I'm Trying, Honestly!

Happy Christmas!

2011-12-24T00:48:00.001Z

I haven't been around much for a while but I'd like to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and hope you all have a wonderful year in 2012.

Sometimes telly isn't very inspiring, last year's Christmas output was dire. This year it's very different! We've already had the new drama series about the vet James Herriot and a new series of Garrow's Law. Tomorrow we're spoilt for choice with the new Christmas Dr Who, Downton Abbey and Strictly Come Dancing Christmas programmes as well as the first of three new Absolutely Fabulous 20th anniversary specials.

However they'll all be hard pushed to beat last night's very moving The Choir. It's an amazing programme about a group of wives whose husbands and partners were serving in Afghanistan who formed a military choir with the help of the inspirational choirmaster Gareth Malone.

Have to say it was very moving listening to their stories about their husbands and their lives without them. The letters to their loved ones inspired Paul Mealor (the royal wedding composer) to write a song for them, Wherever You Are. They performed it live at the British Legion's Festival of Remembrance at the Albert Hall in November. This week their record reached Number 1 and is the fastest selling single for six years. What a pleasant change from the X Factor hyped plastic songs produced over the last few years.

I can't upload the video from YouTube but here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hR6O7VxKaQ

If you can watch the BBC's iPlayer you can see the very moving programme here http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0195vs2/The_Choir_Military_Wives_Compilation/

Divas Don't Knit

2011-10-13T18:24:00.003+01:00

Divas Don't Knit by Gil McNeil

It was the title that grabbed me when I saw this book in the library. I'm certainly no diva!

I did enjoy this bit of light reading. Brought it back from the library and struggled to put it down to eat! Loved the characters and the knitting and had a laugh at the child related situations and comments. The setting was good too in a washed up British seaside resort. Great!

A good read when you need a bit of a lift without taxing your brain too much. Must look up some more of her books!

View all my reviews

Roseanna - Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo

2011-09-18T22:45:00.000+01:00

Roseanna -

I saw this series recommended in a crime blog I subscribe to, The Rap Sheet. where I get a lot of good information about TV and film and ideas for reading material covering the crime genre. The series was described as one of the best crime series ever written. Well I had to take a look!

Have to say I did enjoy this book, Roseanna, the first in the Martin Beck series, but it's not exactly easy to say why. The story was not particularly riveting and the tone and mood were rather bleak. However the writing was clear and succinct, the characters were interesting and I liked the dogged approach of Martin Beck, the Stockholm detective and main character.

The authors Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo were both Swedish journalists and communists; their books were apparently intended to be an assault on Swedish society. The Sweden they describe in the novels isn't what my image of Sweden is like however I didn't feel that it affected my interest in the novels.

The novels are set in the sixties, in the days before the police had access to the luxuries of our current forensic science and new technology. No genetic fingerprinting, no mobile phones and computers were in their infancy. Here we see basic policing methods and procedures. Maybe that was one of the reasons why I liked the book, it seemed real. Perhaps we've become sated with the CSI type programmes and action films and need to get back to this type of crime novel and programme. Apart from the low technology, the novels haven't dated that much, well mind you I noticed they did do a lot of smoking!

What I particularly like is that in each of the books I've read so far, there has been a really interesting review which I have found very useful. I like seeing whether my impressions match other people's and maybe find something I've missed.

I've read the next two books in the series, The Man Who Went Up in Smoke and The Man on the Balcony and I have to say I'm really enjoying them. I'm getting to know the characters now as a little more about them is revealed in each book. The books are getting darker and have something of the bleakness of the Wallander novels but I have to say I can't put the Martin Beck books down once I pick them up.

Next in the series to read is The Laughing Policeman which I understand was made into a film in 1973 starring Walter Matthau and Bruce Dern. Apparently they moved the location to San Francisco for some reason. Not sure how that would work but I'll keep a look out for it!

I started this post way back in March this year! However I've been very poor at blogging in recent months but I have been reading and knitting a lot and that's my excuse. Well I've sadly reached the end of the books in this series that I can read as the library just doesn't have any more. It's so disappointing but I'll keep a lookout in the charity shops as I did like this series. If you haven't come across this series and you like crime/police/detective stories they are well worth reading.

I'm disappointed but never mind I moved onto Michael Dibdin's Zen series prompted by the telly adaptations which I really enjoyed and posted about. They have definitely filled the gap!

Not Before Time!

2011-07-13T19:44:00.004+01:00

I don't usually write much political stuff and to be honest this isn't really political with a capital P. However for the past week it has seemed like someone had opened Pandora's Box with the news of the disgusting activities of the News of the World and News International which have dominated the news and every day seemed to get worse.

The public didn't really have much sympathy with celebrities like Hugh Grant & Sienna Miller whose phones had been hacked but when it came to Millie Dowler, the teenager who had been so brutally murdered it was a whole different ball game. We'd already seen the agony her family went through as they gave evidence in the trial. What kind of person hacks into a missing teenager's phone and deletes messages giving the parents & police hope that she was still alive and doing it herself? Well it's the type of person who is employed by the gutter press apparently. However it seems that is just the tip of the iceberg! It looks like they've left no stone unturned with politicians, royalty, widows of soldiers killed in Afghanistan, victims of terrorist attacks, murdered children's families, all are possible victims of phone hacking. Anything is justified apparently to get a story for their newspapers.

Well it looks like finally Rupert Murdoch is getting some come uppance in relation to his media empire. His News Corporation has today announced that it is dropping its planned bid to take full ownership of satellite broadcaster BSkyB. The announcement came as the House of Commons prepared to vote for a motion supported by all major party leaders calling on Mr Murdoch to scrap the bid. For once all the politicians were in agreement.

Finally News International is being taken to task for its disgusting activities which have been going on for years.

The whole thing leaves a nasty taste in your mouth as politicians don't come out of it squeaky clean either despite their loud protestations against the News of the World's activities. David Cameron was pretty cosy with News International as he courted their support before the election. He's distancing himself now though. In addition his ability to employ decent staff comes into question. He employed Andy Coulson as his communications chief, yes the ex-editor of the News of the World at the time of the jailing of employees of News of the World for intercepting voicemails. Gordon Brown, ex- PM has accused News International of targetting him and attempting to access his voicemail, bank accounts and his family's medical records. Disgusting but why hadn't he made this public earlier. Looks like politicians have all kept quiet.

Police too are coming in for some stick. It's alleged that a police officer offered to sell News of the World details of the royal family and their staff. Then there's the issue of the Met where the Assistant Commissioner John Yates assessed the first inquiry into the practice of phone hacking in 2009. He decided that they couldn't take it any further. Now he's blaming the News of the World for failing to co-operate with the police. Mmmmmm!

You have to wonder whether the unethical and illegal activities of this organisation are limited to the UK. Surely it would be unusual if they were limited to one part of this global corporation. Now the police are going to look into the possibility that phones were hacked in the USA following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre. Nothing would surprise me now.

So we're going to get a public inquiry into media regulation (what regulation?) and phone hacking. Well I won't hold my breath!

Meanwhile the best news so far in this whole sorry story is that thankfully Rupert has withdrawn his bid to totally takeover BSkyB! Have to say I've never subscribed to BSkyB because Murdoch owns 39% of it. Now if he relinquishes that, I might just consider taking out a subscription!

Cloud Atlas

2011-06-09T22:15:00.001+01:00

When I go on holiday I tend to buy fairly cheap books that I can just leave behind and reduce my luggage weight. Cloud Atlas was one that didn’t turn out to be the usual holiday, poolside, easy read. I found it a fairly difficult book to read but I persevered and it was well worth the effort.

It was hard to get used to the first part of the book which was told in diary style and in old English language. I was tempted to give up but just as I got to grips with it and started to get really interested in the characters, the story ended mid sentence and the next page was a different story! I thought I’d bought a book with pages missing. Well it was very cheap! I checked and there was no list of chapters so I had to flick through the book to look at the sections. I found that it was actually six stories and that this one would pick up later in the book, so I persevered.

All the stories are told in different styles, structures, language and grammar. All include a range of characters in varying times and places each having some connection to the others. Structurally it is unusual as five of the stories are split into two sections and are told in chronological order. The sixth is told in one single reading. The other five are then completed in reverse order ending with the first one. Yes, confusing!

The first is set in the mid 19th century on a ship in the Pacific and is told by an American notary in diary style. The second is set between the First and Second World Wars in Belgium and is a series of letters from a musician to his first love. The third is a thriller style story set in 1970s California about a journalist trying to uncover big business corruption. The fourth is my favourite, The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish which is set in modern day Britain. Timothy Cavendish, an aging publisher, is in debt and trying to flee from thugs. He ends up incarcerated in a Draconian old people’s care home with some really funny dialogue and situations. The fifth story is set in Korea with a clone bred for service in a fast food chain being interviewed prior to her execution. The sixth story is told completely and is set in post apocalyptic Hawaii. I found this pretty savage and the most difficult to follow due to the language style. It's reminiscent of Huckleberry Finn but certainly not a light read. After this the author then returns to complete the five stories going back in time to the first. Confused? Well so was I for a while.

I suppose the main theme of all the stories is about power and the tendency of the strong to oppress the poor or weaker. It also concerns greed, prejudice, slavery, environmental issues and friendship. There are some very depressing sections about man’s inhumanity to their fellow man and woman but there are also some hilarious sections.

This book is no easy read but it’s cleverly constructed, very well written, thought provoking and I have to say I did enjoy it. The mark of a good book for me is one I learn something from and makes me really think. This book certainly meets those criteria and I brought it home with me. I’ll definitely read it again!

I'm Definitely Losing It!

2011-05-09T20:58:00.000+01:00

There are some days I think I’m doing OK then others when I know I’m losing the plot. Today was one of the losing the plot days.

I decided I needed to increase my level of activity from one or two swims a week to at least three. Doctors nowadays are daft about giving you tablets to keep your cholesterol and blood pressure levels low, well that came from the government! The downside is that it’s proving hard for people to get travel insurance once they start you on the tablets. It’s a mad world as those taking the tablets with the low blood pressure and cholesterol have got to be a safer bet to insure than those who don’t bother but it doesn’t work like that.

Today was the day I started to increase the swimming. I also thought I’d try out my new swimming costume that I bought last week. The one I currently use is two years old and has lasted amazingly well considering how many times it has been worn. I think it’s a combination of less chemicals in the new swimming pools, think they use bio-filters and also the new chlorine resistant fabrics which some swimming costume manufacturers use. I’ve been expecting my current costume to give up the ghost for a while and been looking for a new one. Don't want it to disintegrate on holiday! It’s taken a while as I’m a bit picky. I have to say, I don’t like them too loose or after they get wet you look like a saggy sack of potatoes. I’ve made that mistake a couple of times and bought bathers that fitted comfortably only for a couple of swims. Now I know I need to buy them a little bit tight as they do give a little.

So I thought I’d test out my new bather today and grabbed it as I went out to swim. It felt really great for swimming not too tight, very comfortable and definitely not saggy! I finished the swim came out had a shower and went to get changed. As I took off the bather I noticed the little thin plastic ring that they attach the manufacturer’s tags to the costume with. It was still attached to one of the straps! Had a little giggle to myself as I thought thank goodness I hadn’t left the tags on. That would have been horrendous as Zoggs (costume manufacturer) attach four fairly large oval tags to their goods. One tells you about the chlorine resistant fabric they use, the second tells you what size, style and colour it is and their Swim4 Fitness programme, the third tells you the leg height of the bather (most important) and the last has the Zoggs logo and website information. Now just imagine all that that stuff flapping about on your back as you swim and you can’t see it. I kept on smiling about it as I got ready thinking I’d hardly dare show my face again if I’d left them on. People would be thinking what an old nutter she is, can’t even take the tags off her bather!

As I bent down to put on my shoes I stopped smiling. This is what I saw on the floor. Yes, four soggy Zoggs tags. Argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not sure I dare go back!

Ratking - Michael Dibdin

2011-04-03T19:07:00.019+01:00

I watched the TV series Zen earlier this year and really enjoyed it. My posting The Books of Zen described it and I have eventually managed to get some of Michael Dibdin's books out of the library and Ratking is the first in the eleven book series.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book even though the characters and story bear little resemblance to the BBC TV series. They are both very good in their own right.

This first book of the series introduces Aurelio Zen, the Venetian detective who has been demoted to a desk job in the Ministry of Interior in Rome, following his working involvement in the Aldo Moro kidnapping and murder in 1978. Someone had to carry the can and it was Zen! Now a married but separated fifty - something, he lives with his elderly mother in Rome and works as a Ministry snooper making trips to provincial capitals and typing up reports.

When a rich and powerful businessman is kidnapped and after over four months hasn’t been found, “they” need “someone” to investigate as a gesture. Eventually they think of Zen! All the while Zen has to watch his back and keep out of trouble.

