I love me a bit of Bond and I am currently working my way through John Pearson's 1973 book The Authorised Biography of James Bond. It takes the conceit that Bond was real, knew Ian Fleming and that his adventures were published to make the enemy think he was too fantastical to be real.

Not all the way through yet but it's fun with Pearson weaving in bits of Fleming's life with Bond's and he has a good sense of the action of Bond as well as the attention to details that Fleming adored. As a meta-history it's a lot of fun.

And references to people called Oberhauser and Da Silva would suggest that I am not the only one who has read this book....

I could be accused of blowing my own trumpet, but this is my blog so there...

The film section of the London Critics' Circle, of which I am member, have announced they will be having their first ever award for Best British Short Film which will be part of the annual Critics' Circle Awards in London on January 17th 2016

This was somewhat spearheaded by myself (again, my blog, so you can hear those trumpets blaring) as I thought it was important to give critics the chance to see some great shorts and also give shorts a bit more recognition. Thanks to some great UK film festivals - Leeds, Encounters, Aesthetica, Glasgow and London SFF - we have 5 great nominees and the chance for UK critics to see some brilliant shorts.

Here's to it becoming an annual fixture and the chance for festivals, critics and short filmmakers to all intersect.

You can see the press release here: ​http://www.criticscircle.org.uk/film/?ID=466

I'll continue the Brussels theme with a picture of the rocket shop from the Tintin adventures Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon.

It's just such a great design and the fact that there's a massive version at Brussels Airport is just cool...

As I have been in Belgium the past few days, I have been wallowing in the delight of comic shops. I love the country in which I make my home most of the time, but the one thing lacking in Estonia is a comic book culture and - indeed comic shops. Those havens of graphic novels, collectables and - indeed - comics are always missed when they're not there

Of course, I tend not ot buy much. Not only are comic shops on the continent seemingly much more expensive than those in the UK, but the sheer amount of stuff available - and me forgetting where I left off - makes it a bit of a daunting task to know where to start again after so long

​I did pick up the first issue of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight III: The Master Race despite the fact that:

a) Miller is a right wing nutjob nowadays (well, he always was but now it's even more obvious)
b) I have no idea where I'll be able to pick up the rest of the parts
c) The Dark Knight Strikes Back was ropy as all hell

Still, it was nice to have a comic book in my hands again after a long time. And if anyone wants to send me the new issues of DKIII, I'll send you sweeties in return

And if you think this is the last time I mention Batman in my Nerdmas blog, then you'll be very much mistaken...

​Well, that plan to post every day went out of the window. Well, to be fair I have been away on a jury at the Leuven Short Film Festival in Belgium, so I may as well try and catch up with their poster which was pleasingly based on 80s Computer Games. With a chance to play Pac-Man during the festival as well, it proved to be a collision between two of my great nerd loves. That being films and computer games.

But films are how I earn my living and the computer games have fallen a bit by the wayside. I am thinking that Xmas is the time to catch up with Batman: Arkham Knight. If it actually works for the PC

So I am a Doctor Who fan (Sylvetser McCoy is my favourite. He's the one I grew up with. Deal with it).) From the classic series to the current series with Peter Capaldi, I've always loved the adventures of the Time Lord.

But mostly living is a country where the good Doctor is not part of the cultural fabric (bar the occasional showing on BBC Entertainment and Finnish TV) I was rather surprised to find the above annual in a second hand shop in Tartu (Estonia's second largest city.)

Just what process brought it there? An English immigrant arriving and deciding to leave his nerd past behind him.? A poor Doctor Who fan deciding to visit and the annual was left behind only to find it's way into a second hand store? A curly haired actor with a big grin and mischievous eyes travelling around Europe secreting them in obscure placers fro delighted fans?

We'll never know. Suffice to say, this fan snapped it up and it now nestles safely on my shelf...

I am a geek. A nerd. A fanboy. An idiot manchild who has failed to grow up. Call me what you will.

But in an effort to try and keep posting things on my site on a regular basis (which in turn I hope keeps me more on the ball with my writing and trying to get more done despite the many stresses and strains on my time) I have decided to do a daily thing in which I show off all the nerd bits of my life. 

So where better to begin than my advent calendar for this year?