Marc L. Latham's Blog, page 4

Dragon Age Parallel World

Hi, it’s Harry Silhouetteof-Wolfhowlingonhill. When I was changing back from being Harriet I passed through the Dragon Age parallel universe to the greenYgrey and X Files worlds, so I thought I’d share my journey’s most exciting moments:

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Was Karl Lagerfeld Omission an Unconscious Fur Protest

In a mystery worthy of the XaW Files parody comedy, our description of Stella Lagerwolf-Bruno on March 7th (Stellar Satirical Comedy Paris and Milan Fashion Reports: ‘Stella is off course inspired by Stella McCartney on Stella Artois (not that we think or know that Stella drinks Stella, and we absolutely fabulously love the McCartney family contribution to animal welfare, and think Stella’s done ab fab in the fashion world); Bruno and wolves.’) omitted Karl Lagerfeld from the description.

Karl Lagerfeld Fur Controversy

We were only reminded of Lagerfeld when he was caught up in controversy, after Peta condemned Italian fur-specialist brand Fendi following the announcement of a haute couture fur show, and an Independent article by Linda Sharkey reported that its creative director is Karl Lagerfeld.

Lagerfeld has done some good stuff in the fashion world, so we don’t want to become too embroiled in the debate, although we obviously don’t agree with the use of fur, being the last of a furry fantasy species, and the industry involving a lot of unnecessary pain and suffering for beautiful real animals, but we wonder if our omission was an unconscious protest, X Files style?

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The Gray Wolves Men Comparison and Poetry in X Files Parody Epic Poem

Having one foot or two paws in the wolf world, depending on our werewolf form, the greenYgrey was disappointed when The Gray movie was made and released. That’s because it seemed to provide a negative sensationalist representation of wolves at a time when they are struggling for survival in North America, although some reintroduction campaigns have brought wolves back into areas where they were extinct, with visible benefits for the environments where the wolves have always naturally belonged.

The Grey Provides Balance

However, I quite enjoyed the movie. Although it does show the wolves in a negative light, that is mirrored by the men, and the message of the movie seems more about how similar humans are to wolves, and especially when exposed to having to survive in the wild.

The movie explores the minds of humans in relation to wolves and the wild, and has travel and poetry within the story, so it has similarities to our fantasy rambles, although it does it in a more consistently serious way.

And if women are feeling left out, well, the main woman that features is the memory of a man; memories of what might have been for a lost soul.

XaW Files Chapter 3 Episode 10

The poetic enlightened melancholy ending inspired me to look it up, finding the directors’ explanation on Yahoo Answers, which led me to look up the original version, which I found to be from Shakespeare’s Henry V, Act III, 1598 on phrases.org. 

In a weird X Files way, I think greenYgrey must have seen it before it sent XaW Files Chapter 3 Episode 10, as it also mentions it. I think it might have been inspired by the ol’ Willie Shakeyspeare link too, as it’s quite an epic!:

Chapter 3 Episode 10

Sometimes I think I’m mad to write this way, and getting madder, but I’d probably be depressed if I didn’t!

My rush to get ideas down before they fade from the mind seems like: a newsroom getting a scoop, followed by the excited rush to get it to copy, with everybody rushing to desks and computers: as I am to type mine.

As you need more oxygen the higher or deeper you travel, it seems the same for the mind when writing, with time spent in the terminator – twilight zone of the mind using up more brain power than normal thinking time, although it’s the only time I really try and think during the day normally, so maybe it’s not that different to normal problem-solving thinking, which can also be draining over time… just that I don’t normally do it these days…

Sometimes I race the battery, other times I follow it.

Once more into the fray

I’d recently seen in The Grey

I didn’t think I’d like the film

but admired the realism theme.

The wolves were portrayed negatively

but so were the men

ultimately they were shown

both only knowing wilderness heaven.

It was hell frozen over as well

but the men were already cold souls

working to drink and party

fighting against everyday banality.

