The Lust for Failure? 2007

"Losing: it’s like winning, but with more experience."
- Anon
2013 Introduction
Below is an article I wrote back in 2007 long before I started making a deeper study into the nature of failure and mistakes. That particular journey moved me more into scepticism and critical thinking, as well as a willingness to embrace the benefits of accepting personal errors. Since writing this piece I read the brilliant "Mistakes were Made (but not by me)" by Carol Tavris and the equally entertaining "Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margins of Error" by Katherine Schulz.

I have never been a natural and have always had a passion for teaching. I think the disadvantages you face in not learning things easily enrich your ability to teach. It often amuses me when I hear people who put themselves over as great teachers and yet seem to have an inability to admit being flawed in anyway. They often won't even admit to making mistakes in the past. Such people seem to take on a religious view of their teaching ability, emulating some sort of Christ figure who is perfect in every way and revered by his discipiles as being the greatest of teachers. Personally I take the rather more mortal outlook that comes from works like Stephen Briers "Superpowers for Parents" and the aforementioned works by Tavris and Schulz that a teacher who shows they are faillible and even exhibits his mistakes and flaws is much more effective than those who easily gained skills or refuse to admit being wrong.

Late Psycho

Psycho (Photo credit: -Alina-)

This is a review a wrote a while back and I thought it would be appropriate to share today, one day after the 54th anniversary of the premier of Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho". Yes, I am late, but couldn't resist the opportunity. 

"Psycho" must go down as one of the most important films of all time. It is memorable for many reasons, of big cinematic importance and hugely influential. Firstly, it is the most successful film Alfred Hitchcock made. Hitchcock is often justifiably regarded to be the greatest director of all time as well as the "master of suspense". "Psycho" is not only a great example of Hitchcock's artistic ability at his peak, but also a perfect demonstration of the art of suspense. It was also a great demonstration of his working relationship with his wife, the great editor, Alma Hitchcock. The use of music and voyeurism in film was never bettered by "Psycho", and many movies from art-house to the slasher horror have this film to thank. "Jaws", which also went onto becoming a massively influential film, uses a lot of what Hitchcock established by using the killer's point of view and allowing a tremendously atmospheric yet incredibly simplistic score to move the whole movie along. It took several decades before movies like "From Dusk Til Dawn" and the works of George R.R. Martin would understand the power of being ruthless with lead characters as well as showing amazing restraint with genre material. "Psycho" broke all the rules and established something brave yet artistically brilliant.    

Challenging Material

Cover of Timothy Leary

I wrote this article in about 2007. This was before my self-help bubble popped (see my Martial Arts Scepticism article, "The New Martial Arts Mystique" on that one)

Timothy Leary’s “Evolutionary Agents” is not a book you would immediately associate with Geoff Thompson’s Real Combat Method. I doubt even Leary - with his leftfield views - imagined that his lucid and controversial work would become set reading material for a class training to get certification in self-defence instruction. Yet there we all stood in a circle being questioned by Geoff Thompson, himself, about our thoughts on the work.

In truth the course was far more than a simple “hard skills” course for training how to deal with a violent situation. Most of the students who went on the course already had instructor level certification in one respected realistic combative form or another. My take on Geoff’s decision for making such books s Leary’s compulsory homework for all who attended the course was because they prompted an internal battle. This is what might be termed “Cerebral Self-Defence” or, as Geoff once put it, “Self-defence is defence against the self”.

Being Naughty

“Naughty” is a song written by the anarchic comedian Tim Minchin for Dennis Kelly’s musical adaption of Roald Dahl’s children’s novel, “Matilda”. If you are unaware of the original story of “Matilda”, it is about a downtrodden yet very intelligent and bookish little girl who suffers at the hands of her family and her tyrannical headmistress, but gets her revenge when she discovers she has telekinesis. Yes, it’s “Carrie” for the pre-teens sans the bucket of blood on prom night. Like a lot of great fantasy, the fantasy elements are understated in favour of a strong narrative and character development allowing the incredible to seamlessly be interwoven with the rest of the action. This is honoured in the songs from the musical and, in particular, “Naughty”.  A central message runs through the musical and is reflected in this song, which makes a defiant break with a stoic or passive acceptance of life.

Remembering Extreme World Warfare Part VII

EWW needed momentum. So far, we had produced two shows and were getting attention from the British wrestling fans, but mainstream interest was non-existent. We weren’t the only ones having this problem. There was a lot of talk about TV from both the UWA and the FWA, especially with the proliferation of more television channels, but still the stigma of British Wrestling’s past haunted us all. Everyone had their media contacts and we all did our best, but we knew that our key to was to build a following. This meant more exposure of our brand and storylines. We did not want to stay at Exeter Hall. The plan now was to get moving on “The Armageddon Tour” and to book as many dates as possible. Unfortunately we just did not have the money and with both Stu and me in full-time employment it was difficult to promote a run of our own shows. We needed to selectively partner with other promotions and get bookings.

Giger: Healing in Unusual Ways

"Birth Machine", by H.R. Giger. Photograph taken by Ojw of a sculpture on display outside the Museum H. R. Giger in Gruyères (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The sudden death of H.R. Giger immediately prompted me to consider the value of legacy. Giger was a weaver of imaginative landscapes that sprawled out and overran into places even some of the boldest artists of today would not dare venture. He was the quintessential modern surrealist who emerged in the 1970s with a vision that would have a profound effect on art, entertainment and culture. His most obvious home in popular culture was science fiction and fantasy, where his work as a set designer has assured his legacy in film. 

His most enduring creation will always be the titular creature of Ridley Scott’s 1979 masterpiece, “Alien”. Touted as “Jaws in Space” to prospective producers, the film is probably Scott’s greatest achievement and Stephen King lists it as one of the greatest horrors ever made. Like Giger’s infectious influence, the film transcends genres and begs the attention of a wide range of audiences. This is in no small part down to Giger’s vision. King more than implied in his “Danse Macabre” that the very best horror built up suspense with the unseen – and in this respect 1963’s “The Haunting” was a truemasterpiece – but it must ultimately have the pay-off by revealing object of horror. This is often where cinema nearly always falls down, especially if the suspense element is done moderately well. Scott’s direction matches both Spielberg and even Hitchcock in the voyeuristic way he weaves camera angles through the twisted and claustrophobic corridors of Giger’s set designs and in the patient way he plays out some highly restrained drama. It is no small tribute to Giger that he delivers on Scott’s dark promise. 

Remembering Extreme World Warfare Part VI

We were on our way back from our little adventure in Southsea and Stu’s outburst went something like this “It’s 1999 and look how far we’ve all come over the past two decades: Abba in the charts and Star Wars on the fucking cinema!” It was a fair point. Nostalgia was a drug we all smoked socially, but the turn of century was showing serious signs of innovation-stifling addiction. It wasn’t just coming from the past either. Despite a new generation of British wrestlers arriving on the scene, many were using slogans and gestures stolen wholesale from their US heroes. I cringed every time we worked on a show and some dickhead worker started x-chopping. This wasn’t the New British Wrestling scene we wanted to promote. We weren’t denying our inspiration, but we certainly weren’t shackled to it either. Looking back I am sure Stu and I had certain fundamental differences in the way we wanted to the wrestling scene to go, but I think a key thing we did agree on was the desire to forge something unique.