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home Vagabond Unlimited is a small publisher and film maker, established in 2005. We have published several books and websites and are currently searching for funding and support for a feature animation film.

We got our name from the Wolverhamptom homeless man who lived on a traffic island for many years. Having survived the blitz, he decided he would never live in a house again. He was eventually moved on by the council and passed away a couple of years ago. This man believed that he was God incarnated as a homeless man, who was controlling the world from his small tent on the busy traffic island in Wolverhampton city centre. This is a little tribute to him and to the idea of God living among us as the smallest and weakest of us.

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The Vast and Gruesome Clutch of Our Law.

Reviews:

"The book is intriguing. I found it overwhelming. I found myself unwilling to let the book go until I had finished it. I would definitely pick up the sequel if I were to come across it."

"I was genuinely interested in where this tale was heading and there are some fine ideas in here."

"Its post-apocalypse setting and ambience stimulated an affectionate nostalgia" – Reviews from the book (2005).

“It had me absolutely enthralled from the moment I picked it up.” - C Toohill (2010)

'This new take on post-apocalyptic fiction combined with the strong character development makes this a book worth reading.' Amazon.co.uk reviewer.

The world is in the grip of a large catastrophe. Edward lives in a small community which has barely survived the long cruel winter. But when a stranger called Dean arrives in town hope returns and he seems to have a magical effect on them. But Dean is being tracked by a large foreign military power and the town is in big trouble for giving him shelter.

...The Governor stared out of the window overlooking Goscote. All he could do was watch, aimlessly and helplessly, as the town decayed and the residents died one by one. It was now thirty years since the cloud arrived; seventy years of decline had led here. He could see most of the town from his window. The buildings that would have been filled with life, now empty. Ruins of a town known for its vibrancy and cleanliness spread out for a couple of miles, the population now living in just one building, which he could see from the back window. But for now he looked out across the town, just a metre or two from the ledge, the rusty iron frame showing through the concrete. He could throw himself off right now and end it all...

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The Vast and gruesome clutch of our law

feature animation

"As a fan of animation (adult drama and kids stuff), I decided to go for it on a plan to make a film, that I've had since the day I began working on the book. I kept having images in my mind of what the film would look like as I wrote. Then a couple of films came out which had echoes of the vision I had for Vast and Grue. Perspolis (2007) and Waltz with Bashir (2008), were cut from the same mold as wanted for V&G. This year there is another Middle Eastern film that I would add to this growing group of brilliantly visualised and presented films. The Green Wave - a film about the Arab Spring. (One (Perspolis) is an Iranian film and the other an Israeli film - strangely)." Ben Bamber - Writer/Producer - The Vast and Gruesome Clutch of Our Law.

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Edward and his young family watch as Jupiter ignites into a Second Sun.

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The Vast and Gruesome Clutch of Our Law by B.C.Bamber

The Bridport Reject Collective: Six Cruel and Unusual Short Stories by B.C.Bamber.

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Gloucestershire,

GL50 1TY

Tel: 01242 580692

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The vast and gruesome clutch of our law

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Articles

The Articles Page...

The Cheltenham Literature Festival 2011.

I attended this years festival, as it expanded into my local park. This year has really delivered a great event, as stars flock in to occupy Montpellier Gardens, with Sky Arts giving the festival some glamour.

God and Film: How God Manifests Himself in Story Telling.

Story telling is the same as it ever was. It seeks to possess the same mythological ideal, that we are all looking to be saved, led, guided away from peril and danger. Does film offer us mortality as a terrifying ordeal, that expresses the need for a divine hand to save us and comfort us? Is this why we like to lose ourselves in a well crafted film?

God and Film

God and Film: How God Manifests Himself in Story Telling.

