Dark Article - Mindful Binge-watching For Intelligent Geeks

Do you binge-watch TV shows? Are you intelligent? You are reading this so you must be...in my opinion anyway. Check out Geek Syndicate for the article I wrote on Mindful Binge-watching For Intelligent Geeks. You can read the full thing at this link.

Clockwork Orange Image © Copyright Warner Bros.

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The Mixed Blessings of Celebrity Crushes

Written By Casey Douglass

 

Have you got one? One celebrity that seems to light up your life? Maybe you have a handful, a menagerie that rotate around depending on who might be in a current film or TV series? Either way, I seem to have three. At times, they bring escape, solace or pleasant dreams. At other times, they can bring feelings of depression, hopelessness and loneliness. The media seems to portray crushes at only the extremes, the screaming fans passing out at concerts with tears on heir cheeks or the psycho stalker that might break into someone’s home. Most people will almost certainly sit somewhere in the middle, quietly spending the odd minute, film or TV episode lost in wistful thoughts about their crush.

Image © Copyright 20th Century Fox

My first proper celebrity crush was Gillian Anderson, watching her as Dana Scully in the X-Files. I was drawn to her amazing portrayal of strong emotions, particularly in the scenes where Scully was ill with her cancer. She has carried that same talent to other roles, her characters usually strong- willed women that seem quite stern a lot of the time but when they show emotion, it is a revelation. It can be seen in her portrayal of Stella Gibson in The Fall and as Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier in Hannibal. Typing that now has just helped me a see a thread to my next celebrity crush. Isn’t it nice when writing is therapeutic as well as satisfying!

Image © Copyright Contender Films

I first saw Eva Green in Bond film Casino Royale as Vesper Lynd and I have to admit that she didn’t particularly register with me. I think the next film I watched her in was Franklyn, the strange and twisted otherworldly drama about unhappy people and their beliefs. In that, Eva played two characters, Emilia and Sally, both showing various sides of her acting ability. Emilia was dark, troubled and creative and I think this character resonated with me in a number of ways, especially in the manic way Eva played her. I have since seen Eva Green in quite a few films and TV shows: 300: Rise of an Empire as the dangerous Artemisia, Sin City 2 as the clothes shy Ava and I am currently enjoying her talents in Penny Dreadful as the troubled Vanessa Ives. When one of Eva’s characters smiles, which seems to be rare, I can’t help smiling back. Eva has that stern-faced quality that I mentioned above, but I always feel her characters are more chaotic and troubled, like a shaken can of fizzy drink, calm on the outside but ready to explode with lots of energy. Ooh, another thread just emerged to the third and final of my celebrity crushes.

Image © Copyright Century Media Records

Cristina Scabbia is an Italian singer from heavy-metal band Lacuna Coil. With Cristina, it was her voice that first tweaked my heart. She is not one to shy from singing at a great range, the low and the high all equally strong and her voice is the stand out thing for me above the metal riffs of the band. Unlike the characters Gillian and Eva portray, Cristina seems an optimistic bundle of energy, bouncing around the stage and painting pictures with her words. Some of that no doubt comes from her being a singer rather than an actress so it is hard to compare, but I wouldn’t be able to call her stern-faced and believe it. When Lacuna Coil came to Norwich, her performance was even more amazing in person. She is also a great person to follow on social media, always tweeting and sharing on Facebook.

So there we have it, the three women I have never met that manage to enchant me and warrant the term “crush”. At times, with my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, I can get very low indeed. Having these crushes can sometimes be very helpful, a way to brighten my day even though I know they are just based on 99% fantasy and maybe only 1% of knowing the real person being swooned over. I went through a stage where I had an elaborate fantasy about my writing involving Gillian Anderson, all played out with a play list created from music artists like Chase and Status, Tinie Tempa and Inner Party System on my iPod. It became my escape from my shitty illness, frustrations and other issues, even though I knew that it was probably not helping anything either.

On the other hand, these kinds of crush can just serve to make you feel even more lonely or low. I had a time where I couldn’t stand to listen to that aforementioned play list because it just made the difference between my reality and my fantasy too painful to bear. I have had times where I have bought films featuring Gillian or Eva and then taken months to watch them because I don’t want the bitter-sweet feelings they will probably cause in me. When I saw Lacuna Coil live, I was on a high while being there but was in a hell of a funk for days afterwards, struggling to listen to their Cd's for maybe a month afterwards. This is the downside, and even being aware of what is going on doesn't always immunise you to the downward swing in mood.

