David L. Atkinson's Blog, page 124

Tuesday Recipe - Penne pasta with Italian sausage

On the plateandstraight from the oven

My daughter and her new husband returned from honeymooning in Florence and brought real penne pasta and some beautiful extra virgin olive oil so it was inevitable that I cooked Italian this weekend. I also love Italian food and am further encouraged by the healthy qualities of a Mediterranean diet. This recipe is a pasta bake and is quite straight forward but very tasty. I would advise anyone trying it to have fresh basil available the tomatoes in this dish love fresh basil. I bought a plant from my local supermarket, costs about £1 and it lasts around 6 - 8 weeks before I am denuding it of leaves faster than it can re-grow them! Cheaper than the dried stuff and maintains it's flavour. I also prefer to tear the leaves rather than chopping them.
The full recipe is on the appropriate TAB.
Great Escape
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Today is the 70th anniversary of the escape from Stalag Luft III which inspired the making of the film of the same name. Over seventy prisoners escaped, 3 made it back to England and fifty were executed by the Gestapo, the remainder were re-incarcerated.
God Bless

Writing - March 23rd a moment in time

Things that happen on this day in history  Old Calendar: Third Sunday of LentJesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water." Jesus said to her, "Go call your husband and come back" 
This was our reading this morning in church[image error]World Meteorological DayMeteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere. Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the 18th century. The 19th century saw modest progress in the field after observing networks formed across several countries. It wasn't until after the development of the computer in the latter half of the 20th century that significant breakthroughs in weather forecasting were achieved.I sometimes wonder why they have this sort of celebratory day!National Puppy Day is ringing in its 8th consecutive year this Saturday, and there are so many ways you can celebrate!The day was organized by founder Colleen Paige in 2006 not just to revel in the awesomeness of puppies, but also to raise awareness about the horrors of puppy mills and help find homes for orphaned pups.
But really the day is special because it is my middle child's birthday! He is the smiling man on the left and we don't see him often because he lives in Brussels, Belgium.He was born on a Tuesday in 1982 and that is the beginning of his history. All of our lives are a point in time that are momentous on a personal level but insignificant on a global level. There may be some momentous occasions but you could argue that there are momentous occasions every day the one thing they have in common is that they pass into history. When we write we 'play' with time using it for effect with strategies such as 'flashbacks'. I have been using it in my latest book Most Wanted Artefact by having action happening in parallel. Steele is involved in an event away from his support and at the same time that support group are involved in action. How a writer engineers that type of activity so that the readers can follow and enjoy the action is delicate. I found myself re-reading the relevant sections repeatedly to ensure that everything works.Happy Birthday Nicholas!God Bless

10 Things we didn't know last week

Even more strange and fascinating facts.

1. Ear wax can be used to monitor pollution.
Now some may find this point x-rated but ear wax has its uses. I remember an Afro-Caribbean lady telling me that it is good for cold sores. It has anti-microbial properties and can indicate pollutants in the atmosphere.
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2. Clarissa Dickson Wright's full name was Clarissa Theresa Philomena Aileen Mary Josephine Agnes Elsie Trilby Louise Esmeralda Dickson Wright.
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3. Narwhals' long tusks - an exaggerated front tooth used for courtship - are super sensitive.
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4. Evening Standard proprietor Evgeny Lebedev keeps a private library of 500 scents at the office.
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5. Crow families that unwittingly host a cuckoo chick in the nest tend to have better survival rates.
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6. Guinness in 1982 came close to re-launching the brand as an English beer brewed in west London.
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7. It's often been reported that the human nose can only distinguish between 10,000 smells but that is wrong - it's more like a trillion.
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8. Vicars and priests have the highest job satisfaction of UK workers.
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9. Until this week's decision to remove the law from the statute book, it was a criminal offence in the UK not to report grey squirrels spotted on your land.
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10. Dark chocolate is feasted on by "good" microbes in the gut, resulting in the production of anti-inflammatory compounds.
The above is the reason that dark chocolate in small quantities can help to lower high blood pressure.
God Bless

Writing - Where were you when...?

I really dislike the question 'Where were you when?' mainly because it worries me when I can't provide an answer.

