K. Morris's Blog, page 771

The Lady On The Bus

Shortly following my move to Crystal Palace in 1997 I took a bus to the Sainsburys supermarket, located at Crystal Palace’s football ground. There I sat, my then guide dog, Zeff lying at my feet, minding my own business when a lady began rattling Keys. I remember being torn between the desire to smile owing to the sound being reminiscent of the rattling of Marley’s Ghost’s chains in Dicken’s A Christmas Carol and the wish to get away from this lady who, quite obviously had mental health issues.

I remember, at the time thinking “I hope she doesn’t follow me off the bus”.

On reaching my stop I alighted and to my dismay the lady followed me, muttering incoherently to herself, keys rattling as she walked.

I quickened my pace wishing to reach the relative safety of Sainsburys in double quick time. I entered only to have the lady grab hold of Zeff’s harness and for her to say “I’ll kill the dog”. Matters descended into black comedy with a member of the supermarket staff asking whether I was acquainted with the woman. I felt like answering,

“Do you think I hang around with mentally unstable individuals who threaten to kill my guide dog?” Instead I merely confirmed in a surprisingly calm voice that I had never met the woman before and could they please eject her from the store. Fortunately a security guard intervened at this juncture and escorted the lady off the premises.

In retrospect I should have insisted that the supermarket call the police as the lady was clearly mentally unstable, had made a threat to kill my guide dog and, quite obviously required medical and/orpolice intervention. I suspect the woman had stopped taking whatever medication she was on leading to her bizarre and, quite frankly frightening behaviour. I hope to heavens she didn’t go onto harm some other poor soul.

The above recollections where prompted by the following post which I came across earlier today, http://doctorly.wordpress.com/2014/08/11/sightless/

Book Review: Sarah’s Story By Sarah Preston

Book Review: SARAH’S STORY BY SARAH PRESTON (http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0072HUZXQ/ref=pe_385721_48721101_TE_M1T1DP)

This is a true story of the horrific abuse of a young child by a paedophile. Sarah comes from a troubled background. Her mother is addicted to bingo and frequently takes her daughter, Sarah to the bingo hall when she should be attending school. Sarah’s mother has a scheme (scam) going with the bingo caller, Bill which allows her to win once or twice a week. The winnings are then split between Sarah’s mother and Bill.

One day Bill asks whether Sarah can help him prepare sanwitches. Sarah does not like Bill (a very perceptive child) but despite her reluctance to assist him Sarah’s mother pressures her into doing so. Over time Sarah is taken to Bill’s flat (the first time the excuse is that he has forgotten a cheque book). On the first visit Bill touches the 11-year-old Sarah inappropriately but on subsequent visits he rapes her.

The book is extremely well written and makes for harrowing reading. It is heart breaking to read how Sarah tries to pluck up courage to tell her parents about the abuse but due to Bill’s threat that no one will believe her she never does so.

The marriage of Sarah’s parents breaks down and her mother leaves home. Following this Sarah’s father who should have protected her begins to abuse his daughter. The abuse stops following Sarah’s mother’s return to the family home but, unsurprisingly the relationship between Sarah and her father can never be the same again.

Eventually, at the age of 14 Sarah stands up to Bill telling him that she will report him to the police if he continues to abuse her. Breathtakingly he responds that he thought Sarah liked it but seeing that she is determined not to be abused any more he takes her home and the abusive behaviour ceases.

Sarah has been happily married for many years but her traumatic experiences make her suspicious of strangers. She is suspicious when her young son says how he likes a particular teacher and asks whether the man has touched him. Her confused son confirms that he is just a good teacher and Sarah’s mind is set at rest.

I would highly recommend this true account of the horrendous abuse of a young child.

Those To Whom Evil Is Done

Much of my writing is based on the premise that evil begets evil or, as Auden so eloquently puts it, in his poem, “September 1, 1939”:

I and the public know

What all schoolchildren learn,

Those to whom evil is done

Do evil in return”. (See http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/september-1-1939).

I do not contend that free will is an illusion, that we are prisoners of genetics or society. Many individuals who have experienced horrific abuse do not go on to become abusers. However the fact that significant numbers of the abused become perpetrators demonstrates that a vicious cycle can, often be set in train with parents abusing children who then go on to become abusers.

