[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-studio-guard-gnome":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"Someone hoisted this gnomish thing up on a pole by the front door of our \u003Ca href=\"http://thefleecestation.wordpress.com\">studio\u003C/a> building a couple months ago. I don't know why they put it there but I like seeing it when I come to work in the morning. Depending on my mood and the light, it can look jolly or very, very sinister.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/domovoi_2-c79a5dd9df.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nIs it an \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enid_blyton\">Enid Blyton\u003C/a> character? Maybe it's our Russian house troll \u003Ci>\u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domovoi\">domovoi\u003C/a>\u003C/i>. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/domovoi_1-e44c12299f.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI'm hoping to post a sketch later today, but it's been mad here with deadlines. Yesterday I went to my first meeting as a committee member of the \u003Cb>Society of Authors\u003C/b> \u003Ca href=\"http://www.societyofauthors.org/cwig-committee\">Children's Writers & Illustrators Group\u003C/a>. I'm not quite sure why they urged me quite as strongly as they did to join when \u003Ca href=\"http://www.vrombaut.co.uk\">An Vrombau\u003C/a>t and \u003Ca href=\"http://unitedagents.co.uk/ros-asquith\">Ros Asquith\u003C/a> retired, since I'm a real newbie in publishing, but they seemed to think I'd bring in a breath of fresh air or something. A whiff of cluelessness is more like it, but it's fascinating getting all the latest industry gossip. And they use real tea cups, with saucers and everything. Here's the gang that was there yesterday (missing \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jeremystrong.co.uk\">Jeremy Strong\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"www.balirai.co.uk\">Bali Rai\u003C/a>). \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/cwigmeeting-a62790a75e.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Ci>\u003Ca href=\"http://www.michaelamorgan.com\">Michaela Morgan\u003C/a>, \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicola_Davies\">Nicola Davies\u003C/a>, \u003Ca href=\"http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/author/2067/Nicola-Smee.html\">Nicola Smee\u003C/a>, \u003Ca href=\"http://fds.oup.com/www0.oup.com/demonheadmaster/home.html\">Gillian Cross\u003C/a>, \u003Ca href=\"http://www.societyofauthors.net/staff\">Jo McCrum\u003C/a>, \u003Ca href=\"http://www.visitingauthor.com\">John Dougherty\u003C/a>, \u003Ca href=\"http://www.helena-pielichaty.com/\">Helena Pielichaty\u003C/a>\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\nSo I may be blogging some Society of Authors stuff for you every once in awhile. Although they gave me a whole list of things I couldn't blog about from the meeting (including mention of a rather nasty use for pinking shears). This seems to be the story of my past few months, everyone finishing their sentences with, \u003Ci>but you won't be blogging about this, right?\u003C/i> Makes me wonder if I need to invent a whole parallel life that I can blog about. Maybe I should become a pirate.\\r\n\\r\nI the meantime... I pulled myself awake watching two videos this morning, which are as opposite as two things cam possibly be. One is this lovely \u003Ca href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L64c5vT3NBw\">video of a girl and her dad singing \u003Ci>Home\u003C/i> by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros\u003C/a> (thanks to \u003Ci>Couch Fiction\u003C/i> writer \u003Ca href=\"http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2010/apr/18/philippa-parry-couch-fiction-interview\">Philippa Perry\u003C/a>). Very family friendly. And the other is this \u003Ca href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svOlz2ei4Yk\">Bollywood \u003Ci>Robot\u003C/i> film with a Russian voice-over\u003C/a> that is so absolutely, appallingly terrible that it's almost good. (Warning, contains a lot of brainless violence.) I like the YouTube comment posted underneath: \u003Ci>And thus the age old question was answered: What happens when an 8 year old is given 18 energy drinks and a directing gig?\u003C/i> Spot on. (Link thanks to \u003Ca href=\"http://www.fumboo.com/\">Jamie Smart\u003C/a>, whom I suspect imbibes the occasional energy drink himself.)","2011-01-26T10:53:00.000Z","studio-guard-gnome",[],"studio guard gnome",1776628719605]