Sunday, February 11, 2024

The Problem with Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon

Zach Snyder’s Rebel Moon: A Child of Fire is a bombastic and slick sci-fi ‘epic’ that tries desperately to channel some Star Wars energy into a tired genre. It’s not exactly original. A loner farm girl named Kora from the moon of Veldt recruits a ragtag band of mercenaries to help her fight back against an evil empire that wants to have all of her village’s grain (in return for protection).
 
Rebel Moon isn't the worst movie ever made, but there are lots of problems with it. Poor character development is one of them, but then there's also ludicrous fight scenes that are completely lacking any logic.
 
You can’t help but draw parallels with other properties (Star Wars being the main one) doing a much better job. Obviously, Snyder is keen to kickstart a new franchise to rival George Lucas’ saga, but I don’t think Disney has much to worry about.
 
Rebel Moon’s biggest stumbling block for me, though, is the main reason why Kora chooses to rebel in the first place: the bad guys want their ‘grain’. Now, I might have missed something but why does a technologically advanced society that has the capability to travel between star systems need grain?
 
Interstellar travel is extremely difficult - and by the looks of how it’s portrayed they can fold space, which is even harder - so surely they’ve advanced technologically enough to have solved their food supply problems? It seems like far too much effort to get into a spaceship, travel several light years, land on a moon and terrorise the locals for basic ingredients for bread. I mean, haven't they cracked replicator technology like in Star Trek?
 
I'm also curious as to why the baddies have decided to pick on a small farm in the middle of nowhere. Why not larger towns or cities that exist on the titular moon? Veldt is presumably similar in scale to planet Earth (because of gravity and whatnot) and so it must have a huge landmass of continents. Imagine if the Russians or Chinese decided to steal some crops from the US and landed in, say, Jarbridge in Nevada. Not the most efficient – or clever – use of resources.
 
I'm not a fan of relentlesly picking holes in movies – hell, some of the greatest movies of all time have glaring plot holes in them – but there needs to be a reasonable level of subsance and logic to the story and characters for the audience to suspend disbelief just enough to enjoy the ride. Rebel Moon's grain issue (as well as all the other stuff) was too distracting for me to get fully on board with the film.

This seems to be a common problem with modern movies, in particular big budget and brash affairs that are generally steered by the bottom line rather than any sense of artistic integrity. And no, I'm not a bumbling old saddo saying things aren't 'what they used to be' because there have been some terrific films that have come out in recent years that both made sense and were truly enjoyable. 
 
It's the films that get the big headlines with either big name celebrities or big name directors that have a tendency to opt for syle over subtances, slow-mo over sense.
 
Needless to say, I don't really have any intention of watching Part 2 - although there is a morbid curiosity in me that wants to see how badly this car crash of an entity turns out. 
 

Monday, January 1, 2024

A review of the year 2023

Well, that kinda sucked.

2023 has not been the best year, and I'm glad it's over.

When I looked back on 2022, it felt like a very ‘full’ year. It seemed like I’d done lots of travelling (Africa, France, Switzerland, Scotland) and work kept me constantly busy. We also had a toddler foster child running around who was a bit of a handful. Even so, I think if I was to rate it compared to other years I would say it was a ‘good’ year overall – mostly because it was pretty varied and I felt like things had progressed well in different areas. Work seemed to be moving forward in a positive direction and my personal development was progressing slowly but surely – not just in work but with things like my Welsh studies, learning electric guitar and preaching in church.

2023, however, has been a very different kettle of fish and something of a disappointment overall.

It started well, I guess. We had a skiing trip to France in February which was great fun and we had a long wait before we took on a new foster child so I was able to focus on things like Welsh and guitar. What didn’t start well was work – the first three months of 2023 saw very few jobs coming in, which was a surprise because the previous year had been something of a bumper time for me. It was as if someone had turned off the tap at the end of December and then very slowly began turning it back on again over the following months. This wasn’t helped by a particularly quiet summer. Saying that, if work had been busier I don’t know how I’d have coped with the sleep deprivation. But it’s not just the lack of work that’s made me think again about my career – I’ve become quite jaded by the work that I’ve been doing. Most assignments are very samey and there’s been very little scope for creativity or autonomy.

