Author: Nick Scott

This week I’ll be talking about ANOTHER one of my favorite shows. Seems like I have a bit of a streak going haha!! This time there’s more comedy than hurt, but as always with the things I enjoy, there’s some hurt. I mean, the name of the show is ghosts of course there’s going to be some sad bits! It’s dead people!!

There are two versions of Ghosts, and I’ll be talking about the BETTER version, which is the original British series created by comedy acting troop ThemThere. There is an American version, and after the first few seasons it comes into its own and is a good series, but at first it’s just not as good because it’s copying the main series practically line by line with a twist of explaining the joke. 

Ghosts follows Allison and Mike Cooper as Allison inherits a very old, very dilapidated, and very haunted mansion out in the country. The cast of the main ghosts present are, in order of death: Robin, a caveman struck my lightening; Humphrey, man beheaded accidentally; Mary, a woman burned at the stake because of accusations of witchcraft; Kitty, a Rococo woman who died to causes covered in season five of the series; Thomas, a poet who bled to death after being shot in the abdomen; The Captain, a WWII Captain that we know little to nothing of prior to his death up until season 5; Fanny or Lady Button, a Edwardian woman who was pushed from her window; Pat, a boy scout leader that was shot in the neck with an arrow; and Julian, a man who had a heart attack while cheating on his wife at a political event. 

It’s a bit hard to tell, but headless Humphrey and Robin (bottom right) are played by the same actor and are the closest in time of death!! The actors for Robin/Humphrey, Thomas, The Captain, Fanny, Pat, and Julian are part of the previously mentioned acting troop ThemThere. They had a start of acting as people from different periods as they were on an educational children’s series that aired from 2009-2014 called Horrible Histories (Unrelated, but one time when I was very very sick and a bit delirious, children’s shows like HH were the only things I could watch because I would start getting a migraine if I thought to hard. I was speaking in a British accent for like two hours). ThemThere created another historical based series named Bill, which follows the life of William Shakespeare, and a fantasy series named Yonderland.

I haven’t talked much about the episodes in detail or a series synopsis in this blog post because it’s a really good show I don’t want to spoil!! With Takin’ over the Asylum and The Walking Dead, they’ve been out long enough for spoilers on certain bits being practically unavoidable, but with Ghosts it’s pretty easy to assume that most readers of this know nothing about the original series.

My favorite episodes for each season have to be “Carpe Diem” in season 5, “Speak as ye Choose” in season 4, “The Woodworm Men” in season 3 (followed close by “Something to Share?”), “Redding Weddy” in season 2 (Followed close by “Perfect Day”), and “Getting Out” in season 1. To be honest, most of these episodes follow The Captain or he has a big impact on the episode. He may be my favorite a bit, but I just fall to love the trope of a cold closed off character coming into their own. The way he acts around the other ghosts and the people in season 1 when Allison and Mike first get to Button house, their mansion, compared to “Carpe Diem” in season 5 are so drastic and beautiful. Of course, other characters change such as Fanny’s brashness or Julian’s sexualization and sexist-ness towards others, but The Captain is the one who changes the most out of all.

Okay that’s definitely enough for this week. I will be talking more about my favorite episodes at a later date, but for now this is my signing off. Have a good day, ByeBye!!

Takin’ Over the Asylum is one of the best shows that I’ve come back to. While a friend of mine was visiting me in July, I remembered a show I hadn’t visited in around two years. Almost immediately, I grabbed my computer and forced them to watch it with me while I went on a nostalgia trip.

Trigger Warning: This blog covers topics relating to self-harm, mental health issues, and things that commonly take place in/ are associated with mental hospitals. Please read only if you’re comfortable!!

Takin’ Over the Asylum is a Scottish series that ran for 6 episodes on BBC Scotland in 1994. It follows a window glazing salesmen at his second job hosting a radio station. Because of his unpopularity at the station he is first shown working in, the salesman Eddie McKenna is sent to be a radio host for a mental hospital in Glasgow named St. Jude’s. The small station that he’s sent to is dingy, unclean, unorganized, and the equipment there for him is breaking down if not already unrepairable. As the short series progresses, he learns to appreciate his opportunity there at St. Jude’s.

Since the series is sent in a mental hospital, a majority of the characters are patients who reside at St. Jude’s. One of the most familiar faces is Campbell Bain who is portrayed by David Tennant. If you don’t recognize that name, David Tennant played the 10th Doctor in Doctor Who, Crowley in Good Omens, and Bartemius Crouch Jr. in Harry Potter: The Goblet of Fire. Campbell is a “Manic Depressive,” or Bipolar in today’s terms, that dreams of being a popular radio host once he gets out of St. Jude’s. Like with any good character, he is met with obstacles along the way including his father attempting to get him discharged from St. Jude’s before he’s ready to leave.

