The Fear Machine

Last night I was watching an episode of Spaced which I thought was really funny. I also finished reading the graphic novel John Constantine, Hellblazer: The Fear Machine written by Jamie Delano and illustrated by Mark Buckingham, Richard Piers Rayner, Mike Hoffman and Alfredo Alcala. The story was originally published in nine monthly installments in the Hellblazer comic-book between 1988 and 1989. In the book occult detective and amateur magician John Constantine is on the run in the English countryside after being falsely accused of murder and joins up with a group of New Age travellers. However, before long he finds himself caught up in a bizarre conspiracy involving a sinister corporation who intend to use ancient magic and a psychic little girl in a devestating new weapon called "The Fear Machine". However this itself is part of an even greater conspiracy which reaches to the upper echelons of power. As an ancient and evil supernatural force awakens, even Constantine believes that it is too late to stop them. It was a good story, perhaps not the best Hellblazer story, but not bad at all. The artwork is slightly crude by the standards of modern comics but it isn't bad at all. I've reviewed it over at Permanently Weird. Fans of The Sandman would also recognise a very brief appearance from Morpheus, the main character in Sandman.

Today has been fairly quiet. I went out to get my groceries for the coming week and watched a couple of episodes of The Big Bang Theory, and also part of a show called Into the West (mainly because Rachael Leigh Cook was in it). I've started reading a book called The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac which so far looks like it should be pretty good.

I think it's the Oscars tomorrow night. I've never understood why there's so much attention paid to what the people are wearing on the red carpet, because it's not a fashion show it's a movie awards show. Also it must be stressful enough for people being nominated without the worry that if you pick the wrong outfit it would be all over newspapers magazines, the internet and TV shows. One of the things that I like about the Oscars is that there are certain things which are completely inevitable. For example at several points there will be shots of Jack Nicholson in the audience with a massive grin on his face wearing his shades indoors.