I have finished my animation course and am currently awaiting confirmation of my results via the post (so I may be waiting a while!) I have managed to upload my animation onto Youtube so if anyone is interested in seeing the finished article you can view it here: [link]

Alistair tagged me in this weird game. I haven't updated my journal in ages so if anyone cares, here are 8 'random' facts about me!

1. Post these rules.
2. Each person tagged must post 8 random facts about themselves.
3. Tags should write a journal/blog of these facts.
4. At the end of the post 8 more persons are tagged and named.
5. Go to their page and leave a comment telling them they're tagged.

Random facts:

1. In the board game 'Cluedo', I am always Miss. Scarlet so I get to go first.
2. I have an 'A' grade in A-Level Psychology.
3. I am afraid of cheese.
4. My favourite song is 'Wake Me Up Before You Go Go' by Wham!
5.If I won the lottery the first thing I would buy is a 'Dance Dance Revolution' arcade machine.
6. The first videogame I ever completed was 'Sonic 1' on the GameGear when I was 4 years old.
7. Consiquently I named my 2 gerbils 'Sonic' and 'Tails' (both sadly deceased)
8. I once ate fish food (it tasted horrid)

There you go, wasn't that fascinating. I shan't bother 8 other people with this exercise. But if you like the idea, then feel free to be one of my 'tagged' 8 people by default.

Just wondered if everybody else knew about the new gallery editing feature, which allows you to organise your gallery entries into folders. It is pretty useful, don't know why they didn't think of it before. It makes it much easier to browse other peoples galleries, and it is especially useful for those who put webcomics up on this site as it keeps each chapter separate.

Just visited Toounit's page (an artist I have admired and watched on this site for a very long time) only to discover that he of all people had been copying other peoples artwork and passing it off as his own. What is most disgusting about this is that he has been selling artbooks of his so called work to his many fans for profit. This is clearly wrong and against DA rules I hear you cry. Well, go check out his gallery - because its still there, along with his copied work. He has been reported, but DA have done nothing about it, could this be because Toounit has almost 2 million page views? I think so, because if it were me or you, we'd be banned so quick our heads would spin. I think this is atrocious practice on DA's part as it sends the message that plagerism of other artists work is ok, aslong as you are incredibly popular (reminds me of politics and celebrities). One of the people that highlighted this Toounit 'referencing' scandel ended up being the ones banned by DA, but this might be because of reasons other than this (I honestly don't know why they were banned, it just seems logical that this was the reason why).

This is an example of what is starting to annoy me on this site, and it kind of always has to a degree. The fact that people are obsessed with pageviews?! Of course I care how well received my art work is, but I would never consistantly refresh the page to get more page views, thats just kind of sad. Another person I watch Kaze Hime I think the name is, has a mountain of page views and watchers, but her attitude towards her art and others annoys me. She hates comparisons of her work to CLAMP's, claiming them to be an insult to her own. If somebody said my work was of the quality of CLAMP's, I would be flattered not insulted. *EDIT* In retrospect, and thanks to a comment from Zeiva, it appears I may have been quick to judge here as I can see now how being compared to another artist (especially one you may not like) could be found offensive. Apologies for my rash judgement in my temper when I wrote this originally.

And whilst I'm here ranting and raving - here's something else that gets on my nerves...monthly gimmicks. What is with these bloody 'art memes' people are flooding my inbox with? They are not art, they are nonsense and scribbles. As for the pixel ID's, don't get me started. I thought this place was for creative people, not copy cats and fad followers. I understand its a bit of fun if you're bored or feeling unispired at the time, but it's the sheer numbers of people all producing the same thing. It ends up diluting the genius of the original idea.

After having ranted about all of the bad things about DA, I must admit there are some fantastic things about this place. The community, the different styles and quality of art, and the constructive feedback you receive is fabulous. It is just a shame that the site gets belittled by fraudsters, people up there own arse and their arse lickers, and the constant stream of recycled ideas. I will continue to post on this site until I create my own website. Deviant Art is a good idea ruined by some undesirable individuals.

I'm returning to University at NEWI on Monday 24th September. If anybody needs me they can reach me on my e-mail address.