David L. Atkinson's Blog, page 109
August 16, 2014
10 things we didn't know last week
Firing fish, organic batteries and squealing dolphins
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1. A salmon cannon fires 40 fish a minute.
A what? Where are the RSPCA?
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2. After the US, South Korea is the nation that sends the most missionaries around the world.
I wonder how many they've sent to North Korea!
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3. It's possible to charge a phone using sweat.
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4. Wine kept in a cupboard at home ages four times as quickly as that stored in a professional cellar.
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5. The sound of a ticking clock can make women keener to have babies younger.
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6. One in 10 people in the UK does not have a close friend.
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7. Up to 8.5% of active Twitter users are not human.
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8. Emails sent to employees of German auto manufacturer Daimler while they are on holiday are automatically deleted.
Good
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9. Whales and dolphins squeal with pleasure.
------------------------------
10. Electric cars and power tools could be powered using hemp.
------------------------------
God Bless
[image error]
1. A salmon cannon fires 40 fish a minute.
A what? Where are the RSPCA?
------------------------------
[image error]
2. After the US, South Korea is the nation that sends the most missionaries around the world.
I wonder how many they've sent to North Korea!
------------------------------
3. It's possible to charge a phone using sweat.
------------------------------
4. Wine kept in a cupboard at home ages four times as quickly as that stored in a professional cellar.
------------------------------
[image error]
5. The sound of a ticking clock can make women keener to have babies younger.
------------------------------
6. One in 10 people in the UK does not have a close friend.
------------------------------
7. Up to 8.5% of active Twitter users are not human.
------------------------------
8. Emails sent to employees of German auto manufacturer Daimler while they are on holiday are automatically deleted.
Good
------------------------------
9. Whales and dolphins squeal with pleasure.
------------------------------
10. Electric cars and power tools could be powered using hemp.
------------------------------
God Bless
August 15, 2014
Writing - John Keating 'Carpe Diem'
Teachers have a wonderful/terrible influence on children. I remember both sides of the teaching coin from a lady who caned me, aged 5, for picking up my pencil with my left hand, to a Science teacher who believed in my ability to succeed in his subject. Robin William's John Keating in Dead Poet's Society reminded me of the other type of teacher who is prepared to think outside the box.
In the film John Keating gives the reason for standing on the desk as looking for a different view. He wasn't the first teacher I saw do something different. I was educated at a state grammar school and we had a teacher who taught sitting cross-legged on his desk 30 years before the above film was released.In the 1970's, when I was teaching, a colleague was seen standing on a radiator in the corridor threatening to jump! He was an English teacher with a love for acting and he was indulging in a performance.
The early part of my career had space for the divergent thinker but as I neared the end the quantity of paperwork, the National Curriculum and accountability was murdering creativity, spontaneity and relationships. The 'nanny state' doesn't allow for free thinking which is not good for those children and young people who have the creative gene.
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Of course those teachers who are able to saddle the horse of divergent thinking and manage to take a group of children along with them, become heroes as depicted by the above closing scene as the now disgraced Keating leaves the school. There is another corollary in that other teachers and the management can be afraid of the free thinker as was well demonstrated in Dead Poet's Society.
One of Keating's sayings was 'seize the day' or carpe diem. I think that in Latin the full translation is 'pluck the day when it is ripe'. Apparently the acceptable English translation was introduced in a work by Lord Byron in 1830.
In producing stories, the jumping on the desk to obtain a different view, is a stratagem that may add a spike of intrigue into what you are producing. These spikes tweak the attention of the reader on the page as divergent thinking does in life.
In the film Good Will Hunting, Williams and Damon were involved very much in thinking outside the box in psychological and mathematical terms. Perhaps we have lost one of the great thinkers of the world. Some would say that he was reading a script but it was an accepted fact that Robin Williams was famous for ad libbing and in fact in Good Morning Vietnam he ad libbed the whole script.
God Bless
In the film John Keating gives the reason for standing on the desk as looking for a different view. He wasn't the first teacher I saw do something different. I was educated at a state grammar school and we had a teacher who taught sitting cross-legged on his desk 30 years before the above film was released.In the 1970's, when I was teaching, a colleague was seen standing on a radiator in the corridor threatening to jump! He was an English teacher with a love for acting and he was indulging in a performance.
The early part of my career had space for the divergent thinker but as I neared the end the quantity of paperwork, the National Curriculum and accountability was murdering creativity, spontaneity and relationships. The 'nanny state' doesn't allow for free thinking which is not good for those children and young people who have the creative gene.
