The Cartoonist

Saturday, January 25, 2003

Terragen, Part 2. Alright, I've tried it. It's a beta and it's free. But how can I control the camera? How assign materials to the landscape? It's a bit clumsy, I must say. Bryce and Vue are just ... better. 8:46:35 PM     |

"tube"Great. I'm using the Central Line almost every day. Thirty in hospital after Tube crash. More than 30 people are in hospital after a Tube train carrying 800 people derailed and hit a tunnel wall in central London. [BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition] 7:26:13 PM     |

I've got to try this. Terragen: Breathtaking terrain-generator. Terragen is a terrain-generator. By moving around sliders and sketching out terrain features, you can create breathtaking stills and animations of fantastical landscapes. The OS X version is in open beta, and there's a working version for Win32. Terragen. Via "boing" 7:20:30 PM     |

Sounds good to me! Raymond Chandler's Lord Of The Rings. String together clips from great film noire classics, a few 50s horror movies, add a nifty soundtrack and MST3K dialogue and the result is a hIlarious 18.5MB .mov featuring Humphrey Bogart as Frodo, Peter Lorre as Gollum and Godzilla as the Balrog. Worth the download if you're a movie buff. [linkfilter.net] 7:11:19 PM     |

Python. First, there's PythonOnline, the official website which comes even with a Spam Club. Then there's PythoNET, unofficial, but with scripts, videos, pictures, sounds, games...decide yourselves. 12:23:47 PM     |

Gilliam. Dreams is a Fanzine about the crazy English (he's actually American, but then he's too crazy to be a proper American) director, with a message board, filmography, interviews and links. The Terry Gilliam Files deliver Eye-opening conversations with the visionary director, as well as behind-the-scenes stories documenting the production of some of the most imaginative films of the '80s and '90s. There you go. 12:07:47 PM     |

Crap for the spambots first: kbbho@wyptg.at, lsldcdhat@jgyahtwlhqfafkl.us, vmiwwzwdqf@bnzquwqdgtp.org, uzflugj@mkmhvphvtjcoiv.com, cdyxyh@pqizdbiuhhykzuq.dk, eyvi@syuqvfu.us, pznfwnsaek@aovlm.dk, wkwbvjn@lucbxaw.st, clb@feoeuwlmgwpedyymce.at, zppeata@jraqugnwpzje.es, gdxdygkpn@yuetegsjhd.ch, lhdimd@wpazngrxgtp.eu, teruv@dwtmgxemvoq.es, edvmqgd@nkgnbbvnmt.st, lmqnfttk@eehqyksuleaeawk.net, bvbzfeg@mbnuwegeqfvmiqrrcyi.nl, yldw@lmgtswbyrvojywlhjb.eu, gfcadwz@dlediwyoyxz.mil, xoqst@gpgaaacmdwdvc.eu, lfz@szljlppbmbu.it 11:56:04 AM     |

Friday, January 24, 2003

Allohol. Interesting. Gin Tonic as a Malaria remedy? Why not. BBC - History of Gin."1870 - Gin's position in Britain moves up as it grows drier and more refined. "Indian tonic water" is invented to disguise the unpleasant taste of the quinine necessary to fight malaria in the tropics. It combines will with gin and the gin and tonic is born. Martini birth #2: A gold miner pays for a bottle of whiskey in the town of Martinez with a nugget so big he demands an extra drink. The bartender dubs it a 'Martinez'." 5:48:20 PM     |

Etchings. The artist Peter Reichert - a student of Eberhard Schlotter - has some nice Joyce and Schmidt portraits and illustrations on his website. And a truly bizarre article about Arno Schmidt can be found in Hanf! Das Cannabis Magazin ... 2:31:13 PM     |

IRAS is the 'Internet Review Arno Schmidt', a publication of the 'British-American Arno Schmidt Society (BAASS)'. Apparently they like abbreviations. Anyway, it's a very loooong website with interesting articles - mostly in German, unfortunately. 10:14:07 AM     |

Brian Eno writes about America. Interesting article. TIME Magazine | Brian Eno: A European View - Jan. 20, 2003. "To this European, America is trapped in a fortress of arrogance and ignorance." 9:24:46 AM     |