Have to say the story kept me guessing until the end as the culprit wasn’t the same one as in the telly programme!

This is no ordinary detective story, it is very well written. There is great humour, political comment, descriptive passages about the beauty of Italy and its cities as well as wonderful characters often typifying the different parts of Italy. Although you have to bear in mind that the book was published in 1988 so things have probably changed a bit since then!

A mark of a good book for me is one that not only entertains me but makes me feel something about the characters and the setting. It’s an added bonus if I learn something from it. I certainly enjoyed this book, loved the characters and I felt as though I learned a lot about

Italy

and its people as well as its problems. Have to say I particularly liked the humour and the way it is woven into informing us about

Italy

’s peoples.

Zen and his mother are from Venice, the North and they are now living in Rome, the South! (Obviously the North South divide is not peculiar to the UK!) Well I remember learning about the Re-Unification of Italy in the Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries in our history lessons but I hadn’t really thought about the implications of this before, that these cities were independent until then and now Rome rules!

There are a few really humorous conversations about this divide which I loved. Here’s an example from the beginning of the book where Zen, a Veronese and a Roman are stuck on a train due to an unofficial stoppage. Zen is listening whilst the Roman and the Veronese are arguing about the state of the country which the Veronese thinks is in chaos:

….there are worse things than chaos.” (The Roman)

“What might they be?” (The Veronese)

“Too much order.”

The Veronese made a contemptuously dismissive gesture.
“Too much order? Don’t make me laugh. In this country too much order wouldn’t even be enough. It’s always the same. The trains are late? Build a new railway! The South is poor? Open a new factory! The young are illiterate? Hire more teachers! There are too many civil servants? Retire them on big pensions! The crime rate is soaring? Pass new laws! But for the love of God don’t expect us to make the railways or factories we have run efficiently, or make the teachers or bureaucrats do an honest day’s work, or make people respect the existing laws. Oh no! Because that would smack of dictatorship or tyranny, and we can’t have that!”

The conversation goes on comparing the North and South to order and chaos and all the while Zen is sitting thinking that although he's a Northerner, he doesn’t want to live in an ordered Northern land where everything runs like clockwork. Life’s not about that, it’s about ordinary working people like the two working class lads in the corridor who have energy, drive and flair. Then the two lads come into the carriage and proceed to rob them. Brilliant!

STOP PRESS!!!

I've just read that the BBC in their wisdom????? have not commissioned a second series of Zen. How stupid can they be? It had very good reviews and pretty successful Sunday night viewing figures. Crumbs what on earth will we be watching in future on Sundays. At the moment it's Antiques Roadshow which isn't exactly Sunday night viewing, followed by Waking the Dead. Now I do like Waking the Dead but this is the last series! So come on BBC get your act together!

There's a backlash against the decision and you can post a comment to indicate your support here. They may have a change of heart. After all ITV did with Foyle's War when enough fans complained. Otherwise we'll just have to hope some other channel has the good sense to pick it up.

You Know You're You're Getting on When.....

2011-03-27T20:52:00.000+01:00

Leonard Nimoy - Source Wiki Commons

Oh dear I can't believe Leonard Nimoy was 80 yesterday! Doesn't seem so long since I was hooked on the original Star Trek series when everyone else I knew hated it.

David Janssen

This one is even harder to accept. David Janssen would have been 80 today if he had lived. I loved him in The Fugitive but my favourite role for him was in Harry O. He got the chance to show he was a great character actor in that series. Sad he died so young but the photograph above is the way we like to remember him.

Hard to believe that the actors from your youth are that old. Makes you realise that you are definitely getting on.

Happy birthday to them both, wherever they are.

Take That and Fake That - Comic Relief

2011-03-20T01:32:00.005Z

The BBC have uploaded the Take That Comic Relief video. I loved this take off cleverly based on Take That's earlier videos. Love the song too!

Laughed myself silly at these five brilliant comedians, David Walliams, Catherine Tate, James Corden, Alan Carr and John Bishop. They enjoyed every minute too from what I saw on the full video which I downloaded from iTunes for only £1.89. Worth every penny!

I see the live version of Take That and Happy Now is on You Tube. So if you want to see the real thing it's here.

Funny now they're not calling them "Take That and Robbie Williams". Wonder if it's working better than everyone thought and he's back for good! Pardon the pun Take That fans!

It's Comic Relief Again!

2011-03-19T01:49:00.013Z

Seems to come around so fast and yet it's only every other year that the UK goes a bit daft to raise money for Comic Relief.

I bought red noses for the grandchildren to take to school and a large plastic one for the grille at the front of the car. I love to see them when you're driving along. I was going to leave it on for a while but I read they can be a hazard if they come loose.

Also had to bake brownies for Lauren to take to school to sell today. The children really enjoy the whole thing, baking the cakes, selling them then eating them. Not exactly healthy but it's only every two years. She came back from school saying some of the children were disappointed because they didn't get one, they sold very quickly. So we'll be baking more for her to give them on Tuesday. No rest for the wicked is there.

Another thing I enjoy about Red Nose Day is the fact that the telly is much better on these nights when like Children in Need, the show totally takes over the BBC. You get some really good music and lots of funny sketches. I suppose the most important aspect is raising awareness about how the money they raise goes to help vulnerable people. The film clips of Africa are heartbreaking.

Despite all the economic problems people are still being so generous with their time and money. Makes you think the world isn't such a bad place after all the terrible things we've been seeing in recent weeks. People still care about each other.

I really enjoyed a lot of the music tonight but this year they haven't made all the videos available on You Tube. You have to buy them on iTunes which I suppose raises more cash for them.

One of the funniest sketches was of James Corden (Smithy from Gavin and Stacey) trying to help create order in the planning meeting for this year's Comic Relief. The cast for the sketch was amazing, George Michael, JLS, Gordon Brown, Keira Knightley, Rio Ferdinad, Ron Weasley and Malfoy from the Harry Potter films, Sir Seb Coe, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, Tom Daley and even Justin Bieber playing the keyboard! This is available on iTunes so might have to get it to have another good laugh at it. George Michael was really good when Smithy was taking the mickey out of him!

UPDATE = Just bought the Smithy 11 from iTunes and it has loads of stuff on.

It is now available on You Tube, just watched it again and George Michael is brilliant!

If you're a fan of Downton Abbey and Upstairs Downstairs you might enjoy this spoof with a host of stars including Kim Cattrell, Victoria Wood, Jennifer Saunders, Harry Enfield, Joanna Lumley to name but a few. This one is available on You Tube:

Part One

Part Two

Shame the Take That and the Fake That spoof videos have to be bought, I really enjoyed them. However it's all in a good cause.

Also loved Miranda Hart and Patricia Hodge dancing with JLS. Brilliant! Not winning X Factor hasn't done them any harm. Oops that's a double negative I think! They seem to be more popular than Alexandra Burke who apparently won. It's not a programme I watch!

They seem to be raising a phenomenal amount of money tonight, so best of British to them!

If you can access BBC iPlayer you can see most of the programme here now.

The Reader

2011-03-06T00:02:00.006Z

The Reader - Bernhard Schlink

The Reader was chosen as the Bloggers' Book Club book for February. So here's my review:

I was very disappointed with this book, after all it had such great reviews and recommendations.

I enjoyed the first three chapters, the prose was simple but it created very vivid pictures as Michael Berg relates the story of his illness and first meetings with Hanna. It was downhill all the way after that!

The style of the book changes in second part where it becomes a much more philosophical read, maybe reflecting Michael's move from childhood to an adult in the second part. We see Hanna being tried for war crimes, Michael observing the trial and eventually the move towards Hanna's release. The theme of collective guilt over the Holocaust and how the different generations in Germany deal with it is covered by Michael.

For me the main reason I didn't like the book was, I couldn’t feel any empathy whatsoever with either of the two main characters. From what we learn about them, I felt they were cold, unemotional, selfish and detached. Michael, for example hardly mentions his mother, his wife and his daughter, the other women in his life.

The novel raises questions but I never felt there were any answers. Well to be honest, how can there be any answers to such a horrendous theme as the Holocaust, national and individual guilt. However there were other questions which remained unanswered and these were in the author’s power to resolve, but for some reason he didn’t. Hanna’s so called secret wasn’t difficult to guess right from their early meetings. However for Hanna’s final action, no answer was given or even hinted at.

The book evoked no real emotion from me other than frustration. It really should have done, given the fact that it was dealing with horrific war crimes. No tears, no sadness, no joy, no smiles. I kept waiting for answers which never materialised. I also felt I didn’t learn anything from this book which I feel is such a waste.

Elsa - The Lion That Changed the World!

2011-02-02T21:40:00.002Z

George Adamson - source Wiki Commons

Last night I watched the Natural World wildlife documentary which told the true story of Elsa, the orphaned lioness featured in Joy Adamson’s book Born Free, later made into an amazing film. The programme continued where the film left off and included contributions from some of the people who worked with Joy and George Adamson as they fought to return Elsa to living wild and later with other lions from the film and the famous lion, Christian. Tragically both Joy and George Adamson were murdered in their beloved Kenya but not by wild animals, by people.

The true story was not the idyllic one told in the book, the Adamson’s relationship was a volatile one as David Attenborough recounted in the programme. He also told of how he woke up in a tent one morning with a huge lion lying on his chest, that was his introduction to Elsa! Not only was the Adamsons' relationship a difficult one, the making of the film was not an easy one either as Virginia McKenna who played Joy Adamson in the film recounted. Her emotions were apparent as she returned to Maru, Kenya where she and her husband Bill Travers met George and Joy Adamson. She is the sole survivor of the two couples.

The film sparked a massive global interest in conservation and a love of wild animals where once we only feared them. It also changed the lives of the stars of the film, Bill Travers and his wife Virginia McKenna forever. They became firm friends of the Adamsons, especially George, and then went on to become campaigning conservationists who set up the Born Free Foundation . The Foundation works throughout the world to stop individual wild animal suffering and to protect threatened species in the wild. I'll be buying Christmas cards from there this year.

Yes, Elsa really did make a huge difference!

Fifty years ago when the Adamsons were returning Elsa to the wild lions were not under threat. With the increasing population in Africa their territories have reduced and the additional problem of poachers has sadly reduced the population of lions living free in Kenya to 1,000.

If you missed the programme it’s still available on BBC iPlayer It's an absolute gem!

If you can't watch the programme on iPlayer you can see some lovely video clips on the George Adamson Father of Lions website . It also has some wonderful photographs of all the lions including Elsa and George's favourite, Boy, one of the lions in the film Born Free.

I’m not ashamed to admit I blubbered most of the way through the programme, especially when they showed original footage of Elsa with the Adamsons and later clips from the film. Born Free had an amazing soundtrack with wonderful music composed by John Barry who sadly died this week. I just have to hear this and I fill up!

Here's a clip from Born Free, it's over forty years old and still better than most of the films being produced today!

The Books of Zen!

2011-01-17T15:55:00.001Z

No this is not a post about Buddhism!

Rufus Sewell

I have a new telly favourite, Zen!

Episode 1 aired a couple of weeks ago and I thought it was quite good. After episode 2, I thought, well I really like this. Episode 3, the last one aired last night and now I'm hooked. I loved it!

I tried to figure out why I liked it so much and had to conclude that it was just different to a lot of the crime stuff that we're offered today. A breath of fresh air.

Rufus Sewell is great as Aurelio Zen, the divorced, Venetian, suave, sophisticated and honest, detective who lives with his mother. None of your shouting and swearing from Zen, if anything he underplays the role which works brilliantly.

The length of the episodes is just right at one and a half hours and allows the story to be told without that rushing to complete it in less than an hour like many crime programmes nowadays. This amount of time lets you get to know the characters which I think really does help. No ads too on the BBC so you really get your moneys worth!

The approach to the casting and script is very quirky. All actors are English and speak with a range of English accents. Zen greets his mother with “Caio Mamma” then in his slightly Cockney accent (well sounds that way to a Northerner) asks “What time is supper”? The only actors without English accents are his girlfriend, played by the beautiful Caterina Murino who looks a little like Sophia Loren, and his mother. They do a lot of that continental double cheek kissing too.

The Italian scenery is gorgeous, it really was filmed in Rome. The parks, churches, cafes, restaurants and apartments really make a delightful change from what we usually see nowadays. Zen himself wanders about in wonderfully cut suits; he would have made an amazing James Bond!

I do like the dry sense of humour too and last night's episode really had me laughing out loud. I won’t say why, that would spoil it.

Just have to hope the series proves popular so we get to see more of Zen. Have to say it’s one of the best programmes I’ve seen in a long while, Well worth the cost, whatever it was.

I must try to get hold of some of Michael Dibdin's books to see how the adaptations compare. From what I've read Zen was a bit older in the books and not quite so cool and laid back. Well there are eleven books so plenty of material for more episodes.