I was just thinking of the way

my mind builds when writing rambles

knowing it’s time to start work

and there’s an episode needs writing

thinking something such as

Once More Into the Fray

but dillying and dallying like a greenYgrey

living day to day

warming up with some leisurely browsing

greenYgrey stats or fantasy football

how many visits did we get

how many points did we score

as good as money to look at

but it doesn’t pay the bills

would we rather your visits or money

it’d be nice to have them both

but if it was either or

we’d choose your visits

but are you positive or negative

we only really want you if you’re the former

but maybe you’re not either

just neutral or unknowing

arriving in the greenYgrey world

wondering what on Earth is this place

not realising it’s another world

only linked to this dimension

by a tenuous thread

headline news and music videos

the brain’s traffic builds to a rush hour

neural pathways carrying ideas

from receptors to receptors

and back again

before racing to others

returning and re-routing

maybe then checking something out

like where Once More Into the Fray

originated

finding out The Gray

director Joe Carnahan

created it inspired by

Shakespeare’s Henry V speech

‘Once more unto the breach’

from four centuries earlier

English classicists will say we should’ve known

use it as an example of why

we are where we were

still fraying trying to breach

with the battery running low

returning to what I wrote first thing

some of the original ideas

already transported to this file

about how I had to construct it idea by idea

then transport it as exactly as possible

keeping the ideas in mind as I write

not losing sight of the thoughts

as they take the long journey

from brain to hands

getting caught up

in the rush hour traffic

down the arms

circling the elbows

something fell off the back

got to stop, go back, pick it up

get back into the flow

down to the hands

still through the body

like travelling overland

then it’s the big jump

through the air

like flying

across the sea

and then off-loading

onto the keyboard

like a helicopter

delivering parts

to a skyscraper

delicately placing them

letter by letter

out of the body

and onto the screen

a new construction

has been built

within the time limit

the battery icon

has lowered

as this poem

has lengthened

like an egg timer

or yin and yang

I know time has gone

and I have frayed

without banishing the breach

but I think it has been

time well spent

spent time in the fray

once more unto the breach

another battle fought and drawn

with these words as reward

and a little more knowledge

to take into tomorrow

when it will be time

to travel once more unto the breach

once more into the fray

and maybe in four centuries

someone or something

will hear of these words

indirectly through a more modern

medium or modem

and think of them as an ancient tale

still having some relevance in that time

because there are still humans and wolves

living side by side in the wilderness

and hopefully the negative werewolf stereotype

will be even more archaic and irrelevant

and wolves will be appreciated

the way dogs are now

not by everybody

or considered completely safe

but generally being appreciated

for being the brave, intelligent and resourceful

wild animals living in the harshest environments

on this planet that seems meant for all of us.

Link for Amazon book and kindle.
Link for multiple Ereaders at Smashwords.

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Stellar Satirical Comedy Paris and Milan Fashion Reports

Hi, it’s Paco Wolfsang, fashionisto supremo at the greenYgrey inspired by Paco Rabanne. I’m delighted to write that we’ve received our first satirical comedy correspondence from Stella Lagerwolf-Bruno since she left for the XaW Files world.

Stella is off course inspired by Stella McCartney on Stella Artois (not that we think or know that Stella drinks Stella, and we absolutely fabulously love the McCartney family contribution to animal welfare, and think Stella’s done ab fab in the fashion world); Bruno and wolves.

Stella said she was leaving Riga, Latvia to take in a few shows on the continent, and she really enjoyed Paris and Milan, sending in these great greenYgreying highlights (which are really from quick web searches of course!)

Paris Fashion Week

The fashion world put beauty back at the centre of Paris media coverage, and greenYgreying was central to the fashion show world:

Fashion is of course a serious business, and rumoured to be full of big egos, but they are humble enough to handle some satirical comedy!

Milan Fashion Week

My Milan Fashion Week coverage is dedicated to all the High Street Honeys who brighten up grey days in Europe:

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How Taylor Momsen Saved Us from a Witchcraft Accusation

I forgot to write last time that when Madonna said after her fall that ‘Your Love Lifted Me Up’ I thought she was talking to us at first, what with our Love very topical, but then I realised she was probably talking about all the audience and her other fans…  because Love is a big Madonna fan.

How Taylor Momsen Saved Us

Continuing that blog’s amazing singers and coincidences topical theme, Taylor Momsen saved us from a probably witchycraft accusation last year when we chose The Pretty Reckless as our gYg Gig of the Year 2015.

That’s because the other option was Saxon, and after playing in Leeds Saxon’s drummer Nigel Glockler was taken ill, and they had to cancel the rest of the tour at the time. I’m pleased to write that they later finished off the tour, and Nigel is now recovering at home.

