Fox are being sued by people claiming that they pitched the idea for the LoEG movie to Fox years ago, and that the final film and their version are so similar are to be lawsuit worthy.

Normally, I’d just be laughing, but here’s the stuff that makes this interesting: these people aren’t just cranks. One of them wrote Phone Booth, and the other produced The Lion In Winter. They’re Hollywood professionals. (This does not preculde them being cranks, obviously.) The presumably think that they were ripped off, or at least that it looks enough like it that they stand a chance of making cash in court.

But the bit that makes me laugh is that they’re suggesting that Fox suggested that Moore write LoEG so that they could option it, to create a smokescreen by which they would rip these boys off. I wonder how they intend to prove that, given that they’re talking about a reculse whose interest in Hollywood seems to stop at them giving him and option cheque if they want to mutilate some of his work and they getting out of his life.

It’s possible, of course, that Fox saw Moore’s work, and did indeed think that they could option it then use it as cover to rip off these boys – it’d explain why the movie seems to bear fuck-all resemblance to the comic, but given that Moore’s a magician and prone to talking about any creative act being an act of magic makes it seem unlikely that he takes commisions…

Playing ULU on the 7th of November. Anyone want to come? (Tickets available here.)

I’m in Northern Ireland, so my internet access is spotty at best – I return home Monday night, and will catch up with my communications then.

Spent yesterday up on the Antrim coast at Bushmills, and the Giant’s Causeway, and Carrick-a-Rede. I’ve taken half a hundred shots on the phonecam, so it’ll cost me a fortune to decant them. I’ll go through ’em later and weed out the good ones. It’s a couple of years since I was there, and I’m glad to go back – it’s possibly the most beautiful place in the world to me.

Went out last night with my cousin and his pals, and wound up at Limelight, playing the “legal, not legal” game. The average age there seems to be about 17, and that was only after the bunch of us twenty somethings and early thirties people had raised it a year or two. A real “Fuck You, I Won’t Tidy My Bedroom” place. Good laugh, though. In the past, we’ve wound up there thanks to my youngest cousin, who turned 20 the other month. This time round, it was bizarre co-incidence, but it wouldn’t be a trip to Beflast without seeing what the Young People dance to these days. The answer seems to be that they dance to exactly the same things I did, which is odd, because at least they were current when I was out, rather than most of a decade old, and more…

Right. Enough. See you all when I get back.

According to the Society for Psychical Research, mobile phones kill ghosts (via Gizmodo). I find the idea quite depressing, actually.

Johnny Cash

And it’s back to work with me. Well, on Monday at least. For three days, then I’m off for a long weekend in Belfast, to visit my ageing grandmother. It’s a rough old life. Fame Academy results show in half an hour, then I’m debating what to do – bed with some comics (got a couple of longboxes out of my parents garage the other day, and am going through them deciding what to keep and what to get rid of), a spot of NWN, or perhaps watching a bit of Sherlock Holmes – I discovered that the ITV series with Jeremy Brett as Holmes is out on DVD, and since my brother and I are talking about a Holmesian sort of thing for a short film, I bought one there and then, and have been enjoying them and pulling them apart in equal measure, trying to work out just how damaged I can get away with making our detective without rendering him incapable of social functioning…

Well, that’s the weekend over, but I don’t care, because I’ve got the week off work. Huzzah! Plans include a trip to the Tower of London at some point, to see the ravens (Marysia and Andrew are completely unimpressed by prospect of Ravens, or at least, not impressed enough to pay the entrance fee. I live with philistines…) but since I haven’t had a break since last Christmas, I’m mostly just going to laze about not do very much.

In other news, it’s Fin and I have been dating for a year and day now. Not entirely sure how that happened, as it only seems like yesterday that we were watching Rififi and eating at Ed’s on our first date. To celebrate, we went to see The Woman In Black at the Fortune Theatre, and then out for dinner at a fairly posh restaurant in Covent Garden – I can safely say I’ve never eaten anywhere that posh before, and while I can’t afford to do it every time, I think it was well worth it – the food was uniformly excellent and the service fantastic, but the to-die-for chocolate souffle I had for dessert would have justified it on it’s own.

Right. Well, I’m off to make a drink and think about reading for a bit.

Art – Alan Moore and Tim Perkins
Whistling Past The Graveyard – Tom Waits
All Tomorrow’s Parties – The Velvet Underground and Nico
Train Tracks – Jason Webely
Salty Dog – Flogging Molly
One Tree Hill – U2
No More Shall We Part – Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds

asks:

AS LEADER OF THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION

What will your official title be?
Bob.

Who will be by your side?
Oh, anyone that sounds like fun at the time.

How will those who serve you be rewarded?
There will be special shiny badges. Not unlike the ones found in McDonalds, now I think of it.

How will you punish those who try to stand in your way?
I will make them work in McDonalds.

What monument will you build to your own greatness?
There will be a small, tasteful, statue of me in every household. People will be encourgaed to leave non-biodegradeable offerings at its feet. Once a month, someone will come round a collect the offerings, and bring the more interesting ones to me. Failure to supply interesting offerings will be noticed…

WHEN THE REVOLUTION COMES

Who will be first up against the wall?
People who are opposed to the welfare state, and people who start sentences with phrases like “But why should I be expected to…”

Who will be next up against the wall if they don’t mend their ways?
People who abuse the welfare state.

What will be made compulsory?
Lizards. Everyone must have a pet lizard. Size to be determined by owner…

What will be banned?
Kittens and puppies.

What music will play to herald the dawning of the new era?
Prince Charming – Adam and the Ants

So, still playing with the new toys. I’ll get bored of them in a week or two, I’m sure, but for now, there’s a new photo that I really like on the photolog, and I’ve updated the WAP channel (http://tagtag.com/tawk) for the second time in two days. Do not expect this rate to keep up, even if I don’t become so bored that I neglect it entirely. In the event that there’s someone out there what wants to hear me witter about London who doesn’t have, or care to use a WAP phone, then you can just visit TagTag.com‘s frontpage, where you’ll find a form that’ll pop-up a faked WAP display in your browse, allowing you to read any WAP site you care to name. Including mine, obviously.