Brian Cox. I got to see footage from his first scene with Mr Willis in Toronto. They just locked a camera off on him and he did about five minutes of dialogue in a single take. This still seems to sum it up nicely.

Of course, as with much of the film, his character didn’t exist in the book. But Ivan Simanov does tie into the book’s themes: retired and distrusted by those who came after, and very much both the threat and the wreckage of the 20th Century.

Anyway, I’m posting this because they haven’t really released any of Mr Cox’s work on the film yet. And also, you know, vodka + knife + possible Russian Mafiya smoking jacket = good times tonight.

MECHANICAL GARDENS, the debut album by Altar Eagle. John Twells (Xela) was recommending it on twitter, so I thought I’d give it a listen. Listen along if you like.

ALTAR EAGLE – Mechanical Gardens by _type

If Something Awful goons crew-rate a spacelaunch vehicle on August 31st I am going to laugh and laugh and drink and laugh some more and send Elon Musk a box of flaming turds and then laugh even more.

Author TA Pratt did a donor-funded online serialisation of a novel, the fifth instalment of a sequence whose first four books were published by Bantam Spectra. The postmortem numbers are very interesting.

All quiet here today, as I’m in the middle of many things. Twitter’s off too. Back Monday.

Evelet on Whitechapel posts proof-of-life for the GODLESS SEX INFIDELS shirt.

14-minute video of Jamais Cascio speaking at the Activate conference, demanding money from fellow speakers and terrifying people with his shoes while talking about the futures of the internet. Is very good.

How in the hell did I not notice until last night that China Mieville has a blog?

The new RxRy EP, MEMORY LANDSCAPES, is rather pretty, a sketch of the summer we didn’t quite have (at least over here in the UK). And it’s free. You kind of want to write liner text for it that is a list of bullet points of things that reflect off the shiny notes.

Bidding is still running on these beautiful Eliza Gauger art pieces.

TV show EUREKA’s writing staff lose their shit. I always said writer’s rooms were bad for mental health.

The New York Moon: a fantastic piece of web design for an internet radio suite.

Chelsea Summers on Katelan Foisy:

She’s got that magic factor that makes people want to do right by her, to protect her (and I’m looking at you, fearsome Warren Ellis)…

Fearsome?

Fringe music review magazine WONDERFUL WOODEN REASONS pushes its 35th issue live. Ian Holloway says:

The August issue (#35) is now online complete with attached Soundcloud mix. (which is here if you just want music without the words)

As usual you can read it at its own website - here - or at its myspace page - here .

It’s the usual ragtag assortment of drone, ambient, noise, psychedelia and wierdness with even a touch of post-hardcore lunacy this month…

More details at his Whitechapel post.

CATCHING THE WAVES: "Reviews of (legitimately) free netlabel and/or Creative Commons music. Yes, the music is completely free. Yes, the musicians know. Yes, they welcome donations and purchases. No, you won’t be arrested."

"Alt Hist, http://althistfiction.com, is the new magazine of Historical Fiction and Alternate History. Lovers of historical fiction for too long have been denied outlets for short pieces of fiction, as the number of print and online magazines for historical short fiction is very limited compared to the popularity of fiction set in past times. Alt Hist’s mission is to provide readers with entertaining and well-written short stories with a historical setting, whether portraying actual events or events that could have happened…"

Light, late coverage of the post-panel SDCC press conference for RED.

Really busy today, so the usual nonsense will have to wait until tonight.

For those just joining me, these shirts went live on Monday.