OK, before I start, let's get the groundwork laid out.  I was lucky to 'come up' right at the start of the 'breakout' of gaming, beginning as I did in 1981 - It's 45 years ago, but feels still, like just a few months have passed. I am not your typical 'old fart' in cardigan, crimpolene trousers and comb over. At almost 58, I have long hair becuse I can and because that's who I am, I favour bright coloured t shirts, collect leather jackets (if leather offends you - deal with it) and outrageously bright footwwear, accessorising with 'women's' scarves and floral scents because - yes, I can, and because it is counter to the cultural norms for a hetrosexual man of my years. I rub people the wrong way aesthetically... This is nothing new. This is right and proper... I was the eldest child in a very traditional and staid family, which as a child with imaginative overkill syndrome, could make life difficult.   At age 12, in a school of a thousan...

 I've been so busy with things that frankly, I've not had much time on my hands for the contemplation of the hobby. One thing I have realised however, is that I don't really need to go to shows anymore. For the first time in years, yesterday, I didn't bother going to Hammerhead. Instead we popped into the Crucible Theatre for a light and excellent lunch, followed by a peek in the Millennium Galleries and an excellent exhibition on the subject of Storms in the Ruskin Gallery. This came after two consequetive nights at the Crucible Playhouse listening to a concert fro two pianos on Thursday and then, on Friday a blistering jazz performance from the Denys Baptiste Quartet, whose young pianist, Sultan Stevenson is outstanding. Even if Jazz is not your thing, have a listen to his own albums - they're excellent. Well, we are into March and the year is blisteringly busy. I do want to crack on with a few more trips down memory lane, but I need to find a bit more time for th...