Tim Atkinson's Blog, page 104

Sunday supplement

First today, this transport of delight: the Lascal Maxi buggy board, which is now Charlie's preferred mode of transport when we're out with Eloise.

Of course, Charlie's old enough to walk - but not as far as we sometimes need him to, nor as fast as is often required. But a double buggy seemed unnecessary, and anyway - MacLaren sent us the wonderful Techno XLR to try for Eloise and as I've said before, we're more than happy.



Officially, MacLaren don't recommend using buggy boards with their strollers. But if they did, the Lascal Maxi would surely be the one. I sometimes have a thing about following instructions (i.e. I don't read them) and often for good reason. They either over complicate a simple operation or they're impossible to follow. So having a set of instructions that did neither, but actually told you - simply and clearly - what to do was the first plus for the Lascal. Second, of course, was the fact that it was fitted - safely, securely, comfortably - in a matter of minutes. As I might have already hinted, this doesn't always happen. But it did! We were up and running within - literally - ten minutes of opening the box, which is pretty amazing. Almost as amazing as the ride...



...which, as you can see, makes Charlie happy. The large wheels and above-ground clearance also makes mummy happy as it means you don't catch your feet on the board as you walk along. With Eloise horizontal in the pushchair, the buggy board actually sticks out further than it might, so this little feature is an ankle-saver...





So simple, practical and effective. Now as I've said, fitting it was simple and quick and the instructions clear and helpful. But our board was supplied by Cheeky Rascals, and they promise if you do have any difficulties, they'll talk you through it on the 'phone. They'll also be at the Baby Show at London's ExCel later this month, which reminds me - you've got just two more days to enter the giveaway for free tickets to day one. Hurry hurry hurry!



I suppose strolling around town is also the subject of the next item, but it couldn't really be more radically different: a personal alarm, functional but with all the looks of a fashion accessory. I don't know about you, but I worry about giving my children the independence they need. Sally's thirteen; I'm no longer wanted on the school-run, and she happily takes herself to town to meet her friends at every opportunity. So far, so good; I did the same thing when I was her age. But am I wrong in thinking it's more of a worry for girls? Ironically, when a report into children and mobile 'phone use was published earlier this week, the local BBC radio station wanted to know what I thought. And as I told them, it's a balance of risks and benefits, the latter being peace of mind. And I suppose that's what these little gadgets bring - a little peace of mind, combined with extra confidence - to say nothing of 130 decibels of alarm. Here's what Nicky, one of my sixth-form psychology students has to say about it:



Overall it is a very good alarm, makes me feel more confident walking home at night from the train station etc. It is easy to use and accessible when attached to handbag etc. The pin is easy enough to remove to activate the alarm. However, if the speaker was covered or muffled somehow the volume is reduced considerably but this isn't how the alarm is meant to be carried, so I would recommend it to anyone having to walk home alone.







The alarms - designed exclusively for women - are available in a range of colours at Marks and Spencer.



Finally today, another in the occasional series of blogger exposes, or 'why did they choose that pseudonym'? You might be forgiven for thinking that Posh Totty of Posh Tottys Palace is fairly self-explanatory, but listen to the story...



The name behind my blog came from friends that I met through a support network (Heartline) for parents of children with heart defects. As part of the on-going support, it was often necessary to make phone calls to other parents that you had not yet met in person. A few of the other parents that I'd spoken to over the phone soon became good friends of mine and they would to make fun of me because I apparently sounded very posh over the phone and over the years more and more people began to refer to me as the Posh One or Posh Totty and poking fun at my posh lifestyle became a regular occurrence. When I decided to start blogging I knew that I would need to remain anonymous to the majority of people so that I could have total freedom of speech and before I knew it I took on the roll of Posh Totty and the Posh Totty Blog was born.



So now you know!

Psychology Friday: To Sleep, Perchance...

Perchance? Perchance to what? Perhcance to dream? Well, yes, in the original. But at the moment I'd happily settle for that long, dreamless NRAM version. NRAM? That's non-rapid eye movement to you and I. But until Dement and Kleitman did their research into sleep and dreaming in the 1950s, no-one really knew when dreams occurred, how often or still less, why. There'd been an awful lot of tosh talked about them, not least by that colossal fraud, Freud. But to this day, no-one really knows why we dream. But thanks to Dement and Kleitman we at least know when. And the answer is roughly every ninety minutes.



Basically, in five easy stages we sink deeper and deeper into sleep (as measured by our brain activity) until - by stage five - our body is as relaxed as it can possibly be: falling out of bed relaxed. But it's at this last stage of near paralysis that something interesting occurs: our brain-waves speed up to levels normally only seen when someone's wide-awake. And although our eyes are closed, they're moving. Rapidly. Hence, rapid eye movement sleep. And this, so the study ascertained, is when we dream.



