BEYOND SALVATION A Wall Street Journal reporter emailed her thoughts on Iraq back home and somehow her personal email became public. While the email reveals nothing that is very surprising it still makes for a sobering read: Despite President Bush's rosy assessments, Iraq remains a disaster. If under Saddam it was a 'potential' threat, under the Americans it has been transformed to 'imminent and active threat,' a foreign policy failure bound to haunt the United States for decades to come... Mike is blogging to: The Ramones

GREEDO SHOT FIRST? It's in the hands of the courts now Mike is blogging to: Megadeth

"YOU WANT TO GET OUT OF HERE? YOU TALK TO ME" Yesterday I hung out with Kris. You remember the guy who turned me into a superhero? Yeah, him. So we haven't spoken in a while and haven't seen each other in months so we had a lot of catching up to do. He's had quite a few ups and downs of late and we had a good jaw in the pub next door and then retired back here for Mad Max 2 and Indian food. Jess meanwhile was starting her MA in journalism - I'm lucky to have a smart girlfriend who can dissect politics, jump around to Le Tigre and still find time to see the fun to be had in watching Max crumple cars and bikes in an armoured truck. Mike is blogging to: Rammstein

NEW CIN MIN ENTRY: So how cool was Save the Green Planet? This cool. Mike is blogging to: Devo

CHOOSE YOUR OWN NEWS ADVENTURE By following a link on Boing Boing about a giant mushroom I was taken on a news adventure by clicking the links offered by the BBC. One: 'Europe's biggest mushroom' found Two: Russians lost in mushroom heaven Three: 'Doped up' Russian soldier runs amok Four: Nine die in paratroop gun rampage Five: Bear sniffs out Russian deserter Mike is blogging to: Zappa

SAVE THE GREEN PLANET On my way to meet the girl and see this: I completely forgot to mention that Andy was in town for a few days and how good it was to see him and hang out. We ate Indian food and watched zombies and caught up with one another seeing as it's been years since we last crossed paths and even longer since we worked together. At one point over some veggie Chinese he said to me, "There's a guy I work with now that I think you'd get on with. He's obnoxious and hates everyone." Glad to know that there are others out there fighting the good fight against the tyranny of the nice. Mike is blogging to: Black Flag

STEPPING STONES Duncan is still in Ethiopia but is busy planning his show at the Jangva Gallery: I have made myself a scale model of Jangva gallery so I can plan next years show. Despite all the dolls house connotations I find I can think a lot more clearly about the show with this rather than in the abstract. I have now rethought one of the walls which was going to be a cluster of 30 faces on small panels. I now see I need to tile the whole wall in order to generate the feeling of a multitude looking at you. This means a grid of 13 x 9 panels. 117 pictures. I currently have about 10 panels and under 5 months left here so I need to produce at least a picture a day until I leave. I also have to handcut each panel from giant sheets of chipboard (122 x 244 cms). So, now you know what I am going to be up to for the near future? a path of faces like stepping stones stretching to February? As it looks increasingly unlikely that we will be able to get out to Africa before he leaves we are determined to get to Helsinki to see his show. Mike is blogging to: Clutch

STEVE FURNITURE: THE MAN VS THE MYTH Some of you guys have been wandering my way looking for the following: I feel some of you may have left a little disappointed... Mike is blogging to: Therapy?

RUSS MEYER 1922 - 2004 A one-man film industry, Meyer wrote, directed, produced and edited some 23 features, starting with his censor-baiting debut The Immoral Mr Teas in 1959 and continuing through to 1979's Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens. Fans fondly remember such cult 1960s offerings as Mudhoney, Vixen and Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! Mike is blogging to: Anti Flag

