As promised a month or so back, I took some time to rework the Big Bear Rescue project for maximum effect. Thanks to Everpress for getting with the programme and making it easier for me to do just that. So...

The third Big Bear Rescue shirt is now alive and kicking and you can buy it right here. It was created by my most excellent friend Federico Amaterasu and it warms my heart to see this one out in the world. Please buy thousands of them just because it's that wonderful... I'll take care of the rest. It looks like this and for maximum impact down the line, is available for women and men in white only... it suits the design and gives the best kickback in the financials - and that's what its all about. If you want a red one, wash it with your pants. If you want a blue one, wash it with different colour pants. Simple.

A fair old whack of time ago, some of you might remember I adopted a Hammerhead Shark - I still 'have' it, though in the real world, it's taken a back seat to the bears when it comes to figuring stuff out. Today, I found this great story about Hammerhead DNA and wound healing which includes the quote:

“The immune system of sharks and rays has been battle-tested and evolved over hundreds of millions of years”

Which gives me licence to post a pic of one of my favourite creatures of the deep:

Posting a picture of a shark is always a good way to start the week don't you think? Maybe soon - once I'm into a good routine with the bears - I'll investigate how to get back on track with some ocean conservation.

For now... Le Fin.

So, at some point during the snowstorm of things to do that has swamped the last month of my life, I reached a critical mass with three books. How the hell I managed to do that, I have no idea but it sounds pretty good, so here I am writing it down.

First there was The Day The Sky Fell Down which is a collection of about forty stories loosely based on real life events. Some are extremely factual and others take so many liberties, perhaps only the names are real. Whichever way you slice it, people are saying cool things and (this is the important part) enjoying reading it which makes me happy. It's about the love of writing because I can. It's about the love of a real book with high production values, also because I can - it's not available as a digital book and never will be.

Right now, there are twenty three signed copies on my shelf and that's exactly what you'll get if you order it from that link above.

Then, a few days later, I republished Black Dye White Noise which is a collection of interviews and stories of my hook-ups with a mixed bag rocks hierarchy. From Paul Stanley, Dee Snider, Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper across to Kory Clarke, Chris Carrabba and Zakk Wylde (and an awful lot more) - there's a lot to chew up inside. Again, those who have read it have enjoyed it immensely - which is the whole point. Head on over to that page link and see for yourself.

The following week, I finished compiling the Tattoo Bible 3, which looks like this:

It's aimed at those new to the game. Those looking to get their first tattoo and how to go about that sensibly. We're not saying hang back from that monster Japanese back piece you've been thinking about - we're saying if you're going to do it, do it right. In fact there's all kinds of material going on in here - including an interview and some new work from one of my favourite artists, Mike Moses. That's right - if I can do anything to bring him to the attention of the world, then I will. If you think you'd like to lay your hands on a copy, I believe it hits the shelves of the world as of 1st November but if that's too long to wait for you, you can order it here and the chances are it will land on your mat the very next day.

I was probably as surprised as anybody when I counted how many of these I've written and found that number to be nine. Time flies huh?

What next? I honestly have no idea. I'm working that's for sure but as for what will land first, I am hesitant to commit. I have the best of intentions for a couple of projects but honestly, I need to take a couple of weeks to finish up some day job work and then I'll take a look at the landscape in front of me.

•••••

I took Hector out to the beach at lunchtime yesterday. Sometimes, there's nothing better than chasing the tide as it comes in and then getting dried off by the wind on a long walk from one end of the seafront to the other. That goes for both of us.

We stopped to take in the ocean for a moment and there, pretty deep in the sea, I thought I saw a dog swimming in the water but on closer inspection, found it was a seal! Funny how something like that can change the course of your day for the better. By the time I had gotten my camera booted up though, it had gone. It resurfaced a few times but after ten minutes, I gave up because taking a picture of a seal is like trying to take a photo of Nightcrawler.

Saturday was equally profitable in the outside world for seeing things I never had before.

Toadstools.

In the woods there were hundreds of them:

Things like this make me want to spend a lot more time outside than I actually do. The world is a pretty neat place when you stop to look around.

After all of that, I came home and checked in on 'my' hammerhead shark (see this earlier post) and found myself wondering just how much time and money you have to throw at something before you can fix the problem. Some concepts in life are simply too large to get a handle on. Sometimes, an issue can be so big, you don't even know where to begin to try and fix it.

An hour later, I found that I had visited over a dozen other sites, all desperate to try and fix similar problems. For the tiniest glimpse into this, there's these sharks in danger, but if sharks aren't your bag, how about this rhino that we'll never see again - or if you think that's too far away, there's always this list of animals very close to home indeed. It goes on forever and ever...

...and I sat, clicking through the sites, not doing anything at all because to even consider doing something seemed so utterly pointless when the human race appears intent on laying waste to as much of the planet as possible.

Where the hell do you even begin to help fixing the world?

That's not a rhetorical question. It's just not one I can come up with an answer to this evening.