Was watching Close Encounters Of The Third Kind the other day and, maybe I’m imagining it, but there’s loads of shots that work on the principle of the screen being in thirds: three vertical thirds (roughly speaking). Either they’ll be something of interest in each third or the focus will be on one third with […]
Read more "Close Encounters of the Thirds Kind"So I picked up a copy of Starship Troopers a while back and I’m most the way through reading it. My SF-reading pals typically divide into two groups: ‘Read Troopers, it’s a classic’ and ‘keep well clear of its fascist ass’. Way I see it, anything that divisive earns at least a looksie. Generally speaking, […]
Read more "Starship Troopers: Full Metal Homoeroticism"Just reading through a ‘horror’ story I wrote when I was thirteen. Good god. Here’s some choice quotes: “I am Harvey Christian, a known figure in the field of science. They say I am a young upstart. But soon they will learn to recognise me!” “We sat and had roast beef for dinner. Only after […]
Read more "Thirteen year old fiction"The big thing hindering RPG video games becoming great art, in my barely informed opinion, is their obsession with characters levelling up. That and all the pissing around collecting the best armour and finding herbs and all that palaver (which is a symptom of the levelling up of course). Remove those things and what are […]
Read more "Could Video Games Please Dispense With Levelling Up? Just A Bit?"“If you’re going to try, go all the way. otherwise, don’t even start. if you’re going to try, go all the way. this could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives, jobs and maybe your mind. go all the way. it could mean not eating for 3 or 4 days. it could mean freezing on […]
Read more "Roll The Dice"The world is plump with writing similes but I don’t suppose another will harm. Anyway, this one I find useful. Writing–writing with serious intent–is a longboat. Or a trireme if your fancy leans classical, or a dromon or a galleass. The main thing to picture here is a ship with both oar and sail. Inspiration […]
Read more "Writing Is A Longboat"There’s gonna be a season of new poems on Radio 4 inspired by The Odyssey. Talking about it, one of the poets said it’s an incredibly vital poem right now, as it touches upon the experiences of the asylum seeker and immigrant and could be a positive artistic force. Personally, I honestly couldn’t think of […]
Read more "Radio 4’s Odyssey Season"Putin and his advisors must be waking to the fact they are shackled to a mad dog. Their explanation- that a bomb set off the rebel’s chemicals in a warehouse- is desperate, and they know everyone knows it’s desperate. Chemical weapons simply don’t work like that. Physics doesn’t work like that. And even if it […]
Read more "Putin Got Bit"It’s just occurred to me that most selfless acts I’ve attempted (which aren’t many) have either failed or outright backfired on me. A lot of the time (I suspect) people are suspicious of my motives and, to be honest, I’d be suspicious if someone did something selfless for me too. So my experience is probably […]
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J.L. Worrad 