In the courtyard outside my house the trees have gone absolutely autumn crazy. The one tree in the middle has lost all it's leaves, some are still green, some are yellow, some red, some bright pink and some are kinda a nice mix. Top bananas. In honour of those trees I took a load of photos and montaged the fuck out them.

Click for bigger.

I haven't checked for a while, but now my comic is kinda officially the 7th most exciting thing in the world.

The other 6 things above me are quite rightfully so. Exciting stories from around the world comes in at number 1, including a story about nuclear weapons, so fair play to that.

Number 2 on the list is an EU Research and Training Network with the aim to develop first-principles tools to describe optical properties of solids. I'm a big fan of both solids and the EU, so I'm all happy that is above me.

Number 3 is a comprehensive list of exciting things.

Number 4 is The EXCITING FP-LAPW Code, which is a full-potential linearised augmented-planewave (FP-LAPW) Fortran 90 code. And I simply can't even think what the world would be like without one of them. So wee.

Number 5 is a shop called Exciting Gardens in Illinois. Why not buy some exciting flowers to go along with your Fortran 90 code?

And finally number 6 is videos on the metacafe website tagged as 'exciting.' I'm not even going to link to that because I don't want to.

Michael
x

So I finally sorted out my RSS malarky for all those who think websites are for squares.

http://syndicated.livejournal.com/melrss/

Here's the live journal synced version.

http://www.rsspect.com/rss/melcomics.xml

And here's the xml link.

Sometimes, before you know it, you are making a paper mache volcano with an awesome band. Do you know that feeling?

Heartbreaking, romantic, tragedies this week.

Ah...

See the Horse in the future! Wonder at how his grandchild doesn't have any horse DNA showing! Imagine maybe he has possibly got a horse's tail maybe! Use your mind to imagine Ltn Tuvok playing the drums on excel! And more!

I can't stop but find brilliant things on the world wide superhighweb. This keeps stopping me from doing vital work for my university MA. hand ins, and could possibly ruin my life forever. But that's a little far fetched, and I'm sure it will be okay in the end.

I thought I'd share a few things with you, in an attempt to (possibly) ruin your lives too.

Firstly File-swap.com lets you give a file to someone, and be given a different file in return. This most definitely is lovely. I sent a rather fetching picture of Birdman:




And recieved a rather intriguing picture of some masonry that looks rather like a computer game:



'tis a rather addictive site. In other news, we all like to see renowned figureheads of pioneering art be laughed and considered circus freaks, so check out John Cage on a 1960's TV game show. In true Cagean fashion, we must treat the poor quality recording and audience nervous laughter as if it is part of the composition. Which, in my ever so humble opinion, is top bananas. Also, Salvador Dali on another gameshow is equally amusing. I wish people still spoke like that. In fact, I think I'll start.

This is lovely too, and pretty mesmerising. Grotrian Pianos. Audio visual interactive electronic music programs, in my opinion, are where the future of music lies. It's where truly original concepts are found. On a similar note, there's a great collection of weird ass musical instruments, and mp3 examples of most of them, at www.oddmusic.com. My favourite, I think, is the double violin, which is somewhere between completely ridiculous and completely delicious.

KAPOW.

I've finally got my childhood dream on a teeshirt- the 20 most exciting things in the world. Ever.

• sharks


• motorbikes


• guns


• dinosaurs


• cops


• bombs


• guitars


• lightning


• cowboys


• volcanos


• treasure


• space


• mushroom clouds


• rockets


• music


• goals


• lesbians


• exclamation marks


• love


• the word EXCITING

All over your chest like some kind of ferocious exciting barf! Ooooh yeah! If you're interested in a tee I can make that happen. For just £8! Have a look at:

The Shop!

It was far too long, but my 6 week comic hiatus has come to a close. And to celebrate, I have managed to sort out a random comic button! Random buttons really are amazing, they have so much mystery and power to them. I must remember to put more random buttons, all over the website. Even when you least expect it!

Press it if you dare:

Tonight was kind of out of the ordinary as I went on local television and local radio at the same time, doing the same thing! It was quite a 'miracle of technology' adventure event. We recorded a two song set of music for Manchester TV, then went to Fuse FM to play live, and they both ended up being aired at half ten.

