http://www.foreplaymagazine.co.uk

Sitting at Victoria station (with a tea and a bun, but then that's pretty much a given) I'm starting to unwind a little. As much as I love travelling by train but the worry of missing connections and not remembering stuff only really wears off when London transport's involvement is at an end.

This weekend the Doctor Geof stall is manifesting at the Brighton steampunk weekend. Organised by Allegra and the steampunk magazine it seems to be in a wee theatre behind a pub and should be a hoot: a couple of days talking rubbish with old friends and new friends and plotting evil in suitable surroundings can't be a bad thing.

www.steampunkmagazine.com/events

On the real science front, just in case you fancied a little bit, we're wrapping up the glasses science experiment this weekend (data is great but analysis is also handy) so if you fancy a bit of last minute recommendation you have until midnight this Sunday.

www.islandofdoctorgeof.co.uk/science/gPairExpt2010.php

Righty Ho, maybe see you guys this weekend, otherwise have a good 'un

X
geof

Ah, a week later and I'm almost on top of my work again. All I can really say is MCM Expo was a damned (hehehe, still training this phone to my vocabulary, rather endearingly it just replaced damned with darned) good laugh.

"Why" say you? Well asked there! Well apart from:

– being wedged between Rich Johnston on my left and to my right Tony Lee and his art monkey Dan (not in a sexy way if I recall correctly) and within hollering distance of Chamonkee and Naniiebim;
– the lovely friendly crowd who often shared my liking for tea and smuttery;
– the charming comics creators who also shared my liking of tea and smuttery;
– mojitos;
– Alex;
– Templesmith's squid-girls;
– Letraset;
– blah.

Anyhoo, yes, apart from that I'd say I have no idea. Was probably the weather or something.

Laters,

gf

x

http://www.londonexpo.com/

This coming weekend is the MCM expo in London if you fancy dropping round to say hello. Stuff is printed, bags are being packed, and yet more ranks have been added to the first tea company. I’ve got me 2 tables – 33 and 34 on the maps below (not 32-34, which was a typo of almost terrifying awesomeness … ) and this time I’m aiming to be awake and drawing and everything!

http://www.londonexpo.com/

laters,

X
geof

Posted via email from doctorgeof’s posterous

’nuff said.

x

gf

A chat about politics is not what you come to this comic for.

Like opening a packet of biscuits and finding a mouse: whatever you may feel about the cuteness of said mouse, a mouse isn’t what you were aiming for.

However I also think that, on the eve of a general election in the country that I both live and work in, mentioning a couple of issues that relate to the comics I create is probably fair. In fact I think I’d feel like a doofus if I didn’t.

I won’t talk about the proposed policies of the varying parties involved, there are far too many to be fair and to remain relatively unbiased. Hell, I’m not even going to tell you who I’m voting for. What I do feel I should bring to your attention is two pieces of legislation that our Labour government introduced in the past few years that have had a bearing on me and other creatives working in the UK.

Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, also known as the extreme pornography ban, and sections 62-68 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, also known as the child cartoon pornography law.

Superficially both sound laudable, but in effect they are both far too vague, resulting in laws that are either ridiculous or frighteningly far-reaching. Part of the extreme porn ban means that images may or may not be illegal depending on whether the creator of that image found it arousing: in effect making a consensual BDSM film illegal whereas a far more gruesome hollywood slasher flick remains legal. Part of the child cartoon pornography law claims that an image where a child is “in the presence”  of a sexual act is illegal: because a child in UK law is anyone under 18 this means that existing publications like Alan Moore’s “Lost Girls” or “Watchmen” could be illegal, or following the letter of the law this could theoretically criminalise anything from stickman comics to bawdy seaside postcards. Aside from these and other specific objections both acts were also unnecessary: a version of the Obscene Publications Act has been part of UK law since 1857.

According to these laws my fetishman comics aren’t illegal, but that isn’t the point. The point is that whilst they may not be definitely illegal, they aren’t absolutely safe either. Although this doesn’t bother me or you, it may bother comic shop owners and bookshop buyers and magazines editors. And if it bothers them enough, then selling and promoting not-illegal-but-perhaps-not-safe comics will get a lot more difficult. To get round this artists will adopt varying levels of self-censorship, at which point everyone misses out on creative works which might have been legal, but because it wasn’t “safe” the artist chose not to run with it. For example, renaming Lactose Intolerant Boy as Lactose Intolerant Man may sound stupid but I have a hunch I might eventually be asked to do that (even though the more logical answer is of course to only ever draw him with stubble and a ciggy).

Many factors will affect how we choose to vote. Our knowledge of the local candidates, the information we can decipher from various media channels, our experiences of how their parties have previously behaved, the pledges these candidates and their parties have made and so forth. However, I also think another important fact to consider is that a recent Labour government introduced the above laws. I think it’s a reason not to vote for Labour MPs, not least because of the possibility that they may create more similar legislation if re-elected.

This is just one issue, but if I’ve added it to the many other issues that voters were weighing up then my work here is done.

Laters my lovelies!

x

geof

Comics-wise there’s been a wee hiccough and thus whitby saw the arrival of only 100 new pre-issue 11′s, we’re a couple of weeks off the true launch of the brown issue, but they were well received and i have a hunch you’ll all be pleased. So true launch will be at the Bristol Expo and the MCM expo at the end of may!

http://www.thefallenangel.co.uk/spexpo/

http://londonexpo.com/

Talking of which a preview of one of the pages will be previewing in We Are Words + Pictures’  ”Paper Science 2″ for free comic book day this saturday!

http://wearewordsandpictures.com/2010/04/26/new-paper-science-free/

… shit, that’s 2 days to fix the islandofdoctorgeof.co.uk website … AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

xx

gf

the official stuffs: http://wgw.topmum.co.uk

more stuffs: http://www.darkdaisypromotions.co.uk/page_1260211526249.html

even more stuffs http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=112182408799977#!/event.php?eid=317466998235&ref=ts

leisure centre location: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=54.488071,-0.622833&num=1&t=h&sll=54.488314

also if you’ve got a mo and fancy doing me a favour my crazy science job needs you to do an online experiment. no pressure, but you know, not doing it would make my supervisor cry and that would be mean.

http://www.islandofdoctorgeof.co.uk/science/gPairExpt2010.php

xxx

gf