Let's Talk About Cancer
Today, 4th February is World Cancer Day. So let's take some time away from movies and films and selfies and water charges and talk about cancer.
What's that? You don't want to talk about cancer?
Yeah, tough shit.
Stranger Danger
It's been a while since I read comics properly, certainly not in the same way that I used to. It's been 20-25 years of toying around with certain worlds and characters, always coming back at different times. (I thought those numbers were a bit overly generous, then I did a quick Google search. Apparently, the X-Men animated series debuted in 1992: at 24 years, we may as well round up to 25, right?
That cartoon series was like a gateway drug for me, introducing me to worlds and characters that were so bold and new and brave that they drew me in fully until I was watching them every chance I got. I watched every time I could: I bought episodes on VHS (okay, I got my parents to buy them); a used my pocket-money to buy comics and trading cards and T-shirts.
The trading cards were my favourite, little biographies of characters, heroes and villains alike; summaries of plotlines and epic fights that I wanted to experience for myself.
It was the 90s.
The Starman
In the face of impending death, a man writes about...well, his impending death. He looks the grim reaper straight in the eye. And he smiles.
This is not a work of fiction: this is a true story that is hitting the news today.
Jam Of The Year
I've spent a lot of time alone with my Spotify and Apple Music accounts recently, and both are making various suggestions about what songs they think I like. They could be right, and they could be wrong.
My musical taste is weird and eclectic and I'm pretty proud of it. Because it encompasses most genres and just as much as I know what I like, I also know what I don't like, and why.
Farewell, X-Men
It's been a while since I've read comics properly. Real-life got in the way (real-life leaning towards a brain tumour and multiple surgeries and chemotherapy and radiotherapy.) I just didn't have the time for fantasy and drama and fiction any longer.
That broke my heart. The X-Men were and are a powerful metaphor for life for many reasons.
When Thundercats Turned Us Gay
I've been sitting at home watching TV far too much recently. A lot of that has been watching Countdown and 15 to 1 and other such game-shows that are somehow capable of going on for longer than they should, but are somehow part of life. Oh, and Charmed re-runs.
But in amongst all this revisiting my youth, where the hell are the Thundercats?
And then I realised that half the internet probably don't even know that the Thundercats are or were and I get all sad.
Feminist, Moi?
I don't think about feminism a lot. Call it male privilege if you like. That's not to say that I haven't considered myself a feminist, I've just never really considered my opinion important.
Here's the thing: I'm a white guy living in a country in western Europe. I'm a gay guy with no sisters who went to a boys' school. There are questions about being a woman, about being a feminist that have never touched me, and I've never felt the need to address. Because here, on our little island on the fringes of the Atlantic, feminism is a weird scary thing that weeves in and out of legislation that I just don't want to go near.
The Hades Contract: The Soundtrack
I write to music: it's my whole ~thing~. Always have done, probably always will.
A few months ago, I wrote a post that was a long time coming. My first novel, Godhead had a soundtrack (in my head) and although I had shared it with a few people, it was really time to get my finger out and discuss it properly.
The Music Of The Gods
Music is a massive part of my creative process; always has been, always will.
When I'm writing fiction, there are certain songs that put me in the mood for a certain piece or certain characters. Playlists make that process a hell of a lot easier; Spotify and similar streaming media make it easier to collect some of those songs together.
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