Layers - Part 62

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

The Watch – Part 96:

‘That’s a big statement to make, especially one only soon after we’ve met him,’ I said. Amy looked at me as if I didn’t believe her. ‘I’m not saying I’m sceptical, I’m just saying that we need a bit more evidence first, that’s all.’

‘I understand where you’re coming from, but it’s… it’s unexplainable.’ She looked around the area whilst she thought what to say next. ‘It’s just this strange feeling, you know, as if…’ she sighed as she thought what she was going to say is going to sound stupid. I was about to reassure her that whatever she says isn’t going to sound crazy, but she continued before I had the chance. ‘It’s as if the paradox is trying to tell me something – pull me in the right direction, I don’t know, you know.’ She sighed again as she realised that what she said wasn’t what she wanted to say.

‘I believe you,’ I said.

‘You do?’ Amy questioned, looking at me as if I am only saying that to amuse her.

‘I’ve never experienced anything like this before, and so I don’t know what’s going on, do I?

‘So, you believe me because you have no choice to believe me,’ Amy pointed out, ruining what I actually meant.

‘No, that’s not the reason at all,’ I dismissed what I just said with the wave of my hands before continuing on with something better. ‘I mean; I have been interested in stuff like this for years. I have studied so much about it that I know practically everything about it. The many paradoxes, the necessary machines and power needed to punch the whole through the Space-Time Continuum, I know nearly everything there is to know about time travel. When you suddenly presented me with some evidence that proved one way or another that you would one day travel in time – during that one second; that one moment when I thought I wasn’t being crazy by thinking that travelling through time was possible, I immediately forgot everything I knew, as if I had to relearn what I already knew. I believe you that you feel that he is the one who will take the video of you exiting the station, because… well, because…’

‘Don’t worry about trying to finish that sentence,’ Amy smiled. ‘You tried to put some context there and that’s all that matters, especially in this situation.’ That was unexpected, and I knew that my facial expression showed Amy how I felt. ‘Let’s move on, shall we?’

‘Er… yes, let’s move on,’ I said, and we resumed our walking away from the station.

Amy said, ‘our original plan was to go home after today. We should have packed some clothes or something. I guess I naturally believed that we would get all the answers we need in one day. It makes sense that we didn’t.’

‘There is a hotel just up the road there,’ I pointed.

‘How much are each room for one night?’ Amy asked.

‘I have no idea.’ I knew that Amy was only asking that rhetorically, but I answered it anyway. ‘I can’t imagine it being that expensive, though,’ I said after we had come to a standstill outside the Mistley Torne, ‘no offense intended.’

‘I guess we could go halves,’ Amy said.

‘You sure?’ I shouldn’t have asked that.

‘I’m not going to let you pay for both of us, that’s for sure. I would rather sleep in that abandoned station before I let you do that, ‘and when I mean halves, I mean one room each.’

‘I didn’t think anything else,’ I said, hoping that would settle the matter, but Amy looked at me as if she still believed I had meant something else. I was just about to step forward when Amy pointed out something important.

‘But hang on, we don’t have any fresh clothes or toiletries, or anything like that. All we have is what we are carrying now and our money.’

‘Good point.’ I said. We both expected to come here, find out everything we want and need to find and go home before tea. ‘Um,’ I said thinking about what we could do. ‘Well, when it comes to toiletries, the hotel would provide some of them, but we could always get them from Tescos. And as for the clothes, no place is open for us to get something clean to wear tomorrow, so I’m afraid we’re going to have to wear what we are now,’ I explained.

‘If that’s what needs to be done, then I guess that’s what we have to do,’ Amy didn’t like the idea much. ‘But, I’m in, anyway.’

‘Awesome. Now, I suggest we go and book our rooms first so that we have that secured before going shopping for food and everything else.’

‘That sounds like a plan,’ Amy said linking her arm with mine and we headed into the Mistley Torne.

This place was full of people who were getting ready for a night of socialising, drinking and generally having a good time. The TV in the corner was showing the obligatory news channel, which means there isn’t an important game on at the time. A group of people were sitting at the bar, drinks in hand, talking about the day they had or what they’ve got planned tomorrow and so on. This atmosphere isn’t something that I’m used to being in. Normally, I wouldn’t enter this kind of place, but only with someone else. The only time I would is when I am going to meet someone who was already in here. Tom likes spending time in pubs because it’s a great place to catch up on things with other people, but since I am the only person who he can do that with, he doesn’t spend hardly any time in a pub. From the look on Amy’s face, she doesn’t like this kind of atmosphere either.

‘Are you alright?’ I asked her.

