Happy New Year everybody! It's blogging time! O.K., so it's a new year and time to stop stuffing my face, lounging around and periodically poking at my stomach and wondering if I'm putting on weight and get writing once more! Once more into the breach, dear friends, just as soon as I've hoovered those knavish pine-needles off the carpet!

The News!

I'm writing again. Yeah, I know, so what? Big deal!

The Video!

Being the New Year and all, I reckoned that the funny this week should reflect that. Therefore, please feel free to enjoy this, Randomguy's hillarious take on the worst kind of New Year greetings, featuring Deadpool!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqCaBe...

My Greek Odyssey.
I'm building an army! A great big Ancient Greek army, Circa 460 B.C., and, week by week, I'm going to be going through my progress, my ups and my downs, and hopefully sharing lots of juicy pictures of plastic greeks! What more could you ask for? Actually, don't answer that lol !
So what am I using? Well I ordered mainly off the Warlord Games Website and having collected a lot of figures from what used to be the company Immortal Miniatures, before the dude running it decided he wanted to spend more time birdwatching and sold up to Warlord. So, as well as musicians, Scythian archers, slingers and a few cavarly, I also got some of my main body of troops, my Hoplites, from this company.










So they are all awesome but I also ordered off Warlord some hoplites from a different company, Victirx!








So they are awesome! My impression having unboxed them and started work is that the Immortal Miniatures are more accurate but the Victix set is more attractive. Indeed, I have in my own geekish way been very busy with the craft knife in trying to ensure complete accuracy and the Victrix ones have really given me the jib! Incidentally, for those interested in my reference materials, I am usingWarfare In Ancient Greece: Arms And Armour From The Heroes Of Homer To Alexander The Great and Greece and Rome at War, which I am finding are answering all of my current needs.

My Reading!
O.K. Quite a lot of reading over the Christmas period and I have three main strands.

First off, I finished The Conversations of Socrates! I have to say, at times it was a bit of a struggle but it was well worth it! There was some interesting philosophy and for an fan of the period it shone a light on the mindset of those living at the time.

Second is A Potted History of Vegetables! This was a truly beautiful book, a real treat to own, and was just stuffed with facts! If one has an interest in vegetables this is a worth adition to the bookshelf!

Finally, I come to this, Before the Devil Knows We Are Dead. Honestly, this is absolutely amazing! Forget that this is an tie-in, I think that this is an absolutely terrific tale. Dark, moody, violent, yet thoughtful and shot through with done dry humour I cannot recommened this story to comics fans enough. Really, the tie-in simple acts as a catalyst for an amazing story. Oh, and the artwork was staggeringly good!