It was from Elizabeth Bunny Nuhfer, and inside was not only a friendly letter of support, but an array of delicious looking space bunny cup cakes!

Bunny’s artistry held up surprisingly well in the 104 °F we’ve been having here in West Australia. Bunny writes “I used a cupcake recipe that uses agave nectar as I find it keeps the cupcakes moist and they don’t turn out too sweet. For the ears, I used Natural Nectar Biscotti Cookies. I coated the ears in milk chocolate as I know it will travel better than the chocolate frosting.” She packed them ingeniously too, with ice packs and tooth picks for stability. I can’t wait to tuck into these after dinner tonight.

Here’s another batch from Elizabeth’s Facebook gallery…

Beautiful work. A thousand thanks to Miss Nuhfer for her kindness and support.

This is a rough model I put together in Maya to show everyone where I spent 22 hours a day for two weeks at the Allegany County Jail. I’ve paid close attention to the lighting, materials, placement and proportions.

The Department Of Homeland Security declares that I am prohibited from entering the United States for a period of ten years, and that bypassing this ban would require a very special exception made by the highest order.

I’m busy writing up a full report of what happened. Stay tuned, folks!

A.I. is a haunting, deeply moving science-fiction about David, a robot-boy “adopted” by a couple whose real son Martin lies hospitalised in a coma. The plot thickens when Martin recovers and deviously instigates David’s abandonment, setting him on a vast adventure to find the fictitious Blue Fairy so he can wish for mortality and seek a new acceptance from his mother.

The film salutes the tale of Pinocchio without compromising originality, and unfolds with uncanny realism in a frighteningly plausible future. It challenges our distinction between man and machine, and hints carefully at the conflicts of interest people can have in raising children. The visual effects are mind bending as typical of a Spielberg picture, but serve the story commendably without turning the film into an ILM showreel. Combined with the elegant yet characterful scoring of John Williams, this is one film bound to put both your morals and your tear ducts to the test.

The Mighty Boosh is a crazy, colourful comedy TV series that follows zoo keepers Vince Noire and Howard Moon on their bizarre adventures that challenge all sense and logic. With their sexually perverse manager, and the spaced out zoo shaman with his gorilla familiar, the Boosh will never leave you in hysterics without bending your sense of humour at the same time. It’s like ‘Crash Bandicoot Warped’ and ‘Flight Of The Concords’ in a blender.

The performances of comedy duo Noel Fielding and Julian Baratt are charmingly underplayed, and despite the ludicrousy of their escapades, they are portrayed tactfully with an inviting undercurrent of modesty and childlike simplicity. If you love British comedy and might care for the effects of shrooms without eating them, “come with us on a journey through time and space to the world of The Mighty Boosh!”

For those of you less informed, I have just spent three weeks in US custody. Two in a county jail, and one in a federal detention centre. It was proper incarceration, courtesy of The Agency Group and their failure to provide me with the correct travel documents for my September tour in 2011. The moment they heard the news, they removed me from their list of clients and never communicated with me again. I’m not one to set fire to people’s reputations, but wow, I was unimpressed with these people to put it mildly.

I’m terribly sorry that we couldn’t finish the tour, folks. What a tragedy. I’m busy compiling a full write-up of what happened and a detailed account of my difficult experiences in the slammer. In the mean time, I want to express my sincerest gratitude to the many people who offered me their support. My mother took it upon herself to keep everyone up to date on Facebook, the forums have been writhing with outrage, Jessica Terry at the New Zealand Consulate in New York went to great lengths to expedite my deportation, and I received an innumerable amount of letters from everybody that brought me much joy in an emotionally arduous time of my life. Thank you so much, everybody. I hope to have everything back to normal within the next few days!

There is a certain hollowness that occurs when computer generated imagery attempts to mimic the real world, especially with characters that we’re supposed to believe and invest in. As I watch The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, there’s a deadness in the eyes and a lack of expression in Benjamin’s computer generated face that leaves me unsatisfied, like trying to drink from an empty glass. The issue is not that the illusion is broken, but rather that the character’s entire performance and personality depends solely on intricacies and identifiable qualities of the face that simply aren’t there. What’s left is essentially nothing. Where a character like Bugs Bunny compensates for this through exaggeration, characters like Benjamin Button or Jake in Avatar don’t compensate at all, leaving them in a limbo between live action and CGI where there’s really nothing for our human brains to work with. They possess neither exaggerated qualities nor the intricacies required for the audience to interpret and emotionally invest in them.

I think visual effects technology has a long way to go before it can truly substitute live action characters if ever at all, and I fear we are seeing a surge of premature and failed attempts to realize otherwise in today’s movies. It seems quality story isn’t just taking a back seat these days, it’s rolling around somewhere in the trunk. Visual effects and CGI are nice to look at and all, but fall tremendously short of my satisfaction threshold, like a cheap mainstream track that has more sound effects in it than music or melody. No matter how superficial the industries try to make us to keep the economy ticking over with minimal effort, we are first and foremost emotional creatures at heart. Believable characters and gripping stories will always be the true diamonds in the rough.

Before turning, travel in a straight line to prepare yourself for the turn. Slip the clutch, open some throttle, and ease onto the rear brake. You want to create a slight tug-of-war between your rear brake and your engine to stabilise the bike. Keep in mind that the speed you’re traveling at should be the speed you’ll maintain through your turn.

Now, turn your head and look into your intended path. With your eyes fixed on your exit point, turn the handle bars and keep your torso vertical. Let only the bike lean into the turn, and apply pressure to the outside foot peg to counterweight the lean. You may also find it useful to shift your weight to the outside edge of your seat.

If the bike feels like it’s going to fall inwards, it’s possible you’re leaning into the turn. Straighten your torso and apply some more weight to the outside foot peg. You can also release a bit of clutch and open some throttle, because without enough momentum, the bike will want to fall. Don’t forget that rear brake. Combined with some pulling power, it should make the bike feel tighter and less prone to falling over.

If the bike starts heading towards the curb and everything else is in check, it’s likely your target and attention isn’t where it should be. A mere glance at the curb is enough to scare you and throw you off course. Keep your eyes and your mind fixed on the position you want to come to at the end of your turn. Keep your head up, relax, and you’ll be impressed with yourself in no time.

Mastering the U-turn will take more time and practice than general riding, because manoeuvring at slow speeds requires experience and finesse. Don’t come down on yourself if it takes you a week, a fortnight, or even a month to get right. Practice after a solid breakfast and a good sleep. Try to avoid practising at night when your motor skills are generally less active. If you find yourself in a rut or state of mental fatigue, give your brain the day off it needs to absorb the masses of information it’s collected. You’ll be amazed at your performance after a day or two of downtime, and don’t forget to enjoy yourself by taking some time away from practice to indulge in your strengths. Go easy on yourself and have fun!