REDEMPTION Sometimes something terrible and unwanted pops into your life and in the darkest pits of despair you look around for someone to blame or at least listen to you while you scream "why?" Then later with hindsight you begin to see hope. That maybe you can turn this horrific unwanted intrusion into your life to something beneficial. Much later you can even look back and perhaps be thankful that such a terrible thing occurred because it was that one slice of pure evil in your life that helped you reach the place you are today. Would Davros have built the daleks if he hadn't been confined to his chair? Would Columbo have solved all those cases with two eyes? Would Steven Hawking have ever guest starred in Star Trek and Futurama without being afflicted with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis? Sometimes you need the evil to find the reward. Which brings me to Ian McShane. Lovejoy was cancer of the television for eight long, long years. Even now it hasn't been completely wiped out as it rears it's ugly head in repeats and is perhaps responsible for the antique show plague that blights the already dead world of daytime television. For a while there you felt it would never end and that it's very existence finally proved that God was not only very much alive but a completely malicious cunt for letting such an abomination crawl into life on his watch. Then years later you sit down to watch Sexy Beast and there is Ian McShane. No longer the amateur sleuth and antiques expert but instead an old school British gangster managing to scare the piss out of Ray Scum Winstone. This is the first flicker of hope that Mr McShane's role on the planet is perhaps not to simply reliquidate your grandmother's dusty parts. And then comes the revelation of Deadwood. "God rest the souls of that poor family... and pussy's half price for the next 15 minutes..." McShane was born to play Al Swearengen and everything else is forgiven. Mike is blogging to: Le Tigre

Dear Initial City Link, Go fuck yourselves you incompetent bastards. Mike is blogging to: Sleater Kinney

"YOU'VE GOT RED ON YOU" It never fails. As soon as your girlfriend goes to Bournemouth you get email from a New York call girl. And your best mate rings you up to remind you that things haven't changed and you are still the playstation-playing-cornetto for breakfast kind of slob that is so faithfully paid tribute to in Shaun of the Dead. Last night I fell asleep on the sofa watching Airwolf and had cold pizza for breakfast this morning. Not that I didn't learn something from my reversion to bachelorhood. There is a scene in the pilot episode of Airwolf where Stringfellow Hawke's (soon to be dead - tortured by a bloated, dressed as an Arab, David Hemmings) love interest notices his dog is staring up her dress. She adjusts her legs and looks at Stringfellow who grins at her mischievously as if to say 'yeah, I trained my dog to check out your pussy. It's just the kind of guy I am'. I completely missed this when I was a teenager. I was probably more into the helicopter and the theme tune than I was into watching Mr Hawke date-rape his conquests into submission before they died in his arms giving him the excuse to kill more Russians. I wonder if they will be able to keep faithful to the original misogynistic viewpoint in the inevitable big budget/big screen remake... PS The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy returns to radio this evening. Mike is blogging to: PJ Harvey

HOME ALONE Jess is in Bournemouth looking at the sea and covering the Liberal Democrat Conference which means I have been left to my own devices for three days. I am already knee deep in junk and having long meandering conversations with the cat... Mike is blogging to: The Ramones

THE HP LOVECRAFT CRAWLING CHAOS BLANKET Nicholas Stedman�s Blanket is a robotic sculpture in the form of a blanket that crawls around a space, finds people there and crawl over to and on top of them, "like a pet." The blanket is equipped with a wireless transceiver, a PIC microprocessor, and a camera to detect bodies in that space and beam the data to the blanket which will then scuttle across to detected objects. Each part of the blanket's skeleton is fitted with a pressure sensor enabling it to respond to physical movement from the people it envelops... (via near near future) More pics here. Mike is still blogging to: The Ramones

BOP TIL YOU DROP Johnny Ramone died. I Wanna Live I've been thinking it over And I know just what to do I've been thinking it over And I know I just can't trust myself I'm a Gypsy prince Covered with diamonds and jewels But then my lover exposes me I know I'm just a damn fool I give what I've got to give I give what I need to live I give what I've got to give It's important if I wanna live I wanna live I want to live my life I wanna live I want to live my life As I load my pistol Of fine German steel I never thought I'd be so down and out Having my last meal But I know I can do it It just took a few years As I execute my killers The morning is near I give what I've got to give I give what I need to live I give what I've got to give It's important if I wanna live I wanna live I want to live my life I wanna live I want to live my life In other news it's my birthday today. I am off to meet a cute girl for lunch and then watch a bunch of brain destroying movies. Mike is blogging to: The Ramones

