Nice to see you.




Order Lone Wolf World via Amazon or above
2018 Best New Talent - Short and Sweet Festival Sydney
2014 Pushcart Prize nominee. (more)

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Music Version - New Trailer. Just in time for Xmas but be quick!

 

Hey you,

How you doing?


Here is a Music Only Trailer. Only 30 secs. Do you think it works better than the other two?



Watch HERE.


Cheeky as Hell Version.

Original Version.



Books make for a unique gift and can be signed/inscribed any way wish.

All books are on sale.




There's something for anyone over 16, Us & Them and the things in-between or one of the most controversial novels you'll ever read in Perve (18+), or a cutting edge quasi satire/thriller in Lone Wolf World. (Dubbed the Australian Catcher in the Rye).














Have a good week if not a brilliant one!
If not, well keep faking it until you start to believe it. 
Peace


Cheeky AF Trailer - All Books

 

Hi,

How are you doing this week?

I've put together a Cheeky Version of my new All Books Trailer. Have I gone too far?

I call it the Boring as Batshit Trailer or the Cheeky as Fuck Trailer. 



Watch HERE


Definitely cheeky. But will it make any difference in the end? Probably not. 

So why not? 

The original I'm promoting on YouTube for 10 days. See if it does anything. I'm not spending a lot of money as I've had past experiences with advertising but it's getting some views. Whether anyone interacts with my site or not, I doubt but we'll see. 


Please consider a book as a gift this Christmas.







Have a good week.
Get in touch some time.

Cheers




A.J. Langford Books


Your unique Christmas gift is right here!

 

For the reader in your circle.

These make for a unique gift and can be signed/inscribed any way wish.

All books are on sale.


There's something for anyone over 16, Us & Them and the things in-between or one of the most controversial novels you'll ever read in Perve (18+), or a cutting edge quasi satire/thriller in Lone Wolf World. (Dubbed the Australian Catcher in the Rye).


30 Sec Trailer HERE


Dripping with truth.

PLUS Story collections. Poetry collections. Novellas. Almost all are based on real events and people. All characters act with a realistic manner. They're written from a philosophical and psychological approach, not a fabricated plot driven one.

More info on each book at A.J. Langford Books




                            


                    







             
Art / Poetry Collaboration 












    









My Books HERE


or Try these Amazon links in Australia

Amazon Profile 1


Amazon Profile 2


Or Amazon in your local country


I can organise deals and inscriptions in the books. Visit;


A.J. Langford Books



Peace



New Trailer - AJL Books. All of them.

 

Hi,

Hope you're doing well.



I've put together a 30 second trailer for all of my books in the lead up to Christmas. 
Hopefully it garners some interest. Based on prior experiences, my expectations are low.

If you feel inclined, any sharing would be really great. At least a view and a like. It all helps. Thank you. 

Peace






Watch HERE


anthonyjlangford.com



Wrap me up in alcohol

 

Blanket Love

 

Third beer in

Still the anxiety

Seeps through the legs

Like a bad blood transfusion

Reminding me of my fallibilities

And how strong

It actually is.

 

Relief will come soon

Followed by a brazenness

That I rarely feel

Though wish it were often so.

 

Or should I simply accept

The way I am?

Negative

Melancholic

And self-destructive.

 

I wouldn’t treat another

This way

Yet, I can’t silence

The inner tormentor

Who betrays me often

Whilst also keeping me honest

And real.

 

A conundrum

I can’t seem to unravel.

 

Perhaps the worst thing is

The recent realisation

That I’ll still be this way

At 75

If I make it that far

And possibly worse

And I’m already

So tired.

 

Some sanctuary then

At 55

Is still being able to

Find relief

Within the false blanket

Of booze

Which is only now

Wrapping me in its warmth.

 

Soothed

At last

For tonight only.

 

 

11.1.23  7.45 pm

First poem of 2023.







Closed minds. Who's worse? Young or old.


