tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89698575851219750892024-03-06T07:26:50.434+00:00Stray BlogsThe Blog version of STRAY THOUGHTS - see www.benybont.co.uk/Benybonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897055115107490079noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-27463574653928048172015-02-06T19:07:00.000+00:002015-02-06T19:10:20.614+00:00Chilcott<span style="font-size: large;">After the <strong>Chilcott</strong> report is finally made (if it ever is) there should be two further enquiries:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Why was the report commissioned only in 2009? The invasion took place in 2003.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Why are we still waiting for <strong>Chilcott</strong>?</span></li>
</ol>
MPs seem to think the report should not be published before an election. I'm not sure why. Westminster badly let the country and the world down with their 'yes' vote. They were completely out of the step with the nation. I didn't see any marches in favour of the invasion of <strong>Iraq. Blair</strong> may have been the arch-villain on this side of the Atlantic, but there was a <strong>412-149 vote</strong> in support of his proposals. The voting split, by Party, was as follows:<br />
<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Party<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">For<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Against<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Con<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">146<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">2 (+1 tell)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">DUP<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Ind<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Ind Con<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Lab<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">254 (+2 tell)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">84 (+1 tell)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">LDem<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">52<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">PC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">SDLP<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 9;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">SNP<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 10;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">UUP<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">0<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 11; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Total:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">412<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="background-color: transparent; border: rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 3pt 5.25pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">149<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
Benybonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897055115107490079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-79967071064994337852014-06-15T10:33:00.000+01:002014-06-15T10:33:49.580+01:00BLAIR SPEAKSYou'd think <strong>GREAT LEADER TONY</strong> would have the decency to jump off a tall building or at least shut up. Benybonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897055115107490079noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-53788368464805164752014-02-14T15:59:00.001+00:002014-02-14T15:59:55.559+00:00RomaniansI have been living and working in your country for nearly two years. Things were OK to start with. People treated me as what I was - someone who came here to work and make some money for a while before going home. In the last few months things have changed - they treat me as some sort of bandit. Now I can't wait to leave in June.Mihailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11393105569120818260noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-8007686860124652652014-01-25T11:47:00.000+00:002014-01-25T11:47:27.226+00:00The PlebgateWhat makes <strong>Andrew Mitchell</strong> and Co. think we should all now clamour for his reinstatement or be willing to spend even more hundreds of thousands of pounds on this playground enquiry?<br />
<br />
My initial instinct when this originally hit the news was <strong>not to believe ANY party</strong> associated with the <strong>Plebgate</strong> business. I wrote a disrespectful piece of verse about this called <a href="http://www.benybont.co.uk/moreword/pinko.htm#sw" target="_blank">The Sworn-at Policemen</a>. You can see this by clicking <a href="http://www.benybont.co.uk/moreword/pinko.htm#sw" target="_blank">HERE</a>. <a href="http://giantantperson.webs.com/" target="_blank">Chris Williams</a> has now added a lively song version. The recent statements by senior policemen have done nothing to alter my disbelief. All these show me is that the police have decided it is politic to back off at the moment.<br />
<br />
Still, there might be a plus side to this ridiculous affair. Perhaps generous budgets will be set so that teachers can treat other <strong>playground squabbles</strong> with due earnestness?<br />
<br />
