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You Love Me, You Really Love Me!

Well, not me, but Marshal Latham and Christopher Munroe for their work at the Journey Into... podcast.  You see, the cast they ran of my story they ran in April, Alek and Elizabeth and the End of the World, has been shortlisted for a 2013 Parsec award!It's a well deserved nomination for Chris and Marshall, and of course I wish them the absolute best of luck in August.  Fingers crossed, they really deserve it.Michael

Kerching! Story, Order For One!

Just a short post here.  I know I've been quiet on the blogging front, but I'm sure you managed without me.  I've been writing y'see.  It's what us writers do.  Otherwise we're just weirdos who sit in front of computer screens.  And wouldn't you know it, one of those stories sold!The lovely and kind hearted people at Ghostwood Books decided my story 1884 was good enough to include in their upcoming anthology Cthulhu Lives and should see the light of day in a few months.  You better believe I'll be pimping it here when it hits.We out,Michael

Why Wreck it Ralph and Aliens Are the Same Story

They are.  They totally are.  I mean, OK, one is a children's animated film about the the lives video game characters have outside their games, and the other sci fi gun porn with homoerotic aliens with penis tails (don't ask - I saw a TV show once where the presenter was trying to argue that the alien was basically a walking phallus and each death was a rape... yah, and here's me thinking it was a movie about aliens).  But other than that they're the same film. A while ago I had Scriptshadow brought to my attention for its opinions on why Aliens is the perfect movie.  Sounds a bit off, right?  Given that little award is usually given to Citizen Kane (and who other than a film student has ever seen that?... well, me, but I used to live with a film student), but he argues it very well, down to the point where the Carson Reeves, the behind Scriptshadow, uses the film as an example of why some romantic comedies don't work. His reasoning is tight and well put-forward  and it stuck me with me.  Enough so that when I watched Wreck it Ralph for the first time (and the subsequent 50 times because I have two small boys), I immediately realised the films follow and tell the same story, albeit with a different age rating. Here, let me put forward my case.EXTREME WARNING!!! Spoilers follow.  Ye have been warned.

 

 

NOT EVERY FILM NEEDS A LOVE STORY There are certain stories where no matter what you do, it won’t fit. .... I thought Cameron handled this issue perfectly in Aliens. He knew a love story in this setting wasn’t going to fly, so instead he created “love story light,” between Ripley and Hicks, where we see them flirting, where we can tell that in another situation, they might have worked. But it never goes any further than that because tonally, and story-wise, he knew we wouldn’t have accepted it.

And the same goes for Wreck it Ralph (WiR).  The Disney(tm) Experience (tm) Whateverthey'recalled(tm) Features(tm), or films as the rest of the world call's them, have carved out a niche for the kind of 'weak female character feels the need for the strong I-will-save-you-from-yourself blue eyed gaze from a strong male lead' love story which makes Twilight fans go weak at the knees.  But not only is it as unrealistic as it is demeaning, it's also forced and quite unsubtle about it. WiR sidesteps that by having the two main characters, Ralph and Penelope, have a different kind of relationship develop.  It's a brotherly/sisterly love which emerges between the two of them.  So a love story, yes, but not in the usual sense.

ALWAYS MAKE THINGS WORSE FOR YOUR CHARACTERS AOne of the most potent tools a screenwriter possesses is the ability to make things worse for their characters. In action movies, that usually means escalating danger whenever possible. Aliens has one of the most memorable examples of this, when our characters are moving towards the central hub of the station, looking for the colonists, and Ripley realizes that, because they’re sitting on a nuclear reactor, they can’t fire their guns. The Captain informs his Lieutenant that he needs to collect all of the soldiers' ammo (followed by one of the greatest movie lines ever “What are we supposed to use? Harsh language?”), and now, with our marines moving towards the nest of one of the most dangerous species in the universe, they must take them on WITHOUT FIREPOWER. Always make things worse for your characters!