[image error]JFK's assassination.
I was 13 years old when Kennedy was shot. I believe I was at home watching TV with my parents. No idea what I was doing when Princess Diana died.I was teaching when two aircraft crashed into the World Trade Centre. In a sense it is not that important to remember where you were but how you felt about the occurrence. Similarly, when writing stories, it's necessary to establish a chronology but to really engage the reader it is the emotions and interactions that are important. 
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I remember reading an article about intelligence when I was training to be a teacher. The article described how a student of a very intelligent professor, while taking a walk in a forest, asked the names of various things that he saw. The professor made the comment that intelligence wasn't about the names of things you can remember but the interactions between those things.
Back to the writing. 
In writing the Steele novels as I have learnt more from the characters about their personalities, their reactions in various situations and the background that has formed them, I believe the quality of the stories has improved. There are similarities in the human voice to the quality of stories. When we speak our voices rise and fall in pitch, volume and timbre and this happens because of our life experiences. However, the change in our voices happens beyond our conscious control. When we have developed the characters in our stories the way they react in different situations is automatic so rather like our voice. Some find it a little scary that the character they've created has taken over the story, personally I think its exciting and a natural development of the creative process.
God Bless

Writing - International Day of Happiness

Imagine the scenario in Number 11 Downing Street as George Osborne was preparing yesterday's budget.George: "Does anyone know what the serfs like to do in their spare time?"Minion: "They drink beer sir!"George: "Great I'll knock a 1p off a glass."Minion: "Pint sir."George: "Pint? Like a bottle of milk?"Minion: "Yes sir that's the quantity. It's a big glass."George: "Is there anything else they do?"Minion: "Gamble sir"George: "Can't do anything with the horses one's friends would be affected. Casinos?"Minion: "They can't afford to go to casinos sir."George: "What's that game where they all gather together in a large room?"Minion: "Sounds like a discotheque sir."George: "No no man! They have pieces of paper and there are coloured balls."Minion: "Ah I think you mean bingo sir."George: "Bingo - yes. Oh I see they pay a lot of tax on that."Minion: "Yes sir but my wife says there are a number of such halls have closed down.George: "Great - a double whammy my man. I'll halve the tax and claim that I'm saving jobs as well!"Minion: "Yes Chancellor!"

Does George look as if someone has given him  a pint of sewer water? Is he thinking "I'd die for a G & T?"
International Day of Happiness

This was established by the United Nations in 2012 and will be celebrated on March 20th every year.
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Apparently we can decide to be happy! So a psychologist told us on TV this morning. One of her pieces of advice was to turn off your electronic device and actually join with someone over a meal or a drink without the side tracking electronic devices introduce into our lives. There have been several survey results on this subject and overall they seem to be saying that people would rather live in a happy society rather than a wealthy one. Some of us have little choice!

If you are having trouble in the smiling stakes have a look at the following. It only lasts a minute but it made me smile. You don't need to speak Russian to appreciate it!

http://youtu.be/i7W3ICpONVs

You may have to copy and paste to your browser.
God Bless

Poetry Thursday 102 - Age and an ode to MH370

Two poems this week for very different reasons and consequently different formats but linked by Shakespeare.

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Age
Talk about the seven ages of man.In childhood life should progress without care.When true love calls we abandon the plan,a new path of life for two folk to share.Your own offspring tangle the emotionsand pursue a path parallel to yours.Their mistakes test your deepest devotionswhen all you can see are similar flaws.At twilight you need their understanding.Life becomes harder and yet sweeter.Health intervenes and concerns everyone.Care is the key – end of life’s new meterBut remembering what’s past so much fun!
Ageing demands all our attention.Love’s caress we pray is the solution.©David L Atkinson March 2014

An Ode to MH370
MH370, MH370 wherefore art thou MH370Whether it was the cabin crew or a disaffected passenger,deny the guilt and refute the blame.Or if thou wilt not speak now plain and no longer be missing.
T’is thy whereabouts that is my curiosity.Thou art somewhere though not in flight.Thou hast several night’s cloak hiding thee from our sight.Are your lives ended by their hate?By whose direction finds thee out of place?
O blessed, blessed night, are we mistaken?Is this but a dream?Too ethereal and mysterious to be substantial?Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in thy soulbut stay not lost forever.©David L Atkinson March 2014

