It's all very nice getting the ocassional DVD (latest: Jefferson Airplane) or package from ebay in the post, but the most exciting thing to receive is art stuff! This morning I received some fresh Bristol Board pads (A3 and A4) and a couple of replacement nibs for my Rapidograph pens (which probably needed replacing about a year ago actually). The goods arrived so quickly and were so well packed, I'll give a little plug to the company, which is ArtThings (also known as Churchill's Art & Stationary in Glamorgan). The other online art shop I use is Graphics Direct, where I recently bought refill ink from, but they don't sell the Bristol Board pads I like - but no complaints against their service, and I recommend them too.

Went to see this tonight with Elyssa... very enjoyable, if far more weird than I expected. It was sort of Wizard of Oz meets the Rocky Horror Picture Show meets Billy Elliott. It had an 'English' setting as well. Depp was very good, as usual, and the squirrels were excellent... they must have been CG, but you couldn't see the join*. Not much to say about it, but good.

As an aside, I've never read the original book, but once, for my mum's birthday when she was ill in bed, I performed the play version (from a book) with me playing all the parts. I can only remember one prop which was a brown paper bag, but there must have been more to it than that. I suppose I was about ten or twelve years old.

* Edit 10.08.05: According to the Funday Times, Aug 7: "Four animal trainers worked with 40 squirrels for the nut room scene. The real rodents were supplemented by a troop of lifelike animatronic squirrels, made with real squirrel fur."

Sometimes you just need to sleep. Two illos for a magazine article on children's naps.

Two years ago I got together all my spare cash and purchased a Canon MV600i camcorder. Over the past 2 years I haven't used it that much, but it is a lovely DV camera to use, and has been very useful. I have quite a few plans for future use, both for myself and for work.

I went to do a little test film today and it is not working - the viewfinder and flip-screen are black and it will not record (yes, the lenscap is off!). As usual, my first port of call with any technical problem is Google, and I quickly came across this forum thread with over 40 individuals complaining of the same problem - all with 600 series Canon camcorders, and all about the same age.

The upshot is I have written to Canon and hope they will repair my camera for free, as it is obviously an inherent design problem (I can't afford a repair or a new purchase at the moment anyway). I'll keep things updated, but fingers crossed for a positive consumer experience...

In the print version of The Rainbow Orchid, as well as sticking to the standard four-tier page that is common to many clear-line BD albums, there would be the occasional half-page panel, often at the beginning of a new episode. When I converted the comic to its online format, I standardised the size and shrunk these down. Well, now they're back! You can view the larger panels at the start of episodes 2, 3, 5 and 6.

The latest strip is up as episode 7 keeps going. At the moment I am updating once a week, but as soon as my work calms down a little I hope to post twice a week - especially as my deadline for episode 7 in Fusion is August.

You might have noticed the little buttons just below the episode chapters, added as I join up with various webcomic communities. If you feel you can, please take the time to register with these sites and add Rainbow Orchid as a favourite - it all helps to give the comic a higher profile and bring in more readers. I've decided not to go for any of the online voting systems as I don't think it gives a reliable representation, and I feel uncomfortable with the competitiveness. That's not to say it's wrong, I vote for quite a few comics I like!

Last night I went to the Super Furry Animals gig at Somerset House. I had a meeting in Bromley for the previous part of the day, and then Ellie and I caught the train into Victoria and met friends at Charing Cross. For a Friday evening, the city was quiet, peaceful in fact (well, apart from the occasional siren and helicopter). There were lots of side-ways glances between fellow underground passengers... not suspicious looks, more trying-to-search-peoples'-feelings looks. There was no tacky flag-waving, no loud conversations, just the old let's get on with things. Well what else is there? Going down into the underground for the first time at Victoria, I did actually get a bit of a lump in my throat at the sight of people just carrying on, or maybe it was at the thought of what people had been through in these tunnels. Silly really, and it quickly passed.

The gig was very good, and Somerset House is a fantastic venue for it. A video screen showed live drawing from Pete Fowler before the band came on. Gruff thanked everyone for coming to the gig despite the previous day's events. "This is what happens when, instead of declaring peace on terrorism, you declare war on terrorism", he said. Then the screens showed stills of Bush and Blair put to the words of Bill Hicks, looping the line "all governments are liars and murderers". There was lots of new material and some old favourites, and they ended on the defiant 'The Man Don't Give a F**k'. The illuminated hooded boiler suits were good, but not as impressive as perhaps they were intended.

