Category Archives: Greenygrey culture

Stranger Things Eddie Munson Fans

Stranger Things‘s Eddie Munson is apparently creating a big online interest in 1980s metal, with his favourite song Metallica’s Master of Puppets. Metallica were one of my favourite bands too, and I included them as one of my biggest poetry inspirations at the start of my first poetry collection.

Moreover, Eddie Munson fandom says he shares my 1965/66 birth time, dysfunctional childhood, height and hair colour! I can’t say I’ve watched any of it, and don’t get into series like that anymore. I’d probably watch it as a film, as I’ve watched many such movies such as Brightburn, The Endless and Freaks recently. Werewolf of Oz cites similar fiction I’d watched before starting writing, while XaW Files of course was inspired by X-Files.

1980s and early ’90s Metal music and lyrics provided the major soundtrack and framework for my early poetry and fantasy writing, while my late 1980s memoir cited Guns N’ Roses in the title, and had many recollections of heavy metal music and magazines I carried; while generally trying to travel light!

Hard to think it was 40 years ago, and to new fans must seem like the early 1940s did to me then.
The 1960s birth of rock seemed ancient to me, while the 1950s birth of rock n’ roll in black and white had next to no cultural relevance. 1940s music seemed just for movies and barely existed!!

My books on Amazon are free to read on Prime:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Marc-Latham/e/B004SP40J0

Eco-Tuesday Interview

Thanks to Willow Croft for arranging and conducting an eco interview with me. Great to reminisce about environment, travelling and writing with someone I feel is on the same wavelength on those topics; and dredge up some memories of writers and creations that influenced me, from somewhere in my memory!

Free Werewolf Wizard of Oz Fantasy Poetry Prose Ebook

Free to download in July for 10th anniversary: a book with an eco message showing the nice side of wolves to counter the historic demonising, with a Wizard of Oz fantasy theme mixed with the factual forced migration of British children around the Commonwealth for a century, which had recently been told in the book/film Oranges and Sunshine.

Book summary blurb on Smashwords:

Rebel without a cause, werewolf without claws, Grey travels across all regions of Oz (Australia) in a comedy-fantasy parody of the Wizard of Oz.
It is not witches that hunt the protagonist for a ruby slipper, but monotheists desperate to get their hands on an emerald cork hat. There’s no scarecrow, tin man and cowardly lion searching for brain, heart and courage; instead, we have Elle McPherson, Angry Anderson and Bon Scott inspired characters needing a body, mind and spirit confidence boost.
Will Grey and the intrepid travellers elude their pursuers and reach their destination? This book provides amazing action and surreal comedy in poetry and prose before reaching a cohesive and thrilling ending.

Smashwords explained: The ebooks on Smashwords can be read online using online readers, or they can be downloaded to other reading devices such as the iPhone, Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, or to other ereading devices.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/325567

Halloween Special Poet Scary Philosophy

The above is the only colourful background Facebook post since the last time. So for Halloween I thought I’d provide a little explanation to the use of metaphor in the partly autobiographical poem.

The first three sections refer to my age of 56, and being about two-thirds of the average age; and basement floor about my ‘position in society’, despite being a PhD graduate.

Crow cluttered claw was just chucked in for a Halloween feel, and I liked the alliteration. I was thinking of finishing with a simple line that smoothly ended the poem, but then thought I’d punk it up with the above; note how ‘shut window’ is open to interpretation: was the window shut after the spitting or was it already shut?

Halloween COP26

Today, for Halloween; or to counter the way the greenYgrey has been misinterpreted with the passing of time; and COP26 starting tomorrow, I wrote this:

The greenYgrey was created as a nice friendly Scooby Doo-inspired veggie werewolf; to show wolves’ good side, and not the negative propagated by fairy-tales etc; and that’s the way it’ll always be.

Sixteen years later, I’ve become much older and colder; probably what I should be, as a rational middle-aged PhD graduate.

In some ways it’s as a result of the way I’ve seen humanity going, but in others it’s that I reached the end of my philosophical quest, and found that whatever humanity does will be negative. While I grew up thinking it was the negative side to humanity that caused all the problems, I realised that the positive can be worse: destroying the planet with more humans, development, transport, presents etc.

The real horror of Halloween is all the products sold… but don’t let that stop you having a good time… as it probably won’t make much difference in the world picture, compared to some of the biggest populations not signing up to green initiatives etc.

Epilogue

Thinking about it afterwards, I thought that gave another explanation to the ‘Beyond Humanity’ sub-title: that it’s beyond humanity to stop destroying the planet, without completely changing our thinking (and what it means to be human?) and uniting a divided world!

X-fILES ALIEN UFO ‘I WANT TO BELIEVE’ POSTER CODE CRACKED?

Alien was one of my first shenels (words within words, like nut shell and kernel), with lie within it; but seeing the above poster last week (usually seen in Mulder’s office in X-Files) in a report about UFOs and aliens I suddenly realised lie is right in the middle of believe too. Alien is a perfect five-letter shenel, and believe is a seven letter one!

Someone’s lying about aliens, but I don’t know who to believe! I want to believe though!!

