10 Awesome things (part 2)

Ok, continuing my by no means exhaustive and in-no-particular-order list of things of things I think are cool…

The West Wing

Quite simply the best television I’ve ever seen, and I watch alot of television. I got the West Wing box set for christmas, and am nearing the end of series 2. One of the quotes on the box says something like “this is the white house, if run with diginity, honour and courage”. Maybe its adding to my evident support for Barack Obama, but watching this show really does give me a better idea about what the real principles were that America was founded on, and a clearer view of that it has and has still to achieve.  From a television perspective its more awesome till – the ensemble cast is pretty much flawless, each actor or actress playing their part perfectly and leaving no doubt in your mind as to their casting. I once described the west wing to someone as a show about very smart people saying very smart things at very high speed, so here’s a small example to finish off http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=FScv89J6rro

Sundays

I used to hate Sundays. They were these long, boring, drawn out days where nothing would happen. I’d pace my house or go a walk, but couldnt ever be satisfied that I’d done something. Sometimes I’d be feeling rough from the night before so not only was I bored, I felt ill or tired. This past while though, I’ve gained a new appreciation for Sunday. Sunday is the day before you go back to work, so its good that its long and drawn out. Sunday is a day where nothing happens, so you can do whatever you want. This afternoon I watched the Breakfast Club (surprisingly good film) with my little sister, and then watched the West Wing.  Now I’m writing a blog, and later tonight I imagine I’ll read or go to my friends’ house. Then I’ll sleep. Sundays are long, and nothing has to happen. Sundays are great.

The Fear, when applied correctly

The fear I’m talking about is the one just short of mortal and physical danger. Its your heart on the line, your dignity, your respect. Its the feeling you get before you talk in front of a large group of strangers (or a small group of friends. its the fear you get at job interviews. I always remember it as the feeling I got before asking out a girl I liked. Its horrible, really horrible, but damn if it doesnt feel good to beat it. Not one girl ever said yes, but it felt good anyway, knowing I’d sone something that I didnt have to, but totally had to. Its not the biggest fear in the world, and its not the hardest to overcome. Its the kind of fear you choose to feel when you choose to do something personally risky. This fear is good, and nothing to be frightened of.

Quinn

Quinn is a mate of mine. A good mate actually. Just as I could have easily filled this blog with ten amazing songs or peices of music, I could just as easily fill it with ten awesome people I know, but I’m just gonna go with Quinn for now. Quinn and I are pretty different in alot of ways.I’m tall with blonde hair and pretty quiet, Quinn is shorter with dark hair and is brilliant socially. We dont go out one on one very often, and seem to have pretty different outlooks. Quinn is one of the friendliest guys I know. He’s honest and does his best, and he’s a good friend. I hope I’m not too different from him.

Proud Geeks

Comics are cool. Anime and manga is cool. Cosplayer? Awesome. Trekkie? Go for it. Film fan? Foreign film fan? Lets talk. Book geek? Stamp collector? Trainspotter? Ornithologist? You all rule. Take whatever it is you love, and shout about it. Write about it. People will read it. Hell, you’re reading this, arent you?

10 Awesome Things (part one)

I read this articletoday on the Herald website.  They asked their colunists and photographers for one thing that they thought made life worth living, and came up with a list of 25 things that make life great. Here are a few of mine, with a bit of explanation. I’d love to read yours too, so feel free to comment with a few!

In no particular order…

Music

An easy, obvious one, I grant you. But there’s a reason its obvious and easy. I could probably do ten different paragraphs on ten awesome songs that that would be enough for this entry, but I’ll condense it as much as is possible.  I think i did a blog entry on music a long while ago, before I failed spectacularly at updating. I just spent the last half hour looking up old songs I loved when I was younger, and ones I didn’t care much for when I was younger but love now.  Alot of people will talk about songs as being like a trigger, but I think they’re more like a bullet. Once fired, a song will go through your mind till it finds just the right point, the right neuron to fire and synapse to stimulate. Some pass right through unspectacularly, taking only a few minutes your life and hearing with them. Others though, others get stuck. One might get stuck in your arm, you get tense and clench a fist out of excitement or anger, a crescendo or drumbeat making your blood flow. One might hit your leg and make you want to run or dance. Some get your right between the eyes and have you thinking for hours, throwaway lyrics multiply in your head like philosophical bacteria until you’ve gotten a new slant on life from a few seconds of a single track. More songs than enough will hit your heart.

