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 A tentative blog to test the temperature. |
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Ten years ago I was writing several blogs on various subjects - F1 motor racing, Music, Classic Cars, Great Romances and, most crushingly, a personal journal that included my thoughts on America, memories of England and Africa, opinion, humour, writing and anything else that occurred. It all became too much (I was attempting to update the journal every day) and I collapsed, exhausted and thoroughly disillusioned in the end. So this blog is indeed a Toe in the Water, a place to document my thoughts in and on WdC but with a determination not to get sucked into the blog whirlpool ever again. Here's hoping.     |
| Shrinking Just a quick note to mention my latest find on AppleTV. This is a comedy series called Shrinking. The shrink part refers to the main character's job as a shrink - shades of Bob Newhart but only slightly. Anyway, I'm only on the third episode so not completely persuaded as to quality yet, but there are signs of hope. I'll report back when I know more. Word count: 65 |
| Titles Again I’m having another go at Jeremy’s SpitList Contest this year. It requires participants write a 55-word story five days a week, with a contest for the best entries over the weekend. Interesting prompts are given and I’ve managed to keep up to date so far. One of the well-thought-out rules is that the titles be one word only. That introduces an interesting side effect to the activity. Titles for such stories have to be snappy, covering the essentials of the tale without giving away its punchline. Limiting the title to one word only makes this doubly difficult. Sometimes it requires quite circumlocutory thinking to arrive at a single word that is both apt and intriguing. As far as I’m concerned, this makes the contest even more enjoyable. Finding the right title can be quite fulfilling, after all. And it’s probably good training in naming what we write. I’m not saying that you should join the activity. But you’re missing out if you want to be a short story writer. Word count: 168 |
| Television Again It’s dreadful admission time. I’ve been watching a lot of television lately. We shelled out for AppleTV to get the F1 races and I’m working my way through the most likely-looking shows. Found Severance, as I’ve mentioned before, a few stinkers and, most recently, I’ve got into a thing called Your Friends and Neighbors. Killed the first season and caught up with the second already, which means I like it. What really grips me is the view into another world it gives. The characters are all rich and deliciously wasteful of space (in as many ways as you can imagine) and the writers have actually persuaded me to like the central character. He’s a cut above the others in that he’s become conscious of just how degenerate he is. It’s all kinda cool in a yucky way. Anyway, the program makes me happy that I’m poor and never had even a sniff of riches. Heck I chose this life and I might as well enjoy it. And here I am, writing another advert for blasted AppleTV. Don’t get it unless you want to watch F1. They’re rich enough already and it would be a shame to drag them further into the muck. Word count: 202 |
| A Title I like titles that are short and pithy. The aim is really to think of one word that explains the work in a word. But every now and then, I’ll name something with a really long title, just to lighten the mood. And today I thought of a doozy. I won’t give you a link because, to be honest, the poem’s not particularly good or even special. The title is so delightful that I can’t resist telling you, however. It’s called (drum roll): They Also Compose Who Only Stand and Mumble. Word count: 91 |
| I Know Jack Today might have been designated Jack's Day. Wherever I looked, there were Jacks popping up. It started with the "Jack of all trades" prompt for the Daily Poem. Several others came along before I reached the prompt for SpliLit. That didn't mention Jack but he was so much on my mind by then that my response just had to contain him. Hopefully, this will be the last of Jack's appearances today. Word count: 71 |
| Short Stories In a bid to outwit my short story writer’s block, I signed up for Jeremy  ’s SpitLit contest. This requires a 55-word story every weekday with weekends a brief relief. Somehow I thought this might help in my quest to write a short story per week for The Bradbury.Why I figured I’d be able to write five stories per week instead of one, I do not know. The weird thing is that it works. So far I’ve not missed a day since the beginning of the challenge on March 9. And I’ve been able to use a few of the resultant stories to keep The Bradbury plodding along as well. It must be the prompts - SpitLit has ‘em, Bradbury doesn’t. Word count: 122 |
| What Are You Advertising? 🐰 Richard 🐤  did me the favour today of writing about a particular advertisement. A favour because it made me realise something that had been staring me in the face for a while without recognition.It started because I haven’t seen the ad in question. Big deal, you may think, but it’s the reason for my missing it that occasions my revelation. And that is almost certainly because Richard watches a channel that I don’t. Which would be harmless enough until you remember that everything has become so political that advertisers choose their channel to suit their politics (or fear thereof) these days. This means that I’ll see a completely different range of ads than will someone watching a different channel. And the matter of which ads you’ll admit to having seen becomes a telltale into your political leanings, no matter how closely you guard such things. So this is my latest crackpot theory. Tell me the ads you see and I’ll know your politics. Most of the time. Well, a lot of it. Okay, it’s not infallible but I suspect it’ll prove fairly reliable. Not that I care, of course. I keep my own politics quiet because I became tired of the silly and unnecessary arguments espousal of them creates. As far as I am concerned, you can think what you like as long as you don’t try to convert me to your opinion. It’s no skin off my nose if you insist on being wrong. But I can tell you one thing. I probably won’t be referring to any adverts I’ve seen for a while. Word count: 263 |
| Cult Classics The problem with cult classics and their follow-up episodes is that, eventually, they become so old that their actors are all retired or dead. So we will never see how Rubicon, Slings & Arrows, Detectorists, and Severance, come to a believable ending. They were always too good for the networks to see them through. They will, in fact, all go the way of Lost. |
| An Amy Clone The first time I heard a clip of Allie Sherlock, I thought I'd found a clone of Amy Winehouse. Since then I've realised that Allie is her own singer and has a distinctive style beyond sounding like Amy. But today I found the real Amy clone. Listen to this lady: |
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