To take an example from my own writing. In my short story, Samantha, Sam is drugged and forced into prostitution by her brutal pimp, Barry. Barry possesses not a single redeeming feature. He is, quite simply a monster. Barry has, however been abused by his mother as a child (she locks him, as a 6-year-old little boy in a dark cupboard). From this ill treatment flows Barry’s view that,

“All women are bitches”.

He has experienced no love in his life and the brutality of Barry’s upbringing has destroyed the feelings of compassion which most of us, to a greater or lesser degree possess.

To take another example, in my story, The Hitch Hiker, a deeply troubled young woman exacts a terrible vengeance on men who stop to offer her a lift.

Both Barry and the Hitch Hiker demonstrate the validity of Auden’s view that, “Those to whom evil is done do evil in return”. Anyone reading much of my work might reach the conclusion that I deny the possibility of redemption, I do not. Deeply damaged individuals who have done terrible things can (and do) reform and go on to lead good and productive lives. However it does appear that a small number of people are, for whatever reason beyond help. I am speaking here of psychopaths. In contrast to most killers who can (and frequently do) show remorse for their actions the psychopath is incapable of genuine remorse (he may feign it to gain advantage but that is a wholly different issue). Barry would appear to fall into the category of psychopath, his psychopathic tendencies being derived from the abuse suffered as a child. He is, almost certainly beyond redemption.

Is Barry responsible for his actions? As a believer in free will my answer has to be yes on the basis that other equally damaged persons do not act in the manner he does.

Perhaps in the coming decades lawyers will argue that their clients should not be punished for their actions as they possess a genetic predisposition for psychopathy or, due to the lack of a particular chemical in the brain they can not be held responsible for their actions. Maybe this will happen, however (assuming such a thing exists), if certain individuals with a genetic predisposition to psychopathy commit horrendous crimes while others do not (as I suspect will be the case) then society will need to relinquish simplistic explanations for criminal behaviour and accept that “evil” stems from many and varied causes.

I am no scientist. I am, however suspicious of determinist theories whether they be Marxist or Eugenic in origin. “Evil” will, I suspect be forever with us and, in decades to come we will still be discussing why people do horrendous acts.

A MileStone Is Reached

Today I was delighted to welcome my 950th follower (you can find there blog here which is well worth checking out, http://roughseasinthemed.wordpress.com/).

Many thanks to all of my followers. It is your comments, likes and simply reading my posts which makes blogging worthwhile.

 

All the very best

 

Kevin

Wisdom in a Traffic Jam

drewdog2060drewdog2060:

A great post which made me consider what is truly important in life.

Originally posted on This Labyrinth I Roam!:

I often get caught in instalments of traffic jams. I pass through relatively free areas but there are pockets in between work and home that I’m stuck in for ages. I don’t often mind, I have my music to keep going. And when I’ve had enough of that, there are funny bumper stickers to read. Sometimes there are art installations that just magically appear around random street corners.

Roman Soldier with missing bust carrying a blackboard saying “No Fuck” on the Outer Ring Road

Last evening, while in one of these Bangalore traffic stops, I heard an auto-guy saying “What do we need money for?” in perfect English. Taking it as a sign that I was meant to listen, I turned off my music and peered into what turned out to be very eloquently spoken wisdom. I got a glimpse into my very own TED Talks on the street.

A…

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Guest Post: Who On Earth Is Ace Ventura, Anyway?

Many thanks to Alan (http://allyballysblog.wordpress.com/) for agreeing to write a guest post for newauthoronline.com. Please do check out Alan’s blog, it is a great site and I am a particular fan of his 10 sentence fiction.

 

If you would like to do a guest post for newauthoronline please send an e-mail to newauthoronline (@) gmail . com, (the address is given in this manner in an attempt to defeat spammers)!

 

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Who on earth is Ace Ventura, anyway?

Two decades. Twenty years is a long time. Remembering things as far back as that can sometimes be hard to contemplate or even believe. I often try and remember back as far as I can and think about what life was like then. Where did I live? What did I look like? What were my goals in life? (if I even had any) Thoughts of technology and how far it had advanced is always a winner. Thinking of mobile phones when they first really came into the public’s hands to where they are now.

