Food for Thought

Spare a thought for Michael Collins, the astronaut who escaped fame by a couple of feet

~Fraser

Nostalgia

I wonder if it's just me or does anyone else find they're living in the past.

Watching old movies, listening to old songs, playing old games. I'm so Retro when I see something new I'm dazzled by how different it is.

I wonder if that's healthy? I mean can we really develop if we're always living in the past?

Well one more rerun of Futurama couldn't hurt

Even if it's been played more times than the Dokken cd that I never remember to take out my car before driving to/from work

~Fraser

Remember

What will our generation be remembered for?

Our short attention span? How you can become famous overnight and be forgotten by lunchtime?

Our fascination with social media?  How at any time of the day or night you can read about mundane Jane, who's classic posts include, "I'm bored...what's everyone doing?"

The huge success of online dating? Why talk to people around you when you can crawl back into your room, draw the blinds and spy on people online. //wink//

I read Google's message yesterday - "maybe your idea will be the next great success" it inspired me. I thought, yeah you know what it might be! Wait...what idea?

My Gran used to tell me about all the whizz-kids she read about in the paper becoming millionaires when they were 16. "You're good with computers why don't you do something like them?"

A great idea until I realised the best I could come up with was a game idea about a glove-man and creating my own laptop from a cardboard box with bottle caps stuck to it.

Well she also called me a "skinny-malink" and I'm still thin so I guess I'm doing ok. Whatever a "Malink" is.

Seem to find people barely have any time for themselves these days, let alone anyone else. Don't know how it came to be that most of us are too busy to live our own lives.

"People are so rude" my barber told me, "nobody cares they just let door slam on me and my daughter. Even at 9 months old old she already says please and thank you!"

"Well" I said "there's hope for us yet."

~Fraser

Fidchel

Hi Guys,

Anyone who loves a good game or has a leaning towards Celtic Folklore/Mythology/History will hopefully enjoy this post!

I have been thinking of a way to make a fast and fun (hopefully : P) board/pen and paper game that can be played easily by anyone with a few minutes. I was reading about the ancient Celtic game of Fidchel and decided I'd have a go at making a modern interpretation of the old game.

It's a cross between Rock/Paper/Scissors and Chess; so very easy to play and quite strategic.

All you need to play is one Rule Sheet, Two Play sheets (one for you and one for your opponent), a pencil and an eraser.

Me and my Fiance played our first game yesterday and had a laugh so I think it's ready for the public.

Links are below for the downloads so give it a shot and let me know what you think. Unless you hate it, because I might just go into a Warp Spasm!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1lf469tRjKmLV9JMmVrR29qaW8/edit?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1lf469tRjKmMm4way1aa3lseXc/edit?usp=sharing

~Fraser

Food for Thought

There's a mosquito lying dead next to me on the bed.

"What's the matter? Starve to death?"

~Fraser

Balance

For a long time, since the age of 16 to be precise I have considered that Balance was the key principle to living a good life.

It shows my education in Philosophy and gives insight into my untimely maturation.

I was a big follower of Aristotle and believed his Ethics to be spot on. For every virtue there is a vice on either side. To be brave one must not be a coward and equally not be foolhardy.

Try and think of some balanced people and in your head you probably conjure up some vague image of boredom personified.

I'm actually growing to believe that it is in our extremes that we are characterised.

Extremes impress us; make us envious or competitive. Think of a man flying between mountain peaks in a wingsuit. That makes us stop and think. Forget the balancing act that man does to juggle work/life/family. It's what lies outside of the balance that defines him.

His passion.

I came across a great illustration by Zac Gorman - I suggest you google it - it says "Quit your day job and do what makes you happy". Picture of mario plumbing a toilet and next to it a pic of him busting mushrooms with a great smile.

So, we get stuck in a career path and stifle the embers of dreams we once had; but how we envy those who make the leap of faith and start their own business/pursue a hobby/go freelance.

Each day I work I know I'm working towards my personal goals as well as my business ones but I see others whose fires are growing dim. You can tell by looking in their eyes that the dream is dying day by day.

One glorious day will rise when I can take that leap but it is not today.

It wouldn't hurt to lean more towards an extreme once in a while (not all the time like my uni days) in the end, isn't that makes us truly balanced. Only being balanced some of the time.

There's one for Xeno I believe...

~Fraser

Passing thoughts

How will we be remembered?

I wondered recently, spurred on by the recent passing of my father on the 27th January.

For a long time we didn't see eye to eye. Well that's to put it lightly. I grew up thinking we were polar opposites. Now as I grow older and more mature I find more of his character in mine.

How I laughed when I found a picture of him with long hair. The same long hair he was constantly making fun of me for.

Now I work in IT software sales, love mountains and fitness, and find his words coming out of my mouth.

Yet we only came to share a mutual respect around three or four years ago. What if his cancer had been more aggressive? It would have been a true shame and left many things unsaid that had saved what was a fragile relationship.

It seems a shame that people die so young but I can at least say we made our peace. I will try to remember the good days and take consolation knowing they were his last

~Fraser

Hazy

My memories back to my school days are hazy at best and for good reason. I hated my time there and if I am remembered at all it would be as the quiet kid that kept to himself and was passed between frustrated teachers and eager bullies.

