Tall in the Saddle

“Back in black, I hit the sack,
I've been too long, I'm glad to be back
Yes I'm let loose from the noose,
That's kept me hangin' about.
I been livin’ like a star 'cause it's gettin' me high,
Forget the hearse, 'cause I never die
I got nine lives, cat's eyes
Abusing every one of them and running wild.”
AC/DC - Back In Black

Oh yes. The Summer of my Discontent is now finally over and made glorious. There’s a metric shitload of things I wanted to write about, but I seem to be perpetually under the gun at the moment and just running to catch up with myself, so that’s going to have to wait.

I’ve finally managed to get my Twitter page to feed into the blog properly, so scroll down the column on the right and you’ll have a more accurate idea of my daily movements and adventures.

As I wrestle with the remaining hours of this week, I am comforted to know that we’re heading into a three-day Bank Holiday weekend which ends with my 35th birthday. Every day that we can rouse ourselves from our slumber and breathe in and breathe out is a day worth celebrating, as we put one leg in front of the other and continue to navigate our way around this Big Bad Ball of Mud. That goes double for birthdays.

“They gotta catch me if they want me to hang
'Cause I'm back on the track and I'm beatin' the flack,
Nobody's gonna get me on another rap
So look at me now, I'm just a makin' my pay,
Don't try to push your luck, just get outta my way.”

Mike Wieringo 1963 – 2007

Blogging still at a minimum, but I didn’t want this to pass without comment. Criminally underrated comic artist Mike Wieringo has died unexpectedly at the age of 44. Here are two of my favourite sketches by Ringo. First is a dashing re-imagining of Buck Rogers as part of a thread on Warren Ellis’ soon-to-be-defunct message board THE ENGINE:



Here is the other one. Ringo’s stint on Fantastic Four with Mark Waid is one of the most-beloved runs on the title, elevating it once again to its position as The World's Greatest Comic Magazine. Here is a tragically poignant picture of the FF waving goodbye to Ringo and his mighty, irreplaceable pencil: