All Hail Macbeth

In an effort to escape the never ending fustercluck that is British politics, I finally got round to watching Macbeth (2015) this weekend, starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard. First off I have to say it astounded me; beautiful, atmospheric and experimental, it's everything I want from Shakespeare. The performances were wonderful and it was great hearing the bard's words in not-too-shabby Scottish accents (Cotillard wisely chose to not try too hard). But it did not take me away from the dire situation my country has put itself in. Rather, it only amplified it.

Macbeth is predominantly about what unfettered ambition will do to a person. It explores how an honourable man can be twisted to commit terrible deeds by the words of others. It also shows the cost of greed to those caught in its wake. Like so many Shakespeare stories, it's about the human condition. At no point are we given clean answers on whether people are inherently good and become corrupted, or whether humanity is far more evil than it is good. All of this seems particularly apt at this moment in time.

In the last few months, and particularly the last few weeks, the UK has revealed the depths of people's ambitions and how they allow that to blind them to reality or consequence. For those arguing for Remain there was a complacency and arrogance, unwilling to look hard into the issues being raised by those in long-abandoned areas of England and Wales. On the Leave side we saw half-truths and outright lies become a major part of their campaign, with little to no thought of what all the consequences could be. In the last few weeks we've seen Labour tear itself apart, with short-sighted MPs on one side and an intransigent leader on the other. The Conservatives have at least managed to sort out their leadership contest in record time but have done so in a way that will force many Conservative party members to reconsider their allegiances. For all the claims that we're leaving the EU to get away from an undemocratic system, it's impossible to ignore that we will have a Prime Minister unelected by either the party or the public.

Fiction often gives a better lens through which to examine these things. I'll be seeing Macbeth again at the end of August, live at the Globe Theatre, and look forward to seeing how current events once again slot into its framework. In the play no one really wins - the price paid is too steep to ever make it feel like a victory. It's a strange sort of comfort to know that things don't change that much, even over centuries. They worked it out, one way or another, and so shall we. 

Day One of a New Reality

The train, normally filled with chattering commuters, was practically silent. All heads bowed in abjection, smart phone screens a glow. Fingers swipe in search of answers but only find more questions. Today is the day the United Kingdom left Europe.

Except it isn't. Yet. We're still in the EU and will be until someone decides to issue Article 50 and begin the two year process for extracting the UK from the EU, after 43 years inside it. My personal feelings are best summed up in one word: devastated. I woke up this morning in a country that I had previously suspected was becoming increasingly ignorant, intolerant, reactionary and angry; a boil fit to burst. It turns out my fears were well-founded and I am now in a country I no longer relate to or want to stay in.

I have studied and read many books, and watched many films, about countries that reached a tipping point. The journey from that initial point of falling off the edge until eventually arriving on steady ground has never been smooth and has often been catastrophic. I want to believe that my country will weather the storm and come out the better for it. Then I see the likely figureheads at the helm and I despair.

For those who voted Leave: I sincerely hope you're right. I genuinely want you to be correct in your assertions that our country will be better off outside of the EU, that it won't all collapse around our ears, that the far-right will not see a resurgence in power across Europe because of this, that my non-British/non-white friends will be fine. But I fear that you have been sold down the river with the rest of us by men more interested in their own ambitions than what's in the interest of the citizens not just of the UK but of the whole world. Time will tell.

For those who voted Remain: I feel your pain, your worry, that constant sick feeling in the pit of your gut. I feel the urge to scream "What have you done!" to 52% of the voters and to hope that they suffer as a result. But throughout the campaign the thing I noticed amongst all my fellow Remainers was a patience and tolerance for opposing views. Not across the board (there are bad nuts in every squirrel hoard) but generally we were the ones keeping calm heads and using facts and reason to make our point. That's likely why we lost. I will stay on that course now and say no to hate. Jo Cox did not die for us to succumb to those baser emotions. And in her memory I will soldier on, while carefully considering my own options.

Peace to you all.

Rejecting Hate

There are times when it's hard to hold to hope, to see the "silver-lining". On a personal front I was in Scotland on Monday for the funeral of my aunt. Next week I'll be at a funeral for a friend of my parents, whose children are like my surrogate siblings. It is feeling very much like the adults I grew up with, those giants who led the way, are one by one vanishing from my life. This is a normal and expected stage in life, but no easier for it.