Incidentally, I love the name <strong>PLEBGATE</strong>. Usually, adding '-gate' to the name of any scandal is no more than lazy journalism. This time, though, a physical structure, a gate erected to keep the plebs out, is involved. In years to come it will be added to tourist itineraries and pointed out seriously by guides as <strong>The Plebgate</strong>.Benybonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897055115107490079noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-57631095197730007632014-01-22T16:30:00.000+00:002014-01-22T16:30:26.217+00:00Digital FrothI heard someone on the radio complaining about all the abuse he was getting on his Twitter account, saying this should be better policed and that he wants <strong><span style="color: #444444;">'his social network life to be as safe as his street life'</span></strong>. Now, I don't know anything about Twitter, but surely he must realise the difference between his two 'lives'. One is real, the other is so much digital frothTarTartarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15740652957842636335noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-54382356709856944202014-01-19T13:07:00.004+00:002014-01-19T13:07:58.062+00:00Sharing enchantment and fascination with nature.Am I alone in thinking that you can be seduced by nature or are there many others like myself? Religion holds no interest in me despite having a catholic schooling and upbringing. Materialism is another planet somewhere out in the far distance never entering my thoughts. Walking paths, lanes, tracks where a history of foot prints have left their mark fascinates me. Natures colours regardless of the season amaze me. I have danced in the mist, ran with the winds, did not just feel the rain i got soaking wet, swam naked in seas, all this I know as nature's spirit and breath. After heavy rain earth's perfume enters my very being and soars through my veins like another entity. I hear the Cuckoo at the end of May I have witnessed salmon leaping, lambs being born along with many foals, watched a Vixen protect her young,crows turning a bleak grey sky to ink black in their feathery cascade. All this soothes and balms my soul. Standing in stillness, under a big blanket of sky, opening your whole being to the elements and your surroundings. Awareness will find you and seduce you into realisation that we are at one with nature. Very much like William Blake. "Shewing the two contrary states of the human soul"Julie Ann Pritchardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01439357288905718647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-35691975366688069332013-04-27T02:29:00.003+01:002013-04-27T02:29:28.087+01:00<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 16.0pt;">Adventures in
Self-Publishing: Second and Final Part</span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 16.0pt;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 16.0pt;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">So I did
it: went against the accepted wisdom that goes something like, “Whatever you
do, never publish the first novel you write. Ever.” Not that I think I know
better – I sometimes think I know less than very little – but I revisited that
first novel after a ten-year break and found that there was something there
that readers might like. Sure, it has its shortcomings, but I felt I had
nothing to lose. </span></b></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">It was
fortunate that I was able to lay my hands on a copy. After accumulating all
those rejection slips from London agents and publishers, I had deleted the
novel from my computer in a fit of pique. I’d printed a copy, but we moved
house five years ago and things have gone missing. But, luckily for me, not the
novel. The long process of retyping it onto the computer gave me the
opportunity to revise and tighten the prose, and I ended up with a 64,000-word
story. Quite short for a novel, but about the right length, I felt, for a
debut. At least readers wouldn’t have much time to become bored. I gave it a
title: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Village of Lost Souls</i>. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">Christmas
was approaching by the time I finished the rewrite and final proofreads.
Deciding that life is too short to read it through again – there has to come a
point when you say, ‘Enough’s enough; publish and be damned!’ – I took another
deep breath and pressed the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">publish </i>button.
Then I sat back and waited. (Actually, that’s not quite true. I had to do all
the usual self-promoting stuff discussed in my earlier post on this topic. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Then</i> I sat back and waited.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">I had to
wait almost three weeks for the first feedback. I expected reviews that were
middle-of-the-road, neither loving nor hating; if I could average a three-star
rating, I would be happy. The first review stunned me; the reviewer said, “I
absolutely loved this book. Loved it!” More reviews in a similar vein followed.
The lowest rating so far is three stars. I still can’t quite believe the
strength of emotion the story evokes. I set out to write a ghost story; I seem
to have ended up with something more.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">But for
all its positive reviews, the book is floundering under the sheer volume of
competition. It barely sells. My efforts at self-promotion are, frankly,
feeble. I’m not very good at it and never will be. I have no idea how to reach
the readership that I have to believe is out there waiting to discover my
books.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">Maybe now
I won’t have to find out how. Something amazing happened totally out of the
blue about two weeks ago: I was contacted by a publisher. A small, independent
publisher based in Florida, that had read both my books, felt they deserved to
sell a lot more than they currently are selling and offered to publish and
market them. My excitement was tempered by wariness. I’ve read so many sorry
tales of aspiring authors being taken to the cleaners by unscrupulous, so-called
publishers who make money by charging the writer exorbitant fees for editing,
cover-design and marketing, then price the books at such ridiculously-high
prices that nobody buys them, forcing the writer to pay through the nose to buy
back the book’s rights. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">I
awaited the contract with a knot in my stomach – if it contained such terms, I
would be compelled to reject it: my big chance, perhaps my only chance, gone.
