My Recent Situlation

In the past two months they has been a noticed lack of new content on this blog. That is because of recent events in my life.

Back in December my father passed away. As anyone who has lost someone will know, when someone dies you tend to reevaluate your life to compare your life so far to the life of the person who passed away. And if you had a life that didn't exactly look "great" right now compared to the life of that dead person then you tend to feel pretty low. You may feel unaccomplished. It,s natural to do so, especially if that person happens to be a relative that appeared to have done a lot in one's life.

In March an aunt passed away. She wasn't that well known to me, but her death did awake feelings I had for my dad. I attended her funeral. Then an uncle of mine passed away. One I was quite close to (but not as close has I was to this one). Of course I attended his funeral. Then another relative passed away. An more obscure one. Didn't attend funeral. And then other aunt passed away. I had four relations die within two months. By May I had reevaluated my life too many times to be considered healthy. Admittedly, on the day when I was told about the last death I experienced the most severe bout of depression I had ever had. IT WAS AWFUL! I couldn't be bothered to watch TV! That is not normal for me.

I may have had some form of depression before this. Probably since my graduation in 2012. But this year's deaths in the family have pushed it to an extreme. So extreme that in April I was prescribed an anti-depressant. The leaflet that came with the tablets did say that it will get worse before it gets better - and they were right. That day in May was horrible. Fortunately, my mood improved soon after. In fact, since taking the tablets I have become more assertive. I am more eager to do things than before.

Recently I drew another pokehuman. A friend of my nephew asked for an Eevee.

And a parent has commissioned me help teach her kids how to draw.

What an interesting challenge.

2016 - A Year of Tributes

To many, the year 2016 was "the worst year ever" (although historians will disagree). They are a number of reasons for it (which I won't go into because I'm not into the almost mandatory game that is politics) but one of them was the high number of well-noted people the reapers, shinigamis and other dealers of death decided to claim since January 1st.

According to Wikipedia over 600 people of note died in December alone, so they are a lot to mourn. Too many to list in this post. So here's a select few....

Father Jack Hackett
This tired and emotional Catholic priest who spent his final years in the remote Irish parish of Craggy Island, Father Hackett was no stranger to death rumours. In 1995 he was reported dead and was ready for burial when he recovered from the symptoms of consuming floor polish (whose symptoms can be easily mistaken as those of death). His conservative stance may have been a act of rebellion against his dad (who was a cartoonist).

Timothy Lumsden
A former librarian, Tim was a regular member of his local an-maturer dramatics society, with his performance as Brian Runnicles in an adaptation of No Sex Please, We're British been his most well remembered. He is also remembered for his "comedic" monologues which got their tone as a result of his upbringing.

Thomas Jerome Newton
This prototype Steve Jobs came from nowhere when he founded World Enterprises in 1963. With multiple innovations, including many in aeronautics which contributed to the Apollo Space Program. But most remember him for his beliefs about aliens and his own private attempt to launch into space in 1976 (he offered a seat to former Apollo astronaut Edgar Mitchell, but he declined). An attempt that never launched due to his timed arrest by the US Government over anti-monopoly practises (according to official sources). Since then Newton has shied the public eye, occasionally releasing music albums under various guises.

Margaret Mottershead
Sister of soap actress Pat Bedford (whose till alive (for now)) Margaret worked as a cook in a motorway service station who occasionally performed self-written tunes on the piano.

Denise Merton
Mrs Merton of Heaton Norris, Stockport, Manchester, was a surprise star on television in the 1990s when she hosted her own talk show on BBC 2. A show that gained notability on its first episode when she interviewed Debbie McGee (wife of the late  Paul Daniels).

Severus Snape
This High-school chemistry teacher once entered the news when he was connected with a terrorist-cell that attacked London, Nottingham and Los Angeles.

William Jerome Silberman Wonka
World-famous creator of sweets (no need to say more).

Roger "The Kid" Nelson
Front-man of Minneapolis-based band The Revolution, Roger later became a solo artist with success as many guises. No stranger to controversy, Roger was noted for his used sexualized lyrics and was a significant figure in the digitisation of music debate. I have no more to say.

Muhammad Ali
A poet and civil rights advocate whose hobby was boxing.

Terry Wogan
This semi-pro golfer may by not as famous as Arnold Palmer, but he did achieve an incredible feat - he once held the record for the longest put ever captured on television.

