David L. Atkinson's Blog, page 83

Poetry Thursday 159 - A political theme

It seems to have been forgotten that great empires eventually fall into decline even our own has shrunk to relatively small proportions to the point where naming it an empire is a little optimistic.This week's poetry is inspired by the fact that we have had five or six weeks of campaigning leading to the general election taking place today.
[image error]Ozymandias
The poem, Ozymandias, refers to the sight as depicted in the above photo with the 'stern face' of the leader lying in the sand by the legs of his statue. Speaks volumes when likened to empires and great leaders.So what of our political situation?
[image error]
Confusion
Seven leaders from which to choose,will there be six of them who lose?Seven people with families and livesoutside of the much orated lies.Seven budding PMs living in hopeof number 10 but how will they cope?Seven men and women with all their frailtiesattempting to convince us of their abilities.BUTIt may be 2 winnersor 3 winnersor more,ORThey could be back knocking on the door.© David L Atkinson May 2015


Protest Poetry
[image error]


Napolean said of politics,
'In politics, never retreat, never retract, never admit a mistake'
Over the last six weeks we've seen this mantra in action on many occasions which has a poetic ring to it spanning the centuries.
Princess Charlotte
[image error]
The new royal baby born this week.
Welcome to the world precious little girl,enjoy a simple life while you can.The world will want to envelope you in a whirlof flashing lights, stories and publicity.Hold your Mum and Dad preciously in your heartthere will be times when you can't.Intrusive forces will come between and drive you apart.Be strong and drag them back to you.Charlotte Elizabeth Diane you own your parentsnot the cold, grasping outsiders.Always keep them in your conscienceand they will never wear out.© David L Atkinson May 2015

God Bless

Writing - The end is nigh!

I haven't become a doomsday prophet but I am almost at the end of writing the eighth Steele novel.
[image error]
I am actually writing more slowly as the need to edit approaches - it never will be one of my favourite tasks! I have a couple of possibilities for a cover.

Doxford House
The title of the book is still Grace and Favour which is a surprise to me. Usually I pick a 'handle' to create my files when I begin writing a book but out of convenience. The 'real' title is something that comes out of the process of writing the story. On this occasion I selected the title and have come to appreciate the fit it gives with what is inside the covers of the book. It is political to a degree!
The term 'grace and favour' has the following meaning,
A grace and favour home is a residential property owned by a monarch by virtue of his or her position as head of state and leased rent-free to persons as part of an employment package or in gratitude for past services rendered. Some are owned by UK charitable trusts.
Now the above definition may suggest that I'm a pro-Royalist writing about the Royal family - not the case! This new novel is very much a Steele story with accompanying crime and injustice which our hero does his best to solve. However, I am a Royalist!
[image error]
Writing colleague Caleb Pirtle has distributed details of a writing competition open world wide on Venture Galleries. There is a small charge ($10/£6.28) and quite stringent submission parameters but the rewards could be great.
Watch this space for launch news for Grace and Favour
God Bless

Tuesday Food Blog - Liver

I can hear vast swathes of groans sweeping t'interweb at just the name of the meat, but it is so good for you and as tender as chicken if not overcooked.
FYI - Liver is a huge source of vitamins including A, D, E, K and B12 as well as folic acid.

Liver and bacon
I'm not going to insult you chefs out there by producing a recipe for what is a simple enough meal but will explain what I did that may trigger an idea or two.I understand why some people would dislike liver, as a child I didn't enjoy it either, but I think that was because it was over- cooked. If it is in the pan too long what is a very compact meat becomes even more dense which is probably because the moisture is cooked out of it and at that point you could use it to sole your shoes. The lamb's liver on the plate above was as tender as chicken and that was sealed on the outside for a couple of minutes then cooked with the bacon, onions and gravy for seven or eight minutes. The meat wasn't bloody but was quite soft and flavoursome without being aggressively so. Of course, other types of liver, pig's and beef, can be much stronger.The meat was served up with dauphinoise potatoes and peas, so the costing for the meal was in the region of £1.13p. The liver cost £1-59 and I had 3 meals from it, the other two being stroganoff. (See below)
Liver stroganoff
The stroganoff was probably even less expensive as the rice is £1/ packet and that makes at least 10 servings. There is a green pepper, a couple of mushrooms and a small onion plus 1/3 a small pot of double cream. Costing - £1.05/serving.
Of course the beauty of liver is the lack of fat and plethora of vitamins and minerals. It even has folic acid for you pregnant chefs!
To prepare the lamb's liver, dust it in seasoned flour and seal on all sides before cooking the onions and bacon then adding the gravy. (The flour helps to thicken the gravy.) When the gravy is simmering return the liver to the pan for 5 - 10 minutes and then serve.
God Bless

Writing - Books are legion

Everyday books are published, traditionally, online and self-published. Some are ebooks, some only printed and others in all formats but the point is books are not dying out, if anything the number of stories being published is probably on the increase.