To Kill a Mockingbird

I know, going from the blanket heading of  “music” to an individual book isnt very generous to music, but like I said, I did a blog post on it so it gets less screen time. This list will probably be odd in that regard. Anyway, this book floors me. Its like a manual on courage and conviction and decency. I’ll never forget reading the last page of part two. Atticus is explaining to his son why he sent him to wait on a mean old woman who had no kind words to say for him. The old woman was dying, and Atticus’ reason for sending his son to see her every day will stick in my memory till I die. Go read it.

Superman

Yeah, you knew it was coming, what of it? My liking for Superman is practically a joke about me. A cliche and around number 3 on the list of “obvious things to know about Stephen”, missing the number 1 spot of “his name is stephen” and number two of “he is tall”. Someone asked me once why I spent so much damn money on comics. She could see much better ways to spend that money. To her, what I had just spent was a new belt. To me though, it was a number of things. Escapism for one. Part three of six for another.  But more than anything, it was hope. Naive, childish, brilliant hope, and wonder, and the belief for a period of time that I was the equal of any challenge in the world. How this fictional character grew to have that effect on me, I couldnt tell you. Dont care to investigate it too much to be honest. I could go into details about the portrayal of the character in the current comics. The moral fortitude, the grace, the iron will. When it comes down to it though, the only thing that matters is this – He’s the good guy. The ultimate good guy. And he stops the badguys. So the John Williams theme tune makes me stand taller and I kinda want a cape.  I like my glasses. I might even think it’d be kinda cool to be a journalist. The coolest thing for me is that I just want to be one of the good guys.

Coffee

Another obvious one if you know me well enough. I do love my coffee. Although I start my day with it, I’ve never really found it perks me up. I can drink coffee and night and sleep like a baby. No, the best thing about coffee for me is that its an excuse. An excuse to meet friends, or sit back in a comfortable chair or read or watch TV. A delicious excuse I grant you, but it wouldnt taste as good without the extras. Venti latte, no stress, little bit of comic reading and half an hour to myself. Marvellous.

Writing

I dont mean the physical act of pencil to paper. That actually gives me cramp in my hand. No, I mean the process. The moments where the ideas go off like fireworks in a firework factory next to a timber yard. Whn what you were tying to think of just unfolds in your head like its always been there and you finally get the little lightbulb above your head like in cartoons. The moments that keep you smiling for the rest of the day, because you know you got that line justright. Even when I do have to note it down, pushing past the hand cramp, there’s something great in seeing it in front of you, ink on paper. The ideas in your head pulled out and tied down. This is closely followed by the gut wrenching terror of someone actually reading what you’ve written. Aft er that comes either relief or redraft and with the really good critics, you get both. I love writing and I dont do it enough. Hassle me about that ok?

Ok, thats five done! I’ll post again soon with another five, in a clever plot to make sure I update twice in quick succession. I have Matt to thank for that one (thanks Matt)

And again, please comment with some of your favourite things!

Heisenberg Reflection or the Inverse Quantum Observer Effect

I’m watching you.

But please, please please, dont change on my account. Dont define yourself just because someone is looking for definition in you, or through you. There are lots of names for it – globalisation, interdependancy, sociology etc. People are interacting more than ever before. Across the world, across their country. Across the street. They say that no man is an island, but a few people can be an archipeligo.

With everyone so close to each other nowadays – mobile phones and the internet being the greatest facilitators – its no wonder people are defining themselves more starkly than ever before. Its a post-modern trait, or so I was told at uni. Dividing things up, labeling them, categorising them and numbering them, listing them in various orders and headings so that one man’s one is another man’s one hundred. Everything divided so that nothing crosses. Individuality is maintained. Its not quite good enough nowadays to be part of the crowd, or so the crowd says. Its not good enough to not be fantastic. Exceptional. Extra-Ordinary.

