Monthly archives: June 2009

Transformers 2 is the ultimate arthouse film

This entry was posted in Transformers on by

It’s like Un Chien Andalou on mecha steroids, at least according to this review. I’ve just seen it, and I’m inclined to agree.

Transformers: ROTF has mostly gotten pretty hideous reviews, but that’s because people don’t understand that this isn’t a movie, in the conventional sense. It’s an assault on the senses, a barrage of crazy imagery. Imagine that you went back in time to the late 1960s and found Terry Gilliam, fresh from doing his weird low-fi collage/animations for Monty Python. You proceeded to inject Gilliam with so many steroids his penis shrank to the size of a hair follicle, and you smushed a dozen tabs of LSD under his tongue. And then you gave him the GDP of a few sub-Saharan countries. Gilliam might have made a movie not unlike this one.

Apologies for the lack of activity on Spinneyhead

This entry was posted in Fiction Sounds of Soldiers Spinneyhead Venn on by

But I’ve been busy with various things, as the reposted tweets may have made obvious.

Okay, admittedly I lost most of Sunday to a hangover, but for the last two days I’ve spent a lot of my time editing together 60, the venn.tv short for the Not Part Of festival. The timing’s settled, but there’s still a bit of colour correction and the old split screens to put in.

I’ve also done a little bit of work on Shall We Take A Trip?, my erotic comic project. I’ve got one page left to draw, and front and back covers, then I’ll go through and re-letter it before packaging and selling it.

And I’m still working on Sounds of Soldiers, trying to get the first draft finished. I’m currently struggling with rewriting one of the chapters and there are a few that still need writing from scratch. When the first draft’s finished I have an idea for getting it edited and copy checked. I’ll tell you more nearer the time.

There’s going to be a rash of Spinneyhead product soon, but for now it’s all a bit quiet.

Tweets today

This entry was posted in Spinneyhead Twitter on by

23:47 Blog: On the set of 60 tinyurl.com/mujzt4 #

23:47 Blog: Tweets today tinyurl.com/mv8fyd #

23:47 Presents: On set photos from filming 60 tinyurl.com/laajcz #

16:45 Taking the hand lettering out of Shall We Take A Trip? pages so I can rescript it and make it tidier. not challenging, but important, work. #

17:09 You’ve got the brawn, I’ve got the brains. Let’s make lots of money. #

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Tweets today

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23:43 Blog: Tweets today tinyurl.com/mxe32h #

11:15 To the video editron! (aka Damian’s mac) #

11:29 Video editron engaged! #

12:52 Getting closer. Not happy with the last few seconds. Shall ponder it over lunch. #

15:30 I think the end will work when I add some sound effects. Time to get a water melon. #

17:12 This Wednesday’s film is Transformers 2 @ 6.50 @ AMC #

17:51 WAtermelon purchased. Now I shall wait for the household’s knife wielding maniac to come home so we can do this properly. #

19:49 Presents: Magic Lantern extends the Canon 5D’s video capabilities tinyurl.com/nb9hff #

20:47 I think we can safely say that watermelon won’t cause us any more trouble. #

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JOE134, playing video games in Urbis

This entry was posted in JOE on by

In memory of Andy McCruden. To find out more about Andy read the obituaries on Spinneyhead and UK-Rag. To make a donation please go to the justgiving page set up to remember him.

Tweets today

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23:48 Blog: Tweets today tinyurl.com/lhox9j #

11:17 Gud finns nog inte is.gd/17eni #

12:21 Into town for a little culcha. #

14:44 Blog: JOE134 is playing video games at Urbis tinyurl.com/n4nn4d #

19:35 Get us a time machine! We need to in back and collect religious prophets and founders for Big Brother. #

20:47 Footing is the new fisting! A step up, some might say. #

21:33 Hen night hell! #

22:00 Dan says "You should have put it in your mouth and blocked the end with your tongue." #

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23:45 Blog: Tweets today tinyurl.com/lvzpkn #

12:55 Going to let the rough edit of 60 sit a little before I go in and add all the 24 style split screening etc. #

15:41 On Two Wheels- Another missive from Honest John tinyurl.com/kjo48v #

15:41 On Two Wheels- Dave Gorman’s helmet cam tinyurl.com/ko5xm3 #

15:41 On Two Wheels- I fear I may have upset Honest John tinyurl.com/npd355 #

18:43 Mirrorball buddha! #

19:34 We’re planning a no-class action against Liverpool. A penny per scouser should do. #

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Tweets today

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23:44 Blog: Tweets today tinyurl.com/m3v6ko #