Secularism has dominated modern Western thinking over the last century or so, particularly since the Second World War, where such terrible things and such terrible loss took place that many began seeking answers from what we know, rather than from what a priest or the Bible can tell us. The idea that all that there is to know about God comes from the Bible, is no longer believed and even if it is, that is not what the Bible says anyway. The eschatological, so called ‘hidden knowledge’ or ‘Apocalyptic writing’, only revealed by the Lamb of God, promises a revelation of truth that will turn understanding of the Biblical God up-side-down. What is left is the creativity of the human mind, the enlightenment offered by science and a religious free for all. This free for all, has its backlash, though with the growth of very conservative Christians and a similar growth in Islam and Judaism. But film and the industry itself, explores God as an idea, in a format which is somewhat unfamiliar to faiths of all kinds, and yet draws from it at the same time. The film industry does not often work within the framework of organised religious belief and seeks to find its own way, of inserting and discussing God in its story telling. Story telling has in effect been transformed into an industry, but it is essentially the same as it ever was. From the printing of novels in the 18th and 19th century, story telling became a business the moment it was possible to mass produce literature. However, the film industry is able to create any magic it likes, with special effects now released from its technological limitations. Setting aside the Christian production of Biblical stories, in films like The Passion of the Christ (2004) and more recently the making of a film, which explores the ideas contained with the Book of Revelation ‘Left Behind’, mainstream film makers regularly slip religious iconography and allegory within the storyline. They often make representations of God right within the framework of the main character. Comic book adaptations are the most prolific since the emergence of films like Superman, where there seems to be little or no overt awareness of the allegory from writers of the comics or the makers of the films. The battle between absolute evil and absolute good, is played out in characters that have high morals and ideals like Superman, to more darker representations like Batman. However Batman seems to have its allegory more entwined in The Green Man, the forest spirit, than in the Second Coming of Christ. Using dark and allusive creatures to propel a super hero into the consciousness of ordinary criminals, is an interesting use of animal mythologies which are found in older and dwindling faiths, such as paganism, where animal God’s were often found. In Japanese film making the spirit world often takes on animal God’s, and the Eastern religious ideas, dominate the Japanese anime scene. Films like Princess Mononoke (1997), and Spirited Away (2001), reveal this world with a strangeness that appeals to female audiences and of course home grown audiences, as an alternative to more violent and dark comic book adaptations, which appeal to male audiences. The anti-Christ is probably featured much more directly than Christ. The appeal of Satan seems more seductive to film makers, and much less problematic than depictions of Christ which may draw criticism from Christian American audiences. For example James Frey’s book ‘The Final Testament of the Holy Bible’ had to be published and sold using his own resources, for fear of reprisals against any major US publisher. His rather confused and lazy account of Christ returning to Earth in the 21st Century had Frey had any ambitions of making a film, would never had got the support from US film production and distribution companies as a result. The Omen (1976); a classic depiction of the Anti-Christ then gets away with two things. Firstly it dodges the part where Christ returns almost entirely. And secondly it can play around with ideas as much as it likes, because American Christians don’t get as upset as they would be should a film be made about Christ instead; a trick repeated with ‘Left Behind’, who focus almost entirely on the Anti-Christ and the final battle between good and evil. This leaves the industry with other more subtle attempts to portray God in film. The favourite seems to be ‘Chosen One’ themes, taken partly from Buddhist traditions, where a child is either selected or becomes a demi-God with power over life and death and a range of other supernatural abilities. The Golden Child, which is an action adventure starring Eddie Murphy uses this device to tell a story of a seemingly vulnerable child with access to great power. This theme is also explored later in the Harry Potter series and in the film adaptation of a cartoon series, The Last Airbender. And in the rush to protect the child, these three films explore the idea that it is the child that protects the protectors, rather than the other way around. With the rising role of women in film, the chosen one has been female in quite a few of these films, including Babylon AD (2008) starring Vin Diesel, and The Fifth Element, where the DNA of the perfect being is the chosen one, and again the protected deity