I hope that the above doesn't make me sound like an obsessed loser or pathetic dreamer. It’s just really me thinking over what I get out of having celebrities that I can pine over. As you can see above, it’s certainly a mixed bag when it comes to the pros and cons. The thing is, I couldn’t change it if I wanted to. I use my feelings about these people who I know next to nothing about as a guide as to how I am in myself. If I find myself withdrawing from things and thinking about them more, chances are I need to address something in myself. If I don’t think of them much at all, I am probably more engaged with the “real” things in my life. Maybe that’s the most valuable thing I get out of the situation, seeing myself in a celebrity enhanced mirror and knowing what the reflected images mean.

Thank you for reading.

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Three Years On - Progress and Strain

My website is 3 years old today. Much like last year, I will use it as a measuring stick to see how far I’ve come, what I might have achieved and how close to madness I came.

I will start with looking at my hopes of a year ago and seeing if they were met. I laid out some very numbers-based goals for number of posts done, Twitter followers gained and site traffic reached. I met some, failed to reach others, but I find myself not really caring as they miss the point. They are just a metric to measure one aspect of what is going on; they shouldn’t be goals in and of themselves.

The biggest thing for me from a writing perspective was finally going self-employed as a freelance writer. The manner in which it came about was incredibly stressful and my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder damn near killed me in the trying, but months on, I am slowly getting a handle on things. I am also getting paid work which is also very helpful but is taking some getting used to.

Shortly after going freelance, I got my Dark Distractions Anthology onto the Amazon Kindle Store, which was another milestone for me. Of course, this site is no longer called Dark Distractions but I liked the name enough to keep it for my writing. I wanted my site address to be relate-able to my own name, especially if people might see some of my writing and decide to Google me.

I have continued my writing for Geek Syndicate and enjoyed the various things coming my way to review. I am heartened to see G.S go from strength to strength and for Barry and Dave to be rewarded with their BBC iPlayer shows and interviews. I also want to thank the site for giving me something to do when other things have seen my mind whirling away in fear and anxiety; it was a great way to keep writing, which was the most important thing for me.

Another notable event was being invited onto BBC Radio 4’s Digital Human show to talk about how my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder affected my use of technology. It was a great experience and even though not much of my interview was used in the end, I appreciated the opportunity to put into words things that I struggle with on a day to day basis.

One area that has really taken off is the amount of contact I have with writers and musicians who would like me to review their work. I have thoroughly enjoyed writing my dark ambient music album reviews and it is always a great feeling to have music that I enjoy listening to coming to me for a change, rather than having to hunt things out for myself. That probably makes me sound very lazy but I just like to think it’s having a relaxed attitude to entertainment.

My fiction writing has continued in fits and starts, partly due to adjusting to more article and news writing, and partly due to horrendous energy levels and the anxiety it causes me to embark on a larger piece of work. If writing flash fiction and short stories is like gently pootling about in a row-boat just off the beach, writing a novella or novel is like rowing out to sea and losing sight of land for weeks. It’s something I will get on top of but as of yet have not taken steps in that direction.

If the year before last, someone had told me I would have been a freelancer and have a book on the Kindle Store by now, I would have said yes please and taken it gladly. As it is, I’m pleased but it’s hard to feel too cheerful about it. I know intellectually I have done it, but it feels like my heart hasn’t accepted it. I won’t fret about what I’m feeling or not feeling though and will just carry on taking steady steps towards being the writer I would like to be.

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Dark Pondering - Update

I just wanted to thank Kat and Jamie at Generic Movie and Tv for giving me the chance to write for them at the start of this year. I have decided to part company with them after around ten months of contributing movie reviews, as my time is being taken up with other writing projects and I don't feel I can have my attention divided in that way at the moment. I wish them all the best and hope to see Generic move on to bigger and better things.

This month also saw me sign up for NaNoWrMo but it has turned into a bit of a tool to berate myself with. I have continued to write, but just cannot get into the right headspace for a longer work, partly due to a few bad events in other areas of my life. I am getting there but I am sad that I couldn't make the best of Nano this year.