Then there's current events. The horrendous slaughter of LGBTQ people in Orlando, just having normal Saturday night fun. The rise of Drumph and his vile rhetoric. The increasingly vicious and divided EU Referendum campaign here in the United Kingdom. And then, like some hideous blood smeared cherry on this cake of hate, MP Jo Cox assassinated in the street, just outside her surgery in Birstall.

We truly are living in dark times. The war in Syria, the rise of the perverted ISIS, the ongoing Russian occupation of Crimea... My history studies specialised in Nazi Germany and the Cold War. It's hard not to see the horrifying echoes.

Finding positives at times like this is a challenge. Yet we must. When my father died it seemed like there would be no light again. But one person after another, through a kind word or a gesture of compassion, showed me there is always hope. There is always goodness and decency.

I reject despair. I reject hate. There are still wonderful people in this world of ours and I believe we can all overcome the shadows around us. Because we are all one human family; we may fight, we may argue but ultimately we will come together in trying times. Or, as MP Cox said herself;

"While we celebrate our diversity, what surprises me time and time again as I travel around the constituency is that we are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us."

RIP Jo Cox

Rachel Dolezal: Is Identity Skin Deep?

Identity. It isn't what it used to be. Religion, gender, sexuality, all have seen the barriers that once existed come crashing down, leading to a more fluid notion of where one group ends and another begins. The most recent challenger is now race, brought to the fore by the revelations around rights activist Rachel Dolezal. This has prompted a furore in the media and online about whether or not she is black and whether you can change your racial identity through desire alone.

Others have written at length about the Rachel Dolezal case but few are diving into the issue of identity and what it means in the 21st century. Self-identity has and will always be important to human beings: it's who we are, what we like, even why we are. Globalisation has massively affected our identity concepts; it would be hard to identify with a demographic if you didn't know anything about them or even if they existed. In fact one of the greatest strengths of a connected world, with open communication available to all, is the opportunity to learn about other people and their identity. But it has it's pitfalls; it's a thin line between self-identity and appropriation.

No erotica before ten - at least in Germany

Something I find endlessly fascinating are the differences between cultures and countries on this fair planet of ours; the varieties in aesthetics, practices and outlooks is a great reminder to take nothing for granted. However, sometimes you're left boggled by decisions made in parts of the world.

Germany have now introduced a law that prohibits ebooks aimed at adults to be sold before 10 PM and after 6 AM, local time. The German Publishers & Booksellers Association has been told by the Youth Protection Authority that all ebooks are now subject to the same controls that have existed for print media since 2002, which limits the sale of hardcovers, paperbacks, magazines, and graphic novels to minors when those material are clearly aimed at adults. From now on all publishing houses and self-publishers will need to fill in a new field in the metadata calling out if the content is for an adult audience.

The oddness of this decision is mitigated by the fact that it may not in fact be enforced; Germany have a number of rules around what can and can't be sold or shown but these aren't always followed. With the fine being €500,000 for breaking the law though it will be surprising if new adult sections don't start popping up in online book stores across Germany.

From my time in the DVD world, I know that similar rules exist for rated 18 and up movies and TV, to the point where even buying them abroad can result in them being confiscated by customs until you prove your age (though it's a rare occurrence). But books are an odd medium to put these kind of age limits on; reading isn't as easy as sitting back and watching a movie, or playing a video game. Britain doesn't currently (and hopefully never will) have an age rating on books. Graphic novels are also not rated, though there may be an argument for that given they're much more of a visual medium then books. I'm not sure where I stand on this; I read a lot of non-age appropriate books and comics growing up, but then again my mum bought those for me after checking them... 

Is it okay to sell a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey to an eight-year-old, without a guardian present? Do we control the distribution of books by a person's age? And why does the idea of  that make a shiver go down my spine? Worth puzzling over, but I suspect there are no easy answers; and in the meantime each culture will do what works (or seems to) for them. See, I told you cultural variety is interesting.

Internet Holidays Are Highly Recommended

At the risk of giving away my age, I grew up without the Internet. It didn't come along in my life until around the age of 16. It was very blue from I remember. Seriously, it really was. MSN and local messaging services freaked me out - once I was sitting in the computer room at college doing something when suddenly a little box appeared in the corner of the screen saying, "your cute, what's your name?" - so I never used those, except for rare occasions. Hotmail and Yahoo search were the main sites I remember, and I seem to recall reading lots of things that looked like entries in encyclopedias. Hell, they probably were exactly that. I never bought anything online, and I never had a My Space page, though I knew people who did.

