I see the world as it should be;

I do not see the world at all.

..... [more] 

Theirs is a pervading vision. A search for stability. For robustness and reliability. For the sameness of days.

Theirs is a search for more. For more of the same. And with greater regularity, ease and convenience.

The long plod of the middle of the road..... [more]

As children we're taught that there are some words that we shouldn't say. Nice children say "yes", "please" and "thank you". Only in very rare circumstances is a polite refusal allowed.

In improv theatre, the utmost holy mantra is the concept of "yes, and...". Every improv game move is an offer to be embraced and built upon. Refusing someone's idea is a metaphoric slap in the face that will get you chased out of improv-town..... [more]

Quite simply, because I fucked up.

I know the..... [more]

The Smiths wrote a book entitled The Songs That Saved Your Life. Well, the Smiths didn't write it. Simon Goddard did. But it was about the Smiths.

The book covered each of their songs with fanboy levels of intimate detail. It's a perfect piece of fan-porn, full with recording notes, backstage gossip and lyrics interpretations..... [more]

Around 1.41 a.m. on Sunday morning I had an epiphany. I was at a Belgian wedding, shaking moves to Euro-trance music on the dancefloor beside an assortment of European mongrels. An assortment of characters with birthplaces spanning Spain, the UK, Belgium, France and Germany.

And my thought was: .....[more]

Three things your doctor needn't say:

1. "Your test results came back. They are the worst I have ever seen."

2. "So, you've been feeling a bit down..... [more]

There is a post that I had put off writing. That post, is this post. It's the last post written before Basho begins his journey around Japan. And it's also the last post before we get a few guest writers in to kick-off the Big Morbidity Project (BMP).

But it is more than that..... [more]

When is a terrorist not a terrorist? When they are white? Or just when we share a certain amount of cultural ancestry?

A lot remains unanswered about the murder of the British parliamentarian Jo Cox last Wednesday. And it's far too easy..... [more]

The European Championships (football) kicked-off on Friday. I, like always, have so far seen about 37 minutes of the 990 minutes on offer. The familiar rush of excitement in the weeks preluding the first game; the sudden apathy as soon as the tournament actually begins. Maybe apathy is a strong word. I still check the results on the BBC. So... distractibility. Or rather, always finding something "more important" to do..... [more]

No creative work is delivered in a ready-to-eat, fully-formed manner. Revision and the slow chipping away of the creative marble is the less-sexy truth behind most creative endeavours. Ok, maybe not if you're Kerouac. But I'm not American. Or dead..... [more]

So, here it is. Our little baby. Dirtied and bloodied. And so much smaller than we’d expected.

What was supposed to be a “back of the envelope” musing to be launched all the way back..... [more]