‘Let’s just get this over and done with as quickly as possible,’ Amy said. We both walked up to the bar and waited for the woman behind the counter to finish pouring a round of drinks for the group sitting just to the right of us. After she had served every one of them, she spotted us and came up to us.

‘What can I get you?’ she asked in that classic Essex accent. I’m surprised that she hasn’t asked for our IDs yet. Maybe she’s waiting to spring it upon us when we think we’re about to get away with it, even though we’re old enough to be at the bar and drink anyway.

‘Do you have two rooms free?’ Amy asked.

‘Sorry guys,’ she said, picking up a glass and started to wipe it dry, ‘but we have only the one at the moment.’ She had many tattoos all up her arm and had spiky red hair, that would easily trick some people into believing she was who she wasn’t, which is a nice person to talk to.

‘Do you know of any place that does have two rooms?’ Amy asked as a long shot.

‘Actually, I do know the answer to that question, and you’re not going to like it, I’m afraid. You see, there’s a big event that’s going to happen over the weekend and loads of people have come from afar to attend it, meaning they’ve grabbed as many rooms as possible for the weekend. The only room that’s free is here,’ she explained sympathetically.

Amy turned towards me and said, ‘what do you want to do?’

‘Do we have any choice,’ I said as a statement not a question.

‘Is it a single or a double?’ Amy asked the woman.

‘Actually, it’s a triple. One double bed and a couch that folds out.’

‘That’ll do, won’t it?’ Amy asked.

‘Let’s book the room before anyone else does,’ I said happy that we were at least able to get one room.

‘I’ll just go and get the book,’ and the woman disappeared behind the scenes to retrieve the black book where we have to write our names down.

The woman returned with the small black book and opened to a blank page and handed us a pen.

‘How much?’ Amy asked.

‘Fourteen pounds a night per room,’ she said.

‘That little,’ I said expecting it to be much higher. We sorted out the rooms, paid the money, and the woman called for the man who was sorting out some stock behind the scenes to look after the bar whilst she showed us to our room.

‘If you would like to come through,’ she said, holding open the door, letting us go through. We climbed two sets of stairs until we reached the second floor where we walked to the very end. The hallway had a nice neutral colour with an easy-on-the-eye pattern that wouldn’t give you a headache the longer you stared at it, not as if you would find yourself staring at the floor for a long period of time.

‘So, you going to the event as well?’ she asked.

‘No, we’re just here to see the sights,’ Amy said. She’s getting pretty good at making up stories.

‘Here you are,’ she said, showing us our room and holding out our key at the same time. Amy took it and the woman bid us good night before heading back downstairs. Amy unlocked the door and we entered the room. It was a nice room. Even nicer once we found the light switch and turned it on, revealing a cosy looking room with a neatly made bed in the middle with a table complete with a desk lamp. Underneath the window was the couch that would unfold to a single bed.

‘Who’s getting the bed?’ Amy asked.

‘I’ll take the couch,’ I said.

‘You sure?’

‘Positive.’

‘Then put your stuff down and let’s go shopping for what we need. We can grab some food at the bar.

‘OK,’ I said.

‘It’s really weird that she didn’t ask for our ID,’ Amy said.

‘Maybe we look the age we are,’ I said.

‘Maybe,’ Amy said.

***

 We shopped around town for the necessities, grabbing anything that we needed to ready ourselves in the morning for another day of searching and trying to find answers. When we returned to our room, we sorted out what we needed and headed downstairs to grab something to eat.

***

Once we were fed and watered and had readied ourselves for bed. Because we don’t have any pyjamas, we had to settle with sleeping in our clothes, which isn’t exactly the best thing to do, but it beats anything else. Amy climbed into bed and was immediately comfortable. I on the couch wasn’t so much. I kept turning this way and that as I tried to get into a good position.

‘You don’t look comfortable,’ Amy that out.

‘It’s just a different bed to what I’m used to, that’s all,’ I said, finally finding that sweet spot and settling down.

‘Well, good night,’ Amy said.

‘Night,’ I said rolling over.

‘Sebastian?’ Amy said after a couple of seconds later.

‘You’re getting better,’ Amy said.

‘With what?’

‘Knowing what to say,’

‘I should hope so,’ I said making her laugh. We settled down and the silence was only broken when Amy called for me again.

‘Sebastian?’

‘Yeah,’ I answered.

‘We forgot to turn off the light.’

‘Damn.’