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Dark Pondering - My Second Competition Result

I entered the August Flash Fiction Competition on Darker Times and received two honourable mentions, which I am quite happy with. I'm a bit disappointed to have not improved on my last attempt but I`ll settle for that. Winners, runners up and honourable mentions can be seen here.

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Dark Pondering - My First Writing Competition Result

I entered my first paid entry writing competition last month. The reason it has taken me so long isn't due to any aversion to paying, just that I didn't really feel ready until now. I had entered a couple of free to enter competitions over the last few years but didn't place in those.

When I found Darker Times, I felt that I could write the kind of story that I really enjoyed and so felt it was definitely worth a go. A few days ago the results for July 2013 were published and I was very happy to see that both of my flash fiction stories were placed. One as a runner up, one as an honourable mention. I was disappointed not to win of course, but to have two get a mention was almost just as good for me. Even better, they will hopefully be published later in the year as part of the Darker Times Anthology, which I can actually buy from Amazon as a paperback! I know it's not quite the same as having your own book published but mentally, I feel that I am another step along the path that I want to travel with my writing.

I will certainly be entering again, and other competitions too. If I can repeat or better that result, I will feel more able to push ahead and to at least have some confidence in the idea that I might not be deluding myself as to my abilities or my feasibility as a writer.

The winning entries, along with the runner up and honourable mentions can all be seen here, and are well worth a read if you like dark things.

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Dark Pondering - What is your horror response?

I was thinking today. I know, it is a dangerous thing, but I did make sure I wore the appropriate safety gear. I was pondering what I look for when judging how affected I was by any given horror tale/film. It goes beyond being startled by something, as I feel I get that response from the silliest of things, like the phone ringing as I happen to walk past. I think my own horror indicator is an icy gut. It is very rarely triggered by a film and even rarer by book, but the times it has been triggered, I have usually been impressed with the quality of the fright.

Two films come to mind that triggered it for me. One was the 2009 film Drag Me to Hell. There is a seance scene about two thirds of the way through, and after an anti-climax where nothing happened, the actual happening moments later really caught me out. My gut went very icy, like I had just swallowed very cold water and it had somehow shot straight through me. I would like to make it clear that I did not wet myself, it didn't shoot ALL the way through me.

The second film that triggered the ice response was this years Dark Skies (an average film in many ways that suffered by showing too much of the creatures as the film progressed). There was a scene in the film where the mother walks into her son's room to check on him, and in the brief moment when she opens the door you see a tall stick like figure standing over him in the darkness, the only light the soft moon/street light coming through the window. When she turns the light on, both the son and the creature are gone. The half second that showed the thing standing over the bed triggered me nicely and it was a bit sad for me that the rest of the film devolved into the usual way of manufacturing the scares.

I am struggling to think of any books that may have caused me to react that way, if any ever have.

I would be very interested to hear from anyone else on this. What is your own horror response and what has caused it in the most startling way? Comments welcome below.

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One Year On

My blog is one year old today. I wasn't sure if I would still be posting to it a year down the line. Going by my past attempts at blogging/website making, the chances were slim. Here we are though, so I must be doing something right, and it must have ensnared some small part of me as things I don't enjoy soon get dropped pretty quickly.

There were some spells where my posts became intermittent, nearly always health related, so I won't be beating myself up over that, even though it irked me at the time.

Over the year, I have broadened my writing to give myself a little more variety in the kind of things I write. I enjoy writing fiction, but the addition of the odd review here and there gives me the option of something a little different. I still intend to stick with the darker side of entertainment as that just appeals to me. I did notice that any fiction I submit as horror/dark gets less page hits than something I submit as cross-genre, so I am not sure if my choice of genre is making things more difficult for me. Thinking about it, I don't really know many horror readers, on or offline, so this year might be more about finding where they are hiding, going into their lairs and seeing whats what.

I feel that I have spread my leathery wings a little more, having a couple of websites agree to the odd contribution from me, namely Geek Syndicate and Generic Movie Blog. I really don't mind writing for free, it is just nice to be part of something and for others to value my writing. Publishing my own stuff on my blog is fine, but having other people want my writing on their site, it's a nice step up.

