Robin Bower's Blog, page 2

Senses of Paris Kindle version now available!

The Senses of Paris Kindle version is now available just in time for the French National Day on 14 July. Get it here! It’s been a challenge preparing the Kindle version of such a colourful, artistically designed book like this one. The Kindle version doesn’t really lend itself to design elements so it’s not quite …

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Memories of river set the scene for new novel

I was born at the South Perth Community Hospital and grew up on the banks of the Swan River in Parker Street opposite the Perth Zoo. My home was a grand old house that my grandfather bought as a home for his wife and three daughters. On his death, two of the daughters (one of whom …

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Senses of Paris now available

Our new release, Senses of Paris, is now available to buy from Amazon. The book launch was held in October at the Bonjour Perth French Festival. It was huge fun and thanks to everyone who came along to support us. Here’s a taste of what we talked about at the launch and what the book is about: …

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Senses of Paris — book launch

I’m very excited to announce that we have been invited to launch our literary art book, Senses of Paris, at Bonjour Perth on Saturday 22 October 2016. Senses of Paris is a collaboration of words and illustrations by two old friends inspired by Paris. Using the five senses as sections in the book, myself as author, …

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Natural reserve in suburban Perth

A walk in the park

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Give me a break

Two out-of-work actors are waiting in line to see their casting agent. They’ve been living in LA working as bar attendants, waiting for their big break which never seems to come. The first actor is called in to the agent’s office.

‘I’ve got some good news and some bad news,’ says the agent.
‘What’s the good news?’ asks the first actor.
‘I’ve got a gig for you!’
‘What’s the bad news?’ he asks again.
‘You’ve only got one scene in one episode. In a sitcom.’ 
The agent waited.
‘I’ll pass, man. Let me know when a real part comes up!’ The first actor turned and walked out the door not pausing to say goodbye to the second actor.



The agent called in the second actor.
‘Come in buddy. I’ve got some good news and some bad news,’ he said.
‘What’s the good news?’ asks the second actor.
‘I’ve got a gig for you!’
‘What’s the bad news?’ he asks again.
‘You’ve only got one scene in one episode. In a sitcom.’ The agent waited again.
‘Fantastic!’ said the second actor. ‘When’s the audition?’
‘This afternoon! Here are the details…’

That actor won the audition and landed the bit part in one scene in a sitcom. That sitcom was Happy Days and his first line was ‘Good evening Earthling. I am Mork from Ork.’

The actor was Robin Williams. He turned that one scene into the spin-off series called ‘Mork and Mindy’ that lasted 100 episodes, and into a career that lasted 35 years.

The actor who turned down the gig was named Bob Jones.

Remember to say yes to small opportunities — you can never predict where they will lead. 

Sight unseen and the dating game

Picture this advertisement in the paper:
Easy-going and athletic Professional male 41 seeks sensitive female. Looks not important, must be tall, slim and attractive.Early online dating — it hasn’t changed, has it?
Dating blind is nothing new. In the 1700s matrimonial services existed to set up men with good wives. If you like show tunes you will be familiar with matchmakers making a match in Eastern Europe. Then newspapers started to allow personal ads to link up suitable partners. So it’s no surprise that the Internet is now doing the same thing. The movie ‘You’ve got mail’ which was released in 1998, seems to have caused the proliferation of dating sites and brought the service into some respectability. Apparently you’re not a loser any more if you can’t get a date in the real world. Who knew?
I will be the first to admit that I did have a stint at online dating. Hey, I’ve been on so many blind dates I should get a free guide dog.
But before I go on I want to make the disclaimer that I’ve been happily married and/or with my husband for 12 years so we are delving into the distant past. And things can sometimes get blurry.
Back then I didn’t see myself as internet dating, more as dating the internet.
The main difference about dating online compared to real life dating is that it is so much easier to lie online — about everything. 
Take the profile and what things really mean:
40-ish = 49
Average looking = has a face only a mother could love
Contagious smile = does a lot of pills
Emotionally secure = on medication
Fun = annoying
Outgoing = loud and embarrassing
Passionate = sloppy drunk
Needs a soul mate = stalker
Take my first contact with a potential date. Please — take him.
I was new to the online dating scene and thought that appearances didn’t matter, that what mattered was what you were like on the inside. I know, how naive! So I didn’t have a picture of myself — just a damn good profile. I received a message from, let’s call him, Roger. Roger said he liked my profile and could I send a photo because you just don’t know what ugly dogs there are out there. I found an image of a stunning Afghan Hound — you know the one with the gorgeous long blond hair and doey eyes. And sent it to him saying it was a picture of me. No response — just crickets. No sense of humour!
Strike 1.
Then there was the guy who on his profile claimed to be the richest man in the world, but his picture looked like some geek who worked for a software company?? Yeah right…
Strike 2.
How about the email conversation that was going to lead to the perfect man, Harry. GSOH, good speller, nice photo, educated, loved British sitcoms — what could go wrong?  We met at a coffee shop where he wasted no time in telling me: ‘I will only mention this once, then I want to forget it. I found my girlfriend hanging dead from a rope one day and have never recovered.’ Poor Harry! Goodbye Harry.
Strike 3.
Once you’re on the date, you’d think things would go swimmingly. Not so fast. There can be indifference, too much enthusiasm, strange preferences that you don’t want to hear about on the first date, ex-wife stories, depression and general inertia. Hey and some of them just didn’t like me! Hard to believe, I know…
It’s hard to get to know someone in this situation — there’s so much pressure. I find a good way to get to know your date is to ask about their first pet, favourite movie and mother’s maiden name, then login and read all their emails. You can find out a lot about reading someone’s emails.
The upshot of the whole exercise is that you have to have thick skin, the thicker the better — just like a rhino. Which makes me wonder: If rhino horn is such a powerful aphrodisiac, why are rhinos an endangered species?
Anyway, three strikes and I’m out.
Nowadays there are so many choices of sites, of apps, everything’s so fast and furious. It’s a jungle out there. And it’s big business. 
Most females are well aware that a good man is hard to find. I had to look in three pubs and a wine bar, and eventually found mine in his own living room. 
But that’s a tale for another time.
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Copyright 2015 Robin Bower
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Believe and build