If you missed Zen and can use the BBCs iPlayer I’d recommend you give it a try although you won’t get the benefit of that Roman scenery on a computer. If you can’t access iPlayer you can get a brief flavour on YouTube here, although not a lot of the lovely scenery. A bit of graffiti, a bit of a cafe and a lot of kissing!

Post 171

Able Seacat Simon, D.M., R.N. (1947-1949)

2010-11-28T01:08:00.004Z

A little while ago I wrote a posting in memory of Able Seacat Simon of HMS Amethyst, the cat who was born on Stonecutters Island Hong Kong and was adopted by the crew of HMS Amethyst. He was a wonderful support to the crew when HMS Amethyst became involved in the Yangtse Incident and eventually was awarded the Dickin Medal, the animal award for gallantry, often referred to as the "Animals' Victoria Cross". I won’t repeat the information here but if you want to read the heart warming story of Simon take a look here. As I reported Simon was buried in Plot 281 of the PDSA's (People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals) animal cemetery at Ilford, east of London.

Recently I had a lovely email from Bob William Green who had seen the posting and was contacting me to thank me for keeping Simon’s memory alive through the posting. Bob reminded me that today, 28th November 2010, is the 61st anniversary of Simon’s passing so I thought it was timely to update the information.

Bob told me that Lt Commander Stewart Hett was
"Number One" Officer on HMS Amethyst and present on the bridge during the entire escape down the Yangtse.

"Had he not have taken the picture of Simon's Grave in November 2007 at the rededication of the Cemetery, also published on the Maritime Quest website, I would have never come out of the shadows to tell my story. It serves to reinforce the value of companionship of an animal in a family."

Bob also told me that it’s believed that he is the only surviving civilian who met Simon in 1949; he was eight years old at the time.

You can see some lovely photographs of Simon, the crew of the ship and Lt Commander Stewart Hett at Simon's grave on the Maritime Quest website. There's also a very moving tribute from Bob.

Bob’s granddad who was in the Royal Navy during the First World War was instrumental in bringing about Bob’s contact with Simon, he was also responsible for the ships' mascots during his own time in the service. His cat "Ordinary Seacat Togo" is also recorded on this site.

The Maritime Quest website Bob told me about is an interesting one, recording a photographic history of the world’s great ships. I’ve had a look and it’s a site I’ll be coming back to. My Dad was in the Royal Navy during World War 2 so I’d like to see if there are any of the ships he sailed on.

I'm very grateful to Bob for getting in touch, it was very kind of him to give me some more information about this wonderful little cat and the people who loved him. As he said:

"So many of stories from the past disappear with the passage of time, I believe it is up to us, those who remember or had contact with these things, to try to perpetuate them for the enrichment of the future generations. Such stories will never be told again."

Post 170

Take That And Robbie Williams

2010-10-29T14:22:00.004+01:00

Well who'd have thought it! They're getting together again to tour the UK in 2011 after 15 years since they split.

Even though I'm getting on a bit I still love pop music particularly talented groups that write, produce and perform their own music.
It was great to see Take That reunite in 2005 even though it was without Robbie Williams. They have had massive success. Their 2009 Circus Tour was the biggest selling concert ever in the UK. I missed that but bought the DVD and it its superb.

I would have loved to have got a ticket for the new Progress Live 2011 Tour but we're on holiday in May next year so I'll miss them.

The ticket sites crashed today when the tickets went on sale with the huge demand and people have been queueing in Sunderland for tickets at The Stadium of Light since Tuesday! They've added an extra day in Sunderland but it doesn't help. I'll just have to buy the DVD like I did with the Circus Tour 2009 and enjoy it at home. Not the same experience but it was worth every penny.

Hard to choose my favourite song but The Garden with the elephant was amazing. Just watch how it squirts water from its trunk and look at the person hanging from its tail. Take a look:

Post 169

Foyle Won!

2010-10-12T23:14:00.001+01:00

Have to say I was pleased but a little surprised but Foyle's War was the winner of The People's Detective Award tonight at the ITV3 Specsaver's Annual Crime Awards. Just shows how popular it is. Let them try to cancel it again and ITV may have a big problem.

The coveted CWA Gold Dagger award went to Belinda Bauer's international best seller Blacklands as Best Crime Novel of the Year beating SJ Bolton's Blood Harvest, Karen Campbell's Shadowplay and George Pelecanos' The Way Home to the post.

You can see lots more about the remaining awards on the ITV website.

Post 168

Calling All Crime Fans

2010-10-05T14:38:00.005+01:00

Now who is your favourite TV detective? Want to vote for them?

Well this is not a totally open contest, there are only detectives from UK TV programmes to vote for as it's the ITV3 People's Detective Award.

I found it hard to choose as I like nearly all of them. I seem to watch more crime programmes than anything else at the moment. There's been a great season of programmes looking at the characteristics of the detectives and followed by an episode which I've thoroughly enjoyed. Yes, they're all repeats but better than most of the new programmes we're presented with at the moment.

As I said it was a hard choice as there are these great characters to select from:

Tom Barnaby - Midsommer Murders
Christopher Foyle - Foyle's War
Jack Frost - A Touch of Frost
Sherlock Holmes - Sherlock
Robbie Lewis - Lewis
Jane Marple - Marple
Endeavour Morse - Inspector Morse
Hercule Poirot - Poirot
John Rebus - Rebus
Jane Tennison - Prime Suspect
Reg Wexford - Wexford
Charles Wycliffe - Wycliffe

To be honest I think Inspector Morse is probably the best TV detective programme ever made, but he's not my favourite detective and although I do really like it, it's not my favourite programme. I whittled my choices down to Lewis and Foyle but eventually I chose Christopher Foyle. I love the setting during World War 2 giving you an insight into the daily life of people during the war. Well the life of some people, it was set in Hastings, Sussex so it would have been very different to life in London or other big cities which were heavily bombed. Most of all I love the quiet, intelligent and totally honest character of Christopher Foyle, played so brilliantly by Michael Kitchen. The supporting cast is great too, Honeysuckle Weeks as Sam and Anthony Howell as Sergeant Milner.

What is interesting is how popular the series was and yet ITV cancelled it. Well TV people aren't always the best at making these decisions are they. Look at the loonies in the US who cancelled Harry O for Charlie's Angels but that's another story. Even though it had a good audience which had never dropped, (the final programme was watched by 7.3 million viewers) ITV cancelled it. Partly for economic reasons and partly an attempt to attract the "yoof" audience. However the fans reacted and wrote to the press to complain and it was reinstated. You can read about it here in the Daily Telegraph's interview with the writer of Foyle's War, Anthony Horowitz.

Foyles War - Daily Telegraph

If you want to vote or find out more about the all the detectives take a look at the Specsavers Crime Thrillers Season You have until Friday 8 October.

Now will someone tell me whether there's an equivalent award for US TV detectives. If there is, I want to vote for Harry O!

Post 167

Cheap Flights!

2010-09-20T23:05:00.000+01:00

If you've tried to book a no frills flight on the Internet recently you'll know exactly how this feels. I won't say the name of the airline but if you live in the UK or Ireland, you'll know exactly who it's aimed at! (Rhymes with Bryan)

WARNING - If you're of a nervous disposition stop watching at 4 mins 12 secs as the language and topics get a bit rich! Now don't say I didn't warn you.

Post 166

Every Home Needs a Harvey!

2010-09-15T22:57:00.002+01:00

Now I've never really believed in the power of telly advertising. Most of them just get on my nerves with their flying cars, stupid mobile phone ads and washing powders that don't get your clothes any whiter or cleaner than the cheapest stuff on the market.
They interrupt the programmes but at least you can go for a loo break or make a cuppa! One thing the BBC has in its favour is no adverts. Well only the ones advertising their programmes!

I can remember the first time I ever saw a TV advert, it was in a Jerry Lewis film. Yes I'm ancient and remember the golden time when we had no adverts on telly. It made me laugh as I'd never seen anything like it. There was this old woman watching a huge colour telly and as each product advert came onto the screen she started using it. As I said I laughed, it was so stupid. The only thing I can remember about the products was one turned her hair bright pink. No wonder I don't believe in TV ads.

I had started to write a posting on telly adverts when they started to show the new one about Harvey last week which shows the power of TV advertising. My grandchildren were falling about laughing at it just like I did with the Jerry Lewis film.

Maybe I should rethink my ideas a bit. I need a Harvey!

Post 165

Cadfael

2010-08-23T21:42:00.001+01:00

I've been neglecting the Telly Addict blog I started last year but here's the latest addition, Cadfael.

One of my all time favourite TV shows. A true touch of class!

Post 164

More Conversations With Lauren

2010-08-05T00:16:00.000+01:00

Most years we go on holiday to Rhodes with my daughter and her family. Earlier this year my husband had to have an operation and so we couldn't go with them to Rhodes. I was trying to explain it to Lauren as she had looked forward to the holiday for months. She especially loves our swims together in the pool above. Here's what happened:

Lauren: Nanna, why can’t you come on holiday with us?

Me: Because granddad is poorly and he can’t come.

Lauren: Well why are you keeping him then?

Mmm...... Good question Lauren!

Post 163

Please Release Me!

2010-08-03T19:03:00.002+01:00

Harry O

Do you remember Harry O?

I do. He's my all time favourite TV detective. Harry O was a classic American crime drama television series that aired for two seasons from 1974 to 1976.

The series starred David Janssen as Harry Orwell, a private detective living on the beach in a cottage near San Diego. He had been a San Diego policeman until he was shot in the back and forced into retirement.

Harry O is probably the best American TV crime drama of the past thirty years and the character Harry O was without a doubt one of the most compelling. It was very likely one of David Janssen’s best performances.

The series had brilliant scripts, written by Howard Rodman who created the series. They were full of humour, wit and often melancholy. The cinematography was unusual and elegant, more typical of film than TV. Harry was a well rounded character, bohemian, complex, vulnerable and memorably portrayed by David Janssen. His voiceovers were a significant part of the early shows where he philosophised about his life. Remember?

Days happen to you... and sometimes I wish I could go back to when I was 17 again. When I was 17, I once said, “A woman is like a bus -- let her go. There’ll be another one along in five minutes.” But that was a long time ago...

Take a trip down memory lane, listen to the great theme tune and watch a clip of David Janssen's wonderful portrayal of Harry O in part of an early programme in the first series, Gertrude. The quality isn't brilliant but it's OK.

Oh how I love those voiceovers!

I remember watching this on the BBC on Saturday evenings. It was very popular in the UK possibly because Harry O was more like the kind of TV detective we tend to prefer. Flawed, vulnerable and with a good heart! The locations in San Diego and then later in Los Angeles were a bit different for us too.

Unfortunately the series was axed after only two seasons as the demand for more violent TV programmes increased and Universal Studios who produced it went along with that.

Sadly it has never been released on DVD. Currently Warner Brothers holds the rights and has no plans to do so. There are numerous scam websites taking money for Harry O DVDs that don’t materialise and others that sell low quality materials produced from TV showings, so don't fall for the scams. So many other TV programmes of this genre, yet nowhere near the quality, have been released, but this one has not.

I have to say I'd love to see this series again and so I created a petition to send to Warner Brothers who seem reluctant to release it.

If you remember the series and would like to support this petition please sign it. If you have never seen Harry O, and you prefer more realistic TV crime dramas than the ones we are fed with today, perhaps you’d like to sign too. You would be in for a treat!

If you'd like to help promote the petition please feel free to put it onto your Blog, email to friends or put it onto Facebook. I'd be very grateful.

Post 162

A Bad Week in January

2010-07-30T16:39:00.000+01:00

It started as a bad week in January and it kept me from blogging for quite a while.

On the Sunday, our little old cat Tuppence started to have serious problems with her heart and although I didn’t realise it at the time her joints were giving her trouble too. As if that wasn’t bad enough two days later my husband was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus (gullet). It has been a difficult few months and thankfully Eric has recovered but sadly little Tuppence didn’t. It was heartbreaking letting her go, but it was the best thing for her. I started to wonder whether we were ever going to get back to a normal life.

I won’t go into the details of my husband’s treatment, all I’ll say is that it’s been fantastic and thankfully, successful. Well as successful as things can ever be when you've had cancer. There are no guarantees.

Our National Health Service comes in for criticism but I have to say it's amazing. The speed at which my husband was treated and the quality of treatment and care was phenomenal. I dread to think how much it must have cost. The care has continued with our local community nurses who came out every day after he was discharged. If we were relying on private medical insurance, I doubt if we would be able to get it for him. If we could, we wouldn’t be able to afford it. It’s already a nightmare getting his travel insurance.

I try not to be too Political (with a capital P) when I blog. However I hope the Conservative government invests as much in the NHS as the previous Labour government has done. The Conservative track record on the NHS isn't good. Margaret Thatcher and co. decimated it by massive underfunding. The NHS is one of Britain's greatest achievements and it’s our country's most most priceless asset! So politics over, now to the information bit of the posting.

