March 20, 2013

How To Boost Creativity Now: 5 Ways To Accelerate The Production of Ideas

Personal Development Writing

Every writer and creator has at some point experienced “creative constipation”. That annoying state of mind where no new ideas are coming to mind.

In this post I wanted to share with you the 5 best ways I have found to accelerate the power of the creative mind. Some of them are from personal experience and some are from the latest breakthroughs in the rapidly advancing field of neuroscience. They ALL work.  Continue reading “How To Boost Creativity Now: 5 Ways To Accelerate The Production of Ideas” »

February 9, 2013

How To Write Great Screenplays: My Writing Process

Writing

For people like me, being artistic feeds the soul. It is where the greatest of clothed pleasures comes from. And that would be fine if all writing was to me was a hobby. Unfortunately in the real world of independent film, a world of deadlines and low budgets, we are in the business of creating products. Out of nothing.

I have had a fair few inquiries lately as to my methods as a writer. Where ideas come from; how I develop stories and how they eventually develop into screenplays. So I thought I’d spill my beans. Continue reading “How To Write Great Screenplays: My Writing Process” »

January 15, 2013

Why HMV Failed

My Two Penneth

As a frequent visitor to HMV, I do wonder what I’ll do now on Saturday afternoons. But what’s wrong with that sentence? I said I was a visitor to HMV and not a shopper. It had become, as have many high street retailers, a museum where you can go and check out what’s available only to scan the barcode with the particularly evil Amazon.co.uk iPhone app and then buy online for less. Continue reading “Why HMV Failed” »

January 10, 2013

My Film Education, Instead of a Degree

Film Making

Early in 2012, I considered the possibility of enrolling in Raindance’s Postgraduate Film Degree. After a fair bit of thought, I decided not to bother, mainly because it would have been a distance learning degree which would make impossible the one valuable thing I might gain from doing the degree other than knowledge – connections. Instead, I decided to take the same £8000 and invest it into my film education on a self-directed basis. This post details what I spend the money on. Continue reading “My Film Education, Instead of a Degree” »

December 28, 2012

A Professor’s Life Advice

Wisdom

This went viral on Facebook. I liked it so thought I’d share it here.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. Continue reading “A Professor’s Life Advice” »

December 24, 2012

Why America Needs Gun Control Now

My Two Penneth

So a Merry Christmas to all! It’s just a very sad and sorry shame that a time of good will and kindness has hanging over it this year a school shooting in which 27 people, 20 of them children, were killed and then just today the unprovoked murders of two firefighters shot when they responded to a blaze in Jersey.

Piers Morgan, the British newspaper editor turned chat show host in New York has used his position to start a public conversation about gun control. Morgan has never really been somebody I have respected but in this instance I am on his side. If America wants less gun crime they need to start, at the very least, limiting the availability of guns. But the fact that a Texan journalist has started a petition on the White House website petitioning to get Morgan deported for his views, a petition which more than 25 000 Americans have signed; suggests that this is not going to be easy and gets to the heart of what I can only consider a very illogical problem: Continue reading “Why America Needs Gun Control Now” »

November 15, 2012

WeMo: A Review

Gadgets

Most men have an inner slob. Once we get settled on the sofa or in bed, we really don’t want to get up for anything short of the room being on fire. Certainly not to bother ourselves with menial tasks like switching the lamp off, or on cold winter nights, making that trip up to the bedroom to turn on the electric blanket 30 minutes or so before our planned bed time. It’s a chore. But thanks to a handy little gadget from the boffins at Belkin, the days of chores like that may be numbered. Enter the WeMo. Continue reading “WeMo: A Review” »

October 28, 2012

Skyfall: A Review From A Life Long Bond Fan

Film Reviews

Skyfall is about as far away from “classic Bond” as any film in the franchise has ever dared to venture, shying away from cliched story lines and telling what was much more of a personal story than any previous film ever has. It also lacks many of the hall marks life long fans have come to expect from a James Bond adventure. The average twenty-odd year old has more gadgets on his smart phone than were issued to James Bond in his latest outing. On top of which, no car; and in all seriousness, the only real Bond girl in this movie was M. But I think in several ways that was exactly the point. Continue reading “Skyfall: A Review From A Life Long Bond Fan” »

October 6, 2012

Magic MegaStore 2008-2012

Thinking Out Loud

It’s not the end. But for now I’ve had no choice but to close MagicMegaStore.co.uk for the time being. My current lifestyle and priorities are not able to accomodate the demands of running and managing the business and giving my customers the level of customer service I would expect from an online store that I was buying from. So for the time being, until I travel less and settle down somewhere, Magic MegaStore is closed. Sorry. Continue reading “Magic MegaStore 2008-2012” »

September 5, 2012

27

Uncategorized

So yes, another year has passed. Last Sunday I turned 27.

I read back over my 2012 manifesto just now and laughed. We are now three quarters of the way through and it hasn’t had quite the rocket fuel I wanted it to have. I have done some of the things on that list but some of them I didn’t even remember that I had written. Continue reading “27” »

Coming Soon

1/5/13

Release of The Extraction

THE SHORT FILM

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