On some days I just do a short post that primarily revolves around a favourite photo without much accompanying text. This picture was taken flying over Siberia in 2008. Obviously with the current war by Russia against Ukraine, there is no chance to see a view like this as all planes between the UK (where…
What Caused the JL123 Crash?
When I first started conducting research about the JL123 crash (also known as JAL123), I had no intentions of looking at the cause of the crash at all. As far as I was concerned, it was a known fact: following an accident in 1978, the rear pressure bulkhead was damaged, incorrectly repaired, and this led…
The 2022 (Spring) Cardiff Half-Marathon
After the postponements from 2020 and 2021, I ran the Cardiff Half-Marathon on Sunday 27 March. This is the first of two Cardiff Half-Marathons this year as there will be another in October. I won’t be running that one. In fact, I don’t plan to run again, especially any Half-Marathons. I’m done. In August 2021,…
“Protect and Survive” and Nuclear Imagery
As noted in my post Splitting Atomic Symbolism: Differing Words, Images, and Sounds of a Nuclear World, I am due to give a paper related to symbolism of nuclear weapons (primarily) at a conference in May 2022. This paper fits with my on-going research on symbolism and Visual Packaging Culture, and also builds on the…
Nuclear Imagery and Looking for Movies and TV Programmes
As part of my research on Visual Packaging Culture and also for a conference paper I am due to give in May 2022 (see Splitting Atomic Symbolism: Differing Words, Images, and Sounds of a Nuclear World, and building on my previous work on disaster movies (see, for example, Disaster Narratives by Design: Is Japan Different?)…
“The Divide” – A Disaster Movie at Its Worst
As noted in my work on disaster narratives – for example see “Disaster Narratives by Design: Is Japan Different?” – there is no ‘Disaster’ genre per se. This means that when I have been doing my studies, as well as new movies that would fit with in my studies coming out still, I sometimes come…
Plane Crash Recreated: JAL123/Japan
Further to my post about the TV series “Plane Crash Recreated” being shown on PBS America in the UK, this post covers one of the episodes – JAL123/Japan. There are two reasons for doing a separate post on this episode (my comments on the other episodes are in the original post). First, I have been…
Book Review: “The Man With The Red Tattoo” by Raymond Benson
Further to reading “You Only Live Twice” by Ian Fleming and inspired by some of what was written by Graham Thomas, a chat we had together and what is on his excellent blog site, I decided to read a James Bond book not written by Fleming. As noted in my review of “You Only Live…
Some Final Reflections on Ukraine (For Now)
With everything that is going on with the dreadful, reprehensible war on Ukraine at the moment, I have spent much time over the past couple of weeks reflecting upon a visit that I made to Ukraine in 1998. I thought that I would now put this into a series of blog posts. Click here for…
Plane Crash Recreated
There are many different documentary one-off programmes and series that deal with plane crashes. Some of the series have gone on for many seasons. It’s clearly a popular form of disaster narrative. Beyond any entertainment aspect, there’s also, naturally, the potential for them to be educational, to help inform the public, and, by extension, to…
Reflections on Ukraine – My Visit in 1998 (6)
With everything that is going on with the dreadful, reprehensible war on Ukraine at the moment, I have spent much time over the past couple of weeks reflecting upon a visit that I made to Ukraine in 1998. I thought that I would now put this into a series of blog posts. Click here for…
Preferring Live Action over Anime – Hadashi-no-Gen
Over the past week, for work on my the conference paper I will give in May (see Splitting Atomic Symbolism: Differing Words, Images, and Sounds of a Nuclear World), I have re-watched Hadashi-no-Gen (はだしのゲン) (Barefoot Gen) (dir. Masaki, 1983), watched Hadashi-no-Gen 2 (Barefoot Gen 2) (dir. Hirata, 1986) and watched Hadashi-no-Gen (Barefoot Gen) (dir. Nishiura…
Christopher P. Hood 