Check this out and be aware of the dangers of oesophageal cancer as very few people know much about it.

We hadn't heard anything about cancer of the oesophagus before January and although it's not common, it's the seventh most common of the cancers in the UK with 7,000 new cases every year. We were surprised to find that it's on the increase worldwide. Apparently the North East of England and Scotland have the highest incidence of this type of cancer in Europe.

There are two different types of cancer of the oesophagus, adenocarcinoma and squamous. I won't go into detail here, you can find out more on the Patient UK website.

What causes Oesophageal Cancer?

Apparently there are various causes of cancer of the oesophagus:

Ageing! It's more common in people over 65 and in men.
Diet is a possible factor. A high fat diet and obesity are thought to increase the risk and a vegetable and fruit rich diet is thought to reduce it.
Smoking.
Drinking a lot of alcohol especially spirits.
Acid reflux.
Food and drink temperatures. Some research has shown that high temperatures could be a factor.
China and the Far East has a higher incidence than Europe. This could be due to environmental factors and/or diet.

If you want to find out more about the causes check out Cancer Research UK.

So what are the symptoms?

Well unfortunately there are no early symptoms for this type of cancer. Sadly most cases are advanced before they are diagnosed. The most common symptom is difficulty swallowing and feeling that your food is getting stuck in your throat. Less common symptoms are persistent hiccups, coughing, weight loss, indigestion and vomiting.

Eric was one of the few people diagnosed through a total fluke. His symptoms hadn't been any of those listed but our local doctor sent him for an endoscopy to try to find out what exactly was wrong. This detected a minute tumour which was then found to be cancerous but thankfully it was diagnosed very early. He had his operation (very drastic) but didn't need any further treatment. It's been a slow recovery for him and he still has quite a long way to go, but he has a very positive attitude which certainly helps.

It goes to show that you should always get checked when your symptoms are persistent.

As for me, I'm just starting to relax and get my life back on track. Well I was this week and now we have the school holidays and grandchildren. No rest for the wicked!

Post 161

Conversations With Lauren

2010-07-27T16:19:00.022+01:00

I have some great conversations with my granddaughter Lauren. I really should have recorded them all.

The problem is I haven't to laugh. She hates you laughing at her. However sometimes it's hard to keep a straight face.

On the way back from the park this afternoon this was how the conversation went:

Lauren: Niamh's grandma got runned over by a bus.
Me: I hope she's better now.
Lauren: No, she's in the ground. That's what happens when you get runned over, you get digged in the road!

There's no answer to that!

Post 160

Ridiculous Complaints Made by British Holidaymakers

2010-07-21T21:35:00.001+01:00

Often when you’re on holiday, you hear people making daft comments/complaints about the hotel, food, staff etc. Obviously I only hear the English comments, aside from English, I only speak a smattering of Spanish so I have no idea what the French, German, Russian holidaymakers say about the place. Our reputation is one of a nation of moaners and I sometimes think they’re right.

A couple of years ago in a Greek hotel we've stayed at for a number of years, one particular English family complained about the food. Believe me the food was amazing. At lunch there were two restaurants serving lots of different dishes, meat, fish, pasta, vegetables, salad etc. There were, Chinese buffet two evenings, French & Greek a la carte two evenings, Italian & Greek buffets the other evenings and there was a fantastic choice of all types of hot and cold food. My daughter and I don’t eat meat yet we never have a problem finding lovely food. Well this family complained about the food and asked to eat in the Chinese restaurant every night. They said that all they had to eat was pizza and chips for two weeks. What a load of rubbish! I don’t know where they had been eating but it certainly wasn’t at the hotel. They even commented on Trip Advisor that they had never been so pleased to see a McDonalds. What a shower!

I read about the “Twenty Most Ridiculous Complaints Made by Holidaymakers” on the Daily Telegraph website today and maybe they were not the most stupid tourists after all. These complaints were taken from research by Thomas Cook and ABTA.

Here they are in all their stupidity:

"We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our swimming costumes and towels."
A tourist at a top African game lodge overlooking a waterhole, who spotted a visibly aroused elephant, complained that the sight of this rampant beast ruined his honeymoon by making him feel "inadequate".
"On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food at all."
"It's lazy of the local shopkeepers to close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during 'siesta' time - this should be banned."
"I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts."
"I was bitten by a mosquito - no-one said they could bite."
"It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or unruly guests before we travel."
"We had to queue outside with no air conditioning."
"We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as yellow but it was white."
"There are too many Spanish people. The receptionist speaks Spanish. The food is Spanish. Too many foreigners."
"The brochure stated: 'No hairdressers at the accommodation'. We're trainee hairdressers - will we be OK staying here?"
"I compared the size of our one-bedroom apartment to our friends' three-bedroom apartment and ours was significantly smaller."
"My fiancé and I booked a twin-bedded room but we were placed in a double-bedded room. We now hold you responsible for the fact that I find myself pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked."
"It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England it only took the Americans three hours to get home."
"No-one told us there would be fish in the sea. The children were startled."
"We bought 'Ray-Ban' sunglasses for five euros (£3.50) from a street trader, only to find out they were fake."
"Topless sunbathing on the beach should be banned. The holiday was ruined as my husband spent all day looking at other women."
A guest at a Novotel in Australia complained his soup was too thick and strong. He was inadvertently slurping the gravy at the time.
"The beach was too sandy."
A woman threatened to call police after claiming that she’d been locked in by staff. When in fact, she had mistaken the “do not disturb” sign on the back of the door as a warning to remain in the room.

I wonder whether people from other countries are as daft as this! You start to think that maybe everyone should take an IQ test when they apply for a passport.

Well as my Mam used to say “Some folks are just not safe to be let out!”

Post 159

Change of Background

2010-06-26T21:21:00.004+01:00

I decided to change my Blog background. I chose the clouds and aeroplane design because that's where I'd like to be at the moment. Even though the weather is lovely, I'd love to be on a plane going somewhere different where I wouldn't have to worry about cooking or cleaning. I can dream.

The biggest plus of all would be I wouldn't have to watch the World Cup either!

Post No 158

Anyone for a Tattoo?

2010-06-25T13:59:00.000+01:00

I felt like a bit of a laugh today and so as I was on YouTube I watched some Victoria Wood. You just can't beat her when you need a bit of cheer!

Take a look here on my Telly Addict Blog.

Post No 157

Can you believe it?

2010-06-23T21:24:00.006+01:00

I’ve been watching John Isner (USA) & Niicolas Mahut (France) playing tennis at Wimbledon on Court 18.

So what’s amazing about that you ask. Well they started to play yesterday in a first round Wimbledon tennis match. It has continued today and will go into its third day tomorrow.

The match has broken all kinds of records. The final set alone has lasted longer than any tennis match.

It's the longest Grand Slam tennis match ever played (almost 10 hours and not finished yet), has the most games ever played in a tennis match and the most aces served, 98 (Isner) 95 (Mahut).

The final set has just been abandoned at about 9.15pm due to bad light. The score? 59 games all.

Forget the World Cup! This is much better.

Post 156

Let the Great World Spin - Colum McCann - Book Review

2010-06-16T00:02:00.008+01:00

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Set in the late summer of 1974, Colum McCann’s novel is the story of lives that touch and the centre of the story is Petit’s high wire walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre. The character’s seemingly disparate stories are interwoven around that walk.

There’s Corrigan the Irish monk who lives among prostitutes and drug dealers in the Bronx and his brother Ciaran who comes to visit and struggles to understand his younger brother and what motivates him. Have to say I couldn’t understand either of them. There are the prostitutes Jazzlyn and her mother, Tillie, struggling to survive in a world of drugs and violence, a group of mothers whose sons have died in Vietnam have formed to mourn their sons and support each other but find that too much divides them. An artistic, wealthy and decadent couple complete the list of characters and their actions have a great impact on the lives of other characters.

I’ll come clean at this point and admit that it didn’t take me long to realise this book just wasn’t my cup of tea! I had read glowing descriptions and reviews about it, so I kept going. All those others couldn't be wrong. Could they? However if I hadn’t been reading it to review I would have given up by page 31.

Why didn’t I like it. Well maybe I wasn’t in the right mood to read this book, I was feeling quite down due to family worries. I have to say that very few of the characters interested me and I found the themes and language depressing. I will admit that at times I found his writing absolutely beautiful. His descriptions of the training that Petit did were wonderful but I found I couldn’t get interested in the tightrope walker at all. There was nothing elicited about the character, only his tightrope walking.

The stories of the various characters varied significantly but I found nearly all of them depressing and a couple seemed totally irrelevant. The first story which set up the main tragedy of the book started really well with the two Irish brothers growing up in Dublin. However very soon it descended in to gloom and darkness, with the characters’ lives full of drugs, prostitution and death in New York. I would never have got beyond this part of the book if left to myself. Two of the stories just bored me, the photographer riding the subway and the computer hackers. There were touches of humour but not enough of them to lighten the novel for me. I sound as though all I want from a book is happy characters and a happy ending, I don’t. One of my favourite books is Captain Correlli’s Mandolin. That book reduced me to tears at times but then within minutes I was laughing my head off and the characters were so full of life. Let The Great World Spin just didn’t move me at all.

Still I plodded on reminding myself that luckily once I had finished, I had a PG Wodehouse Jeeves and Wooster book and a couple of the wonderful Patrick O’Brian novels about Aubrey and Maturin to lift my spirits. As I said earlier maybe I wasn’t in the right mood for this book and I should try it again when I'm in a more positive mood.

View all my reviews on Goodreads >>

Post No 155

Bye Bye My Lovely Little Tuppence

2010-06-09T12:42:00.005+01:00

Woe is Me! Post 152

2010-05-19T15:19:00.010+01:00

I’m a real misery today. I’ve just waved off my daughter and her family who are off on holiday to Rhodes. So why am I miserable? Well we booked this family holiday a year ago and have looked forward to it since then.

We go on holiday every year with them and it’s wonderful. Mornings getting up to lovely sunshine and going to breakfast with them. Days lazing by the pools, swimming with my grandchildren, games, wandering around the shops in old Rhodes Town, lovely meals as a family and no washing up! It’s bliss. I spend a lot of time with my grandchildren especially on holiday, so I'm going to miss them so much.

This year however it feels like there’s been a curse on it. There were the flight problems with the volcanic ash cloud and then the troubles in Greece caused by their failing economy and closure of their airports. However these pale into insignificance in comparison with our family problems. My husband had to have a serious operation a few weeks ago and it will take him a long time to recover. It’s one of the reasons why I haven’t been blogging and also I have no energy. Things like this help you get things into perspective.

Well I had a few tears after they left about what we’re missing but I’m thankful Eric will hopefully make a good recovery and we can all have a holiday together next year. I’m also thankful that the ash cloud problems are less, the problems in Greece have subsided and my family are all well and are going to have a lovely holiday.

It’s going to be a long fortnight without them and a long year until I see this lovely view again.

Kalithea Bay

The Wireless - Post 151

2010-04-20T23:50:00.013+01:00

Source: Wiki Commons

The word wireless means something totally different today to what it meant to me when I was growing up. It's an adjective today, when I was little it was a noun. The wireless was what's called radio today. Well most people call it radio. I don't, mostly I still call it the wireless.

I started wondering why it was called a wireless when it still had wires. So I looked it up and found some interesting stuff about it.

Apparently there's confusion over who invented radio, which at the time was apparently called wireless telegraphy, so understandably they shortened it to "wireless".

"Radio is the wireless transmission of signals, by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of light."

However, it still needed to be plugged in!

When I was little we used to listen to the wireless all the time, well we didn't have a telly until after the Coronation in 1953. Even after that we still listened to the wireless a lot as the telly programmes were only on in the evening.

My memories of listening to the wireless are mainly of Sundays after we'd been to church. Mam would be preparing the Sunday dinner, (we didn't call it lunch) and the wireless was always tuned to the BBC Light programme, (now Radio 2). The sounds and the smells of those Sundays are some of my strongest and happiest memories of my youth.

First was Two Way Family Favourites which had started life as Forces Favourites. It was a great request programme with Jean Metcalfe and Cliff Mitchelmore. There were other presenters but those two are the ones that stay in my mind. It must have had the most famous introduction to a British radio programme ever:

"The time in Britain is twelve noon, in Germany it's one o'clock, but home and away it's time for Two-Way Family Favourites".

Take a trip down memory lane with that famous theme music "With a Song in My Heart".

Don't know why they don't resurrect it again for the forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Would go down a treat. Crumbs, I nearly said bomb!

There were other programmes such as The Billy Cotton Band Show and The Clitheroe Kid. However my favourite out of all of them was Round The Horne. I laughed 'til I cried listening to this.

It was absolutely wild and brilliant comedy, written by Marty Feldman and Barry Took. I'm sure the Python Team must have been influenced by it.

