Friday Flash - Forest For The Trees

I will have a brand new Friday Flash for you next week, I promise. This week though, I'm proud to represent my prize-winning short story Forest For The Trees. Originally written for Elephant Words back in 2007, this story marks the first time I've ever won a writing competition - the grand runner-up prize of five whole pounds! Chev suggested I get the cheque framed, but sadly the prize money came...

Mozipedia

Simon Goddard's Mozipedia takes obsession too far. It's everything you ever wanted to know about Morrissey... and quite a bit you probably never wanted to know, unless you're a stalker. This massive 500 page breeze-block of a book traces the sources of every lyric, every drummer, every acquaintance... yet throughout all this, the author can't decide whether he wants to stick to just the facts or offer...

AFTERSHOCK (TANGSHAN DADIZHENG) (2010)

My Rating: YYYYYDirector: Xiaogang Feng Cast: Jingchu Zhang, Fan Xu, Chen Li, Daoming Chen, Jin Chen, Ziwen Wang, Yi Lu, Guoqiang Zhang This moving story is based on the catastrophic event of Tangshan earthquake, that happened at Tangshan, Hebei Province, China, in the early morning of July 28, 1976 with a magnitude of 7.8 Richter scale, which claimed the lives of 240,000 people, and caused another...

Top Ten Sugar Songs

I promise I'll get out of the coffee shop after this. I know you're all bored of these lists now. More interesting top tens to follow, I guarantee.In the meantime... here's a countdown of my favourite sugary songs. As usual I've kept the list just to songs about sugar, so no room for The Sugarcubes, Sugar Ray or... Sugar. Likewise, I've banned Brown Sugar by the Stones, purely because that was Number...

The Town

I don't know why people have such a problem with Ben Affleck. He's a decent enough actor, seems like a pleasant and intelligent bloke in interviews, and he's made some pretty good movies in his career. Good Will Hunting, Chasing Amy, Reindeer Games, Changing Lanes, Daredevil - OK, maybe no out-and-out classics, but he's rarely embarrassed himself. He has done his fair share of tat - Pearl Harbour,...

Holiday Wildlife

I promised you holiday snaps, but things keep delaying me. Here are a few creatures we met on our latest visit to the Lakes...A family of swans. The young cygnet must be almost fully grown but has yet to develop its adult feathers.We set out most days to feed the ducks and swans we'd met on previous holidays. Being earlier in the season, many of these were further down the shore in Bowness where...

RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE 3D (2010)

MyRating: YY1/2Director: Paul W.S. AndersonCast: Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Wentworth Miller, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Boris Kodjoe, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Spencer LockeMPAA: Rated R for sequences of strong violence and languageThe Resident Evil franchise was brought into another new level. Yes, it's 3D! Every (anticipated) movie nowadays seems to have the urgency to be shot or presented in 3D....

Paul Heaton Spills The Acid

"I worked it out the other day," says Paul Heaton. "Since 1986, there have been 19 Mercury Music Prizes, 189* Q Awards, 350* Brit Awards..." etc. etc. (*I don't remember the exact numbers, but I wouldn't be surprised if the ones quoted by Heaton were accurate) "...and what have I won? Fuck all. I'd have more chance of winning a Mobo!"The by now veteran singer-songwriter is half-joking with his audience in Manchester on Friday night, but only half....

Friday Flash - I Can Read You Like A Book

You may have noticed my semi-absence this week. All events do conspire against me. I haven't had the time to breathe, let alone write any blog posts (or read any of yours - sorry!). I did manage to write a quick Thoughtballoons script - this week's character is Lara Croft, Tomb Raider. Not originally a comic character, though comics have been written about her. My story focuses more on her original...

30 Songs - Day 17

Day 17 - A Song You Hear Often On The Radio I don't listen to the radio much. Apart from Mark Radcliffe. And Alex Lester when I can't sleep. Some of you will know why, but it's not something I can discuss here. For the time being. Many people are critical of local radio stations that only seem to have three songs on their playlist at any one time. One of those three, at the moment, would appear to be this relatively harmless little ditty...I don't...

Where We Stayed On Holiday

Five Star accommodation as always.More holiday stuff when I unpack my head....

Friday Flash - Beam Me Up

I'm not actually here this week. So I haven't had time to write a new story for Friday Flash. So instead, here's one I wrote three years ago (really? that long?) for Elephant Words. Hope you enjoy it.Beam Me UpAmy parked by The White House, where the sheep dawdled in the road like truculent teenagers, and took the path up Blackstone Edge. The Pennine Window, that’s what the experts called this area....

Top Ten Milk Songs

I did coffee...I did tea...But for those of you who prefer your beverages caffeine free and full of calcium... a Top Ten Milk Songs seemed a must. 10. Eddie Cochran - Milk Cow Blues Rock 'n' Rollers knew how to write songs about farm animals. See also the Elvis version. We need more cows in the chart these days (and no, I don't mean Lady Gaga).9. Kelis - MilkshakeHer milkshake brings all the boys...

Thoughtballoons - Mister Mxyzptlk

This week's Thoughtballoons character is the Superman-plaguing imp from the 5th Dimension, Mr. Mxyzptlk. If you're unfamiliar with the character, he's a magical sprite who likes to cause mayhem and can only be sent back to his home dimension by getting him to say his own name backwards. Kltpzyxm!Fortunately, there's another DC character (one of my favourites) who's famous for her backwards spell casting...

Her Fearful Symmetry

How many reviews of Her Fearful Symmetry will begin with the reviewer telling you how much they loved Audrey Niffenegger's previous book, The Time Traveller's Wife? And how many of those reviewers will then go on to tell you that however much they enjoyed Niffenegger's latest... it's not quite as satisfying as her debut?I'd like to buck that trend, but I'd be lying if I did. Partly it's the downbeat...