Alex Laybourne's Blog, page 75
September 2, 2012
September 1, 2012
Children, TV Shows, Midgets and Porn
Ok, the last two are just an experiment to see if certain terms will yield greater search results and blog visits. We all know midgets and porn are two commonly searched for terms.
This post doesn’t really have a point, but then again.. do they need to.
I guess there are a few things bouncing around my mind, but they are more loose thoughts than any real train or coherence. But here goes.
The final day of the football transfer window kept me entertained all day yesterday
I think that my blog posts this month have been some of my best ever,
I have had to fight for every visit that I have.
It appears that my blog is popular when I post, but creates no lasting impression as views on days when I don’t post often just scrape into the teens.
Ok, just realised the last three are a bit coherent.
I did not plan on writing number 5. it just popped right in there.
I don’t think we use the word mellow often enough.
While I love Zoos, they also make me sad.
I love the Mountains, they are the place I feel most relaxed,
I also love Swimming Pools – lazing beside them while on a relaxing holiday.
A pool in the mountains would be a dream place to live.
Found it.
I want to go / live / be her (now) http://homedesignpics.com/swimming-pool-in-every-room-jade-mountain-resort-in-st-lucia/
I fear change,
I sometimes fear that my randomness, and often twisted sense of humor will push away those around me.
Online I repress this random side of my somewhat.
I like politically incorrect humor.
Most of my statements sound harsh, but are meant in jest (all of the time)
For number 18, please bear number 16 in mind.
Never suggest that someone in your office should have been shot when they were a child.
REMEMBER NUMBER 16… please.
Wow, there are a lot of thoughts floating around in here. This could be a long and random post. I’d better stop.
Ok, I’m stopping.
Bye
August 30, 2012
Where’s The Fire?
“By what seemed then and still seems a chance, the suggestion of a moment’s idle thought followed up upon familiar lines and paths that I had tracked a hundred times already, the great truth burst upon me, and I saw, mapped out in lines of light, a whole world, a sphere unknown; continents and islands, and great oceans in which no ship has sailed (to my belief) since a Man first lifted up his eyes and beheld the sun, and the stars of heaven, and the quiet earth beneath.”
Arthur Machen – The Great God Pan
I have just finished reading this (short) novel, and besides being a great tale, there was one thing that struck me most of all. It is about the style of writing. The structure of the work.
Nowadays, we are all about speed, everything needs to be set up in a fashion that minimizes time investment, while maximizing results. Be it in the workplace or at home, having fun. Even relaxing and enjoying hobbies, it would seem has become a quest for fulfilling ones desires in as short a time as possible.
Why?
Because we are all too busy. Too many places to go, people to see. We have emails to check, blogs to read, blogs to write, friends to call, acquaintances to text, we have YouTube videos to watch, likes to return, respects and tweets that need to be favorited, and re-tweeted, not to mention the required responses and ensuing 140 character conversations. There are hash-tags to remember and create, and of course, real relationships to be maintained, household chores to do, TV programs to watch, record and download. It is no wonder we are all in such a rush.
Back in the 1890′s there was not such a rush in the way of life, not as we see it today. That relaxed, laid back way was part of that generation, and it is displayed in the writing. Especially within the Great God Pan. I brushed on this in my review of the book here.
The long flowing sentences of the book, and I daresay of other writings at that time, exude a decadence that even the best modern writers cannot truly reproduce, because, deep down, we are no wired to think that way anymore.
Personally, I find is a disheartening truth, and I hope that you all agree with me, when I say that we rush needlessly through life, and all often forget to stop and smell the roses, or spend a few hours watching the world go by for no reason other than the fact we wanted to. We felt like stopping and letting go.
I am by no means claiming that we should be lazy, or that the people of previous centuries were lazy, rather, I aim my views at the way of life that society dictates we follow.
This post has strayed somewhat away from the topic I had planned to write about, and so that shall come at a later day, but in the meantime, let us consider the tempo with which we live out lives.
How often do we really just sit back and let things go, completely.
E-readers, as great as they are, have not helped. They delivery books instantly, they have lowered the cost of books so we can buy more, and therefore as an indirect result, read more. With freebie promotions being thrown around like a cake at a birthday party, we are being inundated with reading material, and I at least, feel obligated to read them all.
To revert back to the Great God Pan, as a mere singular example. There were passages in the book where one paragraph consumed multiple pages. Nowadays, with the modern style of writing, this would be an assault on our senses, as well as an affront to our speed conscious sensibilities. How can we monitor our progress reading through one big chunk of text, while short, sharp paragraphs help us monitor our march that much more efficiently.
However, in this text, with the flowing words and the grace with which each one was slotted into position, the blocks of text became not a challenge, but a pleasure. Maybe it is just me, maybe I am sentimental and possibly even a man born in the wrong era, but I found myself growing sad at the loss of such sentence structure and languid style prose.
Is there a place for such free-flowing thoughts and bodies of fiction in modern life, or are they outdated. Could a modern author pull it off, and even is so successful, would readers accept it, or jump upon with negativity?
Do we all move too fast, or am I just slow and holding onto something that I wish I had been able to experience.
August 29, 2012
Review: The Great God Pan
The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I heard about this novel some time ago, but for some reason it slipped my mind and it wasn’t until recently that I stumbled upon it.
As far as horror stories go, it is aged, there can be no denying it, but if you are to read it and cast yourself into not just the world of the story, but the thinking at the time, ir is a creepy story, and a tale as good as anything written today.
There was a surge of PAN related stories written around the turn of the nineteenth century, but this one in particular was good enough to inspire the great HP Lovecraft, and having read it, I can understand why.
