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Some weeks trawl by, and however hectic life gets to be in this exotic northern junkyard they call London, every other hour I am surprised that it is still only whatever time. Shit, I think, surely it must be later than that? Not that this is an indication of my level of stress or bordeom, just an observation that some days, I am apparently, on the inside anyway, still 7 years old, when days lasted weeks and seasons lasted decades.<\/p>\n
This week and last, I have been experiencing the same kind of time dilation. Those among you who know of Dr Who<\/i> may refer to the TARDIS at this point; others might refer to Philip K. Dick or perhaps, Alfred Bester. Bester wrote in 1956, Tiger! Tiger!<\/i>,<\/a> later re-titled The Stars My Destination<\/i> – a most marvellous tale, brilliantly told, which predicts many of the later themes to be found in cyberpunk. <\/p>\n Bester conjured up a fantastic vision of a bestial, vengeful man who is transformed into an evolutionary next step. I used to read three books a week as bored a teenager, and for years, my preferred diet was science fiction. Within this genre, I could project forward and outwards from family incarceration, my teenage angst and alienation. At least somewhere, I was on another world, “jaunteing” (teleporting) through space and time, and not stuck indoors, ignoring homework, waiting for Monday to start the whole drab process once again.<\/p>\n Which brings me neatly back to the inspiration for my current muse. Woolworths, I read,<\/a> have prepared “souvenirs to mark the anticipated engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton… The chain-store’s items range from traditional china plates and thimbles to a mouse mat and a range of Will and Kate-shaped pick and mix sweets. The retailer’s bosses said they wanted to be prepared in case the couple announced they intended to marry.” (BBC)<\/p>\n\n
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