A Health Update For You: Hospital Appointments, Heart Procedures, and a Career of Ups and Downs

It occurred to me earlier today that I’ve been neglecting my duties as it were, because it’s been just over two weeks since my visit to the big hospital and I haven’t told you all what happened. If I don’t, how will the little spies who monitor my social media accounts and blogs be able to report back to their handlers to let them know what’s going on?

Social Media Discoveries 81: Inokashira Rangers, Keiichi Sokabe, Killington Pit, Velvet Insane and More!

Normal service has resumed with episode 81 of Social Media Discoveries. But can you call it normal when you've got a band from a parallel universe on the show?

Anglo-Force: The Celsius Enigma Chapter Seven: The Unveiling at the Vault

A faint, unnatural chill seeped into Solo’s bones, a pervasive cold that had nothing to do with the late evening air. It clung to the derelict bank building like a shroud, growing stronger as he and Magus descended into the forgotten Roman-era vault beneath. The air, thick with the scent of damp earth and something else, something ancient and potent, pressed in on him, making the hairs on his arms prickle.

Anglo-Force: The Celsius Enigma Chapter Six: The Puppet and the Master

The tarnished silver locket lay on a glowing magical diagram in the centre of Doctor Magus’s study, its arcane symbol pulsing faintly with an inner light. Inspector Solo stared at it, the metallic tang of ozone still lingering in his nostrils from the blast at the bank. The desperation he’d glimpsed in Celsius’s eyes, a flicker of raw fear beneath the criminal’s mask, gnawed at him. It didn’t fit the image of a ruthless, power-hungry villain.

Anglo-Force: The Celsius Enigma Chapter Five: A Scorched Earth in the Square Mile

A peculiar shimmer hung in the air, a distortion in the early morning light that painted the London financial district in an almost ethereal glow. The usual cacophony of sirens and distant traffic seemed muted, swallowed by an unnatural silence that pressed down on the Square Mile. Solo, dressed in a nondescript jacket and jeans, felt the subtle shift in temperature, a creeping chill that had no business in a bustling city at dawn. It was Magus’s prediction, made with an unnerving certainty, manifesting before his very eyes.

Anglo-Force: The Celsius Enigma Chapter Four: The First Lesson in Ley Lines

This was it, then. The deep end.

The morning chill of Bloomsbury bit at Solo’s cheeks as he navigated the quiet square. A cryptic note, penned in elegant, looping script, had directed him to an unassuming Georgian townhouse, its brick façade indistinguishable from its neighbours. No brass plaque, no indication of anything out of the ordinary, yet a prickle of anticipation, almost a hum, vibrated beneath his skin.

Anglo-Force: The Celsius Enigma Chapter Three: An Unconventional Offer

“Chief Inspector Jeavons, you simply must see this new CCTV footage!”

            Solo’s voice, a blend of several regional dialects from his years of service across the UK, cut through the oppressive silence of the corridor. He strode purposefully from the conference room, the impossible frozen rose still clutched in his hand, a quiet determination radiating from him. The weight of the inexplicable incidents, the melted vaults and the impossible ice, pressed heavily upon his mind, urging him to seek answers beyond the conventional. He knew Jeavons would resist, but the evidence was too compelling to ignore.

Anglo-Force: The Celsius Enigma Chapter Two: Whispers of the Impossible

Solo pushed through the heavy swing doors of the conference room, the scent of stale coffee and something faintly metallic hitting him immediately. The frozen rose, still an impossible image etched behind his eyes, seemed to hum with an unnatural cold even in memory. He found Chief Inspector Charles Jeavons hunched over the long, polished table, a man visibly wrestling with the ghosts of a long night and a case that defied every rule he’d ever known. The room itself felt like a holding cell for frustration, the air thick with unspoken desperation.