And ditto with WiR.  It starts off small with Ralph being depressed with having the role of bad guy foisted upon him at creation.  It gets worse when, trying to improve his lot by getting a medal in another game, he finds he's sorely underestimated how violent some games can be.  And further on its not just his own safety  he has to worry about, but the young girl he's finding protective feelings rise up for.

USE YOUR MID-POINT TO CHANGE THE GAME Something needs to happen at your midpoint that shifts the dynamic of the story, preferably making things worse for your characters. If you don’t do this, you run the risk of your second half feeling a lot like your first half, and that’s going to lead to boredom for the reader. In Aliens, their objective, once they realize what they’re up against, is to get up to the main ship and nuke the base. The mid-point, then, is when their pick-up ship crashes, leaving them stranded on the planet. Note how this forces them to reevaluate their plan, creating a second half that’s structurally different from the first one (the first half is about going in and kicking ass, the second half is about getting out and staying alive).

Oddly enough the midpoint change in WiR also involves a crashing space ship.  Although in this case it's the herald of introducing the character of Penelope, and the shifting focus of Ralph from his attempts at helping himself to helping her.

GET YOUR HERO OUT THERE DOING SHIT – KEEP THEM ACTIVE Cameron had a tough task ahead of him when he wrote this script. Ripley, his hero, is on the bottom of the ranking totem pole. How, then, do you believably prop her up to become the de facto Captain of the mission? The answer lies inside one of the most important rules in screenwriting: You need to look for any opportunity to keep your hero active. Remember, THIS IS YOUR HERO. They need to be driving the story whenever possible. Cameron does this in subtle ways at first. While watching the marines secure the base, Ripley grabs a headset and makes them check out an acid hole. She then voices her frustration when she doesn't believe the base to be secured. Then, of course, comes the key moment, when the Captain has a meltdown and she takes control of the tank-car and saves the soldiers herself. The important thing to remember is: Always look for ways to keep your hero active. If they’re in the backseat for too long, we’ll forget about them.

I could list all the things Ralph does here, but I won't.  Lists are boring (unless they're those stupid lists, like the ones I used to write for the college magazine) but I will say that everything Ralph does through the film is his decision.  He decides to do something about his problem rather than live with it, he decides to help Penelope when she asks for his help when he could just walkaway and try to find another medal, and he decides he could sacrifice himself for the good of everyone else.  It was all him.  What a guy.

MOVE YOUR STORY ALONG Beginning writers make this mistake constantly. They add numerous scenes between key plot points that don’t move the story forward. Bad move. You have to move from plot point to plot point quickly. Take a look at the first act here. We get the early boardroom scene where Ripley is informed that colonists have moved onto LV-426. In the very next scene, Burke and the Captain come to Ripley’s quarters to inform her that they’ve lost contact with LV-426. You don’t need 3 scenes of fluff between those two scenes. Just keep the story moving. Get your character(s) to where they need to be (in this case – to LV-426).

Again, not lists, but there is no fluff in WiR.  Each scene has a purpose, right down the the one at the beginning with Ralph walking from Pacman to Fix it Felix Jr.  In that, that one has three purposes.  Firstly we learn that in spite of everyone there being a videogame character, if you die outside your own game you don't regenerate (this will become important later on).  Secondly it shows Ralph is compassionate when he gives food to gameless characters, so he's not the archetypal bad guy after all!  And thirdly it introduces Q-Bert, who will be the one to let Felix know later where Ralph has gone. Three jobs in about a 3 minute scene.  Not bad.

THE MORE UNLIKELY THE ACTION, THE MORE CONVINCING THE MOTIVATION MUST BE You always have to have a reason – a motivation – for your character’s actions. If a character is super happy and loves life, it’s not going to make sense to an audience if they step in front of a bus and kill themselves. You need to motivate their actions. In addition to this, the more unlikely the action, the more convincing the motivation needs to be. So here, Burke wants Ripley to come with them to LV-426 as an advisor. Answer me this. Why the hell would Ripley put herself in jeopardy AGAIN after everything that just happened to her – what with the death of her entire crew, her almost biting it, and barely escaping a concentrated acid filled monster? The motivation here has to be pretty strong. Well, because the military holds Ripley responsible for their destroyed ship, she’s basically been relegated to peasant status for the rest of her life. Burke promises to get her job back as officer if she comes and helps them. That’s a motivation we can buy.