This was enjoyable because when asked "what else are you guys up to?" on the radio, we could say, "well we're on TV RIGHT AT THIS VERY MOMENT."

We're trying to set up some kind of bimonthly local media frenzy Wednesday. But I doubt we could achieve it as successfully as this evening all that often.

Click here for listening to an adventurous new song I've just finished making! It is all about ghosts. Enjoy.

This has nothing to do with local media frenzy Wednesday. This is with a different project- called AMANAPLAN, which is me and a friend o' mine called Lorien.

PEACICLES.

I get lots of spam sent to my comic email, but this one is by far my favourite (I recieved it twelve times today!):

Hello, my gentleman

It's nice to meet you here, in the Internet. I am glad that the
possibility to meet new people is getting easier. Internet helps us to
connect people, their hearts and souls.
In my country life is difficult and men are not good. I had bad
experience in the past. And now I am looking for a man abroad.
I am good lady, you can make certain if you look at me
here http://theloveisonline.com/darling

Bye

Olya

Reason 1) Hello my gentleman is a great way to greet your friends.

Reason 2) "in the Internet" makes me think the web is like Tron.

Reason 3) I am also very glad that the possibility to meet new people is getting easier. With more technology, there is less importance on distance- before cars we could only hang with people in our own town. Then we could travel the whole country. The internet means we don't even have to travel anywhere! Everyone thought computers would end up making us hide in our houses, never speaking to anyone and turning into zombies, but it turns out we can all hang out a million times more, with people all over the world, through our screens! That is great news.

Reason 4) I'm not sure what country this girl's from, and although her views on the male population seem cynical and quite pessamistic (Olya! My dear! Surely there are nice men in your country! There are nice men everywhere! Don't judge all males from your country on the few bad experiences you may have had!), it's still worth noting that she has no xenophobia. She is an open minded girl, and I like the way she is eager to spread her love throughout the world.

Reason 5) She is a good lady. I like people that aren't afraid of giving themselves compliments. Bravo that lady.

PS. I haven't clicked on that link, and I don't advise you do either.

PANCAKE MANIA

I've tried reading Gravity's Rainbow 3 times. The first time I lost the book somewhere in Hungary when I was mooching around Europe for a bit. I was silently relieved. Then I tried again, and gave up. Then tried again, and gave up. I think his writing style is a bit too gloopy for my liking, but he sure wears a good fez.

Even though the sci-fi spinoff was a wonderful adventure, here's a glimpse as to why I'm looking forward to going back to photos. Also, James is sad no-one's seen his face for a while.

“Thing is, drawing comics isn’t that easy. From the first moment you sit down to draw - after finding any excuse you can not to face the increasingly stupid-sounding idea you’d been nursing for the previous day or so - a host of unforeseen decisions and hurdles start to multiply and crop up. Let’s take an example: your “idea” demands a scene which starts at night… someone sitting at a table, tired, drawing. Now unless you’re dealing with a character you’ve already developed, you realise, once you start to think about it, you don’t really know how to draw the person you thought you were imagining more or less clearly all this time. How old is he? What colour is his hair? (What does hair colour mean, anyway?) Also, should you show all of him sitting at that table, or should you just show his face? From the front, or side? If he’s tired, is he resting his head on his hand, or should he be yawning?

Eventually, really having no other reason not to start, you just start sketching, maybe drawing the figure from the side, hoping for the best. Shortly, however, he looks sort of bent over, like maybe he’s in pain, or bloated, or sick. But he was just supposed to look tired, you think. A normal guy just sitting there. Erase. You decide to turn him around, maybe show him from above, since that’s easier to draw, the shoulders and the hips sort of moving away from the viewer at an angle… then you draw what’s on his table, or what’s out the window, too, maybe, like the moon, that’s easy -

But now he looks like an animal, squatting. And why from above anyway? That seems weird, like something from a detective film. Erase. Better to keep it simple - draw it from the side again. Something sort of normal-seeming about that, anyway.Before long, you arrive at your first panel, and it doesn’t look quite as bad as you thought it would, though you wasted a lot of time getting up from your table to check your email and get a couple of snacks - and maybe you added too much detail to the drawing, too, though the detail is good, sort of, since it gives you some feeling of confidence. Possibly false, you wonder. Anyway, in that next panel, he’s got to sort of look like he’s considering what he’s drawing, sort of concerned a bit, for this to work. Maybe like he’s squinting at it, or something.

