asides Blog

One line thoughts of the day.

In the aftermath of the terrible train crash in Spain, I’m seeing a lot of people who know nothing about railway technology trying to blame everything on the driver, and quoting things he’s allegedly said on Facebook as evidence. With the level of automated safety systems on high-speed rail, an accident of this nature is very unlikely though driver error alone; the investigation will almost certainly reveal some kind of technical failure.

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Tim Hall | 4 Comments

The rate at which the smaller bands that feature heavily on this blog change linueps and in some cases split up entirely means we should never take any of them for granted. One of the most common things I hear when a band splits is “And I never got to see them live”. Never put off seeing a band live; there might never be another opportunity. “Carpe Diem”, as the song says.

Posted on July 19, 2013 by Tim Hall | 5 Comments

You know you’re an IT nerd if you use the phrase “Object reference is not set to an instance of this object” to mean “I have no idea what you’re talking about”.

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Tim Hall | 2 Comments

This blog has been a bit quiet lately, because I’ve been on holiday. The past week involved, among other things, Clown Car blowing Iridium Tractor off stage (twice), an aggressive kamikaze seagull, several articulated kettles, more than one Purple Moose Snowdonia Ale, The Village (But no sign of Rover), a couple of utterly superb gigs by Panic Room, and A FLOWER.

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Tim Hall | 1 Comment

I know music is subjective and all that, but if you really think that Beady Eye or Mumford and Sons represent the very best that contemporary music has to offer, then you really do need to get out more.

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Tim Hall | 3 Comments

A powerful and very honest piece on Twitter, depression and METAL from Metal Hammer, Prog and Guardian writer Dom Lawson. Does contain some swears, but that’s Dom’s inimitable style.

Posted on June 26, 2013 by Tim Hall | 4 Comments

“You’re sexist if you don’t agree with me that the next Dr Who should be a woman” is the geek culture equivalent of “If you prefer metal to hip-hop then you’re a racist”. Is this a variation of the “No True Scotsman” fallacy?

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Tim Hall | 5 Comments

Dear white male science fiction author who shall remain nameless.

I don’t know if your now-deleted “Call for Civility” on your blog actually was expressing a desire for things to be just like they were in the 1950s when women and minorities knew their place, or whether that was just how it seemed.

But did it not occur to you that phrases like “Rabid jungle cats” used to describe some of your fellow writers who were neither white nor male might seem a teensy bit racist?

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Tim Hall | Comments Off

“There is something distinctly galling about witnessing mainstream media commentators gushing about Glastonbury signifying the beginning of the British summer festival season. For those of us who enjoy music that allows for a touch more aggression and energy than Mumford & Sons, the true start of the summer comes with Download” – Dom Lawson tells it like it is. Never thought I’d read words like that in The Guardian.

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Tim Hall | Comments Off

Never quite sure when it’s better not to feed the troll, and when the situation is so bad it really needs sunlight and Dettol. Even by the standard of racist, sexist trolls in the bottom half of the internet, Vox Day (or by his real name, Theodore Beale) is a despicable piece of slime. The link doesn’t go to his own site (I’m not giving him traffic), but to that of Amal El-Mohtar, who is campaigning to have him expelled from Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, and contains screenshots of Beale’s offensive screeds.

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Tim Hall | 3 Comments