The rest of the main cast includes:

• Francine, a woman who doesn’t really talk about why she’s there or much of her past before St. Judes until closer to the very end of the series run time, but she has a tendency of self-harm clear in the first episode.
• Rosalie, described as compulsive, is a woman with OCD that has her frantically cleaning anything in reach. The way her OCD manifests is very stereotypical with her being a clean freak; however, her compulsions are not cleaning just to be a stereotype. The reason she cleans is not something that has been a habit for years, but a reaction to trauma she experienced that is discussed in the episode that focuses on her.
• Fergus, a very bright man with Schizophrenia, who constantly escaped St. Jude’s. He is allowed to ask to leave for the day, but he prefers to escape in varying levels of complexity. He doesn’t escape to run away; he always comes back.

For a series released in the early 90s, its representation of the characters has aged surprisingly well. Of course, they rely on stereotypes at times, but they never make light of the place these people are in. The viewer sees a character go through a manic episode, one get sedated, another go through a major depressive episode, and someone get denied from a job they’re overqualified for just because they’re a resident at St. Jude’s. There’s a character in the first episode that doctors assume is crazy and speaking in tongues when really, she’s just homeless and speaking a language no one at St. Jude’s recognizes. 

If you haven’t seen Takin’ Over the Asylum, I recommend it!! It’s a very quick watch, and I don’t think you’ll regret it if you enjoy topics focused on mental health. I tried to be as vague and specific as possible, so there aren’t really any spoilers in there. Please watch it! There are so many things I didn’t cover!!

Trigger Warning for Series: All topics included in blog along with topics such as sexual assault, animal abuse, suicide, and death. If you are not comfortable, please don’t watch and make yourself uncomfortable. Stay safe out there!!

Hope you enjoyed this week’s blog!! I’m really glad I remembered that this show existed because it was one of my favorites back in around 2022-2023 and more people should talk about it. FunFact: It was the first series where David Tennant played a main character!! Okay, that’s enough for now. ByeBye!!

There are many different mediums of art. Some sing, some write, some cook, some paint. There are so many differences between these artists, how could they all be called artists? They have more differences than commonalities! Where would you find a similarity between a dancer and a pastry chef? Inspiration, that’s where.

Everyone knows that feeling of staring at something blank. A writer may stare at the white page of a word document with nothing coming to mind. A painter may tap a pencil on the corner of their sketchbook trying to think of something anything to make a thumbnail of. A cook may be missing something from a dish they just cannot pinpoint or worse can’t think of anything to put on their menu for that night. A singer may not hear anything that makes them want to give their vocals a stretch. A dancer may struggle to string choreography together to share the story they may be attempting to tell with their body.  

As writers reading this, you especially are familiar with that blank page staring out at you. It says nothing to you because you are the one who must speak first. At times you may feel you could never write again. That you’re not a writer anymore because of some blank page or some writing that is not up to standards in your eyes. Everyone misses a shot once or twice when they shoot into the dark with no real target in mind. It’s not your fault that the line blinking at you seems to be mocking you for letting it just sit there stagnant. Your lack of inspiration is not your fault, but you must be the one to conquer it. 

You cannot let the page be your enemy just as a culinary student cannot let their plating of less-than-ideal results hold them down. The disappointment you feel is only yours. People do not hate you over the fact that you drew one line wrong on a page. The blinking line or the stroke of your pen do not hate you; they are waiting for you. They want to see the things you can do with them when you have the materials. They cheer when you decide to at least sit in front of your blank page to just think. Feel no shame for a white screen. It’s just waiting to speak the words you give it. If it takes time, then it takes time. There isn’t a cure all for procrastination and lack of inspiration. There’s just you, you mind, and you page lying in wait. 

I hope y’all enjoyed this week’s post!! I couldn’t really think of anything to write this week, so I decided to write about not writing. I’ve talked about my interests in my other posts, so this time I wanted everyone to understand what I was talking about. Struggling actually won in my favor this time haha!! Well, I’ll see y’all here next week. ByeBye!!

Hello everyone!! Second post and I’m already talking about Brokeback. If you know anything about me, you know it’s my favorite movie. I’ve been collecting memorabilia for about a year now and I’ve been a huge fan for two years. I’ve seen the movie seven times (once in theaters during the 20-year anniversary showing during June), I own four physical copies of Brokeback DVDs, one book, and a movie poster, the ones that advertise they have the movie in theaters, from 2005 that has never been folded or anything. The poster is my most prized possessions because of how important Brokeback is to me. After all this, please trust that I know what I’m talking about on the subject of Brokeback Mountain.

Every time I have invited someone to watch Brokeback with me, I have been met with at least one “well, isn’t that movie just a gay porn movie?” NO. To reduce a part of queer history to “porn” is one of the worst things you could say about it. The movie isn’t focused on what Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar are doing in bed on those fishing trips. What it’s about is two queer men trying to live their lives without getting murdered for who they are. It’s about the people in their lives that end up also getting hurt because of how closed off they have to be because of the time period they live in.

One of the most important parts of Brokeback Mountain to me is the fact that Jack and Ennis are not held on a pedestal for cheating on their wives. Ennis, portrayed by Heath Ledger, marries Alma, a woman he barely knows, at the age of 19. During their time together, Ennis cheats on Alma multiple times with Jack up on Brokeback. Alma finds out and the pair get divorced. Afterwards, Alma feels discomfort around Ennis and during Thanksgiving she tells Ennis she knew the whole time. Ennis lashes out violently really homing in on the fact that he was and will stay the bad person in that situation. Jack isn’t innocent either, he cheats on his wife Laureen with Ennis. They never divorce, but their love falls away into just staying for the tractor selling business they inherited from Laureen’s father.