Rambling Syd Rumpold was one of my favourites. Here's a video clip of Kenneth Williams on the Michael Parkinson Show. He's one of the funniest people I've ever seen or heard. However I still think it was funnier on the wireless where you had to imagine all the visuals.

I think we laughed because we couldn't understand half of it. The double entendres went right over our heads. I wonder if that's how it got past the powers that be in the BBC. My Mam would have turned it off if she had understood what they were saying. We were obviously very naive back then. I grew up pretty clueless as she always switched off the telly if anything even slightly risque came on.

Here's an example of what now seems very rude. It's Julian and Sandy ( Kenneth Williams and Hugh Paddick) with Keep Britain Bona. Very topical with the General Election coming up!

It could never be broadcast now, too politically incorrect, although you can buy the CDs. Not all of the stuff is so rude. There's a brilliant skit on the BBC where they recruit Kenneth Williams for a BBC job. Great to listen to when you're bored. Maybe sitting in an airport? Really makes me laugh 'til I cry, partly through nostalgia no doubt.

I really miss those Sundays and the two Kenneths, bless them. Thank goodness for the wireless, it takes me back to a really happy time. I often wish I could go back there, just for the day.

Post 151

Update Your Secret Word

2010-04-13T19:45:00.000+01:00

Have you got this message?

To prevent abuse, a recent update to Mail2Blogger disabled easily guessable secret words. Please update your Mail2Blogger secret word.

I see it when I go to the Blogger Dashboard. It's been there a couple of weeks now and it has me flummoxed.

I'm surmising it's to do with emailing stuff to publish direct to the Blog. However the secret word thingy has me baffled. I've never set anything up as I don't use this feature. So why do I see the message? Maybe they just post it willy nilly on everyone's Blog.

Does anyone know whether we can get rid of the message or do we have to wait until Blogger decides to remove it?

Knitted Chairs? Post 150

2010-04-09T20:50:00.028+01:00

This is beginning to turn into a knitting blog. Not deliberately, it’s just the way things are panning out.

I kid you not,knitted chairs do exist. I'm not going totally ga ga just yet. Well they're knitted covers really.

Seems like a new art form to me. They even have a website dedicated to them. It’s brilliant. If you don't believe me take a look Knitted Chairs. Here's a designer one. I'd love a chair like this. It's gorgeous.

Can you believe there’s even a Knit a Chair Day in London. Take a look at last year's here on You Tube.

It's a very environmentally friendly idea. Who'd have thought you could turn ordinary plastic garden chairs into works of art.

Are you up for it?

Well here’s the link to the pattern for the chair in the top picture.

In the meantime need a tune to knit to?

Post 150

Hand Knitted Socks? - Post 149

2010-03-31T19:56:00.001+01:00

Now I've never understood the craze for knitted socks. Hand knitted ones I mean. I hadn't realised they were popular until I started looking at knitting patterns on the Internet. I thought they had died a death in the 'forties when women had to wear them because they couldn't get stockings. Well the alternative was painting that seam line up the back of their legs!

I always hated the feel of wool on my feet when I was little. I could feel the pattern of the knitting digging into the soles of my feet and they made my shoes and boots feel tight.

Even if the hand knitted socks are fine and made of 3ply wool, you have to wear a size bigger shoe. They're probably good with wellies, but as I don't ever wear wellies I've never felt the urge to knit socks. I know you can buy really soft wools and cottons now but if I wear socks, they have to be thin cotton ones.

I came across these free patterns for celebrity socks today. You can choose from Stephen Fry's QI socks, Rick Stein & Chalky or Alan Titchmarsh. So take a look and you can download the patterns free.

Well I fell in love with the Alan Titchmarsh Fantasy socks. I never wear slippers so I could wear these socks around the house. Mind you I'll still need another pair of thin cotton socks underneath!

Post 149

Free Easter Chick and Egg Pattern - Post 148

2010-03-29T18:59:00.004+01:00

Looking for an Easter Egg pattern? There's a really sweet one on the Alan Dart website which you still have time to knit. It has a chick in it and it's free to download here.

I have to say I looked at other toy patterns on this site and there are some great patterns there. The tooth fairy is brilliant and the star spangled bantam cracked me up. I think the snowflake angel might be on my Christmas tree next year and if you have a Westie, how could you resist knitting Wesley with a little tartan coat.

Post 148

I've Finally Done It! Post 147

2010-03-26T23:24:00.003Z

What you may ask have I done?

Well way back in March 2009 I signed up for swimming lessons. I even blogged about it here. I had great expectations of being able to do a passable front crawl by May. What a laugh!

Well it's been a struggle I have to say. I found it hard to co-ordinate my leg kick, raising my arms out of the water and then putting my face into the water (YUK!) to breathe.

I learned how to swim breast stroke putting my head under the water. Swimming this way means my neck doesn't hurt and I can swim for much longer. Funnily enough it's faster too. Learning this involved re-learning the stroke but I did it. However the front crawl seemed to be my Nemesis. I couldn't do more than about 10 metres unless I had flippers on. The breathing was my biggest problem, I was out of breath half way across the pool.

I was determined not to give up, so I watched lots of YouTube videos on front crawl breathing. I marvelled at people like this who seemed to swim so effortlessly. Well Mark Foster probably learned to swim when he was very young and must have spent countless hours in the pool. Well he was after speed, I'm not. I just want to be able to swim a length with a bit of style, not splashing about.

Now is it me, or do you think he looks like he's wearing flippers? He isn't, it's just his feet. Wonder what size shoes he wears!

Well watching all those videos paid off, because today I finally swam 25 metres front crawl across the pool, face in the water, very little splashing and no flippers! It felt wonderful, not quite as good as passing my driving test but it just shows you can teach an old dog new tricks!

I need to improve my style. It's not too bad, but as they say "Could do better"! Then my target will be to swim a full 50 metre length.

Wonder if I can manage a tumble turn?

Must get back to the You Tube videos.

Post 147

Normal Service Will Be Resumed As Soon As Possible - Post 146

2010-03-25T23:08:00.004Z

Bye for Now!

2010-02-04T19:20:00.003Z

I'm taking a little break from Blogging for a while.

Hope to get back soon.

Post 145

Holocaust Memorial Day 27 January

2010-01-27T14:13:00.012Z

Holocaust Memorial Day is commemorated internationally on 27th January each year. This date was chosen as it's the anniversary of the day in 1945 on which the Soviet Army liberated the largest Nazi concentration camp – Auschwitz-Birkenau.

It's a day to remember the victims and the survivors of the Nazi death camps and also Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and currently Darfur.

We can pause and reflect on what can happen when racism, prejudice and exclusionary behaviour are left unchecked. It's an issue for all humanity and we should recognise that it could happen again anywhere and at any time, unless we ensure that our society opposes discrimination, persecution and racism.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
Edmund Burke

Post 144

You Can't Beat a Brass Band!

2010-01-24T19:44:00.003Z

Blowing up the Shaft at Dawdon Pit

Funny how listening to music can set you thinking and remembering. I heard the Grimethorpe Colliery Band playing today on the Alan Titchmarch Show and it started me thinking about what happened to that band and all those like it.
I've never thought of myself as a political person, well not the political with a capital P. Yet it's funny how events can change you.
My Dad, both my grandads, all my uncles and my brother were miners and we lived in a small mining town called Seaham in the North East of England. However I went to school in another town from the age of eleven and then later I went to work even further away. Eventually I got married and went to live in another town and apart from visiting my family I basically lost touch with the community.

In 1984 events were set to change those mining communities forever. I didn't really support the Miner's Strike, even though my Dad and brother did. I thought it had been badly handled by the National Union of Mineworkers but like a lot of others, I assumed it would eventually be settled, they would go back to work and life would go on. How wrong we were!

Sadly the Thatcher Conservative government saw fit to close the mines which not only destroyed the mining industry, it destroyed lives and whole communities in the process. Despite investment and European Regeneration funding many of these have never recovered.
That Government and successive ones have had to buy coal from South America and Europe. Daft or what when there's coal in this country?

From then on I changed when I saw how that Government operated to blight people's lives whilst at the same time creating a greedy generation of people who only cared about themselves, the ME, ME, ME society. I knew then I would always vote to keep out a Conservative government. It's no wonder we have such a horrendous greedy financial sector now, Margaret Thatcher set that in motion. You reap what you sow! End of my political comment, sorry if I've offended anyone but that's how it was.

I still see the damaged community that was the town where I was born and grew up. When you're young you think things will never change, but they do and some events are irreversible. I doubt the town will ever regain the life and community spirit it had in the days when the mines were the centre of everything. The heart was torn out of it. Drugs and crime seem to thrive when everything else seems to decline. No matter how much they spend on redevelopment, new shops, factory units and roads, it doesn't resolve the problem. There are still so many people unemployed and housing stock that's depreciating because it's temporarily housing people from outside the area who have no real interest in the place where they live.
One of the things that was evident in most mining communities when they thrived was a brass band. I remember the band from the town where I lived and the days when it marched alongside the miners and their families to go to the Miners' Big Meeting in Durham every year in July.
The music of brass bands can be haunting, inspirational and truly magnificent. Thankfully some of the brass bands from the mining communities not only survived, they thrived. The Grimethorpe Colliery Band is one of those bands and it was used to create the music for one of my favourite films, Brassed Off.

It was a superb film set in "Grimley", a thinly disguised version of the real South Yorkshire village of Grimethorpe. At the time it was criticised for being too political and critical of Thatcher’s Conservative Government. The thing is, it told the truth and told the story of folk whose jobs and lives were being taken away from them with the closure of the pit.
The film starred Pete Poslethwaite, Ewan McGregor, Tara Fitzgerald and Stephen Thompkinson and was heartwarming, charming funny and truly uplifting. The music of the Grimethorpe Colliery Band was fantastic!

Well here's a clip from the film. While they are arguing about closing the mine, the band is rehearsing Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez. Now you usually hear someone like John Williams playing this on a classical guitar but just listen to it. Totally haunting and so, so sad.

No, it isn't Tara Fitgerald playing the flugelhorn, it's Paul Hughes from the real Grimethorpe band!

It’s great to know that some of these bands which have survived including the Grimethorpe Colliery Band, have got a new CD out soon, The Music Lives on Now the Mines Have Gone. I’m off to order it!

Post 143

Great Expectations!

2010-01-21T12:14:00.002Z

No! It's nothing to do with Charles Dickens! It's my expectations of myself.
I've been a bit better the attack on my procrastination this year, but I have a long way to go, so as the school reports say, "must do better" for 2010!

I have a Mailart which I desperately need to finish for Michelle and I'm ashamed of how long it's taken me. It's months overdue and I know I've had problems with my eyes and cross stitching fine stitches in poor light, but it's time to get it done. Hopefully the weather will improve and to help I've bought a magnifier and light combined. Hopefully that'll do the trick.

I'm thoroughly ashamed of the projects I have outstanding and the stash (stuff) I've accumulated. I've just looked into the black hole (cupboard under the stairs) and enough is enough! So I've decided that to help me try to produce and finish more "stuff" I'm going to record it. The aim is at least one a month and I'm going to list it on the sidebar. So I could be shaming myself in the coming months!

It's not exactly a New Year Resolution, just a realisation that something has got to be done about this before I pop my clogs and my secret stuff is revealed for everyone to see. The wool alone is taking up a mammoth amount of space and I can hardly close the cupboard door.

Tomorrow it's the on-line tax self assessment to finish. YUK!!!!!

Next the Mailart!

Post 142

Happy Birthday Elvis!

2010-01-08T17:07:00.019Z

I wasn't always an Elvis fan. I didn't like his early stuff. It was when I saw GI Blues that I started to like his singing. Funnily enough I still have that LP in its original cover.

My favourite Elvis song was The Girl of My Best Friend but I also like Suspicion which I heard the first time I went to Spain in 1963.

A girl I went to school with was an even madder fan than me and we used to go to the pictures together to see all his films. My other fnends were not that keen. The last time I went with her was to see Flaming Star. For anyone who hasn't seen the film, he dies at the end. As he was dying I had a lump in my throat even though it wasn't exactly the best of pictures or acting, it was just that it was Elvis. My friend didn't hold back though. She started to cry, then to sob really loud. Eventually the whole picture house could hear her and some people started laughing. I was absolutely mortified.

Hard to believe he would have been 75 today. Even harder to believe is that my friend didn't even make it to her 35th birthday.

I couldn't find a decent video of either of my favourite songs so here he is in his prime and in happier days in 1968. That's the way I like to remember him and my friend too.

Post 141

Christmas Reading

2010-01-04T19:07:00.011Z

Have to admit I've spent quite a lot of time reading these Christmas holidays. That's the result of too little on the telly that I fancied watching. Once I'd seen the two new episodes of Cranford, The final Doctor Who episodes and the last Gavin and Stacey, I was looking for other forms of entertainment.