I’ve been self-employed for the last fifteen years but only this year did I feel like I’d had enough and longed to be in the security and regularity of salaried employment. So I’ve started applying for jobs just to push some doors and see what’s out there. I’ve even had a couple of interviews but no avail – I suspect that my age and demographic are against me. Middle aged straight white Christian males are the bad guys these days so I’ve not got much hope. I will, however, keep trying in 2024 as well as reshape the business in the hope that I can turn things around.

Another difficult thing for 2023 has been the arrival of our latest foster child. Coming to us at just a few month old, it was a huge challenge from the start – mainly because the child had very poor sleep patterns and so our own sleep suffered. I spent a few months in the spare room so wifey could handle the lion’s share of night time settling. It was a long slog but by the time the child was about one, sleep had much improved thankfully. Even so, almost no two nights are the same. Sometimes they will wake in the middle of the night, other times they won't. Sometimes they will wake at 5.30am, other times it will be 7am.

Several months into the fostering, I’d decided that I couldn’t keep doing it anymore and it was then that I had to break the news to wifey. She took it well, all things considered, but given that she’d given up everything to take on this new career it was a bit of a blow. The good thing was that she had been finding things equally difficult (although not to the same extreme as me) and beginning to think about other things she could do. Thankfully we were able to work things through and agree on a way forward. We decided to continue with the placement (it would be unfair to the child to do otherwise anyway) until it was time for them to move on. In the meantime, wifey would explore options for a new career plan. She now has ambitions to be a social worker and I couldn't be more proud as I think she will do an excellent job.

Me trying to look cool in my skiing gear
Of course, some good stuff did happen in 2023. We had our new pastor and family join our church back in April, who are amazing. There have been some adjustments (there always are with this kind of things) but it's been good stuff and I'm looking forward to getting to know them better over the coming year and seeing how the church will grow and develop. I passed my Grade 2 Guitar Exam, which – given sleep deprivation at the time – was a small miracle. We had the honour of going to Scotland for my brother's wedding, which was exhausting but good fun. Then there was my other brother's civil partnership celebration in London, which again was tiring (and hot! it was the warmest day of the year!) but went well. Also, not to forget the aforementioned skiing trip to France where I actually cracked how to ski. I was able to shoot down the slopes with ease by the end of the week and officially caught the skiing bug (so I'm desperate to go again in '24).

It's hard to think back on the past twelve months with much enthusiasm. I'm just relieved it's over and looking forward to positive changes in 2024 – the foster placement should end soon and then I can focus on my work, faith and creativity (hopefully!).

Happy New Year!

Wednesday, November 29, 2023

A lot of hate for being late


One of my pet hates is lateness. I dislike being late, and get annoyed when others are too (although I do cut them slack if they have a genuine excuse). Of course, it depends on the occasion. The more important it is, the greater the transgression when lateness is concerned. If it’s just meeting a friend for a coffee, it’s not that big of a deal (but still irritating). If it's a crucial business meeting or a significant occasion (weddings, funerals etc.), lateness really does give the wrong impression. 

What really gets my goat, though, is people who are late all the friggin’ time. It can make my blood boil and I can’t help but have a poor regard for these people. I mean, how hard can it be to make an appointment? When you say ‘meet at 3pm’ what part of that statement do you not understand? In my view, being told to meet at 3pm and arriving twenty minutes later is the same as asking for sugar in your tea and being given salt. 3pm is not 3.20pm and sugar is not salt. Not only is it annoying, it’s disrespectful. I’m not saying my time is more important than anyone else’s, but if I agree to meet someone and they’re late they are purposefully robbing me of my time – time that I could be using for something else useful. Those twenty minutes could’ve been quite productive. Instead, because you’re late I’m sitting by myself, billy no-mates (probably just aimlessly scrolling on social media). Plus there’s the knock on effect. If I have other meetings I either have to cut my current one short or rush to make the next one. And as for a work context, it’s even worse. Not just because of the reasons I’ve mentioned but also because it simply comes across as unprofessional. As a freelancer, being late for clients all the time is not a good look - and may well jeopardise future opportunities.