And once more Ralph comes up with the goods.  He firsts risks his own life just to raise his own lot in his own game, and then he risks his life for someone else because he's sick to death of being the bad guy for 30 years.

STRONG FATAL FLAW – RARE FOR A SUMMER MOVIE What I loved about Aliens was that Cameron gave Ripley a fatal flaw. Usually, you don’t see this in a big summer action movie. Producers see it as too much effort for not enough payoff.  So what is Ripley’s flaw? Trust. Or lack of it. Ripley doesn’t trust Burke. She doesn’t trust this mission. She doesn’t trust the marines. And she especially doesn’t trust Bishop, which is where the key sequences in this character arc play out. In the end, Ripley overcomes her flaw by trusting Bishop to come back and get them. This is why the moment when she and Newt make it to the top of the base is so powerful. For a moment, she was right. Bishop left them there. She never should’ve trusted him. Of course the ship appears at the last second and her arc is complete. She was, indeed, right to leave her trust in someone.

Ralph's flaw is his lack of self worth.  Not entirely his fault, I couldn't imagine being drawn as the bad guy for 30 years without consideration to who he was as a person could do much for an ego, but in the film this manifests as his fixation on proving his worth through finding a medal.  And therein, dear reader, is where the shenanigans happen.

SEQUENCE DOMINATED MOVIEOne way to keep your movie moving is to break it down into sequences. Each sequence should act as a mini-movie. That means there should be a goal for each specific sequence. In the end, the characters either achieve their goal or fail at it, and we then move on to the next sequence. Let’s look at how Aliens does this. Once they’re on LV-426, the goal is to go in and figure out what the fuck is going on (new sequence). Once they find the colony empty, their goal shifts to finding out where the colonists are (new sequence). After that ends with them getting attacked by aliens, their goal becomes get off this rock and nuke the colony (new sequence). Once that fails, their goal becomes secure all passageways so the aliens can’t get to them (new sequence). Once that’s taken care of, the goal is to find a way back up to the ship (new sequence). Because there’s always a goal in place, the story is always moving. Our characters are always DOING SOMETHING (staying ACTIVE). The sequence approach is by no means a requirement, but I’ve found it to be pretty invaluable for action movies. 

Or, in other words, give the character goals and keep moving them.  So what are Ralph's Well, he wants the respect of the Happy Landers, and finds out he needs a medal like the game's hero, Felix, has.  So, he needs a medal!  Well, turns out the new shoot 'em up in the arcade hands out medals at the game's end.  Sounds simple, yeah?  Simple, yeah... easy?  Nah.  Not when he has to fight his way through a swarm of psy-bugs.  Bu he does it, and get a medal!  End of sequence.But then he loses the medal to Penelope, and she uses it to join a race that, should she finish, would make her a selectable character in her racing game.  If she does that, she gets her own medal - new goal!  And so on.  WiR shifts goals several times and makes the new goal identifiable as soon as possible.

ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS (SHOW DON’T TELL!)Aliens has one of the best climax fights in the history of cinema (“Get away from her you BITCH.”) And the reason it works so well? Because it was set up earlier, when Ripley shows the marines she’s capable of operating a loader (“Where do you want it?” she asks). Ahh, but I have a little surprise for you. Go pop Aliens in and fast-forward it to the early scene where Burke first comes to recruit Ripley. THIS is actually the first moment where the final fight is set up. “I heard you’re working the cargo docks,” Burke offers, smugly. “Running forklifts and loaders and that sort of thing?” It’s a quick line and I bring it up for an important reason. I bet none of you caught that line. Even if you’ve watched the film five or six times. That line probably slipped right by you. And the significance of it slipping by you is the point of this tip. You should always SHOW instead of TELL. When we SEE Ripley on that loader, it resonates. When we hear it in a line, it “slips right by us.” Had we never physically seen Riply on that loader, and Cameron had depended instead on Burke’s quick line of dialogue? There’s no way that final battle plays as well as it does. Always show. Never tell. 

