This week I found out there's to be an animation festival in my home town. This kind of thing happens all the time if you live in a major city like London or New York but it's not the kind of thing you really expect in my neck of the woods. But while this should be good news, note that I said I found out this week. The catch? The festival is in November- and submissions for entry into competition close this Monday. Nuts!

If I'd had more time I could have made something for it, or at least made some modifications to some of my existing works, but it's a bit late. How could this have passed by under my radar? Hopefully it will be a success and will run again next year. In the meantime I'll have for trying to get something else on TV! Anyway I'm not bitter, so if you're in the South East of England you might still be interested in checking it out!

I can't believe Prison Break is starting it's third series already. How time flies! Of course the third series is coming to the UK much quicker than the earlier series (Sky One are showing it just a week behind the US premier- we had to wait about six months before they were shown on Channel 5) meaning it's not long since the second series finished up over here. But more pointedly I'm quite surprised it's made it to a third series at all. If any show ever lent itself to a one series run this is it.

I enjoyed the first series. It was gripping and addictive (although completely ludicrous) but I got bored part way through the second series. To be honest I think they struggled to keep things interesting after they (hope this isn't too much of a spoiler for you) BROKE out of PRISON and the show's reason d'etre kind of vanished. That said the new series promises to put them in a different prison (which presumably they will try to BREAK OUT OF) so maybe it's time I gave it another chance. Maybe....

Meanwhile latest word from the new series of 24 is that it will see the return of a major character who I was fairly sure was very dead. I won't spoil it for you (If you really want to know click here) but no matter- if it helps them avoid a repeat of the goldawful lows of series 6
then they can bring back Nina Myers as a zombie for all I care (actually, that would be awesome).

If you're in the US and have access to the channel BBC America, then apparently this weekend is your first chance to tune in to ace British sci-fi Torchwood. Knowledge of it's parent show Doctor Who is not essential (although apparently it shows Stateside on the the sci-fi channel, so check it out if you can) although fans of that show will get extra out of it. American mags TV Guide and Variety have given it the thumbs up too. Basically think of a more serious, more sweary version of Men In Black meets Buffy and you'll not be too far off. It's very silly (in a good way) but it can actually do dark and adult surprisingly well too. Which when you consider it's a spin-off of a family orientated show, is all the more remarkable. Consult your local TV guides for airtime and details!

Incidentally for those of us in the UK, coincidentally the show just started a repeat run on BBC3, so if you missed out, now's your chance!

OK, so it currently looks like the Uk's first dedicated anime channel Anime Central, will be launching on Sky channel 199 from this coming Thursday ( September13th) from 9pm. To begin with it appears the same six shows will be showing each night showing in 3 hour blocks which will then be repeated (so the same episodes will be shown between 9-12, 12-3 and 3-6am). Of the initial crop I can recommend Ghost In the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (an awesome sci-fi, even if I have no idea what's going on half the time) and Full Metal Alchemist, but the other shows should all be worth a look too!

Over on 195 (Propeller TV) the Anime network is now on between 8-10pm 7 days a week. Series premiers are on Saturday and Sunday but Monday to Friday are showing catch-ups, so if you're a late comer, you might still be able to get a clue what's going on. I recommend anybody who's yet to do so to try out some anime- there's a whole lot more to it than Pokemon!

From this point on, all blog posts (excluding this one) will be posted not only here, but also in the new look news centre. Longer posts will be published in full here with the first paragraph or so being reproduced on the news page. Why am I doing this? So you'll be able to see at a glance when this page and others has been updated without needing to check all the pages separately. The new integrated RSS feed can be found here

Hitting UK cinemas this week is Run Fatboy Run , a film that I'm chomping at the bit to see, but which bizarrely I wasn't even aware of little more than a month ago. It's particularly bizarre because not only do I like to keep on top of what films are coming out ( I read movie magazines and websites avidly) but also it stars and is co written by Hot Fuzz and Shaun Of The Dead star Simon Pegg. So how it managed to stay under my radar until I saw the trailer in front of The Simpsons Movie, is beyond me. It's a bit of an odd thing- it's set in London and features a largely British cast but is directed by David Schwimmer (a.k.a. Ross from Friends). But it looks like a hoot and it stars Pegg, ace comedian Dylan Moran and Hank Azaria who voices about half of the cast in The Simpsons. So it's sure to be worth a look, hopefully I'll be able to update you soon!

While I'm here- watch out for changes here at Monkey Pirate Zombie- some of which will affect this very blog.... but in a good way, promise! Watch this space...