Angela Reynolds
Head of Shipping of the Pawtucket Brewery in Quahog, Rhode Island, Angela had personal troubles that eventually led to her "drowning at moonlight strangled by her own bra" (according to a press release that was automatically sent).

from World Bowls magazine (September 1978)

James "Jim" Wallace
Three times outdoor bowls champion of Scotland in the 1970s, Jim (as he liked to be known) was a maintenance engineer, mostly first for a farming equipment supplier and then for a light bulb factory. The man may appear insignificant (compared to the others on this post) but he is to me, because of another name I knew him by ... Dad.

Yes, that man in the white shirt holding the trophy in the picture above is my dad. Our relationship wasn't great to begin with (it involved enough teasing that my retaliation broke his false teeth). But when I discovered that book that turned me into a science geek (and tried to make my own version of it) I asked my engineer dad for help. Its thanks to him I am the artist who has an engineer's eye. An eye I got from him.

He was hospitalised after a heart attack a few weeks ago and died a few days later.

P.S. Sorry to all those Trekkies out there for not addressing Star Trek in its 50th year. But I can make up for it by mentioning Anton Yelchin on this tribute post (which I just did there). Live long and prosper...

Ian Thomson (1947-2015)

At 9:30pm Tuesday 21st April 2015 a dear relative of mine finally passed away. For the past few years the grim reaper had been trying to bash down his front door, but shim finally succeeded smashing through it and began hier work claiming him on Saturday. His final moments were in the care of the nurses in the care home in Meigle (I'm sure its the only one in that village. And I'm sure his spirit will have lingered for a while at the Sculptured Stone Museum, home of one of the finest collections of Pictish carvings in Europe. He would have liked that.).

Ian Thomson (or "Papa Oyibo", as he was called by the Yoruba people in Nigeria) was a senior engineer who's intellect and charm led him to have many adventures in Africa, Asia and the Middle East while at work there. He was a well-travelled man, exploiting his knowledge, skills of storytelling and Scottish charm all over the place. They are many, which I have trouble remembering in exact detail as they were so many. He did write them down in black book, which I have seen him read from (and I hope, is saved from obliteration (more on that later)).

Of all the stories I have heard, one story that I just got reminded of by my mother recently (which, I think, is very relevant now) is how he became "The Man Who Sang." One day in an Islamic country (I don't know which one exactly, but for the sake of the search-bots invisibly crawling over this text let's keep it vague shall we.), Ian sang out loudly from the roof of his hotel the song "The Lord is My Shepard" (I think, I'm not 100% on this (keeping it vague).). Non-surprisingly, he was soon arrested for it. However, while most people would just accept the punishment, Ian argued that he technically didn't break the law on the grounds that the the scripture in question can be found in the Koran, therefore singing it was not an act of blasphemy. He was free in a hour. That night, at one in the morning, he received an alarmed knock at his door. It was from a Christian. He had heard of the story of "The Man Who Sang" and asked him to become their minister (as their previous ministers kept been getting arrested). He turned down the offer been a minister (he was not that religious), but he did meet with the other Christians and taught them (basically) how they can get away with expressing their faith without going to jail by exploiting the fact that the Koran contains many scriptures that originate from the Bible. (It's a history thing not many people realize. DISCLAIMER - I am not a religious scholar, just a casual amateur historian.)

And that's just the tip of a huge iceberg...

By 2000 he had enough life experience and intellect to have talking match against Brian Blessed. I can confirm this as it was by this time that I actually started to know him. By then, he began to write down many stories fictional and biographical.

He did manage to get one story published as a children's book in 2000, which I have a copy of...

Big Brother, Little Sister by Papa Oyibo (2000)

I checked and its on sale on Amazon.

This is one many many short stories he has told and written over the years. However, he hasn't been able to publish them in the traditional money-making sense because...

1. His ill-health in his later years prevent him from almost all physical work.
2. Because of this ill-health he was highly dependant of welfare.
3. If he did try to make any money from publishing his work, he'll lose such welfare.

That is a horrible situation for anyone creative. And that is just the tip of an iceberg of bureaucratic nightmares he had faced in the final decade in his life due to his health and the fact he married an American and nearly routinely crossed the Atlantic. Love knows no boundaries.

