Dublin!

After a couple of hours of sleep at home, maybe one hour on the flight to Toronto and another hour on the second leg to get here we arrived at 9am completely exhausted. It was a few hours before the room was ready so we toured about the neighbourhood with Rob Curley, Paul and Allan (I hope I remembered everyone's names right, I was very out of it) and had a lovely lunch. We walked through the Trinity campus to the museum where the Book of Kells is housed though we're saving the actual going in and seeing it until tomorrow when we'll be in a better frame of mind.

We got into the room at two and crashed hard. There was someone hammering and ripping what sounded like old wood in the courtyard below our window but not even that was enough to keep us awake. We slept deep and uninterrupted until eleven pm. I called Vic to see if she wanted to grab a bit of food but she wanted to sleep through the night. We went for a short walk and grabbed a sloppy cheeseburger on the corner (in a gold styrofoam container! Haven't seen those since the 80s) and then back to the hotel where we'll get a few more hours sleep.

First impressions of the town, gorgeous scenery with a crazy high population of young people. Barely seen anyone older than 30. Kinda reminding me of Logan's Run.

Watching the news about the protests in Burma while sounds of rowdy club goers drift in from outside.

Happy anticipation to abject panic to tired calm all within the space of a few hours. While packing this morning I realised my passport was missing and after turning the apartment upside down it was really starting to look bad. We got Vic out of bed to help with the hunt, and then we noticed the tickets were missing too. Tore into the car, nothing. Then Ian went back to the office to look there. A half hour later he calls to say he found them accidentally filed with the expenses.

Oh my god.

I completely broke down. This almost turned into one of the worst days ever. Fortunately all is good now, coming down from the adrenaline shock, Ian is killing stuff on Halo 3. The apartment is a huge mess.

I'm gonna get a couple hours of sleep and then we're out.

Saw Reaper earlier this evening and it wasn't bad. Ian and Vic were trying to figure out which Canadian Tire they filmed it in when I noticed the same rotary tool section where I bought my mini saw last year, it was in the Surrey store. Kevin Smith aparently directed and 'peppered up' the script which surprised me considering the total lack of over-the-top, gross-out/piss and fart jokes.

Okay there was the bloody Zamboni bit, but still pretty tame for a Smith piece, yeah? I'll check out more of those.

To bed already! Long flight ahead.

The last few days have been very busy. I've been alternately running around getting ready for tomorrow's flight, seeing shows at the Comedy Fest (mostly those Ian was a part of) and furiously scribbling at the desk. Not a whole lot of sleep either.

Today will be a challenge getting last minute errands done. I have a batch of pages going out so there's a trip to Fed Ex. I only just learned the laptop battery is near death and the only place where I can get one in time for the trip is out in Richmond. I'd like to get a nice shirt or two but that requires a hike out to Burnaby and the cats need their food from the vet (in Kits). There's also a laundry run to deal with, packing and a hair cut would've been nice.

Argh.

One more day.

Made some headway this evening. I have five pages in progress and will probably need a couple more days to finish. I'm putting off the big splash pages until I can find more reference.

Dinner with the mums this evening, salmon is yummy!

Found BBC radio online! Loving the audio comedies and dramas!

And check this out! Preview pages from the upcoming Treehouse of Horror Book. Our two pages are the ones with the X-Men, Jurassic Park, Ghostbusters and Star Wars parody. Inked by Terry Austin!

Today, everything I drew sucked. Working through these pages.

XM's BBC World Service broadcast an audio drama of Solaris. I love this stuff, great to work to but it's so hard to find.

There are a couple of scenes in this last issue that take place in a very well known building. Aside from a few nice exterior shots there are NO pictures of the interior online that are any bigger than a postage stamp. None.

I suppose I could do some research at the library- oh wait, they're still on strike.

FUCK!

I'm gonna go bang my head on something now.

Interesting aside. September 11th 2001 was the day I was to start drawing issue one of Y after hunting down photos the Monday night before. September 11th, 2007 and I'm starting the final issue after doing research on Monday.

Huh.

Finding fun in the mundane tip of the day.

The next time AMC plays 2010 (don't worry, they do it a lot) turn down the sound and play some Tiesto on your stereo or mp3 player. It's much more entertaining that way.

(this finding fun in the mundane tip of the day was brought to you by Insomnia: Now with even more unproductive boredom!)

Time for a Vicky Quote!

While driving today:

"There's a car with no roof being driven by a man with no hair."

I love my sister.

The last four pages ended up taking even longer to finish than expected. They're going out today after several all-nighters in a row. Good lord what a stress bomb this week has been. I haven't seen the sun in days, I'm tired and sore and emotionally raw. I need a couple of days to just sit on some grass before hitting the finale.

Thank goodness someone recommended Deezer because only Nina Simone could get me through this morning without breaking something like I almost did yesterday.

Issue #58 came out yesterday and the response has been pretty vocal on the boards. If you haven't read it yet, avoid the spoilers and be sure not to skip ahead. It'll be worth it.

Sleepy now.

HOLEEEE SHIIIT!

I've just been nominated for a SCREAM award! What the fuck!?

Big congrats to Brian too!

I am becoming increasingly frustrated with this last set. Still not done and my hand is getting really sore. Hopefully I can get them done tonight. Fuckity fuck fuck fuck.

Getting through this last batch for issue #59. Almost there and frustrated that it isn't done yet.

Vic found this video online, it's all over so maybe you've seen it but I was just so in awe I had to post it

This is what happens when salt and sound waves collide. Reminds me of crop circles.