I was not that fussed about the Internet or what it had to offer. Now though I not only work for one of the biggest online companies in the world, but I also have profiles on almost every single social media platform going, accounts with tonnes of online shops and a Twitter feed that I can't stop checking a few times a day at least. In essence, I am as much an Internet junkie as plenty of others. And this weekend I was pretty much cut off from all of it, because I was away and my phone throws a fit whenever I try to do anything with it beyond text or call someone. And you know what? It was wonderful. 

Happy Bonfire Night - However You Celebrate

This week has mainly consisted of this:

And because it is in fact November it means Guy Fawkes Night is upon us, a night I'm not really much of a fan of. You see, I am old and boring, and have been since about the age of fourteen. I hate fireworks and think displays are massively overrated. You spend hours out in the cold, freezing your bits off to watch some explosives way up in the sky make pretty colours. Bah humbug.

The other thing I've never liked about the 5th of November is the whole "burning of the Guy" thing. I love a good bonfire and a traditional pagan style burning ritual, but knowing the history of the Gunpowder Plot stops me from really embracing the fun of burning an effigy of a man who was killed horribly. Told you; old and boring.

One latest addition to Bonfire Night is quite interesting to me though; the "Million Mask March" that occurs in central London, near parliament by the group labelled as "Anonymous". I say labelled, because the actual group are probably long disbanded and/or arrested and the people who now go under that moniker have chosen it for themselves. What I find interesting about it all is how much effort this relatively small amount of people will put into getting the masks from V for Vendetta, creating placards, and marching around London protesting against... something. I'm not entirely clear what precisely they're marching for and even their own website lists a variety of motivations; they march against austerity, infringement of rights, and against mass surveillance. What exactly they want though is unmentioned and for that reason alone it seems utterly pointless to me; a protest without a clearly defined goal is just a bunch of people standing out in the cold, freezing their bits off... hopefully without the explosive bit.


But each to their own - some like to watch fireworks, some like to carry placards and others like to tuck into a nice fish and chip supper while watching The Wicker Man. Happy 5th!

Remembrance

Yesterday marked the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I. I haven't been following the news about it too closely, I'm ashamed to say, but I am planning on making a trip to the Tower of London to see the art installation there, where they are filling the moat with ceramic poppies. Part of the reason I'm not paying too much attention to all this is likely due to how it's making me feel about events at the moment. While the media flit from one disaster to the next, or attempt to terrify us with the threat of Ebola from Africa (thereby exploiting two of their favourite stereotypes, the deadly dark continent and a pandemic) I'm left still wondering about things they've moved on from. Specifically, the events in Ukraine. It feels as though the true lessons of WWI and WWII have still not been learnt.

The Stonehaven and Dunnottar War Memorial. 2013.

I can't be the only one feeling like the remembrance of WWI is poignantly timed, considering what's happening in Eastern Europe and the Middle East right now. And while Israel will no doubt continue to shell schools, markets and whatever else it pleases in Gaza; while Hamas will no doubt continue to break ceasefires by killing Israeli soldiers and throwing rockets into civilian areas in Israel; there is something stirring in Ukraine that could swamp us all. It mimics too closely events prior to the first and second world wars. And it's made me realise that the Cold War never ended; it was just in a frozen state and is now beginning to thaw.

The Stonehaven and Dunnottar War Memorial. 2013.

The Stonehaven and Dunnottar War Memorial. 2013.

The truth of war is far worse than hell itself. The lives destroyed goes further than just those who die on or off the battlefield; it stabs into the hearts of the communities and families left behind. It scars the land and the psyche of people for generations. Nothing brought that home to me more than when I visited Stonehaven, Scotland last year. There is a memorial to the WWI and WWII dead on a hilltop there and it's a heartbreaking site. Stonehaven is a small fishing town, and was probably very similar to Irvine, the small seaside town my family are from in Scotland. Everyone would have known each other. And the list of dead in Stonehaven, particularly from WWI, is a long one. This site has the full list, along with those from WWII, and it's clear whole families were decimated. The inscription on the inside of the memorial reads: 

ONE BY ONE DEATH - CHALLENGED THEM - ONE BY ONE THEY - SMILED IN HIS - GRIM VISAGE - AND REFUSED - TO BE DISMAYED

The Stonehaven and Dunnottar War Memorial. 2013.

