Musings

Flowing Downhill?

Yesterday, I watered some flowers in a wooden bucket out back. I watched as the water came out of the bottom of the bucket and began to accumulate and then migrate a path across the concrete flowing downhill. It made me wonder if life isn’t like that. We think that we make decisions about everything from what we will have for breakfast to who to marry. Each decision dictates a pathway and we become the product of our decisions over time. I am now who I am because I made a decision to go to Aston instead of Sheffield University, for example. But do we make hard decisions or do we in reality chose the easiest pathway – going downhill if you like? Do we wait to make decisions until

The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer

Sometime back in the 1980’s, I watched a late night movie on TV called The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer. I was awestruck by it and never forgot the plot or the name of the movie. It’s a shame that more people haven’t seen the movie really especially now post-BREXIT referendum. It has coloured my thinking ever since I saw it including my deep suspicion of politicians and their referendums. The movie is a brilliant satirical look at politics in the 1970’s in Britain. Written by Peter Cook, John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Kevin Billington the film follows the Mr. Michael Rimmer as he rises to become de facto President of Britain. It is utterly brilliant. It can now be seen in its entirety on youtube and I really

Pills

I don’t know whether it is because I am a closet hypochondriac or just 20-years under the US health system, but I realized this week I drop an awful lot of pills. Now, I will hasten to add, many are vitamins and supplements but still. In hospital this week I realized that the doctors there have a system and it goes like this. Side effect? Ah, take this. After a while, you are taking pills for a side effect of the pills you took for a side effect of the antibiotics! We have become a society who simply believes that there is a pill for everything haven’t we? When you have time on your hands and nothing to do but browse the net, you start looking at things. For example,

Support Me?

Crowd Funding and Patreon

So, I had heard of crowdfunding of course in which people give a small amount of money towards a venture or a cause with the idea that these donations add up via a crowd of donators. What I had not heard of was using a similar model to support creative people. However, I found one and am giving it a try. The idea here is that people who write books, blog, make videos, paint and so on are often unable to make sufficient money to make it worth their while. So, why not get that persons ‘fans’ to pay a little money each month or by piece of work to supplement the artists activities? It’s actually a great idea in my opinion and it certainly offers another avenue to make

I don’t Get It!

There are many things that I simply don’t get. Selling books is one despite trying very hard this last three years or so to figure it out. Can anyone answer these questions? 1. If you have a hit book why does the next book that you write not sell? Yes, Your Haunted Lives has been in the top 10 in supernatural in the UK and in the US for around 3-months yet The Pink Bus (a book I think is my best work to date), isn’t selling at all. Is it about title or cover? apparently not, for I also put out the Pink Bus under another name with different title and cover with the same result. 2. Why can I not create a brand? I have strove to create

Amazing Coincidence

This last weekend, we went to a fairly remote location north of Prague for some hiking and sight seeing. On the Sunday, we were trying to decide where to stop for lunch. Initially, we stopped at a pub that looked quite nice but we were put off by the interior and so we set off again. A few minutes later, we saw another place that looked OK so we pulled in. Parking was a bit of an issue as the place seemed quite popular. We had our lunch and then we walked around and up the hill a little, taking in the pretty hillside cottages and the view. Then, we walked around the back of the pub/restaurant, got in the car and, after a quick chat and change of plan,

The Pink Bus

The Pink Bus and Other strange Tales from LaLa Land actually got its start a long time ago. I wrote a short story right into this blog around Christmas 2014 called The Meaning of Christmas and thought I’d keep a copy in my desktop folder just in case. I went back to it a few times, tweaked it, edited it and so on but couldn’t really think how to build upon it. Then, as things do, a few weeks ago, I started writing short stories. They simply poured out of me one after the other and they all seemed to be themed around death, reincarnation, ghosts and supernatural activity and the meaning of life in general. That was when I saw where the Meaning of Christmas belonged…. I honestly think

Three Words Guaranteed To Send Me Into Apoplexy

Like so many other wanna be magicians, I do try to work on myself – flaws and weaknesses – at least those I am aware of. One of my flaws is certainly that I have a quick temper. I can light up like an explosion with anger and yet 45 seconds later, have forgotten all about it. I.e. My temper is quick and there are few long lasting effects unless of course, my tongue operated without the brain…. which, in an outbreak of temper is often the case. I am trying to work on this for I know I need to. There are three words however, that despite my best attempt, will cause an immediate explosion of magnitude 10. What are they? Climate Change Denier. Yes, if you want to

Time and The Dream

Last night I had one of those dreams that has you questioning everything. The alarm went off and I woke up. On waking, I recalled that I had just been dreaming and that the dream had been about setting the alarm. Now at first sight, this perhaps isn’t so puzzling but, when you think a bit deeper about it it most certainly is. I woke up as the alarm started to sound yet in the prior moments, I was dreaming about setting that very alarm. Exactly how does that work? Could it be that future events create our past and this is some type of evidence of it? Was the dream experienced as the alarm went off and only seemed to take place before it woke me up? Did I