This year, I hope to reach more people with my writing, maybe find a few more Twitter followers and maybe get the odd thing published in traditional media, even if they are just the letters page of a magazine or the odd competition win. At the least I would like to increase my output, health permitting.

Thanks to Paul Brewer for his support as well, and for his diligence in letting hardly any of my posts stay on zero comments. I appreciate it mate :). Thanks also to everyone else who I have interacted with or come to know a little. A few other shout outs go to Barry Nugent at Geek Syndicate, Kat at Generic Movie Blog, and Paul D.Dail . If I missed anyone I am sorry, it doesn't diminish my thanks to you too.

Heres to another year.

Casey

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Dark Pondering - Counting Xenomorphs

Counting Xenomorphs

By Casey Douglass

“Is this gonna be a standup fight, sir, or another bughunt?” The immortal words of the world weary Hudson, pondering the likely events of the next few days of his life. Whatever is thought of the later Alien films, it seems to be accepted that Alien and Aliens are the two best ones in the series. I always felt that the claustrophobic air vents and lack of weapons in Alien make it seem the far more dangerous film. When it comes to recent video games however, the action infused Aliens is the broad mould from which the latest games are formed.

Before first person shooters loomed into view, early Alien games manifested in different styles. The earliest that I personally played was Alien3 on the Amiga, a side scrolling platformer in which you took control of a shaven headed Ripley stranded on Fiorina 'Fury' 161 as she fights her way through the penal colony, with weapons that she didn’t have access to during the film. It was a decent blast, and nailed one of the things that really makes an Alien game: the guns. It was extremely satisfying to fire an under-slung grenade at a charging Xenomorph, or to listen to one sizzle at the end of a flame thrower.

However in 1999, the Alien Versus Predator game was released, drawing together the two creatures that would ruin any colonial marine’s day. It was first person, fast paced and scary, whether in multi-player or playing alone. I had the good fortune to play it at a LAN party and was amazed at the immersion I felt. The game was mostly shadows, the sound effects ratcheting up the tension with the usual motion tracker blip-blipping, the hisses of unseen aliens and the battle cry of the predator. It was a truly fun experience, the dynamic lighting and dark corners all adding to that feeling of claustrophobia and danger. It received an HD remake in 2010 but it was largely more of the same, although under the added layers of gloss and grit, it was missing something. It just wasn’t that scary.

It is now 2013 and Alien fans are waiting for the emergence of the next marine based Alien game to emerge from its cocoon, and the only thing that is scary is that it looks like it might miss the mark once more. I have been following the previews and news that has slowly filtered out about Aliens: Colonial Marines, and while it sounds like it could be a bit of fun, a competent game with a few more game play mechanisms to add some freshness to the formula, it just sounds like another remake; albeit one with a new plot written for it that interleaves with the films. I think whichever studio ends up making the next game might do well to look at the diversity of the earlier games, and also to some of the creepiest games that have come out in recent years, such as Amnesia and Dead Space.

What I am getting at is that I think a game based more on the style of the first Alien film might hold more scares and more interest rather than another pulse rifle infused acid fest. Imagine a game taking place on the Nostromo or even the Sulaco (after the events of the second film have played out). It could still be a first person game, but you take control of Ripley and it is only you, and one Xenomorph on board. You cannot kill it, you don’t have the weapons or tools. All you have are some flares and a map of the ship. There then ensues a game of cat and mouse, in which you try to move around the ship to gather your arsenal, access the ships systems and find where the alien has set up its nest, all of the while trying to avoid said alien until you are better prepared to deal with it. All that would be needed to add more tension would be the knowledge that the ship is slowly heading back to Earth, and you can’t afford to let it get there with this thing on board. Is it just me or does that sound scarier? It does sound doable as well. With only one Xenomorph to pit against you, all of the AI programming could be focussed on that single enemy, making it cunning, random and deadly. If an element of randomisation could be added to where it nests, what ship systems are working etc. for each game playthrough, the re-playability would be excellent as well. If that wasn’t possible, a more scripted game that played out the same way each time (in the vein of Dead Space) could still be well worth playing.