I had stocked up on books from the library before Christmas as I knew there wasn't exactly a blisteringly good TV schedule ahead. I managed to get about six Anne Perry books from the William Monk series about crime in Victorian England. I read a couple of them, then realised I had one missing so had to order it before I read the rest. I hate reading books out of chronological order. So while I was waiting for the next book to arrive I branched out into some other authors who had written books about Christmas.

Skipping Christmas - John Grisham

I feel a bit of a cheat writing about this book. Up front I’ll admit, I didn't get right to the end of it. I was interested in this story about a couple who try to skip the commercialism of Christmas and go on a cruise. However it wasn’t because of any sense of sadness that the true spirit of Christmas has been lost. No! It was mainly because of the cost and the fact that their daughter is away from home for the first time in Peru!

The book cover described it as hilarious. Well it certainly isn't what I'd call hilarious. I’m not sure whether it shows the difference between the American and British sense of humour or the fact that it's just inaccurate hype.

I managed to get through the first part of the book and words I hadn't a clue about like:

- layaway
- crunchy
- satellite lot
- fire lane
- sackers

I eventually got about three-quarters of the way through and was beginning to admire the tenacity of the Kranks, in not giving in to neighbours, friends and colleagues who were critical of them giving up a so called traditional Christmas. (Have to say I'd emigrate if my Christmas was remotely like theirs!) However once their daughter rang on Christmas Eve saying she was coming home for Christmas and they abandoned their cruise and started to rush about like raving lunatics, I just gave up. It was ridiculous. Anyone with a single brain cell in their head would have already told their daughter they were going away on a cruise and if they hadn’t, then they certainly would have told her there and then. Once I start to read something, I usually see it through. Not this time! It was just too stupid to waste my time reading it any longer.

I found it difficult to believe that this was written by the same person who wrote The Pelican Brief!

My other Christmas book was:

This Year it Will be Different - Maeve Binchy

Now I do like a bit of Maeve Binchy. I’ve read a few of her novels, generally on holiday and they’ve been light with interesting and likeable characters.

What I hadn’t realised was that this was a collection of short stories, so I was a little disappointed when I discovered that there were twenty two stories in this book. However it was a blessing today as I was looking after my granddaughter who doesn’t start school until tomorrow. So once I started to read it was quite useful to only have to concentrate for short periods at a time. Anyone who looks after a five year old girl will understand. You have to break off anything that you’re doing every ten minutes or so to help with spelling, singing, drawing, dancing, making drinks, straightening the tights after toilet visits, answering a million questions such as “Why haven’t you taken down your tree and Christmas lights?” and so forth!

I loved Maeve Binchy's assortment of stories, some humorous, other heartrending, but all interesting and thought provoking. Her myriad characters were interesting, not always likeable but many were delightful and I found I was disappointed that some of the stories were so short.. I wanted more! Always the sign of a good storyteller.

Post 140

The Gate of the Year

2009-12-31T08:24:00.003Z

We’re at the end of not just a year, but the first decade of the century, ready to move into a new year and a new decade.

The last year or so has been a difficult one for lots of people, not just because of economic problems but there is the sadness due to loss of lives of troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I was reminded of the dark period at the end of 1939 when the Second World War had started in Europe. However dark things seem to get these days, I can’t begin to imagine what people felt like in that terrible time.

Seventy years ago, King George V1 made his Christmas broadcast as usual and at the end he used the first part of this inspirational poem, commonly known as At the Gate of the Year. However it’s correct title is God Knows:

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year

'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.'

And he replied, 'Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God

That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!'

So I went forth and finding the Hand of God,

Trod gladly into the night.

And He led me towards the hills

And the breaking of day in the lone East.

The second, lesser known and not quite so inspirational part of the poem continues with:

So heart be still:
What need our human life to know,
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife
Of things both high and low,
God hideth his intention.

God knows, His will
Is best. The stretch of years
Which wind ahead, so dim,
To our imperfect vision,
Are clear to God. Our fears
Are premature: In Him
All time hath full provision.

Then rest; until
God moves to lift the veil
From our impatient eyes,
When, as the sweeter features
Of Life’s stern face we hail,
Fair beyond all surmise
God’s thought around His creatures
Our minds shall fill.

The poem was written by Minnie Louise Haskins who is often thought to be American. However she was English, a grocer's daughter, brought up at Warmley, Bristol. She studied at London School of Economics and eventually taught in the social science department there until 1944.

The poem had been drawn to the King's attention by Queen Elizabeth, the present Queen's mother, and the lines were to be recited 63 years later at her own funeral.

Now there are two lessons I take from this:

1. I don't believe everything I read on the Internet. I like to check the source out.

2. No matter how bad things seem, who knows what the breaking of the day will bring. Tomorrow is another day, fresh, clean and untouched. It's down to me to help shape it.

Whatever the year ahead holds for us all, I hope it is a healthy and a happy one for you and your family. As my Dad used to say at New Year, "Here's wishing you everything you'd wish yourself!" Have a wonderful year in 2010.

Post 139

Monaco

2009-12-29T08:32:00.003Z

Time to get back to the cruise. I need to revisit the sun!

We arrived in Monaco in the early morning and the views of the harbour were quite good. It isn’t as grand as Valletta nor as impressive as Barcelona but it was still quite a view.

Here's another view of the coastline. A few too many high rise blocks for my taste.

Monaco is a self-governed sovereign nation under the protection of France. It has been ruled by the Grimaldi family for the past 700 years (apart from a short period during the French Revolution), and its 1918 treaty with France decreed that if the prince -- any Grimaldi prince -- failed to produce a son, the territory would be ceded back to France upon his death. This was changed in 2002, if Albert II, the current prince, fails to produce a male heir, the throne will be passed to his sister Caroline. At present Albert is isn’t married!

Monaco, is tiny, 485 acres in total, and surrounded by France on all sides except for the 2.5 miles of coastline. The principality has no natural resources whatsoever; its national economy is based on tourism and banking. Lots of famous people live in this tax haven. These include Formula One World Champion Jensen Button, Lewis Hamilton, David Coulthard, Shirley Bassey, Ringo Starr, Roger Moore and lots more.

We decided to just have a walk up to The Rock to see, the Royal Palace, Monaco-ville which is the original fortified town of Monaco, the Oceanographic Museum and Saint Nicholas Cathedral.

It was very hot as we walked up towards the Royal Palace and we decided to hang about to see the changing of the guard outside the Palace.

Here's the lone guardsman before the changing took place.

A couple more arrive.

Here they are changing the guard.

There they go, it's all over!

Quite a laid back event compared to the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. For one thing there were no railings keeping the tourists back, security was low key. For another the guards were chatting to each other!

I loved the colours of the buildings, very attractive. There seems to be a predominance of pink in the choice of colours. Looked a lot like marshmallows or strawberry and vanilla ice cream.

I did like these buildings on Monaco-ville. Can’t remember what this one was but it was an administrative one.

There were some nice traditional streets too.

Next on the route was the cathedral. This is where Princess Grace and Prince Rainier were married and they are also buried here. I took a couple of photos of the cathedral but I didn’t really like to take them of the burial places although others didn’t have any qualms about it.

Along the side of The Rock facing the sea are the Saint Martin Gardens. There were quite a lot of statues and some great trees and plants.

This is a Yew Tree donated to the Gardens by a charity. The bark of the tree contains taxol which is used in cancer treatments. It symbolises the hope and commitment of the charity and the Principality of Monaco to finding a cure for women's cancers.

On the way down to the harbour are some great houses.

Wonder how much these cost? Pink again!

The Oceanographic Museum is constructed on the edge of The Rock and in front is a Yellow Submarine! Didn’t have time to go in, maybe next time.

It was starting to get a bit choppy by the time we were walking back. You can see along the side of the Museum how it's built on The Rock and close to the sea.

You can see the swell was getting bigger here.

Back up on The Rock you could get some great shots of the marina and the harbour.

One of the things Monaco is famous for is the Grand Prix Formula One race which takes place in May. The track is actually in the middle of the city, it uses the road system and goes under an overpass within direct view of the cruise ship dock.

Here's one of the tunnels they use which as I said is just one of the ordinary roads.

Near to where the ship was docked were these Daimler Darts which were there for a rally. My husband showed more interest in these than anything else we saw in Monaco!

After lunch I decided to have a walk out again by myself, Eric had done the tourist thing and was going to the gym and then lazing about on deck.

I walked along the marina and went to cross the road. Good grief, the traffic was incredible. I had quite a difficult job to take a decent photo of sculpture of Juan Manuel Fangio, the famous racing driver and his car. It was almost in the middle of the road! Fangio dominated the first decade of Formula One racing. He won five Formula One World Driver's Championships, this record stood for 46 years until eventually beaten by Michael Schumacher. Many still consider him to be the greatest driver of all time.

Just look at where they've put it. Surely they could have found somewhere better where people can get a good look at it. For goodness sake, it's in the middle of a really busy road.

I have to say there was a lot of renovation work going on around the marina, boards up etc so I didn't see the place at its best. There were some quite nice streets but nothing special apart from this square which was very attractive. Pink again!

I'm a sucker for teddy bear shops!

We didn't get to Monte Carlo. I was going to get on the little train but it stops running quite early. Maybe next time!

I did get a photo of the casino from the ship.

One thing I was really disappointed with was the quality of cafes and restaurants around the marina. They were really tacky looking. Not a tablecloth in sight. Some of the little places we visited in Italy and Greece were far superior. Maybe we hit a bad day.

The views of Monaco from the ship were good but this one doesn't show a pretty picture. Just a place with lots of concrete blocks of flats. Maybe this isn't where the rich and famous live. I bet the flats are still expensive though. Not my cup of tea! Someone on the ship said the buildings reminded them of Hong Kong. I've never been but I knew what they meant.

If I could afford a flat abroad it wouldn't be here I have to say, it would be in Barcelona! Now that's a fantastic city with a wonderful marina. The restaurants there are fabulous.

Post 138

Happy Christmas

2009-12-24T23:37:00.011Z

Happy Christmas to everyone and a peaceful year in 2010!

Post 137

Grow Your Own Drugs!

2009-12-21T13:09:00.011Z

I’ve never seen this series before. I saw it advertised on the Radio Times website but didn’t read the blurb about it. Just shows I should have bought a hard copy!

The title created images of cannabis plants with tinsel or Christmas lights. However late last night after a film finished it came on and we watched it. Have to say it was fascinating stuff, nothing like I’d imagined. Just shows how you can be misled.

Ethnobotanist (didn’t know there was such a job and me an ex careers adviser!) James Wong, took an organic approach to the festive season using lots of Christmas plants to create remedies, gifts and wonderful decorations. The programme culminated in a winter garden party of all things.

He showed you how to use winter plants from your garden make things such as ivy toning cream, holly truffles and an anti inflammatory orange, clove and myrrh massage oil. To help those who have a tendency to over indulge, he created a rosehip sherbet fizzy drink remedy, and fennel and peppermint rice just in case you’ve eaten too many sprouts! Then there was a stress busting egg nog, a hot toddy made from a Christmas tree and cystitis relieving cranberry mince pies.

I loved his presenting style, enthusiastic and humorous. I’ll watch out for his next series.

If you want to see his recipes they’re available here Grow Your Own Drugs Christmas Recipes and the programme is available to watch on iPlayer for the next seven days.

Information about his previous series is available here and you can get his recipes such as lemon balm for cold sores, plantain cream for bites and stings, thyme breath spray and herbal body scrub. Grow Your Own Drugs Series 1

I didn't get to see the Victorian Farm Christmas which I had intended to watch. Never mind, no doubt they'll show it again.

Post 136

Christmas Dr Who

2009-12-17T10:09:00.005Z

I always love the BBC Christmas adverts. This year it's Dr Who as Santa on his Tardis sleigh. Just brilliant!

We're going to miss David Tennant as Dr Who. He's been great. Maybe the best of all. He'll be a hard act to follow.

He bows out in a two part programme, The End of Time, shown on Christmas and New Year's Day.

Adios David! It's been great. (Source BBC Radio Times)

Post 135

Amalfi, Italy - Saturday 12 September

2009-12-14T16:20:00.002Z

Apologies to Christmas buffs out there!

I realise my header is not very seasonal but I like looking at photos that conjure up happy memories. Anyway you can see Christmas and winter photos everywhere so I'm just going to be the exception! Maybe I'll put some Christmassy stuff up in July! Back to the story.

Well I'd heard about Amalfi from friends who had been there but don't think I've ever seen it. Although I think I might have caught a glimpse in a James Bond film once.

Here's our first view of the coastline.

Now here we are again. Lots of houses up on the hills! Although the view must be fantastic, I still wouldn't like to live up there. Just imagine having to work in those terraced gardens. The drop over the edge of that cliff doesn't bear thinking about. Every time it rained I'd think the house was going to slide down but I suppose they must be quite safe.

