Ok so I changed my mind slightly- the new home page is up already, in case you haven't seen. This is at leats parly cos I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing with this blog and the newspage, or even if I'm going to rejig them at all. But the most important bits are up now, so I can shortly start work on a new animation...

I've been working hard on the new look, and I'm somewhat chuffed with how it's progressing, even if I do say so myself. I won't jinx anything by giving a time estimate, but I'll gradually start replacing the old pages soon, finishing up with the homepage itself. I hope you guys are going to like it....

So just under a month until the PS3 goes on sale in Europe, but how will it fare? With the US and Japanese demand for them already on the wane (Ps3 was third in the US in January, second place 360 with Wii numero uno) and reports that while Wiis are still hard to come by there are piles of PS3s unloved and unwanted, some are predicting that it might be something of an embarrassment for the big S. One things for sure, there seems to be no shortage of retailers pushing pre-orders and plenty of stock (people are even guaranteeing delivery on launch day, that almost never happens with console launches) which seems to contradict the huge boasts some companies have made about how popular it is. While I'm trying not to be too much of a Nintendo fan-boy and wish them failure, what with the constant attempts at my-processors-bigger-than-your-processor one up-man-ship and broken promises* it's hard to to think that frankly, they kind of deserve it. Will people overlook the obscenely high asking price (higher in the UK than anywhere else) and lack of killer games to continue the domination of the market set out by PS2? Or will they all end up on ebay with nobody actually buying them? However it's all early days so I'll watch with interest. When I'm not playing Wii Sports that is...

*latest news is the European PS3 won't even feature full backwards compatibility with Ps2

UK types, who have yet to sample the genius that is the films of Japan's Studio Ghibli, there's the chance for even you non digital types to set this right. And I suggest you set your videos/sky plus/tivo/pvr becasue they really are worth your time (and are on at a time where most of you will be at work/school/college/asleep ) the first one is Kiki's Delivery Service on tomorrow (monday) on channel for at 9.55am, and 3 other Ghilbi flicks are showing in the morning this week too- two of which are stone cold classics (My Neighbour Totoro and Laptua: Castle In the Sky) and one (the Cat Returns) still worth a watch!

As you may already know, suburban ninja ep 6 has now gone up. It was frankly ridiculously overdue, with the work on re-dubbing and editing the episodes started about a year ago. This however was the only episode that I completley remade scrapping the entire original episode 6. This was because it was the only episode I was entirely unhappy with. The first time I made episode 6 I had become completley bored of Stanley and so hence I possibly killed him off at the end (I say "possibly" because his fate was not quite clear, so I could go back on it if I changed my mind later). When I later decided the series had some merit after all, I decided I didn't like the ending, hence the decision to completly replace it. It was also quuite interesting to go back into making the series after a long break. I have often had a bit of a love-hate relationship with the series and often think there's not much mileage in the idea. But I felt I owed it to myself ( and any fans of the series) to give it a proper ending. Because, I at the time of writing am not planning on making any further episodes. (Although Dotty will definitley be back!) Never say never though. I might suddenly change my mind, because frankly I'm like that. Also if you do feel strongly against me calling time on Stanley's quest, then let me know via email or comment, as I do like to listen to my public!

Would it be tempting fate terribly if I told you that the ridiculously overdue sixth episode of Suburban Ninja is nearing completion and should be ready in a matter of days? It would? Then I won't. That was a close one.

A couple of very different developments in the world of animated cinema over the past few days. Firstly Dreamworks animation and UK based Aardman animations have decided to end their partnership (or as certain UK based sources would have it Dreamworks have cruelly dumped poor old Aardman). Both sides are keen to point out the split was amicable and that they are simply working towards different goals (who knows if this is really the case though). In Dreamworks case this is probably the goal of making shit-loads of money- they recently announced plans to up their output to one original production and one sequel a year, and the slow process of stop-motion films that take 5 years to make probably doesn't fit in with this. I also wonder if it has anything to do with Flushed Away failing to making the Oscar shortlist (bet DW wouldn't have wasted any time taking all the credit for that!). Generally I think this shouldn't harm Aardmans' future at all in the long run- they shouldn't have problems finding a new distributor- and it shows how they are nor prepared to compromise or Americanize to please the studio. For that I truly respect them.

In a very different piece of news adverts for Adult Swim's Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie somehow caused a major security alert in Boston. Sigh. The world truly appears to have gone mad sometimes. On a brighter note you can now view the trailer for the forthcoming film itself- the wonderfully titled Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theatres. And you should It's the colon that makes it for me...