Aliens: Colonial Marines does look good, and I will no doubt buy it at some point, even with my misgivings. I can understand why the gung-ho marines are always the focus, it is fun to enjoy that aspect of the story. I just feel that game makers are missing a trick and still overlooking the possibility of making a game that could ape the style of the first film and truly be a tense horror encounter, rather than a “Come on! Come on! Come and get it, baby! Come on! I don't got all day! Come on! Come on! Come on you bastard! Come on, you too! Oh, you want some of this? Fuck you!” blaster. Ah Hudson, you glorious sweary bastard.

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Pondering - Level Up Your Writing

Level Up Your Writing

A recent blog post by Chuck Wendig set my mind to work on this idea (25-writer-resolutions-for-2013), namely, item one: “Level up, Ding”. Chuck talks about levelling up the quality of your writing, and trying to "gain new weapons in our fight against Shitty Writing." Stripping this back to the raw basics, it could also be a useful way of goal setting and achievement logging.

I can also remember that some time ago, some overweight computer geek brought out a dieting book utilising his knowledge of video games and how he played them to get his weight under control.(teen-cuts-size-half-video-game-diet). It appears to be something that is continuing to seep into other non-gaming areas from time to time. 

I wondered what the same mode of thinking might achieve with writing. It would also be a chance to firmly get my nerd hat on and think about something in a way that I hadn't previously. What could possibly go wrong?

You would like to write a novel. You have an idea and a word count in mind, maybe 60,000 words. Maybe words could become the equivalent of XP (experience points for non-gamers), and levelling up could be a way to reward yourself for getting your work done. 

If we follow a typical game levelling system, we will be starting at level 1. The jump from level 1 to level 2 is always the quickest and so should be achievable in one sitting. For this example, writing 250 words of your story (whether at the start, middle or end, it doesn’t really matter). If you achieve this, enjoy your DING as you rank up to level 2! 

Most games don’t really give you much of a reward this early, so maybe you might just want to reward yourself with that chocolate bar you have fancied for a few days. If we continue to follow the usual gaming pattern, it will take twice as long to get to level two. You also might not like to give yourself rewards for absolutely every level, or you just might? Who knows, it's your choice. 

Thinking this through, below is an example rank list, or skill tree if you will.

Levels   -   Target   -   Unlock/Perk

Level 1-2 250 words - Tasty treat of your choice.

Level 2-3 500 words - Guilt free enjoyment of a non-productive hobby for 20 mins.

Level 3-4 1000 words - Treat yourself to a small gift like a cheap book or magazine.

Level 4-5 2000 words – Take half of a day off and spend it on a different project of your choice.

Level 5-6 4000 words – Treat yourself to something more costly, a film/game/book you wanted.

Level 6-7 8000 words – Flick through the writers and artists yearbook and dare to dream.

Level 7-8 16,000 words – Buy a nice new gadget like those headphone you’ve had your eye on.

Level 8-9 32,000 words – Take up to a week and do whatever the fuck you like with it, you earned it.

Level 9-10 Redraft – etc.

(Note – The word count from a previous level does not count towards your next level. It starts from 0 every time).

If you follow that route, by the time you are rank 9, you will have written 63,750 words and will at the least, have a very rough novel that you can then shape and tidy up. Whether this method of self-discipline appeals to you or not, I can see how it might be useful to some. Many people set goals and waypoints towards large projects, and if you are a gamer of any kind, taking ten minutes to create your own levelling system might just be the thing you need. You might even like to find a short sample of music that you can play as your ranking up tune, as so many games now do. If you are half way decent at coding, you could even write a simple app that will give you a more realistic "Ding" experience. 

I can see that there is a lot of scope in this and you could take it as far as you would like to. Of course, you shouldn’t spend too long on your preparations, as you may never get started on the actual important stuff, like writing.

I’m off now, as I just ranked up and have earned a cup of tea and the right to shout at passing cars for the next twenty minutes. I do not intend to waste that right. Good night. 

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Surprised

I don't know why but somehow, the fact that Stieg Larsson was dead managed to totally pass me by.

I came to know him how I'd imagine a lot of people did, with his Girl with a Dragon Tattoo series of books, especially when the films came out and his books were pride of place everywhere, from Waterstones to the Amazon Kindle store.

On looking into it further, it seems he died before the first of his books was even published. I find it incredibly sad that he didn't live to see the success that his books would bring, not to mention the big screen adaptations.