Here's the beach at Amalfi which is quite nice. The sand wasn't very fine or golden. Maybe it's a man made beach but the water looked very inviting. Again we hadn't taken bathing costumes!

It was very busy in the town, well it was Saturday but luckily there were no cruise ships there, other than ours of course.

I loved the way the Sant Andrea cathedral was pressed between the buildings as if it was an afterthought and they just didn't have enough room or money to build a detached cathedral.

Lovely coming out of church and just straight over to sit in one of the cafes for a cuppa. Another church you had to pay to enter so we gave it a miss.

Just look at the steps up there. Not sure how they make that accessible for wheelchairs. Think they'd have to put a lift in. At home they've got rid of some beautiful steps in front of churches and other buildings and put in the most hideous ramps.

I still can't believe they allow traffic up these streets. They are full of people and so narrow.

There were lots of tourist shops but some great fruit and veg ones too.

Luvly jubbly!

Obviously they grow lots of lemons in this area, the shops were full of Limoncella which is the famous local liqueor.

Now I'd love to be able to buy tomatoes like this instead of the EU regulation all the same size and colour ones we get. They tell us that that's what the customers have demanded. Total rubbish!

Just look at those gorgeous peppers.

I had to take a picture of this briliant balcony. It was a part of a little clothes shop. It's an unusual way to display clothes.

Here's a close up.

Here's a derelict little chapel. Yes, it's high on the hill!

Next stop is Livorno, Italy!

Post 134

Granny's Got Talent

2009-12-10T13:52:00.011Z

A 75 year British granny who lives in Southern Spain along with a partner forty years her junior, has won Spain's got Talent with her acrobatic salsa. Streuth!!!!!!!!!!!!

So this is what you're supposed to do when you retire! Just goes to show you're never too old. I think I'll stick to blogging though.

Here's the link to the winning dance which unfortunately I can't find on Youtube, just on the Sun's horrible website. Think they've withheld the copyright.

I'm fiddling around at the moment killing time. We're in the middle of replacing all our windows and doors with double glazed units. My husband is convinced it will save us money on our heating bills. I'm convinced the real reason is getting UPVC units means he doesn't have to paint them.

The cats have been hiding under the bed since first thing when the workmen arrived. Probably won't see them for another couple of hours. I'm desperate for the loo but they're all over the house so nowhere is sacred. Might have to go to my daughter's house when I collect Lauren from school.

Meanwhile I'm lucky that it's a beautiful sunny day and it's not too cold or I'd be perished!

I Got Peter Kaye Tickets!

2009-12-04T11:55:00.017Z

After missing out on seeing Cliff and the Shadows I decided I wanted to see Peter Kaye when he comes to our area. He hasn't toured for seven years since his children were born so I thought I needed to take the opportunity when it came along.

This morning my daughter rang from work and said the tickets were going on sale this morning at eleven o'clock. Trust her to be at work and pass the responsibility to me! Anyway after a lot of phoning and no success I gave up and gritted my teeth to order online and pay the extra charges.

The performances are not until next November so we have a long wait. Never mind something to look forward to.

In the meantime here's a couple of You Tube clips. Apologies for a little bit of bad language but not too much. He gets inot trouble from his Mam and Nanna when he uses it.

I love this one about family weddings. So true!

Family Weddings:

And here he is on the last ever Parkinson Show trying to create a party mood with Michael Caine, David Attenborough, Billy Connolly and David Beckham.

Last Ever Parkinson:

Post 133

Sorrento and Capri - Friday 11 September

2009-11-29T10:33:00.001Z

It was hot again today so we didn’t rush off after breakfast. Well when you’re on holiday why would you want to rush about? Some did but not us.

The ship docked at Sorrento and we had been advised to go to Capri as it is so pretty, so off we went. The plan was to visit Capri until early afternoon and then come back to Sorrento and have a wander about there before we went back to the boat. Well that was the plan.

Grand Harbour, Capri

As I said it was hot and off we went to get the ferry from Sorrento to Capri. It was quite a fast trip and we docked in Capri Harbour at about 10.30. Well when we got off the ferry we ended up in the most horrendously crowded place I can remember being in for ages and what made it worse was the heat. Crumbs it was scorching. We looked for the so called cog railway up to Capri Town but the place was so crowded we couldn’t see the entrance. The bus stop was crowded as you can see from the photo above, so we decided to take a walk up the road and see what was there.

Now we had only walked a few minutes up the road and I looked down and wished we had brought our bathing costumes. The beach was a tad crowded for me but looked very tempting on such a warm day.

Very tempting!

Heigh Ho! Here's a nice looking little hotel with a fabulous view over the cliffs and beach.

We started to get a bit worried as we were walking because there were no footpaths. It reminded me of a time when we got lost at night in Rome and yes, no footpaths and no street lights either. At least it was broad daylight here but Eric was definitely getting the willies!

Look No Footpaths!

The buses, taxis and cars coming down were not exactly moving very slowly. Yes buses actually came down here. Wondered if there was another way to go up because there certainly wasn't room to pass. Eventually I saw a cut through a street to some steps and we ended up on a footpath going up the back of the town.

After we'd been walking about half an hour this was the view of the very busy little harbour.

This was the view to the other side of the road.

Not sure what this was but it looked like there had been vines there.

Further up there was another wonderful view.

Here's where we went in through what seemed the back gate to Capri Town. Very picturesque.

The place was absolutely beautiful once we got up there but it was a little overcrowded with day trippers.

Lots of very fancy shops with lovely stuff at exorbitant prices!

I really loved this plaque outside a really nice gourmet shop.

This looked like a nice café. It had black and white photos of famous people who had presumably visited it, Rod Stewart, Sylvester Stallone, Liz Hurley etc. Capri is a place where the rich and famous hang out but I bet they don’t come out until after the ferries have left with the day trippers.

We drifted through the lovely little streets window shopping, no need to worry about cars here.

Came across a lovely hotel right in the middle of the shops. Very classy.

Very posh!

Eventually we headed along a nice little street, yes no traffic as it was very narrow.

The houses were on the left of the little path and over on the right were their patios cum gardens.Take a look at this one! What a corking view but no good if you suffer from vertigo.

You’d have to be an exhibitionist to come out here during the day but isn’t it fantastic. Look at that amazing view and get those white settees! Obviously doesn't rain much here.

We passed another lovely little hotel.

Mind you’d have to carry your luggage from the town centre though, no cars along this road. It got me wondering how people who live there manage to get furniture, fridges and washers delivered. They must have something to deliver them. Maybe a little wagon or perhaps they have a special delivery service. A hulking great bloke who can carry anything!

We walked along to the end of the little street and there is an amazing hotel there, Punta Tragara, a salmon coloured building designed by Le Corbusier. The view from the hotel is fantastic overlooking the Faraglioni Rocks and I managed to get a picture before the battery in the camera expired.

Apparently there's a fantastic beach at the bottom of the cliffs. Have to say we just didn't have the energy to climb down and then back up again. I was just about to take a photo of the hotel when the battery finally ran out on my camera. There was a plaque on the wall saying that Roosevelt and Churchill had met here during the war. My goodness that pair certainly knew how to pick the good places to stay didn’t they!
Well we headed back and managed to find the cog railway which took us down to the harbour in a few minutes. That was when it got nasty. It was very hot and there was just no shade in the harbour. I asked a policewoman which pier we needed to go back to Sorrento as I have to say we couldn’t see any information anywhere. Well this was the rudest police officer I have ever met in my life. Must have trained at the Bernard Manning school of charm and elegance! I gathered from what she shouted at me, that somewhere “over there” was an information board. Well we wandered about for a few minutes and eventually found a digital display board. Guess what? It was set in direct sunlight so the information was totally impossible to read.

So we walked along the pier past the ferries to see if we could find the ferry which was due in about an hour. Well health and safety regulations obviously don’t apply in Capri, well probably the whole of Italy. They obviously opt out of all the EU Directives we idiots in the UK go headlong into applying. As we walked past a ferry from Naples the cars and lorries started to pile off and we, along with about 10 other travellers, got stuck against the wall in danger of being crushed. The ferry staff and police did absolutely nothing to get people out of the way or stop more people coming. Just don’t understand why they didn’t block the area off until the ship unloaded. The heat and fumes were appalling.

After about 20 minutes we managed to get past and walked along to the end of the pier but there were no signs anywhere. So we had to brave it back again past the ferries unloading to find an information point. It was absolutely scorching and for some inane reason I hadn’t taken a hat, just suntan cream. Eventually we just asked someone who was working around the harbour and low and behold it was back along at the end of the pier where we had already been.

Finally we joined a very small queue for the Sorrento ferry which grew very rapidly. I started to get a little worried knowing the problems with queues or lack of them aborad. I was right, by the time the ferry started to take passengers on board we got pushed and shoved, eventually I thought I’d go over the edge into the water. What a nightmare. The ferry chappie started shouting at everybody in Italian which most people, including me, wouldn’t have understood. Now if he had just had the good sense to start to let people onto the ferry before the queue got too big it wouldn’t have happened. It’s really one of the things I hate about being abroad, especially in Italy, they just don’t understand the concept of waiting your turn.

By the time we got back my husband was none to keen to look around Sorrento, he’d had enough. Have to say I wasn’t keen either as the ship’s bus had stopped running and we’d have to get a taxi back down to the tender point. So we went back to the ship to relax, cool down and stuff our faces with high tea looking out over the bay. Good choice!

Have to say I'm glad we went to Capri as it was so pretty but not sure I'd go back again unless it was later in the year when there'd be less tourists.

Final Sorrento sunset shot after I'd charged the battery.

Next stop Amalfi!

Post 132

Children in Need Single 2009

2009-11-26T18:43:00.003Z

Love Peter Kay's Children in Need Single for 2009.

They created the video with five decades of children's telly characters. See if you can see your favourite from when you were little. They're mostly BBC characters but a few are from other places too.

Caught a glimpse of Bagpuss my daughter's favourite, Peppa Pig, my grand daughter's obsession at the moment and I even saw mine in glorious black and white, Muffin the Mule!

The Google Ads get on your nerves but at least you can close them down.

It was really interesting watching how the video was made here on the BBC's Pudsey website.

Post 133

Hayley Westenra

2009-11-20T22:19:00.000Z

My earlier post on We'll Meet Again included a video of this lovely little Kiwi who is one of my favourite singers. I play her CD, Pure a lot!

Here, in a live performance in New Zealand in 2005, she's singing one of my favourite songs from the CD. Love the lyrics, very thought provoking.

What a gorgeous voice she has.

For anyone interested in the original music, it's (Marcel) Ravel's Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte.

Post 131

Sicily - Thursday, September 10

2009-11-15T10:50:00.005Z

The ship docked in Giardini Naxos, Sicily on the Thursday morning and the view at breakfast was gorgeous. Didn't feel like moving!

It was very hot and a little hazy that morning!

We decided not to visit Mount Etna (that's it hidden behind the white cloud in the picture above) as the forecast was for rain that afternoon. We really are such wimps.

This port was small so the ship couldn't dock and we had to use the tender for the first time! Here it is from the deck above. No we didn't have to reach it from that height! I just wanted to see how bumpy it would be but it was very calm!

We just walked around the small seaside town of Giardini Naxos that morning.

You can see the volcanic rock here on this beach.

There was a nice looking little hotel along this very quiet street. I loved the tiled entrance and although small and only 2* is family owned and it has it's own beach. If I went back think I'd stay here.

Then we decided to walk back along the main promenade. It's a bit of a tacky little place but had its own charm.

It had a few private beaches belonging to hotels and clubs and some public ones. Here's one of the cleaner public ones.

Here's a family who found a quiet spot. Well not for long! Look who's coming!

Well, well, here they are again selling their wares. I've seen them just about everywhere I've been on holiday in Europe. Rome, Barcelona, Rhodes and now Sicily. They certainly get around. Haven't seen them at home yet but then again I don't exactly live in a tourist resort.

Even though it's not a classy resort but there were some quite nice little restaurants along the sea front but they were all deserted. It was pretty hot so we had a seat and just watched the world go by.

Now here's something we saw that surprised us. This woman just parked her car on a zebra (pedestrian) crossing even though there numerous car parking spaces around. Talk about lazy and selfish!

Here's something else that's a little out of the ordinary for us. Not sure what it was looked like a memorial. Just look at those rocks it's set into.

Other things we saw a few times were these, commemorating anniversaries. A much better idea than just sticking a notice in a local paper. They were posted in a few places around the little town.

As we were getting near to the place where the tender was going to pick us up we looked back and saw how the darker clouds were coming in. That's why I didn't want to go to Mount Etna, there's no shelter there. You'd think living in Britain I'd be used to rain wouldn't you.

