The Metro is now my sole source of news
There used to be a lot more newspapers lying around the places I work but that seems to have changed. Now it just seems to be the Metro which I … Read More
Category: Blog
My blog and occasional comment on current affairs.
The Notting Hill Carnival
I don’t know why I don’t really like the Notting Hill carnival. It’s probably that it just seem a lot of grief – crowds, shuffling slowly through dancing people, piles of rubbish and a massive walk to the tube. All for very little reward.
So What’s Been Happening?
Because of all this I haven’t done much. I read the paper a lot. So er, here’s what’s been happening I found mildly interesting over the past few days:
Halting State by Charles Stross
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.
The great Swine Flu conspiracy
In China Mexicans were quarantined and in Hong Kong a hotel got blockaded. Eqypt threatened to kill all its pigs and in Afghanistan, there was talk of killing the country’s sole hog. They only have one in the whole country apparently, which is a bit weird.
Science fiction looks different these days
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.
I am now fully nocturnal
This is the life of a transmission controller doing the nightshift. We walk among you looking relatively normal. We work in dark rooms without windows. We literally watch tv for a living hoping it won’t break. We are the ones responsible for putting up ‘Sorry we are experiencing technical difficulties’ pictures as we panic and realise we’ve done something wrong.
Moon landings, dashed dreams, conspiracy idiots.
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’.
Mexican Fighting Midgets Killed By Fake Prostitutes
Apparently there is a Mexican fighting league that are all midgets. Two of them were out drinking and whoring before a big match (well why not, it sounds like a stressful job) when they got chatting to a couple of hookers.
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
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.
Politicians: 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 GOT MARRIED
Apologies for the huge gap in blog entries. And reviews. And anything new at all being added to the site. I have been busy and I even got married.
A nightshift draws to a close
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.
Swine Flu is coming and we are doomed!
I caught a cold and while flopping pathetically on the couch and lamenting my illness, my girlfriend (reading the paper) said that maybe I had swine flu.
Stupid Credit Crunch is making me read pointless things
I have tried to avoid the popular press for a couple of days and I’ve been scouring all the piles of magazines that have littered my flat. I have discovered a few things of minor interest that I would not have otherwise known. For example, Hitler really did only have one ball.
Welcome to Hell by Colin Martin
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
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.
Welcome to the Word of Ward
A brief introduction to the Word of Ward