MOVING PICTURES I spent the morning at the LFF Press Launch and the afternoon working out how many movies I can watch per day... Get the low down here. Mike is blogging to: Rollins

HULLAHULLU Customs have a problem with me. They want to know why I have been posted a garlic clove. Maybe they think I am a vampire. Mike is blogging to: John Carpenter

COMPSOST VS CRYSTAL Boing Boing linked to this site which shows an ecological way to replace graveyards and create new forests. But if you are all about the MATERIAL then you may prefer to have your loved ones ground down into jewellery Me? I'm coming back to do a little throat ripping. Mike is blogging to: Goblin

IT PUTS THE LOTION ON IT'S SKIN... This is very cool: LOTION And I heard that my friend Heather just had her documentary accepted for the Amnesty International Film Festival in Seattle in December! Awesome. Plus Corran's pals over at Glassworks just won an Emmy! Mike is blogging to: Goblin

PRESS LAUNCH You're miserable, edgy, and tired. You're in the perfect mood for journalism. I just got my press accreditation approved: Please join us for the Official Press Launch for The Times bfi London Film Festival. Now in its 48th year, the Festival is Europe's largest public film event showcasing the best in international cinema from around the world. Artistic Director Sandra Hebron will announce the full programme of feature films, shorts, documentaries and archive restorations to be presented at this year's Festival, along with an exciting line-up of gala screenings and special events. I'll be posting the details some time tomorrow over on Cinema Minima. I wonder if I require filthy assistants? Mike is blogging to: Godspeed

SIN CITY More pics here, here and here. Looks pretty sweet... Mike is blogging to: The Sex Pistols

23 TODAY! Happy Birthday Jessop! We spent a portion of today watching a man throw up McPuke in Supersize Me. We just popped back in for a quick (healthy) bite before we go out to see The Elephant Vanishes. Catch you later... Mike is blogging to: some American crap

Q&A Some email questions I got: You used to be all about the books. What are you reading? I am still all about the books. I just finished this: It made me want to go out and smash things. I just started this: This book is already shattering my image of Robert Redford and I'm only a few chapters in. How old are you? 31 on Wednesday and then 32 on Thursday. You haven't wished harm on anyone for ages. Are you mellowing? Haven't I? I'm probably just forgetful. I wish at least one perfectly innocent person dead per day. Or maybe not quite dead. I have this idea about vacant womb space... Do you still hang around on internet forums? Not really. They are too time consuming. There are still a couple I post on infrequently but they are SECRET. Do you still meet complete strangers in pubs if they email you? Not for awhile now but I am always up for the new people. And Richard just sent me this link to the video for Fifty Foot Wave's Clara Bow Mike is blogging to: More Stuff

REVENGE Corran pointed out that the trailer for the new Wes Anderson movie, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, is up. "I'm going to go on an overnight drunk and in 10 days I'm going to set out to find the shark that ate my friend and destroy it." Damn, but that's funny. Mike is blogging to: stuff

SHITBOTS I'm all for robots. Silent Running still has me in tears every time I watch it. What hope is there for cute gardening droids now that some idiot has gone and invented a carnivorous robot? Sure, it's flies now (innocent flies) but as soon as these little bastards become sentient do you think they'll enjoy filling up on excrement before setting off on their little journeys? First it will be missing cats and dogs and then a drop in the homeless population... hey! There's an idea for a HIGH CONCEPT movie. I'm off to write the screenplay and I'll need the phone number of Rutger Haur's agent. The campaign for vegetarian robots starts here. PS According to Duncan this place is an unruly mix of Viking warships, violent cartoons and scathing outbursts littered with obscenities, movie posters short stories and photos of oddly shaped rabbits. That's maybe as close to a manifesto as I'll ever get. Mike is blogging to: AC/DC

THE BROWN BUNNY There's an interesting interview with Vincent Gallo over on The Onion AV Club. This is the billboard that caused all the fuss: I have to admit that I'm looking forward to seeing the movie. Mike is blogging to: some NYC ballet thing

