And just like that, I fell in love again...

If you know me but at all, you will know that I’m a bit of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fanatic. Hmm. Maybe “a bit” is something of an understatement! And I suppose it is. The usual trappings of crazy fandom were there; I bought every boxset as it was released, I had the board game, the spin off books, the subscription to the official magazine, the action figures, the Watchers’ Guides, I joined an online fan forum, I had the top trumps, the coffee mug, the posters, the Easter egg, the Advent calendar... I could go on, and on some more! I sought out and gleefully accepted as a gift, any item that had even the most tenuous relationship to my most favouritist TV show of all time ever. But let’s face it, Buffy was more than just a television show to me, as sad as it sounds, those familiar characters and emotional dramas gave me a sense of hope in my darkest places. It was a constant source of joy and consolation during what was a bewildering and often quite frankly lonely time, otherwise known as my teenage years.

The Bronte Sisters...

Everyone has heard of them. Not all of those people have read their work. In fact, many will not have, especially readers of my generation, myself included. But their legacy is so pervasive, so ingrained into popular culture, that their fame has transcended their work and entered the global consciousness. Just like Shakespeare, or Tolkien, or (unfortunately) Rowling. Even if you have never read their stories, you know of them, they are cultural icons.

Not nearly Shameless enough

Every once in a while you witness something that causes you to have a visceral reaction. It holds you in the grip of a strong emotion and you feel compelled to shout your view over the roof tops, either championing it or condemning it. The latest thing to cause such a reaction in me is a TV show. In fact, quite often it’s a TV show or a film or a book or some other form of art because let’s face it all of these distractions form a daily part of our lives. Despite the fact that these things are fictional, ultimately, our response to them and opinions of them can be as all encompassing as anything else ‘real’ going on in our lives. Or maybe I’m just a massive geek!* In any event, the TV show that I going to climb onto my soap box over today is the US version of Shameless.

The Writer's Holy Grail or Hand Grenade?

It’s a big wide world out there, or so they say. In that big wide world it would appear that there are thousands upon thousands of people trying to publish a novel.

I love to write. I really, really do. I find it cathartic and interesting and satisfyingly enjoyable. I feel as though I am learning how to write as I go along. The more I do it, the more coherent it becomes. The more I do it, the more pleasure I get from it. The more I do it, the more I want to do it. Not entirely unlike other activities I can think of! Except, of course, the end result is generally less sticky. Generally.

A Mind Without Limits

NZT-48. It’s a new drug designed to force your brain into working at its highest possible capacity at all times. If only. It’s the basis for the plot of Limitless, a new film that I have seen recently staring Bradley Cooper. Marketed as an action blockbuster of sorts, and given Bradley Cooper’s slick image I figured that it would be forgettable throwaway fare that I was in no rush to see. But to my pleasant surprise it’s a solidly clever Science Fiction film which actually allows Cooper to demonstrate what a fine actor he can be. Who knew?

The Sheer Horror.... (Beware, here be spoilers!)

I’m so glad that the book is over now. How compelling it was, how utterly horrifying and how very clever. The book which I am referring to here is American Psycho. A book that I was sure someone of my disposition would never read. Ironically, I never imagined the contents of the novel to be as deeply disturbing as they actually are. I guess, in my younger days, I avoided the book because I thought that the character would be frightening, which he is, but not in a “baddie-monster” way. Well, he is a monster, but he’s a by-product of our society, rather than a monster created out of myth and magic, which in itself is far more unsettling.

'Nay, come, let's go together...'

Hamlet, as I mentioned in my last post, is a play that I hold quite dear to my heart, as do many people. It made an impression on me, as it has done with many people. The play has a sort of universal appeal, and this time around I wondered whether I would gain anything new from the retelling of it, which was one of the reasons why I was looking forwards to seeing it again. I was also curious to see whether Northern Broadsides would weave their usual charm and cause my friends (many of whom were unfamiliar with the story) to truly engage with the play. I was very pleased to be proved right on both points, that Northern Broadsides would breathe life into their interpretation of this classic text, and that I would draw new inferences from the experience.