And does WIR do this?  You bet it does.  There are three which spring to mind, but there are more.  First up is the one I mentioned above; 'if you die outside your own game, you don't regenerate'.  It's spoken once as a PSA by Sonic the Hedgehog as Ralph walks by.  This means when, at the end when Ralph decides to sacrifice himself for Penelope, we realise just what he's doing.  He will die, which is something videogame characters don't usually do.Next is the story told from Felix about the term 'go Turbo'.  It's used a few times early on in the film, "Don't go Turbo!", without any explanation.  When Felix explains it, it's a legend about the first racing arcade game with the main character, Turbo, who turns jealous when a new racing game comes along, and to try and make the kids join his game again invades the game.  Of course, that doesn't work and the arcade believes both games are faulty and they're removed, destroying both games.Why is this important?  Well Turbo tuns out to the bad guy.  We don't find this out until nearly the very end, but it gives something for the characters to fight against at the end.And lastly is the chant the Bad Guys Anonymous group chant between each other at the film's start: "I'm Bad, and that's good, I will never be good and that's not bad, there's no one Id rather be...than me."  It's not until he realises that he, the bad guy, can save someone that he fully appreciates what the words really mean.And there you have it.  I told you, they're the same film.  With one very big difference.  Only one has ever given me nightmares.  I'll let you decides which. Michael

Where I Belatedly Realise Dan Abnett Answered My Question

Wanna hear something freaky?  (No?  Well screw you, this is my blog.)  I was lucky enough that my work load yesterday consisted of completely boring document which were entirely possible to reformat while I listened to something to else.  Yah, i know, right?!  Seriously though, I love work days like this, because it allows me to trawl YouTube for advice from published authors to those of us just starting out.So I gone through Salman Rushdie and Ian McEwan (both always a pleasure to listen to), when I came across the video below.  Why am I posting this?  Because way back when Dan Abnett opened himself up on his blog to questions about his work and writing.  I'm a huuuuge fan of Dan's writing.  Some might say he's wasted on IP work, but in my mind it's writers of his caliber which give the genre its legitimacy.Anyway, I asked.  And then I forgot.  And then I listened to this video.  Skip to the 7:45 minute mark if you want, but I'd suggest you listen to the whole thing....http://youtu.be/OawqNcG3bagA funny answer for an entirely unnecessary question.  But how do you write for someone who's smarter than you?  I think I'll ask Stephen Fry..... Michael

My Pants. I Must Change Them.

I've stated my love of short story anthologies here before, but it's not often I get excited about them.  And in this case, I don't think 'excited' goes far enough.  I mean, it's a good thing I'm sitting down.  And wearing rubber underwear (don't ask why, just accept it and move on).And it's all because of George RR Martin and Gardner Dozois, and their just announced Rogues anthology.Want a table of contents?  Here's you table of contents:George R.R. Martin “Everybody Loves a Rogue” (Introduction)Joe Abercrombie “Tough Times All Over”Gillian Flynn “What Do You Do?”Matthew Hughes “The Inn of the Seven Blessings”Joe R. Lansdale “Bent Twig”Michael Swanwick “Tawny Petticoats”David Ball “Provenance”Carrie Vaughn “The Roaring Twenties”Scott Lynch “A Year and a Day in Old Theradane”Bradley Denton “Bad Brass”Cherie Priest “Heavy Metal”Daniel Abraham “The Meaning of Love”Paul Cornell “A Better Way to Die”Steven Saylor “Ill Seen in Tyre”Garth Nix “A Cargo of Ivories”Walter Jon Williams “Diamonds From Tequila”Phyllis Eisenstein “The Caravan to Nowhere”Lisa Tuttle “The Curious Affair of the Dead Wives”Neil Gaiman “How the Marquis Got His Coat Back”Connie Willis “Now Showing”Patrick Rothfuss “The Lightning Tree”I'm sorry, but I don't think you appreciated that list well enough the first time around.  Go back and read it.  Back?  Are your knees weak?  They should be.  And here's the only image would could do the news justice:    

