RIP Tim Hart

Just read on a friend's journal that Tim Hart has died of lung cancer.


Bugger. Used to be active in the folk scene, but well before that I used to play cassettes of Steeleye Span until they'd fall apart. He will be missed.

Thomas The Rhymer:

Cam Ye O'er Frae France (which I got "jagged" on:

"Gough Whitlam dead at 98" (Watch on YouTube)

Gaudete (which, though not Christian, I think is beautiful):

"Hail in Barnsley" (Watch on YouTube)

Off facebook

I think it's time for me to ration my Facebook Access. Earlier this year I had a major problem with it because I kept on paying attention to FB in preference to my studies. I tend to be more creative in the mornings, but I got into a routine of checking Live Journal (5 minutes tops) and Facebook (anywhere between 5 minutes to 2-3 hours). My solution was to withdraw from FB and only check it on the w/e. This seemed to work and I was able to focus properly.

I relaxed this at the start of December, and perhaps not coincidentally got almost NO WEB COMICS done at all! I was upset with myself yesterday because I had intended to do at least a page for Tales of the Galli and it didn't happen. Yes, it's my own choice, but I have major problems focussing at times. I've had the same problem with mailing lists and used to go NOMAIL to recover my focus (and doing so works).

The last straw was seeing a repost by a couple of friends who lauded the use of Facebook as a tool of revenge. Some fuck-wit brother got dobbed in by his sister for hiding beer in his room, so he ransacked her room and posted a scan of her fantasy sex list. That's a "WIN" for the kid?? Don't think so, and really, it's not something I want to read about either (so I've de-friended the two people who reposted it.

It just reinforces the feeling I continue to get that Facebook is mostly full of CRAP. Bubbly attractive and easy to read crap, but crap nonetheless. I don't WANT to know that someone on my friends list has joined a group about being rude to people who ask you questions, or some impossible joke group - it's still crap crap crap (and there seems to be no may that I can turn such posts OFF)!

So, as off now I am only using facebook to answer messages (and maybe send some), play Scrabble and Lexelous, and fuck all else.

"GOD"

Another great video by Lev - "God" Tales Of Mere Existence:

Proof of concept

I've (mostly) shut down Facebook involvement, and after 4 hours, I have a web comic page! Speaks for itself.

TAKE TWO - Try the link now.

Curious Images

I was looking for images of Christians being burnt to death (for my comic, set just after the Great Persecution) when I came across these two pages. The first is the Bay of Fundie Blog and has about half a dozen cartoons all using the same image (sample below).

The second is the Encyclopedia Urantia which has the most intriguing illustrations (like the one below). What?!
 

 

Gasp.

2nd web comic page

Yay - page two!

My one regret is that I didn't use Manga Studio to produce this. I have a trial copy installed, but tripped at the starting gate due to dense documentation (only in PDF format) and couldn't find out how to change the background colour of a page (or indeed change the colour of tools at all)!. I will be going back to this though. The thing I have to remind myself of is, that the application is designed to produce a file that will print a paper page of comics. That's why I'm interested, as that would be ideal for my graphic novels.

Iranian Unrest

As per Al Jazeera report:

Iran seizes opposition figures

Security forces in Iran have arrested a number of prominent critics of the government in the wake of opposition protests that left as many as eight people dead in Tehran, the capital.

Ebrahim Yazdi, who served as foreign minister in the early months of Iran's 1979 revolution, and Emadeddin Baghi, a human rights campaigner and journalist, were arrested on Monday, according to the pro-opposition Rahesabz website.

There were also reports that two aides to Mohammad Khatami, a former reformist president, and three advisers to Mir Hossein Mousavi, an opposition leader, were detained.

Security forces reportedly stormed a series of opposition offices in an apparent crackdown following fierce clashes at street protests during the Shia Muslim commemoration of Ashoura.

Seyyed Ali Mousavi, Mousavi's 35-year-old nephew, was among the eight people killed, with the Parlemannews website saying he was shot during clashes at Tehran's Enghelab square "and was martyred after he was taken to Ebnesina hospital".

State television attributed his death to "unknown assailants".

Norooz, an opposition website, said police had fired teargas to disperse supporters of Mousavi outside the hospital.

Opposition reports that police fired on protesters during the demonstrations, could not be independently verified as foreign media face severe restrictions in Iran.

The whole article can be found on the Al Jazeera page. It doesn't look good, and really, the current regime doesn't look much different from the one deposed in the late 70s.

Writer's Block: Bottoms up!

[Error: unknown template qotd] I'll be staying home that night. I have no car, and going to big events where I don't know anybody is a sure way to induce a panic attack in me.

I might however go on Second Life and attend an event there.