"tube"Crowded? Or Overcrowded? Anger at tube bosses [This is London: London News] 7:17:09 AM     |

"tube"This is really good to know. Tube incident could have been disaster [This is London: London News] 12:14:02 AM     |

Bored? Everybody seems to have been bored by my Groovy collection of links. No comments, just silence. But what if I tell you that page 16 of The Groovy Times has image galleries of the Top Twelve Grooviest Chicks of the Sixties? Mhmmm? Nico is there, Penelope Tree, Anita Pallenberg, Twiggy...! 12:07:18 AM     |

Thursday, January 23, 2003

Dragons. I thought that might fit nicely with the stupid bird below, so here's a website about Dragons, in a choice of English and German. 2:43:53 PM     |

Bigbird. Four-winged dinos from China. "Recently discovered fossils of feathered dinosaurs with four wings are raising new questions about the origins of flight." 1:39:35 PM     |

Wednesday, January 22, 2003

Sorry - I just can't stop. Ruhrgebietssprache: Asche Geld; "keine Asche inne Tasche, keine Butter für dat Futter" - Ausspruch kurz vor Monatsende und Lohntag; "Asche machen" - Geld verdienen ("Seit ich an den vermatschten Abend in die Hohensieberg den ganzen Schotter verplästert haben tu, muss ich widder Asche machen.") Ok, I'll stop now. 9:28:42 PM     |

Hardcore-Linguistics. Ruhrgebietssprache.de translates Ruhrgebiets-German into proper German. This is obviously not for my English readers, but surely Robert and Schockwellenreiter will appreciate this particular link. Example: Variation 2: Die geschlossene Eröffnung: Sprecher 1: Wat gibt! Sprecher 2: Nix gibt! Sprecher 1: Scheiß Tach auch! Analyse: Sprecher 1 signalisiert, dass er ein vertieftes Gespräch nicht um jeden Preis angehen möchte. Sprecher 2 unterstützt diesen Wunsch, woraufhin Sprecher 1 das Gespräch schließt, ohne dass es vertieft wird. Grammar: Es gibt nur zwei Fälle: den Wer-Fall und den Wen-Fall. Den in der Hochsprache gebräuchlichen Wessen-Fall, der Besitz oder direkten Bezug zu einer Sache oder Person anzeigt, und den Wem-Fall, der die Richtung einer Handlung angibt, kann die Ruhrgebietssprache durch den Wen-Fall problemlos ersetzen, ohne dass es zu Verständigungsschwierigkeiten kommt. Das ist der Hut meines Vaters. --- Der Hut da is mein Vadder seinen. Gib mir sofort mein Geld. --- Gib mich sofort meine Kohle. 6:46:16 PM     |

About time, isn't it? Mobile phone firms ordered to cut rates. Mobile phone operators have been ordered to cut the cost of calls to their networks by as much as 30%, sparking strong criticism. [BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition] 5:33:54 PM     |

There must be something wrong here. I mean, shouldn't they rather lock up the statue? Or at least send the thing to Brussels, like they did with the Churchill statue? Thatcher statue vandal faces jail [This is London: London News] 5:29:13 PM     |

I am a Poser and I don't care. I've just received the brand new Poser 5 Handbook in the post and I'm only mentioning this because one of my 3D-illustrations is featured in the book. Plus a nice little text about me, courtesy of Shamms Mortier, the author of the book. Now everybody go and buy it. Quick - before it's sold out! 11:25:25 AM     |

Groovy, part 3. The Groovy Times is a huge big website with 12 pages of psychedelic posters, a history of Swinging London, photos, more photos, even more photos and 'Learning to talk like Keith Richards - a Hipster's Lexicography'. Fab. 9:57:04 AM     |

Groovy, part 2. The psychedelic 60s is an exhibition at the University of Virginia. Fab, if I may say so. 9:44:32 AM     |

Groovy. Original 1960s and 1970s Psychedelic Rock Posters and Handbills at PeaceRock. Those colours...! 9:28:22 AM     |

