When I wrote my poem ‘Make a Wish’ last week, it got me thinking about the different traditions of wish making, and I thought it might be interesting to look at a few of those, including where they happen and their origins, if known. Wishing Trees can be found in many parts of the world.…
Wish upon a falling star and peg your hopes to a flaming meteor Blow out the candles on your cake and wish on the symbolic extinguishing of flame Wish upon a first star on where your sight lands toss a coin in a fountain throw your wish in behind break a wishbone with a friend…
You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. Your next stop...the Twilight Zone. — Rod Serling Continuing my appreciation of this wonderful old series, the following are my favourites from Season 3, first aired 1961-1962. “The…
We push off from the bank rowing out into the current moon is full, and high shining on the water scattered clouds skitter across the sky and a chill wind blows making us shiver wrapping our coats around us Our boat catches the current and takes us, swift and sure past houses, under bridges until…
When the Strugatsky brothers finished “The Doomed City” in 1972, they realized that they could not even give it to a publisher in Soviet Russia for fear of the consequences. So they hid the book for over nearly twenty years, not publishing it until 1989, when ‘perestroika’ was taking hold in Russia and the atmosphere…
Everybody’s got an opinion Everybody wants to complain Everybody thinks they know better Everybody’s insane What’s so hard about talking together What’s so hard about being polite What’s so hard about communication What’s so hard about doing it right All I ask for is peace and quiet All I ask for is silence…
I like a good old-fashioned monster movie. “Frankenstein Unbound”, based on a novel of the same name by Brian Aldiss, promised to mix classic Frankenstein with science fiction. Sounds like fun, I thought. The plot centres around a future scientist from 2030 who invents a weapon which can eliminate your enemies without causing any damage…
A tree stands at the world’s edge roots clutch stubbornly to the crumbling cliff confronting the abyss defiantly ‘I shall not be moved’ Sun dips low, and in the dying light branches stand out clear and stark Solid and strong, built to last But the cliff keeps crumbling Come, let us shore up the…
What are you if you lose your memory? What parts of you are shaped by experience and what parts are in-built? If you don’t remember who you are, are you still you? These questions are posed by the 2015 film “Embers”. It’s a post-apocalyptic scenario, filled with deserted, ruined cities and scattered survivors. The apocalyptic…
On a cool clear day a lake lies gleaming rushes define the shore while lily pads dot their way across to where the distant trees sway and dip, waving swishing out a greeting and a summoning if I were light as air I would dance across the lilies to answer the call of the far…
Eclectic Assemblage 