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Video of the Week: The Joker's BIG Secret (by The Imaginary Axis)

I’ve talked about my opinions concerning fan theories before in the article, “Video of the Week: Harry Potter Theory: Dumbledore’s Horcrux (by SuperCalinBrothers)”. I explained that I don’t outright agree or disagree with a fan theory unless it has been confirmed by the original author or creator of the piece of work the theory is concerning. However, I also expressed how the Harry Potter theory put forward by SuperCalinBrothers changed my viewpoint slightly. I do genuinely believe that theory is true, because the amount of detail they presented the audience with, and how it fits so neatly into place with the original story. Despite J.K. Rowling denying the theory, it’s still one that changes the way you see the books – whether for the good or for the bad, that’s up to you to decide.

With something as important to me as Harry Potter is, considering I did grow up with the books and the films, and plays a huge part in influencing me to write my own stories, and the theory being a part of that, I couldn’t just say that my opinion has been changed, and then move on. I realised after a week since the article was published, I needed to say a bit more on the subject, but I didn’t know what to say, which led me to believe that I didn’t need to say anything at all.

Many weeks passed and still nothing coming to mind. That is, until I discovered The Imaginary Axis. To tangent off the main road for a moment; I do enjoy watching educational videos, especially those that try and explain, scientifically, how a Superman can fly, is it possible to make your own Iron Man suit, or will we truly be The Last of Us. Explaining how they all work along with adding science into the video, I just can’t get enough of that as it opens a new way of thinking about the characters we’ve all grown up to love over the years, giving a fresh look. The Imaginary Axis is a relatively new channel compared to some of the larger educational channels, but he does offer some interesting stuff that makes you think, especially the video above.

I’m going to be frank and say that after watching this video, I will never look at a comic book, a video game, or a film with the Joker in the same way again, because whenever I do, there will always be that notion of the theory at the back of my mind. The theory makes perfect sense. It fits in with the entire story without dislodging or contradicting anything. I will say that my knowledge regarding Batman is limited. Along with Superman, Batman is the most recognisable face in all of DC – probably the most popular, too, but I haven’t looked at the official data, just going by the fact the Internet is leaning more towards Batman than Superman. The Joker is DC’s most recognisable villain, and probably the most recognisable across all of superhero fiction. Everyone knows of this crazy person who constantly fights Batman. Both Batman and the Joker have been portrayed numerous times in films over the years, the most popular portrayal to date is the Dark Knight. Christian Bale plays Bruce Wayne/Batman, and Heath Ledger plays the Joker. Heath did such an awesome portrayal of the Joker, the first time I watched the film, I got goose bumps. Heath captured the Joker’s insanity brilliantly, making him a tough villain to fight mentally and physically.

After seeing this video and learning the possible canonical theory about the Joker, knowing that the Joker is not insane, but instead super-sane, which gives him the ability to be self-aware that he is indeed a comic book villain and that he is simply doing so many crazy acts simply because he must play his part. In the comics, there are numerous references to this possibility, but never truly confirming it, and the film never made any such reference at all – and there’s no absolute reason why it should – but even upon watching the film again after learning about the theory, it changes your viewpoint ever so slightly. The Joker is just playing his part in the comic book, and the Batman is playing his (but he doesn’t know anything about being fictional).

As I was watching the video, I noticed that he had a picture of Deadpool up on the wall, which ultimately gave him that moment of realisation. Deadpool is considered crazy by almost every MARVAL character. What if he, too, isn’t actually insane, but instead super-sane. Deadpool has the ability to break the fourth wall whenever he wants. He’s fully aware that he’s a fictional character. Is Deadpool acting crazy because he is genuinely crazy and just believes he’s a comic book character and is in actuality just talking to himself, or is he not crazy at all, but instead, because he is aware, he could be aware that he is a major character in the story, he simply just has fun and does whatever he wants because he knows that no one will be able to do anything to stop him because he’s the main character. Not only did The Imaginary Axis change my viewpoint on the entire Joker’s storyline, but gave me room to think about the entirety of Deadpool’s story as well, and that is one heck of a powerful theory.

After so many weeks, I finally found what I wanted to add to the previous article. I need to accept them more often. I can’t outright dismiss any theory anymore, because it could lead to something awesome, such as your perspective either entirely changing, or slightly changing. I was going to leave it up to you to decide whether or not changing one’s perspective on something you really like is a good or bad idea without expressing my own opinion on the matter, but I feel that I must. I think it’s a good idea to see things in a new light every once in a while. It just goes to show just how creative the creators of the characters really are. They took the character such as the Joker and basically did whatever they wanted with him without fully revealing every piece of information because it simply wasn’t necessary to do so. He’s Batman’s villain, and that’s pretty much all you need to know. Maybe the creators intended to leave the Joker’s story nearly all blank to let our minds wander. Whatever the reason, I’m glad I have changed my opinion because – as I said before – it prevents it from becoming boring.