There doesn't seem any simple solution to the problems in the Middle East or in Ukraine, but there is surely a better path than one of conflict. Diplomacy, long term perspectives and negotiation with true resilience needs to be the driving force, rather than short-term gain. And for that it's going to take people, all people, to reject hatred, violence and blame. Some think that's a naive position, one built on hope and not reality. But South Africa showed how even the most divided nation can move on from atrocity. Even Ireland, despite the viciousness and long lasting hatred that had built up, is moving on. Because people rejected violence and condemned those who committed it, no matter whose side they were on, no matter in whose name they did it. They forgave, or at best learnt to live with their pain, and moved on. I truly hope all of us, including myself, can learn those lessons.

View from The Stonehaven and Dunnottar War Memorial. 2013.

Can Art Be Separated From A Flawed Creator?

Trigger warning: This post features links to accounts of sexual abuse and rape, though details in the actual post are minimal.

Here in Britain we're currently going through seemingly never ending discoveries of sexual abuse at the hands of people in powerful positions. Rolf Harris, the much loved presenter of Rolf's Cartoon Club and Animal Hospital, was convicted on twelve counts of indecent assault and sentenced to five years and nine months. Prior to that Max Clifford, was sentenced to eight years for a string of indecent assaults and it's common knowledge now what Jimmy Saville was up to, though without a trial his accusations will remain forever unproven.

Gathering less attention, but certainly something that seems fatefully timed, has been the revelations about the science fiction and fantasy writer Marion Zimmer Bradley. There had been conjecture about her, and even certainty that she'd covered up her husband's crimes of rape and abuse of boys.  She admitted as much in her deposition in 1998, with the transcript leaving no room for doubt. But far more shocking, to me at least, is the heart wrenching account from her own daughter, Moira Greyland, revealing that Marion Zimmer Bradley herself was committing sexual assault, among other types of abuse, towards her throughout her childhood. And that there may be others. It isn't easy reading and I felt physically ill reading Greyland's poem, "Mother's Hands", but Greyland's words are incredibly moving and brave and deserve to be read.

So far I've never read any of Bradley's works. Interestingly she was never a writer my mum rated much, and as I experienced Science Fiction and Fantasy through my mum's collection it meant I wasn't really all that aware of her. There was a copy of Mists of Avalon on mum's shelf but I never got round to it. I have it on my wish list but I'm in no hurry to read it. I'm not in favour of blacklisting artwork even if it's created by a monster though. Sometimes even the most evil of people can create something of worth or meaning to others. I can't imagine what these revelations will do to those who loved Bradley's writing, who got started on the writing path because of reading her work or submitting stories to her anthologies. One has pledged to give all of her profits from the stories she got published that way to RAINN, America's largest anti-sexual violence charity. It's a wonderful way to handle the dichotomy of being proud of work you've done, even though it's connected to someone who has done such terrible things.

Australian councils are working to remove all Rolf Harris artwork from their buildings and in the local areas, and the price of his art has plummeted since his conviction. Likewise, I imagine less SF and Fantasy fans will be interested in reading Bradley's works. But I don't think what someone does in their life, no matter how horrendous, means their creations should be destroyed. If that were the case we wouldn't have a lot of the classical music, paintings or stories we have today. Then there's the question of the value you can get from art created by undesirables. My mum's response when I told her about all this was that she'd always felt there was something a bit "off" in Bradley's works, even though she fit the feminist, female, science fiction writer mould that my mum prefers. She couldn't put her finger on it, but said she wasn't entirely surprised by the revelations about Bradley.

It's often claimed that art can reveal far more of the artist than they intend, and for that reason alone I won't write off the chances of me reading a Bradley book one day. My interpretation of her works will be heavily influenced by what I know, just as reading Mein Kampf or looking at one of Hitler's paintings is impossible to separate from what he was responsible for. It's also a lot easier when the perpetrator is deceased; because no matter what you think of their art, at least you know they aren't benefiting from your purchase. At the same time though I can completely understand people never wanting material near them that was created by someone who committed terrible crimes or atrocities. Because even though art can exist on its own merits, it is always, inevitably, entwined with the person who created it.