So if we’d chosen Saxon we could have opened ourselves up to negativity because we’ve used some pagan imagery etc, and now that we’ve written about it we probably will be anyway!

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Difficulty of Human Life and Research Introduction to X Files Parody Episode

Wouldn’t it be spooky if the next XaW Files episode to be serialised was full of feminist relevance in the countdown to International Women’s Day on March 8th.

Remembering to be Sceptical

Well, it isn’t unfortunately, or fortunately, as were (sic) trying to be satirical and sceptical rather than spooky and sensationalist.

March 8th is also the date that Flight MH370 disappeared last year, about a month before we started writing our X Files parody, although we had been thinking about it for a while before, with our Andy Warhol Andy Wolfhol disappearing the previous year.

Just mentioning something can link you to it, so we’d just like to add that we didn’t have any premonitions about the MH370 disappearance, we feel sorry for those who lost people, and we hope they and the truth are found.

Fallen Madonna Devil Dancer

We also didn’t see the Madonna fall at the Brits Awards coming last week. Religious people might say she had it coming, dancing with lots of devilish imagery.

We don’t believe in God, so we don’t believe in the Devil either.

We just think it was an accident, and that Madonna turned a negative into a positive by continuing to sing her song. On a grand scale it could be seen as humanity triumphing over the devil, but in reality we think it was just a 56-year-old singer proving she’s still a true professional.

If any parody comedy predicted Madonna’s fall it was ‘Allo ‘Allo, which we may hear about when the XaW Files reaches France, as it featured a painting called The Fallen Madonna…

X Files Parody

Anyway, enough fun and comedy, because the next episode of XaW Files is below, and it’s a pretty serious one, going from the difficulty of writing to the difficulty of socialising, and the difficulty of creating an ideal society.

Have fun!

XaW Chapter 3 Episode 9

It’s a door or gateway you’re reluctant to open, not knowing what it leads to: a room of pleasure or pain, mental toil or lovely epiphany, well surfaced roads you can freewheel or muddy tracks you get bogged down in.

They say a picture tells a thousand words. Well, in the greenYgrey world a word tells a thousand thoughts. It’s taken about an hour of thinking and contemplating for these two paragraphs, and I’m still writing this one; still processing the thoughts, not sure if I’ve written this paragraph before, because I had the opening line thoughts not long ago, while on this X Files journey.

It suddenly surfaced again, thankfully if I didn’t write it down before, embarrassingly if I did. And from that thought we have more thoughts, multiplying and dividing like the cells that create life and death:

The fact that the thought surfaced again suggests that it was still on the surface of the mind.
Or it is such an important thought to me that it was retained prominently in my memory.
Could it be important for all of humanity? I have had such thoughts before, and they haven’t made much of an impact.
Is that because they weren’t as good as I thought, or because the world wasn’t ready for them?
Or are they thoughts and statements already said and written down; maybe long, long ago in ancient texts?

Spooky Classical Music

‘I was enjoying Pripyatsky,’ Jack said, ‘I was watching a wolf enjoying a lakeside in peace, without any humanity around to ruffle its place where it belongs, amongst glorious nature. Then the weirdest thing happened. I heard classical music. The wolf seemed to hear it too, because it suddenly bolted, heading north.’

‘I looked around, but couldn’t see anybody. It freaked me out, so I thought I’d get out of the park. The wolf had gone north, but I knew we were heading south, so I went that way. I travelled fast, but I didn’t stop hearing the classical music. In fact, it got louder the more south I got. It took me about two days to reach the old Chernobyl plant, and then once I passed that the music stopped.’

‘That’s funny,’ I said, ‘in an X Files weird kind of way. I just read on Wikipedia that the State Television played classical music for two days after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, before the Vremya television news programme made a twenty-seconds announcement, which is about the amount of time I’ve spent telling you about the announcement.’

Jack’s expression showed a mixture of gratitude and resentment after I said that, as if he appreciated the information but would have rather learned it for himself. I was wondering if I should say something; thinking of the best way to say it; how to sound sincere and considerate without sounding overbearing and even more didactic.