The thing is, if you’re the kind of person who is always late, you probably don’t mind others being late. But if like me you find lateness annoying, you will automatically be cross with that person for being late. People like me are the ones who remember lateness and will make future decisions based on it. So, for example, I'd be less inclined to hire someone again if they demonstrated that they are unreliable and don’t care about other people’s time.

There may be an argument that strict time keeping is a ‘cultural’ thing, and that in places like, say, the African continent, being on time is not considered particularly important. Rather, times are just a vague and approximate guide. It's an important point, but may have a slightly racist aftertaste (although having visited a few African countries myself I don't think it's too off the mark). The argument goes the other way, in that there are cultures where being late is considered rude. And in some countries – such as Germany – there is even an expectation that people should arrive early for an appointment. Lateness is frowned upon much more in places other that the UK so it’s not like we are super strict here. I guess the question you need to ask is what is the dominant culture that you are living in? If you live in, say, Uganda and everyone's timekeeping is a bit slack then that's fine. But if you live in a country like the UK where lateness is considered rude or disrespectful then one should try to be on time.

As I said, lateness can be for a genuine reason. Traffic can be unpredictable or there may be a personal or family situation that comes out of the blue. It happens to all of us. But most of the time, it’s possible to arrive on time without any problems – and that’s what I simply don’t understand. It isn’t hard to be punctual. It just requires a tiny amount of planning and thought.

If you need to be at a certain place or time, just Google the ETA and work backwards from there so you know when to leave. Make sure you have a diary with appointments in them (don’t rely on emails or text messages). Confirm ahead of meetings that you have the date, place and time correct. All really simple stuff. It’s even easier these days with lots of meetings being held via Zoom or Teams – there’s no commute time so lateness isn't excuse [although I know what it’s like ... because you don’t need to travel it’s very easy to leave it until the last second to get yourself ready].

Believe me, I still fail to do these things sometimes and am always kicking myself for not doing them – they are simple things that anyone with a brain cell can do. But most of the time I arrive within 10 minutes of an agreed time without really trying. And what's bizarre is that I'm naturally chaotic. If I didn't put plans and coping strategies in place I would be all over the shop, never on time for anything. But because I care about other people (and also my own personal stress levels), I make the effort to overcome my shortcomings.

So, if you're a 'late person' do everyone a favour and put some effort into not being one.

It would make the world a much better place.

Sunday, November 5, 2023

The Folly of Flying

I’m fortunate enough (if fortunate is the right word) to have flown on aeroplanes (or airplanes if you're from over the pond) fairly regularly in my life. Although I’m certainly not one of those insufferable travel blogger types who go here, there and everywhere in an attempt to gain some kind of approval online through likes and whatnot. Even so, I’ve probably travelled abroad as much as the average person and so
I’m familiar with the various ins and outs of flying. I must say, though, the excitement of galavanting across continents has lost its sheen. This is mainly because of the tedious pre and post flight process that involves endless queueing, waiting, undressing and shunting stuff around. Not only that, travelling is such an exhausting exercise - getting up before dawn to catch a flight, dealing with time zones, traipsing around unfamiliar cities on foot for far longer than you’ve ever done in your own. Who has ever arrived at their destination feeling alert and refreshed after several hours of travel? Certainly not me.