Can an old dog really be taught new tricks? Or are their minds as stiff as their knee joints?


 Opinionated

An 'old dog' certainly can learn new concepts, depending on the person, and that young people can also be just as close minded or stubborn.

Admittedly it is harder to learn new things when you’re older but again, much of it is down to attitude. It’s up to the individual. I’m a big believer of the individual over group stereotyping.

Young people have their opinions on things and you can’t shake them to accept a differing view. We were all young and quite opinionated. We/they saw the world in black and white. Especially today with the internet, people are able to find groups with the same thinking and then ‘groupthink’ becomes the norm. People want to fit in so they curb their thinking to suit.

Meanwhile, others are demonised. Just try to offer any member of those groups or ideology a differing opinion and watch the hateful hysteria come charging at you like a rampaging elephant protecting its young.






Potential

Older people too are just as guilty. Young and old, it really makes no difference. It’s just people. Most are very set in their ways of thinking and living. Everyone likes to claim that they’re open minded but I guarantee that once you start challenging their belief system in any way, they’ll close up shop and the anger will bubble up and over like a pot of boiling pasta. They’ve already had their belief systems reinforced by the type of material they read and absorb, whether it be articles, books, documentary’s, movies, memes, anything. Most people are like that.

(For the record, many assume that being ‘open-minded’ refers to someone’s sexual preferences. It’s so much more).


It’s the rare person who makes the effort to understand other concepts. ‘Oh no, they’re right wing! I couldn’t possibly listen to a word they say.’

‘Oh, they’re gay. I don’t care about their lifestyle. Just leave me out of it.’

‘They vote the opposite to me so they’re obviously ignorant.’

As we settle into middle age those belief systems are generally set in like concrete, whereas young people still have the potential to see other ways of thinking. Once they get into their thirties, they are exposed to different things. Plus, there’s no better teacher than life experience. At least there’s some POTENTIAL there.

Once something is ingrained for decades it’s very difficult to change. That’s understandable. Life gets a bit harder as we age with health issues and just getting tired from having to work and move through life, so learning new things don’t occur as often. There’s just not the time or energy that there once was.

 

It’s human nature to find comfort in the routine.

 


Sponges

As for learning a new skill, it’s absolutely possible for an older person to do it. You hear of the occasional story of someone who got a degree at seventy or did something remarkable. It’s humanly possible. Just not common.

Children come into the world soaking up everything they see and hear like sponges. It’s how we learn. It’s how we know what the world actually IS. It’s how we learn languages. How many kids are mirror images of their parents?

When they become teenagers they seek out their own paths but are still very impressionable. They’ll more than likely copy one of their friends, a dominant figure in the group, or behave to impress those people or a new romantic interest. 

In any regard, there’s great change and great scope to learn in these years. It’s also a chaotic time so it doesn’t always go very well. Most teenagers find those years dramatic. But they are willing to try things out as they still don’t really know what they like and don’t like. Some, not all. Some know from an early age exactly what interests them. (I was one. Yet still took stupid risks doing things I shouldn’t have done).





Nature versus nurture

And then there’s the whole argument of nature versus nurture. How much is already programmed into the DNA? Quite a lot. You can find siblings who were separated from a young age for example and grew up in different circumstances and be reunited later in life, even decades later and discover that they both have similar traits. That’s genetics.

You can’t rule out the environment however. Events help shape us, and can also bring us unstuck if it’s been a difficult upbringing. The way we think is determined by both genetics and our upbringing. Inquisitive parents usually lead to an inquisitive child in some way. However, by the late teen years, good luck trying to teach them new concepts that isn’t through standard education. Show me most twenty-year-old’s and I’ll show you someone with a closed mind.

 

“I’m not young enough to know everything.” Oscar Wilde.

 

Conclusion

In essence, we’re all old dogs set in our ways, even to our own detriment. We can’t escape ourselves, no matter how hard we try. Some are more open minded than others. Some are accepting of some things, as others' sexuality as one example but not other aspects, like people's religious beliefs. 

