Jack's Blog

Train Station

On February 20th, 2012 in Fiction by Jack

The station was empty.

As in, empty. Carl’s train was scheduled to leave at 23:53, and he was fairly certain it was the only train running at that point anywhere in the country. There was one other person at the station, a half-asleep security guard hiding behind his desk in a booth on the next platform over.

This is why Carl was surprised to see the drunk. (more…)

Science!

On December 23rd, 2011 in Non-Fiction by Jack

Below is an article I wrote at the request of someone I met when I was on the education panel. I never sent it to him because it took me months to say exactly what I wanted to, and by that time I thought it was probably a bit late. So here it is, for the first time.

As far back as 1818 with the first publication of Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, people have been afraid of science. (more…)

Orange Juice, on the Rocks

On December 15th, 2011 in Fiction by Jack

Another morning, another hang over, another jazz club and another lousy pay check. Gus is me. I work for a newspaper. Jazz clubs, mostly. It’s a heap of bull. This is a town full of vice and big stories just waiting to come crashing down on the little paper I work for, and I can’t do jack shit about it.

So I get up and I go to work, and again, Ray (my boss) says: (more…)

Nintendo: A Modern Day Parable

On December 13th, 2011 in Games by Jack

It’s December, 2006. This christmas, a sensation will erupt into stores globally, breaking sales records all over the place and generally making one company a lot of money. This sensation is a games console, packed with amazing, innovative new features, and a stellar launch lineup with the promise of even more in a matter of weeks. The company? Nintendo. The sensation? This thing. According to Nintendo’s figures, the Wii has sold almost 90 million units, a figure they’ll surely break come Christmas time. Being a long time fan of Nintendo, I was hoping they’d replicate earlier successes and got one for christmas.  (more…)

The 5 Stages of Watching a TV Show

On December 7th, 2011 in Non-Fiction by Jack

I’ve been watching quite a few new TV shows recently, and it’s got me thinking about the phases you go through watching a new show. Not just how you react to one show individually, but how watching one show affects others, and how watching a programme after all the episodes have been released affects your viewing of it. (more…)

Movember

On December 1st, 2011 in Uncategorized by Jack

This month I partook of movember, which I’m sure you’ve all heard of. I wanted to join in, but I didn’t want to have a weird, awkward moustache hanging around making me look like a class-a rapist, so instead I just let the whole thing grow and shaved the beard off at the end. I figured that way, people might just think I hadn’t shaved in a while.

Anyway, here’s the sum of my efforts:

(more…)

Redesign!

On November 29th, 2011 in Web Design by Jack

I’ve been stuck back at home in Leeds with very little to do, so I’ve redone the place. Feedback would be appreciated.