This article appeared in the East Grinstead Observer today. I'll put it up on the web (with others) at a readable size at some point...

East Grinstead Observer 4 Feb 2004: The Rainbow Orchid

Due to last year's heightened activity in Charlie Chaplin events and products (and I believe the late Chaplin Society had some bearing on this, to what degree I don't know) I have redesigned, updated and given a fresh home to the Chaplin UK Video and DVD Guide.

This is a reliable guide to most of the DVDs and videos that are available in the UK featuring Charlie Chaplin, and can tell you which editions are good quality, which ones are cheap and cheerful, and which ones are badly produced. If you're new to silent film in any form (comedy or drama) then watching a badly produced video can turn you off them for good, whereas watching a film that has been lovingly remastered, rescored and given its due care and attention can realise the beauty of this art form for you. Sadly, many volumes are of the former variety, often because the film rights are either free, cheap, or no one cares and it gets put together on a budget, often along with a lack of knowledge. Things are getting better, with the MK2 editions of Chaplin's classics, and Eureka have improved greatly since their early releases, most recently to give us a stunning edition of the wonderful Sunrise .

Yesterday I managed to see the contents of an 8mm tape I've had in my possession for over ten years but had never seen. It was recorded at a Steerpike gig in 1992 (I was the bassist) and isn't at all bad. The surprising thing was, while rooting around in old box I found another 8mm tape with yet more Steerpike on, this time from a gig at the now defunct 101 Club, from about the same time. I initiated myself into the delights of Apple's iDVD and now have the highlights on disc, complete with menus and chapters. Some frames are reproduced below.

I know this blog has mainly been updates recently (but that was always the main purpose of Nucleus since I started the page in 1997), so apologies for another one. Not having the time to organise my small collection of Brambletye House pictures into some kind of display at home, I'm inflicting them on the web. Learn more here .

The biggest update has been an overhaul, re-edit and graphical make-over for my article on the film A Woman of Paris, which has been getting quite a few hits. I have also done maintenance work on a few other pages, plus I uploaded some thumbnails I drew in September (2003) for Buck Zero (written by Darryl Cunningham), and added more information to the Anglo-Afghan War project page.

Regie Rigby who has a weekly column at the Silver Bullet Comics website has named The Rainbow Orchid the Fool Britannia Small Press Comic of the Year 2003. Marvellous.

My wife's uncle died suddenly the week before Christmas and yesterday was his funeral. It was lovely to meet so many of his friends and more distant family and to see how hugely he was loved by all, everyone had wonderful memories of him. I was in awe of his work as a designer, especially some of his album covers (see below). Here's to one of the kindest and gentlest of people, and another who left us too early in life.

For those whose time had run its natural course in 2003, a toast to my great uncle Norman and my great auntie Millie.

We're very lucky to have a Picture House cinema in East Grinstead, and on a Sunday evening they feature their Director's Cut showing. Previous screenings here have included Kurosawa's Throne of Blood, Fritz Lang's M and City of God - all films that wouldn't normally make it to a town 2-screen cinema.

Last night we went to see Hayao Miyazaki's wonderful Spirited Away, one of the best films of the year, certainly the top animation, just nudging out Belleville Rendezvous, and towering above Finding Nemo. The film is brimming with potent imagination, both visual and in storyline. The environment is totally believable and the characters are human, even the non-human ones which dominate the film. It can be favourably paralleled with Alice in Wonderland in concept, but less manic and more amazing. I haven't been to a film in a long time that produced sounds of awe from the small audience. Perhaps The Return of the King will reproduce that experience... A good Miyazaki site is Nausicaa.net.

After many months I have decided to republish my family history research webpages. I took them down when my interest waned somewhat, but things are picking up again a little, though I will take things slowly for the next few months (not least because it can be expensive!). I have edited and rewritten most of the pages and was reminded of some of my Ewing family tragic deaths!

My four-times great grandfather, James Ewing, fell off the edge of a cliff one foggy night in 1883 and was discovered the next morning, sprawled on the rocks. Ten years later his son, Alexander, placed his head on the tracks in front of an express train and was decapitated. Another twenty years on, Alexander's niece, Mary, picked up the lodger's shotgun in the kitchen and it accidentally fired into her chest. She staggered into her husband's arms and then died... (a few months later, the same gun went off, again accidentally, and killed the lodger too).

The Rainbow Orchid is now available to buy from Ottakar's Bookshop in East Grinstead. Thanks to Andy of Dachshund it is also available in Gosh Comics in London (opposite the British Museum).

Went to see Eddie Izzard in Brighton on Saturday evening as his Sexie tour winds down with the last few British dates.

And maybe this is one of the reasons it didn't quite spark. He was funny, but not side-splitting as he has been before. The Brighton Centre is a big cavernous venue and I was sat in the east wing, so it felt like he was talking to someone else, not me, and these reasons probably contributed also. This is the fifth time I've seen Eddie live - twice at The Hawth in Crawley (which were truly hilarious) and also as part of the 'One-word improv' tour in Tunbridge Wells. All these were before his mega(ish)-stardom. More recently I saw him in 'A Day in the Death of Joe Egg' at the Comedy Theatre, also very good. So, a bit disappointing this time round, but he still pulled strongly at the chuckle muscles. The last time I was in the Brighton Centre was for the World Science Fiction Convention in 1987.