becomes the protector. The film industry as part of the wider media and creative industries, has got an aversion to the Biblical God, despite the growth of films which are passed around US Christian congregations and are often sold as part of a Christian duty to spread the word, through films, books and websites. The March of the Penguins was one of the first films to be adopted by the US Bible belt as proof of design and also as a demonstration of devotion and triumph over adversity. These themes also reflect the desire of man to overcome adversity but also, demonstrate a world where evil and misfortune, beset the ordinary person. Life is so hard that a deity is required to overcome the tougher things in life – a key reason why religion exists at all. With the key protagonist in films like The Fifth Element and in The Last Airbender, evil gets a foothold and cannot be defeated by ordinary men and women. So the film industry rather than deal with God head on looks to loopholes and bypasses real religion. In Star Wars of course, the faith of the Jedi’s looks to a range of scientific and religious ideas to create its supernatural heroes, who are also beset by misfortune and adversity. Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader in his desire to save Padmé, but in the process destroys her instead. And again the chosen one is used in Luke Skywalker to redeem and defeat Darth Vader. Darth Vader in this sense is the Anti-Christ and The Emperor, Satan. To make these demi-God’s a family is an interesting twist. And the use of Midichlorians draws on the idea that reality is made up of the same stuff in different combinations and because of this everything and everyone is connected. One person can sense another’s suffering because the universe is interconnected. People can see and watch and take part in a fictional God, but it seems that industry bosses are reluctant to support direct discussion of God, apart from the very new Christian market which appeals to a small part of the audience. Enough that the films marketed directly to the US Bible belt make large box office figures, but not that it appeals to a wider audience. In fact films that are adopted by Christians may well put off other customers from seeing it. Secular society prefers their God hidden away in allegory where you may not notice it. But it all comes back to the Hero’s Journey or monomyth (see the book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell, 1949), and it is standardised and dumbed down for Western secular society, making it more palatable, like the sprouts shoved under the mash potato for hidden consumption. Now for the last. It is my contention that all of these films point to something significant in story telling. Story telling reflects the desire for a saviour to come, and in many ways almost predicts it. As we hurtle towards catastrophe in finance and in the environment, does buying a cinema ticket to see one of these superhero films, reflect a fear in the public, that within themselves is a desire to be saved? Why else would these massive blockbusters do so well? Do films only ever provide one function and that is to entertain? Story telling from an ancient historical point of view, has much deeper significance than mere entertainment. But as society moves away from belief in God, and maybe towards agnosticism or pluralism, are we so enthralled by these films that it reflects a deeper desire for meaning and purpose? In this sense the modern church and other faiths have let their public down. They have failed to keep the faithful in their religious buildings and have forced them to seek out God in other places. The desire also to be the hero is something which on occasion we see, with people donning superhero outfits, climbing on top of buildings to protest or stalking the streets intervening in crimes. The emergence of a real life deity is a theme explored brilliantly in Unbreakable (2000), where someone ordinary, with an ordinary superpower in comparison to the other productions saves one family from a murderer. His only power though is to survive, through luck or destiny. However, the key part of the story from a religious point of view that the hero in Unbreakable is only discovered by blowing up trains and aeroplanes and waiting patiently for the ‘sole survivor’ to walk away unharmed. We have this insatiable desire for material wealth while at the same time that desire is creating the disaster that we’re all avoiding. Where does God come into it, if at all? If there is a global catastrophe and God doesn’t come to our aid, we may finally admit that there is no God. But the Biblical God doesn’t really promise salvation from disaster. In fact He offers the opposite. Which in conclusion, is the real reason why Hollywood and the wider film industry doesn’t talk about the Second Coming directly. Because if or when He arrives, this will be the signal, for the final days of human life. Because this is what is promised in the Bible. Not a Utopian vision, but a vision of destruction. So Hollywood driven by box office sales, is seeking that alternative vision. Of a God who intervenes and saves us, even though what we need saving from is ourselves and the cure for our disease is probably worse than the illness.
No Frame

