“The Ocean at the End of the Lane” and the Past

The Ocean at the End of the Lane (2013) by Neil Gaiman follows the story of an unnamed man who returns to his childhood home on a whim. There, he meets a lady he remembers from when he was younger, and he reminisces about growing up. At this point, the novel turns to magical realism, …

Why is the Internet an Illustration of the Fact that we are Living Between the Age of the Sovereign and Biopower?

NB: This is an old essay that I wrote prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, hence the discussion on disease control without present day context. Introduction Foucault first develops the concept of biopower as a model allowing for societal control in volume 1 of The History of Sexuality. Historically, biopower follows on directly from the sovereign …

A Really Very Late Sort of Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I just finished reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower for maybe the tenth time since I first stumbled across it. Staying in my childhood bedroom for a few days got me thinking about it again, and on impulse I grabbed it and read it on the train journey home. I've touched briefly on nostalgia …

Movement

https://vimeo.com/507740901

Spontaneous Movement

There was something incredibly calming about train stations that the boy could never quite pinpoint. The dull roar of commuters and tourists that hit off the high ceiling and bounced back to encase him in a mess of sound was oddly comforting. He liked to watch people as they hurried by and try to guess …

Melancholy

It seems as if any song that you listen to on YouTube that is more than 5 or so years old will somewhere have a variation of the comment "Homesick for a time that doesn’t exist". Often I find myself struck with a similar feeling, although currently it's possible I'm just feeling homesick, as I …

Train

If I could, I wouldstay on a train forever. I would letthe soft light washover me as I sped throughthe countryside. I would stare out the window,lost in thought. Watchingunknown geography pass by. If I could, I wouldshuttle myself back and forth.North to south.East to west.Existing only in this liminal space;a corridor of movement. If …

‘Blade Runner 2049’ and its Representation of the Anthropocene and Kinship

The year is 2049, ecosystems have collapsed and lush fields have turned into lifeless squares of plastic and metal. Any spiritual connection to nature which humanity once held has long since been replaced with a physical oneness with technology. A car flies past, in it, the replicant K sits. A bioengineered clone, he is an …

The Shop that Isn’t a Shop

Picture the following scenario: A shop opens in your local town. It is called 'The Memory Shop'. On it's window is a sign, that claims it is not an ordinary shop. Curious, you walk in. The shop is filled with old items - retroware, computers, pictures, comics, books, everything you can think of from the …

Experiments in Disconnecting

Or: Adventures with a Walkman I recently made the move from working a part time retail job to a full time office job. Not only has the pace been something that is taking some use to, the increase in screen use is something that has caused a slight concern to hover in the back of …