The Adventures of Dysfunctional Dan

Last week I had the pleasure of seeing Sandi Toksvig live. Her show was lovely, funny and uplifting in a way I've not seen anyone do before. Part of what she did was talk to members of the audience about their moment as a National Trevor, named when one of her friends misunderstood the phrase "National Treasure". The idea was that everyone has moments of fame to one extent or another in their life and she talked to people who had appeared in the press at one time or another. I thought it might be fun to share my National Trevor moment... I grew up as a member of various animal charity's kids clubs from the RSPCA to the RSPB and the Wildlife Trusts. When I was about eleven or twelve the local wildlife trust ran a writing competition. They asked for short stories which had a theme of sustainability and I immediately had what I knew was an excellent idea featuring some loggers in a rainforest. All I needed was a suitable animal to star in my story so I endured the...

Back when I was sixteen I created a bucket list. I'm sure you know that a bucket list is a list of things you want to do before you die or 'kick the bucket'. The list is not something I've given a lot of thought for some years but over the festive period I stumbled upon it again. At the start of a new decade I thought now would be a good time to start ticking some more things off. The list itself is quite eclectic. In re-launching it, I've edited it a little, removing some things that twelve years on I consider less a life goal and more things I'm really not that keen on doing. Why, for example, was sixteen year old Dan keen to go on the world's biggest roller-coasters? Grown-up Dan has been on plenty of roller-coasters in his lifetime and hasn't really enjoyed any of them. The full list can be viewed here if you want to take a look. Whilst the whole point of a bucket list is to complete it across a whole lifetime, I'm going to attempt to make 2...

Happy New Year one and all! For my first blog post of 2020 I thought I'd take a look back at 2019, specifically my 2019. I began the year with a challenge, to walk one thousand miles over the course of 2019. These had to be 'boots on' miles, i.e. miles I walked when specifically going out walking rather than counting up the distance I walk. I always knew it would be a challenge but one I had the potential to achieve. Unfortunately I only managed 946 miles over 2019. I say 'only' but it's still a hell of a lot and probably more than I'd have managed had I not attempted the challenge. It became clear towards the end of November that I was going to fall a little way short of the total and I did worry I'd see it as a failure and be hard on myself at the end of the year. I'm certainly disappointed but actually walking that far is still a good achievement. I also get so much joy from being outside, partly because I get clean air and vitamin D and al...

We're approaching the end of 2019 and so it is time for the annual tradition where I share some of the things I've enjoyed the most this year. I say "annual tradition" but this is only the second time I've done this. I suppose the act of writing this is making it an annual tradition. TV It occurs to be that I haven't loved much TV this year. I've never watched Game of Thrones  which is probably just as well because it seems most people were disappointed in it's final season. The second series of Killing Eve was enjoyable but no-where near the heights of it's first series and the first version of The War of the Worlds  that actually set the story in the 19th century was a bit of a mess.  Still, there have been some good things. One of them is the BBC's His Dark Materials  which has turned Philip Pullman's excellent novels into something really special. There's a wonderful cast with Dafne Keen as Lyra and the CGI in it is stun...

I sit behind the keyboard waiting for inspiration for a blog post. Suddenly a figure appears before me. A bright lights shines from it's head, almost blinding me. As my eyes adjust to the light, I realise the figure keeps shifting form. One moment it's a young girl, then suddenly an old man, then a head without a body, constantly shifting and never settling as one thing. "I am the Ghost of Christmas Past" the figure announces and if I didn't know better I'd say it had delivered the line with a sense of pride. "Long past?" I inquired. "No. Your past" "But I like Christmas, I don't need saving." I tell the spirit. "True. But you do need content so let us travel back to your past". The room fills with bright light and then fades again but I'm no longer in the same place. I'm now in a crowded dining room and a group of people are sat around the table eating Christmas dinner. I instantly recognise my p...

Next week the UK return to the polls for yet another general election. I remember turning eighteen and looking forward to being able to go and vote. The political trauma of the intervening years quickly turned voting as less of a privilege and more of a chore. Once again I shall be heading to the polling station to try to have my say on who should sort the mess out. We're not exactly spoiled for choice right now. Current Prime Minister Boris Johnson is an arsehole and I have honestly not heard anyone disagree with that. This is a man who is extremely untrustworthy who at worst lies and at best misleads. Take the run up to the Brexit referendum when he stated that leaving the EU would give an extra £350 million to the NHS on the side of a bus. It's just one example of many where Johnson deliberately manipulates the facts to grab power. Even his personal life gives cause for concern given he is famous for being a womanizer and won't even admit to how many children he has,...

I was recently asked whether I prefer Superman or Spider-Man. The question was randomly pulled from a set of questions designed to elicit some talk from children and as an adult in the classroom I too had to answer the question. Being a huge superhero fan I had no trouble formulating a rely and could have probably written a lecture on the question had I been required. The answer is clearly Spider-Man. The definition of "hero" is usually something along the lines of "a person who is admired for having done something very brave". The big issue with Superman is that he is basically a god and unless you happen to have some kryptonite around is pretty much indestructible. It therefore means Superman doesn't need to have any courage to save people. Spider-Man on the other hand is basically just strong and sticky and is outgunned in virtually every conflict he finds himself in. Spidey needs real courage to put on his mask and take on impossible odds and that's...