To my astonishment, it didn’t. For a complete unknown like me, it seemed
perfectly reasonable (apart from one clause that the publisher readily agreed
to amend to something I was happy with). So I signed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">Hence
the reason I’ve called this the “…Final Part.” I can drop the ‘self’ from
‘self-published author’. Still pinching myself…</span></div>
</b><br />
Johnny Luvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15185303229503053002noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-82063421044100758382013-04-17T22:20:00.003+01:002013-04-18T07:06:29.397+01:00Thatcher’s PassingWell the great lady has gone but much of her legacy remains. The UK is a better and more prosperous place for her having led the country back from the shambles of the then Labour government.
Some reading this blog will be old enough to remember: the winter of discontent, rubbish piling up in the streets; bodies unburied, the motor industry in crisis, unremitting strikes and Squeaking Pips Denis Healey going cap in hand to the IMF (International Monetary fund). Before that Edwards Heath's abject battle with the miners’ union who though they should run the government rather than the elected government of the day resulting in the three day week which did untold damage to the economy of ordinary families and the country. That was the mess she inherited.
Thatcher achievement are too numerous to fully list her but significant are for example defeating the miners led by a leader with a revolutionary political agenda, allowing ordinary people to buy their own homes from the council, contributing to the final collapse of the Soviet Union and encouraging people to take responsibility for their own lives and opportunities rather than depending on the state to provide. Thatcher is recognised across the world for the great leader she was. Yes she made mistake but who doesn’t.
As is inevitable at such a time as this all the cheap jibes and jokes have come to the fore many from people who were not even around at the time, but they count for nothing for one only has to look to the source of such nonsense.
I could go on but I am not expecting much agreement on this blog so goodbye and Rest in Peace Mrs Thatcher.
Clark Kent
Clark Kenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03709507450229059338noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-27273983084401189652013-04-12T09:56:00.002+01:002013-04-12T09:56:57.154+01:00The Witch-Queen is DeadPeople say you shouldn't <strong>speak ill of the dead</strong>. This may be generally true but <strong><span style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">THATCHER</span></strong> put herself so far beyond the pale that normal rules don't apply. She may now be far beyond having any power to inflict further damage but she put herself so far beyond normality that its rules don't apply. She may be dead but she remains <strong>a symbol of all that is evil with our society</strong>. The only shame is that her death wasn't several decades earlier.Razzmatazzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11892730490558266680noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-84619898429781287972013-04-07T19:47:00.001+01:002013-04-07T19:47:54.504+01:00Mad PessimismOn the radio today I heard someone talking about what amounted to an informal survey he'd conducted on Twitter. He made no pretence of this being a scientific study, but given that he'd 'interviewed' around 2000 people the results were interesting. He'd asked questions aimed at determining the level of optimism in these 2000 people.<br />
<br />
His general view of the responses he found he described as '<strong><span style="color: orange;">mad optimism</span></strong>'. <br />
<br />
As he said himself, Twitter users can't be classed as a typical cross-section of the community. I couldn't help thinking that if he'd conducted his informal among the movers and shakers - people in the financial and business worlds, politicians etc - he'd have summed the typical response as '<strong><span style="color: orange;">mad pessimism</span></strong>'.<br />
<br />
These were the very people who've got the World in a slump by their unrealistic optimism in the first place. Not until they recover their sanity will the present downward trends be reversed.Benybonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897055115107490079noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-67161033219900257162012-11-09T21:26:00.001+00:002012-11-09T21:26:48.760+00:00Walking on Eggshells – Adventures in Self-Publishing<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style>
<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, I wrote a bunch of short stories and a couple of novels.
Some of the short stories were published in small press magazines. Many more
were rejected. I accumulated a file of rejections for the novels from agents
and publishers. They say that a writer needs a thick skin. Well, mine wasn’t
thick enough. I gave up.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then the Kindle and the e-book self-publishing revolution
came along. I didn’t even notice. Until I received a Kindle last Christmas.
Even then, it took me months to appreciate the opportunities that were now open
to a writer with a collection of scribblings sitting on the hard drive of his
computer.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In August, I bundled ten short stories together into a
collection that I named after one of the stories: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pond Life</i>. Taking a deep breath, I published the collection for the
Kindle on Amazon under a pseudonym. Once I’d worked out how to format the book,
it was a doddle. It even has a professional cover designed by a kindly artist
in return for a credit on the inside and a link to her website on my Facebook
page. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Okay. My book was there, but then what was I supposed to do?
