K. Morris's Blog, page 628

There Was A Young Man Called Pailing

There was a young man called Pailing
Who owned a goat named Grayling.
One day the animal got out,
And his neighbour did shout,
“Pailing! Grayling has just eaten my railing …!”

The Acid Bath Murders

Yesterday evening I watched a chilling though fascinating programme about the acid bath murderer, John George Haigh. Born into a deeply religious family (his parents where Plymouth Brethren, a strict protestant sect), Haigh progressed from terms of imprisonment for fraud to murdering 6 people. The killings took place in order that Haigh could steal his victims money, much of which he spent on gambling.
Haigh’s last victim was his undoing. He shot and dissolved in acid a 69-year-old fellow hot...

When

I find
That my clock has stopped.
I can the mechanism wind
Again and again,
But when
The time does come
Methinks the clock will still run

There Was A Young Man Called Neil

There was a young man called Neil
Who dated a girl in high heel.
When she stood on a wall,
She was 12 feet tall,
It made his senses reel!

—

There was a young man called Neil
Who dated a girl named Lucille.
When she stood on a wall,
She was 12 feet tall,
It made his senses reel!

Changing reading habits

Take Five Authors

It was a holiday in Turkey some years ago which was the catalyst to a major change in my reading habits.

I’d finished the last of the books I’d brought with me – three days before our holiday ended. We were staying in a small town which had shops selling hand-painted pottery, gorgeous silver jewellery and clothing – but no books. The DH, who listens to audio books, panicked at the thought of me being without a book for three days. I panicked at the thought of being without...

There Was A Young Man Called Pailing

There was a young man called Pailing
Who went out with his dog sailing.
They got lost in the ocean,
And there was quite a commotion,
You should have heard their weeping and wailing!

—

There was a young man called Pailing
Who bought a brand new railing.
But the darned thing broke,
And he remarked, “what a joke,
And the light it is certainly failing!”

The Robots Are Coming

A speech by Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England in which he predicts that over time upto 15 million jobs are at risk of automation in the UK. The occupations at risk include that of estate agent, call centre operative and customer service roles.
The Industrial Revolution saw the replacement of the artisan craftsman by the cotton mill but, ultimately the jobs market adjusted to the change and mass unemployment (as invisioned by Carney in the present instance) did not result. However t...

There Was A Young Lady Called Anna

There was a young lady called Anna
Who waved a rather rude banner.
When people did complain
She said, with disdain
“This is just my normal manner”!

Nothing in Particular

On a fine
December day, when the sun does shine,
I breathe in the smell
Of old books, and hope all may be well.

Dust causes me to cough.
One may scoff
At the idea
Yet I fancy, death brings up the rear.

My wardrobe door creaks at a late hour.
Reason’s power
Has gone astray
And I pray
That despair
Remains in his lair.

Self Publish! It Can’t Get Any Worse

An interesting piece which just goes to show that well established publishing houses can make significant mistakes with author’s work.

New London Writers

A friend, who knows I have been self-publishing my books since 1990, handed me a short article from Die Zeit. This is a German weekly, normally too heavy to lift with one hand – perhaps equivalent to The Observer, except it appears Thursdays for some obscure reason. The article was by Harald Martenstein, senior editor at the Tagespiegel. He...