Al Nolan has a shiny new website at http://alnolan.synthasite.com

Definitely worth checking out, especially if you’ve missed any back issues of “Sancho”. It’s “Father Ted Meets Hellblazer”, and has twice been nominated for an Eagle Award.

Just in case Al is reading this post, I even will go on record as saying that it is almost as good as Monkeys with Machineguns. Almost.

Speaking of which, somewhere in the “to do” pile is an MWM Sancho story entitled “The Rubbernecker”. More on that later!

My days of having to clear somwhere in the region of 100 spam comments out of my blog every day are gone. I have finally implemented a “captcha” on the comment form, thus disbarring all bots, robos, script kiddies, and general spamming malcontents. If you want to offer me a larger penis, perkier breasts, or a longer last erection you will now need to do it in person, or at the very least read the captcha.

There are a number of captcha modules available for Wordpress. I went for Simple CAPTCHA , as a simple, “no frills” option. Installation is nothing more than FTP-ing the files to your plugins directory and switching it on. Instant captcha, instant zero pending comments for me.

I must confess, there is a little part of me that is sad to see them go. A very little part. Maybe I should have read those adverts after all …

Cy Dethan is a man with his finger on the pulse so when he says “Beware! It’s the Future – It Will Burn You!“, I have to prick up my ears (or, as this the internet my eyes) and listen (read).

What Cy’s posting about is the publication of some Markosia back catalogue stuff via iTunes as an iPhone application and the future publication of the same to Google Android phones, Blackberrys etc. in the near future. Very exciting stuff, especially when you get your head around the size of this market place and how accessible the content becomes when it this these platforms.

I had intended to download Beowulf #1 as a trail and tell you how good it was but, sadly, I can’t. I do not own an iPhone or an iPod. I own a Nokia 5800, which is technically far superior, sexier, does more, but lacks access to iPhone applications. When iPhone applications where just glorified web pages and calculators for working out your share of a bill, I didn’t care. But now the iPhone has comics, and thusly I am vexed. I also maybe have to rethink my comments about accessibility, but that’s a job for another time.

So, no free content for me. Until I buy an iPod Touch, I guess.

Firstly, I can’t decide if this H1N1 Swine Flu map on Google Maps is useful, ingenious, or just macabre. Secondly, I have to wonder if it isn’t just a little bit dangerous?

The creator, niman, claims to work in “Biomedical Research from Pittsburgh, PA USA” and certainly has a blog to back that up. I have no reason to doubt him/her. Equally, I have no reason to believe him/her either. I can validate some of the information on this map, but not all, and we all know tha the best lies have a crunchy truth centre. I assume the map is right, accurate, and up to date. But this is the internet, which means it doesn’t have to be, and probably isn’t.

I can’t help but wonder what other kinds of map you could create with Google Maps if you wanted to whip up a bit of mass panic? The now infamous “BNP Membership Map” being a case in point, I just wonder how long it will be before we have the “zombie infestation map” online. And how long after that until some lazy journalist turns it into news …

Sidekick Comics, the place where all the Sidekicks get a voice on the wonders of comics culture. Based in the UK this new blog hopes to give new and old school readers a site that has their backs, let us be your Sidekicks. Also home to the new and exciting comic book podcast; Sidekickcast

PRESS RELEASE: For Immediate Release

MONKEYS WITH MACHINEGUNS OFFER A VISION OF THE FUTURE AT BRISTOL COMIC CON

Monkeys with Machineguns are producing an extremely limited number of promotional comic books to accompany the Monkeys with Machineguns Live event at the Small Press Expo in Bristol on May 9th.

While stocks last anyone buying a unique, one off illustrated short story from Chris and Stu will receive it mounted inside a copy of the limited edition twenty page book. Featuring not only an eight page preview of their upcoming book “The Magpye”, being published by Markosia, but also a full colour eight page preview of a brand new secret project, this is an opportunity for those taking part in Monkeys with Machineguns Live to own a small part of the future of comic book history.

For those not in the know, the Magpye is a “supernatural superhero psychological horror story”, a genre-bending tale of an amnesiac vigilante charged with defending mankind from monsters, creatures, and things that lurk in the dark whilst being haunted, and sometimes hounded, by the ghosts of his fallen predecessors. When the Magpye’s identity is finally revealed however, he may have to face the worst monster of all … himself.

As for the secret project … the details of that will be revealed at the show!

Lifehack are running a fantastic contest where you can win a lifetime’s supply of Moleskine notebooks!

Well worth a look if, like me, you are a lover of paper-based productivity, planners, or stationery in general.

If you don’t know Moleskine is all about … shame on you

Check out then contest: My Moleskine 2.0 – Stepcase Lifehack.

The harp had not been touched in over two thousand years. For those who believed, it was a relic from the funeral of Jesus Christ. For those who did not, it remained a priceless archaeological find.

The cook’s hands were calloused and dirty. Streaks of grease stained the harp’s ancient frame as he hefted it from the alter, soaking swiftly into the dry, sacred wood. He spat into his filthy palms.

No one was quick enough to stop him.

As his fingers stroked the ancient strings, as the notes rang out across the cathedral, everyone who heard could only weep.

The Minister had been bringing homeless people here for as long as he could remember. Sometimes, if he strayed far enough, he had thoughts about what his life had been before. He vaguely remembered other places, other people, a thing named “God”.

But that was before the Starport, and before the tree.

“So, this is it?” the homeless man asked, “I just put the noose on and …”

“That’s it,” said the minister, “Instant transport … a life among the stars”.

“Well,” said the homeless man, “You’re the priest …”

The tree moaned, just a little, but it didn’t give the game away.

Fellow Cardiffian Rich McAuliffe has a new horror anthology coming up through Insomnia Publications.

As a bastion of the horror anthology, I could do no less than heartily recommend you give the Damaged Goods: Tea Party online sampler a try.

Perhaps this is the start of the “Welsh Invasion” into UK comics, to mirror the famed “UK Invasion”. Alternatively, McAuliffe may just be another sick little Welsh monkey … like me.

Either way, it’s good.