Chelt Lit

The Cheltenham Literature Festival Gets Big.I attended this years Cheltenham Literature Festival in anticipation of a great year for the 62 year old gathering of literatures great and good. The reason why I was anticipating a great year was because on a day to day basis I visit the local park, Montpellier Gardens, which is on route to the town centre from my house and office. On the first day came a few pieces of heavy machinery and floor panels. The second day the frame of a huge marquee went up, which was the size of an aircraft hanger. The third day another very large tent – well you could hardly call it a tent. It was more like a temporary building, with panelling rather than tent material. Then the posters went up, then the promotional material starting coming through the door. It was going to be bigger and better than ever. Sky Arts began attending the festival three years ago and does admittedly bring an extra level of glamour (and money) to the event. I attended the Book Show, Mariella Frostrup’s Sky Arts show. I also attended John Sutherland and David Lodge’s discussion on literary criticism and biography at The Lives of the Novelists. Both shows were so much better than I expected, having been disappointed in the past. The Book Show was an entertaining, sometimes irreverent, sometimes funny show, which discussed a wide variety of subjects from the financial crisis, with the ex-chancellor of exchequer, Alastair Darling in attendance promoting his book Back from the Brink: 1,000 Days at Number 11. There was also the Private Eye satirist Craig Brown and the screen writer and children’s author Frank Cottrell Boyce. I was introduced to the parody; a particular style of satire where the writer takes on the persona of the target. Craig Brown, read out pieces from his book, The Lost Diaries. Very funny. I suppose the Literature Festival is supposed to introduce new ideas, new things. The Lives of the Novelists, with guests John Sutherland and David Lodge, was another introduction to some interesting discussion on why some of our greatest writers hated the idea of a biographer writing about them and their lives. I felt a certain amount of sympathy for them – namely Dickens and James Joyce among others, who destroyed all of their personal papers before their deaths, to prevent biographers finding out the details of their often immoral and questionable personal lives. Sutherland and Lodge noted that instead of hiding the scandals, it tended to ensure that the speculation continued indefinitely. These days of course the details – should you be a celeb, are worth money to the tabloids and the TV companies. The private stuff that would at one time, been hugely embarrassing is now good TV, good Sunday newspaper fodder. Of course the theory of why they did this, is up for grabs, but Lodge and Sutherland say that it might be because they put so much of themselves in their fiction that they did not like the idea of a biographer unravelling the secrets of their work. In summary, for the first time (and I have been attending the Cheltenham Literature Festival for a decade), I both enjoyed it and learned something. Both of these things being paramount to a successful festival. Next year or maybe the year after it might move up the hill to the Race Course. Montpellier Gardens and Imperial Square were beginning to look too small for the festival, as it continues to grow. I commented to one festival goer that it may well rival the Cheltenham Gold Cup if it continues its meteoric rise as a major fixture in the book tours of the Britain’s best authors. I will look forward to seeing who turns up to speak to us next year.

