@buttondown.email.niall@rss-parrot.net
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My name is Niall and I write essays about films, art, gaming and poetry. What really interests me is the boundary between the critical and the lyrical, using a voice that almost convinces you that it's some kind of authority before all that messy subjective stuff spills over. When I find something to write about, the subject itself isn't as important as its potential to send me into that in-between place. It could be something a dead poet once said or a really strange wrestling move. That's where I think the fun lies. If you'd like to get in touch you can find me on [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@rusty_niall), [Mastodon](https://sunny.garden/@rustyniall) or my website's [contact form](https:/niallosullivan.co.uk/contact/).
Site URL: buttondown.email/niall
Feed URL: buttondown.email/niall/rss
Posts: 10
Followers: 1
Orlok the Oligarch
https://buttondown.com/niall/archive/orlok-the-oligarch/
Published: March 27, 2025 12:00
Contains some spoilers for Nosferatu (2024) and Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) Part of the vampire myth has always been about class. Count (no less!) Dracula immediately springs to mind as an embodiment of the seductive aristocrat. But, beyond the veneerā¦
What the Cambrian Explosion tells me about 8-bit video games and Tim Burtonās napkin sketches
https://buttondown.com/niall/archive/what-the-cambrian-explosion-tells-me-about-8-bit/
Published: February 7, 2025 16:11
About two hundred and something million years ago, myriad forms appeared in the fossil record. Before animal life ventured out of the ocean to set in motion the dominion of big hefty reptiles and planet destroying apes, nature seemed to have a bit of aā¦
On viewing posh markets through a launderette window
https://buttondown.com/niall/archive/on-viewing-posh-markets-through-a-launderette/
Published: December 8, 2024 11:06
My old launderette I've never been one to partake of the delights on offer at the Sunday market that's been popping up outside the train station every week for the last decade or so. The most time I spent watching it, rather than being a participant of it,ā¦
The Paradoxical Isolation of the Writer
https://buttondown.com/niall/archive/the-paradoxical-isolation-of-the-writer/
Published: September 6, 2024 11:24
I hope that someone gets maaa, I hope that someone gets maaaā¦ In "On Writing", Stephen King advocates writing with a desk turned towards the wall. This makes sense for an absolute machine like King and I can imagine how shutting off the real world can helpā¦
Poetry and the Flow Rate of Meaning
https://buttondown.email/niall/archive/poetry-and-the-flow-rate-of-meaning/
Published: July 22, 2024 18:09
If there's one thing better than feeling superior to instapoets it's feeling superior to people that feel superior to instapoets. I'm not really a fan of instapoetry but I often find myself defending it because I find myself more irked by the gatekeeperā¦
Democracy and Determinism
https://buttondown.email/niall/archive/democracy-and-determinism/
Published: June 28, 2024 17:33
I've been a bit of a free will agnostic for a while but in a way that skews towards determinism. Some days I'm convinced there is no such thing āā that our feelings of choice are experienced after a decision has already been made by forces beyond ourā¦
Why the Whitechapel Fatberg is my Guru
https://buttondown.email/niall/archive/why-the-whitechapel-fatberg-is-my-guru/
Published: June 10, 2024 13:58
This is actually the Belgravia fatberg but I liked this image I've been an on/off follower of meditation practices for the last thirty years. I've done so as a spiritual autodidact, sometimes attending sessions and seminars but never committing to aā¦
Bringing a hacker mentality to problematic art
https://buttondown.email/niall/archive/bringing-a-hacker-mentality-to-problematic-art/
Published: May 30, 2024 20:25
Being that this is a hot cracker of an issue, I'd like to start out by stating what I won't be talking about in this essay. I won't be talking about the existence or the need for cancel culture, nor shall I argue or speculate about which artists should orā¦
Blade Runner: Rick Deckard's Ambivalent Humanity
https://buttondown.email/niall/archive/blade-runner-rick-deckards-ambivalent-humanity/
Published: May 13, 2024 20:31
This essay contains plot spoilers for Ridley Scottās Blade Runner. If you havenāt watched it then you really should. I had two big insights this week. The first occured when I had to be told it was Star Wars day. In previous years I might have acted withā¦
Why I'm not done with London (though London might be done with me)
https://buttondown.email/niall/archive/why-im-not-done-with-london-though-london-might/
Published: May 5, 2024 19:47
When thinking about London I often remember Peter Ackroyd doing the rounds at the turn of the century to promote his book, "London:The Biography". When speaking of the visual character of the city, he often referred to it as ugly. This wasn't necessarily aā¦