We're no longer heading out for new year's, so I'm no longer working on the Wolverine claws. For now. The line-up for the party looks terrible, which is the main reason why we're not going. I appreciate people love anime, and anime-themed J-pop, but aside from the odd Shonen Knife song, I don't. At all. So we figured it's not our scene and will instead get ridiculously drunk at home instead.

Christmas was nice. I'm not done completely, as my father is in Spain over Christmas, so we're doing my side of the family in January. But I got some neat stuff including (no order of preference): FIFA 09 for the 360; a cool Cylon figurine; a really nice (and posh) Rega record player; and a bit of cash. So good, so far. And no Star Wars stuff yet (this is a record, surely). However, I am considering giving my nephew a bunch of my SW figures and keeping the insanely cool TRANSFORMERS ANIMATED Grimlock the other half bought for him. So cool.

My creativity is blank right now, so far that the closest thing to writing something of note that I can achieve is this blog post. It doesn't help that I have manflu, and a general aversion to the holiday period, so I'm not in the best of moods. Also, Rainbow Six Vegas is kicking my ass.

However, I do have one cause to celebrate, and I am currently listening to it. I speak of the soundtrack to BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, the best cartoon that has ever been produced that doesn't feature a smart-talking alcoholic robot, and it's beautiful. It's an achievement, especially in today's credit crunch-fuelled climate where decent film score releases seem to be getting rarer, that this has been produced at all. Although I suppose Batman is in the public eye, what with THE DARK KNIGHT getting rave reviews across the board and making an obscene amount of cash.

The release itself is by La-La-Land Records, and is limited to 3000 copies. A very limited amount of those (I think about two-fifty) are signed by Lolita Ritmanis and Michael McCustion, the two composers of whose work appears on the album are still alive (Shirley Walker RIP), and luckily I managed to snag a signed copy. I dig the way LLL does this, by sending a sealed copy of the CD itself, but with a duplicate booklet signed by the composers. It's cool, thoughtful, and means I can read the excellent liner notes without chancing tearing the booklet on the jewel case, which can happen if you're not too careful.

The music is incredible, and it's amazing that this was written for a Saturday morning cartoon show. Danny Elfman's theme from the 1989 BATMAN opened the show for most of its run, and that arrangement is presented here, and I think it works better than the film's equivalent cue. The theme also shows up occasionally in the score, but is usually superceded by Walker's own fantastic theme, which was also used for BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM - THE ANIMATED MOVIE. The scoring here is so unique, and while it ranges from really dark, film noir mood music ("Two-Face"), to madcap Looney Tunes-style carnival sounds ("Christmas With The Joker"), it always remains fresh and interesting. Also, Walker's theme is just amazing.

I never felt the composers really got Batman 100% in the films. The 60s show, that was just camp all the way through, Elfman and Goldenthal's music for the Keaton-era films was pretty great, but never felt that interesting to listen to (although I prefer Goldenthal's, theme aside). And Zimmer and Newton Howard's music for Nolan's films works a lot of the time, but could probably do with some better thematic development. And it certainly wouldn't hurt to give Batman a proper theme at some point. Nolan et al may be going for an ultra-realistic vision of Gotham City, but at the end of the day, it's still an operatic story with larger-than-life characters and overtones, and some actual themes wouldn't be that out of place.

(Wow, I managed to get through the whole post without referring to something as Bat-something. Incredible.)

BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK FROM THE WB TELEVISION SERIES

I'm the best at what I do.

I wish that line referred to my costume-making skills, but it doesn't. However, the woman and I have a costume party shindig coming up on New Year's Eve, so I need to make a cool outfit. Seeing how I have little to no money, little to no sewing skills, yet furious mutton chops, I thought Wolverine would be a good choice.

So far, I have the following items: leather jacket, check shirt, old jeans, boots, sideburns. I have a wig that I need to cut down and style, and I need to get a wifebeater. Of course, there's one other important ingredient not in that list: claws.

I already have a pair of metal claws, which I purchased on Ebay about four years ago, but I have a feeling if I wore those out in public I'd have a very good chance of getting arrested for possession of a deadly weapon, so I've decided to go for making some with the very inoffensive material of wood.

So far, it's working out okay. I've made the initial prototype blade, sanded it all down and what have you, and after stressing a while on how I was going to attach it to my hand - save having it bonded to my bones at the molecular level - I mutilated the hook bit of a coat hanger, and that worked out pretty well.

The wig will be the hardest part. I'm suddenly wishing I hadn't shaved my head now.