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Where I am and where I would like to be

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Agios Ioannis 1

It’s almost two in the morning and I am sitting in a dark room. The only light comes from our two computer screens. Jonas is still up as well. I’ve not done nearly as much as I would have liked today. Unfortunately that seems to be becoming a theme. But I’ve promised myself that I would post one item a day from now on, even if it kills me, and here we are.

That picture up there is of Agios Ioannis, a wonderful beach near where Jonas’s parents have their summer house. If I were to answer the question of where I want to be perfectly truthfully, I would have to say at the top of the New York Times Bestseller List, but – the world of publishing being as it is – I shall have to settle for this much more sunny and obtainable goal.

Tomorrow I hope to have some nice, juicy book reviews for you. Something with a few more intellectual calories than my whining about my lack of fame. And the Epic Annoucement™ is, of course, drawing closer as I type. For now look at these pictures of flowers that I just posted on Flickr while I slouch off to bed before an icicle grows on my nose. Someone really should tell the weather that it’s August.

Matt Chat, Jonas and a Gnome

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It would appear that the Epic Announcement™ will be delayed until Tuesday, which really is  no one’s fault but my own. Also, in related news, Jonas has been busting his ass today to help me with the whole thing, and he’s now my personal Saint.

Good deeds, however, shall be instantly rewarded with humongous internet fame and so today is the day where the first part of the Matt Chat interview with him comes out.

And if you’re still hungry for stuff featuring Jonas and his work then you can have a look at the Gnome‘s review of The Book of Living Magic.

And now, despite the late hour, I shall go back to making graphics for Catroidvania. A graphic artist’s work is never done.

Some nice places on the interwebs

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Instead of the Epic Announcement™ that I had planned for today (which will be postponed until Sunday or possibly Monday due to a) me being too optimistic and b) things outside of my control), I’ll drop you some links instead. Because I promised a post for today and breaking promises isn’t nice.

I’ve been doing a bit of thinking on the subject of Modern Art and, more specifically, Postmodern Art these days. This is one of the things that make me despair when it comes to modern art. “I wanted to give something back to the city that gave me so much,” says the artist. And that‘s what you came up with?

Luckily sometimes things happen in Germany that take my level of general despair down a notch, like this. A hotel that looks cool and that lets you pay how much or little you want/can afford. Of course they’re booked out until just after the heat death of the universe.

And here are a few videos. If you’ve never heard of Saturday Night Live’s version of Celebrity Jeopardy you lead a sad and miserable life. Here’s my favourite skit. Or, if you’ve got about two hours to spare, you could have a look at the Spoony Experiment‘s review of Final Fantasy X. And if that doesn’t cheer you up, you could always take a look at ninja cat. If that doesn’t cheer you up, you’re probably a cyborg.

Also, if you’re tired of me constantly shamelessly promoting my own pictures on Flickr, here’s me promoting someone else.

A few blogs/web-thingies that I regularly look at. The Atlas Obscura is a wonderful compendium of silly, secret and surprising places all around the globe. And Everysaturdaymorning’s Blog is a thought- provoking (and sometimes infuriatingly, stubbornly misandrist) blog run by a volunteer escort for an abortion clinic. If you’ve got a problem with abortion clinics please go away and never come back again. I mean it. Most of the women have got very serious reasons for going there. No one just wakes up one morning and says: “I think I’ll have an abortion today.”

And here’s an Asian mimic octupus chaser from XKCD for all those who are freaked out by the mention of reproductive justice issues on this blog.

Finally, and then I’ll shut up (honest), The Book of Living Magic is still out and it still needs your love and cuddles.

