A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down they say, or rather they sing, but giving something a sugary overcoat can indeed make it more palatable. Mentally and physically.

Willy Wonka – a mysterious factory of wonder, to tempt and entice with their sugary treats. If you read the book or watched the films, then you will also know that there is a strange and dark undertone to them. With all sorts of reveals of human nature and mental instability, in both the children and the owner of the chocolate factory.

Chocolate companies – there are some rather large names these days in the world of chocolate, and for decades have been quite pivotal in certain areas. Hearing that back in the day, one of them sent lots of representatives to the African continent, in white coats, to push baby formula as a product. The white coats did a good job at convincing folk they were ‘health professionals’ and that their recommendations were sound. Moving a whole new generation and demographic away from natural, and onto processed and into the consumer fold.

Candy & Sweets – children and sugar seem to go together like bullets and guns. In fact, it’s people and sugar, because it’s not something we grow out of. Those out there who are said to have a ‘sweet tooth’, and find their way to a more sugary diet than others. Which has its own problems if you consume too much, and can be a controlling factor in some people’s lives more than they would like. But it’s a known lure for children, as the saying goes about not taking candy from strangers, because children can be very motivated by things they would like, with little to no thought about what it means, only focusing on the item at hand to be bargained for.

Halloween – another thing that revolves around children and sweets these days, about knocking on strangers door and actually asking for candy. What a turnaround from don’t talk to strangers and accept treats from them, with the odd twist of turning on them if they want a trick instead of handing you over goodies. Very vampirish too, asking for something at their doorway, wanting a compliant exchange to take place, with a threatening theme lurking in the background.

Sort of how maybe society operates, with the hooks and lures to tempt you, but just as speculated in my article That’s The Ticket, you need to be a willing participant. You have to agree, sign your life away and take part of your own accord, once you have been groomed and conditioned to accept of course. Not perhaps quite recognising it for what it is, and where our senses may ordinarily detect a bitter undertone, it has been deceived by something seemingly sweet. Whether that be a word, a smile or something edible, always ask yourself what might be behind all that sweetness…

(c) MKW Publishing

We talk of times past, the here and now and of what is to come, as if they are neatly separated by time and space. But must not quite be content with that set up, as we have stories and ideas of time travel, of time warps, and of being able to manipulate those things to transport ourselves to another time. Seems a odd mechanism to have really, to dwell so much on what might have been, or could be, and miss so much of what is. But there are strange tales of things seeming to cross over, being in both ‘times’ at once and causing what I guess would be called a disturbance in the fabric of time. That’s another strange reference, fabric of time, as if it is indeed a curtain one can pull back to reveal all the other events happening simultaneously and you can just step through into another time. Like Mr Ben putting on the costume and stepping through the door to somewhere else. Or a cinema, where multiple movies are all happening at once on different screen, and you just walk into a different room to view different things.

Houses gone or appearing – a strange tale I read of recent times, where a walk in the countryside revealed a house from the past, not there previously, or after. As if the lines of time had intersected for a while, showing what was and what is in the same place, at the same time, whereas they are usually in the same place but not at the same time, or vice versa in the same time, but not in the same place. That is if there is such a thing as time of course. But upon visiting the place again to see what had gone on, there was no house, and things were as they were before.

Wizard of oz – a classic film for a house being picked up and transported somewhere else, not quite a smooth transition though, where not just your own physical self gets transported, but what you were in does too. Something familiar getting you there, but then when you arrive nothing is at all familiar. Because things we recognise go a long way to make us feel a sense of comfort or familiarity, and this will be known then it comes to tricking your senses. We are led to believe for that story though, it was a fever induced dream, a hallucination and the wild imaginings of illness. Because if someone did really have a story to tell of that calibre, who indeed would believe it?

There are a few tales of people disappearing, appearing or finding themselves in surroundings they claim were off a different time as discussed in Appearing from Nowhere. And my article Somewhere In Time also has looked at it as an overall subject within the time travel genre. And really, it’s only because we think we know ‘when’ we are that it matters or becomes relevant because we are told it is important. Sections of time and traditions deemed necessary, constantly reinforced through repetition and rituals. With calendars, dates, anniversaries and ways of making it stay in mind day in and day out, day after day, year after year, generation after generation. April New Year, Don’t Be Fooled looked at how they have changed the calendar, given names to time period so you place it within the timeline you think you know. So, within the world of now and then, and here and there, it’s probably best to try and ground yourself to where and when you think you are, and all else can follow from there…

(c) K Wicks