Bob Hoskins 1942 - 2014: "I apologise for f*cking nothing"

Sad news last week that the great British actor Bob Hoskins has passed away at 71-years-old. What I loved most about him was his lack of seriousness, about himself or his profession, signified by his comments in interviews (the quote in the title is when he talked about filming Hook. Steven Spielberg, Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams were all apologising for bad movies they'd made. Needless to say Hoskins refused to do the same, in his own eloquent way). It's genuinely difficult not to love the guy, and that's before considering what a fantastic actor he was. He's played criminals, cops, plumbers and a host of other characters and below I've listed my favourite Bob Hoskins roles.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

It's actually hard to imagine how challenging this role must have been for Hoskins; actors now have at least some tennis balls on a stick to direct their eye level at, but back in 1988 there was nothing. At best they had rubber mannequins to do rehearsals with but during actual filming it was all up to the actor's imagination. Hoskins' performance is fantastic and his ability to channel the required brooding noir detective Eddie Valiant, while talking to a cartoon rabbit with attention deficit disorder, is a must-see.

Mermaids

I can hardly remember Mermaids but I do recall three things: (1) I loved it, (2) Bob Hoskins was great in it and (3) Cher's face is fascinating. Hoskins plays the good hearted shop keeper who eventually wins over Cher. What's best about it is that ol' Hoskins was hardy what you would call traditional love interest material but his performance is spot on and totally convincing.

The Long Good Friday

Hoskins plays a gangster trying to become a legitimate business man, and in the process stars in one of the best British gangster movies of all time. Controversially I am not a fan of "geezer gang" films, (Guy Ritchie films leave me cold, except for a few moments) but I really liked The Long Good Friday. Maybe it's because of how incredibly seventies it is...

Hook

"I've just had an apostrophe." "I think you mean epiphany." This will forever be the film that defined not just the titular character for me but of his bumbling first mate and friend, Smee. Hoskins makes the perfect Smee, trying to keep up with Hook's ideas and mood swings. Yes, the film has some truly atrocious child acting going on but then so did Harry Potter; if you've never seen this, then you really must. *Interesting fact!* Hoskins played Smee again in the TV series Neverland, though sadly Dustin Hoffman did not return as Hook. Haven't seen Neverland but now I kind of want to...

Super Mario Brothers

I should probably be embarrassed to say this but I'm not; I really liked this film as a kid. I watched it a lot. It had dinosaurs and a princess and... I don't know it just clicked for me. It's an awful film with very few redeeming features (which is why I have only watched it once as an adult) but has a place in my heart nonetheless. A lot of that is also to do with Hoskins playing the perfect Mario Mario (not a typo). Which is all the better when you consider how much he hated the film; "It was a f*ckin' nightmare!"

Snow White and the Huntsman

Yeah, yeah I know - Hoskins has been in loads of great stuff and I include this? But it was fantastic seeing him on the big screen again, and as it's his last film I think it has to get a mention. He also plays a dwarf with my last name as his first name, so wise old dwarf gets my vote. I also really like the film, and not just because of Chris Hemsworth. Visually stunning, I'm a sucker for a fairy tale retelling and this film ticked all the boxes for me.


Rest in peace Bob - hope you're having a pint or two in the after.

Books, Prisons and Presents

After feeling uninspired for so long it's a relief to get my focus back, and one area will be this blog; I've only been posting reviews and updates on writing in the main because I wasn't giving myself enough time to come up with anything more interesting. That ends now and you know what that means; I'm back on my soapbox, to wave my arms at the sky and proclaim warnings about the ides of March. Or I'll just rant about something stupid I saw online.

This week's "you've got to be kidding me" moment came along when I read that books had been banned in UK prisons. Reading past the press hyperbole, my blood pressure lowered (slightly) when I understood that packages from outside are no longer allowed to be delivered to prisoners in the UK under new rules introduced by Justice Secretary Chris Grayling. He's yet another minister in charge of an area he has absolutely no first hand experience in, but that's a frustration I'll not go into right now (apart from saying I think it's ridiculous that this is how government works. The Greeks must be spinning in Hades.)

Copyright; A Case For Sherlock Holmes

I somehow missed this but apparently a lady by the name of Andrea Plunket wants to stop any more episodes of the BBC's Sherlock from being made. She plans to take the BBC to court with the claim that she owns the copyright to the last ten Sherlock Holmes stories and that the BBC has not asked for her permission to use them. This interested me because I thought that (a) the stores are in the public domain, (b) if anyone does own anything to do with them it would surely be Conan Doyle Estate Ltd and (b) who the hell is this Plunket?