Anglo-Force: The Celsius Enigma Chapter One: The Frozen Vault of Threadneedle Street

The biting cold, sharper and more invasive than any natural London chill, seeped through Inspector Paul Solo’s casual jacket, pricking his skin. It wasn't the usual damp cold of a late autumn evening, but something far more profound, an unnatural refrigeration that made the very air feel brittle. Around him, the iconic architecture of Threadneedle Street, usually a warm glow of financial power, was awash in the pulsing blue and red of emergency lights, painting the rain-slicked pavement in garish, shifting colours. The cacophony of sirens, the hushed, urgent voices of his colleagues, and the distant, muffled thrum of generators blended into a disorienting hum.

Social Media Discoveries 80: The Queen Experience III

It's episode 80 of the Social Media Discoveries series. You know what that means, don't you? It means because there's a zero at the end of the episode number we're going to do things a little differently this week as we present to you our third collection of Queen cover versions, brought to you by some of the musical acts that the algorithms have thrown at us over the years.

The Wrestling Diaries Playlist

Two Seats Wide

If you follow me on social media you'll know that I've been making a few new videos lately for my concept "album" The Wrestling Diaries, an AI-generated musical piece based on my mini-series The WAW Diaries, a series of blogs written in 2001 documenting my initial encounters with the good and the great of the Norwich-based World Association of Wrestling.

Tell Me What Happened To You

What I’m about to say here may upset a few people. In fact, I know it will. Some of you may say I’m a selfish so-and-so for posting this here, and a few people on my social media friends list may unfriend me.

You see, what I’m about to say here is aimed at you, the person reading this. You may be related to me in some way, you may consider yourself a friend, or you may be someone I’ve crossed paths with sometime over the years that’s reconnected with me via social media.

I feel let down, in a big way. Why?

Social Media Discoveries 79: The Animal In Me, Vicky Psarakis, The Urban Folk Quartet, Anne Dar and More!

Episode 79 of Social Media Discoveries is here! Plenty of stuff for you here this week with one of the world's best cover bands, and a woman from Russia who may not even exist!

Forty Years Ago This Month

Forty years ago this month, I met these two for the first time.

We adopted Shep and Sam as puppy and kitten on the same day, both of them around six weeks old, on the same day we had to let Micky go because of a spinal issue.

Social Media Discoveries 78: Artificial Fear, Choir! Choir! Choir!, Matt Steady, Kayla King & More!

Episode 78 of Social Media Discoveries is here! There's plenty of the hard stuff for you this week from the US, Canada and Europe, as well as a song that has us asking: AI or not AI?

Rest in Peace Victor

I Don't Believe In God

Before I start this thing, I want to say that I’ve had serious doubts as to whether I should write this piece or not, because I know that someone will be offended, no matter what I say or how I say it. But screw it, here goes anyway.

I’m going to start by saying that there are a lot of things about religion I greatly admire. I admire the architecture. I believe that Cromer Parish Church in Cromer is one of the finest buildings I’ve ever seen, both inside and out. I used to enjoy climbing the steps in the church tower, and the view of the town from the top of the tower is absolutely stunning, especially if you’ve lived in Cromer all of your life.

Social Media Discoveries 77: Ladyva, Retro Game Remix, Stevie Riks, Shock Tea & More!

It's episode 77 of the Social Media Discoveries series, and once again we're giving you music from all around the world, including the lone Spotify song from a guy you may have seen doing a Gary Numan impression.

Social Media Discoveries 76: White Knight Instrumental, Good Terms, Banda Reggaetown, The Curator & More!

Photo Credit: Cromer Museum

Normal service has resumed with episode 76 of Social Media Discoveries, and along with the usual mix of songs culled from the depths of social media we've got one featuring a guy who's very local to me, so local that he works at the Cromer Museum!

My World Is Getting Smaller

The twenty-first century was meant to be good to me.

Sure, it began well enough. I had a brilliant job, and I worked with people who were more like family than friends. I’d also started to travel a little, two trips to France in 1999, a trip to Belgium for my birthday in 2000, a trip to the Eden Project in Cornwall in 2001.

Then a guy from Diss happened. He purchased the business, and instead of having the balls to tell me that I didn’t fit his vision of what he wanted for the business he set about making my life a misery, taking everything I’d worked so hard for away from me before making it impossible for me to stay. He wore me down and abused me mentally with late-night phone drunken phone calls. In the end I said no more, and I resigned on health grounds.