Producer A - "That British film was a success, we should do something like that."
Producer B - "Trainspotting."
A - "No, the one about the girls."
B - "Bend it like Beckham?"
A - "It had that guy in it."
B - "Hugh Grant."
A - "No, the other one."
B - "Sean Connery."
A - "It was set in the olden days."
B - "Oliver."
A - "Isn't that a cooking show?"
B - "Well, there was a song about food in it. Do you want to remake Oliver Twist?"
A - "No. Well, maybe later. I'm thinking of something more recent."
B - "About food."
A - "Family. There was definitely something to do with families."
B - "My Left Foot."
A - Hmm, do you think Keira Knightly could learn to type with her foot?"

Toddled off to the Nova's Cry-Baby screening this morning and saw Look Both Ways. We packed a picnic of cheese and vegemite sandwiches, apple and sultanas and we spent the two hours sitting in the dark eating and discussing the numerous trains and animated fish on the screen. Abbey was very impressed by the huge curtain which opened all by itself as the film began.

You already know how much I'm in love with Justine Clarke so me telling you that her first leading film role was brilliant probably won't wash, but Look Both Ways just won the Discovery Award at the Toronto Film Festival. So go see it.

Finally I have a reason to use the word craptacular. Take a lesson from the mistake of National Treasure - it helps to not make the emotional interest of the story a Piece of Paper.

The one thing Maddie Green doesn't venture to investigate in this summary of the favourite wines of comic book creators is which wine to drink while reading which comic. Are comics really a medium suited to the consumption of wine? Oh, yes.

Given that I am probably at least as badly educated about wine as I am about comic books, although I love them both, I should leave it to you to offer suggestions. Grange with Sandman? Dom Perignon with an Eisner? Chardonnay with Alias. Vodka (of course) with Transmetropolitan. A very cheap red indeed for Batman. OK I'll stop now.

It's raining on the front of our house, but not on the back. I can hear it merrily tapping on the tin roof, but all I can see is sunshine.

I wasn't going to say anything on my weblog about Hurricane Katrina and the unbelievable aftermath, and I'm still not sure that what I'm about to say will make a difference to anyone. Other people have written a lot, and written it better than I could. Making Light in particular have a comprehensive analysis going.

I think what instigated this post though was the realisation that, over a week after the storm, things aren't getting substantially better yet. Thousands of people stuck in a drowning city have been deliberately ignored by their government. Many have died unnecessarily.

Some have tried to evacuate on foot and have been forced back towards the city at gunpoint:
[Armed sheriffs] responded that the West Bank was not going to become New Orleans and there would be no Superdomes in their City. These were code words for if you are poor and black, you are not crossing the Mississippi River and you were not getting out of New Orleans.

There are stories coming out of communities forming and people looking out for each other, but you really have to look for them. They do not make for good (read: saleable) "news". But they do make for good news. I suspect that this is the vast majority of the experiences of survivors (who are not in the Superdome or Convention Center). At least that is what I have to tell myself to keep the nightmares at bay.

There are 295 million people in the USA. Imagine if they rose up against their government and its incompetencies, racism, "won't-do" attitude and carelessness.

There's a planet between me and my comfortable lifestyle and the inhumane conditions the residents of New Orleans now find themselves in. I wish I could physically help.

I wrote this a couple of years ago as part of an internet meme, 100 Facts About Me:

I am always inspired by people who explore many different fields relating to their craft such as Jim Henson, Joss Whedon and Neil Gaiman.

As you may know, I met Neil Gaiman a couple of months ago. Now I have tickets to ask questions of Joss Whedon in his only Melbourne appearance.

I think I'm about to become an advocate of pronoia - the suspicion that the Universe is a conspiracy on your behalf.

Neil grew a tomato. Here's a cover for his next book. With apologies.