Author: Michael

Husband, dad,(ex)programmer, comic collector and proud Yorkshireman. I have no idea why im here or why im writing but i rather enjoy it. no great fan of punctuation;

Diet o’clock 22nd of July

The impact on my wallet has been noticeable.

Okay so four weeks in and just a couple of days to go until my 30 days is up.  This week’s been pretty easy for the most part and things are starting to feel very much habitual and as the cupboards and shelves have been emptied of the things I should not be eating and I have been shopping regularly for the right stuff it has become progressively easier.

I know I am not quite buying all the proper organic stuff and whilst I do so where I can I don’t intend to beat myself up over it.  I have eaten well and eaten lots and am starting to feel some real benefits.

I feel less bloated, which I noticed within days, but my energy levels seem to be much improved this last week and my knees are feeling much less painful than they were.  The wright loss is starting to show which is always encouraging.

On the downside I am noticing a change in my breath so having to keep an eye on that and I seem to have developed an addiction to homemade salsa which whilst not the end of the world feels rather foreign.

Today was actually probably the only day where I wilfully decided to not be overly strict.  We went to a food fair (bad Idea I know) and I ended up eating a slice of wood fired pizza an having a bite of our Toms burger and one of our Sam’s chicken wrap.  I rather enjoyed it though I was super chuffed with myself that I didn’t indulge any more and for the rest of the day was back on it (with the exception of I think 4 nacho crisps).

Ill give you the numbers when I do my final weigh in on Tuesday morning…

 

Saga. This ones for Simon

More than just a comic book to me.

If you’re a comic reader you know that now and again you stumble upon something that just grabs you and demands your attention and from then on you’re hooked.  For me, from the minute I first read SAGA by Fiona Staples and Brian E Vaughan, I knew this  was going to be one of those experiences.

The reason I got into it was because of the owner of the local comic shop Simon Shaw.  I told him I was after something new and he asked me what I liked.  I explained the sort of stories and art that I enjoyed and almost straight away he was in no doubt that I would love Saga and he was absolutely right.

As much as I like to think I know a bit about comics, I don’t really and when you meet someone like Simon you realise what real passion looks like and there is something so brilliant about just knowing someone like that because that passion is truly infectious.  For the years that have followed I have bowed to his superior knowledge so many times and whilst my wallet may have suffered he has never been wrong.

It is with a real sadness though that I won’t get to have my arm twisted to pick up something new any more because Simon passed away this week.  He was only forty and had beaten cancer and a heart attack took him far too soon.

Thanks for everything mate I will miss you and I’m sure I will think about you every time I read it.

Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday: INSPIRATION and PLAN

You absolute tanka!

Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday

This week the challenge was to use synonyms for INSPIRATION and PLAN.  I used STIMULUS and INTENT.

Heady, hot, beat thuds

primal stimulus released

intent, desires rage

and at the end of the night

lowers standard, desperate

 

 

https://colleenchesebro.com/2018/07/17/colleens-weekly-tanka-tuesday-poetry-challenge-no-93-inspiration-plan-synonymsonly/

Another one of these

Look, if I don’t write them down they go round and round in my head and that really is not a good thing at all.

Scottish musician Roddy McDougall

rugged looks, kind and handsome, quite frugle

how the ladies would wilt

at the sight of his kilt

at his impressive bagpipes and bugle

Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge: WOKE and UP

I took a few liberties there but if you know it you know it and now you’re singing it.

Woke Up, outta bed

dragged a comb across my head.

Not a Beatles fan?

 

 

https://ronovanwrites.com/2018/07/16/ronovanwrites-weekly-haiku-poetry-prompt-challenge-210-wokeup/

2000AD Action Figure – Judge Death

Something I wont let the kids get their hands on. They’re not worth much but I like them.

I have a curious collection of 2000Ad stuff and this is one of the pieces I keep squirrelled away and I hadn’t actually seen for years.  Reaction came out with a set of figures for 2000ad many years ago – probably early 2000’s and I picked them up.