[image error]
Of course those teachers who are able to saddle the horse of divergent thinking and manage to take a group of children along with them, become heroes as depicted by the above closing scene as the now disgraced Keating leaves the school. There is another corollary in that other teachers and the management can be afraid of the free thinker as was well demonstrated in Dead Poet's Society.
One of Keating's sayings was 'seize the day' or carpe diem. I think that in Latin the full translation is 'pluck the day when it is ripe'. Apparently the acceptable English translation was introduced in a work by Lord Byron in 1830.
In producing stories, the jumping on the desk to obtain a different view, is a stratagem that may add a spike of intrigue into what you are producing. These spikes tweak the attention of the reader on the page as divergent thinking does in life.
In the film Good Will Hunting, Williams and Damon were involved very much in thinking outside the box in psychological and mathematical terms. Perhaps we have lost one of the great thinkers of the world. Some would say that he was reading a script but it was an accepted fact that Robin Williams was famous for ad libbing and in fact in Good Morning Vietnam he ad libbed the whole script.
God Bless
August 14, 2014
Writing - The Ghost Village of Pollphail
Overlooking Loch Fyne in Argyll and Bute, Scotland is the ghost village of Pollphail. It is an ideal source of inspiration for stories. I use the plural because the fact that it is a deserted village, doesn't tie a writer down to one particular genre. When a source of inspiration triggers those magic writing phenomena in your head open your eyes further and consider all the options.
Pollphail
The village was built in the 1970s to house workers on a construction yard during the oil boom. When demand didn't materialised the village was never populated and it is now up for sale.
The really surprising thing about artists, whether they draw, paint, sculpture, write or whatever, is when a canvas becomes available they put it to good use. The derelict nature of the area lends itself to 'spookiness' even on a warm, slightly breezy, summer's day. It could trigger ideas of vampires and zombies.
I could see a party of walkers being set upon and having to take shelter in this nest of problems.Although the major focus of my writing to date has been on the Steele series of novels I also have a dystopian story published Cessation which is set on the moors of Yorkshire and follows the failure of electricity and all that entails. If you're not sure of the importance of that source of power consider everything that runs on batteries or mains electricity and imagine life without. (Cessation is available from all major book stores websites). 
The vacant properties in Pollphail have that dead, empty eyed quality which triggers thoughts and ideas and you can see fractured groups of people trying to populate a village distant from the dysfunctional towns and cities of a post apocalyptic Scotland.
Imagine the trials and tribulations of the human animal, what Dr Desmond Morris termed 'The Naked Ape', in such a place without the benefits of technology.Perhaps the one tone that such a village does not allow is happiness!
God Bless
August 13, 2014
Poetry Thursday 123 - The Human Condition
I am writing this in the aftermath of the death of Robin Williams and the human condition of depression, which I have had issues with, in an effort to raise a little more awareness.
The poet and writer Antonin Artaud, who himself experienced serious mental illness, wrote, ‘No one has ever written, painted or sculpted, modelled, built or invented except literally to get out of hell.’”
The creative mind can also produce comedy but also seems intertwined with depression. Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Charlie Chaplin and Steven Fry all highly entertaining but all with the same tendency to self-destruction. And now Robin Williams.
Robin Williams 1951 - 2014
Robin Williams RIP
Nobody can know the shades that haunted him.What were his final thoughts as he died?
I can’t imagine the fractured soul that drove him to leave his children, his successes.
Even as a greatly celebrated human loved by allwhy could he not feed from that?
Why is it that comedic souls burn out so quicklyand often so tragically?
His tortured existence is over and he leaves pain where he brought joy.
Robin will be fondly remembered by millions on this turbulent orb – the pain will pass.© David L Atkinson August 2014
A Haiku on the news of Robin
Robin WilliamsMan of warm love and laughterTime to leave at last.© David L Atkinson August 2014
The Life Cycle of a Depression
No one knows where it comes from,it begins life as a nematode. The host has no idea that the time bombhas set them on a rocky, descending road.
It can lie dormant, not dead, for yearsgathering strength to evolveinto a significant source of tearsfrom problems too difficult to solve.
When in adult form it is terrifyingtaking over all aspects of life.No subject can avoid the writhingsnake intent on delivering strife.
Getting it back in the mind box is hardyou grasp it and it’s skin is sloughedslipping away through fingers scarredby previous encounters fluffed.
Once back in control stay alertfor the nematode has not gone.It waits while you get lost in the comfortof peace to again twine soul and snake as one!
© David L Atkinson August 2014
And to end a very apt quote from 'Dead's Poet Society'
"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for." - John Keating, Dead Poets Society (1989)
God Bless
The poet and writer Antonin Artaud, who himself experienced serious mental illness, wrote, ‘No one has ever written, painted or sculpted, modelled, built or invented except literally to get out of hell.’”