And This Time, It's Personal

Here's a question for you: what do Ian McEwan's 'Atonement' and Iain M Banks' 'Consider Phlebas' have in common?Yes yes, they're both books, well done, what else? Yes, and they're both written by someone called Ian, bravo.  Could we just assume you said 'no, what?' and move on?  Thank you.What I was trying to get at (without considering just how bloody minded some you are, grrr) is that they both pluck something personal from the backdrop of war and make us care because their characters care.I'm listening to the audiobook of Consider Phlebas again, and it struck a chord with a throwaway comment I heard on Writing Excuses last week.  A listerner wrote in asking what the Writing Excuses guys had learned from literary fiction, and the quick, 'let's get this out of the way quickly' style answer was 'literary fiction makes us care about something small while much genre fiction tries to make us care about something big'.And it's true.  Think about it, how many fantasy books have you read concern themselves with a war that could wipe out a whole people or civilisation?  Or sci fi stories where entire planets are blown up?  There's a tonne, yeah?  Now, how many of those made you shed a tear?  Very few to none.  More probably none.  Remember Alderan?  That planet which was blown up at the beginning of Star Wars?  No, you don't.  What you remember was Princess Laye's (spelling?  I'm awful at spelling fantasy character names) reaction to it, though.What both McEwan and Banks did with their stories was set the story of a person against the backdrop of war. World war 1 for one story, a galaxy-spanning war of space citadels in another.  Both feature death beyond count, but that's secondary to the ones which effect our characters.Why should we care about the war between Banks' Idirans and Culture civilisations?  When the novel begins the war's been on for a while.  Billions are already dead, but what are they to us?  Oh, they're nothing to us, but they're everything to Horza.  Horza fights for the Iderans for a set of very personal, firm beliefs of what he thinks they stand for against what he believes the Culture stand for.  Every death is a reason for him to end the war quickly.Remember; they don't have to matter to us.  Just to him.Here endeth the lesson..... really, you didn't care about Alderan blowing up?  You heartless bast-Michael

Those Crazy French

There's something about the word 'French' when it's seen near a description of something art or entertainment based.  There's a certain Gallic way of looking at a subject which is just.. different to the way I would.  And wouldn't you know it, this even applied to children's books!Allow me to introduce terrifying French children's books!'Rabbit's Revenge'I don't think it ends well.Image'The Silent Child'I think she's silent because some Carrie-style stuff is about to go down.Image 'My First Nightmare'"Now child, there will be a time you shall be frightened of the dark. Those fears are wholly justified...."Image

Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #57

I just received the cover for ASIM issue 57 which will feature a story of mine called Through a Day and Into the Night from the very hard working Lucy Zinkiewicz.  Colour me impressed:The cover is by Kathleen Jennings, who has a story featured in the Year's Best Australian  F&SF dont'cherknow.  I'm not sure which story the picture refers to, but anything which includes a samurai and Queen Victoria can only be kickarse.The issue launches at Conflux this coming weekend, and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy.Michael

'Alek and Elizabeth and the End of the World' at the Journey Into.... Podcast

You've read me wax lyrical about the quality of the Journey Into... podcast and Marshal Latham's production on it in this blog before.  Well now he's done me the honour of running my story 'Alek and Elizabeth and the End of the World' and oh my as the nail ever struck on the head.Both Marshall and the producer, Chris Munroe, did a great job.  They interpreted the story just as I imagined, and the artwork is awesome:I've always had trouble receiving compliments, and how Marshal and Chris handled my writing is the biggest compliment I've had for it.  I'm worried now about going overboard, but really I don't think I could say enough about the 'cast.But don't believe me, because I lie, go listen for yourself.  And while you're there check out some of the other stories Marshal has run.  'The Fog Horn' by Ray Bradbury is one of my favourites.Michael  