In a way, I find it incredible that I could sit through all of the media hype at the time and still not know that he wasn't around to enjoy it/hate it, depending on his nature. I wonder how many other people are still going around in ignorance? I could be the only one who didn't know. A damn shame.

Here's to you Stieg.

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Smackdown

If two magpies and a pigeon are on your bird table pecking at seed, what does it mean? Oh wait there are four magpies now and one skittish looking pigeon. The pigeon is still eating though, he’s got balls. If it is a he. Five magpies now, but still the pigeon eats. I think I am looking at a power struggle that was decided five minutes before I started watching. You might think I am bored, I really am not. I can just see what’s going on from where I am sitting and am intrigued. Now if only that bad-ass squirrel turns up, the one who keeps ramming his nuts into my neighbour's lawn, I think things might really kick off!

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Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad follows the life of a relatively normal, meek man, who is a chemistry teacher. He finds out one day that he has cancer and that he may not live for very long. He decides to hook up with an ex student who dealt a little weed here and there, and they decide to start cooking crystal meth, so that he can build up a nestegg for his family for after he has gone. 

Bryan Cranston plays the teacher, Walter, and he is a truly brilliant actor (he was also Hal in Malcolm in the Middle, and cropped up in an xfiles episode too.) 

What I like about the show is that no matter how far they get, shit keeps happening that keeps eating into any funds they have built up. They also find that they are both capable of things that, before it all, they would never have dreamt possible. I like how it highlights the effect an awareness of their own mortality might have on someone. The fact that it’s well acted, humourous and well shot certainly add to its impact also.

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Californication

I have recently finally torn open the infuriating packaging from my Californication boxset and feasted my eyes on the delights therein contained. When I got bored of that, I actually watched one of the shiny discs, and found it much more interesting. 

If follows Hank (David Duchovny), a writer who is trying to fuck his way out of writers block, while trying to reconcile with his muse and the mother of his child. It is so funny that I regret not seeing it sooner. I am now on the 2nd season and it continues to be riveting. 

What particularly impressed me was that his daughter read the Satanic Bible in school and it is referenced a bit. Whether she grows out of it or not I do not know yet but I loved to see the friction it caused with a hypocrite at the dinner table. 

I’ve read the Satanic Bible myself, it is a good read with some interesting ideas and philosophies and it makes the hysterical reaction of people who have never read it, but condemn it look so funny. I might add that I have also read books on Buddhism, Zen, Hinduism, Christianity, Quakerism etc, and find them all interesting in their own way.

A conclusion I have come to however, is that religion isn’t for me. That doesn't mean I don't believe in something but I sure as hell am not going to be giving away any power I have over my own life, to someone else and their idea of what is really behind it all, if anything. The least you can do is follow your own delusion, not someone elses.

Well, I didn't see that going the way it did, it was just going to be a quick few sentences about Californication. And they say TV dumbs things down! Speaking of which, I must do a post on Breaking Bad at some point, one of the best shows I have ever seen...

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Afternoon Dip

Just recently, the last few days in fact, it gets to about 1pm and my mind seems to want to bed down for the rest of the day. I have to rest allot, its part of my illness, but this mental shutting down has been like clockwork lately. Even if I am relatively well rested, and fancy trying to do something pretty untaxing, like a bit of reading or writing, my mind just doesn’t seem to lock on. 

A short moment ago I was looking out of my window, my mind blank, but not in that pleasant Zen type way. It was more like the silence that fills a room after someone has let rip a really loud fart and the whole restaurant has fallen silent in shock and awe, a kind of tense silence. The thought then arose that it seemed similar to what Terry Pratchett spoke about in one of his books (it eludes me which one). In it, he says that ideas are like particles, shooting through space and falling to earth, with no regard for where they land or whose mind they may enter. A truly ground breaking idea, instead of saving humanity, could just as well end up in a horses head, or even a rock. 

When I was staring through the window, I felt that I might have been close to the state of the rock, but even worse, I could act on any idea, but would I? Well I did, as here I am typing this. 

If I had a journal, today would definitely get a nice little entry, double underlined in nice big capitals. “Today I proved that I am better than a rock.” Although not at doing rock type things, I’m not that hardcore.