Thanks for watching

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Layers - Part 61

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Film of the Week: The BFG

Roald Dahl’s classic children’s story about a big friendly giant befriending an orphan girl, Sophie has been adapted into faithful live-action film. For those that have grown up with the story, this adaptation will reintroduce you to the magical world once more, as well as introduce a new generation for the first time. The book had been adapted once before into an animated film in 1989. Staring the voice of David Jason as The BFG, and Amanda Root as Sophie, and it aired on ITV on Christmas Day. This was long before I was born, so when I came to discover the book and subsequently the animated film, whilst it was an entertaining film that stuck firmly to the book throughout, I was too young to fully appreciate it as it was, so I was pleased when a new adaptation was announced.

I’m 22 years old now, so I haven’t read the book or watched the animated film is a rather long time, but it never faded from my memory. Sitting in the cinema, at first I did feel completely out of place, but as soon as the movie started, it had pushed the big refresh button on my memory. Being an adaptation, I was expecting some differences from the book. The animated film is still the most faithful, but it’s understandable why there were some changes, although subtle, as there is only so much that can be done with a live-action film. However, when I was watching that story unfold once more after such a long time, seeing the magical world once more, and the characters being brought to life once more in a new and original way, I simply didn’t care that there were changes. I don’t need to actually compliment the story or anything really as the film did such a good job sticking to the book that none of the story was ruined. There have been so many adaptations of classic books that didn’t do as well as people would have liked, so I’m glad that I don’t have anything to say for all the right reasons.

Stephen Spielberg, who is known to be one of by some, but the best director of all-time by others, used his incredibly skill to give us, not just a stunning story, but stunning visuals as well. The story of the BFG is a unique one in that it works brilliantly as a life-action film. When I read the book, Road Dahl’s talent drew me into the BFG’s world, and when I sat down to watch the animated film, I was once again drawn into the world, but in a completely different way as before. Seeing the story brought to life, especially from the eyes of a young boy, was something I hadn’t quite gotten used to yet. Now, so many years on, after I heard that they were doing a live-action adaptation, I had to go and see it as I wanted to experience the story from a new angle once more. Seeing the story being brought to life through adult eyes was once again a new experience. It might be because I have a more of an understanding of the story, the concept of a live-action film, or because I am simply older than I was before, but seeing the magical story alongside real people and real locations gave off another unexplored level of immersion once again. Looking back at the animated film, it feels even more fictional than the live-action film, which I certainly wasn’t expecting to be saying. Seeing the real people and the real locations actually made the story seem more real than I expected.

But then, that’s the impact Roald Dahl’s storytelling has, isn’t it? James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Matilda – all three were three other stories that I considered my favourite of the author’s when growing up, and each one has been adapted into a live-action feature film, (I will add that I mean Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, staring Gene Wilder, nor the 2005 version) and each one pulled us into a new world that we’ve never seen before, even after reading the books so many times over again. The incredible storytelling talent of Road Dahl and the incredible directing talent of Stephen Spielberg has proven to be an unbeatable combination, as this film has instantly become my favourite live-action adaptation of one of Roald Dahl’s stories.

Dare I say it – it may make you go “wow”, but I’m going to say it anyway. James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, and now The BFG – there’s a sense of satisfaction now. All of my favourite stories have been fully adapted into a live-action feature film, essentially completing the set. The BFG is no longer the odd one out. I can now experience the entire set of my favourite stories by Roald Dahl without missing a beat within that new level of immersion that a live-action adaptation delivers.

Thanks for watching

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

The Watch – Part 95:

‘What do you want to do because I don't know what to do?’ Amy asked. ‘Leave or find out who that is?’

‘I’m not sure,’ I said. A loud noise of something fallen over followed by someone walking forward indicated that whoever was inside was getting closer. I’m surprised that I haven’t seen any light yet. Do they have a torch with them? It would be a pretty bad move to go into an abandoned building such as this one without any torches. Maybe that’s why they knocked something over. A body like shape rounded a corner and walked towards us. I lifted my torch up to see who it was.

‘Hey, you can blind someone with that,’ he said with his hands over his eyes. His tone of voice along with his actions implied that he wasn’t a threat. However, my instincts were still telling me to be cautious, even so, because no one knows what’s going to happen.

I lowered my torch away from his eyes and he righted himself.

‘Who are you?’ Amy asked.

‘I was about to ask the same question,’ he said. He had that kind of voice where you couldn’t quite picture the person it belonged to until you saw his face. It was deep, with a bit of cracking here and there as if he has a sore throat. I didn’t get a good look at his face due to only shining the light towards him for only a couple of seconds and him having his hands in front of it, but what I did see was that he was young, possible about the same age as Amy and I, taller than us, and that’s about it. I will get a better look at him when we exit this place. ‘But because you asked it first, I shall answer first.’ I didn’t see his figure bowing, but I could picture him doing just that as if to tell me he was even less of a threat than I first thought. ‘My name is Oliver Hunt and I’m doing a project on abandoned places. I live locally so I thought I would study this place first, get a nice feel of a place that has been left for years. Understand their history and such, you know,’ he explained. ‘And what about you?’ he asked.