It’s partly because of this that it makes me think about the fact that flying is one of the most unnatural things we as humans can do. Just consider the actual flying machines themselves: giant pressurised tubes laden with thousands of gallons of highly flammable fuel in the wings, screaming through the sky at hundreds of miles an hour, reaching altitudes that would make your blood boil and your heart explode. One mistake by the captain or ground crew can result in catastrophic failure of the vehicle’s primary purpose - to defy gravity with maddening ease. And that’s what gets me about aircraft. They are magical. Unbelievably complex machines with millions of parts, much of them constantly moving, and many of them exposed to mind-boggling temperatures and alarming levels of pressure. Manuals for these things come in several ring binders which must be consulted during an emergency. Thousands of human minds have come together to create them and hundreds work on them day and night across the globe just to satisfy our desire for a ‘bit of a holiday’.

What’s more, it’s easy to forget that hundreds of these giant metal hulks are whizzing through the stratosphere at this very moment. Whenever you are reading this, a million people are suspended in the air sitting in rows watching a movie or consuming an overheated jumble of slop in a metal tray. Most of them aren’t really thinking about the miracle of flight and the absurdity of it all. They are completely oblivious, no doubt thinking about more mundane things.

Now, every time I board a plane I think to myself ‘this is madness, utter madness - what the blazes are we all doing?’. The way we willingly put ourselves in mortal danger like this astounds me. It must be because I’m getting old, of course. I never had these thoughts when I was younger. I absolutely loved flying in my 20s and 30s. I’m the same about rollercoasters. Used to love them before I had kids. Now, whenever I step on board I eye up the spotty teenager manning the controls and whisper a little prayer.

It’s just as well I never get to meet my aeroplane’s pilot – I’d probably be thinking he or she is far too young to catapult us into the wide blue yonder while physics tries desperately to unceremoniously bring us back to earth. I'd want to see their pilot's licence and all of their credentials before sitting back down in my cramped seat among all the other human cattle. Of course the fact that it's very hard to get into a passenger jet's cockpit without substantial training, numerous levels of security and all sorts of other checks is by the by.

I’m well aware that all of life is a risk - we face potentially fatal scenarios on a daily basis. Driving on the motorway, taking the train, eating in a restaurant. Anything could go wrong.

Thankfully, most of the time it doesn’t.

God, luck, statistics or whatever you want to believe in is on your side, most of the time. And the same is true of flying (statistically, the safest way to travel apparently).

So next time I get on a plane I need to learn to relax - and trust that the teenager up front is just as anxious not to crash as I am.

Thursday, May 18, 2023

A death on the street


Yesterday our neighbour died just outside our house. He was in his car when he succumbed to a heart attack. I came home after a meeting to witness his body being put into the back of an ambulance. I knew it was a dead body because they covered the face and weren’t in any rush to leave. It was a surreal scene with police and paramedic vehicles blocking the street while neighbours stood outside their front doors looking on in shock. I didn’t know who it was at first, but it dawned on me as I began to take everything in.

The most unnerving thing was the fact that wifey and I saw him in his car earlier in the morning and she wondered if he was alright. I looked over (we were further down the street on the other side) and dismissed it as I attended to our foster son, thinking I saw him move as I looked over. I figured he was waiting for someone, maybe listening to the radio or something. It never crossed my mind that he was on the verge of death, maybe even dead already. Too much else clouding my mind - I had an appointment to keep, I was tired, I was worrying about finances or the state of the world. Maybe if I’d been more zen I would have chosen to do something. I don’t know.

A doctor friend of wifey said that most cardiac arrests outside of hospitals are fatal, so it was unlikely the outcome would have been different had we noticed earlier. And when we spoke to the neighbour’s son he reassured us we’d done nothing wrong. He was a retiree with a history of heart problems so it didn't seem much of a surprise. Perhaps it was just his time to go and things conspired to make it that way.

Still, can’t help but feel some guilt - he was right outside our house but we did nothing, and his wife is now a widow and his kids have lost their father. Damn.


I hope I can learn from this. Always err on the side of caution (even if you might feel a fool), don’t put your own petty circumstances above others and accept it may be your time to be a hero. 


It might just save a life.