Despite this being a very enjoyable show, I'm afraid I have to be an old crock and say, generally, I don't enjoy the gig-going experience. Sound is often poor (bass guitars are amplified to be felt and not heard - this is okay, but it can get too distorted), and large crowds are not my favourite. But then again, when you work from home all day self-employed, it's nice (and important) to get out like this when you can! This was far better than many I've been too - the open-air was good.

There was various music being piped through the sound system before the gig, and one artist I particularly liked, but have no idea who it was. I'm looking into it... could be Baris Manco... but it could have been Japanese.

The Rainbow Orchid is continuing... at last! After many delays for a variety of wonderous reasons, I have got back to the writing and drawing of the comic. With some slight trepidation, I am attempting to make Monday the new strip day, so check back every week to see the latest strip.

Click the 'read strip' link in the top navigation to view the latest addition.

After doing the book meme a few days ago, it reminded me that I had intended to buy Antony Sher's latest book, Primo Time, and so yesterday it arrived from Amazon (a signed copy). I'm halfway through it already. I find Sher compulsive reading, ever since Year of the King, through Indoor Boy, Woza Shakespeare, Characters, and his autobiography, Beside Myself. The first play I saw him in was something of creative soul-opener for me, Stoppard's Travesties at the Barbican. For some reason I find I identify with him, but I'm not sure why - after all, I'm not South African, gay or Jewish - it's probably on a more creative level. I can relate to the acting experiences having been involved in theatre for a number of years, I can relate to his writing, and I can relate to his artwork.

His writing is fantastic and very readable. Here's a funny little extract, from when he was on the set of Churchill - the Hollywood Years, in which he plays Hitler.

"... I confine myself to my trailer, which is the size of a horsebox. This is a low-budget movie, and only the two American stars get proper Winnebagos. I always bring books to read and sketchbooks to fill, but a weird apathy takes over, and I end up on the little bed, drifting in and out of dull, sluggish sleep. This afternoon I was out for about two hours! Waking, I had no idea where I was. I struggled off the bed, and suddenly found myself face to face with Hitler. I screamed out loud. For a Jew to wake from sleep, look in a mirror, and see Hitler looking back is a shock of existential proportions."

The only downside to the book is that it is a fairly small publisher (I think he changed after his previous publisher didn't put enough weight behind his autobiography) and I presume this is why there are none of his wonderful sketches. Antony Sher was in one of the best things on the tele in the last couple of years (before Doctor Who made a somewhat triumphant return recently), a TV film called Home by J. G. Ballard. I also treasure a postcard sent to me by Antony Sher on which he wrote a couple of lines about my comic strip adaptation of The Tempest.

Another update from Jenni. Her blog has been my first visit every morning for the past few days.

I don't know Andy well, but I'd like to share a memory of him. At a UKCAC (UK Comic Art Convention) sometime in the mid-nineties I was getting back into self-publishing comics, and went for the first time to meet some fellow small-pressers. Like many people who spend far too much time in their rooms over the drawing board when they should be out socialising and getting some fresh air, I was quite anxious, nervous, apprehensive about actually going up and talking to these fellow creators, who were likewise mostly introvert, but doing their best. Once you crack the shell they all turn out to be pretty nice and interesting people.

Then Andy Roberts and Jenni Scott came up and before I could even introduce myself Andy was clutching my hand and shaking it, grinning, and saying how much he loved my comics. He acted as if we were friends already, no need for the effort of introductions. Jenni was similarly friendly and totally at ease, showing great interest in my comics and making me feel part of the whole thing. That was the important bit. The weekend got better from that specific point on. That simple meeting did a lot for me, and the effect had its benefit for future conventions too. He'd taken away a lot of the trepidation. I met Andy a couple more times only, during which time he had reviewed two of my titles in Caption and Comics Forum, and his support always meant a lot to me because he had made a connection. I checked his blog pretty regulalry, if not so frequently in more recent times, and was pleased to discover a link-up, through him, with another acquaintance, Martin White.

Andy is an incredibly creative bloke and his value as a person is great. Somewhere out there is a motorcyclist who didn't just crash into Andy a few days ago, but knocked over his good friends and family in a wave that has spread out to anyone who met this lovely chap.

As I say, I don't know Andy well at all, but I'm thinking of him every day, and I truly hope he beats the odds, because any alternative is just devastating to contemplate. Come back to us, old chap.

Update: Jenni has just said on her blog that Andy died this morning at 10.15, Saturday 18 June.