God Bless

Writing - MH370 an inspiration

Flight MH370
I have mentioned this in previous blogs and that is hardly surprising. The plot changes daily but as a source of inspiration here are ten possible solutions.
1.  Landed in the Andaman IslandsThe plane was apparently at one stage heading in the direction of India's Andaman and Nicobar islands, the most easterly part of Indian territory, which lies between Indonesia and the coast of Thailand and Burma. It has been reported that military radar there might not even have been operating, as the threat level is generally perceived as low. 
2.  Flew to KazakhstanThe central Asian republic is at the far end of the northern search corridor so it could hypothetically have landed there. Light aircraft pilot Sylvia Wrigley, author of Why Planes Crash, says landing in a desert might be possible and certainly more likely than landing on a beach somewhere.
3.  It flew southThe final satellite "ping" suggests the plane was still operational for at least five or six hours after leaving Malaysian radar range. For Norman Shanks, former head of group security at airports group BAA, and professor of aviation security at Coventry University, the search should therefore start from the extremes of the corridors and work up, rather than the other way around. He thinks the southern corridor is more likely for a plane that has so far avoided detection by radar.
4.  Taklamakan Desert, north west ChinaThere has been speculation on forums that the plane could have been commandeered by China's Uighur Muslim separatists. Out of the plane's 239 passengers, 153 were Chinese citizens. One possible destination in this theory would be China's Taklamakan Desert.5.  It was flown towards Langkawi island because of a fire or other malfunctionThe loss of transponders and communications could be explained by a fire, aviation blogger Chris Goodfellow has suggested. The left turn that the plane made, deviating from the route to Beijing, could have been a bid to reach safety, he argues. "This pilot did all the right things. He was confronted by some major event onboard that made him make that immediate turn back to the closest safe airport."6.  The plane is in PakistanMedia tycoon Rupert Murdoch has tweeted: "World seems transfixed by 777 disappearance. Maybe no crash but stolen, effectively hidden, perhaps in Northern Pakistan, like Bin Laden." But Pakistan has strenuously denied that this would be possible.7.  The plane hid in the shadow of another airlinerAviation blogger Keith Ledgerwood believes the missing plane hid in the radar shadow of Singapore Airlines flight 68. The Singaporean airliner was in the same vicinity as the Malaysian plane.
8.  There was a struggleOne of the hardest things to account for so far with an innocent explanation is the way the plane was flown erratically. It went far above its "ceiling", flying at 45,000 feet before later flying very low. Big fluctuations in altitude suggest there might have been a struggle, says Buzdygan. Post-9/11, cockpit doors have been strengthened against the possibility of hijack but there are still scenarios where access could be gained. Pilots talk to each other "over a beer" about how they'd deal with hijackers, he says. Buzdygan would have had no qualms about flying aggressively to try and resist a hijack. "I'd try to disorientate and confuse the hijackers by throwing them around," says Buzdygan.
9.  The passengers were deliberately killed by decompressionAnother theory circulating is that the plane was taken up to 45,000ft to kill the passengers quickly, aviation expert Sean Maffett says, and thus stop them using mobile phones once the plane descended to an altitude where mobile signal was possible. At 45,000ft the Boeing 777 is way above its operating height. And it is possible to depressurise the cabin.
10. The plane will take off again to be used in a terrorist attackOne of the more outlandish theories is that the plane has been stolen by terrorists to commit a 9/11 style atrocity. It has been landed safely, hidden or camouflaged, will be refuelled and fitted with a new transponder before taking off to attack a city disguised as an airliner.
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 Some of the above theories, because that is all they are, highly unlikely. The idea that it flew south to avoid electronic detection would seem to be the most sensible. The concept of flying north towards large land masses is unlikely because of the certainty of being picked up by radar that is at military readiness in some countries that would be crossed. Here are some of my own ideas:-
The plane was detected in hostile airspace and was shot down.The flight was funded by a country hostile to China and the artists on board will be held to ransom.The plane has landed in the deserted Northern Territory of AustraliaThe passengers are a team of Chinese espionage agents dispersed to spy upon and undermine western countries.The Japanese have shot the plane down as ongoing arguments between the two countries, over territory rights, continues.Need I go on? The bottom line is that the aircraft with all passengers and crew has disappeared, no country has the definitive information on what happened, and currently it's a mystery!
God Bless

Tuesday Recipe - Mince and dumplings

The recipe that I used this weekend came from those illustrious TV chefs The Hairy Bikers. At one time I'm sure this would have been considered poor man's fare, to some I suppose it still is, but for those not confident in cookery would find this a real doddle and very tasty.