*As I was linking to shenel above two of the three suggested pages were alien and believe! I remembered alien, but didn’t remember believe!! Then over a year on, they were finally linked together by seeing that poster again!!!

Heilung headliner award winner

Last year was the twelfth prestigious (partly parodygious self-parody; putting myself on a par with a big event, but with real events, and really the gig of the year for me) gYg rock n’ roll hall of fame, with the Descended from Odin festival; part of the York Viking Festival; providing the venue. There’s a great review on Ostara Metal that I agree with pretty much totally!

The first cases of covid-19 in the UK had recently been found in York, but were thought to have been contained and quarantined successfully, so it was a bit of a weird atmosphere. The general message at the time was that it was similar to the flu, and young people creating a herd immunity was a good thing.

I’d had a nasty flu in January, so thought maybe I’d had covid-19 before it got publicised in the UK, but recently took an antibodies test for UK Biobank, and tested negative, so I don’t think I’ve had covid-19 now, although a negative antibodies test doesn’t guarantee you haven’t had it. I’ve been much healthier this winter while avoiding (Beyond!) humanity!

Here’s a few photos I took (I hadn’t seen the request not to take photos mentioned in the Ostara review!). The first ones (reddish) are Nytt Land; then (purplish) Saor, then (greyish) Heilung:

I also took a video of Nytt Land:

The gYg rock n’ roll hall of fame now looks like this:

  • 2009: Lynyrd Skynyrd
  • 2010: Guns N’ Roses and Skid Row
  • 2011: Motley Crue, Def Leppard and Steel Panther
  • 2012: W.A.S.P.
  • 2013: Alice in Chains, Ghost and Walking Papers
  • 2014: The Pretty Reckless, Heaven’s Basement and Nothing More
  • 2015: Motley Crue, Alice Cooper and The One Hundred
  • 2016: Black Sabbath, Rammstein, Saxon, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, The Wildhearts, Halestorm, The Temperance Movement, Kadavar, the Gutterdammerung band and movie, The Electric Wizard, Rival Sons, Sixx A.M., The Amorettes, The Men That Will Be Blamed For Nothing, Avatar, Monster Truck, Whiskey Myers, Grand Magus, Scorpion Child, Inglorious, Royal Republic, Santa Cruz, Deftones, Strange Bones, Graveyard, Tremonti and Gojira.
  • 2017: Guns N’ Roses, The Kills and Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown
  • 2018: Rose Tattoo and Girlschool
  •  2019: The Cult and Piston
  • 2020: Heilung, Nytt Land, Týr, Saor, Seidrblot, Gaahls WYRD, Winterfylleth, Wyrdstæf and Jo Quail.

The greenYgrey world always had a pagan theme, and ended in Scandinavia, land of Odin.

SUNNY DISPOSITION clouds

Sometimes I hear people described as always having had a ‘sunny disposition’; did that mean they were ignorant or uncaring? I could have a ‘sunny disposition’ all the time if I avoided any thoughts of reality. Unfortunately, I can see the negatives in even the closest and most personal elements of ‘my world’; seemingly unlike those who criticise us the most, ignoring their own failings and blaming them all on us! Now, I think I should have taken any white male privilege I had when I had the chance. But in reality, my mind keeps on being ‘greenYgrey’!

Clouds Obscuring Clear Sunny Happiness

Humanity = my species / out of control overcrowding planet
Whites = my race / mostly meat-eating environment destroyers
Britain = my country / cold, cloudy with continuous class system

Then there’s all the problems on the social/personal level, with daily tragedy dished up by the media, and people you know if you’re in large social circles.

Then there’s life, knowing we’ve got a limited amount of time, but not knowing for sure where our world came from or what’s beyond our universe.

Accepting humanity and the world are always going to be full of flaws and deteriorating in our lifetimes is a big step in freeing your mind from continuously running it uphill to try and get it over a non-existent peak… in fact you’re just helping it go faster downhill (creating more overpopulation, environmental destruction, species extinction etc).

For more misery, there’s books full on Amazon. Not that I’m completely miserable, just the usual mix!

cancel culture jeopardy Phd philosophy

If I ever had white privilege,
I ignored it to inspire greener global village,
but 15 years of gYg-esture they want to pillage!

No room for racism:
More room for rapism?

No room for big populations:
No room for mass immigration!

No room for animals:
as humanity claims all!

True: BLM were threatening violence if Trump won, so are equally to blame for Capitol violence, although BBC etc never cite that; although they are always excusing Islamist terrorism on racism or Western foreign policy. Most ‘right-wing’ extremists of the last 20 years have been reacting to Islamist/Black attacks; although they claim to be reacting to us; in an eternal clash of cultures. Ironically, US/European soldiers are protecting African black Christians v Islamists who rape and behead them!BLM say they’re inspired by the Vietcong, and that’s how they worked: small attacks provoking big reactions. Like other terrorist groups: such as the KLA in the Balkans, and al-Quaeda/I.S. in the world: 9/11 was one such big provocation, with the reaction inspiring I.S. etc.

