A to Z: Demons.

This one, as you may have guessed by the subject matter, is a little more serious. But also completely not.

I could talk about demons as in hell demons, or inner demons or... er... other demons of some kind?
Or both. Both is good.

Demons are the subject of many a book or film, TV show or story. They can be absolutely anything, from human-like beings with dark magical powers (Charmed) or some crazy monsters that are nothing like humans (um, you know, everything else, including basic folklore).

Oddly enough, I've actually done a little research for this one, and Wikipedia has some very good (yet not entirely dependable) pages on demons, demon classification and demonology, for those of you who think that demons is actually quite an interesting topic.

Inner demons go pretty well with the notion of creatures from hell. This is because certain demons correspond with the seven deadly sins (you know: pride, envy, gluttony, sloth, lust, wrath, greed) You can find information on that right here in this link. So, when you feel jealous of someone with a really nice car, its really easy to tell yourself that it's the demons talking, not you.

If you type 'demon furby' into google, this is what you find.

So that's enough of the slightly more serious stuff. As interesting as it is, I'm getting slightly bored.

Demons should be fun. I think the challenge for today is to think of the most hideous demon you can think of, and think of what kind of demon it is.
Personally I'm going for a monstrous baby pink concoction which is as small as a kitten yet has massive sharp jaws. It also spews fluorescent orange poison-slime out of a blowhole that you assume to be on it's head. It isn't. I guess it kind of looks like a cross between a Furby and a Jigglypuff. Only less annoying than a Furby and not as cute as a Jigglypuff. If it and a Furby were in a demon fight, the Furby would probably win.
It is the demon of cuteness.

In fact, I always hated Furbys. They're probably the most demonic of things.

Now it's your turn. Please cave in to my demonic desires.

Apocalypse, Now?

At the end of this year, according to Mayans, the world is going to end.
You know, poisonous gases, massive explosions, the world flooding and us having to cram ourselves into and Ark again, maybe some giant hailstones and a meteorite, a random government deciding to assassinate the whole of Europe, or an alien invasion. The whole shebang.

But whatever conspiracy theory or apocalyptic episode is going to happen, it's supposed to happen loudly and rudely. In our faces.

There's nothing quite like spreading a panic throughout the entire world.
Recently there have been more and more of these ideas. Ranging from post-apocalyptic dystopian novels to films involving a world-wide epidemic (Contagion), a giant flood and general weather disasters (2012) and zombie apocalypses (the up and coming Warm Bodies, based upon a book, and World War Z). Oh, and aliens (Skyline). 

The four horsemen, courtesy of Wikipedia.
But the ones in Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's
'Good Omens' are far superior. Sorry.

But then, there are always these kinds of fears. Take swine flu, bird flu, climate change, terrorist attacks and so on..
It's all out there, and since when are we affected by it? Some people are, I know. It's happened in the country I live in, yes. But generally, these things don't happen to laypeople.

It's a lot like Crime. People don't tend to get murdered very often, but people still worry about it when they're out at night, walk past a dark alley and so on. I do it too.
But I take a large umbrella to defend myself in case it does ever happen. (It's very useful, not only for the occasional blast of rain).

We don't need to worry so much.

So to get to my eventual point. Please, don't worry. Enjoy your life because you don't know when the time will come that you can't. Although It'll most likely be quite a way into the future. 

And if the world does end later this year, at least we'll all be able to see 'The Hobbit' before it does.

The Dangers of Walking.

I'm sure many of you have walked at some point. Or ran. Or jogged. Or crawled.
All of which come with their very own unique sets of dangers.

I have done my fair share of walking, which is despicable after the first 15 minutes. Especially in hot weather.
So I'm going to tell you my top walking dangers.
And then give you tips on how to avoid these dangers.

1. Dehydration and getting out of breath. Dangerous rating: 9/10. Why? Because you may die/ feel like dying. Avoiding this is simple, drinking (preferably water, but alcohol makes it less painful) and stopping for a rest.

2. Low hanging branches. These are a very real danger, even for short people. Trust me, I'm short and a branch HAS whacked me in the head. Easily avoided by actually looking where you're going and ducking.

3. Slipping. Wet and snowy/icy weather is a pain in the ass because of this. Who hasn't fallen over in the snow? Avoided by taking careful steps and not leaving banana skins lying around.

4. Falling over/ making a fool of oneself. This can lead to very serious injuries. I mean it. Broken arms galore. So basically, try not to trip over yourself. This has also happened to me.

Man Falling- Wikipedia

5. Hidden rocks and/or invisible dangers. These are complete asses. Absolutely no way to avoid these, except for noting the glint on the glass door before you walk into it.


6. Other overhead catastrophes (ie. Birds and other falling objects). Can't really be avoided unless you look up or hear it coming.

7. Mid-section dangers (ie. Elbows (although for the small this is a head danger and for the tall this is a crotch or rib danger) and also bushes). Mid section dangers basically only make you look like an idiot. Anyone can avoid a bush. So look where you're going.

8. Other obstacles.  Anything. Most of which can be avoided. Some examples are: traffic cones, cars, bikes, signs, trees, statues, people, lampposts, demonic fairies, building sites etc.


To finish off I would also like to warn you of the dangers of walking in all weather. As I've already stated, rain and snow is bad. And also the sun, especially when sticking to the tarmac when stood in one spot in the boiling sun for too long.

Also, large hailstones.

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This one was for you Ed. :D

And here's some random links, because I can:
The Benefits and Dangers of Walking - yes, it's a real one.
Wikipedia's Walking page. Very informative.
Weather page on Wikipedia.
REAL Massive Hailstones.
Hail (hailstones) on wikipedia - you know, if you wanted to know how they're made and stuff.