Xbox Reveal Reaction

Finally adding something new to this ol' blog - my personal reactions to the Xbox One reveal. Watched the live event via the BF's Xbox360 and our core reaction was much the same; "Ooh, the machine looks nice but where are the games?" From the look of the #XboxReveal on Twitter we weren't the only ones. Digital Spy have the full video if you missed it and want to see what's I'm rabbiting on about.

I've been through a fair number of console reveals by now (hand me my cane you whipper snapper), and I don't know if it's the age or rose-tinted specs talking, but I remember console reveals being more exciting back in the PS2 days. Or maybe I was just more easily impressed with FMV than I am now. After the "meh" PS4 reveal I hoped we'd see more from team Microsoft, and they kind of delivered. Sort of. At least we now know what the new Xbox One will look like which is more than can be said of the PS4. I also really like the name of the new Xbox, odd as that sounds. It's nice and simple. I imagine it took ages to come up with though. No seriously, I've been in meetings like that; it probably went back and forth constantly before they decided on the obvious.

Once again there was one core feature that wasn't talked about or shown much, the single thing you'd expect a game console reveal to cover: GAMES! Unless you were a sports game fan (of which there are many, I know) there wasn't a whole lot to get excited about. High points for me were:

• Halo TV show - yay!
• Two women presenting - yay! (seriously the way the industry's been going, it's a welcome surprise)
• The instant way it flipped from TV, to movie, to internet browser, to game, and back to TV again. Very cool.
• The pad looks great (i.e. it looks almost identical to the 360 pad)
• ...The home page looked nice?
• Ummmm....

Yeah. So not a lot wowed me. Sure Call of Duty looks nice and the dog was well rendered but there was no real in-game footage so I can't tell just how good the graphics are really. I'm sure they're amazing, I'd just like to see them in actual motion, rather than in super-duper worked on movie sequences.

Of course the real news that was important to gamers only got leaked unofficially afterwords and it's not good news:

• Mandatory game installation from discs - and that a second user of the same disc would have the "option" to pay a fee to install the game on their separate machine so they too can "play it without the disc". I can't tell if there's an option here to just play from the disc, without installing, but it doesn't sound like it. The editor of Official Xbox Magazine has since said that when you install the game on a second machine it uninstalls it from the first... which means my BF will never let me play his games until he's completely finished it. Or maybe not at all if it affects the save data... I know I wouldn't if it were my games!*
• No backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 disc or online arcade games - bummer, but not entirely surprising. At least the top of the new Xbox is flat, so I can put by Xbox 360 on top of it. Silver linings!

Overall I'm not totally convinced by the Xbox One. Oh, have no doubt - I will get one. I'm a gamer, it's what we do; we bitch and complain about the many ways in which the latest console sucks and then we go out and buy it anyway. It's a like a form of madness that's really expensive and leaves you feeling a bit disappointed but excited all at once. I'll just keep my little fingers crossed that the game line-up is more than just racing/American football/basketball/football games, and we get to see more of them in action at E3. A girl can dream.

*For those of you wondering, we tend to play very different types of games to each other, but I like trying out the ones he has months/years after he's played them. He rarely wants to play my strategy or RPG games for some strange reason...

Weird Tales, Racism and Yet More Stupidity

In a week full of depressing exhibitions of ignorance and stupidity, I have plenty I could rant about. Instead I'm going to lament the passing of a previously great speculative fiction magazine: Weird Tales. No, they're not closing down, and no doubt the next issue will come out on time. But it isn't the same Weird Tales that in 2010 earned a place on the Hugo ballot. That was made abundantly clear with the farce that is currently taking place on their website, after their editor Marvin Kaye decided to defend a "thoroughly non-racist book", that is totally racist - screen capture here (as Weird Tales have removed the original article from their site. Tut tut.) He also planned to publish the first chapter in the next issue of Weird Tales. Even though it's available for free from Amazon and a number of other places...

Nostalgia Time - The Demise of The Dandy

I love a good bit of nostalgic whimsy. Casting your mind back, a smile dancing on your lips as you recall the smell of your street growing up, the cartoons you used to watch, the sweets you used to eat. It is with this feeling that I recall The Beano; a British comic that featured Dennis the Menace, his pet dog Gnasher and a whole host of other characters. So I was sad to hear that it looks like its sister comic, The Dandy, may be facing an end to its 75-year long run. Though nothing is definite, and I have no doubt the publisher DC Thomson will try to save it, with such a low circulation it's hard to see how it can continue as is for much longer.

