LIVING IN THE PAST and other things

This may come across as a bit weird - so a friend of mine asked 'out of interest' why I always seemed to write about the past. My quick answer was that it was the only one I've got.
As the conversation went on it dawned on me that it is that past that makes me who I am.
First off I realised that our role models were so much different then. In most cases it was our grandparents and parents who were at the top. Then came men who acheived things and, of course, because the second world war had just finished most of the 'heroes' of the day were just that. And sporting heroes like Roger Bannister who broke the four minute mile and Stanley Matthews the footballer who played for the love of the game rather than the multi-million transfer fee today. Add to that John Hunt and Edmund Hillary who conquered Everest while, in today's world, Sir Ranulph Fiennes is just a name.
So standards were set and the role models were far different than they are today - but whichever way you look at it they all played a part in my make up.


Change of subject. Just visited Joe Lansdale's blog and was surprised to see an ad for 'Assassin's Creed II' which made me wonder. Haven't played number one - yet.
Just discovered that I can take my Xbox 360 online and had some fun playing 'Smackdown vs Raw 2009' with kids around the world. Win some and lose some but there you go. The interesting part of this interactive world is that you can talk to people. The first reaction is 'what the hell is a sixty odd year old doing in our world?' Exactly - and it is a fun way to introduce the young to the western genre. I'll do that by any means possible - even if it sounds daft.


Interesting to note that 'The Tainted Archive' is almost a year old. Cannot believe that Gary has kept us entertained for so long. Come to think of it Steve M's 'Western Fiction Review' has to be around it's first birthday too.