Speeding Up

Only two more days before work breaks up for the year. Christmas looms, and I have no idea where the time has gone.  I swear time is speeding up each year.

In fact, and I recognise the ironay in using those words, I recently read a theory that time is really speeding up – label it under paranormal, pseudoscience etc.  But if it were true, we’d have no real way of measuring that, would we?  Maybe there is some quantum method by which scientists could.

I’m really looking forward to this break.  It’s been a tough year for a few reasons, and this down time is something I need.  Looking around at my colleagues, I suspect it’s something we all need.  But I’m not convinced the breaks recharge and revitalise is in quite the same way they used to. Or maybe it’s just me as I get older.

I’ve been back in the UK for more than 8 years now, and I enjoy the Christmas atmosphere here, with nights drawing in and festive lights visible from around 4pm.  Christmas is a winter festival, and makes a lot more sense here than it does in Australia. It feels right here.  And I look forward to it.

But I do wish I could catch up with my family and friends in Australia. That’s not going to happen this year, but maybe next year?

But onwards to the gifts, the food, and the wine.  Oh, and the time spent with family. Apparently that’s important too.

It's Never Too Late.

I’ve just spent a week travelling in France with an old friend. 

We met more than 30 years ago while working in Japan, and despite living on different continents, we manage to catch up every couple of years. Of course we are in regular online contact, but it’s not the same, is it?

But France was a lot of fun.  Good food, good wine, and a lot of chatting. Oh, and there may have been a few Beatles singles found along the way.

In our reminiscing, he told me something from all those years ago, something I didn’t know, and something that absolutely delighted me. I think he thought I knew, and so never mentioned it before.

Thanks for letting me know.

I arrived back in the UK, exhausted after a week of travelling, all on trains and buses, and then walking long days all around cities - Strasbourg and Paris. We saw some great sights, visited museums, art galleries, Christmas markets, and scenic spots. Did I mention vinyl shops?

What a week. One I will remember and cherish.  And if you have something positive to share, it’s never too late to let someone know.  It will be appreciated.

Digging, Digging, Digging.

We've been given a shed.

A new neighbour was showing me the work they were doing in their garden and said they were getting rid of the shed. I offered to buy it from them and they said we could have it for free.

Of course everything has a cost.  Mine was about 6 days of work. In one back corner of our garden there is a wasteland.  Think post-apocalyptic.  We had no idea what we were going to do back there as it would require quite a bit of work, and until there was a purpose, a vision if you will, we didn't know what the work would be.

But now we have the vision, the purpose.  We have a shed.

As a result I spent a number of days excavating - the land is not level. And I had to go slightly deeper then I would have liked.  There were rocks under the fine soil, some as large as a schoolboy's head. And tree roots as well.  The tree is long gone, but those roots were up to 4" across.

So as well as a shed I now have an axe.

In the end I dug out more than a ton of soil, and although I didn't find any Roman ruins - not uncommon around here - I did find some bottle cstoppers that are amore than 80 years old. 

 I then carted nearly a ton of pebbles from the front to the back in smallish tubs.  We might have a shed and an axe, but we don't have a wheelbarrow.  Oh, and front to back is mostly steps.

The excavation then needed to be leveled, with a weed membrane put down, and cement blocks to keep the shed of the block. Then a layer of pebbles to allow for drainage, and it was done.

I must say I am pleased with the results. It was a race again time before the weather became too cold, and despite being chilly and damp each day I did beat the clock. There still needs to be work done in that corner, and the now-dismantled shed needs a few repairs before being assembled, but that corner is now almost civilised.

And so we have a shed, and and axe.  And in telling this tale to a friend, who asked why I didn't use a wheelbarrow, we now have one of those.  He had a spare, an old one which he was getting rid of.

I might wait till the weather warms a little before erecting the shed.

But did I mention, we now have a shed.

Big-noting and Small Talking.

I once met an author who spent an extraordinary amount of time speaking about themself. I would have said it was just the highlights of their apparent illustrious career, but it went on and on and on. Shortlisted for a few local awards, one one and lost a couple - but not their fault. Always hard done by and as a result of vendettas against them.

They hadn't actually published anything of real note, and I hadn't read any of their work. Or so I thought.

They then mentioned a book, quite an obscure book that they had recently ghost-written. I had to bite my tongue, as it was a book I had actually read - an historical book on a subject close to my heart.  It was awful. It was, in fact, the worst written book I had ever encountered. Poor grammar, badly structured, repetitive, with whole paragraphs that seemed to convey the same thing several times, and obvious spelling errors.  And the editing was even worse. (Yes, they had self-edited, I believe.)

There is no reason to believe this author remembers me at all, and we have no current connections. Even though, I doubt they would recognise themself from the above. Someone told me recently that they hadn't changed, although the minor glories were now long in the past.

As they spoke I didn't say anything, just smiled and nodded with the others who were standing there. But they continued to preach their prowess, name-dropping at will. Oh, and they said a few things which shouldn't be said in public.

On the other hand, a few months ago I managed to listen to Charlie Higson. Not only is he a respected author, but a very funny comedian and fine actor who appeared in The Fast Show, one of my all time favourite comedy shows. A show that I watched repeatedly when I lived in Japan, and then again when I returned to Australia.