Taking photos and videos back then was usually always a gamble. After the photos developed, you had to live with the fact that you mum had chopped your head off, or dads finger was in the viewfinder.   Personally, I never had experience of videoing anything as a kid. That was usually something left for ‘the rich kids’.

Twenty years ago, I was eleven years old. Obviously, I was still at school and I lived at home with my parents and my younger brother. I owned a Commodore Amiga home computer and my brother had a Sega Mega Drive. Neither of my parents owned a mobile phone or any other kind of mobile data device. Come to think of it, nobody really did, unless you were a government or NASA official.

Actually, the very thought of ever owning such a device, especially something as advanced as the iPhone and iPads of today, certainly seemed like something out of a futuristic SiFi movie and way out of reach.

A big part of growing up for us all, are movies. The motion picture is something of a way of life for a huge portion of the world. Ultimately, it is a career and a lively hood for the Hollywood big wigs at the helm, but, for the average Joe like you and I, movies are a source of entertainment, a reason to go out at night, a reason to invite friends over and for others, an inspiration to go out and make it big.

I think most adults of my generation grew up with videotapes and video rental stores. Because of this, most of us will have grown up watching movies such as, The Mask, Dumb and Dumber and of course, Ace Ventura. This isn’t an article about the amazing success of Jim Carrey, the star of said movies. Nope, it’s about how something like a popular movie can shape your childhood and follow you all the way through your adult life.

I remember seeing a trailer for The Mask, during the commercial breaks of one of my mum’s god-awful soap operas, on TV one night. I was ten years old and utterly mesmerized with the special effects that were being demonstrated on this seemingly mind-blowing movie. Who was the guy with the green mask on? I had no idea. I also had no any idea who Jim Carrey was, either, if you’d had told me that’s who was wearing it.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to witness seeing The Mask on the big screen. Money was tight for a working class family of four in the city, and while my mother had taken my brother and I to the cinema several times in the past (Mr. Nanny and Home Alone 2), at ten years old, I was still profoundly shocked at the price of a cinema ticket.

My disappointment didn’t last long, however. You can imagine the smile on a ten year olds face on Christmas morning when he unwrapped a parcel to reveal a VHS tape of The Mask. From that moment on, the film was played to death in the VCR and I could easily rhyme off random parts of the script. In fact, I still can.

Like most kids, I was a fan of movies anyway, but, I had firmly established myself a fan of comedy and indeed, a fan of Jim Carrey. This naturally made me curious as to what other works he had completed, and it wasn’t long before I discovered Ace Ventura: Pet Detective on the shelf of the video rental store one Friday night.

While at school, kids talked about movies, they repeated lines from them, acted out lines from them. It appeared to be a part of most kids, and parents, lives.

The Lion King, D2: The Mighty Ducks, Little giants, Richie Rich and hundreds of others were all talking points.

The next year, when Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls was released, my parents ensured that my brother and I didn’t miss out, and a trip to see it was timed nicely with my eleventh birthday. I was over the moon and buzzing from watching my comedy hero act like a total buffoon on the big screen.

Almost exactly twenty years on, I still own these movies on DVD. I watch them if they happen to be on TV, I’ll laugh at them as I always have. Every so often, my friends and I will chat about our favourite movies, remember them and repeat funny lines from them.

I earn my living as a Manager at a national, blue chip retailer. I’ve done this for many years, after working myself to the bone and climbing the success ladder.

A huge part of my job involves recruiting new members of staff. Full time posts, part time posts, and often, school or college kids are recruited for a weekend position while they beaver away at the their studies.

Over time, when you get to know these kids and you build some rapport with them, you’ll chat to them and find out what they’re into.   Maybe even ask what they got up to at the weekend. The ones who didn’t get completely rubbered on cheap, gut melting liquor, talk about visiting the cinema. This generally starts a conversation about movies and actors alike.

I have been astounded at how many young people of today have never seen or even heard of The Mask, Ace Ventura or Forest Gump for that matter. Their argument is usually, ‘that’s old and before my time’. Very true. But, people of my generation are familiar and fans of movies that were out before our time aren’t we?

Predator, Die Hard, Rambo, Rocky, Midnight Run, See no evil, hear no evil? These films have lived on and remained popular due to us ‘kids’ growing up with them and starting a new fan base.

