by Bret

Our Daily Beard – 30/01/13

Halloo, glorious day for it!

 

Well, I’m resolved to post more.  Don’t let the title fool you- if it actually becomes daily, I’ll eat my hat, while wearing it. To make this viable and avoid clashing with my busy schedule, I’ve decided that these posts can be super short. We’re talking 100 words or thereabouts.

That’s few!

 

What to talk about today? I was trying to think of something fun to do on Twitter today and I have half of an idea. It involves grabbing your copy of American Gods, finding a page and line based on the date or time (maybe time for more variance? I’m not yet sure if the idea is for other people to play along) and posting it.

Today was page 9, line 13: ‘…got a second chance. Make the most of it.’

Not sure yet if that’s the end of the game- just people comparing lines from American Gods to gleam some vague amusement or insight (it was a fairly poignant line to happen upon). Would prefer the game to be more interactive, but what’s the next step? Within the confines of Twitter? Maybe turn said line (or part of it) into a hashtag and get people’s thoughts on it?

Bah, I’ll think upon it. My twitter link is on the right sidebar (@maverickagent).

[sociable]

I didn’t even know that Mick Jagger HAD hooves…

Right, help me out here.

Why- oh, why- doth anyone listen to Maroon 5?

Maroon… ugh… the colour of cheap strip clubs.

Well, there’s no strait answer, is there? I suppose their catchy melodies might have some kind of hypnotic effect. Even the best of us have tapped a toe or hummed a chord against our free will, after being programmed by the merest snatch of music from television, radio or newspaper. No, wait, newspapers don’t have audio. I’m remembering the future again.

 

While I can’t possibly explain this phenomenon without callipers, archaic phrenological brain maps and a car battery, I can posit this:

Maroon 5 can be infinitely improved by becoming MAROONED 5.

Picture the scene: a quintet of musicians become marooned on a desert island. We don’t know why exactly- insert savage backstory of mutiny or pirate attack aboard a cruise liner- but these disparate and desperate gents find themselves totally up the Crusoe.

Fortunately, they find that they have ample food supply in the form of fruit (possible lotophagi side quest frolics) and boar (amusing aside where ‘city boys’ try to learn to hunt… with a hint of Lord of the Flies).

The only other thing on the island of use to them is flotsam from the ship- their instruments, the radio, and misc. other things like booze and models and a Somali pirate who has a change of heart and becomes their lovable sidekick, Bang Bang.

They know little of navigation, so they set to using the radio to learn how to pinpoint their location from the stars. While having a charming episodic dialogue with the mainland (maybe a witty, intelligent and implied-to-be-beautiful coastguard lady), they decide to ‘jam’ with their acoustic instruments and some, oh, I don’t know, bamboo pipes and boar skin bongos.

Marooned 5 are born- their little radio exchanges, featuring backstory, side adventures and desert island concerts, become a worldwide phenomenon. People tune in across the globe to hear the music of these plucky men who have turned adversity into creativity, producing a pure music of hope and artistic simplicity that warms the hearts of all who hear it.

This, I would listen to.

When the coastguard chick leads a rescue ship to finally meet our heroes face-to-face and fall in love with the lead singer, they are shocked to find that Bang Bang has killed them all in their sleep.

[sociable]

The Venerable Beard – 06/01/13

Greetings Beardlings…

I do solemnly swear, in a new-year resolute fashion, to post on El Blogtor more often. Now, this is difficult- I can’t write short stories forever. Nor can I blather about writing projects forever (but a bit, no doubt). I can, just barely, witter on about things. So wittering will be attempted. I’m hesitant.

Today, I decided to fully reject the notion of the five-a-day fruit and veg intake directive.

I never followed it in the first place, of course. Despite my ‘healthening’, I’m adamant that there are ways to lose weight without being pumped full of plant matter. So what’s the big deal? Well, I decided that five-a-day will never-go-away, so rather than ignoring it, I’d rather subvert it.

Let’s take the ‘mandatory consumption of five things’ paradigm (or, if you will, ‘quintessentials’ – see what I done did there?) and apply it to something else.

My Beardy Five-a-Day (or Quintessentials):

I will endeavour to consume each of these every day for perfect health and so should everyone else.

1. A news article about another country or world news. You might learn something about the state of trade negotiations in Belgium, or upheaval in the Middle East, or that pesky war in the DRC. At the very least, you’ll be reminded that the UK isn’t doing so badly.

2. At least thirty minutes of radio. Any station, even a rubbish one- the thing is to expose oneself (lol) to something unexpected and to support this fantastic medium. I recommend Absolute Radio and the fancy radio player web app thingy.

3. Exercise, at least five minutes. If you don’t have time or inclination, just go up and down the stairs a few extra times. This doesn’t have to be a workout, because there’s no point in doing a full workout daily. Just get the blood flowing and give yourself a little time to let your mind wander. Ample opportunity for number four:

4. Experience something from your own imagination. Sounds stupid, I know. Think up an idea for a book, or what you would name your offspring, or what your perfect house would be like, or some kind of crazy fantastical landscape. Dream up some kind of weird animal, or a word (like ‘sluppish’- the feeling of a wet car seat). The point is to introspect and see what your mind has been doing while you weren’t paying attention.

5. Commune with someone you care about. Again, you might learn something. You just don’t know what’s around the corner, so spend a while talking to a friend or relative, even about nothing whatsoever. No friends or relatives? Er… read a book.

If in doubt, try number six:

6. Try to take over the world.

 

Have fun, bye for now!

 
[sociable]