The Call of the Void
I’ll preface this post by saying that none of this constitutes any qualified opinion or advice regarding mental health. I’m mainly putting this out to raise awareness and give people an idea of the lived experience of a misunderstood mental illness. For resources from charities, health bodies and psychologists, please see the bottom of thisContinue reading “The Call of the Void”
The Carbon Footprint Paradox
Growing up in Scotland during the noughties, climate change and environmental awareness were a part of the curriculum at both primary and secondary school. I would say that it is safe to assume that including such topics in school has an overall positive affect on the way that children think about the world that surroundsContinue reading “The Carbon Footprint Paradox”
Snakes and Ladders | Part II
If you have found yourself here without reading Part I, you can find that here. Thatcher set out creating her game a year after she came to power in 1980, the year when her Tory government passed its landmark ‘Right to Buy’ legislation through parliament. The new law granted anyone living in a council houseContinue reading “Snakes and Ladders | Part II”
Snakes and Ladders | Part I
It was the turn of the 20th century, and Lizzie Magie found herself in a predicament. America would not grant women the vote for another two decades or so, and yet Magie was proudly outspoken: brimming with fierce intelligence and committed to bravely promoting ideas that would have been controversial for her time. She wasContinue reading “Snakes and Ladders | Part I”
Movie Mondays – Portrait of a Lady on Fire
The risk with making a romance film is that it doesn’t come across as authentic enough, or worse still it reaches so far into seriousness as to become a parody of itself. Filmmakers are often not ambitious enough when it comes to romantic relationships. Either they’re carefully positioned as a secondary consideration to the plot,Continue reading “Movie Mondays – Portrait of a Lady on Fire”
Movie Mondays- Drive
Often, I get a feeling when it comes to a movie or album that I loved as a teenager that I should avoid revisiting it for fear that it doesn’t live up to my memory of it. For me, Drive is one of those movies; a highly stylised action flick with a morally ambiguous protagonistContinue reading “Movie Mondays- Drive”
Book Club – Sapiens
Sapiens by Israeli academic Yuval Noah Harari is a book that can make a rare claim to being a blockbuster read in a time when reading books is in sharp decline. Since its publication in English in 2014 it can often be spotted in living room bookshelves and hostel sunbeds the world over, having beenContinue reading “Book Club – Sapiens”
Book Club- The Disconnect
It’s been too long since the last book club entry here on inertia, although I have been taking some time away from writing after experiencing severe burnout after finishing the second semester of my Masters. Now feeling recharged and armed with plenty of notes on a few books that I’ve managed to get through inContinue reading “Book Club- The Disconnect”
Movie Mondays – Sound of Metal
I am not joking here when I say this is one of the best movies to be released in the past ten years. Since watching it a couple of weeks ago I still find myself thinking about it nearly every day. The film follows an aspiring metal drummer in America who suddenly starts to lose hisContinue reading “Movie Mondays – Sound of Metal”
Movie Mondays – Under the Skin
I always find it a point of total fascination that watching a film or listening to an album can be experiences where your enjoyment of what you’re consuming is not a guaranteed constant. Returning to stuff you used to like can sometimes provoke warm nostalgia, or otherwise make you coldly question what you even likedContinue reading “Movie Mondays – Under the Skin”
Pollokshields: Community in Action
The standout Scottish story to come from the previous few days’ newscycle was the amazing display of community from the Southside of Glasgow. Images of an immigration van boxed in by peaceful members of the community have stuck in my head and restored some faith in the power of people. At a time when itContinue reading “Pollokshields: Community in Action”
Back of a Cocktail Napkin Election Report
It’s a rare thing that a party in power for 14 years can increase its majority, but such is the situation in Scotland that the euphemistically named “constitutional question” continues to dominate. Even parties that complain about nationalists constantly banging on about independence seem to do extremely well when they also constantly bang on aboutContinue reading “Back of a Cocktail Napkin Election Report”
The Culture War Election
In some ways, the upcoming Holyrood election is lacking in the drama of an American election night or a nail-biting referendum. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon enjoys approval ratings far higher than any of her opponents. The SNP are almost certain to win the election with even the worst polls for her party giving them aContinue reading “The Culture War Election”
Beware the Beat of the Culture War Drums
With every passing week brings another bloody battle in the so-called Culture War that seems to have gripped Britain. In the red corner we have the lefties, supposedly baying for anarchy and hellbent on destroying our traditional way of life. In the blue, the Tories: their puffed-up outrage about such a threat on full displayContinue reading “Beware the Beat of the Culture War Drums”
Movie Mondays – Lost in Translation
For me, Lost in Translation is as much a film as it is a mood. You’re never really whisked off your feet. You’re never really transported to a magical place. You don’t experience sweaty palms in a tense car chase. You’re kind of never really doing anything in this film. Instead, you flow with itContinue reading “Movie Mondays – Lost in Translation”
Movie Mondays – Patrick