I often worry those films like The Mask and Ace Ventura will fade away. Some may say, yeah, but isn’t there a sequel to Dumb and Dumber due out at Christmas? Yes, there is, but, I wonder how many kids or young adults of today, have actually seen the first one and are there fore bothered about the second one.

I for one will ensure that my kids grow up enjoying and appreciating what made me laugh and fall in love with movies, such a long time ago.

Twenty years ago, to be precise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snatches Of Conversation

“I picked up the can, threw it at him and”.

As an author, the above snatch of conversation, overheard by me while on my way into work this morning had me intrigued. I longed to hear the remainder of the incident but the speaker, a teenage girl, rapidly disappeared into the distance, her words lost to me forever. What kind of can was it? What, if anything did it contain? And, most importantly what caused the young woman to throw it in the first place? In an alternative reality the following exchange between me and the speaker took place,

 

Me, “I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation. I am intrigued. Why did you throw the can? And what was the reaction of the person you threw it at?”

Teenage girl looking at me as though I had just appeared from outer space, “P.. off. What has it got to do with you?”

Me, “I’m an author, I can’t help tuning into people’s conversations. I’m interested as to what motivated you to throw that can. Perhaps there is a story in it somewhere”.

Teenage girl,walking quickly away from me, “Get lost before I call the police”.

 

There is, in the above incident the makings of a story. I would love to hear your thoughts as to how the tale might go. Also I am sure that I can’t be the only writer who can not help but speculate on snatches of overheard conversations.

Kevin Morris: Author Of The Month

drewdog2060drewdog2060:

Thank you to Kev for this post which links to an author interview with myself conducted in March of this year. Kevin

Originally posted on Kev's Blog:

Kevin Morris has wonthe spotlighton Author Of The Month for March 2014 and has a picture and direct link to his book posted for a limited time on Kev’s blog!

Presenting, Kevin Morris, Everyone!

http://kevs-domain.net/2014/03/05/author-interview-presenting-kevin-morris/

For more information on how YOU may have the same opportunity to appear on Author Of The Month visit my Author Interviews & Contact Info Page.

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How To Write A Novel: Advice From The Book Trust

An interesting list of 25 rules on how to write a novel, http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/writing/writing-tips/41/. I especially agree with the following points:

“4. Right now, forget about money. It eats imagination”.

“11. Ignore discouragement. You’ll never know real negativity until you tell people you are writing a novel. The last thing a human who spends their day

selling home insurance in an office that smells of egg sandwiches and despair wants to hear is that their old school-friend is going to be an international

bestselling author. So ignore them. All of them. Well, except that latter-day Malcolm Bradbury, Katy Perry: ‘Make ‘em go, oh, oh, oh/ As you shoot across

the sky”.

“13. Write as though your mother will never read it”.

“19. Write the book you most want to read. That will be the best book you can write”.

“23. Read it aloud. You’ll notice more mistakes that way”. (Points 24 and 25 also resonated strongly with me).

I am not sure about point 16, that it is OK to write about people you know provided you change the names. Surely a character who is portrayed in an unflattering manner may object and, in extreme cases take legal action. Even if the name has been changed that person may still recognise themselves in your writing and if they can prove you portrayed them in an unflattering light (damaged their reputation) you are, potentially in hot water of the legal variety.

Kev’s, Author Of The Month!

drewdog2060drewdog2060:

Many thanks to Kev for awarding me Author Of The Month for March 2014 and highlighting my short story, Samantha. Thank you Kev!

Originally posted on Kev's Blog:

Ok folks, I’ve upped the ante! (or was that the uncle?) ;)

From now on, brought directly from Kev’s Author Interviews, I present you with… Author Of The Month! 

On Author Of The Month, the most popular author interview for any given month will win a spot with a direct link to their book at the top of my blog for a limited time! It can’t be any simpler than that!

That’s right folks… this gives even more exposure with a direct link (without even having to read through a post)to the author’s work that won her/him the spotlight on Kev’s Author Interviews.

Check it out… there’s one on my blog right now in the top upper right corner.

Any queries, please use my interviews and contacts page which I have recently updated.

(Note: I’m going back to when I first started Kev’s Author Interviews so that nobody loses out…

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