Your Anger is a Gift

I have a rule that I don't post anything overtly political on my Twitter feed.  If you follow my Twitter feed you'll know it's a rule I fail miserably to follow.  You see dear reader, I'm an angry man.  I'm also a happy man, a sad man and everything in between, but when it comes to politics it's hard to be anything other than angry.  And when it comes to Thatcher, I'm a child of the 80s from a Yorkshire mining town.  You can probably guess I'm no fan.But I'm not here to harp on or dance or anything else.  I've had my own feelings I've vented elsewhere, but the level of my emotions on the subject surprised even me.Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm an emotional person.  I don't mean I cry at the drop of a hat, I mean I swing from one to the other with little pushing.  It's part of me I'm thankful I have, because a writer should feel.  We should care.  Because if we don't, why should our readers?It wasn't until I sat back and assessed my feeling this week though that I realised the novel I'm writing (working title 'Europa' and subject to change when something cooler occurs) is partly my venting the machinations of government and the suppression of the self.  All this was going on beneath my fingertips, and I didn't even know it.So what I'm saying is go feel.  Go experience   Care for something, for anything. And most of all, be angry.Michael 

Iain Banks, With an 'M'

Like millions today, I was rocked by the news of Iain Banks' terminal cancer.  I can't add anything which has not already been (justifiably) lauded on the man, especially by those who know him.It seems selfish that I could be so effected by news of someone I don't know, to whom this does not deserve to happen.IainBanks2009.jpgAll I can say is his work helped me realise I wanted to become a writer, and showed me the possibilities of what that could entail.  My boys each have a full set of Banks' Culture novels ready for then they're old enough to read them.  One proof among thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, that his life will effect others he does not even know of after his passing.  How any of us will be able to say the same?My thoughts are with Iain and his family.Michael

Sorry, My Words Are Spoken For

Any writers reading this (and I know some of you are reading this, Google Analytics wouldn't lie to me) will know of the push for new writers to establish an online presence.  Twitter, Facebook, Google+, blogs, and so on.  I adhered to this, and you're reading the results right now (almost like magic, eh?), but here's the thing.... I have nothing to say.  I've managed to keep this blog ticket steadily over for the last few years with ramblings  rumblings and the odd positive review.  But the fact is, as a writer still finding his feet my life is a far cry from the celebrity encrusted types such as Gaiman, Westerfeld, Cronin or, well, anyone published, you name them.I sit down and write everyday.  That's it.  Some people enjoy what I write, and quite honestly that combined with the joy I gain from just the act of creating is more than enough, but all my energy goes into that fiction or everyday life, such as looking after my boys, my wife and the day job.  The tank is empty when I come to this blog.So why do I have it?  Well, I'll continue the theme of honesty and be blunt.  It's not for you, dear reader; it's all for me.  This here is my public promise to myself that what I'm doing when I sit down to write is more than a hobby.  It's my pledge that I will do my best to get this manuscript finished and published.  Something said openly is much harder to break than one made silently in your own head.Not an especially inspiring post this one, but one I felt I needed to say.Don't worry, I'll get back with the inanely silly posts next time.  Oh, and get yourself a blog.  It's very therapeutic. Michael

Flight

The missus suggested we go see a film called Flight last weekend.  I jumped at the chance.  A full theatrical version of the magnificent series of comics edited by Kazu Kibuishi?  Oh yes please!Turns out it wasn't that.  It was a film with Denzel Washington which kicks off with a very, very realistic passenger jet crash.  Not exactly what someone with a fear of lying, such as yours truly, would want to see.But after I'd taken my fingers from my ears and open my eyes, I was very pleased I'd delayed the next time I get on a plane by another 2 years.