There is something dark and sinister in the tale, every word, every decadent description of the lavishes of life hold behind them a sense of ominous foreboding.
The story plays on the mind, it builds suspense, and goes to show that you do not need blood and gore to scare people. In fact, it goes so far as to say that no real monster is needed, not until then end, but rather a mere glance at the victims is enough to set the mind racing with fear.
One thing that struck me most, and which I love about the older writings, is the rich flow and quality to the sentences. Some of which would scroll on for lines and lines of text, proving that with correct punctuation, real language can be allowed to ramble, and express itself in any form seen fit.
I will certainly be re-visiting this little tale, and feel myself oddly inspired to write some form of homage to it. Let us see how that pans out (pun fully intended. 
)
August 28, 2012
Agust Prompt: The Winner is….
I received a few entries for my Prompt competition this month, which was more than I was expecting if I am honest with you.
After having read them all, I am happy to announce that the winner is … Nick Palmer and his fantastic entry: All That’s Left.
Thank you to everybody who entered, and I will leave you to enjoy the winning entry below.
All That’s Left
Twisted roots tripped him and tangled branches whipped at his arms, drawing specks of blood with their sharp thorns. The musty leaf-smell of the forest tickled his nose and a damp fog brought with it a prickling chill. He paid no attention to where he was going; he had left the car on a verge by the roadside and just started walking into the heart of the wood. He smiled to himself as he went and shifted the backpack on his shoulder.
Stumbling over a fallen tree, he scraped the skin of his hand against its rough bark, landing face down amongst the leaf mould. He clambered to his feet and sucked at his injured hand. As the metallic taste of blood touched his tongue, he took in his surroundings. He was in a small clearing, or, at least, the trees were more widely spaced here. The light of the setting sun seemed like a distant camp fire obscured by the clinging fog, shining between two tall trees, which raised bare branches to each other like embracing lovers. It looked like something out of a horror movie. This was the place.
He sat on the fallen trunk and took his rucksack from his back, unzipped it and took out the urn. Once again he was surprised by how heavy it was. Crafted silver dragons swept across its surface, turning and breathing mercurial fire. He unscrewed the lid gently and placed it down on the leaves between his feet. Getting up, he walked slowly to the two trees and looked down into the black hole of the open urn.
“You’d love it here, Jess,” he said in a whisper, “This would be the scene of one of your stories. It’s like that forest in France; the one we were in all day. I kept saying we were lost and you kept shaking your head and saying ‘I’m never lost when I’m with you’.”
He paused, waiting for the pain in his throat to pass so that he could speak again.
“I love you and I’m lost without you, but I know you’ll be happy here.”
Tears ran down his cheeks as he tipped the urn, shaking it back and forth. The dragons’ breath turned to fire in the sunset and ashes danced with the wind.
August 27, 2012
Do You Have The Combination
I feared that I had lost my mind, but then I realized, I was fearful for my sanity once, and so I took it, and placed it in a safe place.
Somewhere far away from the world, from the dangers and the venom that would so dissolve my mind and leave me crazy… crazy as a loon.
The only problem is… I can no longer find the key…. I wonder, is there anything behind this door?
Balancing on the abyss, the finger tips of madness tickle my feet as I move along the ledge, only, what are we all inching towards?
Smells Like Man Flesh
We all know that we are what we eat, and all sexy beasts jokes apart, there is a certain element of truth to that. But what about if other people eat us? What then?
I have often found myself wondering if people of different nationalities taste differently.
I am of the belief that out diet shapes how our flesh would taste. Now, I have no plans on finding out, but I cannot see any other answer. If you look at how diets across the world vary, it can only be assumed that flesh of those eating the diet would have a taste that varies accordingly. Of course I am talking about eating the mean plain, possibly even raw. No seasonings of sauces here.
He liked fine wine and avocados… delightful
I mean sure, Zombies aren’t fussy, they eat whatever they can get, but for the more intellectual cannibals, the much more sinister of the flesh eaters, there surely needs to be some element of thought put into meal planning. Would eating a vegetarian be the same as eating an out-and-out meat head along with a side of steamed vegetables?
Lifestyle should obviously also play a part when choosing who you are going to eat. I guess, it could be further boiled down to be based around what body part and or organs you plan on cooking with.
That being said, someone who is all muscle would probably taste just as bad as an obese person. Sure the steaks would be huge, but the meat undoubtedly tough. What you would rather go for is an Average Joe, the kind of everyday person who has a decent layer of fat on them, not only will it yield a tenderer meat, but the levels of adrenaline that course through the body will be higher than they are used to, and will add a subtle flavor to finished cut.
I was reading an article the other day that said fat is actually good for the brain. It is the layer of fat that surrounds our cranial engine that ensure we stay on top of our A game. Hence why Fish, Omega oils and nuts have been labelled brain food. See again how diet can play a role in the end taste of the meat?
I’m allergic to nuts… but I like Tuna fish.
I am not sure why, but there seems to be a distinct lack of cannibals in the horror world today. Zombies apart, Hannibal is really the only man in town who is partial to the odd joint of Roasted Long Pig on a Sunday. Maybe it is a positive that can be found in the rising obesity levels within modern society. We are starving the cannibal into extinction.
I say it is time that the Cannibals return… I am determined to write a cannibal story that will return this more gruesome of predator to the top of the food chain.
You have my full attention, Sir.
At the very least we may be able to scare the general population back into shape. Medicine may be advancing and keeping us living long and abusing our bodies even harder, because Doctors can just patch us up and ship us back out.
Watch out, because there will soon be a new enemy walking the streets, one you won’t recognize until you see him descending upon you, steak knife and pepper-mill in hand.
