So you’ve found the Tales of Time and Space… blog, and you’re wondering just what the heck it’s all about. Let’s have a look at what it is and isn’t…
What it is…
Well, it’s a little bit of everything, really. This blog is the repository for all my general thoughts, rants, moans and musings. Subjects covered will range from infantile wibbling about various irrelevancies to in-depth introspectives on some of my favourite topics. Some of my favourite subjects of discussion include:
Science fiction literature of all shades, both modern and classic, with a strong emphasis on my favourite authors and their work. There is also a specific focus on short fiction, which I consider to be the bedrock of the science fiction genre, and which also happens to be a big favourite of mine. I’ve been reading “proper” science fiction literature since I first read H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine at the tender age of eight years old.
Sci-Fi in films and on television. I’ve been into sci-fi even longer than I’ve been a fan of the written variety, and my tastes run the gamut from classic “cult” TV sci-fi of the 1960’s and 1970’s to the most modern telefantasy TV series, from the classic sci-fi films of the 1950’s to the most modern cinema sci-fi blockbusters, from classic sci-fi puppet shows and cartoons to modern animé classics.
Comics and Graphic Novels. I’ve been reading comics even longer than I’ve been reading SF. I started off with the classic British weekly comics back in the mid-1960’s, my favourite titles were The Lion, The Valiant and The Eagle. During the 1970’s I became addicted to the UK Marvel weekly comics, although I did continue to follow Countdown, Vulcan, 2000 AD and a few other British Weekly titles. I dropped out of comics almost completely from around 1982-1997, with a sporadic period of buying 1991-1994, but since 1997 I’ve been back on the scene with a vengeance.
Science, particularly Palaeontology, Evolution, Biology and Bioengineering, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Cosmology, and Space Exploration.
History of all kinds, both modern and ancient. It doesn’t matter to me how far we go back, as I’ve never paid any attention to the history/prehistory division. It’s all “the past” to me. I’ll also lump anything to do with Archaeology in this section, as it’s a closely related topic.
Computers and the internet, and web design. A more recent interest of mine, computers since the mid-1980’s and the internet since 1995. But they manage to eat up about 90% of my leisure time these days.
Music. Probably my longest-standing obsession, I’ve been hooked on music for as long as I can remember. My number one preference is anything with loud guitars – rock, punk, alternative – but I’m also into a wide range of other genres including blues, soul, funk, reggae and various types of dance and electronica. I have an absolutely enormous collection of music accumulated over the decades, and I’ve been a DJ for almost thirty years.
All the above, and much more, are fair game for various posts and articles, and most of these topics have categories of their own. Indeed anything that tickles my fancy is ripe for discussion, and anything that doesn’t fit into the regular categories can be found under General.
What it isn’t…
It is not a professional review or critic’s blog. I’m not a professional critic or reviewer, and don’t want to be. I am, and will always remain, primarily a reader, a viewer, a fan. There are other excellent sites that already do the critic thing far better than I ever could, and I have no intention of trying to reinvent the wheel. I will be doing reviews of books, graphic novels, DVDs and CDs, but you won’t see any negative reviews here. I don’t read/watch/listen to stuff that I don’t like, nor do I write about it, only what I’ve enjoyed. Life’s far too short.
It is not a mainstream “Top 20 Bestselling Blah, Blah, Blah…” type of place. Amazon.com and others cover that area more than adequately. This site reflects my own admittedly wide-ranging tastes in SF, sci-fi, comics, music and other areas. You’ll see some “stuff” here that you’re familiar with, and some that you’ve probably never heard of.
The Bottom Line…
This blog is built around my life-long obsessions with all the above things, what I myself like in all walks of life. It has been created for the sheer fun of it, not for any commercial gain or monetizing strategies. GrumpyOldMan is first and foremost a personal blog, with heavy emphasis on science fiction literature, sci-fi in film and on television, and comics, so the larger portion of postings will reflect that bias.
Anything goes on this site, so long as I happen to like it. Science fiction or fantasy (with the occasional bit of horror/supernatural), comics, movies, TV, music and more, and no “Top Twenty Best-Sellers” or marketing hype here. It’s pure personal preference and guilty pleasures, so you’ll read about stuff that you’ll recognize and other stuff that you won’t find anywhere else.
So what’s everyone standing around waiting for? Get on in there…
Tales of Time & Space... 