00:42 Blog: Jedi would have been so much better if they’d replaced the Ewoks with chipmunks tinyurl.com/l7rd7v #

11:01 Save the World: The XR3 hybrid is ugly but efficient tinyurl.com/l5xvyg #

12:31 No doubt my video editing technique would give a professional nightmares. But I’m getting there with the first version. #

13:40 Watching 24. For research purposes, obviously. #

16:45 Very rough first cut done, but the editor’s become grouchy. So I shall read up on the effects I want to use on it. #

17:28 TwitterFox on the laptop is showing me tweets sent "about one day from now". Someone say something momentous I can bet on please. #

17:30 @awardsounds researching how to make split screens. I suspect masks and other trickery. #

18:06 @awardsounds Similar to what I’d started doing. Which is good. Shall do more tomorrow probably. Depends upon access to the computer. #

20:45 Blog: Maunsell Towers tinyurl.com/npm5jc #

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Maunsell Towers

This entry was posted in Steam Geek World War 2 on by

From the Steam Geek archives-

The Maunsell Towers were set up to provide anti aircraft defence in the Thames Estuary during World War Two. Each “fort” comprised of one Bofors tower, a control tower, four gun towers and a searchlight tower. Three forts were built Nore Army Fort, the Red Sands Army Fort and the Shivering Sands Army Fort, of which the latter two still stand, more or less.

Wikipedia on Maunsell Forts.

Project Red Sands.

Sealand, most famous of the offshore forts, with plans

via BoingBoing

The XR3 hybrid is ugly but efficient

This entry was posted in car Hybrid transport on by

The XR3 diesel electric hybrid three wheeler has a claimed consumption of 125 miles to the gallon (US gallon, I assume) and is soon going to be mass produced. The XR3 started out as a set of plans so you could build your own. I found it whilst browsing the designer’s other creations such as the XR2 recumbent bike.

It’s cool that such a car is going into production, but does it have to look like one of the background vehicles from a 1980’s science fiction movie?

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Jedi would have been so much better if they’d replaced the Ewoks with chipmunks

This entry was posted in Funny Star Wars on by

Let’s Be Friends, originally uploaded by powerpig.

Chris McVeigh has befriended the chipmunks at his parents’ house and managed to get them so comfortable with his presence that he can pose them with Star Wars figures.

He has other pictures on Flickr.

Tweets today

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23:43 Blog: Tweets today tinyurl.com/nhf8pz #

23:45 @SkippyUK MOAB #

00:03 @SkippyUK Massive Ordnance Air Burst or Mother Of All Bombs- very big non-nuclear bomb #

11:04 Transferring yesterday’s footage to the computer. #

21:55 What happens in Blackpool stays in Blackpool. Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. #

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Tweets today

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23:41 Blog: Tweets today tinyurl.com/l9l69g #

00:29 Naked Bike Ride pictures are always popular. #

00:41 Presents: Buyacredit.com- fund a film by selling space in the credits tinyurl.com/ngl47b #

02:17 Save the World: The Armadillo- permaculture for the trailer park tinyurl.com/nsupy7 #

02:30 Scale: A casting tutorial for you tinyurl.com/lu62pu #

09:42 Tomorrow’s film is The Hangover @ 7.35 (not 7.45) @ amc #

14:10 2 Wheels Good: World Naked Bike Ride 2009 tinyurl.com/lw9oxs #

14:24 Off to the studio soon to get ready to shoot the onscreen action for 60 #

21:44 Blog: Now with more red wires tinyurl.com/lxc8yw #

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Tweets today

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23:40 Blog: Tweets today tinyurl.com/kukjst #

11:39 Blog: One day I will have my own 3d printer tinyurl.com/ko9wn6 #

12:24 Just broke even for tax year to date 🙂 That’ll last until I pay studio rent tomorrow 🙁 #

13:42 Presents: Recording the voice over for 60 tinyurl.com/kmat2v #

14:51 @maskeddave There will be other productions and other roles. We’ve already discussed a non-speaking, but on-screen, part in "Bob Time" #

14:53 Why must iMovie generate thumbnails every time I open it? For a different project? Wasting nearly an hour waiting for it to sort itself out. #

16:44 Blog: Hooray for the Royal British Legion tinyurl.com/now2r6 #

16:44 Blog: Manchester World Naked Bike Ride 2009 tinyurl.com/mgdnfp #

20:27 Choose between Doghouse @ 7.15 @ amc and The Hangover @ 7.45 @ amc #

20:28 Wednesday’s film- Choose between Doghouse @ 7.15 @ amc and The Hangover @ 7.45 @ amc #

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