"Where's me Beano?"

(Photo by Peter Barr, c.c. licence,via Wikimedia Commons)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Children just don't read The Dandy anymore. Or the Beano for that matter. The usual suspects of TV, video games and the Internet have been brought up as reasons for it, though considering the Moshi Monsters comic apparently saw a 43% rise in its circulation within a year of its release, something else may be at play here. Personally I suspect cost plays a part in all this; when I was wee the Beano was under a pound, about 60p - 70p I think. Nowadays it costs over a pound... even with a free toy, that seems a bit steep. Then there's also the possibility that the Dandy (and possibly the Beano too) are just past their sell by date. The characters were fun and interesting to me as a child in the 80s and 90s but I don't know if that's as true for children of the 21st Century. That's the problem with nostalgia; sometimes it can make you think something is better than it actually was and to want to protect something that probably shouldn't be saved. The Dandy characters will no doubt live on, in other comics and online, but how relevant is the comic itself anymore to children's lives? Especially when they have so many more options than previous generations?

What do you think? Should beloved products be saved for nostalgia's sake, or is their relevance/quality more important?

Maurice Sendak: Gone Where The Wild Things Are

Maurice Sendak, the author and illustrator, died yesterday and though it's sad to know another great mind has left this mortal realm, it's been wonderful to see his works spoken about in print and on screen. I adored "Where the Wild Things Are" as a child, and only came to appreciate Sendak's works all the more the older I became.

Sendak did something that few children's writers seem to do; he told the painful truth. Being a child is not, in my experience, a purely innocent, tra-la-la through the flowers good time. Bits of childhood suck. Other parts can be terrifying and incredibly distressing; whether it's fearing that spelling test the next morning, with the teacher who shouts at you when you get it wrong, or blaming yourself for other people's problems, or feeling pure fury at your own powerlessness. Sendak understood this and communicated it in the dark fantasy worlds he created.

My imagination has been heavily influenced by Sendak's works, leading me to love the darker side of a "nice" story, which can also be seen in films like The Dark Crystal, Willow, Return to Oz or Labyrinth. They have the same mix of childlike wonder with a terrible darkness lurking on the edges, which occasionally confronts you head on. If you've never sat and read one of his books then I can't recommend them enough. No matter how old you are.

Modern Greed or a Tale That Needs Telling?

So news has 'leaked' that Amanda Knox has been given a  $4 million book deal with HarperCollins for her version of events surrounding the murder of Meredith Kercher and the ensuing court case against Knox and her then boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito. It seems an odd time to "cash-in", considering that the Italian courts are appealing against the release of Knox and Sollecito, and as America has an extradition treaty with Italy, this could get very embarrassing for the publisher should she be sent back for a retrial. Or maybe that would just increase sales...

A Contentious Voice Silenced Forever

Today I heard the news that Christopher Hitchens had died. I have to say it surprised me; I knew his cancer was progressing but weirdly I hadn't thought about how ill he was, likely due to how busy he's been this last year. I have a lot of mixed feelings about the man, and even more about his opinions, but it saddened me nonetheless. His writing style has always impressed me, and I can't help but admire someone who can infuriate me so much and yet force me to reconsider my own point of view in light of their arguments. But the biggest reason it hit me is he is one of only a handful of writers I found in my teen years who were expressing an atheist perspective without fear.

A quick background; I am an atheist and know now that I always was. But there was a stage in my teens when the notion scared the shit out of me. I couldn't accept that there was "nothing" out there, or any purpose to life/the universe/everything, but I also couldn't accept that there was a sentient being in charge or some mystical energy binding us together. I was a bit spiritually lost, to put it simply. My parents are atheists too but I wanted to work out  my position on my own, lest I be accused of just copying them. I read a lot about magic, vampirism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Paganism, Gnosticism, Druidism - anything I could get my hands on. But none of it helped, as I never thought any of them were coming close to "reality" (as I perceived it). None of them felt right. Then I came across atheist writings and among them was Christopher Hitchens. It was a revelation. I realised I wasn't alone, nor the first to question the reality of religion and the nature of faith. They were asking the same questions I was asking. They (and all the science related stuff I read and watched) led me to have an epiphany that there didn't have to be a point to the universe, there didn't have to be a reason for my existence, per se. I could instead create my own purpose, my own reason for living. For me, that was an incredibly freeing moment and I've never looked back.