Why are things like this? Thats a tough question, and one I dont think I’m the equal of. What I think I can say though, is the how. How it got this way, how it stays this way.

 Its the media. Its our entertainment, our own abyss and it has gazed also.

 The tendency to label and seperate has been around for alot longer than our most popular shows nowadays, but these modern shows just underline this tendency, surround it with lightbulbs like a dressing room mirror and show it to us with our own faces on. Then it has the audacity to tell us that its “reality”. Yes, thats right. I’ve suckered you straight into a rant about reality television. For the next few paragraphs at least.

The problem with reality television is that its entirely too real and 100% imaginary at the same time. We use television primarily for entertainment, and for the majority of its use, television has been used to broadcast mainly fiction. But then reality TV creeps in. People like you and me on television. But dammit, the second they’re on television, they stop being people like you and me. They become those people. People on television. Stars. Celebrities. Idols. And so we watch, and see ourselves become idols for other people to emulate. You watched this show to see something real, and its turned you into itself. You have its haircut, listen to its music, read its books and magazines. The real people you watched stopped being real the second you watched them, and now, you are the watched. By writers, advertisers, tv studios, newspapers, everything. You are watched to see how you react, and the world around you is slightly changed to make you react more favourably. To make you want to be so much like those former real people, that’d you’d give anything to get there.

The girl from your class who had a good voice is now that girl who tried out for pop idol. That guy who loved playing football is gonna be the next wayne rooney. You can feel it. Creative girl? Renouned artist. Writer guy? Best selling author. Class chav? Front page criminal. Everyone is gonna be big. Everyone is special, and are going to do great things.

But some people dont. Some people are the ones who didnt quite make it. The almost done its. The nearly theres. And according to the media, that makes them not good enough. No prizes for second place, oh no. but there are consequences.

Thats what I’m writing this about, really. The consequences. I dont mind reality TV in general. I change the channel. But between that, myspace music sensations and youtube stars, there is this growing idea that everyone has to be famous, somehow. Worhol was nearly right, he just didnt figure that some people might never get their 15 minutes, but kill themselves looking for it.

Not everyone becomes a star, and for some people thats just devestating. That doesnt just mean the celebrity wannabes. Not everyone is after the limelight in such an obvious way. But with everyone nowadays there seems to be this need to stand out, and when you’re not standing out, you’re not there. if you find out you cant stand out on your own, you stand out with a group. Better than nothing, right? So we split up again. We become goths, emos, ravers, neds, indie kids, rock fans, football fans and everything else. In the face of an expanding world and life experience your identity is more important than ever, so you get it from somewhere else if you dont trust your own quite enough.

So much of these identities are attached to the media we consume. The above list was primarily made up of music differences, which makes sense with music being the most obviously subdivided form of media out there. Probably not a coincidence that its the most popular either. Its not just music though, its everything. Everything is an influence. Take a look at your media, your loves and passions, and take a look at yourself. of course you’re going to be pulled to the things that ring truest with you, but how much are you pulled in by something and convinced of its truth? On the quantum level, you cant measure something without changing it, and its just the same on the social level. It becomes a sort of sociological self fulfilling prophecy where the label given to a person changes their behaviour to match the description as closely as possible.

This isnt some blanket statement on society. This doesnt happen to everyone, and its certainly not that cut and dry. But it is happening more and more, and on different scales and settings. Conservative or liberal? Democrat or Republican? Christian or Muslim?

Organisation is fine. Belonging to a group is fine. Categorisation, is fine. But its the absolutism thats the worrying part. The Finality and the expectations. When people join a group, and are described by their “membership”, how can that one word possibly cover everything they are? “emo” or “ned” is one thing, but when its things like “christian” and “muslim”, thats quite another. People are massively contradictory beings, and cant be understood by single terms alone. But thats exactly whats happening, and its generating really, really negative environments and ideas. The Polarisation in the world is evident, with religious aspect to politics and wars taking centre stage. Young men and women of various religions are seeing themselves only through that lense, only in that context, and only seeing others in through that context as well. The result? Suicide bombings. The Westborough Baptist Church. Extremists of every shape and size, clinging to one world view mainly out of fear of the growing choice of them.