Uni changed all that for me and it was a place where I could reinvent myself without any prejudice. Reinventing myself so that if I'm remembered at Uni it would probably be as the quiet guy who kept to himself and was passed between frustrated teachers and eager bar staff.

I find it odd when I hear stories of hazing within Universities that goes all the way from freshers to the professors. I expect that kind of nonsense in children and teenagers, but adults? It's this kind of mentality that breeds a perpetual cycle of child abuse cases.

How can you justify causing someone misery by the fact that it was inflicted on you. Equality does not equate to Fairness nor Justice for that matter.

When I hear stories of hazing, or professors justifying exploiting students and hurting their feelings on a whim I wonder what petty minds they must have. I know academics by it's very nature is unprofessional but this is the future of our nation and it's a shame to hear the saying, "If you can't do; teach."

I learned enough to make me the man I am today from great teachers in my lifetime and it makes me sad to see others with teachers who discourage and insult because they don't know how to manage their students.

If you resort to insulting a student you are weak minded.

If you can't match wits with someone half your age you are not fit to teach.

If you are not fit to lead, get off the pulpit.

~Fraser

Dear Mr Gove...

The best teachers in my mind are the experienced ones. Having tried it myself on a stint in Korea for a year, it's tough going. Thoroughly enjoyable and at the same time thoroughly infuriating. One of the worst things I came across, other than the hair-pulling levels of stress, was meddling.

People that don't know what's happening inside the classroom getting involved, changing things round and standing back to watch what happens.

What happens? You teach worse. Why? You've just had your experience taken away.

Getting comfortable with a job role can be a curse in that some things become stagnant, potentially boring. Surely the risk is higher that the teacher isn't familiar with what they are supposed to be doing. Give the teachers cause to doubt and the children will soon realise/capitalise.

They can smell fear...

So what makes me think of this now, two years after my adventure in the classrooms of South Korea. A certain Education Minister the UK has that goes by the name of the Right Honourable Michael Gove. His name reminds me of the Right Honourable Sheriff of Nottingham.

I saw my mum and her coworkers driven from their primary school as the result of government strategies to downright embarrass the experienced teachers into leaving their school. Take them out of their comfort zones, change teaching procedures and styles. Wait until they inevitably get worse at teaching and then shove it in their faces and watch them leave. Replace with younger teachers. Rinse. Repeat.

I'm sure somewhere out there they realise how important our teachers are and will show them the respect they deserve after years of service. Some of those classrooms are worse than warzones.

Be careful if you mention his name within the corridors of your local school. The D+T Teacher may just show you the voodoo doll they've been sculpting.

~Fraser

Creativity vs Beauty

I recently had a conversation with my Fiancé about art. We both come from very different backgrounds and our art is as different as possible.

We noticed her style was just raw creativity, no thought about the end product just ideas given life. It's a nice notion but often ends with confused result. It's difficult to appreciate as I find myself wondering what emotion/effect she is trying to achieve. That type of art is more of a personal experience and because it lacks clarity for others who don't share her mindset, I wonder, does the art lose some of it's worth?

I always appreciated art that looks aesthetically pleasing, perhaps old fashioned but I love the classics. Real medieval and Renaissance masterpieces and have no real love for "Modern Art" or surrealism.

I'm not trying to make a futile debate that ends in the inevitable line down the middle as every other debate will naturally end up with but it did get me thinking. How does it affect my art, the style that I have adopted and nurtured over time to make my own.

Recently I discovered the BBC are holding a short story contest with a deadline for submissions at the end of this month. I doubt I'll be able to finish one in time considering I haven't prepared but thought I'd give it a shot, even if nothing else to get some more ideas to do some more writing.

I took a different stance this time. Rather than saying "I want a story like this" I wondered, "what would the public/BBC want?" I can almost hear some artists muttering "sell out", but bare with.

It's a different method to get the result but does it remove some of the artistic quality from the work?

I was really surprised with the ideas I came out with. Some pretty exciting stuff (even if I say so myself!) and all the result of changing my viewpoint.

I'd been so stuck in the same frame of mind when thinking of stories that it was becoming a little difficult to think of stories of any worth for the competition. Now, in a short space of time last night I made three.

Perhaps what most interested me is that it doesn't matter what is the best method of creating art, but that you try different methods, try different things, experiment - because in the end, isn't that what being creative is all about?

~Fraser

Influence

Some of my earliest memories are sat next to my Dad as he read me stories before bed.

The Hobbit was definitely my favourite and I loved the riddles and the appropriately squeaky voice used for Gollum.

I also remember him reading Beowulf and the Knights of the Round table and it left me thinking, that despite intention to put me to sleep, I can't help feeling that those stories crept into my dreams.

Since an early age I was fascinated by warriors and knights, grand deeds by great heroes. The first real book I actually read was a collection of short stories about dragons, or more importantly for me the men who fought them.

Stan Bolovan and the Dragon whom he tricks, the Prince of the Thieves, Lancelot, Beowulf, and Jason and the Argonauts. Wonderful stories every one.

I got into writing when I was 16 and my first ever story (well -- film script) was a parody of Jason and the Argonauts. The less said about it the better, but ever since I have been an avid writer. Poetry, Short Stories, Flash Fiction, A Novel. What are the majority of these stories? Fantasy fiction.

When I have children of my own, I think I'm going to make some very careful choices about which books end up on the bedside cabinet.

~Fraser