The Book of Living Magic

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It’s taken a while, much longer than anyone thought, but The Book of Living Magic is finally out. The Lands of Dream are quite dear to me, The Strange and Somewhat Sinister Tale of the House at Desert Bridge being, so far, probably my favourite among Jonas’s games, and I loved creating the graphics for this one. We’ve both put a lot of love and a lot of work into the game and Jonas and I are very happy that BOLM managed to find a good home (the people at Jay is Games have been really, really great). It’s been a difficult birth, but it’s also been worth it. You can play it here. If you liked it please feel free to spread the word via Twitter, Facebook, carrier pigeon or any other network of your choosing. And if you really liked it you could always drop Jonas a donation… we’ve got a cat to feed, after all.

Now on to Venus, to assist the local Space Cats in their struggle!

Spielsalon Kassel And Other Things

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As you might have noticed I’ve once again been criminally neglecting this blog. It’s not something I am happy about, but I work best if I can concentrate on one thing and stick with it, and the blog unfortunately had a lower priority than some other projects recently.

What projects, I hear someone calling from the cheap seats. Yes, you, the gentleman in the polka dot shirt and the monkey mask. Well, strange sir, let me see.

  • I’ve been wondering about Kindle a lot these past few days. And about coal drawings. The two are connected and that’s all I’ll say for now. More on that soon, I hope.
  • We’re also beginning to think about the graphics for both the Troll game and our upcoming children’s book. (Which is a pompous way of saying that I spent half an afternoon doing graphics tests and looking at possible techniques, but we’re getting there.) Both projects will be similar, though not identical, in style and my fingers are already itching to get started in earnest.
  • The most exciting and by far most time-consuming project is Jonas’s next flash game Catroidvania: Communist Space Cats Of Venus, for which I’m just wrapping up the graphics. Yes, it’s about kittens… in space. What could possibly be more awesome?
  • When I’m not knee-deep in either pixels or discarded coal sketches I am nursing Jonas back to health. He’s had two of his wisdom teeth removed and is, as of today, on the fifth day of a liquid diet. It is, as far as I can tell, not a lot of fun. There are, after all, only that many ways to make potato puree interesting. (Suggestions are welcome, btw.)

That’s it from the creative front for now. If you’re interested in what we’ve been up to in July, here’s a link to my Flickr set with pictures from the Spielsalon Kassel, where Jonas’s game Alphaland was exhibited recently. It’s taken a long time, but finally he’s getting some recognition for his work, and seeing Alphaland exhibited in one of the oldest public museums of Europe was just awe-inspiring.

We’re tired, we’re broken, but we’re back.

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Well… we’re back. What I’m feeling right now is a strange mixture of sadness at leaving our vacation behind and happiness at being back at home with our cat and away from Greek internet connections. I already miss Greece, although we haven’t even entirely unpacked our bags. The sunshine and the good food, the mountains of strawberries that we ate, the landscape and the air. And the sea (which was very nice to look at and very, very cold to swim in)… in a landlocked place like Frankfurt, where all you ever see is the building on the other side of the street, the sea seems like a dream.

I don’t wish to seem ungrateful, Frankfurt has its charms too: we’ve eaten pizza and tried to assimilate all that we’ve missed on the internet during the last two weeks, we’ve cuddled Cat and Cat has given us headbutts. Life could be worse.

Now it’s late and I really should go to bed. So should Jonas. Look at this picture of a car while you wait for the next update.

We parked near this giant wall...

So many photos, so little bandwidth

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The good news is that I’ve taken tons of very pretty pictures. The bad news is that the internet connection we’ve got here is about as fast as trying to carry the individual pixels to your computer at home, one at a time.

We could have gone to the internet cafe, where they’ve got connection speeds comparable to those in the rest of the civilized world, but unfortunately Jonas is rather sick at the moment and the internet cafe is half a mountain away. Yes, you heard that right, we have a two week holiday and Jonas is sick as a dog. Isn’t he a real lucky one?

Mhm… well. Expect more from me on Thursday evening, when we’re back home and have our cat back (can’t blog without a cat, it’s just not proper). In the meantime I’ll work on the gargantuan task of getting my novel finished finished-er.