From the blasted past- Holidays the HST way.

From the blasted past- Holidays the HST way.

Over 30 years ago I went on a holiday, two decades later in a fit of nostalgia I wrote a ten part serial on redbubble back when you could do things like that. It was well received and I bundled them all the parts together and made a novella out of it and put it on line, I even made a web page for it. I then promptly forgot about it. I recently found it again whilst looking through old files, according to the page stats the last time I had logged on to the web site was six years ago. So I changed a few links that were redundant and thought I’d offer it up for anyone who’d like to have a read about an episode from my shameful past.
InEPub format for your Kindle, iPad and other non-tactile book reading devices.

All for free. MERRY CHRISTMAS

PS - Sorry about the shitty formatting,

The Website   Hunter S Thompson and My Holiday 
OR   Direct download 

Stuff I leant about my Granddad.

A reprint about my Granddad who would have turned 120 this year.

A Pictures Hidden Thousand Words.

A reprint of a story written about my Mum, who turns 89 this year.

GORE FX STORE REOPENING

GORE FX STORE REOPENING

Danny Wale owner-operator of one Boronia’s more individual stores- Gore Fx always wanted his business to grow. So after patiently waiting for something suitable to come onto the market his tiny little shop in the AEC arcade in Boronia Square (see HERE) kept his handmade crafted goods on display for those in the know and surprising many an unwary passer-by.

After the break in

But recently the shop was broken into and valuable sculptures were stolen one night in mid-July.
This soul crushing incident (the goods were not insured) would have disheartened most people as the works stolen involved hundreds of hours of preparation. But Danny was already looking at expanding into larger, more secure premises across the way in the same arcade. Danny’s vision was to share his passion, teaching others his skills and tricks learned from his years perfecting his craft. A new larger premises with facilities was something he was on the lookout for even before he opened up in the original tiny shop front back in January 2016.

Owner and creator Danny Wale

With the break in behind him and the new shop, all decked out with new and creepy stock,

The new Gore Fx had its unveiling on Saturday 16th September and proved to be a frightening success. Where the old shop was only roughly 4 metres by 6 metres the new shop is brightly lit with lots of space to show of Danny’s creations and freestanding sculptures, not to mention the coffin complete with a corpse.

Shop Entrance

Behind the counter is where Danny can now create in the shop and no longer has to do everything at home. This is also where he will be holding tutorials and workshops for interested parties. Danny hopes to start these workshops after he gets married later this year- on Halloween appropriately – to his fiancé Skye and after a short honeymoon hopefully, have things up and running in November. I popped in to check out the new digs and have a chat and was impressed with the stock and the many people who came to do the same. There was also a completion to see who could have the craziest photo taken with some of the stores freestanding props.

It’s great to see unique shops like Gore Fx in Boronia, something out of the box and maybe it will inspire others to move into the area and give

Boronia a much needed regeneration. If you are interested in Gore Fx’s classes and what they entail go to www.facebook.com/gorefx and message Danny for details.

Check the facebook page for opening hours.

A peek inside

Lollies at the counter

Items for sale

THE RAMONES Comic book and cartoon heroes.

THE RAMONES Comic book and cartoon heroes.
This is a lazy post, just some cool Ramones videos that are comic and cartoon themed.
Gabba Gabba Hey!

Animation by Stelos485 Music: Ramones
Animation by stelos485 Music By The Ramones
Animation by stelos485 Music By The Ramones

FLASH FICTION 3

Flash Fiction has a few disciplines, the three I know of are 100 words - popular with The Spanishish Museum of Words which has a $US 20,000 prize every couple of years. the there is the more traditional 1000 word staple popular in anthologies, but my favourite is 150 words or less that I learned with many other talented folks on the Redbubble art site before it stopped being a community and became a place to buy pirated artwork. It was something I enjoyed and found that these short little stories with a start middle and end were great for transitioning into comic scripts, which is what I tend to do more of these days. These stories below (and in the next couple of posts) are from those redbubble years and can be found in compilations HERE from blurb via Anne van Alkermade's murphywrite imprint. So here we go. Short sharp stories or as Mister Khan called them once: Short stories with a punchline.
PART ONE IS HERE
PART TWO IS HERE