The creative mind can also produce comedy but also seems intertwined with depression. Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Charlie Chaplin and Steven Fry all highly entertaining but all with the same tendency to self-destruction. And now Robin Williams.
Robin Williams 1951 - 2014
Robin Williams RIP
Nobody can know the shades that haunted him.What were his final thoughts as he died?
I can’t imagine the fractured soul that drove him to leave his children, his successes.
Even as a greatly celebrated human loved by allwhy could he not feed from that?
Why is it that comedic souls burn out so quicklyand often so tragically?
His tortured existence is over and he leaves pain where he brought joy.
Robin will be fondly remembered by millions on this turbulent orb – the pain will pass.© David L Atkinson August 2014
A Haiku on the news of Robin
Robin WilliamsMan of warm love and laughterTime to leave at last.© David L Atkinson August 2014
The Life Cycle of a Depression
No one knows where it comes from,it begins life as a nematode. The host has no idea that the time bombhas set them on a rocky, descending road.
It can lie dormant, not dead, for yearsgathering strength to evolveinto a significant source of tearsfrom problems too difficult to solve.
When in adult form it is terrifyingtaking over all aspects of life.No subject can avoid the writhingsnake intent on delivering strife.
Getting it back in the mind box is hardyou grasp it and it’s skin is sloughedslipping away through fingers scarredby previous encounters fluffed.
Once back in control stay alertfor the nematode has not gone.It waits while you get lost in the comfortof peace to again twine soul and snake as one!
© David L Atkinson August 2014
And to end a very apt quote from 'Dead's Poet Society'
"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for." - John Keating, Dead Poets Society (1989)
God Bless
August 12, 2014
Writing - Lexiphiles, Tourists and Robin Williams
I love words, well I must do or wouldn't spend so much time using them. My parents, Dad in particular, were ultra keen on the correct use of English. This blog today is a pot pourri of language and how it is used by people and also a requiem for Robin Williams.
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To begin with a bit of fun for those who love punning.
To write with a broken pencil is pointless.
A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.
When the smog lifts in Los Angeles U.C.L.A.
The batteries were given out free of charge.
A dentist and a manicurist married. They fought tooth and
nail.
A will is a dead giveaway.
With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress
A boiled egg is hard to beat.
Police were called to a day care where a three-year-old
was resisting a rest.
A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.
The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine is now fully
recovered.
He had a photographic memory which was never developed.
The point of including this in a writing blog is to remind us scribes to take care. A well placed pun can be highly amusing but overuse can also be annoying.
[image error]The English Abroad
I remember holidaying on Rhodes with the family about twenty years ago. We have travelled abroad a few times and have tried to 'do as the locals do' but have frequently been astounded and embarrassed at some English people's behaviour. The breakfast in our hotel was Greek and included fresh meats, cheeses and Madeira cake with natural Greek yoghurt and local honey. The food was delicious, the weather was great and the local people were brilliant. Imagine my surprise at a conversation overheard in a nearby cafe we'd entered for late morning drinks.The family, two adults and two children, entered the establishment talking loudly. It began with,"I hope we can a decent breakfast in here!"I'd seen these people in our hotel so knew that they had the same choices we had for the first meal of the day. They went on to complain about the lack of bacon and eggs and breakfast cereal etc etc. To people like that I say buy a sun lamp and go to Blackpool they'll save themselves a fortune.
Some more fun tourist complaints.
THESE ARE ACTUAL COMPLAINTS RECEIVED BY "THOMAS COOK VACATIONS"
FROM DISSATISFIED CUSTOMERS:
1. "I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local convenience store does not sell proper biscuits (cookies) like custard creams or ginger nuts."
2. "It's lazy of the local shopkeepers in Puerto Vallarta to close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during 'siesta' time -- this should be banned."
3. "On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food."
4. "We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our own swimsuits and towels. We assumed it would be included in the price."
5. "The beach was too sandy. We had to clean everything when we returned to our room."
6. "We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as white but, it was more yellow."
7. "They should not allow topless sunbathing on the beach. It was very distracting for my husband who just wanted to relax."
8. "No-one told us there would be fish in the water. The children were scared."
9. "Although the brochure said that there was a fully equipped kitchen, there was no egg-slicer in the drawers."
10. "We went on holiday to Spain and had a problem with the taxi drivers as they were all Spanish."
11. �"The roads were uneven and bumpy, so we could not read the local guide book during the bus ride to the resort. Because of this, we were unaware of many things that would have made our holiday more fun."
