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.