But. God - do I have to draw that whole stupid room completely all over again?

…And so on”

- Chris Ware

Yes I only started drawing as a joke with my first Corporate Horse episode. But now I seem to be spending more time and taking care and making things that, for the first time, I think look quite nice. My new Corporate Horse comic is my favourite yet and I see a style and a vibe forming that will hopefully solidify and improve with time. That will be nice.

Also last night I had a dream that started off with a black screen and the words "based on a true story" flashing up in a white, IMPACT font. It was about a young kid who got sent to a borstal for a crime he didn't commit. A lot of the details are vague and sketchy now, but he did have a tall black and eccentric security guard friend who looked out for him when times were tough. The 'bad kids' in the borstal hated him, but the poor kid had some kind of learning disability, or autism, that meant he didn't understand human relations properly. These kids would bully the hell out of him but he'd constantly smile and think they were being friendly. At the end of the dream one of the bad kids poured lighter fluid on him. That's all I remember really. The interesting point was that it flashed up "based on a true story" at the beginning and featured autism, as if my subconscious was trying to win an Oscar.

Hmmmm... where's Freud when you need him?

Dead you say? Hmmmmmm....

Continuing my adventures into drawing myself with laser cannons for hands, I've started an entire Michael's Exciting Sci-fi spin off comic. I think Prendobot looks divine. Also, I can't wait until Parotron has lines. That should be episode three. Or maybe two.

Yes, it's a fun departure from photocomics, but they'll be back in two weeks.

Pow.

I've just discovered the best hobby in the world. It is drawing pictures of myself with laser canons for arms. I cannot get enough of it!



Click on the pic to see my latest comic. Although now you know the punchline. :)

I've been having such a giggle of late drawing Corporate Horse in full colour. His peachy skin tones have always made me laugh, and so I thought I'd make the most of it by having a fully naked shot of the dude in the latest comic. Now that's a fine ass.

Yes, uncontrollably I got all Christmassy, and covered the house in cheap shiny things and lights and stuff and wrote a carol!

You can hear it at the bottom of the comic at the site www.michaelsexcitinglife.co.uk, and, for want of a better place for them, here are the lyrics. Sing along now!

christmas time
for michael and his friends
buying crappy pound land tatt
the glory never ends

santa is coming!
you can hear his sleigh bells ring
over the frozen winter air
oh what joy he brings

so let's all have a very exciting christmas
opening gifts by the fire
so let's all have a very exciting christmas
and just be glad you're not birdman

christmas time for gerald prendergast
is great coz he wants perps to kill
and crime is rising fast

James loves christmas,
Christmas is his friend!
He'll drink so much alcohol
he'll look like he is dead.

so let's all have a very exciting christmas
opening gifts by the fire
so let's all have a very exciting christmas
and just be glad you're not birdman

but christmas time
for birdman isn't fun
he eats beans on toast alone
coz he's friends with no-one.

And 10,000,000 turkeys
are all slaughtered today
and they are his brethrin,
culled for christmas day.

so let's all have a very exciting christmas
opening gifts by the fire
so let's all have a very exciting christmas
and be glad you're not birdman (x2)

I have founded the...

WYBRICTIONARY

WHAT IS ALL THIS?

A wybrictionary is a dictionary of wybrids!
A wybrid is when two or more words are merged to create one word, for dramatic, sarcastic, comedic, comercial or awesome purposes.

The term "wybrid" is so delicious and amazing because it is a rare example of a word that is a perfect example of itself! You see, it is made by mixing "word" and "hybrid" together. Wowee.

This dictionary is interactive and can be added to by you! Submit your wybrids to wybrids - at - michaelsexcitinglife.co.uk.

Other good wybrids:

Mechacool
Root words: mechanical, cool
Definition: An adjective used to describe someone or something that is so damn cool that it must indeed be a robot, or of robot origin.

Sexcellent
Root words: sexy, excellent

Definition: Something that is perfectly balanced between sexy and excellent.

So come now and read and write! And help spread the word of wybrids around the world!