Some are more open to learning new concepts and ways of thinking than others. Most aren’t but they’ll more than likely tell you they are. Dig a little deeper and they’ll reveal themselves.

At the end of the day, it’s really little to do with being older but the individual’s own character.

 


 A.J. Langford Books

Christmas approaching. Please consider a signed gift. All books are on sale.









Talking to strangers. Is it wise? (Friendly Fire)

 

Talking to strangers. Is it wise?


Here's a short video poem I made in 2022 which explains it all.





Watch Friendly Fire





I hope you liked it. It's funny. When I share these videos on Facebook I don't get a single comment or even a Like. it's as though people don't want to commit to watch it so stay completely clear. It's very disheartening when it's something you've written and made yourself.


Reminded me of this song from 1982, a big hit despite it being quite avant garde. 



Talking to a Stranger - Hunters and Collectors


More Video Poems



A.J. Langford Books





'Eighth Wonders of the World.' Part 5 - These are amazing

 

 Eighth Wonder of the World

There are a few considered for the title.
Three are listed here. They are constructions rather than natural wonders.

Pre-1900 creations





Part Five


Macchu Picchu


Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in southern Peru on a 2,430-meter (7,970 ft) mountain ridge.

The Inca civilization had no written language and, after the discovery by a Spanish soldier Baltasar Ocampo, by the end of the 16th-century no more Europeans visited the site until the 19th century.



Photo from 2007


The names of the buildings, their supposed uses, and their inhabitants are the product of modern archaeologists based on physical evidence, including tombs at the site

Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give visitors a better idea of how they originally appeared.




1912 after major clearing and before reconstruction work began



Most recent archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was constructed as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). The Incas built the estate around 1450 but abandoned it a century later, at the time of the Spanish conquest. According to radiocarbon dating, it was occupied from c. 1420–1532.



Temple of the Sun or Torreon



During its use as a royal estate, it is estimated that about 750 people lived there, with most serving as support staff. Since its rediscovery in 1911, growing numbers of tourists have visited the site each year, with numbers exceeding 1.4 million in 2017.




Moai




Moai are monolithic human figures carved by the Rapa Nui people on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in eastern Polynesia between the years 1250 and 1500. 


By Ian Sewell - IanAndWendy.com Photo gallery from Easter Island, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1193567


Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main moai quarry, but hundreds were transported from there and set on stone platforms called ahu around the island's perimeter. Almost all moai have overly large heads, which comprise three-eighths the size of the whole statue and they have no legs. The moai are chiefly the living faces of deified ancestors. 




The statues still gazed inland across their clan lands when Europeans first visited the island in 1722, but all of them had fallen by the latter part of the 19th century. The moai were toppled in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, possibly as a result of European contact or internecine tribal wars.

There are approx. 900 statues. They are still being discovered as of 2023.





Obelisk of Axum


The Obelisk of Axum is a 4th-century CE, 24-metre (79 ft) tall phonolite stele, weighing 160 tonnes  in the city of Axum in Ethiopia.



By I, Ondřej Žváček, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6027150




Erection of stelae in Axum was a very old practice. Their function is supposed to be as markers for underground burial chambers. The largest of the grave markers were for royal burial chambers and were decorated with multi-story false windows and false doors, while lesser nobility would have smaller, less decorated ones. While there are only a few large ones standing, there are hundreds of smaller ones in various "stelae fields".



The Obelisk at Axum in 1805



It was taken to Italy in 1937 as war booty. It was agreed to return it in 1961 but took until 2005 to do so fully due to the difficulty and cost involved.




The Northern Stelae Park in Axum, with the King Ezana's Stele at the centre and the Great Stele lying broken.

By Jialiang Gao www.peace-on-earth.org - Original Photograph, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=543948





More in this Series.


Hope you have a good week. If you like anything that you see, please share or let me know as feedback lets me know someone is reading.

Cheers
Peace

Anthony