Load of Balls

In one of many controversies surrounding the current men's football World Cup, the BBC chose to show the opening ceremony as additional content rather than as a primary broadcast. Gary Lineker's defence of the decision seems more than reasonable to me. But then my perspective is somewhat different from those who are complaining. My hobbies …

Women in the Martial Arts, ed. Carol A Wiley

Focusing not on a single statement of what women’s martial arts is but on multiple perspectives on how martial arts isn’t the domain of male fighters that popular imagery portrays, this book will speak not merely to women with an interest in the martial arts but to anyone interested in diversity as a whole. Wiley …

Crab Buckets

Sometimes trying to escape the drear that is the morning news can lead one into equally murky thoughts. And pondering of whether one is actually in one of the dystopias one didn't want to be. One of my common morning behaviours is doing the daily challenges in a solitaire app. I find a few games …

Straining Credulity

Many yonks ago, when I was at school, I first encountered the idea that I didn't like exercise because I didn't do enough of it. At the time, it seemed a little odd; however, I kept meeting the idea as I continued through life and—being older—found it now paired with explanations of endorphins and pleasure …

Good Is in the Heart

Local, national, and world news was—as oft—less than perfect this morning, which left me with a momentary ponder about campaigning for a better world is wasted effort. However, serendipitously, I recieved a question about the vampire LARP I'm helping to organise, which will be run in a hall owned by Quakers, which in turn reminded …

Once There Was

Art is strange. Wonderful. Tragic. Beautiful. But strange. Much like this performance of Nina McNeely's contemporary dance piece “Once There Was III”. https://www.ted.com/talks/nina_mcneely_once_there_was_iii_a_mesmerizing_blend_of_dance_animation_and_tech The seven-minute piece is... well, what is it? Babylonian myth reset in the modern age? Cyberpunk? McNeely gives a few minutes of explanation after but is that what the piece is? Certainly …

Different But the Same

I am currently helping to design a Vampire LARP set in the early medieval period; part of this is obviously considering how to handle issues of race. Which set me to thinking that the classical perception of race that lingered into the medieval period is in some ways better than the way the United Kingdom …

Not Excused

Opinions differ on what influences people to a particular course (and whether free will even exists in a real sense). I incline strongly toward theories of it being a series of events and experiences—some unnoticed or apparently unconnected—that combine to create critical momentum. However, sometimes I look back and think that if I wanted to …

A Verse about Childhood

A reminder that they don't make nostalgia like they used to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eVMWh71SmE You might wonder if there is some message behind my sharing this poem now... but I couldn't possibly comment.

From That Angle

I recently started playing Pine, which the developers describe as an “open-world action adventure game set in a simulated world that does not belong to humans”. What they don't describe it is a “third-person adventure game with a lot of platform jumping puzzles”. Which stoked my pondering of what people choose to prioritise, both when …