Alex Genn Concept to long copy and everything in between.

16Jul/091

The Call of Death. Maybe.

Yesterday I was driving behind a white van with a sticker which said "How's My Driving? 020 8446 8547."

I couldn't work out what disturbed me about that at first. Then I realised the number is a land line.

That raises all sorts of existential questions. How can the driver be driving and answering the land line somewhere?

Unless he's got some kind of Michael Keaton in Multiplicity thing going on. Which I doubt. God what a waste of multiple bodies that film demonstrated. I didn't even see the film but I know for a fact that at no point did he use a spare body as an alibi to get away with the horric but entirely morally jusitfiable torture and murder of a self-rightous politician or moaning child.

The Keatons at home

The Keatons at home

And what happens if I call that number on the back of the van to complain? I probably crash the car, because I'm on the phone.

Then someone rings the number from the sticker on the back of my car which says "How's my driving? 020 368 4688". Then they crash their car because they're on the phone. And someone else rings the number on the back of their car and...

...the cycle continues for ever.

Or something.

23Apr/083

Fortress of Deception

There is a cold-blooded, heartless killer among us. There is one who cares not for love or life or joy but exists only to bring pain and misery. Worse still, its hideous nature, and true dark intent are hidden beneath a brightly coloured veneer, masked by children's smiles; and the smell of rubber.

In the past our society has been threatened by war, internal conflict and even natural disaster, despite what Michael Fish said; but never before have we faced such an insidious threat, never have we faced a foe which strikes so brazenly at that which we hold so dear; our precious little children.

This is no greasy-skinned, combed-over, filthy rain-coated predator with a pocket full of sweets and the promise of puppies. No, far worse this horrid fiend is invited into homes by parents themselves, given freedom of the garden and the children are actively encouraged to play with them.

Yes. I'm talking about the bouncy castle. Fortress of inflatable deception. Keep of lies. Battlements of bashed kids.

In the gardens of well-meaning parents across the country, every day, children are left alone and vulnerable to the not-so-tender mercies of these rubber Hitlers. For too long those children, who have disappeared into the folds of rubber and never been seen again, who have bounced awkwardly and gone bald, who have collided mid-air with other infants and been turned into inoperable Siamese twins, have been our conveniently forgotten shame. Today, they found their voice.

Finally as reported by the BBC, someone has had the good sense to realise that if a child is hurt on or near a bouncy castle, the only way to cope is to sue the people who hired it. Thank the Lord. It is only in this sensible, non-reactionary, logic-based, greed-free way that this evil can be beaten.

Some will say it is the parents responsibility to safeguard their children, others will say that if a child is injured playing football, no-one is going to sue the owner of the ball. To these people I say shame on you. SHAME.

Let this evil end. Today.

21Apr/080

A Cautionary Wallpaper Story

At the weekend I was scraping off wallpaper in the hallway. Beneath it there was layer of thick, bright orange rubbery paint. It was dirty and seemed to bubble of it's own accord. As I dragged the pallet knife across it I felt a shudder, I wobbled on the stepladder and almost lost my footing. Unexpectedly scared and alone in the house, I decided a tea break was in order.

I turned to step down from the ladder and noticed the floor had gone. In its place was a choppy paper sea, waves of dirty yellow-white rising and falling across the hall. I took my foot off the last rung and tried to find purchase on the floor but no matter how hard I stretched, all I could feel was the rough, hot, wet edges of the curled-over lining paper. Standing at the top of a flight of stairs and aware I was over-stretching, I pulled my foot back toward the step-ladder. Or at least I tried to; but the paper had stuck to me.

I kicked my foot a few times but again nearly lost my balance. It was like the paper wanted to stick to something. No, not something, someone and not anyone, me. I suddenly knew true fear, this was not an accident, this was revenge. I had dislodged it from it's vertical life. What was it now, laying curled, worthless and ruined? Not even truly horizontal. I had done this. I would pay.

I felt the curls of paper move around my leg and tighten. I stifled a scream, this was stupid, this couldn't possibly be happening.

From there, once established, the thick, suffocating scraps of paper slid up to my torso and finally enveloped my head.

As it went dark and the damp, glue-covered paper filled my throat, all I could think was; I should have got a man in.