The Unnecessary Blog

photographer ▩ polyamorous
▩ he / him / his / hey you ▩
reincarnation of Robert Benchley
(look him up, kids)

Over the years, Ian Alexander Martin has had a plentitude of locations around the blogosphere where his words and thoughts were available to peruse. Listing all of them would take up too much space, but it started at GeoCities.com (which was a long time ago) and also included his own vanity domain.

During his life, Ian was an actor, retail store-owner, theatre director / reviewer, photographer, small-press book publisher / editor, and was employed separately by both the Provincial and Federal Governments. Most recently he was a Footwear Specialist for an outdoor equipment company, so he’s able to prove you’re probably wearing the wrong size of shoes (because about 90% of people are).

The two quotes below — from David Lean’s motion picture Lawrence of Arabia — speak to Ian’s usual demeanour, as his sense of humour and desire for ‘practicality over respect for authority’ is likely a part of why he’s no longer employed.

GEN. MURRAY: I can’t make out whether you’re bloody bad-mannered or just half-witted.
T.E. LAWRENCE: I have the same problem, sir.



T.E. LAWRENCE: It’s my manner, sir.
GEN. MURRAY: Your manner?
T.E. LAWRENCE: Yes. It looks insubordinate, but it isn’t really.

For four years, he was the Publishing Editor of The Boards, a Vancouver-centric theatre web-site which posted revues, features, and listings about plays in and around the Greater Vancouver area. The aim was to provide a broader representation of what was happening than was available in the local daily paper of record and weekly free broadsheet. The local theatre community welcomed it, but it was about five-to-ten years ahead of its time and proved unsustainable. Nearly the full run of issues is available in the electronic collection of the National Library of Canada for those who have an interest.

Ian hopes you’re able to enjoy the posts here. If you have a quibble with his thoughts, feel free to reach out to him via the Mastodon link below.

He is not on Twitter, FaceBook, or other major social media platforms anymore.