Mince and dumplings served with crushed new potatoes
There is a great deal of food snobbery about and I'm sure that is because of media attention but it does give everyone the opportunity to try a wide range of different meals. With the above recipe I've tried to recapture my working class roots by using a 'leg of mince'. As a boy mince was a last resort if money was tight and fitted in with sugar on bread and banana sandwiches. The reasons behind the frugality of such meals were usually financial but it must be remembered that there wasn't the range of foods that are available these days. 
I think the first frozen food I ever saw were Bird's Eye Fish Fingers and that would be in the late 1950s when Mum and Dad bought our first refrigerator. It also must be noted that fruit and vegetables were nearly always fresh and also seasonal. Nothing like a bit of nostalgia!!!!
The mince meal above is served with one of my favourite accompaniments and that is crushed new potatoes with fresh basil, sea salt and ground black pepper, along with the obligatory knob of butter. I'm back to using proper butter these days because there has been so much dubious information in the media about how bad for us some of the chemicals that are added to low fat spreads are. Mother lived till she was 90 and ate real butter everyday and never cut the fat off meat. Have you noticed how tasteless red meat has become of late. I believe that part of the reason is the very thin layers of fat and little marbling in the cuts. It is quite often the fat that enhances the flavours of the foods.
The recipe for the above meal is on the relevant tab
God Bless

Writing - You learn something new everyday

There are innumerable places to obtain inspiration including round the home. How many stories have you come across where everyday objects are put to different purposes? I learnt some stuff today about an everyday object that could easily provide a bit of accessibility.

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It was developed in 1953 by Dr. Norm Larsen, founder of the Rocket Chemical Company, in San Diego, California. WD-40, abbreviated from the phrase "Water Displacement, 40th formula," was originally designed to repel water and prevent corrosion, and later was found to have numerous household uses.Use WD-40 To:1. Lube a shovel. Spray WD-40 on a shovel, spading fork, hoe or garden trowel. The soil slides right off—especially helpful when digging in clay.2. Clean tile. The spray removes spilled mascara, nail polish, paint and scuff marks from tile floors, and also help you wipe away grime from the grout lines. Clean up with soapy water.3. Scrub stains from stainless steel sinks.4. Unstick gum. A squirt makes it easier to pull gum out of carpet and even hair. It's better than cutting out the gum and leaving patchy carpet or a bad haircut.5. Soften leather. Oil can help break in a stiff leather tool belt.6. Free stuck LEGOs. Your kids will thank you.7. Erase crayon. When crayon ends up on toys, flooring, furniture, painted walls, wallpaper, windows, doors, and television screens. Spray on WD-40 and wipe it off.8. Prevent flowerpots from sticking when stacked together.9. Get rid of rust. Spray and rub away rust from circular saw and hacksaw blades. It can also clean blades of tar and other gunk.10. Remove goo. Unstick gooey residue from price tags, duct tape, and stickers.Apparently you can also use it to lubricate your own rheumatic joints, your crossbow or ammunition cans! Quite frightening really. There is a website that lists up to 2000 uses for the stuff.-------------------------------------------Words Came across this word this morning which is the first time for a very long time. The context it was used in I don't believe to be fully accurate but it is an interesting addition to the collective writing dictionary.
fecundity - Plentiful; the capacity to reproduce in abundance.


-------------------------------------------- Corresponding Writers If you enjoy handwriting; are concerned about the demise of using a pen; or, just enjoy receiving a letter through the post from another person, then this could be the site for you. It is written by Bert Carson and here what he says about himself.[image error]
I'm 71 years old - happily married to Christina (the fourth time was the charm) - I'm a Vietnam Vet and I write books about men and women who do the right thing. I was a professional speaker for fourteen years - I will be a professional writer for the rest of my years.
God Bless

Writing - 10 things we found out last week

The list of bazaar, banal and brilliant snippets of news for another week.
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1. Elephants can differentiate between men and women, and between different ethnicities, when they hear a voice.
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2. The line often attributed to John Lennon - "Ringo isn't the best drummer in the world. He isn't even the best drummer in the Beatles" - was actually uttered by British comedian Jasper Carrott in 1983.

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3. Lone peacocks fake the noise of sexual congress to attract peahens.

A bit like masturbation?
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4. Bradley Wiggins is a fan of the Archers.

Wiggins recording a scene in the Archers


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5. There were pygmy tyrannosaurs.

Big deal!


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6. The rise of Genghis Khan's empire coincided with the mildest, wettest weather in more than 1,000 years, which may have kept his horses well fed.

A 21st century version is due!

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7. The "five-second rule" does work - time is a significant factor in the transfer of germs from floor to food.

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8. If a kitten doesn't encounter a human in a friendly context between the ages of three to eight weeks, it is more liable to go feral.

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9. Humans make almost identical judgements of other people merely by hearing (not seeing) them say "hello".

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10. Animals avoid power lines because they see frightening ultraviolet flashes that are invisible to humans.

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God Bless