I was just about to say something, I think, but I know not what as I write this, when Love piped up: ‘Creating a line of equality for other people is like making them walk a tightrope. Socialism doesn’t usually work too well because most people think they’re better than their social position, and aim to reach that place. Misbehaviour and ineptitude revealed by those regarded as above them in society can feed desire and disillusion at the same time. Capitalism creates and feeds dreams and illusions, even if it’s just offering a chance, a lucky break, window of opportunity… to help citizens reach a position where they think they can maybe make a difference: to themselves, their family, society and humanity… an island that exists in a sea of disastrous nightmares.’

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International Women’s Day Countdown 1

It’s International Women’s Day on March 8th, and we’re celebrating it with all the women who haven’t gone international by joining Jihad John.

Hi, it’s Harriet Silhouetteof-Wolfhowhlingonhill, television correspondent at the greenYgrey, having undergone a gender swap for this week-long celebration of women.

Housewives Choice

Here’s some great greenYgreying to start the week off, with the great provided by great communication and presenting, rather than a great woman knowing her place in the home doing the cleaning!

And while housewives are very welcome in the greenYgrey world, I don’t think Marc Latham is interested in you, as I think he once said a long time ago that he likes free-range chicks rather than battery-cage mother hens!

Not as free and chickish as Jihad John groupies though… free for a while anyway!

Not that we think there’s anything wrong with being a mother hen, and we think being a good mother hen is the best thing a woman can be.

Anyway, here’s one of the Queens of Green:

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X Files Return Desired by David Duchovny

In a story on MSN News via The Telegraph by Anita Singh, Arts and Entertainment Editor, David Duchovny, who played the Mulder part of our Scullymulder X Files parody investigator, says he wants to make more of the series.

Singh reported that:

David Duchovny says an X Files reunion with Gillian Anderson “is going to happen pretty soon”.

Speculation about a comeback for Agents Mulder and Scully has been swirling, and Duchovny confirmed that plans are under way.

The TV show ended 13 years ago. Asked if he was “done with The X-Files”, Duchovny said he felt quite the opposite.

“If you’d asked me this question 10 years ago, I would have said: yes, I’ve had enough.

“But at this point, it’s almost like going out on a greatest hits tour. It would be a lark. And I think it’s going to happen pretty soon,” he told The Observer.

Here’s scullymulder in great greenYgreying form:

Copyright REX

 

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Poetic Inspiration is Always In Your Mind

Following on from the last Apocalypse Now blog, we don’t blame the corporate publishers for not publishing us, because we are aiming more for the arty market anyway, and criticising the arty market connoisseurs as we go along too, making all but the most open to critical theory reluctant to buy our books.

Successful Alternative Books

But some books such as ours do become successful, and some of the most successful writers in Britain are critical of the establishment, but they usually make sure to only criticise the other side, and not theirs as well, so keeping one half of the book-buying public onside.

Hi, it’s G.G. Howling, fiction writing correspondent at the greenYgrey inspired by Harry Potter wizard writer J.K. Rowling.

Today’s episode of our X Files parody XaW Files is an unashamed ramble, and there are more to come, which together sum up why Quentin Tarwolftino felt the need to leave the greenYgrey world…

Chapter 3 Episode 8

We found Jack sitting on the edge of the Pripyat highway, writing away. I asked him how a werewolf such as he began to write; mostly just out of interest, but also to see if there was any correlation with my experiences, as Jack is also a werewolf, but not a greenYgrey one.

Jack Kerouac Inspiration

I always thought I could write, said Jack, but now that I have written I realise I couldn’t write that well then. I could think. I could think I could write, and I could think I could write like the writers I read.

That’s because I related to what they said, the way they viewed the world, maybe it’s a dreamer’s mind, or a bipolar mind, or a mad mind. I don’t know. But I now know it’s a different matter writing it down, describing sights and feelings so that others will understand them, painting a picture in a paragraph.

I think it’s like with any skill, trade or profession. You have some natural ability at the start, but to really get into the smooth flow at the heart of the art takes time; to feel on top of it, moving through the middle of it, and to keep on writing when you feel under it.

The World Outside Your Window

‘Is it natural for gnats to glow?’

Love wanted to know.

