Thursday, 25 March 2010

"The Hellified Hedonist of Hingham" by Josh Mitchell

This short story about the boundaries of love is a very compelling read. From the array of modern references to the very fleshed out ideologies about love in the present day it's easy to be left wanting more from it's short lived excitement.
Telling the story of a young adult male who finds himself put in a compromising situation by an alluring high school student this short story encompasses very early on the fears of modern young men - what with minors presenting themselves so much more like eye candy and if they have coupled this with a maturity beyond their years then it is easy to see why a man would let himself think it was ok for him to conduct a relationship with a younger girl - though in secret and (hopefully, like the character here) with some worried thoughts.
Through the 35 pages you see the male character very clearly, he is no idiot but certainly is lovestruck, the development of his character is compelling and the female lead Cava is presented in such a way as you don't hate her, you just realise she isn't the Holy Grail of girls, she is just as you'd expect a girl who knows how to get what she wants from men to behave.
I'd certainly recommend this story and look forward to reading more from Josh Mitchell.

If you would like to read more from this author please visit his Scribd page here.

Wednesday, 24 March 2010

Untitled Project #1 Preview

Chapter 1 – Hate Is A Strong Word

Here is my confession.

I have a bone chilling, ominous, cold dread hidden in the pit of my stomach that my mother is going to die.

Not in the literal sense, though her behavior certainly doesn’t rule it out, but in the clichéd, soap opera style of a angst-ridden teen screaming at his parent “YOU’RE DEAD TO ME!” before storming upstairs to take refuge in their safe, ‘lovingly’ provided bedrooms.

You see, when I say “I do love my mother, but as a person I do not like her” it is completely true, this subtle change can be noticed that she is no longer ‘mum’ or ‘mummy’ but the cold and formal mother, which is used to remind me it is her position and purpose to provide love and care for her kids, she has to do it, but she doesn't have to want to do it and by Jove doesn’t she let me know that’s the case. I don’t hate her, and I know she doesn’t hate me, because ‘hate’ is a strong word and should only be used when describing some terrorist or someone that’s just purposefully jumped in a people carrier carrying four of their kids and driven them off a bridge into icy waters below. You need to know someone truly inside and out before you can really hate them though, and as I approach my 18th birthday I can safely say that I am seeing a lot of things that will, instead of make me hate, will make me just remove her from my life, so she ‘exists’ out of sight, and hopefully out of mind, without the need for me to perform the dreadful, childish act of burning up with hatred continuously.

I don’t know why I’m telling you this, not that I even know who ‘you’ are, for all I know this confessional could be in the hands of a homeless tramp sitting in Central Park in Chelmsford, freezing to death under a blanket of newspapers, despairing at a young housed, fed and pampered boy’s apparent ‘worries’. I think the reason behind me telling, even if it is to no-one in particular… is just for me to unload this, well, what seems like a terribly dark secret.

I’m sure I should have started this with the same old boring introduction about me, where I live and such… but I’ve always seemed to go about doing things differently that the norm, not intentionally, I just don’t shop in Topman and H&M because I don’t want to look like everyone else down the high street.

But I suppose an introduction is needed, before you put this down and leave. My name is Torban (the specific choice of my paternal grandmother, had angered my mother who had wanted me to be called Hugo, but that was relegated to being one of my three middles names – the others being Carlo and Walter, after my grandfather and great-grandfather on my father’s side – mother must have felt left out even then, only one out of five names, surname included, could she call her son her own), I am currently 17, birthday is in the lovely chill of March, far enough away from Christmas to not be associated, but not near enough spring so that everyone doesn’t slip over leaving the house the morning after one of my birthday parties.


Please leave comments and feedback from this short preview, any feedback is welcome!

Very aggravating editing problem, but still - exciting news!

KatastropheVideo YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/KatastropheVideo?feature=mhw4

Well, hello there

How do you do? I hope I find you well.

I’m here to delve into my creativeness and to share, recieve feedback and learn about my own creativity, whether it be through writing, through video, or through photographs.

I guess I just want to see if I am actually any good at any of these things, and whether there is a talent in me worth nurturing and I hope to read, watch and see other people’s talents, learn from them and hoping one day be able to actually make a living out of an activity that I really do enjoy.

Basic facts about me: I’m 19, male, English and living in England - I currently go to university studying Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations but I don’t really think it was all I hoped it would be. I enjoy reading, film watching, playing with my boyfriend’s kitten Shadow and spending hours trawling through people’s blogs, YouTube accounts and I am an avid Twitter addict.

I know there isn’t a lot here at the moment at all but I still setting up ready to properly launch my KarloKatastrophe experiment across several platforms (I will keep you posted shortly upon these developments).

Well I hope this little taster has left you at least slightly interested and I look forward to showcasing some work and having a chat with some other bloggers soon!