[image error]
So which are the oldest books?
As an author/writer I have wondered about books of written information and stories and the fact seems to be that we humans have an almost biological need to produce books.
Etruscan Gold Book
[image error]
Believed to have been produced around 660BC this is believed to be the oldest, but there are several interesting examples.
[image error]
The Nag Hamadi codices were produced around 1400-1500 years ago.
[image error]
The St Cuthbert Gospel is Europe's oldest surviving intact book. The book was buried with St Cuthbert on the island of Lindisfarne off the Northumberland coast in 698AD.
Then there is the Book of Kells.

Believed to have been created by Celtic monks around 800AD and written in Latin. It contains the four books of the New Testament.

Finally, the Siddur a Jewish Prayer book was discovered in 2013 and was dated back to the mid- 9th century.
There are many other ancient texts, frequently religious from across many denominations, and very old. Humans needed to produce them.
So we are still writing and below are my pathetic efforts to the wealth of literary knowledge and experience.


My 10 books as of December 2014
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' where Steele is once again at risk from unseen enemies. It would seem that he has become quite recession proof!The most recent addition to the Steele family is Earth plc in which our hero is concerned with political and emotional issues in this crime fighting adventure.
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.
Poetry - there are also two thoughtful collections of poetry available solely through Amazon.
The Musings of a Confused Mind 
and
Words from the Raindrops 

God Bless

Writing - 10 things

Some seriously off the wall items this week.

[image error]
1. The sound of rustling tin foil can give cats seizures.


----------------------------------
[image error]
2. People underestimate how much fun they'll have alone, and overestimate how much others even notice.

Is this from marriage guidance?


----------------------------------
[image error]
3. Printing out the entire internet - not including the dark web - would require about eight million trees.

Who thinks up such rubbish?


----------------------------------
[image error]
4. Children confined to the middle seat on car journeys grow up to be more successful.

This must be from the university of time wasting. What about families that don't own cars?


----------------------------------
[image error]
5. Wearing a suit encourages people to think more broadly and holistically.


Bollocks!
----------------------------------
[image error]
6. You're more likely to have a "female" brain if your right thumb is at the top when you clasp your hands together.


----------------------------------
[image error]
7. Smart bullets curve their trajectory in mid-flight to hit moving targets.


----------------------------------

8. Humblebragging is less effective than bragging.


----------------------------------
[image error]
9. China has more vineyards than France.


----------------------------------
[image error]
10. Tattoos can cause Apple's smartwatch to malfunction, as the ink interferes with the device's sensor.


With all the technology available why is this an issue and, if it is so, what about dark skinned people?
----------------------------------
God Bless

Writing - None so blind

My late mother had a plethora of sayings at her finger tips and used to trot them out appropriately as often as other folk respirate.

The source of inspiration for the saying was politically motivated. Sayings and phrases have their place in stories, they can be useful to establish a personality of a particular type, but as with analogies that I referred to yesterday, they should come with a health warning - use sparingly. One source indicates that this saying 'there's none so blind as those who will not see' originated with John Heywood in 1546, while a different source puts it later with clergyman Matthew Henry who produced a slight variation. In all honesty it doesn't matter to those two gentlemen  but the phrase has its value. It can be quite provocative depending on the tone of voice with which it is delivered.
Politics
The saying came to mind listening to the leader of the Labour Party, Ed Milliband, denying that he would form a coalition government under any circumstances. Let me outline some simple truths that I'm sure Milliband and his advisors are aware of, the most obvious being that there will be a swing to the Scottish National Party from Labour. That would mean the number of seats Labour are likely to win would be well below the 326 necessary to form a government. The Labour party have 41 seats in Scotland and they stand to lose almost all of them. For that party to lose that many seats there would have to be a massive swing to labour in the rest of the UK. It won't happen. So why is Mr Milliband still reckoning that he can win an overall majority? It isn't a case of that at the current state of play he can't afford to be seen to favour any other party as possible partner in government, for fear of alienating members of his own party.
[image error]
So even less than a week away from the election all the leaders are furiously spinning political plates!
Looking into the subject of sayings and with my political brain cell currently active I found some interesting examples,

This could well be attributable to Boris Johnson!

