1602 II
Further to past postings about Neil Gaiman's upcoming Marvel Comics project 1602, the company have released some character design sketches, available at The Pulse.
I don't think I've ever seen a Gaiman project that's drawn such ambivalent comments from the comic fan collective consciousness. A lot of people seem to want to crap on the basic idea, some people seem to think that Gaiman going to Marvel is some sort of sell-out, and others are looking forward to it more than just about any other project coming out this year, up to and including Avengers/Justice League of America - and we've been waiting twenty years for that one.
You can put me in the latter category, by the way.
Religious Abuse
I noticed when looking at the Sunday site that they're linking to an Observer article regarding the abuse of women by various types of clergymen.
As with all of these things, it's difficult to be certain that the picture painted is an entirely subjective one, but even if only partly true, surely the ongoing abuses which are perpetrated by some people in positions of religious authority increasingly fail to shock.
Isn't it past time that people claiming to be able to offer some kind of institutional comfort and support in times of distress were properly monitored or regulated? Or even trained? Or even, (startling suggestion) screened in the first place for more than their suitability to mumble in a frock?
This blanket assumption that 'men of faith' are somehow purer than the rest of us is irrational at best in the light of increasing evidence to the contrary.
Edit - I note that Gert has also been discussing this subject.
Gender Issues
The draft Gender Recognition Bill was debated on the BBC's Sunday programme yesterday, with Angela Clayton, the Chair of The Gender Trust given all of twenty seconds of pre-recorded input alongside a generally open mike given to the Evangelical Alliance, wittering on about their latest pet 'threat to the sanctity of marriage'.
Anyway, there's a poll on the Sunday homepage:" Should a male to female transsexual be allowed to marry a man? " The vote is currently running at 719 yes and 26 no, but I think every additional vote would be a good thing, especially if it's a 'Yes'.....
And Another Weekend Goes By
Partly lost in the mists of being awake until 5am on Saturday, after a great but ultimately slightly fraught night out on Friday.
(Sidenote, courtesy of a walk late on Friday night in hopes of the fresh air helping me sleep, I discovered that there's what I can only describe as a cruising ground practically on my doorstep. Which is a bit disturbing, actually.)
And today my long term promise to myself that I'd sort out the stuff I've been eyeballing for the charity shop and get it ready for dispatch once again failed miserably to be fulfilled.
Still, at least I saw the two-part season ender of Smallville, and have Daredevil to watch on DVD.
Fame And Glory
For reasons that I won't get in to, we had a TV crew with us in the office for most of yesterday, and I'd forgotten what utter chaos such expeditions bring with them. The kit; the people; the to-ing and fro-ing to get more, or different, kit; the need to do things over and over, and in the most artificial ways (yes, I sat at my desk pretending to take a call). One of the things I used to dislike in my days in old media was the way TV people think that everything revolves around them: That they can just turn up and command your time, and it doesn't matter if you have more important things to do, or the reality of your situation unfortunately clashes with their eternal need to get just the right visual. This lot aren't the worst I've seen by any means, but even in their milder model, I can see elements of all the things that drove me mad in the bad old days.
HULK SMASHED PUNY HUMANS!
Went, saw, liked a lot.
The ending is a bit confused, but otherwise, a lot of the things that I've seen other people criticise the film for, I thought were strengths. It's good that it's a while before we see The Hulk itself, for instance.
Anyway - I have a cunning plan to do quite a bit of catching up around here at the weekend, and that includes adding Hulk and at least two other film reviews and some general tidying.
Bad Language
Talking to Charles earlier this morning helped me to get clear in my head something that's always annoyed me when dealing with certain types of client or prospect. They're the type which descibes a project as having 'a limited budget'. It annoys me on one level because it's meaningless - 'limited' in the context of some of our clients would be seen as 'generous' to some others.
But the thing that Charles noted is that it's also just crap use of language. When, realistically, do projects ever have 'unlimited budgets'? Really, and thanks to Charles for helping me to get it clear in my head, they're talking about budgets that are, at best, 'small', and more likely 'unfeasible' or 'inadequate'.
A little more willingness to recognise the truth of that could lead to a lot less trouble in the long run.
The Gays
I was at an event today - a networking style thing - and I was talking to a woman who might be working on a project with a gay-focused company that's run by "two great chums" of hers. Another woman taking part in the conversation managed to mishear somewhat, and came back with the first of two classic lines:
"Yes, they do make great chums, don't they? The Gays?"
I just stood and stared.
Then first woman corrected her misapprehension, and went on to mention another possible partner, a second gay-focused company with a truly terrible punning name which I won't say because that would be indiscreet. Second woman hooted with laughter (and never has the phrase been used more accurately), and threw classic line two into the mix:
"Oh that's so witty! But they are witty, aren't they? The Gays?"
Sometimes truth is by far stranger than any fiction could possibly manage.
Don’t Shoot The Medium
I've been refraining from comment about this ridiculous story of the 12-year-old and the ex-Marine, but am I the only one who's sick to death of her being referred to as 'Net girl', or 'Internet girl', or 'Internet runaway' (all from today's Metro)?
Whichever way you spin the story, it's not the Internet's 'fault' that either she's a convincing liar or he's a knowing child-abducter. And when you read comments from her parents about how long she spent online every day, though they tried to restrict her, but she would connect when they weren't around, I for one start to get some very definite ideas about where things started to go wrong in that house....