Friday, December 30, 2022

A Look Back at 2022

I didn’t want to write about 2021 for some reason. I think I was feeling quite depressed and simply didn’t have the energy. This time around, however, I felt like firing up the blog again and put down some thoughts on what has been another challenging twelve months for the human race (with a few nice moments thrown in just to take the edge off).

2022 seemed to be dominated by two things: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Climate Change. Both subjects have been covered by experts far better than I ever could, so I won’t ramble on about them but I’m very aware that both represent an existential threat to the world in a profound and disturbing way. On one side you have a deluded dictator sending waves of ill-equipped men to their deaths just to save face and assert some kind of projection of strength and power - and in so doing threatening to drag the whole world into a world war that nobody wants. On the other you have a global situation that is merrily destroying lives and yet those that have the power to stop it are doing as little as possible – either because they don’t see it as enough of a threat or they don’t want to upset their corporate paymasters. It really is quite disheartening.


As for me, I feel like I’ve had a very ‘full’ year with lots going on at home and at work. With lockdowns no longer a thing, and Covid treated as ‘just another virus’ (don’t ask me about that, I have no idea) life got back to some kind of normality in ’22. I was struck early on in the year how I reacted to having a big group of people round to our house for the first time in ages - I quickly got very irritable with them and wanted them to leave as soon as possible (but couldn’t say anything obviously so kept my thoughts to myself). We’ve since had a few more similar occasions (mostly just having couples over for dinner) and didn’t react the same way so I clearly needed a bit of time to adjust to the post-Covid scenario. On that subject I finally succumbed to the dreaded Coronavirus in the spring, right after returning from our skiing holiday (more on that later). It knocked me out for a good two weeks which was frustrating, but at least I didn’t have to go to hospital or anything. Even after that period I still didn’t feel 100%, which a lot of people seem to have experienced, and thankfully I didn’t get the long version which doesn’t sound fun at all. 


I’m very fortunate to have done a reasonable amount of travelling this year, some of it for work and some of it for pleasure, and am very grateful for those opportunities. In the spring we had a big family trip to Les Menuires near the French-Swiss border. Most of my brothers and their kids were there, along with mum and dad which made it quite special. The skiing was great fun, if a little scary at times, plus I was aching all over from day one. Even so, by the end of the week I felt much more confident and am looking forward to going again in February. Then in June I traveled to The Democratic Republic of Congo with my friend Alain who had invited to join him on a business trip. We got to meet some high-ranking people, which was a great honour, and explore the vast city of Kinshasa. It was a truly memorable experience, with a few hairy moments on the way, and my hope is that the work we put in with eventually bear some good fruit. Over the summer I visited Scotland on a family trip to see my younger brother who now lives on a farm with his partner and her parents.


I love Scotland and it was great to be back again after about ten years or so. As part of the trip we spent a few days in Loch Ness, which was not quite as magical as I’d expected but nonetheless a beautiful place to stay. In September I traveled with Alain again, this time to Geneva. This was to film and photograph a graduation ceremony which was fun, however I stayed a bit longer than anticipated and ended up staying another two days thanks to airport strikes in France. You might think that being forced to stay in a foreign city for a few extra days would be exciting but it did present a few challenges. Firstly, I hadn’t packed enough clothes for the extra time so had to buy more to keep me going and even the cheapest clothing wasn't cheap. Secondly, it cost me a lot of money in food and accommodation (granted the airline did compensate me for most of it). Also, it’s a bit weird being on your own in a foreign city if you hadn’t actually planned to visit for an extended period. Luckily I had two colleagues to spend some time with, so I didn’t feel particularly lonely (I do like my own company though) but it wasn’t like I’d planned to be there for all that time. Still, it was an experience and hopefully I won’t get stranded at the airport again for a long time now. In November I had the opportunity to do some filming in Liverpool (not very exotic, I know) but it was a city I hadn’t really visited before (apart from whistling through on the train many eons ago). Saying that, my visit was fleeting and I didn’t really get to see the place so not sure if that counts.


