Friday, November 04, 2005

Spookah

New York-based* satirical website Gelf Magazine has a nice** piece on GW. I get to quip in it, which is a bonus. I always wanted to quip, and never really had the chance before. It'll be interesting to see how the DVD goes down over there, as the word-of-mouth was pretty good, even if, like here, the ratings weren't particularly impressive.

Slightly too late for Hallowe'en, but here are some great spooky animations. This one's my favourite.

I forgot to say: talk with the writing group last week was fun - hopefully I haven't put them off entirely. I've wandered in to talk to that course about four times, and interestingly, the talk itself gets shorter and shorter each year as I realize I know less and less about anything. Next year I might just go in, shrug helplessly, and go out again.

On a similar note: congratulations to Katy Moon (alumnus of last year's course), who finally got her job as editorial assistant of Inside Soap, which if you're a bit literal-minded, might be the best title for a magazine ever.


* I think.

** Of course it's possible they're being satirical.

47 comments:

Matt said...

or at the very least it's a very specific type of soap that you really want to have been very well dermatologically tested.

James Henry said...

Well exactly.

Dave said...

Is the word lasst a satirical writerly in-joke?

James Henry said...

Oops. Corrected now.

Dave said...

Sorry. I apologise. The pedant in me (and someone corrected my spelling today too). I'll say nothing about my feeling that there ought to be an apostrophe in years.

James Henry said...

Hmm - was under the impression 'years' didn't require a possessive apostrophe. But am willing to be corrected if wrong.

Grammar Squad.... Assemble!

And I'm quite happy to have spelling/punctuation mistakes pointed out - otherwise how will Iearn to write correcty, hmm?

Dave said...

While it's just you and me here, 'How will I learn...'? And I think it's correctly.

But hey, you're a real writer, so i think latitude is allowed.

Dave said...

Of course, your last comment may have been deliberate humour. And even if it wasn't, you may now pretend that it was, and so humiliate me.

patroclus said...

Wow, that's a pretty spot-on review. *And* it mentions my favouritest ever GW line: "I see a chocolate Phil Collins coming out of a clock every hour to tidy up his Nazi gold." Class.

Smat said...

depends on the context of years really - "Last year's weather" needs an apostrophe, "over the years" doesn't. Not sure about "the last two years weather" though - will consult Lynn Truss who knows everything there is to know about grammar and put it all in a handbag sized guide with one of my all-time favcourite jokes on the cover.
xx Smat xx (breathlessly excited at having the audacity to lecture a Proper Writer on grammar)

patroclus said...

PS if you really insist, the Grammar Squad says yes, there should be an apostrophe in year's, thus.

patroclus said...

Oh, Smat got there before me. Smat, "the last two years' weather" should have an apostrophe thus. It's the weather belonging to the last two years, innit?

Anyone else got any grammar questions, or do I have to go back to work now?

James Henry said...

Back to work m'colleague. Your work here is done. Have a mini Mars bar for me.

James Henry said...

I wish I'd made those mistakes deliberately. But alas, I did not.

Anonymous said...

"gelf" - is that a place or what does it stand for?
sounds like something the referee would have to decide in guyball.

"James Henry quips, "Otherwise, we'd all have to look up long words for diseases, and none of us are that bright."
-oh so modest, james...

cello said...

You want to be a quipper now do you? This word verification thing is getting to you.

Anonymous said...

Damn, I always miss the good grammar talk.
What Patroclus said.

Dave said...

Although to be fair, it was me wot humbly flagged it up in the first place. I'd like a Mars bar too.

Bearded Lady said...

grammar shmammar

James Henry said...

Well that's another point. I should have put 'Punctuation Squad Assemble' shouldn't I? Dear god, my contribution to my own thread has more mistakes than words...

Dave said...

It was a nice review though.

Dave said...

Don't worry James, I've just corrected a spelling mistake on bearded lady's blog, to try to make you feel better.

Bearded Lady said...

you'll be hard pushed to find a spelling mistake on my blog (NOT). I like to keep the grammar/spelling nerds busy..........

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure, but did you mean to say 'alumnus' when referring to Katy Moon as it is singular?

James Henry said...

Argh.

Dave said...

I wood like two ofer a heartfealt apolgie four making my first coment. I promise never too say anything about speling or punktuashun on soemeones' blog ever again.

Dave said...

But (being conscious that the pen is mightier etc) if a cricket-playing pedant called Dave appears on Green Wing I will demand royalties.

greta said...

Re: Review.
Erm, "sitcommery".... any relation to Sean?


*tumbleweeds. etc*

Sorry. I'll just go now, shall I?

Miss Moon said...

Thanks James! You are a sweetie. Keep me posted on any Steve McFadden sightings! - or indeed any other soap stars you see. Oh I'm also doing book reviews for a new magazine called Crime Confidential - yes another mysterious title. Please everyone buy a copy - because I need to eat! Plus come issue three I'll have my photo on the page (actually that's a bad thing!) X

patroclus said...

Steve McFadden once sat behind me in a kebab shop in Camden. Does this count?

Anonymous said...

I shared falafels with him in the Queen Vic.

Anonymous said...

Whilst his ex-missus battered him with a shoe.

Miss Moon said...

Hee hee. Well definitely keep me updated on any soapy sightings! Yes Patroclus, the kebab shop does count!

Miss Moon said...

Wow James! This post is almost beating your Sexy Dancing comment wise.

Anonymous said...

In The Dark Crystal the lead protagonists were manky squinty pointy-eared midgets called Gelflings. Maybe a Gelf is a big (and more satirical) version of same...?

Anonymous said...

Gelf = Genetically Engineered Life Form in the Red Dwarf series. Mostly very ugly ones. Trifle bad-tempered too.

Matt said...

i liked the way they put About a Boy as Mark Heaps 'you might have seen him in...' film. he was in it for all of 5 seconds, teaching maths...

word verification - Bjruo, some sort of mexican snack

Anonymous said...

How come Henry, Messina and Kenworthy are happily quipping away but Preddy didn't even know there was quipping to be done?

James Henry said...

Possibly Preddy has failed to sufficiently tart himself about on the internet like an hoor?

Although Kenworthy hasn't got a blog has he? Maybe he's big in New York...

Anonymous said...

I presumed it was that. Kenworthy has his own website now though- http://homepage.mac.com/thoughtfox/SKenworthy.html complete with unsettling "I shag Terns" photo.

James Henry said...

Bloody hell, what an absolutely terrifying snap. Presumably the pile of hollow-eyed bird skulls and bloody feathers were Photoshopped away.

That's our Stu-pot, constantly redolent of sex and death. I miss him so.

patroclus said...

You miss him?

Did he die?

While having sex?

With a tern?

It's an unusual way to go.

James Henry said...

We all reckoned that was the way he would go, to be frank.

Actually GW scribe Kenworthy alive and well, hasn't molested any (feathered) birds as far as I know, and is currently developing loads of comedic projects with other people's money. The jammy jammy bastard.

Bearded Lady said...

I tell what is curious is kenworthy looks almost identicle to Steve McFadddenand i'm not lying as JH and RP can verify. So the comments have come full circle....

James Henry said...

It's like the Circle of Life, this blog. Later today, I fully expect to be trampled by zebras.

Or whatever did the trampling in that film. Wilderbeest? Antelopes?

patroclus said...

Earwigs?

James Henry said...

Lion kings very rarely trampled by earwigs. Not noticeably, anyway.