12. "It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England. It took the Americans only three hours to get home. This seems unfair."
13. "I compared the size of our one-bedroom suite to our friends' three-bedroom and ours was significantly smaller."
14. "The brochure stated: 'No hairdressers at the resort,' We're trainee hairdressers and we think they knew and made us wait longer for service."
15. "When we were in Spain there were too many Spanish people there. The receptionist spoke Spanish, the food was Spanish. No one told us that there would be so many foreigners."
16. "We had to line up outside to catch the boat and there was no air-conditioning."
17. "It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or unruly guests before we travel."
18. "I was bitten by a mosquito. The brochure did not mention mosquitoes."
19. "My fiance and I requested twin-beds when we booked, but instead we were placed in a room with a king bed. We now hold you responsible and want to be re-reimbursed for the fact that I became pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked."
THEY WALK AMONG US and THEY VOTE TOO!!!!!
Some truly amazing people on this Earth.
Turning to someone who is no longer with us on this Earth.
[image error]Robin Williams 1951 - 2014
A man who gave me many hours of amusement and entertainment and I know I'm not alone in that. Yet another example of the nature of depression. The health people round the world continually fail to understand the nature of depression. As someone who lost nine months of work due to clinical depression I know that it never goes away but is often compartmentalised in the mind so that life can be coped with.I loved most of Robin William's films but the one aspect of the man that should be celebrated was his tremendous intelligence. I leave you with this quote from Robin on the struggles of modern man,
"See, the problem is that God gives men a brain and a penis, and only enough blood to run one at a time."
God Bless Robin
August 11, 2014
Tuesday Recipe - Luxury Fish Pie
Luxury Fish Pie
I have published fish pie recipes on previous occasions and simply to make the basic pie you use fish (how astute am I?), parsley sauce, and a potato topping. However, if you're feeling adventurous there are a variety of enhancements and the one I produced last weekend was laden with such.
In with the smoked haddock and cod, I added large cooked and peeled prawns, finely chopped and fried onion, frozen peas, and hard boiled egg. For the potato topping I mashed the potato with creme fraiche, more onion and Gruyère cheese with some extra Gruyère grated on top. The pie I then served with sautéed asparagus and if I say so myself, it was delicious.
God Bless
Poetry - An Apple temptation
Apple Tempter
An apple a day keeps the doctor awaybut note well the temptation within.The sweet, dripping nature that one bite does sprayis tainted by foul devil therein.
A gloriously, glossy outer covering,shining with goodness and promise,hides malevolence, beauty is mocking,good taste camouflaging the badness.
Think well before folding to temptationlife’s path may never be the same.Clamped lips warding off evil Satan.Delicious orb has the power to inflame. © David L Atkinson August 2014
August 10, 2014
Writing - Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's fixer
Hilary Mantel won the Man Booker Prize with her novel 'Wolf Hall' which is centred on the life of Thomas Cromwell who became Henry VIII's fixer. An interesting genre, writing a story from historical fact. It seems to me that it would take great imagination and the ability to empathise to create such a work. It is also a subjectively educational piece of work that can take the reader into history from the author's interpretation of the facts.
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When we create characters there must be a degree of vulnerability about them alongside methods to overcome their weaknesses. Henry VIII could be seen as a weak man who surrounded himself with powerful characters, one of whom was Thomas Cromwell. Thanks to author Mantel's books, the influence and nature of this man has been elevated to the consciousness of people who read her.When Cardinal Wolsey fell from grace because of failing to obtain an annulment from Catherine of Aragon, Cromwell engineered his position to replace Wolsey who'd been his boss. It is believed that Cromwell organised the split from Rome in 1533 and then when Anne Boleyn proved to be a disappointment to Henry, Cromwell engineered her beheading along with her supposed suitors with whom she allegedly had affairs. The evidence provided by Cromwell was at best flimsy.Eventually Cromwell attained the position of Lord Privy Seal, Baron Cromwell of Wimbledon but there must have been some doubts in the king's mind about the value of the reforms that Cromwell had been behind because when the nobles rebelled against Cromwell the king lost confidence in his counsellor. In 1540 Cromwell was arrested and imprisoned within the Tower of London and beheaded in July of that year.
[image error]Hans Holbein's painting of Cromwell after his arrest.
All-in-all an excellent story but for the fact that it was true. Hilary Mantel's rendition is good once you understand the style that she adopts. For those of us who enjoy this genre there will be other compelling characters out there that may deserve some re-working for the 21st century reader.