We started the year without a foster child having decided to take a break over the Christmas period. Instead, we opted to do respite care and only had a couple of placements before our skiing trip. Seems like I contracted Covid at some point during our visit to France (probably from the plane journey back) and one consequence of getting ill was having to postpone our longer term placement for a couple of weeks. While not ideal, we muddled through and welcomed a little girl into our home at the beginning of May. She was with us for about six months and during that time we supported her in getting over several phobias (water being one of them), which felt like an achievement. She was remarkably bright and incredibly sociable - and will no doubt go far when she grows up.


Family life has been fairly uneventful, with the ongoing struggles of having a grumpy teen in the house putting a dampener on things from time to time. As I keep saying, we are doing our best to ride out the teenage years in the hope that no. 1 son will eventually come out the other side as a normal human adult. We’ll see. Having a toddler in the mix does make life more complicated, so I’m grateful we had some time at the beginning and end of the year where it was just the four of us. The boys are pretty much self-sufficient these days so it means I can have time to myself again (living the dream!). My youngest has suddenly become obsessed with football, which is a surprise but also great that he's involved in such a 'wholesome' hobby. We've done plenty of 'training sessions' on the rec (both in the boiling heat and freezing cold) which is a good little workout for me, plus he's joining a football club in the New Year so I'll likely end up a soccer dad going to games every Saturday morning. 


Work has been fairly steady over the year, though I’ve still had the usual periods of feast and famine - but I have managed to stay out of my overdraft for most of the year (I think) which is a first. I’ve had quite a few of the more interesting assignments which helps maintain my sanity too, which I’m grateful for. I’d still like to up my game a bit, though, and get higher-value, more interesting projects more often. I’m working on a few ways to achieve this, but as with most things it comes down to time and money.


Church stuff has been plodding along as usual. The good news is that we have appointed a new pastor following on from the last one who retired in '21. The church leadership has been carrying the weight of running things during the interregnum so it will be a relief to have a full timer in post to help take some of the strain. I have a good feeling about this new appointment and hope that God will use them to take the church forward in its ministry.


This year I was pleased to achieve a Merit in Grade 1 electric guitar. I’ve always wanted to play guitar properly but I’ve never really stuck at it so I started lessons last year in the hope that it would help keep me focused and on track. Being accountable to a tutor each week really does help with this and even though it’s often frustrating at times I feel like I’m making progress. I wish I’d done it years ago when my brain was better able to learn new things but cost was always an issue - plus I do my lessons over Zoom which is not something I would have considered a possibility three years ago.


Another thing I started to learn last year is Welsh. I’m still doing entry level, and it’s very hard going but I think I’m slowly getting the basics. I never learned it at school, because they didn’t make it compulsory until I was much older. I did French up to A Level and I’ve managed to maintain some remnants of what I learned (despite having a useless teacher), but I’ve wanted to speak Welsh ever since becoming a nationalist and republican. I want to play my part in keeping Welsh culture and language alive - something that the English tried to eradicate back in the day. Also, learning Welsh is heavily subsidised so lessons are pretty inexpensive. Plus the language is everywhere I go, from road signs to official letters from government - so it’s not too hard getting exposure. What would be nice is to have someone local who I could chat with to help sharpen my language skills, which shouldn’t be too difficult but I need to work on that. I use Duolingo every day, which is a good way of keeping me topped up and I’m always surprised about how much vocabulary I’ve managed to learn – the problem is stringing these words together in a coherent sentence, combined with the relevant tense. I’m sure I would have hated Welsh if I’d been taught at school, so at least I’m doing it motivated by adult intentions - the only downside is that (like with my guitar playing) lacking a youthful, stretchy brain means learning new stuff is a lot harder.


