Bits and pieces
Hello, again. I see that it’s been over a week since I last posted anything on here so I might as well rectify that. Alas, I was hoping to have this written much sooner but anxiety and procrastination are a lethal combination.
Last Thursday marked 22 years since my brother Michael died. I don’t mean to get overly personal or sappy but I still think about him all the time. I only knew him for the first six years of my life but he left such an indelible effect on me and my family. Even now, after all these years, I still miss him dearly. At this point, he’s missed out on so many special occasions — birthdays, weddings, graduations, milestones, family events — but I’m sure that he’d be proud of us. I don’t know where he’s at but wherever he is, I hope he’s OK. Again, I don’t really want to get too personal when writing something like this because I’m still trying to process this loss. Yes, I know it’s been well over two decades at this point but I don’t think this type of loss is something you ever truly get over. You just learn how to cope and manage the best you can with whatever tools you have at your disposal.
I still don’t really know how to segue onto more light-hearted, less melancholic notes but I have been listening to the eponymous Nine Inch Noize album nearly nonstop since it dropped on Friday. For anyone who loved their appearance at Coachelle — raises hand — this album is pure catnip. Yeah, you could argue that this is basically just taking a handful of Nine Inch Nails songs and giving them a EDM-style revamp and you’d probably be right, but kind of that’s what I love about this album so much. It sounds like an album that’s readymade for the clubs but in the most Nine Inch Nails way possible… well, Nine Inch Noize in that case. Either way, I’m certainly not complaining that Trent Reznor has been going all in with techno as of late.
On Saturday, I was at the Strange and Unusual fan event in Ballymena, which was a blast. The Fright Club and the staff at the Braid did such a great job organising this whole shebang and it was such a great day. In hindsight, I feel like I only scratched of what was there because I spent much of the day at panel discussions. Robert J.E. Simpson hosted a talk about the Sylvester McCoy era of Doctor Who; Andrew Johnston of Alternative Ulstours hosted a talk about the history of Video Nasties and censorship in Northern Ireland, which I personally thoroughly enjoyed, speaking as somebody who’s interested in censorship and especially fascinated by the moral panic surrounding Video Nasties, but that’s a story for another day; comic book artist Will Simpson spoke about his career and his experiences working on Game of Thrones; the Q&A with actor and movement artist Luisa Guerrero, who was the suit performer for Toxie in the recent Toxic Avenger reboot, was an absolute hoot; and last but not least, my friend Kurt Dean-Darby finally premiered his short film, More, in which I appear briefly as an extra.
Regrettably, I haven’t been to the cinema in over two months when I went to see Sam Raimi’s most recent outing, the fucking brilliantly bonkers Send Help and I think that’s something I’ll have to rectify. I’ve already missed the opportunity to see the likes of Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, They Will Kill You, Iron Lung and Hoppers to name just a few. Hell, I even kind of wanted to see The Bride and Wuthering Heights. Oh, well. Maybe I could still see Project Hail Mary and Undertone. Fingers crossed.
There’s more things I want to write about but it’s late and I need to get some sleep so… good night and good morning.