God Bless
[image error]
When we create characters there must be a degree of vulnerability about them alongside methods to overcome their weaknesses. Henry VIII could be seen as a weak man who surrounded himself with powerful characters, one of whom was Thomas Cromwell. Thanks to author Mantel's books, the influence and nature of this man has been elevated to the consciousness of people who read her.When Cardinal Wolsey fell from grace because of failing to obtain an annulment from Catherine of Aragon, Cromwell engineered his position to replace Wolsey who'd been his boss. It is believed that Cromwell organised the split from Rome in 1533 and then when Anne Boleyn proved to be a disappointment to Henry, Cromwell engineered her beheading along with her supposed suitors with whom she allegedly had affairs. The evidence provided by Cromwell was at best flimsy.Eventually Cromwell attained the position of Lord Privy Seal, Baron Cromwell of Wimbledon but there must have been some doubts in the king's mind about the value of the reforms that Cromwell had been behind because when the nobles rebelled against Cromwell the king lost confidence in his counsellor. In 1540 Cromwell was arrested and imprisoned within the Tower of London and beheaded in July of that year.
[image error]Hans Holbein's painting of Cromwell after his arrest.
All-in-all an excellent story but for the fact that it was true. Hilary Mantel's rendition is good once you understand the style that she adopts. For those of us who enjoy this genre there will be other compelling characters out there that may deserve some re-working for the 21st century reader.
God Bless
August 9, 2014
Writing - 10 things we didn't know last week
Speed, joints and bears this week.
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1. Tortoises can run as fast as 1mph (1.6km/h).
Me too!
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2. Neanderthals ate barbecue-roasted pigeon.
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3. Ant colonies have personalities.
------------------------------
4. The Indian record for staff absenteeism is thought to have been set by a biology teacher who did not turn up for work for 23 years.
------------------------------
5. In Oklahoma, the average marijuana joint costs the same as 2.41 bottles of Bud Light.
------------------------------
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6. There is a mathematical formula for happiness.
------------------------------
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7. Eels are aversely affected by noise pollution.
Pardon!
------------------------------
8. Mesa, Arizona, is the most conservative large city in the United States.
------------------------------
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9. The average astronaut on orbiting space shuttles gets less than six hours sleep a night.
Bless!
------------------------------
10. Grizzly bears' bodies mimic the symptoms of type two diabetes during hibernation.
------------------------------
God Bless
[image error]
1. Tortoises can run as fast as 1mph (1.6km/h).
Me too!
------------------------------
[image error]
2. Neanderthals ate barbecue-roasted pigeon.
------------------------------
3. Ant colonies have personalities.
------------------------------
4. The Indian record for staff absenteeism is thought to have been set by a biology teacher who did not turn up for work for 23 years.
------------------------------
5. In Oklahoma, the average marijuana joint costs the same as 2.41 bottles of Bud Light.
------------------------------
[image error]
6. There is a mathematical formula for happiness.
------------------------------
[image error]
7. Eels are aversely affected by noise pollution.
Pardon!
------------------------------
8. Mesa, Arizona, is the most conservative large city in the United States.
------------------------------
[image error]
9. The average astronaut on orbiting space shuttles gets less than six hours sleep a night.
Bless!
------------------------------
10. Grizzly bears' bodies mimic the symptoms of type two diabetes during hibernation.
------------------------------
God Bless
August 8, 2014
Writing - The Steele Store
I am unashamedly trying to sell books today. It's the summer holidays, an opportunity to relax and read and Steele could be an entertaining read while soaking up some rays by the pool sipping a cold one. All books are available in paperback or eBook. If you have a smartphone the Kindle app is free and the books inexpensive.
Steele My hero was created post recession and so has no concept of how 'good' things were pre-2008. In 'I Have To Get It Right' when he began to flex his muscles he was working in an accountant's office. Then after the Gurentai took him under their wing and removed all of his financial worries, it was justice that was his major concern. He did become involved in international relations in 'The 51st State' but it was for the maintenance of a respectful distance between countries, rather than economic reasons. His trips into the USA had repercussions which can be read about in 'The Biter Bit' but then by the time things began to change in 2011 and the recession was really biting, Steele was trying to make sense of the state of the nation in 'A Changed Reality' and coming up against some really nasty people taking advantage of the shortage of money. By the time the USA are out of their recession Steele's steps are still being dogged by an unknown enemy from the same country. In 'Inceptus' we also find out more about what makes the man tick. The most recent Steele book 'Castled' Steele is once again at risk from unseen enemies. It would seem that he has become quite recession proof!
All books are available in paperback or ebook through Amazon, Smashwords and all good book shop websites.
Cessation This is a dystopian story that hinges directly on the state of the nation as a result of fiscal mismanagement. Having said that it is more a story of human relations, privations, love and loss.