I haven’t watched as many films as I’d like this year, but most of the ones I did see at the cinema were big, dumb blockbusters that left an unpleasant taste in the mouth. Bullet Train was alright I suppose, but it felt like a slightly missed opportunity to be something truly original. As for films on streaming channels, I watched a few things which were fairly forgettable. I managed to find ‘Resistance’ on Amazon Prime, an interesting adaptation of the novel of the same name (which I read years ago). Set in an alternate 1940s where Germany won the Battle of Britain and successful invaded the UK, a small squad of Nazi soldiers station themselves in a quiet Welsh valley to watch over the locals. It’s a great premise, but sadly the low-budget nature of the film lets it down somewhat. The performances are great - with authentic Welsh accents, which is refreshing (Andrea Riseborough does a great job in one of her presumably early film roles) but the story feels just a little bit too small. 


I’ve watched a lot of TV this year thanks to the teenager’s insistence on watching stuff together. It’s great to be bonding in that way, but it does mean I don’t have time to watch stuff that I want to see. We burned through Peaky Blinders, Utopia, Umbrella Academy, Rick and Morty, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul and are now in the middle of Walking Dead. All excellent shows. I’ve been watching Schitt’s Creek with Wifey, which is really funny. I was unimpressed with Boba Felt, which was an absolute mess – but Andor was a refreshingly good slice of Star Wars (if a little slow). I am sticking with Willow, which is actually quite funny at times, but gave up on Rings of Power (probably because it took itself too seriously). I’ve probably forgotten loads of stuff I’ve seen this year, but I’m reminded of this sketch (https://youtu.be/waqFxv4l85U) by comedian Matt Green. It makes a great point about the splinterisation (is that a word?) of entertainment. Not everyone can afford to pay for each and every streaming service (on top of the licence fee), of which there are a surprising number. And so, whenever you meet up with people for a chat you inevitably spend ages trying to identify a TV show you’ve actually all seen and can talk about (sometimes unsuccessfully).


Regrettably my book count took a sharp nosedive in ’22 thanks to all the late-night TV show bingeing, not leaving much time for reading. I finished ‘A Memory Called Empire’ just before last Christmas which was an impressive piece of sci-fi but too dull and drawn-out for my liking and only then started reading Mark Kermode’s The Good the Bad and the Multiplex which took me an entire year to finish. It's an interesting take on the film industry (with a big focus on how stupid 3D films are), if a little dated. This is not a complex book, but the opportunities for reading it were few and far between. I did get a new book for Christmas (Babel by RF Kuang) which I’m looking forward to starting so hopefully I will be spurred on to read a bit more in ’23.


One highlight of the year was going to see Stereophonics at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff in June. The concert had been postponed from last year after they cancelled due to the pandemic. I went with some old friends from school so it was nice to see them. It was a great gig, they played all their hits and even Tom Jones joined them for 'Mamma told me not to come' so I'm glad I got to see him live (Tom's getting pretty old so I don't think he'll be around for long). Their songs are the kind that get cheapened by way too much exposure as muzak in lifts and shops which is a shame because it's good music (IMHO). When you hear them live, however, they have a new lease of life and you realise just how good the 'phonics are. Kelly Jones is a masterful musician songwriter and it was a privilege to watch him and the rest of the band perform.


I won't say much about the state of British politics (I've written a rant here), other than it does feel like now Boris has gone things are less turbulent than they have been for a few years which is kind of a relief. That being said, the Tories need to go as soon as possible given the damage they have caused to the country, but I don't feel particularly hopeful they will anytime soon.


