D i a r y A r c h i v e : M a y - A u g 0 7 'Interim' - Monday 23rd July 2007 Apologies to you if you've loyally visited this site during the last few weeks only to find the same post staring you in the face. Those of you who know me will be aware that other commitments always force me to abandon my writing at this time of year. There won't be any significant updates here until about the end of August, because I'm currently in the process of packing my things, checking the tyre pressure on the car and getting ready to follow in the footsteps of Edith Wharton, Peter Mayne and William Burroughs... but only in geographic terms, mind you. The open road beckons. 'Shrugging Uploaded' - Monday 18th June 2007 The Four Stages Of Shrugging has now been published on the DeCongested website and you can read it by clicking right here. Any views/thoughts/comments would be more than welcome. Please remember that the first Tales Of The DeCongested Anthology is available at Amazon.co.uk 'Playground' - Monday 11th June 2007 Although I'm an avid cinema-goer, I've told myself I must resist the temptation of posting film reviews on this site. In a nutshell: I disagree with the idea that all people's opinions on all subjects are equally valid. My thoughts on the movies I watch are probably best kept to myself. Having said that, I am going to allow myself to scribble a few words about a documentary currently showing at several UK cinemas: Taking Liberties (dir. Chris Atkins). In a manner that is as entertaining as it is shocking, it systematically works through some of Western society's most cherished ideals and shows how they have been deeply - perhaps irretrievably - compromised by the Labour government. Whether you're someone to whom the contents of such a film wouldn't come as news, or whether you think such documentaries are made by people who have too much time on their hands and get kicks out of coming up with consipracy theories, I would urge you to watch this movie if you possibly can. One question I've often heard people ask in relation to Nazi Germany is: how did ordinary, decent, peace-loving Germans allow Hitler and his government to do all the unspeakable things they did? The most frightening thing about Taking Liberties is that it uses contemporary UK society to provide all-too-loud and depressing an answer to the question. I heard a report on the radio today in which some educational researchers have discovered that young children still know the rules of ancient playground games and the words of old nursery rhymes, although they have never ostensibly been taught these things. The researchers have concluded that some parts of human knowledge and some aspects of human behaviour get passed on from one person to another by an intangible social osmosis. I have no doubt that this is true, which is why we cannot afford not to watch films like Taking Liberties. The main reason why Nazi Germany reached the point it reached was because the 'unspoken osmosis' won the day. People simply got on with their everyday lives and thought it would be easier to turn a blind eye to events taking place around them... until it was too late. The same thing could happen again anywhere in the world, not least in the 'developed West'. But one way in which it might not happen is if people become increasingly aware of the forces at work in their day-to-day existence. So do yourselves a favour and watch this movie. [You may also be interested in reading the Taking Liberties blog which can be found by clicking here.] 'Shrugging At Tales' - Saturday 26th May 2007
I'd like to say a big Thank you to all those who attended (especially J, M and N) and also to Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone and Paul Blaney for organising the event. As soon as the story is published on the DeCongested website, I'll post a link to it here. You might also like to spare a few minutes to read the stories by the other authors with whom I shared yesterday's stage: Katy Darby, Leslie Mapp, Sara Hiorns and Emily Bromfield. And don't forget that the first Tales Of The DeCongested anthology can be purchased from amazon.co.uk. 'Tales - Full Details' - Friday 11th May 2007
I realise many of you don't live in the UK, but if you do, it would be great if you could come along to Foyles. If you can't make it, you may be interested to know that most of the stories read at the event usually find their way onto the DeCongested website. Please remember that the first Tales Of The DeCongested Anthology is still available. Click here to buy it at amazon.co.uk. 'Dummy' - Monday 7th May 2007
I wasn't quite such a dummy last week, though, when my brother contacted me from Poland asking for help with a problem. He wanted to listen to the commentary of a particular football match on a certain online radio station, but copyright reasons prevented the commentary from being streamed on the Internet. After a couple of shared, mini-brain-waves, we came up with a solution. I tuned to the station on a trusty, old-fashioned radio. We both logged on to MSN Messenger (aka Windows Live Messenger). We opened a 'Voice Chat'. I placed my microphone next to the radio's speakers. And the commentary travelled all the way to my brother's flat in Warsaw. I'm glad I'm still not blase about modern technology! ---
|
It's probably safe to say that yesterday's reading of The Four Stages Of Shrugging at 
Research for the novel continues at a steady pace. My ![[Valid RSS]](valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed")
