Way Of All Flesh

I figured I should finally get around to commemorating what I believe to be quite a major milestone in my life here in Los Angeles. To the utter disbelief of many of my peers, I am now, at last, a fully-fledged L.A. driver, and the owner of this magnificent beast: a 1997 Toyota Camry LE V6. I've been out on the mean streets pretty much every day since I acquired him on the muggy evening of August 29th 2007, and driving here already feels completely natural. Plus it's been a week and a half, and I've yet to receive a street-cleaning ticket! How long can this state of affairs last, I hear you ask. I will keep you updated...

In the foreboding wilderness of post-Veronica television, I have found hope in two other shows that may each go some way towards filling the black pit of despair left by a certain sassy blonde: Weeds and Heroes. I had enjoyed the first season of Weeds immensely, but now that we have caught up with the second season on DVD and the third is showing such promise, I can with little hesitation confirm that I love this show. It's that perfect mix of drama and (often ridiculous) humour that really appeals to me in a television show, both gripping and extremely entertaining at the same time. Arguably I have come to Heroes preposterously late in its life, but I decided to take the leap and purchase the DVD set by way of celebrating the Prince's arrival (seeing as I can now drive to Target whenever I want), and was not in any way disappointed. The show basically distills all the best ideas from the X-Men's forty-odd years of innovation and convolution, and then recontextualises them in a more 'realistic' setting with tight meta-plotting and excellent character-acting. I guess I see it's greatest strength as being this intelligent derivation in which it engages, and I particularly enjoyed the show's preoccupation with causality, precognition and the question of the mutability of destiny. I can't quite decide who my favourite character is, but presently it's a dead heat between Sylar and Ando. I'm really excited to see where they take it in the second season.

So the fine people at Young American Comics have a fantastic exercise going on right now (52 Comic Challenges), and, as is my nature, I am already well behind on my participation. But I here is my answer to Challenge #1: Write and draw your origin story.

(Click on the thumbnails for more readable iterations)

Sadly this probably represents the longest continuous series of juxtaposed images I have ever put together in a single unit, but I already feel like I've learned a good few things, including:

1. I really need to start practicing with perspective.
2. I really need a longer ruler.

UPDATE: I now have a longer ruler.

I just read the horrible news on boingboing that Robert Jordan has passed away after a prolonged battle with amyloidosis. I had no idea he was even sick - at Comic Con 2005 he proudly rattled off his vitals to a room of WoT fans, and by all accounts sounded ready to take on and outrun everyone in attendance. I remember my dad picked up a pile of second hand Conan novels for me at a jumble sale in Chiswick, back when I was but a young boy, and it was always Robert Jordan's tales of the iconic Cimmerian which I enjoyed the most. Years later, my school friend Harbir lent me the first (and second and third and fourth and fifth) book in the Wheel of Time saga, and it was with mounting excitement that I recognised the name on the cover. I was hooked by the series, whose outsize tomes would proceed to stretch many a school blazer pocket, and proceeded to indoctrinate anyone else I could, simply to have more people with which to share my enthusiasm. His epic had meandered a little across the later books, but had showed great promise of getting back on track with Knife of Dreams. Sadly, he leaves his great work unfinished.

George R. R. Martin has a nice remembrance on his blog.

Yesterday I descended once more upon the Fox and Hounds to watch England's rugby travails whilst sipping draught London Pride (and enjoying a plate of bangers and mash), and finally the boys in white and red gave me something to be hopeful about. After witnessing the shockers against France, USA, and South Africa (and Robinson's injury in that last match) I had serious worries about England even making it to the knock-out stages. Thankfully, they showed a lot more spirit and drive in the game against Samoa, refusing to bow their heads even when a questionable try brought them worryingly close to disaster. Some cynics get tired of the near-religious belief in Johnny Wilkinson's ability to lead England to victory, but his presence in this match (and his absence in the prior outings) really showed. Finally England showed some cohesion and fluidity in the half-back area: Andy Gomarsall cleared the ball well at the breakdown, and between them Johnny and Olly Barkley kicked tactically and accurately, enabling the team to build some dangerous momentum at times. Sackey finally produced some big finishes, and Martin Corry's second try was fantastic. I'm still not sure if we've got what it takes to keep the Webb Ellis cup, but hopefully England can build on this performance to put in a decent showing in the tournament over all. 44-22! Bring it on, Tonga!

Lisl and I were walking up our street, past the Prospect Studios and the regular line of showbiz trucks, when we noticed that the names on the doors were, for once, very familiar to us. David Aceveda...Dutch Waggenbach...Danny Sofer...that's right! They're filming The Shield on our street. Which is a funny coincidence, given that I was going to link to this great story on blogging.la anyway.

In other news, Halo 3 drops tomorrow (or at midnight tonight, depending on how fanatical I decide to be). This is perhaps the most entertaining article I have encountered relating to this momentous occasion. Meanwhile, Stephen Fry reveals that he is even more awesome than any of us knew.

Did I mention that I'm typing this post on my new laptop? UPDATE: Lisl and I have since realized that the main vehicle entrance of Prospect Studios has always doubled for the exterior of the Barn. You see Talmadge in just about every episode. Nice.

The Gravity Hammer is great fun, the Energy Sword is still deadly, and Master Chief still reigns supreme. Just remember, Beau: that Elephant is MY HOUSE!

This is pretty damn funny.