The Flask Hampstead
The Flask is a pretty decent pub and probably my main drinking spot if I happen to be on Hampstead high street.
Author: ward
The inFamous game is underrated and a LOT of fun
In inFamous You play a delivery man called Cole, who lives on a roof with an annoying friend and is dating a woman called Trish who whinges a lot. (Although … Read More
Azincourt by Bernard Cornwell is historical fiction done right
I love Bernard Cornwell’s books. People who know me frequently reel back in awe of my historical knowledge. At least I assume that’s what they’re reeling back from. This knowledge … Read More
Halting State by Charles Stross is fun for gamers
Halting State is set in the not too distant future. Scotland has devolved (in a political not Darwinian sense), gained independence, and the world is even more saturated with information technology and computer nerdiness than ever before.
Science fiction used to look like the Vasquez rocks
In my youth alien planets were desert but today they are forests. To be specific, in my youth they looked like the Vasquez rocks outside LA and now they look like a Canadian forest.
Prostitutes and Burlesque Dancers vs the Evil Council
I missed two marches in London I would like to have seen.
Killzone 2 is violent scifi fun done really well
Killzone starts off in the mother ship and you are introduced to yourself as Sevchenko or ‘Sev’, a double hard Sergeant in the ISA Special Forces Alpha.
Fallout 3 is a post apocalyptic good time
This game starts with your birth. Literally. You are pulled out of your mother and see the doctor and your dad – who happens to be Liam Neason (the voice anyway).
Moon landings, dashed dreams, and why we should go to Mars.
You may have guessed by now that I get pissed off by conspiracy types that claim we haven’t been to the moon. What they have done is look at all the stuff NASA has put out and rather than construct any decent arguments, have simply picked holes in the ‘proof’.
Ringworld by Larry Niven is an essential scifi classic
Ringworld is superb. I often prefer pre-1980s Sci Fi as it tends to be more idea and philosophy based. The world itself is a very cool, very huge idea and the possibilities for it are almost endless.
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman is a lot of fun
When Richard Mayhew rescues what seems to be a wounded homeless girl, he suddenly finds himself sucked into an alternate underground London.
Some of the ghosts, spirits and demons of Thailand
Although over 95% of the Thai population are Buddhists, there is also a strong belief in Animism or spirit worship. Ghosts and spirits (known as Pii) abound and are found everywhere from offices and homes to haunted trees and fruit groves.
Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev: brilliant and short
Don’t be put off by the fact that this book is a ‘Russian classic’, Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons is truly worth a read.
Sleazy British politicians and their shocking yet hilarious expenses
My favourite has to be: (from Metro) ‘George Osborne charged the taxpayer £47 for two DVDs of his own speech on Value For Taxpayers’ Money.’
I am being paid to watch kids’ TV and it’s complete madness
It’s now 6am and I am at work. There is something wrong with the way my life is going. Working in TV as a freelancer is a bizarre way to make a living.
Welcome to Hell by Colin Martin – Thai prison woes
Colin Martin worked in construction, had his own small business, and was married with kids. An almost clichéd idyll that makes the subsequent fall all the more compelling.
A word about JG Ballard and some book suggestions
JG Ballard died of cancer aged 78 on the 19th of April 2009. It is sad to think he will never release another book. He was usually labelled a Sci Fi writer but he frequently strayed from this label to write unique, often dystopian, scenarios that sort of/kind of/might just happen.