I’ve read that there are in excess of a million self-published books on Amazon
alone. There are numerous other self-publishing sites. How does an unknown
become noticed in that sort of crowd?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I visited the Amazon discussion forums (or fora, if you’d
prefer). There are a bewildering number, containing a bewildering number of
threads, many of which contain tens of thousands of comments (posts). Daunting
does not do it justice. I spent hour upon hour reading through threads, skimming
thousands of posts, seeking advice on how to promote my book.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There’s a heck of a lot of advice out there. Not all of it
good. But I managed to extract what I felt to be the worthy advice: join in
discussions on the forums, have your own website, publish more books, join the
Amazon programme that allows limited free book promotions. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, I joined the programme and have held one free
promotional day thus far. Around sixty free copies of my book were downloaded,
most in the States. That’s not many, but I learned a lot and should do better
next time. I don’t yet have my own website, but have registered a domain name.
And I’m rewriting the first novel (it was written over ten years ago and a
rewrite is much needed) with the aim of publishing it in December. So that just
leaves the forums. And that’s where the allusion to walking on eggshells comes
in. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Amazon Discussion Forums are essentially divided into
two parts: those where writers can promote their work and those where they
can’t. And woe betide a writer who self-promotes in the wrong forum. The
outcome can be carnage. Some readers keep NRA lists (Never Read Authors). It
has been known for authors to have their books subjected to scathing reviews
from reviewers disgruntled at what an author has posted on the forums. Even
mentioning that you are a writer in the wrong place can lead to withering
attacks. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And not all authors behave professionally. There are threads
devoted to the antics of what are labelled BBA (Badly Behaving Authors).
Sometimes this label is deserved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So do I regret jumping headlong into the shark-infested
self-publishing sea? Not for one moment. It’s been fun and exciting and I’ve
‘met’ some friendly and talented people in cyberspace. I’ve had a short story
featured on another author’s website. I’ve had the same story published in an
anthology that, as I write, is in the top 100 Science-fiction Anthologies. I’ve
started to garner reviews: thankfully, all positive so far. Someone even wants
to interview me for her blog. It may not be much, but it’s a start and I’m
hungry for more.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now to get that first novel published… </div>
Johnny Luvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15185303229503053002noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-49545347714370752292012-11-04T14:11:00.000+00:002012-11-04T14:11:27.306+00:00SAVILE UNRAVELS
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have no wish to add to the mountain of words written about
<strong><span style="color: #f4cccc;">Sir Jim of Fixit</span></strong>. He deserves all the abuse now being heaped upon him. No wonder
his family have seen fit to try to hide his corpse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But surely our <strong>sleb culture</strong> must take some of the
blame. It was only because he was seen, and saw himself, as beyond the
standards of other people that he was allowed to get away with his crimes for
so many years.</span>Benybonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897055115107490079noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-48774500524867526002012-08-05T10:09:00.001+01:002012-08-05T10:09:35.287+01:00SLEB POLITICSEven the grumpiest of us (this includes me much of the time) have to acknowledge that Saturday, 4th August was a phenomenal day for British sport.<br />
<br />
But one unfortunate side-effect is the increased intrusion of sleb culture into politics. It was bad enough when a few appearances on HIGNFY made <strong><a href="http://www.benybont.co.uk/other/conf.htm" target="_blank">Buffoon Boris</a></strong> London Mayor (one appearance on HIGNFY is worth twenty election broadcasts) but now he's being touted as successor PM in increasingly desperate Tory circles. Someone, somewhere is hoping an emotional link will be made between golden locks and gold medals.<br />
<br />
The irony is that Boris didn't win one gold medal (can you imagine?) any more than his soon-to-be predecessor won a General Election.Benybonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897055115107490079noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-3138538186377052592012-06-16T17:48:00.000+01:002012-06-16T17:48:29.410+01:00in my HaydayTwo lectures, similar messages. What did A.C. Grayling and Mario Vargas Llosa have in common? The desire to "Let Anarchy Rule!" Or words to that effect. Grayling's talk was entitled "Reading and Thinking", about the formative function of literature whereby we form and organise our response to the world through the lens of literature. Reflective reading as opposed to light entertainment or diversion. When asked about his views on the effect of Facebook, Twitter and e-books on the state of the nation's literacy, he was positive; his view is that ideas, stories, reflections are the main thing regardless of the medium, and he reminded the audience of the oral/aural traditions of the past. As for any form of control over literature on the web? An emphatic 'no', which was the link between him and Vargas, for whom freedom is vital. Safeguards over the internet should be minimal, he said. Vargas was asked his view on literature and politics and expressed it most neatly; we can use politics as raw material for literature, but the other way round and it becomes propaganda.stray froghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18310930746113024273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-10585233691738182162012-05-13T11:56:00.000+01:002012-05-13T11:56:09.421+01:00Unreality TV<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma;">I
usually avoid these programmes. You know, the SCJ (So-called Celebrities in Jeopardy)
or DW (Desperate Wannabies) shows. But my family laps them up and so I can’t
avoid them altogether without also avoiding my family.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma;">I
have a general rule of thumb: if a programme is presented by Plank and Dick,
it’s going to be bad. My wife can’t understand this. She thinks that everyone
should find their cheeky-chappy northern banter endearing. Me, I just find them
irritating and wish they’d go back to Tyneside and stay there. Still, each to
their own. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma;">I
happened to be in the living room last night while the latest DW show was on.