But now that he is no longer with us, I am personally worried about the amounts of written material he has left behind (on paper and on digital media). What is going to happen to them? Is some heartless philistinal house clearer going to destroy this material? I would be absolutely angry if someone did this to my collection of drawings and writings. And if this did happen when I died, I will (if it is possible in the afterlife) haunt this guy's house as a poltergeist and  destroy everything he had worked hard to earn or assemble, making him feel what this angry spirit is feeling. I imagine Ian would feel the same way. And I would imagine he would have read what I have just said (though the ether of our Wi-Fi signals and on an iPad (as Steve Jobs has improved the infrastructure) and is thinking of doing just that, now that he has no sick physical body and the law to hold him back (as far as I know the law doesn't apply to ghosts). So if you hear news of a house clearer in Scotland (or anyone working in the DWP) experiencing destructive paranormal activity recently, its a good chance its my Uncle Ian.

To any of his and my family reading this, I can safely assume that Ian would be in fits of laughter reading that last bit. He needed it, after all that bureaucratic headaches he suffered in life.

But I still worry about his creative work. However, I know that a small bit of it is safe, because I have a few bits of it on my hard drive. A few years ago he proposed an idea to make a children's eBook, featuring illustrations by me. I did a few sketches for it, and he gave me a lot of material to work form, including the original text. However, things got in the way (mostly due to his health) and little progress was done. But, I still got all the material, and it should be enough that (if I have the will and time) finish this book (plus a few sequels, if its a success).

My uncle Ian was an inspiration, and I am very saddened that he is gone.

This picture was taken in 2010.

Later images don't do him justice due to his ill health.

A Respectable Act of Cultural Vandalism - Robin Williams (1951-2014)

It's saddened to hear that the great comedic genius that is Robin McLaurin Williams has died. He has gone the same way as David Carradine and Isadora Duncan and joined the choir invisible (though the reasons for their strangling were very different to his). 

Before I continue this tribute, I know that some of you may not like the idea of jokes in a tribute of a dead person, but Robin is a comedian form the same school as Monty Python, and (using Graham Chapman's memorial service as a example) it is something Robin would have wanted. 

They are a lot of anecdotes about Robin's talent, but the best one I can think of now was this one said back in July by Adam Savage (my doppelganger born 20 years earlier) on his "Still Untitled Project" on Tested.com

Favorite Adaptations - Still Untitled: The Adam Savage Project - 7/01/2014

(The anecdote in question begins on 22:00)

Before I continue (again) I like to say that the movie Bicentennial Man (despite been panned by critics at the time and been a flop in the box office due to (according to Robin) lackluster marketing and a cut in the film's budget by Disney (the owners of Touchstone Pictures) that resulted in a lowering of quality) is a good film. I think it's better than the original novella (which I have read) as the film includes more emotion. 

This is a truly sad loss for me as he has been a big part of my childhood and was responsible for a part of my sense of humour. I saw him as Mork in Mork & Mindy, the Genie in Aladdin, the Adult Peter Pan in Hook, Alan Parriah in Jumanji, the advance aging kid in Jack, and (of course) as Mrs Doubtfire. In my later years marveled his acting talent in films like Dead Poets Society and Man of the Year.

I would have loved to have met him (alive, of course, but the zombie version of him might be an interesting sight (how it would compare to Bill Murray in Zombieland I don't know until I see it (Them becoming zombies, not the film.))). In fact, back in primary school, me and a friend thought about doing a comic strip adventure about us meeting him. I only drew the first frame of us in the airport introducing the story. Maybe because of that (and the fact my heart wasn't fully into that project (and also it was my final year in primary school)) the project didn't go further and I forgot about it until just now as I am writing this. I can assume that any physical evidence of this project is all gone. Probably put in some shredder years ago to clear out the cupboards in St Lucy's Primary. I wanted to do something involving anthropomorphic animals, but the teacher said we'll do that after the Robin Williams story. Sigh.

So anyway, here is my tribute post to Robin Williams. 

Act of Cultural Vandalism - Does Germany winning mean gambling is good?

National Council on Problem Gambling ad from Singapore (2014)

On the 13th July the final of the FIFA World Cup in Rio, Brazil took place with an astounding victory for Germany against Argentina. Now, usually I don't take notice of things in the world of sports (I didn't know Andy Murray won Wimbledon until a day after his win). But Germany's victory in the World Cup has had an unexpected effect in Singapore. 

For a few weeks Singapore's National Council on Problem Gambling ran an anti-gambling advertising campaign featuring a boy (named Andy) whose dad bet his live savings on whoever wins the World Cup.

So, which team did he bet on? 

NCPG ad web banner (2014)

Germany. The team that actually won the World Cup. Andy's dad must have been over the moon by the sudden windfall. Not surprisingly, as soon as people learnt about this ad campaign (with the miracle of hindsight of knowing of Germany's victory) some had altered it to show Andy's Dad minting it and to tell Andy to "stop whining." 

