Embrace

Posted By Mark on Jun 15, 2013

This happens a lot. This happens more times than you might imagine. "Excuse me, miss?" is how it starts. Or mister, sometimes. But not this time. "Yes?" She's hooked. There's something about him that she finds intoxicating. I don't know if it's his eyes. They all have these intense eyes. Or it might be his lips. I've seen people stare at them before. I've even heard it might just be some sort of pheromone. I don't know about that. All I do know is that I'm immune to it which is why I'm here. And I know she's a goner. "Can you form a teapot?" How many times have I heard this now? I've lost count. It just sounds so innocent. Of course she can form a teapot. Everyone can form a teapot. We're all taught it at school but have you ever thought why? Who even uses a teapot any longer? And this knowledge, this pointless knowledge will be the death of her. "Sure," she says, hesitantly, and then with more conviction, "here's the handle." She places her hand on her hip. The two of them are close now and it's difficult to tell who's moved towards whom. "And here's the spout." She's lost to the world now. As she's admiring the crook in her arm and her twisted hand he's leant in, dislocated his jaw, extended his teeth, and clasped her to him. Frozen shock, stifled pain, a shudder, a stiffening, and then it's all over. So much horror. There's a taste of hot metal on your tongue. You never get used to the tangibility of the blood in the air. I really don't know why I agreed to spend a year documenting Chichester's street vampires. Google+: View post on...

Aerodynamics

Posted By Mark on Jun 11, 2013

A Filthy Habit

Posted By Mark on Jun 7, 2013

If I had my way it would be banned entirely. Sure, you can't do it in public buildings or workplaces now but that just sends them outside, and outside is the nice place. Why are we letting those people befoul the nice place? Ban it outright is what I say. And yet it's often photogenic too. It can make the difference between an okay shot and a slightly-better-than-okay shot. It adds interest; the revolting is often the most interesting after all. So I watched him, one of them, one of those people, and I waited. He looked guilty as he reached into his pocket and took out a packet. He unwrapped it and discarded the clear polythene into his bag; he'd dispose of it properly later. Shielding it all with his hands – shielding it from the wind or from the gaze of onlookers who might not approve? Who can say? – he took in a mouthful and some painful pleasure flashed all too briefly across his face. I grimaced but snapped a shot anyway. Vile, vile, vile. I just don't see the attraction in it. Sucking the brains from fieldmice through a straw is such a filthy, filthy habit. Google+: View post on...

Blow Me Down

Posted By Mark on May 29, 2013

The Cone Of Shame

Posted By Mark on May 25, 2013

"I feel like an idiot." "You're fine." "I look stupid." "You look fine. Trust me." "No. I really look stupid. Everyone will stare at me." "Nobody will pay you any attention. They've seen it all before. Hell, they've seen far worse." "You're just saying that. I look stupid." "You don't look stupid. Please, can we just go out?" "I don't know if I can cope with people staring at me all the time." "They won't notice you. I promise." "You're just saying that." "Look, I'll stick a transparent cone around my neck and nobody will even see your shoes." "You'd do that for me?" "Let's go." Google+: View post on...

Starbucks Coffee

Posted By Mark on May 15, 2013

Times are hard if you're a large chain of coffee shops still facing a bit of public backlash over tax avoidance. Do you just wait it all out, relying on the media to find something new to get their teeth into and the laziness and short memory of the average consumer? Or do you try something to entice the customers back from Costa? Do you, perhaps, provide free front row seats to the latest sport sweeping the nation: Giant Street Skittles? Do you hope that the lure of big names from boules crossing over into the high stakes street sport world will bring in the coffee-lovers in sufficient numbers to offset compensating families for the inevitable skittles-related fatalities? No, you wait it out, of course. For #WindowWednesday curated by +Cheryl Cooper +Jason Kowing +J.J. Bentley +Jules Falk Hunter  Google+: View post on...