It was the final of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Britain’s Got Talent </i>and
seemed to come down to a choice between a boy’s choir from Wales, a 17-year-old
Pavarotti sound-alike and a performing dog. It was over to the Great British
Public to decide. That’s you and me. You must have voted for the dog, because I
didn’t and it won. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma;">That’s
the Great British Public for you. No matter how good the human acts are, throw
a cute dog into the mix and the dog will win every time. We shouldn’t be
surprised. This, after all, is the nation whose charity to prevent cruelty to
animals has royal patronage and whose charity to prevent cruelty to children
doesn’t.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma;">Well,
good luck to the dog, though I can’t see it benefitting from the usual rewards
– recording contracts and suchlike – that winners of these shows enjoy. Maybe
the Great British Public will pack out Wembley to see the dog do its thing. But
it will have to be you, since it certainly won’t be me.</span></div>Johnny Luvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15185303229503053002noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-89871909858848702732012-05-03T17:16:00.000+01:002012-05-03T17:16:02.616+01:00When I was young, my proudest possession was a pop-up book called "<strong>Little Lil's Book of the Countryside</strong>." I was so fond of it, more possessive of this simple thing than my more expensive toys (no, I didn't have many). I couldn't bear to be parted from the book, and even (to my mother's fury) took it on trains and buses and stared at it in fascination.<br />
<br />
Yesterday, on a train journey, another woman passenger had a computer tablet (like an i-Pad, but some other model). She looked very studious and in deep concentration as her forefinger glided easily over the screen. I happened to sit behind her, and saw she was playing "<strong>Robinson Crusoe's Big Adventure</strong>".<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLzChoJgFliWguw-yIgzppigxjjTWyv7LDfJAmyWhXq2N4txC09IHKAFBJmZ-uGSrqC_8kjMAzYwLeNhIpWf9qX9xhgEnY9iCUGl04GYhn3rSX7Kf8C6rDPBQMALw9eKCUNm2I7IbQpwc/s1600/cow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLzChoJgFliWguw-yIgzppigxjjTWyv7LDfJAmyWhXq2N4txC09IHKAFBJmZ-uGSrqC_8kjMAzYwLeNhIpWf9qX9xhgEnY9iCUGl04GYhn3rSX7Kf8C6rDPBQMALw9eKCUNm2I7IbQpwc/s200/cow.jpg" width="155" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Were the two things any different?</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>Trish Trashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745728078959865540noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-49530042398696146102012-04-11T17:38:00.005+01:002012-04-11T18:10:36.817+01:00On the road in SalajAfter what has seemed like an eternity, I finally got out on the road with a flock of sheep. My host was Ghita Danulet and together with his three hired shepherds and at least 1000 animals we walked for ten to 12 hours a day for six days until my things got so soaked I could bear it no longer. It was an incredible, extraordinary experience, a huge test of human and animal endurance and I never want to eat lamb again. <br /><br />Ghita and his men - and his girlfriend - are still out there while I have retreated to Cluj. <br /><br />My bivvi bag, bought from eBay and said to be almost new, ex-army Gortex and rainproof, wasn't. Last Friday afternoon, after months without any appreciable rain, the skies darkened, the thunder clapped and the lightning flashed and we were drenched. After 'parking' the flock in a beautiful dell surrounded by oak and beech woods - with eyes narrowed it could have been somewhere in Leicestershire - the ten dogs exploded into paroxysms of barking, shot off into the dusk, and the shepherds shouted one word, 'Lupi!' (Wolves). It was still pouring. Hugging the fire to dry off, I searched the gloom but my glasses were dripping and through their windscreen I could just make out a moving form, no more. <br /><br />The scare continued all night and I was the only one able to doss down: every few minutes the dogs broke out into another roar of alarm and the night sky was lit with the crossbeams of four powerful head torches like antiaircraft lights in a war. Ghita was nowhere to be seen: he spent the entire night checking and rechecking the restless sheep. At 1.20 pm while I was buried in my bivvi, Marcel, a 14 year old Rrom, raced from the woods to the fire screaming, 'A luat un magar!' (It's taken a donkey!' It hadn't; one of the donkeys had either slipped over or was rolling.) Ghita was furious; his stress levels were incredibly high due to the enormous responsibility he carried, and we all felt the sharp side of his tongue from time to time.