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Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts

Tuesday, 19 July 2011

Thorin's Entire Dwarf Company from The Hobbit

If you've been watching the interwebs, you might have seen some of the tantalising pictures of Thorin's band of dwarves from Peter Jackson's upcoming movie The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. With the release of the picture of Thorin Oakenshield and his sweet-looking sword Orcrist, the Goblin-cleaver at TheOneRing.net, we finally have the full company of thirteen dwarves.

Jackson and the crew are taking an interesting tack with the look for the dwarves, not falling into the trap of making a group of Gimli-lookalikes. Each dwarf is distinct, and in my opinion they look absolutely fantastic. I've heard a few grumbles around the place about the departure from the traditional gruff-looking thick bearded dwarf, especially with respect to Kili (played by Aidan Turner). Sure, his beard may be short and some could argue that he's too good-looking, but hey, you can't argue that he still looks like he could kick some goblin ass. Plus, I won't deny others their eye-candy.

The costumes and weapons look to be up to the stupidly high standards we've come to expect from Jackson and Co, and everything looks to be on track for an awesome couple of movies. I don't know about you, but I'll be rushing into the theatre the first chance I get, giggling like a Tolkien geek.


Oin and Gloin


Bofur, Bifur and Bombur


Dori, Nori, and Ori


Fili and Kili


Balin and Dwalin


Thorin Oakenshield

So what do you think of the dwarves? Are you as excited as I am?

Monday, 18 July 2011

Brutal Zombie Destruction - First Clip of The Walking Dead Season 2

Haven't been getting enough zombie-related action in your life lately? The first season of The Walking Dead was pretty awesome, even if it did deviate quite a bit from the comics, and it looks like they're not going to be shy about the violence this time either.

On a related note, I totally want a Rick Grimes action figure.

Saturday, 16 April 2011

Update on THE CONVERTED

My fantasy novel, THE CONVERTED, is on schedule for release in the Kindle store and Smashwords April 25th, shortly followed by distribution to all other major retailers such as Apple iBooks and Barnes & Noble.

(Actually, as of the time of writing THE CONVERTED is already available at Amazon and Smashwords. If you'd like to get your copy or view a sample before the official release date, go check it out.)

THE CONVERTED is also out with several book bloggers and fantasy book reviewers at the moment, so stay tuned for the verdicts.

If you'd like to get your hands on a free copy of the ebook, you can head over to LibraryThing and sign up for the chance to grab one. I'll also be giving away copies this #SampleSunday, so watch out for that.

To top everything off, you can check out the book trailer below. I noticed the trend among book trailers was that they were all cheesy. I decided to crank up the cheese to the next level. In the words of one of my early viewers, it is "delightfully and tragically melodramatic." It's like a car wreck, you just can't look away...

Thursday, 14 April 2011

Skynet and Internet Legislation

I'd like to take a break from scheduled programming to have a short rant about the internet legislation law that was just passed in New Zealand.

Basically, its fucking stupid.

Really, incredibly, idiotically stupid. Its completely unworkable, pointless, and it won't do a damn bit of anything to stop piracy. Basically, I think it comes down to a complete non-understanding by the National Government of how file-sharing actually works. The bill allows copyright owners to request that people who repeatedly share protected material have their internet account suspended for 6 months.

First of all, having copyright holders put the onus on the ISPs is just freaking stupid. Why would an ISP want to cut off its own customers when they have done nothing to them?

Secondly, the Government passed this bill under urgency, which means they got to neatly avoid any chance for public discussion on the bill. Urgency is supposed to be used in emergencies, such as legislation relating to the Christchurch earthquake. Piracy has been around forever, and it ain't going anywhere fast.

And thirdly, it just won't work. I will be most surprised if it stops a single person from pirating anything. The way to reduce piracy is to use the technology available to make things available legally and for a fair price. A war against internet piracy is even more hopeless than a war against drugs.

To really get an appreciation for how little the government understands the issue, go to this link and watch the video where MP Jonathan Young compares the internet to Skynet.

Idiots.

Wednesday, 16 March 2011

Terry Pratchett in New Zealand

Just wanted to share this link with everyone in New Zealand.

Terry Pratchett, the ridiculously super-awesome master of comedy fantasy, is coming to Auckland Thursday 14 April. Get your tickets here.

First 100 people to buy tickets get a chance to meet the great man himself. How fucking amazing is that?

I've got my tickets. How about you?