‘Um,’ I said, trying to think of a good excuse as to why we’re roaming around this place. I knew that if we told the truth, we would be laughed at.

‘We’re more or less doing the same,’ Amy said, ‘except it’s not for a project, more of a curiosity thing, if you know what I mean.’ That was a good explanation; it didn’t quite twist the truth at all, just left a massive load of it altogether.

‘This place does get the mind turning, doesn’t it,’ he said looking around.

‘Pardon my saying,’ I said, wanting to get this question off my chest, ‘but don’t you have a torch or something to help you see around the place?’ I asked.

‘I do,’ he said, ‘but the damn thing went wrong just as I entered here. I know I said I only live locally, but it’s still too far to go then come back for I would then be roaming around this place in the dead of night, and no one wants to be doing that,’ he said. I nodded and so did Amy. ‘So I just thought I would get what I can today and then come back tomorrow with a fully functional torch,’ that setback didn’t bother him at all. He sounds like quite a laid-back kind of guy.

‘Well, we’ve got everything that we came in here for,’ Amy said. I looked at her with an expression that questioned, “we have?”, ‘so we’re just going to leave you to have a look around so we’re not getting in each other’s way.’ She turned on the spot and headed out.

‘See you around, I guess,’ I said before following Amy out into the open, dust free outside. It was now in the middle of the evening and the sun was about to hit the horizon disappearing for the rest of the day.

‘Bye,’ he said simply.

‘Tell me you have the same odd feeling about him as I do,’ Amy said as we walked away from the station. The traffic had picked up considerably since we were in the building. It must be in the middle of rush hour.

‘What do you mean by odd feeling?’ I asked, curiously. ‘I didn’t feel anything strange.’

‘There was something about his story that didn’t quite add up.’

‘What’s that?’

‘Well,’ she was about to say something before stopping to think about the explanation. ‘It’s just… this is going to sound weird, so I don’t want you to deny it.’

‘Amy,’ I said sternly, ‘after what we’ve seen together, there’s nothing you can say that is going to sound ridiculous,’ I said.

‘OK,’ she said, stopping in her tracks. ‘As you know, a station has two doors. One on the front where you enter and one where you exit after you’ve bought your ticket,’ Amy explained, setting up the scene for the punchline.

‘Go on,’ I said, wanting to know more.

‘Well, when we went around the back, did you see any door that could be opened?’ she asked.

I retraced my steps, but I couldn’t remember any door. ‘No, I don’t think there was.’

‘That’s because it was boarded up, which is why you didn’t pay any attention to it because it blended in with the rest of the building. And because we were so focused on finding any piece of anything helpful that we didn’t stop to pay attention to it,’ she explained, enlightening my imagination.

‘Are you going to say what I think you’re going to say?’ I had to make sure I was in the same boat as her.

‘Well,’ Amy said gingerly, ‘are you thinking that I’m about to say that he couldn’t have entered through the back way, which means he either entered through the front door after us…’

‘Or he was already in there when we were,’ I finished her sentence. ‘Which would mean he had lied about entering in through the back way.’ Amy was trying to put the pieces together.

‘There’s just something that doesn’t quite make sense about him, that’s all,’ she said running her hands through her hair.

‘Are you suggesting that we keep a close eye on him?’ I asked.

‘I think,’ she had that expression as if she had just put some pieces together, but they didn’t appear to link up properly, but it was the best she had and so she was going to walk with them, ‘and I’m only going by what I feel here.’ She then looked at me with a firm gaze and said, ‘he is the one that takes the video of me exiting the station….’

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Mum's Monday: Peter James – The House on Cold Hill

Oliver, Caro Harcourt and their daughter Jade move to the country Oliver has plans to make a success with his own web design company. It’s a big house they have taken on with a lot of structural problems. The family know they will be living in a building site for a while but at the end they see their dream home.

At the beginning of this book, after reading about the Harcourt family on the back cover it starts off confusing as it introduces another family – Johnny, Rowena, Felix and Daisy – but by chapter two, 4^th September, the Harcourt family moves in.

Next between the 4^th of September and the 21^st of September, you are thinking why? With costs mounting, more structural problems, paranormal activity brought on by a past resident who didn’t want people leaving the house once they have moved in, computer glitches including inappropriate being sent to clients which ruins Oliver’s new business, strange messages, and tragic and unexplained deaths of associates in the area including the local vicars; is this house a stretch too far for the family?

