford signage on by

David Bentley Ltd, originally uploaded by spinneyhead.

I’ve been spotting this mascot (a lion?) from cars for years as I’ve gone past, but I think this is the first time I’ve stopped to take a picture.

There are a few other photos from a wander around Strangeways and the Salford border on Monday on Flickr.

tiger1-01

This entry was posted in Comics flickr on by

tiger1-01, originally uploaded by spinneyhead.

First page for my next project- Tiger, a comic for mobiles that’ll be available through Rok Comics.

I’m still messing around in Poser getting the settings sorted to my satisfaction. I got a bunch of cartoon/comic/anime materials for the project and I’ve got to find the right combination for what I want to achieve. It’s going to be quite small by the time it appears on a phone’s screen, so I’m trying simple solid colours for now.

Pedal to the metal and finger on the trigger

This entry was posted in Review video games on by

Ever since my youthful days of playing Car Wars I’ve been on the lookout for a video game that captured the joy of driving along blowing shit up that I got from the card and graph paper experience. Interstate ’76 (and its less satisfying sequel Interstate ’82), came closest, with a storyline, similar damage allocation (in ’76 anyway) and scope for customisation and level building. The Interstate series still has a loyal following and has inspired such homages as Battlefield Interstate ’82, a Battlefield 1942 mod. Sadly, I’ve long since lost my I76 and I82 disks. I may have to get myself new copies.

Full Auto isn’t a pretender to the Interstate crown- it’s more Burnout with guns- but it’s still a satisfying diversion. It combines many of the standard racing game formulae with a highly destructable environment and sets you loose with twin M60s on the bonnet and a mine layer in the boot (or other weapons combos, but that’s our favourite). The aim isn’t just to finish first. In the same way that Project Gotham has Kudos points, Full Auto doles out Wreck points for maximum carnage. The coveted Full and Semi Auto ranks usually require minimum amounts of wreck points, so you can’t just plan to get ahead and stay ahead, you have to shoot everything that moves as well.

One of the best features of the game is Unwreck, which allows you to rewind back from a cock up or destruction. We thought it was a bit of a gimmick, until we tried it. It’s been our salvation several times when we’ve found subtlety and precision haven’t quite worked.

There’s supposedly a storyline to the game- something to do with gangs of homicidal street racers trying to take over your town and the only way to stop them being to cause even more damage than they do- but I’ve yet to see evidence of it. We’ve worked our way through series for the three different classes of vehicle and now we’re moving on to themed races. Maybe they’ll provide the story, but who cares?

There’s a sequel- Full Auto 2: Battlelines, but it seems to only be available for the PS3, which is disappointing for 360 owners such as us.

Now, if we could only get Damian to let us mount shotguns on his car……..

Horseshit of the highest order

This entry was posted in Creationism Religion on by

Sci-fi author John Scalzi went to the Creation Museum after readers of his blog raised enough money for charity to persuade him. His report, and accompanying Flickr photo set, are as charitable as the place deserves.

The interplay of this Holy Trinity of explanations comes to its full realization when the Creation Museum considers what really are its main draw: Dinosaurs. Are dinosaurs 65 million years old? As if – the Earth is just six thousand years old, pal! Dinosaurs were in the garden of Eden – and vegetarians, at least until the fall, so thanks there, Adam. They were still around as late as the mid-third millenium BC; they were hanging with the Sumerians and the Egyptians (or, well, could have). All those fossils? Laid down by the Noah’s Flood, my friends. Which is not to say there weren’t dinosaurs on the Ark. No, the Bible says all kinds of land animals were on the boat, and dinosaurs are a subset of “all kinds.” They were there, scaring the crap out of the mammals, probably. Why did they die off after the flood? Well, who can say. Once the flood’s done, the Creation Museum doesn’t seem to care too much about what comes next; we’re in historical times then, you see, and that’s all Exodus through Deuteronomy, ie., someone else’s problem.

Futureshorts @ Circle club

This entry was posted in flickr photo on by

Futureshorts @ Circle club, originally uploaded by spinneyhead.

I may get up later and pitch Spinneyhead Presents’ new project. I’m looking for camera and lighting people, preferably with their own equipment.