Here is a photo of a lonely boat that has been sitting in the tyne for god knows how long and for god knows what purpose.
Thank you to those who have watched the latest video. I am happy with the video, but whether its performance will match the effort put into making it is another thing. Those two components rarely align.
What I’m Planning Next
The hardest part about finishing a video is figuring out what I’m going to dedicate my time to next. I have a list on my phone of potential candidates: “Loneliness vs Solitude”, “The Disturbing Rise of Splatterpunk”, and “The Philosophies of Physical Fitness”. Let’s explore these three in order of what is most likely to be done next and what isn’t.
1. The Disturbing Rise of Splatterpunk
I am 90% sure this will be the next topic. Suggested to me by a internet-culture-conscious friend of mine over a pint in Newcastle, Splatterpunk is a genre of fiction I believe will make for an interesting video topic.
For those who don’t know I’ll keep it brief: Splatterpunk is a horror sub-genre of fiction that prides itself on detailed descriptions of over-the-top violence. The genre was a reaction against the contemporary horror fiction of the 80s that focused on suggestions of violent and/or disturbing acts. Splatterpunk sought to be as upfront as possible and was an underground scene that - as its name suggests - was the equivalent of punk rock to rock music: an edgy subculture that goes against the grain.
What most convinces me of this topic being my next video is the thumbnail. When brain fog sets in, I find a remedy against it is visual creation. I accept when my brain is out of commission (a common occurrence) and begin planning for future videos by making thumbnails. This was the best one.
I have done a small amount of research on the topic, but not enough to know how the video will be structured. Here is a rough plan:
Introduction (some waffling on sub-genres and their subversiveness)
Chapter 2: The Beginning of Splatterpunk
Chapter 3: Insert Splatterpunk 101 book here
Chapter 4: Rise of Splatterpunk/New generation
Chapter 5: The Slob
Chapter 6: Ending
This structure is likely to change. Once I’ve got the structure down I am 100% committed. It takes a lot of research to figure out where things are going to go. Sometimes it’s obvious, but most of the time the question of how to keep a flow to the video is down to knowing all of your sources inside out. You don’t want to assume, get to a chapter, then realise there’s little information on your chapter’s main topic.
For example, it is all well and good to focus chapter 4 on the new generation of writers, but regardless of there evidently being these writers, being able to discover information worthy of a full chapter is up in the air. It may not even be interesting in the first place.
Expect this thumbnail to be in your sub-box down the line.
2. Loneliness vs Solitude
Born out of a cool looking thumbnail, “loneliness vs solitude” - whilst being the least developed idea - is second on my list purely due to me wanting to use this picture to its full advantage.
A few months back I was working on a video that focused on No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai. What had began as a solid idea soon fell flat. I re-read the book, researched Dazai, and began structuring what I confidently thought would be the next upload after my video on the Marquis De Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom. It did not work out that way.
I was surprised to learn that there was not a lot of information on Dazai available. I felt like if I were to make a vide on No Longer Human, I was going to make one that did not lazily relate the contents of the book to the death of its author. With this in mind, I tried to approach the book from a unique angle, yet found this process to be full of pit-stops.
Eventually, I began researching the loneliness epidemic in Japan in an attempt to understand why a book like No Longer Human would be so widely loved. No Longer Human is undeniably well-written, however, I found the general fascination with Dazai’s nihilistic and alienated persona to be interesting in itself.
This research led me to the word “Hikikomori” and subsequently got me reading the first book on the subject called Hikiomori: Adolescence Without End by Tamaki Saitō. I am yet to finish it as I began working on other projects, but this book led to me wanting to focus on loneliness itself rather than No Longer Human. It is likely No Longer Human will make an appearance in a video on Loneliness, but I doubt I will make it the main focus unless I find an angle worth working with.
I am rambling. To quickly explain the title “Loneliness vs Solitude”, I wanted to use Henry David Thoreau’s work (which I only know of but have not read) to either argue for or against solitude whilst using Hikikomori: Adolescence Without End as an example for loneliness. Basically I want to use books that either fall into the loneliness category (negative isolation) or solitude category (positive isolation).
That’s as far as I have got for that idea.
3. The Philosophies of Physical Fitness
This is an idea I have held onto the longest. Working out is a nice pastime for me. I am a UFC fan, have a mild interest in Body Building, and spent a majority of my childhood involved in sports such as Football, Rugby, and Boxing. Nowadays I find running and lifting weights to be the most enjoyable physical hobby. Football and Rugby are completely eradicated from my life. Boxing occasionally makes a return to my mind.