The film is about the emancipation of a man from alcohol, not the very stylist and way too terrifying (as far as I'm concerned) crash at the beginning, and very well done it is too.  I took notes throughout.

Washington is not a bad man.  He's also not particularly a good man. He's just a man.  We're given reason to root for him from the get go (not really a spoiler, but he lands the plane and saves a lot of lives), then another smaller one, just before he crashes back down to bottom.  He's struggling against himself, he's threatened by a system which would hang the crash on his dependence.  And throughout both problems get steadily worse.

I listened to a radio interview with fantasy novelist Raymond E Feist where he said his screenwriter father gave him his most important piece of advice: give the audience someone to root for from the beginning.   Flight does this , and it never lets go throughout the film.

Go see it, just take earplugs.

Michael

Nerd Alert

I'm really not one for labels.  Labels and tags seem to me to be a very north American invention which have crept into other societies as a lazy way for people to state who they are.  In high school I was a rugby-playing musician who played dungeons and dragons..... so what did that make me.  Michael, that's what it made me.However (it's amazing just how often that word pops up on my posts, eh?), I have no problems accepting was could be derivative terms such as nerd when it comes to anything which I enjoy.  And one of the things I enjoy is wargames, which is why I'm loving the prospects for Beyond The Gates of Antares.From a nerd (there's that word again) point of view, the actual game play mechanics are very interesting.  From a creative point of view, the background and build of the universe is even more attention-grabbing.   Rick Priestly, the creative force behind the game and one of the men responsible for what modern gaming is today, explains it better on the videos from the link above than I could.I'll be keeping an eye on this game, oh my yes I will, and I suggest if you're anything like me you should do.The next post will return to the literary type nerd messages from me you're used to.Michael

Faith in The World: Restored

Let me tell you something about being a grown up:  it sucks.  Oh, not in the 'I'm drowning in a mortgage and tied to a job I hate' kind've sucks, but as you grow older, and your knowledge of the planet we live as a whole increases, the amount of wonder it holds inversely decreases.  I have these boyhood memories (as do roughly half of the population) of running and playing with no consideration for what we would have to tomorrow, tonight or even in an hour.  But I have one particular memory which crops up fairly regularly, and always brings a smile with it.  I don't know how old I was.  10, perhaps.  Nor even do I think it was single occurrence I'm remembering, possibly an amalgamation of dozens, but I could picture it in HD clarity.It's one of those endless summer days, on holiday from school when everything which needed doing had been done and the day belonged to you and your friends.  I grew up in a small town in rural(ish) Yorkshire, and near our house was a beck (stream, dontcherknow) which bordered the golf course at the end of the town until it went under a long-disused railway tunnel and disappeared into a rolling field of wheat.  Standing on that bridge, looking out over the fields, I was always struck by how the world possessed such abundant possibilities.  Anything could have been at the other side of those fields.  Anything.  And it was just there, across the waving arms of wheat, glowing honey-brown, and the only thing holding me back from discovering what it was the fun I was having with my friends, and my desire the game would not stop.Of course now I know what's at the other side of the field.  And what's on the other side of that.  I also know that field isn't there any more   Now there's a bypass which helps impatient drivers get to where the field isn't any more  and god help any young boys who want to try and cross it.  It's hard not to feel cheated by the world when memories like this bubble up.  Where's the adventure?  Where're the lost lands waiting to be discovered and explored?  Well, they've all been discovered.  All of them.  Go on, get on with your lives.*sigh*Anyway, this is a very roundabout way of saying, "but it's not all bad!  Look, they found a giant squid!!"Giant squid filmed in depths of Japanese oceanBuying a telescope and all the books on astronomy I could lay my hands on was one way I hoped I'd be able to keep my boy's wonder at the world intact in an age of immediate facts at your fingertips.  But until human feet touch Martian earth, the giant squid will do.