Category: Blogging

Stream of Consciousness Sunday: The Accumulator, part forty four.

Welcome to this week’s quick SoCS post, brought to you from the unexpected sunshine of our back garden and by Linda G Hill‘s insistence that we use the following prompt to continue this story;

” “vol.” Find a word with “vol” in it, and use it in your post. “

Fair enough…

The Accumulator, part forty four.

Scene: An unfurnished living room. Bare walls and a worn carpet are visible in the grey light which filters through grimy windows. Our view is from the back of the room, an open door in the front left corner leads into the hall.

The camera moves towards the doorway as we hear approaching footsteps outside and see three silhouettes pass by the window. The footsteps come to a halt and a key rattles in the lock, just as we move out into the hallway and see the front door open.

“Watch the step, I’ll get the lights, hang on…”

“No, leave the lights off.”

“Ok, have it your own way. Kitchen’s out the back, I’ll just go up and turn the heat on, it’s bloody freezing in here.”

Adam and Patrick continue down the hall to the rear of the small terraced house as Carlisle heads upstairs.

We follow them into the kitchen and see Patrick check the back door. Finding it locked, he draws the blind over the only window, turns on the light and lifts a bulging carrier bag onto the table

“Well at least we have electricity.”

Adam turns a tap and, after a few seconds of coughing noises, discoloured water splutters out and eventually runs clear into the sink.

“I’ll put the kettle on. You want coffee?”

“Yeah, may as well, we aren’t going to be getting much sleep.”

Carlisle walks in and puts a hand on a chipped and peeling enamel radiator under the window, nodding in satisfaction as it gurgles loudly.

“Should warm up a bit soon. I haven’t been here for a couple of years, it’s strictly for emergencies, but I keep all the utilities connected and paid up to date, because you never know…”

“No, you don’t, and you’re sure this place is secure?”

“As secure as we need it to be, yes. It might look a bit grotty, but there are webcams in every room and a silent alarm only I have the code for, which can only be deactivated by sending the code by mobile phone. It’s monitored around the clock and I can even turn up the volume on the cameras to check nobody can sneak up on me when I’m here.”

Carlisle grins and holds up his smartphone, which shows a black and white shot of the hall with the front door at the far end. Adam steps out of the the kitchen and looks up, waving his hand back and forth above the doorway as he watches the phone’s screen.

“You’ll see a small hole in the top of the door frame, barely noticeable unless you’re looking for it. Amazing what they can do with fibre optic cables these days, isn’t it?”

“Ok, so we can see them coming, but are we sure they are coming?”

Carlisle turns to Patrick and shrugs.

“Your guess is as good as mine. They disappeared pretty sharpish when they clocked us following them, so that worked out ok, it’s just a question of whether they managed to tail us afterwards. You gave them enough chances to catch up, assuming that actually was them behind us as we got back into town, so I’m hoping they have us under surveillance as we speak.”

Adam shakes his head and laughs.

“I can’t believe you sound so pleased about that, we may as well have sent out invitations, hahaha.”

“We’re never going to find her otherwise, she’s always too well guarded, that’s why I was so surprised when I saw her with you to start with. Scared the crap out of me, I don’t mind telling you, I thought it was some sort of trap they’d set for me, to test my loyalty.”

*****

[And that was the point at which, in a day filled with distractions and interruptions, life took over and I gave up writing, sorry, I shall pick it up from here at a later date]

************

To be continued (using next week’s prompt {which can now be found HERE})…

#SoCS

Pingback to Linda G Hill.

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Cosmic Photo prompt.

It’s Friday, so it’s time to give you your prompt for next edition of K’lee and Dale’s Cosmic Photo Challenge.

The English “summer” continues to provide us with a constant supply of moisture which, if nothing else, makes the mushrooms and toadstools happy. I thought I’d use that to our advantage and make this week’s theme; Fungi, so get out in the woods, take a walk in the fields or scour the damp corners of your garden and we’ll have some photogenic fungal fun in Monday’s post.

*****

To get involved with the challenge, post a photo to your blog on Monday, add a pingback to this post (or to K’lee’s) and don’t forget to tag your post #CosPhoChal.

Alternatively, add a link to your blog in the comments of either mine or K’lee’s post and we’ll come and check out your entry.

Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge.

#CosPhoChal

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K’lee and Dale’s Cosmic Photo Challenge.

Good morning and welcome to another week, starting with your Monday dose of K’lee and Dale’s Cosmic Photo Challenge, today with a theme chosen by K’lee.