I wonder if Margaret Thatcher (Falklands War) and Tony Blair (Iraq War) considered this American viewpoint before committing troops to fight and die.Winston Churchill's life was littered with wars and his experiences made him the right man for the job in 1939-45 but he wasn't a great peace time PM.
Finally, I would say that the following from Ghandi is so important.
[image error]
God Bless

Writing - Analogies and more

Analogies are an interesting way of decorating your prose but they can become problematic if you are don't think about what they say.An analogy is a similarity between the features of two things that will then enable comparison.
[image error]
Some examples from high school students.
'When she tried to sing it sounded like a walrus giving birth to farm equipment'
'She was like a magnet: attractive from the back, repulsive from the front'
Both of those I enjoyed but then there are others that are not my cup of tea.
'The lamp just sat there like an inanimate object'
'Their love burned with the fiery intensity of a urinary tract infection'
Some are over-contrived and others plainly inappropriate, so the short answer is plan. Allow your imagination to stretch and apply what you are familiar with to appropriate situations using analogy as an illustrative tool. They don't need to be amusing but there must be a level of relevance.If using analogy in an argument be aware that some people are taught that in debate attack your protagonists examples or analogies, in an attempt to discredit their position.
Fylingdales early warning system
It is painfully obvious that the US early warning system positioned on the North Yorkshire Moors in the 1960's, at the time of the Cold War, resembled golf balls. In fact they tended to be termed the golf balls on the moors, rather then there true identity. The analogy became the reality almost.
'The three receptors for identifying the threat of nuclear attack from Russia sat on the wind-blown moors like golf balls on a tee waiting to be struck to the east'
The above analogy, created off the top of my head, is at least picturesque. It is also relevant as I passed the site yesterday which looks very different today. (See below)
RAF Fylingdales 2015
The structure looks very different these days, has been given over to the RAF, and there are no longer any 'golf balls'. In some aspects the huge building resembles playing cards resting against each other.
Whale's jawbone - Whitby
'The twin arms of the jawbone framed Whitby Abbey like arms raised in prayer'
The visual is often inspiring to me when it comes to decorating prose. In using analogies, and this last one needs work, you have to be pretty sure of your facts and the visual similarities to ensure a successful illustration. However, it is useful to remember that readers enjoy illustrations, whether prosaic or pictorial.
God Bless

Poetry Thursday 158 - Another year passes

Another year passes by and sometimes Spring is a great season to visit summer vacation places.


Now I’m even older
The wind blew, the clouds scudded byrippling the sea’s skin and ruffling walkers.They stroll along the harbour talking,holding hands, grim faced and determined.Determined to enjoy the day in spite.
Business as usual, local people trying to imbue holiday spirit in a chilly spring situation.Trying to hide the surprise of presenting customers,brought out by the promise of sun and a lack of rainDetermined to survive the day in spite.

Early season space is presentable, almost virginal,by August the filth of over use will be a turn off.The locals care worn and tired but somehow relievedthat people have visited and spent.Recession torn and cashless in spite.
Then blessed, chilly peace of winterwill return to sanitise the harbour walks,allow time to refresh and prepare restaurantsand repair toys and games.Tourists and other users in spite.© David L Atkinson April 2015


[image error]
Now I’m 65
There was a young man from the fiftieswho made it into his sixties.Although he was olderAnd not a smidgin’ bolderIt felt good enjoying life’s bounties.© David L Atkinson April 2015

God Bless

Writing - Marketing and such

My 10 books as of December 2014
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' where Steele is once again at risk from unseen enemies. It would seem that he has become quite recession proof!The most recent addition to the Steele family is Earth plc in which our hero is concerned with political and emotional issues in this crime fighting adventure.
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.
Poetry - there are also two thoughtful collections of poetry available solely through Amazon.
The Musings of a Confused Mind 
and
Words from the Raindrops 

God Bless

Tuesday Food blog - below the line

The latest effort to raise money by public donation has been started by UNICEF. It is called ' living below the line ' and you can click on the link to sign up or donate.

As with all of these appeals there is a liberal use of emotive pictures of starving children. The title comes from the fact that there are a colossal number of children living on less than £1 a day and you can join in by living on that amount for 5 days. I suppose the plan is to have you feel as hungry and as deprived as the children do but then of course you can go back to your normal expenditure after those few short days.Whether you take part or not is up to you, I won't do for the simple reason that as an older person my food buying isn't that much greater and I give you an example. 
My menu for a day this week.  Fresh orange juice, 1 glass                             10pPorridge made with fully skimmed milk        17pBanana                                                            20pPork chop with peas carrots and potatoes       93pIndividual apple pie                                        14pHam and cheese sandwich                              70pGinger biscuit                                                  15p
Total                                                           £2. 39
Now I have chosen the above list from a day before I knew of the below the line campaign. The above list of food was me being relaxed about what I wanted to eat and so there are items on the list that I could easily have missed out. Those items should be fairly obvious, the apple pie, the chocolate biscuit the cheese in the sandwich. That would reduce the value of the days food to £1.90 for a full day and still give me more than enough to eat.
[image error]
I make no judgement on the below the line campaign that is up to you the reader, but I do believe that in a country where more and more people are using food banks and the super rich have doubled their personal wealth since 2009, there are additional sources of relief that could be dipped into other than the ordinary man in the street.
Soapbox moment reared its ugly head when I started thinking about the above food campaign. If there weren't quite so many involved in making a profit in the food industry, food wouldn't be as expensive and the daily bill would be even less! 
God Bless