Tuesday, January 21, 2003

Under the Sea. It's the Starlight Casino! 8:56:33 PM     |

Read this... Saddam weakening says Blair. Saddam Hussein is getting "rattled" and his regime weakening as the military build-up in the Gulf continues, says Tony Blair. [BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition] ... and read that. Israelis flatten West Bank shops. Bulldozers destroy more than 60 Palestinian shops and businesses Israel says were built without permits, sparking fierce protests. [BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition] Now what the &*%$ is going on on this creepy planet? 8:37:15 PM     |

"tube"Oh, I am so excited. Scheme to boost train frequency [This is London: London News] 8:28:41 PM     |

As promised. A new RatSwine cartoon. This time drawn completely with a Gillot #170. Thanks, Hans! 4:59:59 PM     |

I think I'll move to Cape Town. Interesting blog. 4:12:12 PM     |

"tube"Not again... There's already chaos on the tube. Yesterday I tried to get to Kensington Olympia, only to find out that there was no District Line service at Notting Hill Gate. I had to get a cab instead. Grrr... Firefighters in 24-hour walkout. Latest fire service strike under way. [Guardian Unlimited] 3:47:18 PM     |

Comments are down again! 3:16:23 PM     |

Danger for the crew. Thank God there's a Telenosis expert on board! 2:51:38 PM     |

Has he now gone completely bonkers? Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | No way out for Saddam - Blair. "Tony Blair today refused to rule out using nuclear weapons in a conflict against Iraq, as MPs grilled the prime minister for two and a half hours on the subject of Saddam Hussein." 1:40:59 PM     |

Monday, January 20, 2003

Hilarious. Best thing about Bush I've seen so far. "bib" 6:16:25 PM     |

Style. Ideas. Well, DUPA (12.2.1945 - 8.11.2000) had both. A fantastic drawing style (Man, am I jealous...) and lots of ideas (and I'm even more jealous...). So here are a few links pointing to the great man and his creation Cubitus, the crazy white dog. Comiclopedia first, because it's the only English site I could find. Next a French site with a nice little drawing of Cubitus. In Germany, there is the YPS Fanpage with an article about Dupa, and the fantastic Cubitus-Fanpage, which is the best website about Dupa and the dog I could find. Honestly. 5:56:39 PM     |

Logo Time. Every designer knows the problem: You're doing - let's say a flyer for a client, and it says something stupid like 'Sponsored by Abbey National' in the copy. Your client insists to use the Abbey logo, but of course he hasn't got it. So you have to contact Abbey National and try to get hold of their logo, if possible in a format your software can read. Problem solved. At The Logotheque you can download hundreds of corporate logos for free, all in Illustrator format. Did I already mention that I find this fantastic? "link" 5:37:35 PM     |

Agreed. Every time I post a comment on a weblog I have to remember to go back and see if anyone followed up. We have to figure a way to automate this. Agree or disagree? [Scripting News] 9:44:17 AM     |

Sunday, January 19, 2003

Promise. Another Ratswine cartoon this week. Hans from Stockholm was so kind to send me some really fab nibs, which is another reason to draw one right now - and because of that, my drawing style is bound to change. Oh, the Gillott #170 is great....and in the UK, have a look at scribblers. 11:50:50 PM     |

Zippydooda. Yves will love this website. Zippotricks.com shows you all sorts of tricks you can perform with a Zippo lighter, plus things like the 'full anatomy' of a Zippo. There are 389 Real Video clips of tricks available. Amazing. "link" 5:16:17 PM     |

Radio's working again. Dave Winer writes: "I was able to get it going again. It's an intermittent problem that always happens in the middle of the night between Saturday and Sunday (actually it could happen on any day, but Murphy's Law applies). Upstreaming is working for me, it should also be working for you. Onward." 5:09:47 PM     |

My Radio is kaputt. It won't let me upstream pictures anymore - I'm getting the cryptic message: Can't upstream because "The server, radio.xmlstoragesystem.com, returned error code 4: Can't find a sub-table named "item #1"." Help...! 10:48:19 AM     |