This is one of the limited edition Judge Death characters which I ordered which I am yet to see anywhere else.  It was a limited run of 2000 and I might have number one I might ot.  I am uncertain how they numbered them but if mine is the first then that makes it even cooler.  There was a different limited run for a long haired Judge Anderson which was numbered sequentially so that gives me hope that this might be kind of unique.

The series featured (and I will show you the rest another time):

  • Dredd
  • Judge Death
  • Judge Death Spirit Variant
  • Johnny Alpha
  • Slaine
  • Slaine Warped Variant
  • Durham Red

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Feline Friday : San Xavier Mission Cat and Mouse — Cactus Catz

Someone else I enjoy to read. The haiku first caught my attention but there are all sorts of bits and pieces on her blog. Well worth a follow.

San Xavier Mission del Bac’s front is intricately decorated Look inside the swirls at the top. In the top left corner swirl is a mouse and in the right one is the cat watching the mouse, ready to pounce if he comes out. The mouse: The Cat: They say if the cat catches…

via Feline Friday : San Xavier Mission Cat and Mouse — Cactus Catz

Elephantmen Comic Art #76

Hey, if you like comics and comic art then this is the post for you.

Here’s another piece by Boo Cook from Elephantmen #76.  It shows Spike in all his beauty and I think its a quite welcome addition to my collection.  If you haven’t ever read Elephantmen or are not familiar with Boo Cook’s art or Richard Starking’s writing then do yourself a favour and pick it up.

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MONTREAL – WHO KNEW? — Iain Kelly

If you’re a fan of flash fiction and fabulous short stories go check Iain out.

Who would have thought it? Montreal was the answer to human salvation. Due to its specific geographic location, prevailing winds and ocean currents and distance from any of the active fault lines, Montreal was the one place where the air was still breathable, the climate was habitable and the landscape stable. Peering through the curtains […]

via MONTREAL – WHO KNEW? — Iain Kelly

Sweet sweet dumpster lovin’ – AUDIO

An exercise in wrongness.

There are things that I think and write that I know I should be ashamed of and that I ought to not mutter but I do, and I don’t feel a great deal of shame at all, which in turns makes me again think that I ought to be ashamed of myself and then I’m  not and then…well you get the idea.  This one is about having relations with homeless people and that’s disgusting I know.  Thinking it that is, not homeless people.  Or homeless people having sex.  They’re quite entitled to do whatever they want.  Just because you sleep in a box in an underpass does not mean that you cant enjoy a Dutch reverse wheelbarrow with someone you just shared a bottle of floor cleaner with.

 

I’m sorry.  I will go make a donation to a homeless charity once I press send.  Feel free to read or listen to it or maybe just give it a miss.

 

 

There’s a bloke called Marcel Has a story to tell

As he has a quite dark fascination

See for tramps he gets hot and he’s ready to trot

With the down and out down at the station

 

Loves the way that they smell Oh dear twisted Marcel

He just can’t get enough all the while

Kindly gives a few bucks when theyre down on their luck

Sits and hangs out with them with a smile

 

He enjoys carnal sins round the back of the bins

Hobo loving he can’t get his fill

He’s the local wild funster getting hot in a dumpster

Black toothed cavernous mouth – oh the thrill

 

Dirty fingers hair matted they’re the cure for his flacid

Manhood he’s so proud and excited

A homeless three way really did make his day

and he heads home satisfied and excited.

 

 

 

Snoring — Robbie Yates

A man after my own heart, and jolly good fun.

I once knew a lady who snored So her husband, who she just adored Bought some earplugs and glue ‘Cos he knew what to do. Yes, those plugs—in her nostrils—he stored. Image from Deposit Photos © http://inspiring.vector.gmail.com 2017 For exclusive updates and a free book of poems, join the mailing list!

via Snoring — Robbie Yates

Locks — constant VARIABLE

If you don’t follow AP you should because he is one fabulous poet.

Held by the sideOf the heart growing wideNear the solace and silence of souls The circuitry liedAs if something defiedWhat was certainly seen as a hole No given key,Could find any degree,Nor position or pressure to turn For rust and debrisLeft the tumblers unfreeSo no purchase a person could earn Even with picksAnd with dynamite […]

via Locks — constant VARIABLE