It all becomes clear near the end of the story. What happens whilst living in the house makes you think, “no”, stay away this could be the worst mistake you ever made, it is so sad to know what the new family is letting themselves in for with and I feel sorry for their friends, family and any associates of theirs.

I would highly recommend this amazing book. If you like mysteries and like being spooked; the paranormal activity and the area in which it is set is well researched. I would also recommend this book to anyone who is buying a house to renovate or is renovating a house as this book shows how there might be more work to do on a house than first thought with hidden problems. It’s best to check for damp, extra structural, plumbing and electrical work.

This book is a brilliant read, it is confusing but it draws you in making you want to read more. It’s satisfying to know how it all comes together at the end.

Layers - Part 60

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

The Watch – Part 94:

I stepped forward with my arm raised, ready to grab the handle and open the door. The handle was cold to the touch and stiff to pull down.

‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ I asked Amy one last time before it was too late.

‘I’m sure,’ she said, looking like the nerves had finally caught up with her. She was breathing heavily, but confident nonetheless.

‘Here goes nothing,’ I pulled the door outwards. It moved an inch before stopping abruptly. The dust that had collected over the years, suddenly disturbed, flew out of the gaps and into the air. At first, I thought that the door was locked, but instead it was just stiff. I pulled towards me once more and the door came loose from its frame, swinging stiffly open with a high-pitched creaking sound as the rusty hinges were forced to work once more. I could see that the door was spring loaded and would normally swing shut on its own, but due to the rustiness of the door and everything else, to the spring’s best efforts, the door remained in place, allowing us to enter without being pushed in from behind. Inside was nothing but darkness except from a few rays of sunlight that were trying their best to spread as wide as they could but with little to no success.

I stepped in and felt a chill run down my back as the cold air washed over me as it rushed outside. The dust and stale air ran up my nose, making me grimace and sneeze at the same time. I heard Amy do the same only moments afterwards as she followed me in. I switched on the torches and had a look around, seeing nothing but furniture that had been decaying over the years and had almost become one with the dust. As we walked on in further, the dust and bits of rotten floor and wood from the walls crunched underfoot like snow, leaving clear, distinguishable footprints behind.

‘See anything?’ Amy asked.

‘Only what you see,’ she said. We carried on forward until we reached the point where the rays of sunlight couldn’t penetrate any further and we had to rely on the torch’s beam to look around as best we could. The ticket office still had the shutters up to indicate that it was still open. I could very clearly picture someone sitting behind the glass with a long line of people ready to buy their tickets so that they could board the train and go on an adventure, but all that was left now was a rotten and damp smelling rope attached to a cold metal pole at either end.

‘It does feel lonely in here, doesn’t it,’ Amy said.

‘I wish this place would get back off the ground again,’ I said. ‘This place looked like it was amazing.’ I moved my torch upwards to have a look at the ceiling and found that it was in a very bad state. It was almost falling down, in an endless fight with its own strength and the power of gravity. The trouble was, everyone knew who the winner would be and it was only a matter of time before gravity tore this entire place to the ground. It was being patient, holding on with everything it’s got until the wooden beams can’t hold on to each other any longer. Gravity has already won.

‘Have your eyes adjusted yet?’ I asked Amy as we entered the waiting room area. The room was a little lighter than all the previous thanks to the torch’s light and the natural ability to see in the dark.

‘They have a bit,’ Amy said, ‘but the torch’s light keeps stopping them from fully adjusting, but I know that if I take the light away, I won’t be able to see a thing.’

‘That is a problem,’ I agreed. Like all the other areas of this station, the floor was caked in dust, the walls were rotten and the ceiling was falling to bits. This was the only room of the entire station where the window wasn’t broken, but it was at the wrong angle for the sun’s light to flow through properly and help us look around. However, unlike all the other rooms, time had beaten this one up more. The dust was thicker, the walls were practically on the floor themselves, and the ceiling had a massive hole in the middle, but instead of the roof opening up to the outside world, it allowed for us to see the other room upstairs.

‘I didn’t see any stairs here,’ I said looking upwards.

‘Me neither,’ Amy said copying my actions.

‘Maybe we need to look behind some door or something,’ I said.

‘Maybe,’ Amy said curiously.

‘Do you see anything in here worth noting?’ I asked.

‘Except that it is not the best place to hang out in,’ Amy said completing the sentence as an answer. ‘Nothing at all,’ she said after one last look.

The dust in the air made me sneeze once more, even more violently than before and twice in a row.

‘Bess you, times two’ Amy said.

‘Thanks,’ I said sneezing for the fourth time.

‘Times four,’ she said.

