If this were a Mad Magazine article it would be called "The Assault On Raisins"

Those witty, witty guys..."M.A.S.H." becomes "M.U.S.H." in their crazy, mirror universe!

Ahem.

No outrageous adventures to report at the moment, though I suppose I can provide a small amount of local colour by letting you all know that Charing Cross is the place to go in central London for an incredibly dense grouping of book stores (both chain and independent). I went there today to hunt for Al Gore's new book, "The Assault On Reason". At the third store I found it and have devoured half the introduction on the way home.
It's so strange to see a man we used to know mostly as "Bill Clinton's VP" and "The exceptionally boring man" turn into a savvy, entertaining and intriguing speaker who more than stands out from his old bosses shadow - which is more than Mrs. Clinton can say. The article I linked to in the last paragraph gives a nice sample, but I think his interview on The Daily Show (Parts one and two) is quite useful as well. My apologies for not embedding it, but the code which Comedy Central provides is, basically, poop. To sum up what the book is about in a sentence: Al Gore finally applies the analytical and problem solving skills he demonstrated an abundance of with An Inconvenient Truth to the troubles with political and public discourse as it relates to democracy in America.

Though it is written with Americans in mind, even in just what I've read so far, you can easily apply it to Canada and Britain as well. My admiration for Mr. Gore is growing steadily - but of course I still had to find and use a picture of him where he looks like an absolute tit. Such are my fickle ways!

Addendum: BEARD. At the risk of getting stupid in that most internet of styles, may I suggest a Gore/Frakes 2008 ticket?

It is too hot in herre

So I have removed some or all of my clothes. Holy crap it's only about +22c or something and I feel like my head is wrapped in twelve towels soaked in boiling water. I....I hear Greece is hot? Particularly in the summer? Man I hope my body adapts soon!

Meanwhile, the neighborhood in which I work (Barking) is generally littered with litter and the chav's who like to loiter while they litter. But there is one park/bird reserve which serves as a refreshing island of green and blue amongst all the grey and porno-neon advertising. Today I had my camera on me and so this is what you get (to see today).

New Layout - ha cha cha cha

Ta-da!

Working with paw on the website for the webcomic, I've been thinking more about proper site presentation and how it relates to being easy on the eye. The old template I used was snazzy and stylish, but cramped and somewhat counter-intuitive. Let me know if you like this profile better, if you don't, if you don't give hoot or a holler...or if you think that maybe I should have , instead of Athens, booked a trip to the secret city of Laos.

As for the webcomic site, my two favorite designs have always been Chris Onstad's and Ryan's. The use of whitespace, centering and minmalism all come together for something visually pleasing. Neither site ever feels cluttered - which is impressive on the latter given how many features Ryan has packed in - and my eyes are automatically on the comic as soon as the page loads. I find with some of my other regular reads that if I'm a little tired or distracted, I have to re-center my vision slightly and this can be a little annoying (FIRST WORLD PROB-). Sounds like nitpicking in the extreme, I know, but I strongly believe that even the tinest annoyance - repeated consistantly over a long period of time - has the power to make people less inclined to come back. Plus, let's face it, Internet usage seems to drive a lot of people to Olympic levels of laziness.

It's the first proper sunny, summer day in London today. Looking out of the kitchen window I saw a long string of roses reaching from the neighbors lawn and stretching out along the clothes line. It's invigorating as all get out, which is grand as that's just what I need to help me finish pinning the second draft of Momentum to the mat.
Addendum: Speaking of content and opinions and all that...feel free to make suggestions requests or coments regarding what you liked seeing here and what you might like to see. Now that I've been in London almost six consecutive months and England for almost ten I find that some of the touristy-ness is wearing off, perhaps leading me to leaving out interesting details which I'm glossing over as I become more assimilated.

Someone who really is on the front lines of womens rights

I admit that over the past year or so I've gotten in the habit of burying my head in the sand as regards what goes on in Afghanistan and Iraq - particularly since Saddam's disgusting treatment.