<br /><br />I might have dropped off peacefully after that but for the aforementioned Marcel who at 2.10 am yelled right in my ear, 'Tanti, tanti, umbla ursi!!!' ('Auntie, auntie, there are bears about!!!'). There weren't of course - we were too low down - but I didn't know that and his electrifying news got me out of bed in seconds flat. <br /><br />No sheep were lost to wolves but during the downpour one of the ewes slipped down a steep bank into a stream and drowned. We found her in the morning, when the rain had eased and we were off again on the quest for grass. My jeans, boots and socks were sopping and cold; it was time to withdraw to rethink the equipment. <br /><br />I also found it hard going without breakfast, no coffee or tea, sometimes we only had one meal a day and we never knew when it was going to be. When there was food, though, it was wonderful: mamaliga and branza de burduf, delicious soups, and slanina all cooked in a cauldron or grilled on an open fire. Water, when we had it, came from wells, in varying degrees of purity. Not my usual fare, but at the time it tasted ambrosial. <br /><br />Ghita can't afford to withdraw: he faces another four to five weeks on the road until he can reach the relative safety of his home village, enclosed fields and then there will be the dangers of the summer pastures in the mountains of the Cindrel Massif. Gadina (monsters) are everywhere: he will often travel at night so as to avoid traffic in town centres; he will have to cross railway lines and main roads; he will have to face angry farmers who don't want sheep on their land and keep his animals from trampling new crops. <br /><br />If I had time to sort my gear I would go back to the flock but my time has run out and any return visit will have to wait for the autumn or next spring. Who knows if Ghita will go on the road again; if I were him I might shrink from the idea but he's made of much stronger stuff. <br /><br />My overall impression? One of huge respect and liking for this courageous 29 year old. Spor la treaba, Ghita!Droifahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07881931504894675061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-38007149692284450692012-02-26T11:54:00.000+00:002012-02-26T11:54:09.232+00:00Vote for Johnny's Retirement Package<b><span style="color: #ffc000; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">What makes the politicians think we’d be even remotely interested in voting for ‘police commissioners’? We can’t even be interested in voting for themselves. I see that John Prescott is putting himself forward for one of new positions. He’d become a figure of fun long before he retired from the ludicrous position of ‘Deputy Prime Minister’. Apparently, he’s not even going to be the official Labour Party Candidate. No doubt they’ll wheel out some other has-been or never-was for thr election, just as will the Tories Party and the LDs.</span></b><span style="color: #ffc000;"><o:p></o:p></span>Benybonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897055115107490079noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-30211222267166911902012-02-23T18:33:00.004+00:002012-02-23T18:41:28.151+00:00Aiding ArthurThere will be howls of protest from both right and left at the news that <strong>ARTHUR SCARGILL</strong> has won a legal case against what used to be the <strong>National Coal Board</strong>. The right will vilify him as an old-fashioned class warrior and the left will continue to blame him for the demise of the coal industry caused by his imbecile strategies at the time of the <strong>Miners’ Strike</strong> in the nineteen-eighties.<br /><br />I don’t know the merits or demerits of this case, but surely <strong>Scargill</strong> isn’t to be denied legal assistance just because he’s <strong>Scargill</strong>?<br /><br />In a similar vein, I hope the Government won’t be too blinded by the £ signs in its eyes in efforts to tackle the burgeoning legal aid bill. The ‘no win, no fee’ culture has a lot to answer for, not least in the legal firms touting for business and defiling our streets and TV screens in the process.<br /><br />But a phase with the following words in it comes to mind: ‘<strong>bathwater</strong>’, ‘<strong>throwing</strong>’ and ‘<strong>baby’.</strong>Razzmatazzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11892730490558266680noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-36050993343522879502012-02-21T16:30:00.002+00:002012-02-21T16:42:46.467+00:00Bums on seatsLast month I spent a week in Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad). I went to a performance of Tosca at the Volgograd Opera House, a concert given by an orchestra of traditional folk instruments (and believe me, you haven't lived unless you have heard 40 balalaikas played together), and another concert of classical music; orchestra, Mozart pianist, and a joint choir of Russians and Welsh singers premiering Karl Jenkins' "Stabat Mater". The latter performed in the Volgograd Philharmonia Concert Hall, a huge modern building alongside an almost frozen Volga river.