‘Sorry Love,’ I said,

‘I was miles away

in my history’…

Present Inspiration Built on the Past

A 100-feet long

40-feet high

70,000-lbs weight

jumbo jet

just flew

straight through

a raindrop

like a thread

through a needle head

on a window

I nearly wrote

my window

but it’s not

really mine

just rented…

I wish it was mine

and I could take it

everywhere

because it has

everything

Earth, horizon and sky

almost perfectly

divided down the middle

like a Folding Mirror poem

or me, myself, greenYgrey

but if I try too hard

to make it mine

will I create opaqueness

where there is now transparency

or even break it

in two or three

so that it won’t show me

anything

there will be nothing

to show me anything

there will just be

naked cold reality

existing without distortion

no protection

no warmth

no raindrops

nothing

for the planes

to fly through

nowhere for them

to create tricks

of the mind

to inspire my thoughts

thinking what

they are doing

30,000-feet up

in the air

the sky I can see

from my front-seat

for the optical illusion

that made me think

and remember enough

to create this word stuff

skirting the mind’s terminator

as they fly the twilight zone

between night and day

crossing time zones

Are they just setting off

enjoying their breakfast

or are they landing

reluctantly opening

their eyes and…

I nearly wrote

their window

but it’s not

really theirs

just rented

————————————-

Bringing the thoughts

back around to windows

mine and theirs

I’m telling you

in case you didn’t notice

skimming too quick

in an attention-deficit world

which we live in too

providing

the ideal opportunity

to stop

and escape

this ramble…

after all…

they say

good communication

is

knowing

when to stop

when no more is needed

when more will break

the spel-ling!

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Quentin Tarantino Inspired Character Travels to X Files Parody

Hi, it’s Quentin Tarwolftino, film and movie critic at the greenYgrey inspired by Quentin Tarantino. I’m just posting to let you know I’m leaving for the XaW Files, as the greenYgrey seems to be in a bit of a pickle. It reminded me of Apocalypse Now, as I say below.

Guardians of the Galaxy

While I think the greenYgrey has been influenced by Apocalypse Now for a long time, I have recently been inspired by Marvel‘s Guardians of the Galaxy, although to tell you the truth, I haven’t got around to watching or reviewing it.

The original GotG pre-dates the greenYgrey by many moons, but the modern team was gathered in 2008, a few moons after the greenYgrey entered the human world.

Not only does GotG have a rather greenYgreyesque name, but it also has all the ingredients of great greenYgrey amongst its characters.

Groot starts it off with a Groo where we have a Gree, and is a greenygrey tree, Rocket raccoon provides the animal interest and Gamora is a green woman. Quill has writer connotations, while Drax is health and fitness.

I will try and draw on their example as I travel through the movie screen vortex, and into the XaW Files via Apocalypse Now:

Apocalypse Now

I sometimes feel like my mind has arrived at one of its possible destinations in life envisaged at an early age, created mostly from watching or reading fiction, documentaries and biographies. Apocalypse Now . The opening scene. Captain Willard’s crazed behaviour, apparent thoughts and movements, alone in a basic room.

It’s a type of mental place where writers and artists need to go, those that are searching for deepness anyway: Can I play with madness etc?, although I don’t think you need the physical damage Willard causes.

Willard’s craziness was only temporary though. Compared to Colonel Kurtz’s final permanent horror in the end scenes.

The trailer below has a YouTube age warning, so please don’t watch if you think you might not be old enough, or are easily offended and shocked.

Was the Kurtz character wrong though? Or simply a correct realist, grown too old and weary to fight depression and negativity, born out of experience and intelligence.

I don’t know for sure; I’m only sure no philosophical theory is sure, as Socrates is said to have thought that the wisest people are those who know they know little.

I think it really depends on your mind, outlook and experiences. If you want to know the truth about humanity and the world, there’s enough places to look, with extremes of positivity and negativity, peace and war.

I have looked for the truth about humanity, and the truth about me, in war and peace. In the end, I think the meaning of life is just living, life itself. There are examples of good and evil everywhere, and they just seem to evolve, mutating into different versions of themselves. Something good can create something bad, and vice-versa.

Is the truth about humanity any more apparent in a war zone than a peaceful hamlet? One day’s peaceful hamlet is tomorrow’s war zone. They are both sides of humanity, in line with greenYgrey theory.

Perhaps one way human civilisation can be summed up is: continuous change, with the possibility of sudden movement, hidden under the surface illusion of permanence.

Anyway, I’m off to the XaW Files now, flying in on one of the first posters Marc Latham bought when he started university twenty years ago…

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