But thanks to my growing addiction to the BBC, I found out about something - someone - in Afghanistan that just blew my mind. I knew that there had been improvements since the Taliban had been ousted from power, but had heard of several backslides which eventually lead to the "hear no evil" approach I'd been taking.

I had no idea there was a woman MP in the country - named Malalai_Joya - who, despite numerous death threats and the bombing of her home, says all the things that need to be said there. Like the surprisingly obvious yet not universally regarded "We probably shouldn't allow former Taliban leaders to take positions in the new government" (I'm paraphrasing). Here is the article which drew my attention and here you can see her personal website. What she faces and what she is trying to do just impresses the hell out of me, while putting the pundits who ponder the ways in which warrior womyn can further engorge their sense of entitlement into proper perspective.

ATHENS AHOY

I booked it!

I'll be leaving late June 16th and arriving back late June 20th.

This is berserk, after years of grouping anywhere but England, Canada and the U.S. in roughly the same sphere as Narnia and Atlantis (for all the odds of my ever going there).

I also splurged on a day tour for the middle of my trip. Originally I was going to shun tours since I figured I could get around the city on my own power just fine and that I'd have a more "natural" experience that way. But then I noticed a tour which would take me sailing around three surrounding islands (Hydra, Poros and Aegina). I do not have a yacht, so I thought this would be worth it!

I have also hear that Greece is "cheap" for British tourists so I won't have to get a pile of spending money (thank you, all-mighty pound sterling). It's not a shopping trip, so really I'll just need enough for food and perhaps the odd trinket (hopefully I'll be suave enough to weed out the ultra-touristy crap from genuinly interesting artifacts).

I'm not sure what else to say at this point, other than just A-WHEEEE!

A blobbidty bibbida

As someone who is sometimes cheeky enough to call himself "a writer", I feel I have to try and avoid cheap literary analysis or expression of my own experiences...lest I get caught in the fallacy of trying to fit everything I do into a grand structure.

But it's a very tricky thing to resist the implied parallel when, upon waking up this morning, not only was my head physically unblocked (hurrah, illness has at least receded) but I woke up to find myself already deeply into a writing fugue after three days of barely being able to review my script notes. A trance, a fugue, a vomiting out of ideas, call it what you will but in five minutes I'd filled several pages in my trusty green, hardback notebook with a detailed outline for an entirely new script and in the frenzied rush I'd also filled a page of my yellow "Momentum" notebook with frantic shorthand resolutions to problems I'd been trying to solve. This state continued through breakfast and the ride to work - though I'm normally up in a blink, today I still feel the sleep falling from my brain almost three hours since I awoke.

This is, I think, the kind of inspiration and rush that so many before and after me have clawed at madly, with excessive drink or drugs. I can't say either has ever brought it on for me, but if it works for others then I can certainly understand.

When I say that I woke up halfway in, this is because for the first time in a long while I vividly dreamed a story I could actually relate to people who do not have my exact memories. Usually my dreams are so tactile and rooted in memory that it would be a tremendous pain in the arse to convey them. This dream had those two qualities but had a third facet in that multiple threads and themes of childhood were present. A strange thing for me as I've been looking forward to and considering what is to come with such intensity for the past few years. I don't know yet, of course, if this story will develop into something that could be made - but I do know that I shall have to explore it further when I visit Uffington to retreat from London/Las Internet for a few days.

After Greece, that is! Yes, Old Man Money bounced me on his knee and said that I could get away with both a four day venture into Athens and a four day retreat in Uffington/Oxford. Exciting times! During my weekend stupor I was able to investigate a decent flight and hotel package that will put me along a main road which seems roughly equidistant from the Aegean sea and the core of Athens where such wonders as the Parthenon and the temple of Zeus can be found. The only decision left to make is if I should include one of the little tours in the package and how obnoxious a pair of swim shorts I should purchase.

Addendum: I was warned London would be dirty compared to Ottawa, and parts of it certainly are, but it could be worse.