And not just us. Babies do it, as do animals. But why we do it is a scientific mystery. Some suggest that dreams have a predictive quality; others  (Freud is an example) that they're manifestations of repressed memories; the most scientific answers suggest that dreams are problem-solving in some way, or the means of sifting memories. But they're only theories.



Dreams remain fascinating, though, on any number of levels. And recalling our most vivid and interesting ones is something most people do from time to time.



Just a pity this dog can't tell us what he's dreaming...

A Taste of Honey...

As brought to you by the lovely people at Rowse. Watch out for their new ad campaign, coming soon on a TV near you. They've made them themselves, you know. And you can vote for your favourite here and get your own jar of the runny stuff. Oh, and you might have noticed there are three cakes missing. They were lovely.

DIY Dan... or rather, Tim

Seems a lot of trouble, but if you've got train sets you'll recognise the problem - what to do with the masterpiece layout you've created when it's time to do the vacuuming. Now, there are any number of options, including not buying a train set and not doing the vacuuming. It was too late for the first option, and the latter wasn't open for negotiation so...

I went to B&Q. I bought some hardboard sheets, some two bi' one (we experts speak like that) some nails and I transformed this...



Into this...



By way of this...



And this...


And this...


Bet you all now want to know how I did it, don't you? Well, if you really want my advice, don't bother. Because the board-that-means-we-can-pack-away-the-train-set-without-taking-up-the-track is about the size of a door and in spite of my choice of lightweight materials, about as heavy. (I couldn't get my first-choice top, sundeala board for love nor money; in fact the man at Wickes said he'd never even heard of it!)

But if you do decide to have a go, don't say I didn't warn you. And make sure there are no children within ear shot while you're working. Either that, or swear in Latin.

Saturday review... with Gary Murning

Gary Murning (author of the best-selling must-read debut novel, If I Never) contacted me a couple of weeks ago about his second novel, Children of the Resolution. As expected, it's another wonderful read from a writer on top of his game but very different - very different - from the previous novel. Whilst Gary handles all the big themes in his first book with consummate skill, it's fair to say that this second offering is less plot driven, focussing instead on character and theme. And big themes, too: disability, integration, alienation and - ultimately - reconciliation. Without giving anything away I'd say it was a 'must read' not just for every fan of Gary's writing but for anyone who has any experience or interest in the integration of disabled children into mainstream education. And about the well-intentioned but occasionally unsympathetic individuals who sometimes drive ideology at the expense of attention to the individual.



Anyway, that's the book. I can't recommend it highly enough. Buy it here, now. But I was also intrigued by the process of the book's publication. You see, although Gary is an author with a contract with a mainstream publisher, he chose to 'go-it-alone' with this book. And I was fascinated to know why. Here's what Gary said...



The reason I opted to self-publish Children of the Resolution, I suppose, hinges on the nature of the book itself. Whilst I think it does have considerable commercial potential, it isn't exactly what your average publisher would consider to be a commercial piece. There are niches where it would fit really well within mainstream publishing but, to be honest, I just didn't fancy handing over any control where this book was concerned. Because it's quite heavily autobiographical in places, and because I'd been working on various takes on it for somewhere between fifteen and twenty years, I had a very clear idea of what I wanted it to be. My aim was to accurately evoke the time and place I experienced in a fictional form without it being overtly fictional. I didn't want to force plot onto it. I honestly feel that most of the mainstream publishers out there would have had issues with that – and I think that may well have ended up being to the detriment of the book.





Now, in the world of publishing as we know it, the author writes the thing but, well, 'publisher knows best'. Or agent. And they both pat us on the head and tell us where we're going wrong. And then we offer up our re-writes like a devoted little puppy. But not Gary. And not an increasing number of writers. The stigma of self-publishing seems to have been well-and-truly banished and many authors - myself included - have published both with mainstream outfits and then published ourselves. For an attentive, committed and self-critical author, quality isn't going to be an issue. But distribution might be. How is Gary finding the promotional aspects of the work, without a publicity department behind him? His answer is fascinating...

   

To be frank, whilst Legend did a great deal regarding the promotion of If I Never, I was very proactive myself – and, I think it's fair to say, did most of the long-term book promotion. So, naturally, when it came to Children, this wasn't too much of a concern. I've managed to build up a few contacts over the past year or so – and I'm not shy :-)





Makes you wonder what a publisher offers, eh? But it's become abundantly clear over the last few years that authors are expected to do a great deal of the promotional work themselves. Unless you're a 'sleb' (in which case you may not even have written your book, so why are we bothering to talk about it?) you'll be expected to have a well-established 'author platform' (blog maybe, twitter profile almost certainly) before an agent or a publisher will consider you. And as for getting into the 'bricks-and-mortar' bookstores, have you any idea how much publishers have to pay - yes, pay! - to get into the window at Waterstones? I have, and I'm still recovering. But wait a minute. For the first time, Kindle e-book sales have outstripped those of paperbacks on Amazon. Who needs the bookstore anymore? Or even the book? I'm not going to rehearse all that 'death of the book' stuff here, but I did want to know whether 'Children' was available as an e-book. And the answer? Yes, right here. And at just £5.75, may I say it's a bargain.