Now, his prompt was pretty enigmatic; A Clockwork’d Orange, meaning I had to stretch to find something apposite to post, but I think I found a little gem from the archives to meet the brief.

First of all, going with the most obvious inspiration, some photos that feature the colour orange…

…followed by the “Clockwork’d” part of the deal, hmm…

How about this little clip I made a few years ago, called Satsuma Rescue?

Ok, it’s not clockwork, exactly, but it’s stop motion and that has a similar feel, doesn’t it?

Anyway, see what you think.

(You may need to watch it twice, but keep your eye on the little fella, he’s going to give the final stranded piece of fruit a helping hand back into the bowl)

After you’ve looked at K’lee’s post, which is HERE when he’s ready, show us how you interpreted his mysterious prompt with your own offerings.

*****

To get involved with the challenge, post a photo to your blog on Monday, add a pingback to this post (or to K’lee’s) and don’t forget to tag your post #CosPhoChal.
Alternatively, add a link to your blog in the comments of either mine or K’lee’s post and we’ll come and check out your entry.

Any and all effects, editing, Photoshop, Instagram, morphing, collages or whatever other post production techniques you fancy are permitted, (in fact, they’re actively encouraged!) so get creative and turn your photos into artworks for the Cosmic Photo Challenge.

#CosPhoChal

53

Stream of Consciousness Sunday: The Accumulator, part forty two.

It’s time to dip our toes in the waters of another SoCS post, getting back into the swing of things with this strange and meandering tale, inspired this week by Linda G Hill and her prompt;

” Start with “WHEN.” Write whatever you’d like, but begin your post with the word “when.” “

Hmm, fair enough…

The Accumulator, part forty two.

Scene: Inside Dorn’s car.

“When we get round the next corner, put your foot down, we’re being followed.”

We see Dorn turn from looking out of the rear window and lean forward as he speaks to his driver.

“I don’t know who it is, but they’ve been with us since we left the pub, do you see them?”

The driver replies without even glancing in the mirror.

“A tatty looking heap with three men in it, about fifty yards back? Yes sir, I’ve been keeping an eye on them.”

Dorn sits back with a relaxed smile, congratulating himself on how well trained his personal staff are, feeling the surge of acceleration as the powerful car leaps forward and their followers disappear from view round a sharp bend.

A hundred yards ahead, a junction; the entrances of narrow country lanes barely visible amongst the hedges on each side of the winding road, but Dorn’s car doesn’t reduce speed, in fact his driver pulls out into the right hand lane, as if overtaking an invisible vehicle.

Dorn shows no concern at this unexpected manoeuvre, he simply opens the armrest at his side and presses a single red button underneath, just as the driver swings the wheel hard to the left and yanks on the handbrake.

Suddenly a section of hedge on their left, thirty feet from the crossroads, drops straight down into the ground, timed so that when the skidding car comes level with it and the driver floors the accelerator, they shoot across the road, through the opening and down a ramp, the camouflage springing back into place behind them.

The shot remains fixed on the hedge for a moment, as the foliage sways to a standstill, then we hear the sound of a car approaching and the camera turns to look back up the road.

We see the battered hatchback accelerate as it comes round the bend, Patrick obviously panicking at the sight of empty road in front of him, and we follow the car as it passes us then skids to a halt at the junction up ahead. After a few seconds, the car speeds off in the direction it was heading and we watch as it vanishes around a long curve in the road.

The camera pans back round until it is once more focussed on the dappled shade of the woods opposite us and the gently rippling leaves of the hedge, then the scene slowly fades to black.

*****

Scene: A long subterranean corridor, concrete, starkly illuminated by florescent lights.

A door opens halfway down and Dorn steps through, closing it behind him and walking purposefully towards us. The camera follows him as he passes and we see him heading for the only other door; a heavy steel one in the end wall, with armed guards positioned on either side.

As Dorn reaches the end of the corridor, the shot cuts to a close-up of the door, but it is only when it opens and we see Dorn standing there, that we realise the director has pulled a fancy editing trick on us and we are already in the room on the other side.

The shot now pulls back and we see a black suited guard holding open the door as Dorn steps through, nodding curtly at the man as he steps into the room.

In contrast to the corridor outside, the room is warmly lit, comfortably furnished and has richly coloured wood paneling on the walls, there is even a log fire burning under an imposing stone mantlepiece, with leather club chairs on a richly patterned hearth rug.

Dorn walks past the camera and as he passes, our POV slowly moves round behind him. He heads for a desk at the end of the room, but now the angle of the shot makes it impossible for us to see who sits behind it. When he stops, however, we cut to a front view of Dorn from the other side of the desk.

