I hate dreams.

Yeah, I said it.

Not the “when I grow up…” or “one day I’ll…” or “I’m starting a business making spoons” sort of dreams. The night-time dreams, REM marlarky.

Let’s also not confuse dreams with imagination. Cos I love imagining. Pretending. Playing. Thinking crazy things up. I’d be in the wrong job if I didn’t. Dreams are a different confusing mind-beast.
Maybe it’s because I’ve never been one who has seen something in a dream and gone – “Yes, that’s it”. No flying flaming pies of wisdom for me.

I know what you’re dying to say:
“But like Aaron in like dreams you can like fly and stuff”

And I would retort:
“But then I’d wake up and find out I couldn’t fly and be pissed off. And stop saying “like”, you sound idiotic”.

I’d rather imagine myself flying while awake, then be taken in by such an elaborate deceit.

Y’see, I wake from dreams pissed off at people cos their dream counterpart cheated on me. I wake up feeling sad when a nice adventure isn’t true. Or I wake up more knackered cos of some mental dream spent running from monsters/zombies/aliens. Or having dream-spent a whole day stressed at a job that I haven’t done in years with people I hate, only to realise I’m gonna be late cos I’d left my purple tie at home and there are no buses coming. Or episodic dreams, where you know this has happened before, but you still need to go through the motions of leading that army to the beach to fight lobsters, with the vague hope you might move the story on. Can’t I just have some peace for one night?

And don’t get me started on the whole “they were my friend but not”, “It was my house but upside-down” or the “I just got ready for work didn’t I?” genre of dreams.

I suppose it’s because in a dream everything feels real, even lucid dreaming still leaves a bad taste in my brain. For me it’s not a question of controlling dreams, more that I’d have to. It all takes energy and effort which basically goes toward nothing. Other than messing with me. It doesn’t feel like rest. Which is what sleeping is for right?

Note to Subconcious: To be fair I could do without it.
…………..
UPDATE: I wrote this at 1.30am just before going to bed. I woke up annoyed at my wife for a dream-something she didn’t actually do, and I scowled at her for 5 minutes. Fact.

UPDATE 2: My lawyers are suggesting that I state that in no way do the previous opinions as thus stated in this blography internet letter represent the opinions of other members of Albion and their subsequent love or necessity for dreams. Or any organisation that sells dreams, dream-like holidays or deliciously dreamy products for eating whose business we may want

After Jonathon Ross saw our Unum TV spot he called up Mat Ricardo – the star of the ad – and featured him on the show. Chaos ensued.

2011

What can I say? They are fun, but tricky to do. You only have so many words that will fit in the space. But I tell you, that stick has had a crazy life… phew, mental really.

2010

If you get one you’re bloody lucky, even those of us who work at Albion struggle to collect them, for they’ll inevitably be worth a fortune on The Antiques Roadshow 2067.

2009

However at the same time The Sagan Series posted a new video to commemorate the history of the shuttle and space travel. If you haven’t watched or read up about The Sagan Series and its maker Reid Gower, do so now. Beautiful, poignant and simple. Facebook. YouTube. There are a number of episodes. Below is the End of an Era Space Shuttle Film.

I am a gaming fan. I enjoy how you can be more connected to a game than to a film. I like the fact I can create and play cinematic moments rather than have them play out for me. I like talking in the first person about how I killed a vampire and be shocked as I play out my own death scene. I’ve played games as long as I’ve ridden my bike. It’s just something my brother and I did when we couldn’t go outside. From Spectrum ZX, through Super NES to PS3.

However, one genre of game I’ve never been in tune with is the RPG. The role playing game. I’ve just never ‘got’ it. It just took too much time and gave too many options. Why would I be a barman selling flagons of ale and talking, talking, talking, slowly discovering the secrets of the realm, when I can be jumping on Koopas or in the SAS, head-shotting insurgents from behind generic looking crates or barrels?

This includes the whole MMORPGWTF worlds as well. If I can’t drop in and out, or it was not shooty, drivey, jumpy fun I was just not interested. It seemed to be reserved for those who dabble in the Pasty-faced-T-shirts-of-wolves-howling-at-the-moon-wearing-dungeons-and-dragons side of gaming. People who really dedicate time to not seeing real grass or trees. That’s not entirely fair. Let’s not forget that many a boy (my brother included) played Championship Manager to the early hours of the morning – Yes that is an RPG Sean, you were watching numbers change on a screen for chrisakes! Not me, none of it. All those stats. Talking. You hit me. Wait. I hit you. Wait. You hit me. Wai…Boring.