I was already an atheist, but those writers allowed me to articulate why. Hitchens was one of a small group willing to be unpopular, prepared to say things no one wanted to hear. I turned away from him and Dawkins over the years, as I have no bug bear with those who have faith, and I found their constant attacks on those with faith tiresome and their attitudes were far too morally superior for my tastes. However I appreciate and admire them for showing me that there was another way, as well as showing me that it is possible to agree and disagree (vehemently!) with someone's opinions at the same time.

I know Mr. Hitchens isn't aware of this, or looking down from on high (unless he got a VERY big surprise) but nonetheless: RIP.

Protest, Progress and Da Vinci

Yeah, I had to mention protest. Seems only fitting given today saw the "biggest" protest of public service workers in some time. I put that in inverted commas as I was disappointed that more didn't turn out. I had imagined miles and miles of angry teachers, nurses, firefighters, lecturers, doctors, and dinner ladies descending on parliament and demanding Cameron and Gosbourne's heads. Sadly this didn't come to be (estimates I've seen say around 25,000 were out in the London march, which is tiny compared to the anti-war protests in Blair's day), but good on those that did go out and march (rather than go shopping instead).

It will be a surprise to no one that I support the strike Britain saw today, though I don't believe it will do any good in the long run; the public sector are going to get shafted the way the private one did over a decade ago. It isn't right, but I don't see how it can be avoided. And, being British, we will whinge and complain about it but nothing will actually be done. On the upside we will eventually get over the anger and it will be just another grievance added to the thousands we already have simmering away. But it was right, in my view, for them to go out and express their discontent - if for no other reason than to stop the Con-dems being able to pretend that everyone is okay with their proposals. That, and I'm a sucker for the underdog.

In other, more writing related news, the novel is coming along nicely - the revisions make a hell of a lot more sense than the initial draft, and I'm generally getting through three to five scenes a week. I've started counting my progress in scenes, rather than words, and have discovered I do more work that way, when I sit down to tippity-tap for the evening. Mind games are apparently the key to writing success.

I also was incredibly lucky this week to go to the Leonardo Da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan exhibition, at the National Gallery. I only got this opportunity thanks to a friend who had an invite to a "networking" event; there was a lot more looking at paintings, chatting with acquaintances and drinking of champagne than actual networking going on. I kept my feet on the ground by being one of the few with jeans on. Take that you bourgeois fools (she says as she drinks said champagne and chats to thoroughly nice posh people. Hey, I am a good old fashioned socialist after all).

It was wonderful to see the work of such a magnificent artist, and to have so many of his paintings in one place was marvellous (though it shouldn't be so hard to do as he didn't exactly do that many paintings). We walked past impressive works that he never finished, sketches of pieces he never started, and I thought, "that's what I want to avoid - starting and not finishing, because something shiny came along and distracted me." So my zeal for the book has been renewed and I plan to carry on at a steady but do-able rate.

Who knew a renaissance artist, dead for nearly 500 years, could do that. Thanks Da Vinci.

Anne McCaffrey Goes Beyond the Between - RIP

The sad news reached me Wednesday this week that science-fiction/fantasy writer Anne McCraffrey had passed away on Monday, at 85 years of age.

The news was a shock; I've long admired and enjoyed a number of her stories, but more importantly she was one of the female sci-fi/fantasy writers my Mum introduced me to from the age of ten, creating my long love of the genre. She was also in the group of female fantasy writers who I felt wrote stories that I, a girl keen on having adventures of her own, could enjoy from a female point of view. Though I wouldn't go so far as to say she was an outright feminist writer, in the way Sheri Tepper was for instance, she nonetheless put women in the centre of things, just as Andre Norton, and Tanith Lee did. Women weren't just add-ons or passively experiencing events; they did things, right and wrong, and were as much a part of the story as any male character (or in her own words, as reported by one of her sons, "I was so tired of all the weak women screaming in the corner while their boyfriends were beating off the aliens. I wouldn't have been—I'd've been in there swinging with something or kicking them as hard as I could"). This may not seem like a big deal nowadays but a number of stories, even by writers I admired and enjoyed, had female characters not doing a lot or just being victims (i.e. Isaac Asimov and his Foundation series. Brilliant, but women don't feature all that much. And they still make the tea, even that far in the future). It felt sometimes like the boys got all the adventures while the girls waited for them to come and rescue them. McCaffrey, among others, showed me it didn't have to be that way, and I will love her for that for the rest of my life.