‘I’m beginning to dislike dust,’ I said, wiping my nose with my sleeve.

‘It isn’t the best to be standing in, that’s for sure,’ Amy said. ‘Come on,’ she said after having one last look around the place and finding nothing, ‘let’s get out of here before we start to suffocate.’

‘Right behind you,’ and we started to make our way out of the building to get some fresh air before making a decision on whether we want to go back inside or do something else entirely. As we were about to leave, I heard a sneeze behind me. Amy heard it too as when I came to a dead stop, she did too before turning around and facing me.

‘Was that you?’ I asked, hoping that the atmosphere of this place was playing havoc with my senses, even though I knew that it wasn’t Amy as she never made any such movement, indicating a sneeze, but I just wanted the answer confirmed.

‘I thought that was you,’ Amy said.

‘That means only one thing,’ I said, turning around to face the dark station once more.

There was someone else with us.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Video of the Week: Glass Explosion at 343,000FPS! - The Slow Mo Guys (by The Slow Mo Guys)

The Slow Mo Guys (Gavin Free and Dan Gruchy) has wowed us for many years by showing us a whole new world. They have smashed up computers, TVs, and completely ruined Dan’s laboratory coat, all in the name of slow motion.

Five years ago, they released the video of Gavin attempting to pop a giant red balloon with no success until he grabbed the help of his brother. They both jumped on the balloon together and it popped spectacularly as well as drenching the entire garden. The video went viral within moments, even capturing the attention of TV networks who wish to show the video as part of their science programs. As of writing this article, the video has 142,657,322 views – the most viewed video on their channel. That’s the video that brought them into the spotlight, and their popularity hasn’t stopped growing ever since.

Five years on, and they have released plenty more entertaining videos. They have done many experiments just to see what the outcome would look like in slow motion, and it is always completely unexpected. It’s fascinating to watch how paint forms incredibly colourful patterns when being flung into the air, water drops doing what you never though they would do.

Their newest video as of writing this article, is the most ambitious yet in terms of speed. 343,000 frames per second, which is, staggeringly, 13,756 times slower than real time. They are opening that world to show us what glass looks like when breaking. We all know that glass breaks at a tremendous speed, and so it’s understandable why they need to use an advanced camera with mind-boggling speeds to capture that moment, but even then, at those speeds, the glass still breaks unexpectedly fast.

They did a comparison shot of water falling into Dan’s eye and his eye closing at the speed of a human reaction, and the drop appears to be stationary, yet the cracks running through the glass still appeared to be too fast for us to properly analyse. Just how fast does glass break? Well, some of you probably already know that answer, but I had to find that out for myself and so I did a bit of research and I discovered that glass breaks faster than 3000MPH. If you were to try and capture that event with 6000FPS, the time it takes for the glass to be complete to fully cracked would happen in just one frame.

This video isn’t just to show you what glass looks like when breaking, but also to show you just what glass is truly capable of when doing so. Once the glass has cracked and broken into the pieces that’re ready to spread as far as possible, when filming with a framerate of over 300,000FPS, the glass then looks as stationary as the water droplet does. I felt I had to mention that because I am truly blown away by it all. It’s a whole new way of seeing what happens all the time.

It’s possible to go faster. It’s possible to record things over 500,000FPS, and even higher. It’s only a matter of time when The Slow Mo Guys get hold of a camera that can do that, and when they do, what new reality will they present to us that time round?

It’s also worth to mention their second fastest video, which is when they recorded a CD spinning and shattering at 170,000FPS. That, too, allowed us to see strange things happening. The CD’s warp spinning slower than words on the CD is the reason why it broke – I thought that the warp would spin just as fast as the CD, but apparently not. Who knew?

UPDATE:
In the video, they joked about uploading the entirety of the 19 and a half hour video onto their second channel. I didn't think they would actually do it, but they did, and you can view the appropriately named video: The Longest 5 Seconds on YouTube.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Layers - Part 59

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Film of the Week: Spider-Man 3

I think I am the only one I know who actually likes Spider-Man 3. Fans of the Toby Maguire Spider-Man says that this film ruins the franchise. I agree with them that the franchise had a strong start and a spectacular second movie featuring the epic confrontation between Spider-Man and Dr Octopus, but I disagree when they say that the third film plummets fast. I will defend my liking of this movie for as long as I have to.