Get busy livin or get busy dyin…Do or do not, there is no tryRun, Forrest, run!
What do these quotes have in common?
They are all from movies and they all mean ‘never give up’.
Inspirational quotes and speeches in the movies seem to be varied. But they are all basically about three things:
1. Never give up –In love, war, freedom, your dream, your team – don’t let anything stop you from achieving what you want to achieve – many movies are about this – Shawshank Redemption, Star Wars, Forrest Gump
2. Live in the moment – Make the most of the time you have – don’t waste it – movies with this theme are Ferris Bueller’s day off, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
3. Believe in yourself – Have the confidence to believe you can accomplish anything, believe you can do it and you are halfway there – movies that demonstrate this belief are Harry Potter, Shrek and Field of Dreams.
You must believe…
Build it, and he will come. 

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Copyright 2015 Robin Bower



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The gift of words

My husband, Steve, mixes up his words. It’s a problem of his. I’ve learnt how to translate what he’s saying. Others are not so fortunate. We were at an African restaurant one evening. It was very elegant, decked out in an African theme, leopard print on the chairs, pictures of lions and giraffes decorating the walls. The waiters were stunning tall young African men and women. Steve likes to try different drinks and he saw on the menu a cocktail called a Drunken Elephant (it probably had gin in it). I stuck with the tried and true and chose a White Russian. One of the elegant waiters soon came by to take our order.
‘What would you like to drink, sir?’ the young man asked Steve.
Steve looked at me, then at the menu, paused and said, ‘I’ll have a drunken African!’ The waiter was taken aback not knowing how to take this potential insult; I gasped and said, ‘Oh he means “Drunken Elephant”!’ 
The waiter looked at Steve a little perplexed, then at me. Steve added, ‘I’ll have a Drunken Australian too!’
This is one of only a few moments of miscommunication that I experience living with someone with dyslexia. The condition is defined as a disorder than involves difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols, but does not affect general intelligence. 
According to the Australian Dyslexia Association, dyslexia is estimated to affect some 10% of the Australian population. Children who are diagnosed early are usually diagnosed with ‘learning difficulties’ and placed in special classes. These children (and the adults they become) just learn differently and need to be taught differently. They generally have superior intelligence and creativity. The sad thing is that as a coping mechanism, many pretend to be less intelligent than they are.
I’ve read that having the condition can be similar to losing one of your senses — when that happens, the other sense becomes particularly acute. The visually impaired person has acute hearing. A person with dyslexia who has problems reading and writing often turns to sport, creative arts or can become their own boss and develop into successful entrepreneurs.
Many famous people have the ‘gift’ of dyslexia:Jim Carrey, Kiera Knightley, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, John Lennon, Richard Branson, Agatha Christie, Walt Disney, Steven Spielberg — you’ll notice many are in creative fields.
How is dyslexia identified?It’s normally picked up in childhood when a child shows an unexplained difficulty in reading despite having the necessary skills such as intelligence and verbal ability.
What are the characteristics?A child may display the following:Difficulty with oral and written languageDifficulty manipulating soundsSlow laboured reading with many mistakesUnable to spell (try spelling the word ‘dyslexia’)Difficulty with multi-syllabic vocabularyLimited reading comprehension due to weak word recognitionOral language skills are often stronger than written language skills
Other symptoms might be:Difficulty naming colours and letters rapidlyWeak memoryEasily distractedNot achieving in testsInconsistent school work
If the condition is ignored, it can cause low self-esteem and lack of confidence which can lead to anti-social behaviour. 
Steve has told me of the feelings of isolation he experienced at school. It was only through hard work and determination that enabled him to become the school athletics champion, and later in life, an award-winning designer.
Steven Spielberg was diagnosed with dyslexia in 2007. He is quoted as saying ‘it was like the last puzzle part in a tremendous mystery that I’ve kept to myself all these years’. As a child he learned to read two years later than his peers, was teased and dreaded school. 
Kiera Knightley was diagnosed at six and received careful tutoring and professional help which allowed her to master the condition.
Hans Albert Einstein, on his father, Albert Einstein, one of the greatest minds of all time: ‘He told me that his teachers reported that … he was mentally slow, unsociable, and adrift forever in his foolish dreams.’
Richard Branson, founder of a whole series of Virgin enterprises: ‘At the age of eight I still couldn't read. I was soon being beaten once or twice a week for doing poor class work or confusing the date of the Battle of Hastings.’  
If your child, or someone you know, shows any of these characteristics, they should be assessed by a professional. Dyslexia does not go away, you cannot outgrow it. But you can develop strategies to improve its management with professional instruction.
* Back at dinner at the African restaurant and we still had our main courses to order. 
I don’t want to tell you what Steve did to the word ‘spatchcock’.

Beyond Home book trailer

Richard Seale from RichMedia produced this cool book trailer for my book, Beyond Home. If this does its job and you're interested in reading the book, you can find out more here. Happy reading!

Beyond Home from Rich Seale on Vimeo.