For a bit more see this Reuters article and look at a few others as well (I'm not doing all the work for you!). 

But what happened to this ad campaign made me ponder. They say that they choose Germany for the ad to add realism to the message. It wouldn't have worked if they made up a team. And it would have worked if Germany had lost, but the NCPG couldn't have had foreseen Germany's luck that year. 

So I thought about this idea. Instead of just one ad, the NCPG could have ran two or multiple ads featuring different dads betting on different teams. This will have sorted the unlikely outcome of the dad in the one single ad winning the bet. But then I realized a problem. With multiple dads betting on different teams, viewers will wonder which one would win. Instead of discouraging gambling, this idea will encourage the very thing it was trying to stop. It's like an anti-smoking campaign giving out free cigarettes. Or a drink-driving campaign where people are asked to sample various alcoholic drinks and then asked to drive a car (to a test track, of course). 

Hang on. That drink-driving idea could actually be doable. But by using the same technology that makes Testing Britains Worst Drivers: Crash Course possible. If you haven't have seen it, some pretty bad drivers are placed in a telepresence set up that allows them to control a life-size remote-controlled car on a test track like they are actually in it. But after getting use to it they are confronted with their bad driving by another remote controlled car that crashes into them. Its a shocking experience for the driver, so I can imagine my drink-drive campaign working equally well. I could go on about this idea, but I should finish this post with something about gambling.

So here are my thoughts about gambling in general. Looking at human nature and human history, gambling is a natural thing for humans to do. Its a result of our pre-farming/supermarket years of hunting our food. There is no 100% guarantee that you'll eat today, so you had to gamble if that antelope is catchable, as if you didn't, you'll starve. We still have that brain wiring today (though what some of us we hunt now is different, like that Charizard card). So what has hunting got to do with gambling? Think about it. If faced with a African plain for a few hours and you'll see only one small antelope (and your hungry), would you try to get that antelope, or wait a while in the hope of encountering a more fatter antelope with a broken leg? Play safe or take the risk? That's gambling. Taking risks. We take risks all the time, from crossing roads to temporary ignoring speed limits when in a hurry. Although some people will frown upon speed limit breakers and pedestrians who don't use zebra crossings, when gambling involves money and/or doing humiliating things that is when the moral panic lot go mental. They are a lot of stories about people who have become ruined wrecks (financially) as a result of gambling. Most middle class people who read such stories wonder "why do people do this?" Why do people become addicted to gambling? But I'll add this observation. Most of the people you hear about in such stories are neither unemployed or in remedial jobs. Also, if you remember your history, many aristocrats dabbled with a few games of poker. So why mostly them? It's our risk-taking hunter past that is responsible. Gambling has filled a daily need of risk taking that was once satisfied by the daily hunt. Most middle class people are immune to gambling because they have a job that involves risk taking and problem solving, such as stock trading or computer programming (I know that a few of them do gamble, but I'm just rounding off observations.). But if you are in a routine that is unchanging everyday, such as working on an assembly line or (in the case of many aristocrats and unemployed people) doing nothing, you face almost no risk at all. And for the hunter programs in the brain it's boring. The brain craves the frill of taking risks, and that results in those people taking up gambling and, as a result, get addicted. Don't believe me? Ask Desmond Morris. He said this very observation in The Naked Ape.

But here's an additional note of my own. In the past (I'm speculating here.) the problem of gambling addiction was more manageable, as it was a social activity involving friends or rivals. This had the advantage that if you wanted your money back you could beg for it back or (I'll let your imagination fill in this blank). Today, on the other hand, most gambling addicts have their fix using machines. Their honesty and security (for the sake of their owners) makes them more trustworthy, making gamblers more willing to use them. But you can't beg a machine for your money back (and the owners won't like you taking a sledge hammer to their machines).
What I'm saying is that gambling is a human activity and it should involve humans. It should be a social activity, not an isolated one. And it shouldn't be done through machines. A human must be in the mechanism to allow the possibility of begging/cheating, making the game more interesting.
But a more constructive idea would be to find alternative means for the risk craving brain to channel its cravings, such as competing in sports or writing a novel or sitcom in the hope a publisher or producer would like it (we need more writers to end the epidemic of reality TV shows).

If you can think of other suggestions, I'll be welcome to them in comments. And now a final sketch...

This idea was too tempting to do, so here it is to add to the endless pile of anti-smoking ads.

I will be AFKed for a while so don't expect anything new in the next month or so. And don't worry, Cat is still alive and well.