A Load of Rubbish

What a load of rubbish!



No, not this post. (Well, actually...)



But really. It's Thursday, and we're happy. Because as the more attentive readers of Bringing up Charlie will know, today is bin day. And - as Eric Pickles pointed out - a weekly bin collection is one definition of middle-England heaven. Or at least, not hell.



To be fair, Mr Pickles has a point. We are all paying an average of £120 per month in Council Tax; we should at least get our bins emptied. And we did, this morning. A bit too early, maybe, but I'm not complaining. Taking away the rubbish, cleaning the streets, mowing the park grass and weeding the flowerbeds are the fundamentals of Local Government, aren't they?



So where else is all the money going? Well, far be it from me to get political, but have you seen the cost of local 'democracy' lately? How many councillors does your Town Hall pay to play politics? Put in a freedom of information request and find out how much they're claiming in expenses. Justifiably... of course! But that's a lot of money for a lot of talking and - in a few cases, maybe - not a lot of action.



I propose we do away with the lot of 'em. Let's all have directly elected Mayors... and not the ceremonial, ostrich-plumed gold-chain wearing variety. The working, doing, by-law passing and - yes - refuse-collecting type. After all, if our bins weren't emptied, we'd at least know who to blame. And who to vote out at the next election.



If only all Town Halls were like Trumpton, eh?

What Matt Dawson has for breakfast

Becoming something of a theme this, isn't it? I promise - after today - I'll shut up about it but I can't leave the subject of breakfast without telling you what World Cup winning Question of Sport captain and celebrity masterchef Matt Dawson has, or that he says it hasn't changed much since hanging up his rugby boots.



But first, this...





And take a look at this!

We were at the launch of 'Team Wholegrain' last Thursday, being shown some spectacular cereal sculptures as well as rubbing shoulders with the likes of Matt and Zoe Ball. Far from being a monumental invitation to toddlers to mess about with their breakfasts, Team Wholegrain is actually about persuading the public of the nutritional value of whole grain cereal - which means, you guessed it, cereal with all three parts of the grain included. Not just a bit of it. The lot. So you get all the goodness.



And it is good. The US the government recommends that everyone eats at least three portions of wholegrain food per day. The benefits are a healthier heart, better digestion and weight control to name but three. But 9 out of 10 of us don't manage three a day, many don't even manage three a week and 30% don't get any at all.



But not Matt Dawson. And so what does Matt Dawson eat for breakfast. Bacon and eggs? Pancakes with maple syrup? Butter croissant dripping with honey, maybe? Well, no. He told me he'd always eaten well and that most days begin with something like Shredded Wheat and fruit juice, followed by some wholemeal bread and maybe a banana. No wonder he looks so healthy.



Bet he doesn't count red wine as one of his five-a-day either.

Snack attack!

A sponsored post...



Apparently, the average British woman will devour 1,092 unhealthy snacks this year, from crisps, sweets and biscuits to cakes and chocolate, according to research released by Hovis Wholemeal. The study, involving 2,000 British women, reveals that an average of over 129 packets of crisps, more than 127 chocolate bars, over 77 cakes and more than 133 biscuits will be consumed by every female in 2011 alone.



To say nothing of the industrial quantities of pork scratchings I'll get through. I wonder why they didn't mention that? But then, I'm not a woman. At least, I wasn't last time I looked. But I did take part in the Hovis wholemeal challenge; I did eat their recommended breakfasts and - yes - they did seem to fill me up and prevent mid-morning snacking, in spite of the fact that the research mentions only the women who took part. I know my place. I also know that man cannot live by bread alone. And neither can woman. Or by good intentions.



So if you'd like some help from Hovis to stop snacking there's a brand new Facebook app at www.facebook.com/hovisbakery which has been developed in conjunction with Olympic gold medallist Victoria Pendleton. The Hovis Stop Snacking app will help encourage women (and men) to ditch their daily snacking vice and can be had for the price of a couple of mouse clicks right here.



Now, pass the biscuits...

Psychology Friday: Taxi!

We were actually in one yesterday... a real one. You know, one of those London black cabs. So I took the opportunity to ask the driver how big his hippocampus was. And before I was summarily dumped in the middle of Ilford, I was treated to an excellent practical deliberation of Maguire's assertion that cabbies, well, have bigger ones than the rest of us. Brains, that is; specifically, hippocampi. Here, if you've never seen it before, is 'the knowledge'. And when you think of what they've got to do without the benefit of SatNav you've got to admit, this kind of brain training jolly well ought to lead to bigger mental biceps. And so it does. Which only goes go show that you're brain is pretty much like any other muscle... use it, or you lose it. And the more exercise, the better it gets. Possibly.

Wordless Wednesday

It's that sort of day... already!