Our pop culture is of the fantastic. The message we’re getting is Everyone Has to be Special. When this is channeled positively, it can drive people on to do amazing things. On the other side though, there are people struggling with the idea, the competition, the desire for importance. The message we should be getting is that everyone IS special. We are all capable of greatness and and of ourselves, individually, not the greatness we are told to aspire to. its a catch 22 – The one thing we all have in common is that we’re all unique. We belong to one, huge, diverse and fascinating group, 6.6 billion members, 6.6 billion stars on a massive stage. Sometimes we get so caught up in other people’s light, that we forget our own. They reflect on us, and we dim down and bask in their glow, and forget that someone might want or even need ours.

Earlier I mentioned the abyss, but its not an abyss at all. Its a bright, brilliant light, and its coming out of everyone. Other people can be great examples, but they cant be objectives or end points. Ultimately, its all down to you. And if you think about it properly? You’re a star.

tired thoughts

Ok, I’m a little tired and was up till stupid o’clock last night, so forgive me if this post rambles on a bit.

 

I don’t even know what I’m about to write about. I started putting on music on youtube that I’m probably too old for and would never let anyone know I listen to, and its gotten me thinking in that soap opera OC teen drama with a supercool soundtrack way.

 

It’s becoming a real struggle, by this, the third paragraph, not to make this into a nostalgia post. I did enough of those on livejournal and no one needs to hear it again. Instead, I think I’ll think about the music, and the drama.

 

There’s a reason that TV shows and films put so much effort into soundtracks. The right song at the right moment can have the most profound effects, raising emotion on subjects you thought long since resolved, or never even knew were there. It makes me wonder just what it is about music that can do that, underline a feeling or idea or emotion so incisively and powerfully. Although I suppose its not just music – a good book can do it, a favourite comic book even (All star superman issues 6 and 10), a work of art or a photograph. It strikes me that these things work really well in twos. I’ll champion comic books – American and Japanese and from anywhere in the world – till I die, an obvious marriage of words and pictures. The aforementioned TV use of music and moving pictures can work wonderfully and for some reason always surprises me. There are apparently a few comic book writers out there who see a strong link between comics and music, which is something I’ll need to read more about. Adding music to a comic, making it move, it feels like making it more like reality. Books go through it too, only with the added stage of storyboarding – a process I find suspiciously like a comic book. The book becomes a comic, which then becomes filmed. We read it, then we can see it, then we can see it in motion, the steps away from reality are becoming less and less. Of course, we watch our films and TV shows and know they aren’t real, and maybe that’s where the music comes in. We can suspend our disbelief over a bridge if we want, but we still know its not real. As much as we can connect with the emotions, they aren’t real emotions. Maybe the music helps. Its either a big neon sign saying “be sad here” and “smile at this” or it’s a two pronged attack, to make up for the lack of emotional kick that the medium just cant escape.

 

Last year in uni, my lecturer asked the class why we studied English. Why should a university put so much money into studying books? I always thought the obvious answer – its about communication. We try and get across our ideas and feelings and thoughts whatever way we can, whether we realise it or not. A raised eyebrow is as much communication as a written letter, sometimes moreso. Studying English was really just a study of communication, analysis of tone and structure and word choice, related to everything around it.

 

I’ve actually totally lost my train of thought and have no idea what I was going to say, so I’ll stop here save for some one word comics reviews…

 

 One Word Reviews – Comic Books

 

Ultimate Fantastic Four – Namor (Note: this one word should say it all)

 

Batman and the Outisders – Dropped

 

The Flash – Gorillas

 

Final Crisis – Rogue’s Revenge – Awesome.