But I’m changing. One thing I have seen in gaming is that RPG elements are making their way into even the most mainstream of games. Not only did we not notice this infiltration into our super cool driving games. We like it. Because it gives our pew, pew games more depth.

Call of Duty. Bioshock. FIFA 11. Red Dead Redemption. Gran Turismo. Assassins Creed. Big popular games, full of RPG parts. Yep. You know it’s true. Levelling up. Crazy customisation. Character creation. Weapon classes. Open worlds to explore. Ambient missions. Multiple endings. Moral choices. Being left on the bench as a season plays out while you watch – damn you FIFA. All things that have made these games last longer and feel more fulfilling, and that I used to avoid like the T-Virus. I now demand them. I feel cheated if I can’t lose myself in these things.

It got me thinking. Am I playing RPG games with great shooting/driving/jumping elements? Or are these jumpy/drivey/shooty games with great added RPG bits? Or is it simply that developers have realised that a world growing up on the internet can handle this added level of choice alongside the shiny graphics? As I type I’m surrounded by buttons and choices every second. In Facebook I create my own character with text, use digital currencies, friend stats and share found treasures everyday. For me, these gaming classifications are becoming more and more redundant as I start to see more immersive entertainment using the best bits from all types of sources. It’s becoming a question of game universe (franchise), rather than game genre.

Charlie Brooker is right, modern games are difficult to describe as anything other than ‘experiences’. And this blurring of the genre lines just emphasises that. One thing I’ve been told is that RPGs are stories you unravel in a way unique to you. But more and more games are letting me do that, without a broad sword in sight.

Most great games are tales that put Hollywood to shame – wrapped up with action, intelligence, subtlety and an even greater ability to make the story your own. I recently played Mass Effect 2… ummm alot. It’s an ‘Action RPG’ and I played it out of morbid curiosity. And got hooked on the amount of subtle things I could do with the game, outside of the ‘action’ bits. I took ownership of my character and defined, in my own mind, what they would and wouldn’t do. It’s big, epic and you still do a fair bit of talking. But it’s also blockbustery, shooty fun.

But back to my main question (I recently posed it to Official PlayStation Magazine. And got a great answer – although I’m not sure my wife would agree) – Am I now an RPG fan? It’s fair to say I am turning into one, but not by choice. I still don’t ‘get’ many ‘pure’ role playing games. Or why I’d sink half my life into them. But I do have a levelled-up appreciation for the RPG. As I said, I’m playing them more and more, without even knowing it. As long as they come packaged with a lot of vroom, screeee, bang, bang, kaplooee, ROONEY!

And you know what. I loved it. Even the queuing. Which took up about 50% of the two days I spent there. We queued to get in. We queued to meet comic book legends. We queued to see film exclusives. We queued to get out.

The ambassador and ‘fixer’ for Kapow was Mark Millar, the creator of Kick Ass. A little Scottish guy with a big, honest and playful personality, Millar seems to have cornered the market in “Why hasn’t that been done already?’ ideas. And seems so prolific he must make it hard for others to keep up. At Kapow he even announced a new book called Super Crooks – about criminals who are so sick of being beaten by American super heroes, they move to Spain to start a new crime spree.

Jonathon Ross (a huge comic book fan) was also a key ambassador for Kapow. Kicking off the day with a fun and funny Fans Vs Pros game show. As you can imagine sexual innuendo and obscure characters were in abundance.

Two of the more inspirational panels: Creator Owned comics (Books with original characters put out by creators under their own steam. E.g. Super Crooks) and How to Break into Marvel featured Frank Quitely, Dave Gibbons, John Romita Jr, Andy Diggle, Jock, Leinil Yu, Ian Churchill, Kieron Gillan, Adi Granov as well as Millar. If you don’t know who those people are Google them.

Those panels were interesting for me as they drew parallels with how we work at Albion and how we judge people seeking jobs. The digital world makes it so much easier to get known. Don’t wait to see someone. Don’t just email and expect an interview. Start publishing your own comics online. Start your own site. Start your own company. Get friends to draw them. Get weird digital or real life projects going. Make online connections. Build your own network of talent. If enough noise gets made around you then the right people start taking notice. All advice, that for me, rings true.