LIFE IN A GAS MASK

It was hard to live your life with a gas mask on. Distorting the words you wanted to really say and clouding the sights you wanted to see. Nadine knew this. For the last 30 years it had destroyed her marriage and alienated her children. Alcohol seeped through the mask and diluted the bondage and made the mask a little easier to ignore. Medication didn’t work when she took it and everybody told it did when she didn’t. Then one day Nadine took the mask off and it was all so clear . In her car with the windows up and the hose connected to the tail pipe.
As the cockroaches, mice , spiders and rats ignored the purring motor in the garage till the fuel run out.
Clarity was brief and so was the answer.

ALWAYS CHOOSE TREAT

Jason walked up the footpath with his usual swagger, his mates lagging
a few steps behind. He leaped up the stairs in one bound.
"I'll show you how it's done" he boasted as he smacked loudly on door.
"Go away" came a muffled voice behind the door. Jason kept banging until he heard footsteps pounding towards the door.
It swung open revealing a skinny, tired looking old man "What?"
"Trick or Treat?" asked Jason
The man stood- staring at Jason for a good twenty seconds.
Then said: "Trick"
"Tight arse" Jason mumbled and in one fast motion thrust out his hand which palmed an egg and slammed it into the man's forehead.
 "There" shouted Jason and turned to run.
The man shot Jason in the back five times before he made it down the stairs.

 PULL MY FINGER

“Pull my finger”
“No”
“Go on , it’s a surprise”
“Dad, I’m thirteen. It isn’t even funny anymore”
“Go on, humour your old man”
“No!”
“Come on for your dear old dad’s sake. It’s been bakin’ for a while”
The son knew he would never get to fully enjoy the television show he was watching unless he complied with this age old ritual. The son took his father’s finger and in a moment of cheekiness decided to push instead of pull.
The last thing the son remembers of his father was the look of shock and pain seconds before he exploded.

REPLICATOR comic book review

COMIC REVIEW
Replicator #1 

Self-published via Kickstarter 2016
Writer: Robert Arnold
Artist: Armin Ozdic
Colourist: Ross A Campbell
Letterer: Jaimie Me
Editors: Nick Glenister, Alison Arnold



I’ve always loved me a near future dystopian/plague/climate calamity yarn, so when I read the opening pages of REPLICATOR, I knew I was in for a treat.
The comic tells the story of a deliberately released virus called the Red Death in modern day Britain that forces the country to be isolated generating food shortages and martial law. Eventually forcing the healthy (and rich and useful) to shelter in a walled city called Sanctuary guarded by the latest and the deadliest of men and technology.

Life goes on outside of Sanctuary but the ones left behind are reminded that those inside are far more precious and any indiscretion committed against those from Sanctuary if they leave the city (illegally) are swiftly executed.
This is where we meet our protagonist Ryker. Whose sense of justice seems to fall short of what is required by the security forces. Blank faced, armour wearing humans without much compassion.

Actually, we first meet a totally different and more aggressive Ryker just prior to this. In a two page shoot-em-up involving powerful hand guns, grenades and what looks like a super villain, that happens 18 months in the future. Obviously, Ryker has had some life changing episodes since then that we are going to eventually find out.
There are a few scenes in this first issue that hint at conspiracy and super powers.

Lovely colour work by Ross A Campbell

These are entertaining and well-paced, it all finishes all too quickly on a cliff hanger ending and the reader is left not sure where everything is going.

Thus the problem at hand.

This comic being a successful Kickstarter project only committed to this issue are we going to see what happens next within my lifetime? I hope so because this has the makings of a great series.

Rob Arnold has created a great story and draws the reader in. Artist Armin Ozdic style reminds me of both Javier Berreno and Fernando Melek from Simon Spurrier’s Crossed tale Wish You Were Here. Clean and neat and when asked to draw a splash, really delivers.

I enjoyed REPLICATOR and look forward to more, I just wish it wasn’t something far off on the horizon than something I could pick up next month at the LCS.

A haunting Splash Page by Armin Ozdic

For more info:

The original Kickstarter link

Replicator website

Replicator Facebook