Accelerate

As has been pointed out by my irritating if good intentioned friend, it has indeed been over a week since my last post proclaiming I’d try and update weekly. Sorry. It’ll probably happen again, but I hope its for good reasons, like this time.

I would have of course updated on Monday but I went directly from work to a small gig in Glasgow to see two excellent bands, The Andersens and the Starlets.Then I would have updated on Tuesday night, but I had a driving lesson for two hours, so that killed most of my evening. However, both gig and lesson were good for me and came equipped with the same message – Drive! Seems obvious enough, I know, especially with the driving lesson which gets that message home pretty powerfully, but bare with me.

Coming on second, the Starlets had alot to comepte with if they wanted to stand up to the Andersens, and they did very well, owing not least to the banter of frontman Biff Smith. He painted a picture familiar to me, of growing up in a small town and feeling utterly trapped there. All that changes, he says, when one of your friends learns how to drive, and all of a sudden you can go beyond the town borders as and when you please. The song he sang was called “we can drive”, and I daresay it made me want to join them.

The Andersens are from Japan, and were in a bar in Glasgow. Just made me realise how cool it’ll be when I’m from Scotland and sitting in a bar in Japan. The Andersens didn’t drive to get here, they flew.

One Word Reviews – Comic books

New Avengers 42 – Explainitory

Secret Invasion 4 – Promising

JSA 17 – Calm

Trinity 6 – Expositional

Ultimate origin 2 – Unnecessary

Final crisis: Requiem – Fitting

Action Comics 867 – Interesting

Booster Gold 1,000,000: Perfect

Return

Ok, so operation “good blog” didnt start off so well, but that doesnt mean it has to stop. I made this decision when I started this blog that it wouldnt have anything to do with my life, just a bunch of musings, reviews and general geek chat. Then the occasional thoughtful thing crept in, like my last post. Trying to keep my life out of my blog is entirely pointless. Even if I just write reviews, I’m still putting across my personality, my views and my outlook, even if its not to do with my life directly.

Everything to do with this blog so far has been entirely indicative of my personality. I started with the best of intentions, just wanted to talk about my favourite things, keep myself hidden away from it. Then I started to think a little more than I intended, and we got some posts on suicide. Then I let my life get in the way of this, and it fell by the wayside. I imagine if I hadnt been so against posting things about my life then this blog would have been peppered with posts.

So I am making a change. In alot of things, but lets just focus on the blog for a moment. I’ll still do reviews and the like, rant about my geekish peeves and the state of society, but the blog will probably not be as dedicated to the reviews as before unless in special cases. I’ll try and post every week on something, and maybe include a few paragraphs at the bottom of some reviews of comics or tv shows or manga or anime or whatever. The bulk of my blog, I hope, will be of substance. be it about my life or just life or just something, I’ll just do my best to make it interesting for you.

Here it goes then, blog take two. If it first you dont succeed…..

Chapter 1, in which introductions are made and intentions declared

Hi, thanks for checking out the blog. As this is the first one, I’m just going to introduce myself and then run through the format I hope to follow for each blog after this.

My name is Stephen, I’m 22 and live in Port Glasgow, Scotland. I’m between places right now. Uni is done, and something else hasnt started. I do admin work for an agency and write when I get the chance. I’m your general all-purpose geek – comic books, sci-fi, films and TV, anime and manga etc –  however, I function in society. I love my music, and have a weird thing about the sky.  I want to experience more than I have so far in a shorter space of time, and do it on my terms.

I’ll post at least once a week, with some reviews of things I’ve read, listened to or watched etc. This will be at least one comic  book every week, and anything else from music to films or tv shows, art etc. I’ll post at least once every fortnight on something that isnt review related. A digital display of some thought thats been rattling about in my head. Maybe I’ll rant about current events, or give an opinion on politics. Maybe I’ll say that dogs are worse than cats or that I really have a grudge against bees. I’ll say something I’ve thought of all by myself, and not just review something that I havent.  First review date will be within one week of today, and the first non-review blog withing two weeks of today.

I hope you’ll keep checking the blog and enjoy what you find here, and I’d love any comments you have on it. Dont be shy.

S