Here we go...

So, here we go, the beginning of the Richmond Rant. I'm a 45-year old writer, originally from Belfast, now living in beautiful Donegal. I'm the kind of person that the internet was created for - you know, the sort of person who just lives to pass their interests and enthusiasms on to others. Of course, the advantage of the intrnet is that you can choose to read or not. That makes it infinitely preferable to being stuck next to me in a pub.
So, this site will deal with writing - mine and other people's - movies, music and, most thrillingly, my subjective and boorish opinions on anything else that comes up.
Some of my writing is in the crime fiction field and I was thinking about some of the American writers I admire: George V Higgins; John D McDonald, Robert B Parker and it occured to me, what's with the middle initial? I mean, is there anything more useless than a middle name? So why advetise the fact you have one? It's like wearing a t-shirt saying'I've got an appendix.' If you've got it, don't flaunt it. Nobody cares. Probably the only thing worse nomenclature crime is people who carry their teenage nicknames into adulthood. And yes, I do mean you, U2. Bono is my age or older, he's a middle-aged man, for god's sake. What's he still doing going around under this stupid playground moniker? And, as for The Edge, don't get me started...Is that how people refer to him? 'Would you like a cup of tea, the Edge?'
Of course, the other thing about nicknames is that you can pretend you were given one to increase your sense of cool. When I went to university in the early 80s there was a TV show called The Professionals. It was awful but popular although not among the Joy Division, NME-reading crowd of which I was part. This guy announced in our first term that his nickname was Bodie, after one of the brainless macho characters in the programme. Now, everyone knew this was a lie. And everyone laughed at the fact that this guy thought we would fall for this pathetic and transparent falsehood. And, of course, we all insisted on calling him Bodie as if we believed it, all the better to snigger at the way he took it all in. We were gits like that.
All the more amusing, then, that I meet the same guy a couple of years ago. He's the finance director of a large housing charity, wears slick suits and drives a Merc. So, he comes up to me, hand extended and says:'Hey, it's me. Remember, from university? It's Bodie!'
See you next time.