Well when I'm on holiday I avoid rain like the plague. When we went to Rome a family of Americans thought we were crazy because I didn't want to go to get the Pope's Sunday blessing. Well it was tipping it down and yes I'm a Catholic but I make no exceptions for anyone!

Just look, there they go again, living on the top of those mountains. Now I have no idea why they want to live up there. It won't even be peaceful.

I keep wondering whether they are they expecting a tsunami or something? Well it is an area of earthquake activity so maybe they're safer up there.

Next stop, Sorrento!

Post 130

Memories

2009-11-11T17:00:00.020Z

A two minute silence was observed at 11.00 am GMT across the country today. The silence is observed at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month and marks the moment that four years of war ended with the signing of the Armistice Treaty by Germany and the Allies.This year was particularly poignant as it also marks the passing of a generation. The last of the British World War I veterans died during the year.

Today in Westminster Abbey a special Armistice Day service was held following the deaths of Bill Stone who was 108, Henry Allingham 113 and Harry Patch, 111.

I was wondering whether whether any other countries mark this signing of the armistice with a two minutes silence. It certainly seems to be increasing in the UK with shops, offices, factories, schools etc falling silent. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq perhaps make us realise how peace is never really with us and also how grateful we should be that people gave up their lives so we can live in freedom.

Dame Vera Lynn singing We'll Meet Again is probably the most memorable World War 2 song in the UK and the Commonwealth. The Forces Sweetheart was only 22 when she first recorded it and is now the grand old age of 92.She toured Europe and The Far East during the Second World War providing a much needed boost to the morale of the forces. The song was popular not just because it was a great tune and she was a wonderful singer, but because it lifted people's spirits in a very dark and frightening time.

I was born towards the end of World War 2 and when I was little, this was still a very popular song. We had very little money to go on holiday and so I used to go on bus day trips with my grandparents to York, Edinburgh, Scarborough, The Lake District and other popular places in Scotland and the North of England. On the way back the people always used to sing popular songs of the day and some from the Wars. We'll Meet Again is one I always remember and it brings back lots of happy memories of those times.

Dame Vera stopped performing in 1999 so at the Festival of Remembrance on Saturday in The Royal Albert Hall, Hayley Westenra performed the song with the Fron Male Voice Choir. You can see the performance below. At 2 mins 49 seconds the video screens show Vera Lynn singing and some wartime film of Allied troops. She attended the Festival and you can see her right at the end of the video. She is still very popular.

Surprisingly sales of a CD she released last month, - The Very Best of Vera Lynn made history as she became the oldest living person to top the UK album chart. Not content with that, her record company is releasing a new single of We'll Meet Again for Christmas. They've used the original version of her vocals and added the Fron Male Voice Choir to it. She'll be going head to head with the single of whoever wins X Factor. Normally that single wins because of the music downloads generated by the programme. However we'll see!

It was good to see that this year Hayley Westenra and Dame Vera Lynn jointly launched the Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal which aims to raise £31 million to support the Afhgan War's generation of wounded and bereaved.

Post 129

National War Museum - Valletta Post 128

2009-11-05T18:06:00.024Z

Main Entrance to Fort St Elmo

The National War Museum is situated in a building known as the Old Drill Hall in Lower Fort St Elmo at the tip of the Valletta peninsula. It was originally built in 1553 to protect the entrance to The Grand Harbour of Valletta. The Fort was destroyed during the Great Siege of 1565 and reconstructed in 1567, there have been some modifications since then.

It now houses the Police Academy and a small part is occupied by The National War Museum. In more recent times, part of it was used as a film location jail for Midnight Express. It did look a little bit sad when we were there and in need of a bit of work to tidy it up but the entrance to the Museum has been renovated.

I visited the National War Museum about twelve years ago but it was completely renovated earlier this year and the change is amazing. Shame they haven't renovated The Fort, it's looking very neglected. Given its historical importance in the two sieges it really should be a big tourist attraction.

The Museum's collection focuses on the two World Wars 1914-1918 and 1939-1945. It recounts the story of the events which led to the two wars, their development, major actions and consequences locally and abroad.

Special reference is made to the role of Malta in the theatre of war and the contribution of the Maltese population to the war effort especially during the incredibly difficult conditions of 1942.

The visit begins with the origins of the First World War, the outbreak, major battles on land and sea and Malta's role as naval base and Nurse of the Mediterranean. Artifacts on display include German machine guns, trench mortars and a torpedo.

The fighter force defending Malta was a very small force of British-operated Gladiators, three were named Faith, Hope and Charity. Have to say Faith and Hope were very apt names for these planes. You can see more about them on this website and here's a photo of Faith on display in the National war Museum. I was amazed at how small the plane was.

Faith

I found an amazing piece of video on Google. It's an excerpt from a rare WW11 Italian colour documentary showing shows Italian and German air forces from an air field in Sicily on a bombing mission over Malta in 1942, with scenes of air battle against RAF Spitfire interceptors. It's really awful watching the bombs drop.

Here are some photographs of the various Armed Forces uniforms on display

Royal Navy

This is exactly what my Dad would have been wearing when he was in Valletta During World War 11. I remember him talking about his bell bottoms which traditionally had to have the creases horizontally across the trouser legs as well as vertically because they had to be kept folded in their kit bags. Apparently the sailors wore bell bottoms so that they could roll the bottoms up when they were working in the rigging. Obviously not during WW11!

Love those "whites"!

I really loved this Air Raid Precaution first aid kit. Note the old Boots the chemist logo!

ARP First Aid Kit

It's a great museum and has lots of personal memorabilia and awards.

This is one awarded to Carmelo Zammit who was killed when HMS Louvain was torpedoed by the U-Boat UC22 on 21 January 1918 in the Aegean Sea.

Here's another from World War 11 awarded to Frederick Neville Riley of the Merchant Navy.

There were lots more materials which have been donated to the museum by servicemen and women's families. One of the saddest was a letter notifying a Royal Navy seaman's wife in England of his death. It was written in what seems an absolutely callous way and included information on how she could claim for him. There was a photograph of him in uniform and a lovely postcard he had sent to her. It was so sad.

On Friday 15 April 1942 the entire island of Malta was awarded the George Cross, the highest civilian award for gallantry. The award is not given lightly and was unprecedented in British history.

For more information about The Cross and its recipients take a look at T he George Cross Database .

The importance of the award was keenly felt by the Maltese people at the time and provided a much needed boost to the morale of the country whilst it was being constantly bombed and its people were starving.

The George Cross is mounted in a simple wooden frame with the letter from King George V1 and is housed in the National War Museum.

I've just bought a copy of James Holland's book Fortress Malta - An Island Under Siege 1940 -1943. So I hope to find out lots more about this amazing island and its people during that time.

Post 128

Source: Heritage Malta

Honest Scrap Award

2009-10-26T21:01:00.002Z

I’m feeling thoroughly ashamed of myself! It’s ages since Bogey at A View From the Fairway gave me this award. In fact I was on holiday when he posted it. My thanks and abject apologies to you Bogey but not only am I a procrastinator extraordinaire I'm also an inefficient Blogger. I found this was still just a draft as I checked through my posting list. What a wassock!

I’m really honoured that you thought me an honest blogger. I do always post as honestly as I can, hopefully without offending people.
Well it’s all about honesty so I have to post 10 honest things about me. Now that has taken some time, that leads nicely to the first on the list:

I don’t open up to people easily or show emotions in public. That's probably how I've taken so long to do this. Sadly it’s a family trait I inherited from my Dad. My Mam was very different, wish I had been more like her. I’ve tried to open up on lots of occasions but it’s just not my nature.
I like my own personal space. Don’t like people invading it. Hugging doesn’t come naturally to me unless it’s with my grandchildren. After I went to Spain to stay with a family it helped, a bit!
I’m a bit of a perfectionist about lots of things so I put off doing them or I don’t complete them in case they’re not quite right, well perfect really. Sadly I think my grand daughter has inherited an even more extreme version of this trait!
I’m a messy, untidy person. I used to have a sign on my desk that said “A clean desk is the sign of a sick mind”. It made me feel better. Luckily I shared an office with a woman whose desk made mine look like I was obssessively tidy. Hers was a public health hazard!
One thing I’m not messy with is my clothes. I’m a bit fanatical about washing them in lots of separate colour washes, ironing every crease out of them and repairing them. It all has to be done just right! I'm such a pain but I can’t help it.
I hate the sound of the phone ringing. I just keep thinking, “Go away!” I detest using my mobile, they’re the devil’s invention at times.
I hate cooking and feel really guilty when I try to get out of it. I do love eating though.
I despise dishonesty.
I’ve never had my ears pierced and never will. Why? When I was little my Mam told me that only common people and gypsies had their ears pierced. It stuck in mind. It didn't go down well with her mother in law though. She had pierced ears!
I’m lazy, really lazy. I could sleep until midday in winter. I hate housework. I do clean the bathroom and toilets regularly though, can’t abide them being dirty. I would sit and sew or knit all day and night if I could. Once an old very houseproud great auntie told me that my nanna (her sister) could sit and sew while the ashes from the fire were falling off the fireplace. I burst out laughing and told a shocked auntie that at last I knew who I took after. I know that if I lived on my own I would stay in my pyjamas all day unless I had to go out somewhere, eat sandwiches for every meal, hoover once a fortnight and sew all day and night!

Well I hope I’ve been honest enough.

Now to the rules of this award:

You must brag about the award. (Not sure how to do this)

You must include the name of the blogger who bestowed the award on you and link back to the blogger.

You must choose a minimum of six (6) blogs that you find brilliant in content or design.

Show their names and links and leave a comment informing them that they were prized with Honest Weblog.
List at least ten (10) honest things about yourself.

Now I find it hard to pick just 6 people as I subscribe to so many brilliant blogs. I’m going to cheat here and say please feel free to take the award. I trust you!

For my final piece of honesty here goes. When I first saw the award I misread it. I didn’t see it as Honest Scrap. I missed the letter S in scrap. Sorry but as I said earlier, it’s all about honesty.

Post 127

Blood Rock - James Jackson

2009-10-25T13:17:00.020Z

I think I'm getting a bit obsessional about Malta and its history since we visited Valletta again last month. Strange because history never grabbed me at school, I preferred geography.

My previous posting about Mark Harris' book, The Information Officer, covered the second Great Siege of Malta during World War 11, this book is an excellent historical novel based on the epic Great Siege of Malta in 1565.

The Knights of St John are under siege in Malta from the great Ottoman armada of Suleiman the Magnificent who intends to wipe them out. They are greatly outnumbered by the Ottomans and there's also a traitor amongst them whose identity is hidden until the very end. It's a brutal story based on fact and fictional characters are intertwined with the historical ones like The Grand Master of The Knights, John Parisot de la Valette and Mustapha Pasha, commander of the Turkish land forces. The hero, Christian Hardy is a bit of a cliche and on occasions more of a superhero than a soldier, nevertheless he's an interesting one.

I have to say the book makes history come to life and would make quite a good film. It's a far better read than Dan Brown's novels which are frequently historically inaccurate.

For anyone contemplating a visit to Malta, it gives you a good insight into the geography of the country as well as the appalling hardships the people of this island have endured over the centuries. Post 126

The Information Officer

2009-10-19T19:54:00.001+01:00

I saw this book when I was visiting Valletta last month. It was the number one best seller in one of the shops we visited and so I had a look at the synopsis and was intrigued. I didn't buy it because of luggage restrictions but made a note of it.

I eventually got it from our local library and once I started to read it I couldn't put it down.

It’s a murder mystery, a love story and a historic novel all rolled into one. The first and last chapters are set one evening in a London restaurant in 1951, but the main story evolves over 9 days in Malta in the summer of 1942, at the height of the terrible German and Italian bombing raids.

The story plays out against the background of Malta, the island fortress, during that great siege of 1942 providing extensive information about its geography and history. It is well written and researched with maps to help you identify the scenes of the action.

The author Mark Mills captures the feelings of a whole range of characters, British officers, other ranks, their wives, girlfriends as well as the occupied local people. They have to deal with a whole spectrum of issues, good and evil, life and death, truth and mendacity, love and hatred, joy and grief.

The central character, Max Chadwick is the Information Officer whose role is to keep up the morale of the islanders. When he finds out that a British Officer is murdering local women he has to cope with the conflict between his patriotic duty of keeping the information under wraps and his personal honour, finding the truth and the murder.

I found the characters interesting and believable with insight into the feelings of the occupied and their occupiers during this traumatic time.

The plot twists and turns as the author moves between the main story and glimpses into the motivations of the murderer keeping you guessing about the identity of the villain right to bitter end. If I have a criticism it’s that the murderer seemed the last person you would have expected, maybe that’s why the author picked them, but for me it made it a little less believable.

I really enjoyed this book the setting for me was wonderful, I loved the atmosphere, the characters with their touches of black humour and the fact it had quite a happy ending. It's not quite in the class of Captain Corelli's Mandolin but it is a very good read.

Post 125