The first film featuring Spider-Man’s arch nemesis, The Green Goblin was an instant hit. Toby’s portrayal of Peter Parker struggling with life at university with and without powers – there wasn’t many superhero films that could beat it. When it comes to sequels, it’s common for them to not be anywhere as good as the first film, but occasionally a sequel comes along and dominates the franchise. Peter Parker loses his powers and for a moment actually enjoys having a normal life once more, until he realises that his normal life was actually being Spider-Man, but the only way to get his powers back is to defeat those pesky unwanted thoughts roaming around inside his head that are constantly making him doubt himself. Add that battle with the battle with Dr Octopus, who truly tests Spider-Man’s abilities, the sequel is regarded as the best superhero film of all-time by many.

Spider-Man 2 ended on a cliff-hanger that showed Harry Osborne discovering his dad’s secret of being the Green Goblin. By this time, he hates Spider-Man for killing his father, when actually his father died at the hands of his own blade when his board crashed into him when attempting to kill Spider-Man. In Spider-Man 3, He takes up the mantle and goes after Spider-Man, and by doing so, he eventually discovers that his life-long friend, Peter Parker, is his enemy, and so the battle in and out of costume begins with Mary-Jane Watson caught in the middle.

It has been widely noted that the three films follow the exact same narrative. Peter Parker struggles with his powers, an enemy turns up who ultimately kills himself, and whilst fighting against said enemy, he needs to rescue Mary-Jane as well. Those three films show that it doesn’t matter what narrative you have, but what you do with it, because the first two films were well-received. The third on the other hand, whilst had the biggest opening weekend at the box office out of the three, wasn’t well-received at all.

When I say that I like the third movie, anyone who doesn’t immediately brings up the most notorious detail in the movie. During the time when Peter Parker has been possessed by Venom and is wearing the black suit. He slowly starts becoming cocky and thinks he can do whatever he wants without caring what people think, which is why he started strutting and dancing in the middle of the street. Whist even I can see the awkwardness in that scene and how it could have been better, it did show just what effects Venom had on Peter. When I have acknowledged that that detail could have been changed, they then ask what I like about the film, and I say how it went bigger than the previous two.

It was an ambitious move to add three enemies in one movie, because you’ve got a lot to do in such a short amount of time, but they’re forgetting that one of the three enemies have been developing gradually throughout the entire franchise. Harry Osborn, the second incarnation of The Green Goblin. The fight between Spider-Man and Harry Osborn happens mostly during the first half of the movie. Nearing the end, Harry redeems himself by finding out the truth about his father’s death. In the end, he feels obligated to help the person who he has treated as a lie for so long.

The other two enemies, Venom and The Sandman have ample amount of screen time to show development. Venom attaches itself to Peter and so develops alongside Peter. The Sandman is shown using his powers to get enough money to help his sick daughter, and of course Spider-Man is going to stop him, which creates that rivalry between the two. If Sandman can stop Spider-Man, then he’s free to help his daughter properly. During the fight scene in the underground, when Peter has already been affected by Venom and is fighting The Sandman, you’ve essentially got three characters at any one time, all developing at a steady pace. When The Sandman is stopped for a brief time by Spider-Man, that line, ‘good riddance’ that Peter says shows just how much Venom has affected him. Eddie Brock, Peter’s rival when it comes to photographing Spider-Man, becomes the perfect host for Venom later on in the movie. With being constantly outshined by Peter, Eddie will do anything to make himself noticed, and when given the opportunity to beat Peter whilst being Venom, he takes that chance and runs with it.

When the climatic fight scene when The Sandman teams up with Venom. The two proves to be a powerful force. They stop Spider-Man in his tracks, making the public believe that this is the end of their beloved neighbourhood superhero. It’s a tense battle, and one that I enjoy watching over again because, even though I know that Spider-Man will win, there’s still that notion that he just might not this time. For the first time in the franchise, he has been pushed to his limit and needs help. That’s something you very rarely see in a superhero movie. They are superheroes, and so nothing will ever be able to knock them down. Spider-Man 3 shows a superhero being knocked down.

I would even go so far to say that this film is much better than the latest Spider-Man film as of writing this article, The Amazing Spider-Man 2. That also decided to be ambitious and include three characters, but that failed to develop them properly. The Green Goblin, Electro, and Rhino all needed to be introduced, developed as characters, and show the audience why they want to stop Spider-Man, all whilst Peter Parker was going around trying to solve the mystery of why his parents suddenly went missing. Too much happened in that film. It was just too crowded for my liking. I was excited to see Rhino on screen, but to have him appear at the end of the movie without seeing the actual fight with Spider-Man, I didn’t see the point in that – they built up the hype of Rhino so much and it dropped faster than a bowling ball rolling down a vertical hill.

I may have expressed my enthusiasm of getting the point across a little too much during that article, but I just wanted to let you know that it isn’t as bad as many people claim it is. Like all films, it does have its low points, and it seems that they are focusing on them more than the highs. I have defended the film as best as I could, and that is all I can do.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)