Adi Granov summed it up in one word: Quality. That’s the linchpin. You can know as many people in the industry as you like. You can blag your way in. But if the quality isn’t there you won’t last two minutes. The others agreed. Stating that they continue, even now, to push the quality of their work. Making it better for themselves, not the money or fame.

In fact, while these people have become so well respected and famous within the comic book (and entertainment) world they’re also incredibly normal, humble and respectful of the people who showed up to see them. Which was great to see.

There’s also a big British contingent in modern American comics and this was on show. And even with the American polish, Kapow had a very British sensibility. Albeit slightly hung-over one, well can you get more British? I felt this was an event put on by friends. Guys who literally go down the pub together, who’re fans themselves that love and talk about each other’s work.

Back to queuing. I waited for an hour and a half to get John Romita Jr to sign my copy of Kick Ass. He’s like The Fonz. When I finally met him, he told me I had to go out shopping with my wife, sit quietly, help carry bags and then take her out for a nice meal, to make up for her having to queue with me to get his signature. Emma liked that. Even when we saw him later on he remembered us and talked to us even more. So… that’s why the wait was long. He actually spent time talking to everyone. And then I suddenly felt the time queuing wasn’t wasted. Which, if you know the moody-glass-half-empty me, is hard to believe.

I managed to get Dave Gibbons to sign my copy of Watchmen. Watched Joe Cornish talk about Attack The Block. I got issue #1 of one of my favourite books Ultimate Wolverine Vs Hulk signed by artist Leinil Yu (written by Damon Lindelof who made Lost and you all watched that). I also saw a great little interview with Frank Quitely which had him talking about how he draws on the bus on the way to his studio. Again, I could relate. Although I’m usually coming up with lines for Cuervo POS.

There were tons of other panels and screenings. I never got into Thor or Green Lantern – the two big films this year. Instead I spent time going round the many stalls of comics, artists and toys. Now, other than a Transformers’ G1 Megatron teasing me, I was drawn to the 2000AD stand. A British magazine going since the 70′s that I’d so far ignored, to the real comic fan’s horror. But I was determined today of all days to be opened up to it.

Never have I met people enjoying the content they put out so much. These weren’t sales people, but fans who were just keen to talk about and recommend stories I would really like. Could I be tempted? After a few page turns it seems I could. Kapow Ka-ching.

So why am I talking about a comic con here? Well, in my mind comics are such an influential, creative medium. Whether digital or printed. And it was great to go to a celebration of that. They are fuelling and have fuelled for many years the ‘more credible’ film industry. Road to Perdition? Comic book, oh yeah. It’s an industry made and upheld by struggling creative people who just want to make high quality, rich and emotive work. And yet it’s still considered niche or silly by many. And ignored by others. At Kapow, I overheard one 10 year old seemingly well-adjusted boy saying “I feel normal for once”. Forgetting the fact he was running about pointing a Green Lantern ring at people, why did it take a Comic Con full of like-minded people to make him feel this?

Comics, whether you’ve notice them or not are a huge part of pop culture. Superman is one of the World’s most well-known brands. The Dark Knight was a huge success story. The Kick Ass film was independently funded and found a big audience. Kapow itself was full of people from all walks of life (and their patient partners), some who were new to comics and curious, not just the typical ‘comicbook guy’.

Yet a lot of people still scoff at the ‘funny pages’ and refuse to read books with pictures. As for me, the ideas that pour out of comics amaze me on a regular basis. What would happen if all the men in the world suddenly died (Y the Last Man)? Or what would happen if Superman landed in Stalin’s Russia (Red Son)? Or what would happen if a preacher, who’d lost his faith, was possessed with the offspring of a demon and an angel and was pissed off at God (Preacher)? And I’ve only been reading for a few years.

Hmmm… I had no real point to make when I started writing this. I had some time to kill and wanted to share. Is this a review of Kapow? Is it a discussion on how most creative industries seem really similar in practice and process, no matter what their creative output? Is it my not-so-subtle way of twisting the arms of the people who read this blog to like comics? Or is it just a proclamation of how geeky I really am? I don’t know. As you’ve seen I have no answers or conclusions as is customary.

But one clear message I will finish on is this: Read Ultimate Wolverine Vs Hulk. It’s frackin’ awesome.