HOT & COLD RUNNING COLUMBO Today we had the new TV/Internet service installed via Homechoice. The installation was delayed thanks to BT but now we are in view on demand heaven. It's a pretty sweet set up. Along with the 1Mb connection (upgradeable to 2Mb) we get way too much TV but without any of that nasty SKY shit. One of the extras I wasn't aware of was the play on demand Buffy/Columbo/Quincy/Airwolf etc channels. It's all the fun of a hotel TV system without having to travel. Now I need a minibar... Mike is blogging to: stuff

OUCH That was a looooong weekend. I only wish it had been more fun. I have a tooth abscess. Sunday was getting loaded up with antibiotics and Monday was pretty much wishing I was dead. The painkillers finally kicked in sometime last night and I am back in action until Friday - back to the dentist. When I was a kid I almost died in the dentist's chair so I tend to avoid them until I really need to go - hence the exploding mouth. The tooth won't be pulled on Friday so I'm looking to have a wonderful time between Jess' birthday on the 11th and mine on the 16th. Remind me to post a pic of the bloody orifice some time next week. The flipside of being unable to sleep meant lots of quality time spent with the TV in the early hours of the morning. Margaret Rutherford movies for the most part. Anyway - I'm back to feeling almost human and regular service should resume shortly. Mike is blogging to: nothing

YAWN Today was just one of those days. Beautiful weather but everything we tried to do turned very tedious very fast. Jess settled down this evening with Solas which reduced her to tears and me to yawning. I spent a portion of the movie out on the balcony watching the cat sniff snails and vice versa while waving occasionally to the people on top of the opposite building. I should have held up a sign saying ALIVE! Speaking of movies, my second Cinema Minima blog entry is up. Not much else to report as we are having a lazy long weekend... Mike is blogging to: news and stuff

MORE MIKE Today we are in Hendon. Maybe I'll take a photo of something green. It looks like I'll be covering the London Film Festival in October for Cinema Minima. Sweet. This also means I'll be running a dedicated movie blog alongside this one. I told you September was going to be fun. Mike is blogging to: The Dead Milkmen

MODERN LIFE IS DANGEROUS Alan is on his way back to SF on Friday so we took advantage of the beautiful weather to hide out in an old disused power station. The exploding shed had been replaced by some kind of mini-humans refuse collector and there were some nice 'light houses' that were apparently created to clean the visual palette. Nice afternoon but the food at The George was a little basic... We saw the aftermath of a bus vs scooter accident too. Guess who won. The scooter was pinned under the front wheels of the bus, it's learner plate flapping in the wind like an apology. The front of the bus held up pretty well apart from the giant spiderweb in the windshield that panned outwards from just where the rider's helmet would have hit. There's a reason they're called crash helmets. Jess is on her way back from work and we have four days of freedom ahead which means I may be out in the real world for awhile. PS Even old web animations have special editions these days. They'll have commentary tracks next... Mike is blogging to: The Dead Milkmen

REPUBLICANS Steven Shaviro: Nausea prevents me from watching more than small snippets of the Republican convention. But tonight I watched Arnold's speech. Arnold is the white Republican answer to Barack Obama. Note too that Arnold credited Richard Nixon for his political awakening. The Bush twins make Paris Hilton look like Simone de Beauvoir in comparison. Mike is blogging to: Minor Threat

CRAPPY TERRORISTS Putin gassed the fuck out of everyone - hostages and rebels alike - back in 2002 at the Moscow theatre siege so it will be interesting to see how he handles this morning's school siege. I'm guessing softly softly is not in his vocabulary. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we lived in Tom Clancy's make-believe world where counter terrorist groups could drop in silently and take out the bad guys without hurting the kids while making the occasional sardonic remark? I have a feeling that 'stealth' here will mean ramming a bulldozer through the back of the building to distract the rebels from the tank that is children-crushing it's way towards them at the front. Hearing of two exploding planes, a Moscow suicide bombing and now this does make you wonder about our terrorists though. I thought the idea was that after 9-11 no one was safe and that we would all take a beating at the hands of Al Qaeda. Maybe we can downscale that worry seeing as we seem to be dealing with really crappy terrorists. Mike is blogging to: Minor Threat