Word is that Angus McBride has left us. Angus was a phenomenal artist, illustrating dozens of military history books for Osprey as well as many of the covers for Iron Crown‘s Middle-earth Roleplaying Game. I had the honor of having his artwork grace Cities of Middle-earth: Minas Tirith, to which I contributed some small bits.

Angus was always a professional, and his art made even the most fantastic things seem grounded and real. He created some of the best artwork ever seen for The Lord of the Rings, and he leaves behind a stunning body of work.

In a recent comment, Hegs writes:

It’s unrelated but did you see the Episode 20 of Heroes?

It will please fans of Brave New World! I won’t spoil it…

I’m sad to report I’ve not seen any but a few minutes of Heroes yet. I hear great things about it, and Jeph Loeb, whom I’ve known and respected for years, is behind it, but I’ve not had the time.

It’s wild to see elements of BNW show up in TV and in comics (such as Marvel’s Civil War event), but I can’t claim to have inspired them. We’re all drinking from the same communal trash can of cultural wopatui, and sometimes it gives us similar visions.

It’s been a busy year so far. Outside of The Daily Show and the occasional Colbert Report, I haven’t watched more than a couple hours of TV since Christmas. Episodes of Lost are stacked up and waiting on my ReplayTV, but I haven’t been able to get to them yet. I predict I’ll end up picking up the DVDs of both Lost and Heroes this summer when things slow down.

As a freelancer, it’s always hard to maintain a balance between work and free time, and I often tack over hard to one side or the other. The trouble is that I like being busy, and I have bills to pay. I also have my wife and kids, who top everything else for me, and that doesn’t leave me much time for anything else some days.

No complaints though. If the worst problem I have is that I’m too busy to watch all the great shows on TV or see too many movies in the theater these days, I’m doing all right. Still, I’m going to find some way to see Spider-Man 3 soon. I’m too much of a Spider-Geek to not.

My pal Jim Pinto and his friend Jon Hodgson just released George’s Children, a post-apocalyptic, tabletop roleplaying game set in a world without adults. They created this for the first National Child Safety Day, and all proceeds are going to charity. Be sure to check it out.