Sky Arts, The Book Show.

Montpellier Gardens: Photo: Dave Miller, Simple Gorgeous Portraits.

Published List

Published Work.

1. ‘Lenny’s Dreams 1 – Last Days of the Beetle’; HorrorMasters.com; 19th Collection; (2004);2. ‘Lenny’s Dreams 2 – Globus Hystericus’; HorrorMasters.com; 19th Collection; (2004);3. ‘Lenny’s Dreams 3 – The Second Sun’; HorrorMasters.com; 19th Collection; (2004);4. ‘Lenny’s Dreams 4 – The Corn Field’; HorrorMasters.com; 19th Collection; (2004);5. ‘Lenny’s Dreams 5 – The Missile Silo’; HorrorMasters.com; 19th Collection; (2004);6. Energy Saving Advice for Those on Low Incomes; p.202; The Green Building Bible (2004/5); Green Building Press.7. Sustaining the Utopian Dream; Building for a Future; December 2004; Green Building Press.8. Code for Sustainable Buildings: Is the Steering Group set up to favour business as usual?; Building for a Future; March 2005; Green Building Press.9. ‘The Vast and Gruesome Clutch of Our Law’; A Dreamscape Novella; Vagabond Unlimited Press; 2005.10. Sustainable Committees Summit: What’s it all about?; Building for a Future; March 2005; Green Building Press.11. Talk of the Town; Folio; April 2005, no. 123; p. 24; Venue.12. Brownfield Development. Good for the environment or just a bonanza for developers?; Building for a Future; Spring/Summer 2005; Green Building Press.13. Green Streets; Folio; No. 124; p. 94-95; May 2005; Venue.14. Is the Medical Establishment Covering-up the Origins of HIV?; DogmaNet.org; Issue 25; September 2005.15. The eco-arms race; Not weapons but green energy solutions?; Building for a Future; Autumn 2005; Green Building Press.16. Dogville and Goscote: A Tale of Two Towns; Issue 26; DogmaNet.org; October 2005.17. Has Climate Change Claimed Its First City?; DogmaNet.org; Issue 26; October 2005.18. UK Green Building Council Proposed; Building for a Future; Spring 2006; Vol. 15, No 4; p. 6; Green Building Press.19. Put a Fuel Cell in Your House; Building for a Future; Spring 2006; Vol. 15, No. 4; p.24-25; Green Building Press.20. BREEAM and LEED. How do they compare? February 2006; www.ukgbc.co.uk; Green Building Press.21. The Green Building Council Movement? March 2006; www.ukgbc.co.uk; Green Building Press.22. Property Mogul Turned Green Activist; March 2006; www.ukgbc.co.uk; Green Building Press.23. USGBC - Not the only player in town! March 2006; www.ukgbc.co.uk; Green Building Press.24. Goals, Purpose and Politics; GBC as a Global Forum. An interview with David Gottfried; April 2006; www.ukgbc.co.uk; Green Building Press.25. UKGBC - Is it necessary? May 2006; www.ukgbc.co.uk; Green Building Press.26. An educational role for the UK Green Building Council? May 2006; www.ukgbc.co.uk; Green Building Press.27. Prickley Subject; p.28; Building for a Future; Vol. 16. No.1. Summer 2006; Green Building Press.28. USGBC's audit of education provision; June 2006; www.ukgbc.co.uk; Green Building Press.29. Simple Green Solutions; Homebuilding and Renovating; p. 125-6; September 2006; Ascent Publishing; Centaur.30. How Green Will the UK GBCouncil really be? October 17th 2006; www.ukgbc.co.uk; Green Building Press.31. Storewars; December 2006; Building for a Future; The Green Building Press.32. Energy and Water Saving Advice; pp.168-171; Green Building Bible; Volume 1; Third Edition; Green Building Press (2006).33. How Is The Electricity Market Adapting to Electricity Generation at Home?; Building for a Future; December 2006; Green Building Press.34. The Vast and Gruesome Clutch of Our Law; Dreamscape Series Volume 1; Second Edition; Vagabond Unlimited (2006); Media Might.35. Utopianism and the Sixth Mass Extinction; B.C.Bamber (2006); www.futuretowns.org.uk; Future Towns; Media Might Publishing.36. The Future Town: A New View of Architecture and Town Planning; B.C.Bamber (2007); www.futuretowns.org.uk; Future Towns Limited.37. Disasters and Their Impact; B.C.Bamber (2007); www.futuretowns.org.uk; Future Towns Limited.38. Author Commentary: The Vast and Gruesome Clutch of Our Law; B.C.Bamber (2007); www.vagabond-unlimited.co.uk; Media Might.39. Devil’s Rise; B.C.Bamber (2007); www.vagabond-unlimited.co.uk; Media Might.40. Take it to the Bridge (2008); www.building.co.uk – Sustainability/Case Studies; Building Magazine; CMPI.41. ‘River Cottage HQ gets eco-makeover’ (4 February, 2008); www.building.co.uk – Sustainability/Case Studies; Building Magazine; CMPI.42. ‘Glastonbury House is saved with £10m revamp’; (11 February, 2008); www.building.co.uk – Sustainability/Case Studies; Building Magazine; CMPI.43. ‘Greening up a 19th century building’; (25 February 2008); www.building.co.uk - Sustainability/Case Studies; Building Magazine; CMPI.44. ‘RSPB Visitor Centre, Purfleet’; 27 March, 2008; www.building.co.uk - Sustainability/Case Studies; Building Magazine; CMPI.45. ‘Moveable Torfaen EcoBuilding’; 19th May 2008; www.building.co.uk - Sustainability/Case Studies; Building Magazine; CMPI.46. M&S's sustainable factory in Sri Lanka; 2nd July 2008; www.building.co.uk - Sustainability/Case Studies; Building Magazine; CMPI47. ‘Caitlin Invisible’; www.bewilderingstories.com; Issue 348; (2009). http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue347/caitlin_invisible.html48. ‘Is This the Future for Housing’; Futurescape; www.fastfuture.com (2009).49. ‘Dark Day’; www.kalkion.com; 2009. http://kalkion.com/fiction/dark-day/73350. ‘Dark Day’; www.vagabond-unlimited.co.uk; 2009.51. ‘Green Shoots – The rising stars of sustainable building’; pp.5; Building for the Future; Raconteur Supplement; The Times; 6th September 2010. 52. The Debt Pack: A self Help Guide to Dealing with Debt; BEC Consulting; www.the-debt-pack.co.uk (2011); Ed. Shelley Preston-Oversby.53. Who You Gonna Call? www.futuretowns.com (2011). Future Towns Ltd.54. Flood Proof House; www.futuretowns.com (2011). Future Towns Ltd.55. Super Sand; www.futuretowns.com (2011). Future Towns Ltd.56. The Sahara Forest Project (2011); www.futuretowns.com. Future Towns Ltd.57. The War Footing (2011); www.futuretowns.com. Future Towns Ltd.58. Enough Oil for the Apocalypse (2011) www.futuretowns.com. Future Towns Ltd.59. The World in 2100 (2011); www.futuretowns.com. Future Towns Ltd.60. The Tea Party is Over (2011); www.futuretowns.com. Future Towns Ltd.
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ted on street

Ted on Street.

Our hero is known as Ted. He is homeless wanderer, a philosopher, a funny and sometimes rude, but always decent man. He is also God on Earth and is creating a better world, although to look at it you wouldn’t think so. God’s true identity is safely hidden away underneath years of dirt, scruffy clothes and mainly, people’s perception of him. He doesn’t try to convince anyone. He just is… the Vagabond Unlimited.