<div><br /></div><div>What connected the three evenings? Sold out performances with audiences of all ages, unlike in this country where the majority of the audience is over 60. Complete attention from the audience; no sweet paper rustling, no mobile phones ringing, no shuffling, coughing or loud whispers. And at the end, people rushing on stage with bouquets for their favourite performer.</div><div><br /></div><div>And this in temperatures of minus 28c, struggling through deep snow, braving icy roads and steps. Heartwarming.</div>stray froghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18310930746113024273noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-41987366296791777882012-02-21T16:18:00.002+00:002012-02-21T16:30:05.806+00:00language-liteDaily newspaper reading provides many joys but the one I like the best is where a politician coins a shiny neologism, proudly uses it in a flourishing final sentence but is seemingly unaware of its implications........<div><br /></div><div>Thus, in an article about the overestimation of a nuclear threat from Iran; "Iran doesn't come across as a particularly powerful country" a statement unsupported by anything resembling critical insight or evidence, we have the last line, "We need to RIGHTSIZE the Iranian challenge."</div><div><br /></div><div>What size would that be?</div><div><br /></div><div>Sloppy language, sloppy thinking.</div>stray froghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18310930746113024273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-8027400068891213672011-12-21T11:07:00.000+00:002011-12-21T11:07:01.420+00:00Misused WordsThe fashion for misusing particular words comes and goes, but there are always at least a few with us. <strong><a href="http://www.benybont.co.uk/pinkoprose/eff.htm" target="_blank">EFFICIENCY</a></strong> is a long-standing favourite, but the current one is <strong>SPRING</strong>, as in <strong>ARAB SPRING</strong>. The Prague Spring of 1968 really meant something, even though in the event it proved to be no more than a temporary thaw in a long winter. But can journalists compare rifles being fired into the air (at best) and the exchange of one dictatorship for another at a cost of hundreds or thousands of lives with this?Benybonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897055115107490079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-81892199297845072702011-09-10T15:00:00.000+01:002011-09-10T15:00:56.060+01:00By the way, Blair believes...With the tenth anniversary of the World Trade Centre murders coming up, the <strong>BBC</strong> had <strong>Blair</strong> on the radio this morning to be interviewed. I had the misfortune to hear it.<br />
<br />
I found the way <strong>Blair</strong> repeated '<strong>by the way</strong>' literally dozens of times very irritating. No, Mr Blair, it's not '<strong>by the way</strong>' that the world has taken such an ugly turn of events over the last ten years. You bear a major part of the responsibility for this, just as you bear a major part of the responsibilty for the deaths of half-a-million people.<br />
<br />
But what really infuriated me was the way <strong>Blair</strong> met every sensible point put to him by the interviewer by saying things like '<strong>I fundamentally disagree...</strong>' or '<strong>I believe...</strong>' As if this made everything all right! Why was this man given air-time? I blame:<br />
<ul><li>the <strong>BBC</strong> for taking the lazy way out and wheeling <strong>Blair</strong> out for 'interview' at this time</li>
<li>all the <strong>Labour</strong> and <strong>Tory MPs</strong> (especially the members of the <strong>Labour Cabinet</strong>) who allowed themselves to be taken in by <strong>Blair</strong>'s words. </li>
<li>all the people (this includes me) who put <strong>Blair</strong> in power in 1997. </li>