Following on from Ewan’s post last week I thought I would also review another film from Aberdeen’s beloved Belmont Filmhouse’s shiny new streaming service, this time 2019’s Patrick directed by Tim Meilants. A black comedy set on a Belgian naturist camp, this film reveals all but also shrouds a great deal in mystery. Once youContinue reading “Movie Mondays – Patrick”
Aberdeen Finds Community Spirit Down by the Beach
It’s the first sunrise of a new week, and I’m in my swim trunks down by Fittie Beach. In days gone past the only reason I or anyone else my age would have for being up at this time would be because we haven’t slept yet from the night before, and yet looking around meContinue reading “Aberdeen Finds Community Spirit Down by the Beach”
Movie Mondays – Possessor
For this instalment of Movie Mondays, I’ll be looking at a film from 2020 that I watched for the first time the other night. After initial apprehension at the horror category assigned to the movie I decided that the plot sounded good and that it wouldn’t be the standard Hollyood jump-scare bonanza that is oftenContinue reading “Movie Mondays – Possessor”
Aberdeen’s Retail Crisis
With the latest of the shop closures in Aberdeen hitting John Lewis, 265 jobs will be lost. In the wider picture of years of decline in the city centre and the huge impact on businesses from COVID, it is starkly clear that something needs to be done immediately. Representatives from the likes of Aberdeen CityContinue reading “Aberdeen’s Retail Crisis”
A North Sea Love Lilt
There’s a curious Scottish myth about selkies, shapeshifting creatures who can transform from seals to humans with the shedding of their skin. It’s a story I can recall my mum reading to me when I was a child. I was, and still am, a bookworm; the type of person who will go happily to bedContinue reading “A North Sea Love Lilt”
inertia fm: march
March has brought some sunny weather and a lifting of lockdown measures is imminent so we’ve kept this month’s playlist breezy and easy-going. Dare we dream for the return of live music in summer? Save getting your hopes up just yet and tune into the radio channel of inertia.blog for some chicken selects of topContinue reading “inertia fm: march”
How pornography broke our online reality.
“I’m going to show you some magic.” It’s Tom Cruise on a TikTok video. He’s talking to the camera, holding up a vintage coin while flashing his pearly whites. “It’s the real thing,” he reassures the viewer, before making the coin disappear in the palm of his hand. “It’s all the real thing,” he says,Continue reading “How pornography broke our online reality.”
Movie Mondays – Burning (버닝)
Having written my university dissertation on South Korean cinema I think it’s safe to say I’m a fan of the nation’s work. When Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite won best picture at the Academy Awards in 2019, I was ecstatic at the thought that now is the time for Korean cinema to explode internationally and be recognisedContinue reading “Movie Mondays – Burning (버닝)”
Movie Mondays – Atlantics
When I think about the transportive potential of cinema, foreign-language films truly fit the bill as experiences that lift you to faraway lands. It’s always eye-opening to be strapped to someone else’s perspective, privy to the motions and dramas of their story, beholden to the director’s vision that is untainted by the tropes that we’veContinue reading “Movie Mondays – Atlantics”
Stuck in the House – Blair
Hello there and welcome back to our new feature, Stuck in the House, where we share personal insights and tales from our contributors about their time during lockdown and their reflections about the past year and concerns for the future. We want to create a safe space where young people can discuss life under lockdown andContinue reading “Stuck in the House – Blair”
Stuck in the House: Ewan
Hello there and welcome to a new feature, Stuck in the House, where we share personal insights and tales from our contributors about their time during lockdown and their reflections about the past year and concerns for the future. We want to create a safe space where young people can discuss life under lockdown and engageContinue reading “Stuck in the House: Ewan”
Movie Mondays – Eastern Promises
This week I’ll be taking at the 2007 neo-noir set in a seedy and dark London, Eastern Promises. It was a couple of years ago that I first watched this crime drama and it really stuck with me, having recently rewatched it I can confirm that it was even better than I remembered, and IContinue reading “Movie Mondays – Eastern Promises”
No More Stolen Sisters – Violence Against Indigenous Women is Being Brushed Under the Carpet
If you were to arrive in the north-east Oklahoma town of Grove today, you would be hard pressed to enter a convenience store, petrol station, church or community centre without seeing a flyer for the missing Aubrey Dameron. The 25-year-old disappeared from home over a year ago now, and as a member of the CherokeeContinue reading “No More Stolen Sisters – Violence Against Indigenous Women is Being Brushed Under the Carpet”
#MeToo – Is It Now High Time for a Second Wave?
On the 21st of January 2017, one day after the inauguration of President Donald Trump, one of the largest protests in American history took place. Over 1% of the entire American population marched in towns and cities across the United States. The movement was not contained to America, with marches spanning all 7 continents. TheContinue reading “#MeToo – Is It Now High Time for a Second Wave?”
Movie Mondays – The Wolf of Snow Hollow
As far as writing, directing, producing and starring in your own movie goes, examples of this being pulled off successfully are few and far between. Chances are your mind immediately wanders to Tommy Wiseau’s The Room, which despite its cult fanbase is widely regarded as the worst movie ever made. It is often said thatContinue reading “Movie Mondays – The Wolf of Snow Hollow”
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