Either way, I have wanted to make a video combining the mistakenly thought-to-be-unrelated pursuits of artistry and fitness. I have no idea what I would do to structure it, however, I would use books such as Yukio Mishima’s Sun and Steel and Haruki Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. Henry Rollins’ article The Iron will be sure to make an appearance too.
I think the reason why I haven’t pursued this idea is due to the lack of narrative-style books that fit within this topic. I would be likely to visit the stories of people like Mike Mentzer or even to read the book Muscle: Confessions of an Unlikely Bodybuilder - a book about the unspoken realities of bodybuilding and the mental illnesses that dance in tandem with the intense dieting, training, and steroid use.
For footage I would also like to take some of me jogging around my local area or something like that. It will be a while until you see this video, as I am not a fan of the thumbnail either.
What I’m Listening to
Whilst working on “Death, Dying, and Being Dead” I listened to two artists: Elliott Smith and Cindy Lee. The former was more of a consuming of a smorgasbord of songs, whilst the latter was a focused listening of one compact album. Ill be begin with the former.
Elliott Smith
Elliott Smith didn’t click with me until a few weeks ago. I have always been a casual fan of the guy. Songs like “Say Yes”, “Between the Bars”, and “Waltz 2” have been a frequent visitor of my private playlists, however, most deep cuts never hooked me.
Until recently. I don’t know what happened, but after literal years of listening to Eliott Smith (and actively trying to get in to him) something in my head decided I like him now. Is that a bad sign?
Like I previously said, my recent experiences with his music have been more akin to picking out my favourite from a smorgasbord of songs rather than going through full albums, but nonetheless, what I do pick out I love. Those three songs mentioned previously are still great, but now I’ve added much more on top: Miss Misery, The Biggest Lie, Needle In The Hay, Clementine, Somebody That I Used To Know, Son of Sam, Everything Means Nothing To Me, Etc. Either/Or is a great album and Figure 8 is too.
Miss Misery has become my favourite of his. I was familiar of this song previously due to the film Good Will Hunting, however, something in this song clicked with me and now I love it. Give it a listen.
Cindy Lee
Cindy Lee is a project I have known about for a while but was never on board with - even slightly. For those who are unaware, Cindy Lee is a low-fi project fronted by Patrick Flegel. To my knowledge, Cindy Lee is a character and requires Flegel to dress up in drag during his performances under this name. Despite the odd decent track, Cindy Lee has always been a bit too reverby and low-fi for my liking.
That was until the new double album titled “Diamond Jubilee”.
www.geocities.ws/ccqsk
I’ve left the link to this album as it is not on Spotify. You can download it for free or listen on YouTube.
I’ve been enjoying this album and it far exceeds anything Cindy Lee has done previously. The low-fi and reverb are still there, but - unlike previous albums/songs of Cindy Lee - these effects feel as if they add to an atmosphere rather than covering up a deficiency.
I am not music critic so I am not going to tell you about silky synths, pummelling drums, ear-gasming vocals etc. but I do recommend giving this album a try. It is long, so just to get an idea of it, I would recommend giving these five songs a listen first. If you walk away from these five unsatisfied, maybe the album is not for you.
Realistik Heaven
Always Dreaming
Kingdom Come
Government Cheque
Demon Bitch
Realistik Heaven - despite it being an instrumental - is my favourite song on this album. The other four are hard to rate, so I wont bother acting as if there is any semblance of a hierarchy post number one - just know that Realistik Heaven sits above all of them.
Anyways that’s everything from me.
I am currently weighing up the idea of doing a “Read-Along” thing on this Substack. The premise would be I would post weekly round ups of a book I am reading, so you lot can read with me and talk about what you like and/or dislike about the book. As I read on Kindle, I plan to read 25% of whatever book I am on (unless its a War and Peace-sized book) every week and do the round up from there.
I’ll figure out the details soon and post an announcement should I follow through on this idea.
If so I will make them paid posts, but will leave 1 of 4 free and with a paywall somewhere in the middle of 2 of the 4, with 1 being completely behind a paywall. This is just to both be fair to those that paid and as fair as possible to those who do not want to spend money.
Either way, that’s for future me to worry about.
Thank you for reading,
The Selador
Very much interested in your take on splatterpunk. I read about 4 or 5 books of that genre for an episode I recorded recently, and after reading Cows by Matthew Stokoe, I figured it was enough for me. Looking forward to your thoughts.