capsule.org.uk
ooking forward to making my very first Supersonic Festival this year.

names.co.uk
inally shelled out for some ‘proper’ hosting space for this site, something I’ve been meaning to do for the last four or five years. Oh well, got there in the end.

I chose names.co.uk as I’ve used them on and off for various clients and found them to be reliable, helpful and competent - they really do what they say they will, in fact the largest problem I had was getting them on the phone to give them my money. Lets hope now I’ve written this it doesn’t all go wrong…

Richard Stark Donald Westlake
t seems the latest Richard Stark ‘Parker’ book has gotten a big UK release. At least it the first one I’ve ever been able to walk into my local small town bookshop and buy off the shelf [they had three!].

Along with the big distribution and promotional price comes a cover quote from a booker prize winning author and a uniformly bland cover [Heres a copy of the new book next to one of the supposedly ‘bullet hole’ 60s paperback editions - I know which I prefer].

I don’t know what it is with modern book jacket design, I’m sure just as much effort and time is spent on them as always was but its always the same result, generic stock photo cover with bold authors name/title. And I’m not just bitter because theres less illustrator gigs for book covers, but looking back at some of the older book jacket designs [theres often a batch on display over at the great DataJunky Blog], they just looked that much more interesting…

greatfirewallofchina.net
aybe I am, but it looks like I won’t be in China. Seems this site and its subversive mix of illustrations, paintings and photos is just too much for the chinese authorities.

Check if your site is censored in China @ greatfirewallofchina.net.
[first read about on the Gusset blog]

janettelouden.com
fter a couple of months offline due to what could well be described as ‘circumstances beyond our control’ its great to welcome back online the website of childrens illustrator Janette Louden. Soon to be updated with some new images. Happy belated birthday mate.

Kayotix.com
t looks to be the last chance to download any of the recent Tommy Boyd ‘Talk Radio’ shows that are broadcast weekly on BBC Southern Counties as the guy archiving them has been sent a cease and deist letter[pdf]. I’ve been a big fan of the slightly ‘off the wall’ topics Tommy used to broadcast on Talk Radio about fifteen years ago [before it became Talk Sport and was good.]

While I realise these shows are indeed copyright material its a shame that the BBC aren’t producing this kind of online archive themselves, all they seem to be able to supply is an iffy online stream broadcast, which never seems to work that well and is dead inside a week. What with both this archive and the hundreds of old john Peel shows floating around on the internet there is clearly a market for this and it seems a shame these shows are broadcast once and then gone.

Anyway, Tommy Boyd Radio Shows here until next week. Seems someones been uploading the latest show to a file host service on the internet, links are here.

chrishathway.com
es, you read that right, not only can you click chrishathway.co.uk to visit this site, but now we’ve gone global! Well, actually I may well work in some kind of split as to featuring my currently outdated web design folio on the .com site, but until then…

trendsterclothing.com
‘ve spent a fair bit of time over the past month or so helping to get the Trendster Clothing website online, The site was created to give consumers with a conscience about the environment, a choice of trendier ethical garments. They specialise in clothing that is either sweatshop free, organic or commercial and printable.

To read more and view the clothing on offer, please click here

tomrussell.com
reat show from songwriter Tom Russell at Birmingham’s Ceol Castle tonight. A really nice, intimate, friendly venue, admittedly located in one of Birmingham’s less attractive areas.

Great show anyway, with fantastic accompaniment on the mandolin by Mikael Martin. Hes back over in the UK later in the year, check his website for dates.

Shame about the booking incompetence of the Wolverhampton Civic Box Office who, despite charging what must be the most expensive booking fee I’ve yet to pay [£7 for a £10 ticket] failed to contact the venue with the booking. Nice venue though, next time I’ll try to book direct.