Jack only wanted love from Ennis. He wanted the pair of them to live together and always be there for one another. Ennis says no because of fears that ended up being correct in the end. Ennis loved Jack a little too late, and Jack loved Ennis way too long. Ennis let his fears hold him back, and that saved his life, but what was the point? After Jack’s death he lives in a trailer alone with no one visiting him other than his eldest daughter. The ending isn’t happy, but it’s not bad either. It’s realistic for someone like him. If the ending was idealistic and let them live on Jack’s farm together, it wouldn’t have been as impactful.

The ending is abrupt and heartbreaking, and that’s such a core point of the story. It’s not meant to be happy, it’s not meant to be something heart-warming. It’s meant to be a hand waving in your face yelling “hey this is what happened, sorry not sorry!” It wouldn’t be as impactful if it just ended with a positive light. It would frame Jack and Ennis as good people and their wives as villains for “holding them back” when that was never the case. Their story is so delicate and the decisions the writers made were the right ones. 

For anyone who hasn’t seen Brokeback Mountain, I didn’t even really scratch the surface of the plot. If you’re interested, please watch it. If you have a DVD player at home, I’ll let you borrow one of my copies! I think that’s enough for now, Bye Bye!!

Hello world!!! To kick off the year I’d like to start off with a quick splurge about my current favorite show, The Walking Dead! I’m on my second watch and have been interacting with the fandom space and let me tell you I am not happy with the direction they’ve taken the show. This blog post will cover over my frustrations with the spin-offs. Spoilers Ahead!

I want to preface this by saying I am not a fan of the direction they chose with the post main show spin-offs. The only one I see as needed is The Ones Who Live which if you don’t know follows up on Rick and Michonne after Rick had left the show in season nine and Michonne left in season ten. It was nice to see them tie the Grimes family back together and address more of Rick’s grief after losing his son Carl. I’ll have a whole other blog post about what happened to Carl and how much a dislike it. 

Now we can get into the spin-offs I don’t like. Starting with the lesser evil, Daryl Dixon. The first season was pretty alright. It was just a southern dude on his own traveling through France with what was thought of to be the second coming of Jesus, but where my problems arise is the fact that Daryl loses his accent nearly fully. Daryl, who was born and raised in the south until what is presumed to be his late 20s early 30s, just loses his accent the moment he touches French soil. The whole reason Daryl went to France in the first place was to find Rick because he never stopped looking for him after the characters in the show thought they watched him die. Then in season two he just refuses to go home. Like he has a dog, is pretty much the guardian of Rick and Michonne’s kids, and an entire life back at home. He has people he’s spent about 12 years with back in America, and he abandons them for a French kid and a nun. It’s ridiculous! If you’ve seen the show, it’s like he’s a completely different character now! He left all the people that loved him and he children he raised. After being abandoned and left behind and neglected throughout his life you’d think he’d stay, but nope. I really hope things get resolved and fans finally get the thing most have wanted since 2018, a reunion between Rick and Daryl. 

Next is Dead City. I don’t know how to start this one off other than with it shouldn’t exist. At the end of season eleven of the main show Maggie is done letting her grief of Glenn, her late husband, run her life, so she sits Negan, the man who murdered her husband, down and tells him that she can work with him, but she’ll have days when she can’t and that he has to understand that. That she doesn’t forgive him, because who would after what he did, but she’s ready to move on. Negan agrees with her logic. Then in Dead City she hates him again. Like season 10 hasn’t seen his character growth hatred. In season two of Dead City Negan, even though he had a very heavy redemption that the writers really tried hard on, becomes who he was in season eight all over again. The most offensive part is that he’s given back Lucille, his bat wrapped in barbed wire, which broke at the end of season ten to show that the grief of his wife and the tyrannical reign he had was behind him and he was changing. I get that they did it for the plot of season two, but season two didn’t have to exist. Dead City didn’t have to exist. It’s set twenty years into the apocalypse, seven years after the main show ended. The Ones Who Live brought back Gabriel, Jadis, Judith, and RJ. Daryl Dixon brings Carol into the story in season two. Dead City keeps Negan, Maggie, and Maggie’s son Hershel. That’s literally it. At least Daryl Dixon has an excuse because it’s set in France. Dead City is in New York! Rick literally came from a huge group of people looking to take over other areas and cities. They could so easily bring back a little Negan and Rick rivalry since it seems like they want an empathetic version of season eight Negan. It does nothing for the story. Nothing. The show has no loose ends without the existence of Dead City. 

I think that’s enough for now. I’m pretty sure I went over my word limit this first time around haha! I didn’t mean to go off like that, and I’ll probably continue a bit more on the specific mischaracterization within the spin-offs, but that’s it for now. Bye Bye! See you next time!!!!