We see him nod at whoever sits there, before lowering himself into a chair, where he folds his hands in his lap and purses his lips thoughtfully.

“It seems your little team of reprobates has become quite resourceful. They very nearly caught up with us, after the meeting with DCI Paddick this afternoon, I’m glad I had Howells driving me today, it was touch and go there for a minute.”

“Yes, I was surprised you let them get so close, did you not suspect the police report was a set-up? Never mind, at least we have them now, they won’t get far.”

The female voice from behind the desk seems oddly familiar, our memories search for a reference, but the director doesn’t give us the satisfaction, he cuts straight to Dorn’s POV and the Big Reveal.

The last thing we see is a shot of the woman sitting behind the desk and we see that it is…

…Cathy.

Fade to black.

************

To be continued (using next week’s prompt {which can now be found HERE})…

#SoCS

Pingback to Linda G Hill.

5

Stream of Consciousness Sunday: Mission accomplished.

I’m going to cheat slightly for this week’s SoCS post, putting The Accumulator on hold (again, I know) to use Linda G Hill’s prompt to check that my new home is visible to y’all one last time, now that I’m properly ensconced on Return of the Internet Nobody. (I’d like to know, for instance, if your e-mail notification for this post brought you straight here, or if you were redirected by the sticky post on my old blog)

The instruction Linda gave us was;

” “pant.” Use the word “pant” as is, or find a word with “pant” in it and base your post on it. “

Ooookaay, let’s see…

Mission accomplished.

I’ve been a willing participant in SoCS for quite a while and now I’m the new occupant of this lovely new blog, I am panting with excitement at the thought of showing you all round.

It might seem a minor thing, set against the vast pantheon of blogging greats, (and no, I’m not being flippant) and I don’t want to make a big pantomime out of it, (it’s not like it took a fleet of pantechnicons for me to make the move) nor do I want you to think my ego is running rampant, but I’m very pleased with how it’s turned out.

I’m a bit like a baker who, having baked a beautiful cake, goes to admire it occasionally in their pantry, just to remind themselves how good it actually is, maybe adding a few more sprinkles here and there; I’ve been tinkering and tweaking and adding bits and bobs, trying to cram in as much as I can to make it look interesting.

So I hope that (a) you are reading this in the first place, and (b) you like the new surroundings in which you are reading it.

Oh bugger, I forgot all about the prompt…well, there’s no need to be a pantywaist about it, I’m big enough to admit when I’m beaten.

************

#SoCS

Pingback to Linda G Hill.

6

Right, where was I?

So here we are on a brand new blog, which I’ve decided to call Return of the Internet Nobody, because it didn’t appear to be broken, so I didn’t fix it. Well, I did give myself a definite article, by way of a promotion.

The Internet Nobody sounds a bit more important than just being any old nobody and I have been at this blogging lark for over five years now, so I figured I deserved some recognition, even if it was only from myself.

I’m still in the process of tinkering with the overall layout of this blog, so you’ll notice new pages and widgets being added over the next few weeks, because it’s always fun to play with new toys. In fact, the whole point of this post is so I can see what it looks like when I add new content over the top of my bespoke, hand drawn, Twin Peaks-inspired homepage background.

The question of swapping domain names still remains, which I think I shall do when I switch over to this site completely and that blog will revert to its WordPress.com status.

Diary of an Internet Nobody will stay active, albeit at its old address, meaning all the lovely blog posts, photos, short stories, music and video contained therein will still be available for anyone who wants to browse the 900 posts which I published in the last five years or so. I will of course add a permanent link for that blog to this one, when the Big Switchover occurs in the not too distant future.

And I shall be carrying on pretty much as usual here, so you can expect the same regular features, the same rambling posts and improvised experiments in creative writing, photography, video, animation and whatever else I can persuade my phone to let me do.

Oh yes, you can also still expect me to be doing it all in my smartphone.

I have even remembered to optimise the media upload thingies, which is one of those technical terms you learn when you’re a veteran blogger like me. Hopefully I shouldn’t find myself running out of space quite so soon this time round.

Whether I am going to manage to lure all of my 856 followers over here remains to be seen (I’m guessing not) but I hope that, despite my abysmal record at keeping up with other blogs lately, some of you will join me on the next stage of my adventure in cyberspace.

I’m off work until Tuesday now, so I will have plenty of time to fine tune and fiddle with my new playground, meaning you can expect the changeover to come sooner rather than later. I will keep everyone updated over on Diary of an Internet Nobody, so stay tuned.

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