Charlie was funny, engaging, self-deprecating, and humble. I managed to catch-up with him afterwards, and thank him for his time. Told him how much I appreciated his work and then left before I could annoy him.  He was gracious, and thanked me.  He said he was grateful the Fast Show had been able to touch and entertain so many people.

I know who I would want to listen to again, or purchase from. Which reminds me, I need to go and watch The Fast Show again.

It's gripped! It's sorted! 

Let's Fast Show!

Such a Silly Season.

Yes, I know. It's always some kind of silly season somewhere.  But for me, specifically, it's silly season in the world of AFL fandom.

As many know, I am a huge fan of Australian Rules football. I am a diehard Essendon supporter, who has suffered for more than 20 years with a team who seem to aspire to mediocrity. We are the butt of many jokes, and there are even webpages counting up the number of days since we have won a finals match. It is a ridiculously high number, and one that frustrates all Essendon fans.

Brad Scott, our coach, has just completed his second year at the helm. At the beginning of the year he cautioned against getting our hopes too high. It didn't help that for much of the year we were sitting high in the league ladder - higher than we deserved, especially when you looked at our percentages. But then we completely collapsed at the end of the season to fall outside the top 8, and miss the final series once again.

I was disappointed, but not surprised. We finished roughly where I had anticipated.  We won some close games, and lost when we played better teams. And faded badly at the end of the season.

While many fans are angry and upset, I understand that changes take time, and recognise the cultural changes being brought into the team. A slow change, but one that I believe will reap rewards.

And the silly season?  Why, that's the trade period that is currently happening, and finishes on Wednesday.  It runs for about ten days and the fan forums are either laughably funny at insanely delusional suggestions made (trade "this player who can barely get a game" for "their champion") or just downright frustrating at the negativity and hostility.

The media is no better.  One day Essendon is criticised for not being active enough in trades, and the next reminded we have no real trade capital and should go to the draft. You simply cannot win.

I'm sticking with Brad. It takes time to turn a team (and a club) around after years of complacency.  AFL is not like other sports where you simply buy in players.  We have a draft system for rookies, but then players in the system already need to be traded - either for other players or draft picks and so on. It provides some equalisation across the league, but means it is difficult to change things quickly when you need to.

So I do think the future is bright, despite the calls in forums for Brad to be sacked and everyone at the club to be replaced. We will get there, and I think it will be in the next few years.

But this season still hurt, though.

Communion.

I was fortunate enough to catch up with Whitely Strieber last week, which makes it sound like we're old friends and we had organised to get together.  That, of course, wasn't the case. I was just in a position where I knew I would be able to say hello to him. I have met Whitley once before. On that occasion he was seated with friends, and he was happy to talk and sign my copy of Communion.  But he was with some friends, and I made a point of not interrupting or taking up too much of his time.

On this occasion, we were able to talk a little longer.  (I would have kept him for hours, but I didn't want to monopolise him!)  He kindly signed my Communion DVD (He was played by Christopher Walken) and a couple of books, listened to a couple of my experiences, offered suggestions and advice, and answered a couple of questions I had.  He even remembered me from last time.

Whitley is lovely. A gentleman who has had many years of strange experiences. People have accused him of doing it all for money, but the truth is there was no money compared to his previous writing career.  These experiences also cost him a great deal, personally. Yet to hear him say he wouldn't change them if he could is remarkable.

I first read Communion in the late 80s, shortly after it was published. I don't recall why I picked it up - maybe it was simply because I'd always been interested in UFOs.  But I know that me, back then, reading it in a shared house, would have been stunned to know that I would get to meet and talk with the author a couple of times.

He is an engaging speaker, and I loved every minute of his presentation. He even went overtime, but unfortunately he had to finish as we had to be out of the space by a set time. He then said he could happily speak for five hours. Whitley, I could happily listen to you for five hours.

And anytime you're up around this part of the UK, I'd love to buy you a drink or two. Hmmm. How many could you drink in five hours?

Cool Cons.

I was supposed to be at the Awakening Expo  last weekend. I bought a ticket at the beginning of the year, but the conference was unfortunately cancelled.

While I understand things happen, I am disappointed by the lack of transparency here.  I was told second hand (and I did check to see a refund had been issued), but the Awakening page and website never even referred to the cancellation.  The following issue of Phenomena magazine (connected with the conference) mentioned problems, which was why it hadn't been published for a couple of months. It then stated that they were all resolved and the best thing was not to mention them anymore.

That is disappointing. I had to change plans and fight to get a refund on my hotel booking. I am aware some people didn't get one. Perhaps we deserve some explanation.

But I will continue to support Awakenings, and look forward to future events.

In the meantime I am excited to be going back to Edge-Lit next weekend. This is a writing convention up in Derby, and I've enjoyed the times I have attended. This year Charlie Higson is a guest, and while he is known for his writing, I'm more of a fan of his days in The Fast Show.  Ah yes, the memories of sitting with my friend in Tokyo in the 90s, sipping beers and laughing at tapes sent over from the UK.  I'm sure he'll be fantastic.

And then the following weekend, I'll be up at the OLM conference in Hull.  And, as a superb bonus, they've announced Whitley Strieber has been added as a guest.  I met Whitley a couple of years ago at the Awakenings conference, and he was wonderful to talk to.  His presentation was superb as well. I can't wait to see you again, Whitley.

All in all a couple of good weeks lined up.  Will I see you there?