</ul>Benybonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15897055115107490079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-37133344132295625062011-09-06T08:39:00.002+01:002011-09-06T08:50:17.834+01:00Words are the new........... (fill in as desired )It's so easy to have fun with quotes from people who are not thinking properly about what they are saying. I like these. Jack Straw on recently released documents from Libya concerning the possible implication of our Government in the torture of prisoners....."they say what they say..". Helpful?<div><br /></div><div>A recently reported death by strangling of a blind imam outside a mosque. "This was not a hate crime." It's that juxtaposition of 'strangling' and 'hate' that worries me.</div><div><br /></div><div>Finally some frivolity from the National section of The Guardian on Saturday. Following articles on the EDL - "not an extremist organisation", more on Wikileaks and Darling's hatchet memoirs, comes the "Manicure Boom". "Nails are an art form." "Nails are the new art." "They are the new handbag." Men need not feel excluded. "It's an intimate expression of art and culture" Ryan L.</div><div><br /></div><div>Perhaps we should revert to that time of grunts and hand gestures.</div><div><br /></div><div>I did like this though, from a former Gang Leader debating the causes of recent riots. "The Welfare state started off as a safety net, it's now a hammock and will become a noose."</div>stray froghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18310930746113024273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8969857585121975089.post-74580345615526910862011-09-03T15:59:00.023+01:002011-09-10T13:58:22.425+01:00TWO MEETINGS WITH JORGE LUIS BORGES<div class="yiv506177295yiv1691262659msonormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">The fact of living in the same city as a writer we admire does not mean a huge advantage in relation to the possibility of meeting him beyond what his pages offer.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div><div class="yiv506177295yiv1691262659msonormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;"></span></div><div class="yiv506177295yiv1691262659msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">In the event, Icould only see him a couple of times, both very briefly. The first occasion,was in 1975, when he unexpectedly showed up at an art gallery I attended. He was extremely polite and even shy in his social behaviour. I do not remember who introduced us but he told me something about his latest book <em>La rosa profunda</em> (The Deep Rose), just published. He was very reticent in talking about himself or his work unless directly asked. By that time. I had not read him thoroughly nor was I particularly interested in his poetical or narrative work. Six years later I had devoured his complete works and had the chance of meeting him again at the Sociedad Argentina de Escritores (Argentinian Society of Writers). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="yiv506177295yiv1691262659msonormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;"></span></div><div class="yiv506177295yiv1691262659msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">As I had published my first book — in which Dylan Thomas had left a deep trace — I wanted to give Borges a copy with an inscription. I remember he took my book very politely. Listening to the reading of my inscription —Borges had been blind since 1955 — he told me he did not deserve those words of sincere admiration; nobody did. When I told him I also admired Dylan Thomas and that the Welsh poet had had a powerful influence on my first book, he said that if I liked Dylan Thomas so much, I would also like Walt Whitman, "an author of other epiphanies", as he then defined it. I answered that I had read Whitman — with that certainty only allowed by the age of 20 and a first book published — and was not too enthusiastic about him. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="yiv506177295yiv1691262659msonormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;"></span></div><div class="yiv506177295yiv1691262659msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;">Borges retorted that something similar had happened to Ezra Pound, who only came to appreciate Whitman's great work at an older age and that, if Pound had had that perception, it was probable the same would be happening to me: that I might be needing some more time to enter Whitman's poetics.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="yiv506177295yiv1691262659msonormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;"></span></div><div class="yiv506177295yiv1691262659msonormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #fce5cd;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never saw Borges again but I kept on reading and re-reading his poems and narrations. Later these became a major influence in my writing. By then I already believed that a new author should try to premeditatively seek the influence of other writers, to counterbalance the influence received from one author with the reading of another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>LUIS BENITEZ<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="yiv506177295yiv1691262659msonormal" style="line-height: 150%;"></div>luis benítezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14288547222086292209noreply@blogger.com0