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Mental GPS

 

I wonder what the world would be like if such a thing existed. It would certainly give the creators/controllers massive power, and would probably be subsidised with adverts, but in some situations it could be life saving. How about a jealous lover about to confront their partner, and the mental GPS chimes in with “Go home, cool down, take a bath” and then shows a projection of what might happen if they don’t? How much crime would that reduce?

One step further would be one that takes control like the computer gadgetry in certain cars that brake for you if it detects an obstacle. How many punches would it stop being thrown? How many drugs taken?

I know I know a libertarian nightmare, riddled with all kinds of situations and unique “what ifs” but interesting to ponder. If it followed the same scheme as normal GPS it would probably be sold with a year of free updates to cover “new preventative scenarios” and the deluxe model would probably include the equivalent of a traffic jam sensor, highlighting to you which sales person in a shop is in the most generous mood, or which member of the opposite sex in a bar is interested in you.

Screw the GPS, just give me the deluxe perk and I’ll be on my way.

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Coincidence

How many times would you see the same person in a day before you started to think they were following you? Don’t worry, I am not wearing my tinfoil hat, I haven’t even made one (yet). It just happens to me sometimes, and when it does, it just has a strange feeling to it.

I suppose if you had a guilty conscience, you would think its a private detective hired by your partner, or an undercover police person. If you were religious you might think it was an angel sent to watch over you. If you were paranoid, you might think you’d come up on some list and the government are surveilling you. Ooh I’ve just thought of a great way to toy with someone. Find some identical twins and do that all day to them. If the twins look like someone creepy from a film, even better. I don’t know how hard it is to find sinister identical twins, although I did see a couple the other day, I’ll ask them tomorrow.

I think it might be good fodder for a dark tale, it could get really twisted, or all just be paranoia and self induced delusion. I think if such a thing as a mental GPS existed, it would be warning that following that road leads to madness.

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Halloween is almost upon us.

Halloween. Strange word. I suppose as a horror writer I should be looking forward to Halloween but I am just a bit ‘meh’ about it all. Maybe I would be more interested if it hadn’t been bogarted into a kid friendly evening of sweets, costumes and walking around with your parents way past your bedtime. It holds no mystery for me, no allure. I am glad it exists, don’t get me wrong. It’s nice to see a festival from pre-Christian times still being celebrated, what with the shop til you drop mentality of Christmas, the drunken debauchery of New years and the chocolatey indulgence of Easter. Money money money. I know that has seeped into Halloween too but thankfully the shops don’t devote too much shelf space to ghost costumes and fake wounds. They can’t. They are too full of Christmas stuff all-fuckin’ ready!

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Winter

Today feels like Winter has finally arrived. I think it must have made some backroom deal with Summer though, something along the lines of “Hey bud, fancy clockin’ in for me while I kick it at home a bit longer? I promise I`ll be late clocking out for you next year, I’m totally good for it!” 

The last few weeks have been so mild, evidence of which is the swarming of the insects around the hedgerows, and, get this, I heard a cricket on the lawn a few days ago! I know! I have a feeling that said cricket will be dead soon. We have had hail and sleet so far, heavy downpours, a chill wind, and the temperature has dropped by around five degrees celcius. 

My fingers are cold, my neck is beginning to feel the breath of the dead (or drafts if you want less drama), and I am drinking more hot drinks. Yes winter is here and I say about time.

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Life Getting in the Way

I haven’t forgotten the blog, far from it. I feel I should be writing on it daily but my health has been a struggle for me lately, and my writing has ground to a halt.

There were a number of promising competitions coming up for Halloween that I had hoped to enter but whenever I tried to conceive or develop an idea, my mind seemed to clam up and mock me with silence. I’m not sure if it was writers block, procrastination or just my mind being worn out and telling me to get stuffed. Even worse, when I have been able to watch a little TV or play a little Xbox, my mental "kick-him-when-he's-down" coach chimes in with “Oh, you can do that but you can’t write 100 words?”

On the plus side, I am reading a lot more and getting through books in record time for me, so at the least, I am expanding my horizons in some measure. Actually, when I am in the mood to write, I don’t read so much, so maybe that’s my natural pattern. Who knows.

I have a few blog posts already fleshed out so will be upping my output now hopefully. Don't worry though, I won't be posting about my every meal or bowel movement, no matter how spectacular lol.

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