I do like the occasional left-field subject, and this is one of those. The 1:25 Goldfish Shop is clearly not intended for markets outside Japan, but I had to get one for myself. Have a look at what’s inside the box with me.
Mine came from Hobbylink Japan, and it’s one of a series of Japanese mini dioramas by MicroAce (affiliate link)
After Christmas Day’s trashy novel, I’m back to reading the nonfiction I brought with me.
As I kick around ideas for a possible serial story, I’m researching alternative ways to run a society. I think the principles of anarchy will provide a few elements of that- there’ll definitely have been a bottom up restructuring to give the setting a certain wild freedom.
Anarchy in Action is the first book I’ve chosen to read on the subject. It was written in the early 70s, with an updating introduction from the 80s, which makes its optimism depressing. Five decades on, many of the problems it addresses still exist, or have become even worse.
I’m a product of the culture the book rails against, so obviously I can’t summon up the faith the author has in the efficacy of his belief system. I can see how giving the people more autonomy and freedom could generate solutions to some, if not all, of our problems, and that is what I will be examining in the planned series if/when it gets started.
One thing that keeps throwing me about the book is its description of anarchy as a libertarian principle. After all the toss spouted by the folks who call themselves Libertarian, would a contemporary anarchist want to use the word to describe themselves?
The other book I’m alternating with Anarchy in Action is Unfuck Your Anxiety, which I got as part of a recent Humble bundle.
The last few years (decade?) have been stressful, to say the least. A bit of anxiety arising from it would be expected. But I feel I’ve had issues for longer. Nothing as serious as panic attacks, but extended periods of self doubt, social anxiety and the sort of inertia that arise from them.
I haven’t reached any of the sections on overcoming anxiety yet. I’m hoping to find some pointers to combating the fears that hold me back from applying for jobs I could easily do, or talking to new people. It may be trite to reduce this to a desire to get paid more and a laid more, but there’s no denying that either of those things would have a positive effect on my mood to complement any other work done to reduce anxiety.
I’m open to suggestions of other works on political theory and practical self-help that might expand my knowledge and resources. Put them in the comments, please.
I don’t know when it started, but it has become my tradition to sit down on Christmas Day with a pulp novel from the 70s or 80s and finish it before Boxing Day*.
This was 2022’s choice. TORCHED! was published in 1986, and feels pretty of its time.
Something is causing a string of mysterious fires across the United States, and two insurance investigators (and, separately but in parallel, the sister of a victim) are trying to hunt the cause. No spoilers, given the cover blurb, but it’s all down to someone discovering how to cause spontaneous human combustion.
There’s a healthy dollop of sleaze, with video-era porn production a part of the story. Characters are broadly and roughly sketched out, and make some really stupid decisions that conflict with previous actions. The grand plan behind the arson is somehow both plausible and ridiculous simultaneously. And the conclusion is wrapped up quickly, as if the writer realised he was close to his word count, and just decided to get it over with with a quick info dump and a convenient confession.
So, just what I was looking for in a Christmas Day book.
*No, I don’t have children. How did you know?
It’s the shortest day of the year. From tomorrow, we get a little bit more daylight every day for six months.
Thank fuck for that, because the last few months, getting here, have been a grinding drag. The seasonal affective disorder has hit harder this year. The longer nights seemed to drain my energy, and it genuinely felt like last week’s cold snap was making it hard to think.
There’s a reason we have a midwinter festival to celebrate the turning of the light. I shall partake, of course. And then I have to get my act together, pull out of the doldrums, and plan for a full year in 2023. Maybe I can even be organised enough to do something to mark the Summer Solstice.
It’s so much easier to dance naked in the woods on the longest day. If I start early enough, I might be able to build a wicker man for one of my action figures as well.
Unboxing the second vehicle in Suyata’s Madness of the Streets series.
I got mine from Hobbylink Japan (affiliate link).
Fascinating as it is to watch Twitter collapse under the weight of Musk’s ego, it has made me realise that I’ve been putting content up there when it could have been here.
Time was, Spinneyhead got one or more posts a day. For a while, it was lucky to get one a month. Posting frequency has gone up since I started embedding YouTube videos here, but I need more prose pieces.
I’m not promising a return to the heady content flow of the noughties, but I shall endeavour to put more stuff here, on my own site. And if the egotistical muppet who owns it starts being weird, at least I can have words with him about it.
I braved the snow (there wasn’t that much, really) to get to the Manchester Model Railway Show and shoot the layouts. Here, for your pleasure, is 16 minutes of model trains.
Old meets new in this project. A vintage Model T show rod kit gets a modern drivetrain through 3D printing.
3D models used in this build:
Tesla crate motor – Quick change rear – Speedster Rod wheels & tyres