The BBC did go big on this murder, unlike the black on white ones I recently posted. It does provide a good warning too: that nobody can be trusted; not even baby-faced married ‘family men’. It’s like with Weinstein, even without the ‘criminal crimes’ he did at work; he already had a wife who looked much too good for him, and children; but still felt the need to cheat and compete; and to resort to the dirtiest tricks to do it!

I was reminded of my time in academia (media department) watching this rom-com film, mostly set in an American media corporation. Available now on Film4 in UK.He was having fun, while looking for the ‘one’ too; unknowingly competing with a ‘married powerful man with a family’ most of the time!

Is life like a solar hourglass? Without top/bottom. Spinning around:
energy, money, food, drink, happiness and love star bound?

gYg hourglass of my writing: turn at ‘middle-age’ to go over where I was before, newest 1st… still falling in a familiar world

I think the thing I have most in common with the sun is how humanity gets us both wrong; seeing things from their ego all the time

This could be the BBC-style British liberals she’s talking to; who just seem to repeat the BLM propaganda; with many (most?) white too; just as relevant this side of the Atlantic:

Some people think we’re in a post-truth world, and I’m in a post-youth one. As I wrote several times, the greenYgrey (2005-2015) was my goodbye to youth, a metamorphic transition stage squeezing out the last drops, while looking back, and trying to provide advice to today’s youth. I’ve still been ‘playing along’ with the greenYgrey times for those who seem to be ‘fans’; all over the world!; but sometimes they are ‘negatives’ trying to make out it’s something else. My mindset now is that of a middle-aged ‘rational’: quite cynical but not without ‘humanity’; and still trying to do good as I see it: for all life on Earth; which I know is a cycle of contesting interests, and difficult enough to see any progress in GB and Europe… with all the forecasts for a downhill trend due to world overpopulation… that doesn’t mean I want to kill off humans… I would like more birth control, but that’d mean the main monotheistic religions pushing it, and stopping their ‘population arms race’, so they can boast they’ve got the most followers!

Yesterday I wrote I was in a post-youth world, and then I watched this, and thought Brand is too. When he wrote his ‘Revolution’ book which was in shop windows the same time as my ‘XaW Files’ was ignored, and getting lots of media and academic plaudits, he was a philosophical numpty!Compared to this real philosopher he still sounds like a stumbling student.But he does seem to have been studying it in the 5 years since ‘Revolution’, and now has a more balanced approach.I can now watch it without cringing. So for those who thought I was ‘jealous’, you were very wrong. I was just worried about you being led astray, and the effect on the country… and children.I think he was trying to do good all along, but like many ‘youths’ who learn a little politics and philosophy, he acted before he knew what he was talking about; true knowledge takes years.

Social ‘grapevines’ are usually fuelled by ‘manure’. As this band was known as CCR, the ‘grapevine’ revolves around SSR: Sensationalism, Sex, Romance.The greenYgrey was supposed to ‘mature’ without ‘manure’; with the child grooming epidemic most in mind; but the majority of the media and ‘gatekeepers’ seem determined to keep the social turmoil growing with wave after wave of immigration bringing new rules and speech to learn, instead of improving what they already know.One of the reasons against me moving to a country that doesn’t speak English is that i’d need to spend time learning that language; instead of stuff I’m more interested in, such as life, nature and space. Instead of learning how to live better as Britain, over the last 25 years British people have been learning how to live as ‘multiculturals’, with loads more ways to be punished and feel anxious, watching ‘what they say all the time’; and now even ‘think’ with ‘unconscious bias’; increasing any ‘inferiority complex’ present because of their social status,

Regular readers may have been surprised that I posted a video that favoured a black woman over a blonde white professor days after saying I’d rather be in a relationship with a poor Nordic than a rich Arab. That was the difference between social and political; as my social opinions are different to my political; whereas the average person seem to conflate the two; as with celebrity etcThen I seemed to twist around again, praising the expertise of a professor over an ordinary man (comedian).That shows that like in most things in life there are no consistent rules; no black and white (either way); more greenYgrey. Like in literature, there are no hard and fast consistent rules; separate one word meanings for everything; for most things there are general rules, but you still have to distinguish on a case by case basis!

Above are recent Facebook posts, with more context there.

KYLIE MINOGUE magic NEW SONG sin BLACK BULLYING

I didn’t know Kylie Minogue has a new song called ‘Magic’ out until this morning, after her name POPped up from her Stock, Aitken and Waterman connections yesterday; after I conjured up what I think could be the catchy chorus of the summer with ‘So la sol, for us forever’. Was she the mistYmuse magic inspiration?
Lots of great gYgPOPing in this video too!

Spice Girls Channel

That was after I’d last night pinpointed what I think was the influence for the last line of the poetic conundrum that had given me ‘writer’s block’ a day or two before. I wrote this on Facebook:

I think I was channelling this Spice Girls song with my new summer hit 2021 hopeful chorus ‘So la sol, for us forever’.

Do you think it’s too close? I don’t want to get Kylie (Minogue) into trouble with the Spice Girls; it may turn into the Little Mix v single blonde girl ‘Black Magic’ gangsta bullying video scenario; especially with Scary Spice in the ‘mix’!? :

Explaining the blog post title: sin is Spanish for without.