Finally, I can't look back at 2022 without mentioning the Queen's death. Queen Elizabeth II died on the afternoon of 8th September this year, ending the longest reign of any female monarch and ushering in a new era in the history of the British Monarchy with the reign of King Charles III. Given her age, it wasn't a complete shock but was certainly one of those ‘huh’ moments, as I’d only ever known Elizabeth as the Queen. She was one of those prominent people that had always ‘been there’ in the background since I can remember. My feelings towards the monarchy have changed over that time, from being pretty pro-monarchy when I was a kid to becoming very much the opposite over the last few years. I regard them as a parasitic, undemocratic, outdated institution that should be consigned to the dustbin of history and I think more and more people are coming to that realisation. King Charles was always going to have a difficult job following in his mother’s footsteps and he’s done a reasonable job so far I guess, although I don’t think appointing his son as the Prince of Wales was a great move. Most people were fairly indifferent to the news and probably didn’t appreciate the insulting nature of the title, but what was particularly galling was the fact it was announced so fast, without any consultation or ‘cooling off’ period following the Queen’s death (more here: https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/william-prince-wales-title-anti-monarchy-1866520). I didn’t feel particularly sad about the Queen’s passing. She’d lived to a good age, and to be fair served her country well. The outpouring of national mourning was understandable, if a little too much, but I’m struck by how quickly the nation has moved on since September after everything ground to a halt for two weeks. I find the royal family worship a bit bewildering and cult-ish – no criticism is permitted, no questioning of age-old traditions that make no sense in our 21st century culture. What is slightly depressing is that Charles won’t be around for long (twenty years maximum probably) so we’ll have to go through the whole thing again when he goes - what I am nearly certain of, however, is that the people won’t mourn his passing the same way they did his mother. To me, that says a lot about where we are at when it comes to the monarchy in these modern times.


So that, ladies and gentlemen, was my 2022. I look forward to 2023 with cautious optimism.

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

The downfall of a nation


I was working at a conference recently when the keynote speaker showed the video produced as part of London’s bid for the 2012 Olympic games. It’s a rousing piece, set to ‘Proud’ by Heather Small. Admittedly, the song hasn't aged well unfortunately given that it was used for comedic effect in the sit-com Miranda, but I must admit it brought a bit of dampness to my eye. Not that it was particularly soppy or emotional – rather, it represented, to me at least, something huge and significant that’s been lost. The Britain I grew up in, a nation that I felt proud to be part of, is no more and I was saddened to be reminded of this loss.

All the values expressed in the film are admirable and worthy – the kind any modern civilised nation would want to be. Sadly they don’t apply to Britain any more (although claiming that the UK was fully ‘inclusive’ and ‘tolerant’ seems a bit of a stretch even for the early 2000s). We have become a people divided and impoverished – both economically and culturally – thanks to decades of inept, short-sighted and self-interested leadership (on both sides of the political spectrum). Meanness, cynicism, indifference, hopelessness and selfishness pervades the land like a cancerous tumour.

As people struggle to heat their homes, pay their bills, see a doctor, secure a decent home, run their businesses or swim in the ocean without swallowing untreated sewage, the rich and powerful have gleefully hollowed out the soul of the nation and made a pretty penny to boot. It’s easy to blame Brexit and the manufactured culture wars (which I do to some extent), things which arose after the success of the Olympics, but I think the rot was there long before that. I’ve written before about how the British Empire is paying for its past sins (perhaps because it’s failed to really acknowledge them) and I think it just shows that, with the best will in the world, things will soon fall apart if you’re resting on shaky ground.

The spirit of 2012 showed us what we could have been, but maybe when we examined it closely enough we knew deep down that it didn’t reflect the true nature of Britain. I suspect all that baggage of centuries gone past was just too much.

An economy in turmoil, looming Scottish independence (with NI and Cymru not far behind), shrinking civil liberties and world events (amongst many other things) are conspiring to put that final nail in the coffin of the so-called 'Great' Britannia. Rather than address these issues with intelligence and care, our government is collapsing under the weight of its own incompetence. I don't think it's any surprise that I've heard the term 'banana republic' being used a lot to describe the UK recently.

And that is a scary and unsettling thing, even for a republican supportive of Welsh independence like myself. Like many I long for change – but I also long for life to return to 'normal' for a bit.

But, as they say, you gotta have hope. There is a rising tide of dissatisfaction with what is happening across the country, and eventually something has to give.

Whatever rises from the ashes of the Old Empire, I hope it is a nation – or nations – that values kindness, tolerance, interdependence and integrity above greed and self-reliance. Where the mistakes of the past are acknowledged and learned from, rather than swept under the carpet and left to fester.

That way, the spirit of 2012 – and the hope that it represented – won't be lost forever.