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Personal Projects
Sadly, this isn't a picture of my workspace. A one-year old girl and a five-year (going on 13-year) old boy are currently using every available surface in our home for their toys. I daren't put a laptop down in case it gets irreversibly stuck. So, I am consigned to the garage for now. But that's okay, that's where the wine fridge is.
Anyway, I've always had a passion for writing. And I'm currently working on a series of children's books (inspired by my son), who learns about the world as he travels...
Some very clever people out there in Technology Land have been hard at work building MidJourney. This AI tool has allowed me to generate multiple images for the series 'Fraser's Flight School', using written prompts.
As a result I have been able to accomplish in minutes what would normally take days if not weeks. Yeah, the results aren't perfect, but what a jump-off point.
It's funny that the old saying goes, 'a picture paints a thousand words', maybe it needs updated to 'a handful of words paints a thousand pictures'.
All work and no play makes
John a dull boy.
All work and no play makes
John a dull boy.
All work and no play makes
John a dull boy.
All work and no play makes
John a dull boy.
THERE'S NO SUCH THINGS AS MONSTERS...
Ever since age 9, when my dad brought home a copy of Child’s Play from the video store (thinking it was a kid's movie about a friendly doll that comes to life), and then went out for the evening with my mum (c'mon it was the 80s!), I have bloody loved horror.
The genre has lost its way more than a few times (I’m looking at you mid-noughties gore-fests), but thankfully there has been a resurgence of smart and scary movies as well as TV series of late. I've been working on a six-part series titled, THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS MONSTERS, and hope to one day to see it realised. And again have been using MidJourney to help create worlds and visualise characters at speed.
Children's after-school TV produced some spooky classics in the 70s and 80s. Children of the Stones, Chocky, Moondial, and Animals of Farthing Wood had the hardiest of kids getting mum and dad to check the wardrobe was empty before going to sleep. Twice.
I love this kind of drama. Apart from anything else, being scared as a kid is fun. It sparks the imagination unlike any other emotion. Creating the possibility for a seemingly limitless number of 'what if' scenarios to play out. And to scare the shit out of you.
But, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. It's also fun to explore darker ideas and places. The corners of our mind we try to avoid. I'm not big on fantasy in adult horror, as I just don't believe in ghosts or monsters. People are far more frightening (and lovely, of course). But there are those that walk among us whose actions make them ghoulish and monstrous. Like the mum who shrieks all of the time, the arsehole bully colleague, the person who stares for just a bit too long on public transport. These are things that really terrify people on a day to day basis.
The most terrifying image of all... an adland creative begging for change in Soho after the machines have taken all of the creative jobs. I love how (unprompted) the machine made itself look sympathetic by lowering to the creative's level. We're doomed!
Stay at Home!
You may have read that there was a bit of worldwide pandemic a few years ago. What started out as some simple colouring-in sheets to keep my son amused, soon spiralled out of control into ways to entertain friends... and myself. Here are some of my favourites from that strange time.
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