Uh huh, yes, gentle readeroids, finally, FINALLY...I`ve finished the 1st draft of 'Seeds Of Earth'! Weighing in at an unexpected 144 thou words, I felt relieved. I mentioned to Bill King that I always think that I should experience a thunderous feeling of hundred-league boots-stylee triumph when I finish a book. Yet it never seems to materialise - perhaps its the knowledge that there`s still work to be done that gnaws away at the foundation of that mighty temple of self-aggrandisement. For yea, verily, revisions there were, are and will be...at least until I can feel justified in abandoning it to the ages and the public.

And for those interested in these things, publication date for book 1 - SOE - is now...February 2009, for various reasons. Heck, I`ll be skating on the edge of 50 years of presence on Planet Earth when that rolls round, but with any luck there will have been NO invasion/bombing of Iran by then; maybe Bush and Blair will be in shackles and ready to face the music at a special war crimes tribunal at the Hague....yeah, and maybe the Pope will be ready to join the Wee Frees (insert bears-in-woods equiv joshing here)

Movies I have enjoyed recently include NEXT with Nick Cage, a bit glib but it was still gigamiles ahead of Ghostrider which stank on ice; 300, which I have got to see in special, tasty, DVD-loveliness; Ratatouillem -yup, funny and smart; and - Wild Hogs! You heard me, a film about some (cough) guys in their late 40s who go on a bigbike road trip....I know, it sounds like a short trip to Clicheville but really, it was a funny movie, much funnier than it had any right to be but it managed it well. Out loud guffaws were heard to be uttered at Cobley Towers.

Series perused on and off - 6 Feet Under, which I never caught which it was on TV, and I admit that it is terrific; MASH, right from the 1st series onwards - we're up to the end of season 2, and man it is chock full of dynamite one-liners; Star Trek (original series) - got this coming by post and it has been a fascinating revisit of a seminal series, noticing with my superior writerly perceptions which episodes were well written and which were obviously slapped together at the last minute. Standout episodes include City on the Edge of Forever (oh yea) and I, Mudd which is a glorious, sharp, snappy, hilarious one....what else? Ah, Father Ted, which is just magnificent, to be sure.

Music is ever present, of course - listening to a lot of doom metal and stoner rock, with some prog and synth/industrial thrown in as well - the new Down cd is like Sabbath crossed with Zeppelin, amazing; `Crossroads` by scandinavian duo, Mind In A Box is an atmospheric, synthy, cyberoid skate through future sounds that will get inside your head and start to form little von neumann nanobots....well, it wont really, but there`s always a chance...there is the groovey stoner goodness of Black Rainbows and their newie, Twilight In The Desert, just great. And tomorrow night I`m off to see Rush - yup, a technoprogtastic night is guaranteed. The only fly in da ointment is the fact that the brilliant Mark Thomas will also be in Glasgow tomorrow, doing a stint at The Stand comedy club. Saw him last time at Cottiers and he was beyond brilliant. You also might like to check out 'End Of Level Boss' and 'Mos Generator' whose new cd is called 'Songs For Future Gods' ;-)