Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Arnold Crapper
Arnold Crapper, the South Yorkshire Fiddler reads like a cross between a celebration of local folk music and the wall of a public school toilet. Bibby has obvious affection for the oral traditions of the North and his writing carries a great sense of warmth for the subject, albeit peppered with juvenile humour, crass innuendo and bestiality.
This entertaining piece takes the form of a series of anecdotes, covering the life and times of the Thurnscoe Fiddler. From his birth in a (blessedly) brass band free colliery town, to his deathbed moments, shared with a music loving convicted paedophile, Bibby never misses an opportunity to extol the virtues of his creation’s musical genius or his commanding usage of the double entendre. On reflection I suspect that they may in fact be single entendres, and proud of it, but this hardly detracts from the work.
You could, at times, almost believe A. Crapper had played venues throughout the Dearne Valley, but Bibby crosses the line on several occasions and shows just how fraudulent this legendary fiddler is. A musician composing a song titled The Thurnscoe Slags may sound possible, but a musician, especially one form Yorkshire, complaining of an excess of free alcohol is simply preposterous.
The article reminds me of the Dear Bill letters published in Private Eye during the Thatcher years. Both works stood on the very edge of credibility, leaving the reader laughing hard enough to wish the work was true. Long live Ronnie.
Matt Stone
Arnold Crapper, the South Yorkshire Fiddler reads like a cross between a celebration of local folk music and the wall of a public school toilet. Bibby has obvious affection for the oral traditions of the North and his writing carries a great sense of warmth for the subject, albeit peppered with juvenile humour, crass innuendo and bestiality.
This entertaining piece takes the form of a series of anecdotes, covering the life and times of the Thurnscoe Fiddler. From his birth in a (blessedly) brass band free colliery town, to his deathbed moments, shared with a music loving convicted paedophile, Bibby never misses an opportunity to extol the virtues of his creation’s musical genius or his commanding usage of the double entendre. On reflection I suspect that they may in fact be single entendres, and proud of it, but this hardly detracts from the work.
You could, at times, almost believe A. Crapper had played venues throughout the Dearne Valley, but Bibby crosses the line on several occasions and shows just how fraudulent this legendary fiddler is. A musician composing a song titled The Thurnscoe Slags may sound possible, but a musician, especially one form Yorkshire, complaining of an excess of free alcohol is simply preposterous.
The article reminds me of the Dear Bill letters published in Private Eye during the Thatcher years. Both works stood on the very edge of credibility, leaving the reader laughing hard enough to wish the work was true. Long live Ronnie.
Matt Stone
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Game reviewing
So far in this module we have covered a range of topics including writing, editing, deadlines and why it’s a bad idea to turn up late to class. Via informal lectures, practical work and insults, game reviewing has made steps to create an environment that emulates an actual workplace, as well as a university class.
We have focused on methods of improving the quality of your writing. Different techniques for beginning a piece of work. Using the length of sentences to control the pace of written work. We have also looked into the use of some types of punctuation, which has led to a rash of unspeakable cruelty to the common hyphen.
The work model that has been pressed on to us is a basic formula. To begin write your first draft, just to get ideas down on paper. Then come back to it and re-write it later. Repeat this process until you have something that you would be happy to hand in. We have written a series of reviews for games as a practical exercise of these processes.
The course so far has repeatedly enforced the importance of following instructions, with stupid mistakes costing a lot of marks. Again, my impression is that this is a way of introducing us to the realities of handing in work in the real world, where missing deadlines or failing to follow instructions means you don’t get paid. Or maybe our tutor just doesn’t like us. Who knows?
Matt Stone
So far in this module we have covered a range of topics including writing, editing, deadlines and why it’s a bad idea to turn up late to class. Via informal lectures, practical work and insults, game reviewing has made steps to create an environment that emulates an actual workplace, as well as a university class.
We have focused on methods of improving the quality of your writing. Different techniques for beginning a piece of work. Using the length of sentences to control the pace of written work. We have also looked into the use of some types of punctuation, which has led to a rash of unspeakable cruelty to the common hyphen.
The work model that has been pressed on to us is a basic formula. To begin write your first draft, just to get ideas down on paper. Then come back to it and re-write it later. Repeat this process until you have something that you would be happy to hand in. We have written a series of reviews for games as a practical exercise of these processes.
The course so far has repeatedly enforced the importance of following instructions, with stupid mistakes costing a lot of marks. Again, my impression is that this is a way of introducing us to the realities of handing in work in the real world, where missing deadlines or failing to follow instructions means you don’t get paid. Or maybe our tutor just doesn’t like us. Who knows?
Matt Stone
