• Home
  • MN Grenside
  • Contact

Subscribe to my weekly posts
Archives
  • March 2021 (4)
  • February 2021 (3)
  • January 2021 (4)
  • December 2020 (4)
  • November 2020 (2)
  • October 2020 (3)
  • September 2020 (3)
  • August 2020 (3)
  • July 2020 (2)
  • June 2020 (4)
  • May 2020 (4)
  • April 2020 (3)
  • February 2020 (4)
  • January 2020 (4)
  • December 2019 (4)
  • November 2019 (3)
  • October 2019 (5)
  • September 2019 (3)
  • August 2019 (3)
  • July 2019 (1)
  • June 2019 (3)
  • May 2019 (2)
  • April 2019 (2)
  • March 2019 (4)
  • February 2019 (2)
  • January 2019 (4)
  • December 2018 (4)
  • November 2018 (2)
  • October 2018 (3)
  • September 2018 (3)
  • August 2018 (4)
  • July 2018 (3)
  • June 2018 (4)
  • May 2018 (3)
  • April 2018 (3)
  • March 2018 (4)
  • February 2018 (4)
  • January 2018 (3)
  • December 2017 (5)
  • November 2017 (4)
  • October 2017 (3)
  • September 2017 (3)
  • August 2017 (4)
  • July 2017 (4)
  • June 2017 (2)
  • May 2017 (2)
  • April 2017 (3)
  • March 2017 (4)
  • February 2017 (4)
  • January 2017 (4)
  • December 2016 (5)
  • November 2016 (3)
  • October 2016 (3)
  • September 2016 (5)
  • August 2016 (4)
  • July 2016 (4)
  • June 2016 (3)
  • May 2016 (4)
  • April 2016 (5)
  • March 2016 (5)
  • February 2016 (4)
  • January 2016 (4)
  • December 2015 (4)
  • November 2015 (3)
  • October 2015 (4)
  • September 2015 (4)
  • August 2015 (4)
  • July 2015 (5)
  • June 2015 (4)
  • May 2015 (4)
  • April 2015 (3)
  • March 2015 (4)
  • February 2015 (2)
Recent Posts
  • Have you got your Easter Bonnet ready?
  • Resistance is futile... I will dress like a pimp from a blaxploitation movie
  • My new travel agent
  • 2021 Summer Holidays... Club 18-30 will be empty. It’s going to be all oldies
  • Tokyo Olympics... wanna bet?
Categories
  • Animals/Pets
  • Entertainment/Media/Arts
  • Fasion Health & Beauty
  • Finance/Law
  • Food & Drink
  • Friends
  • Kids/Family/Relations
  • Life
  • Love
  • Politics
  • Sex
  • Sport
  • Technology
  • Travel/Nature
  • Uncategorised
  • Work
What drives you crazy?

Get in touch!

Want to know when I publish the next blog?

Get in touch!

All posts in category: Kids/Family/Relations

2021 Summer Holidays... Club 18-30 will be empty. It’s going to be all oldies

  • March 7, 2021
  • Friends Kids/Family/Relations Sex Travel/Nature
  • View all 1 Comment
Why...

Will all the nightclubs this summer be full of Old Age Pensioners?

Amid all this rushing to get anyone in touching distance of being old injected against Covid, we will have left the younger generation alone.

“They’re not at risk. They can wait.”

Maybe...

I have to assume that this summer no one is going to be able to venture overseas without proof of inoculation. Come forward most people over 55. What about the sex mad twenty somethings, a significant percentage of whom enjoy rumpy-pumpy 24 hours after landing on foreign shores! They are going nowhere.  No inoculation, no overseas travel.

An entire generation will sit at home watching their parents and grandparents all dressed up in sombreros and sandals, off to the Continent to drown in Sangria, Mai Tai’s and Ambre Solaire.

On the Costa del Sol a backpacker is going to be as rare as a redneck with a full set off teeth. The whole vibe of this summer in Europe will change.

..and another thing (continue to read this post)

Do I get loyalty points if I have to quarantine for two weeks in a hotel?

  • February 7, 2021
  • Fasion Health & Beauty Kids/Family/Relations Sex Sport Work
  • View all 0 Comments
Why...

Not get some benefit from being locked in a gilded cage for a fortnight?

Now I understand many of you might think two weeks in quarantine in a Premier Inn in Wigan might just be a first world complaint. However, that will only be from people who have never experienced a wet Wednesday in Wigan in February. For those who have, it’s the closet thing to purgatory outside of having to watch endless repeats of the Wheel of Fortune with someone who constantly shouts out the wrong answers.

It troubles me that you can tip out of your first class seat at Heathrow and end up locked in some orange and beige nightmare in Brentford for two weeks instead of your normal sojourn at The Ritz. I hear the allocation of the actual quarantine hotel is luck of the draw. That clearly can not be true. There must be a fiddle somewhere. I just don’t believe you might end up in a magnificent palace with a suite large enough to have a croquet tournament or a hutch so small a mouse with a hard on could not turn around. Does anyone have the skinny on how to get a decent allocation?

And what do you do for two weeks? Do you end up tapping morse code on the walls with your jailed neighbour? Maybe fling open the curtains and scream out the window like Peter Finch in Network, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.”  Or would that mean the boys in blue come around and lock you in an even tinier cell instead?

..and another thing (continue to read this post)

Not only is diet a four letter word, but Darwin was a lying bast*rd

  • January 17, 2021
  • Animals/Pets Fasion Health & Beauty Food & Drink Kids/Family/Relations Sex
  • View all 0 Comments
Why...

Do foods I like to eat mean I have to diet? My wife has read me the riot act after indulging in too much Christmas pudding and Port. This is where I have a disagreement with Charles Darwin whilst floating around the Pacific in HMS Beagle. He had his Eureka! moment looking at finches in the Galapagos and noticing different beaks for different foods on different islands. “Aha,” he cried. “We evolve with our surroundings; especially with regards  to eating specific foods.” If, as a species, our diet evolves with our surroundings, surely the fact that I prefer the taste of a Jelly Baby to that of a raw carrot means my body, via evolution, adapts to the candy?  But no. My body apparently directly challenges my taste buds. “Jelly baby, No. Carrot, Yes.” On the other hand if my eating habits were purely hereditary rather than evolutionary surely I would be turning up my nose at a fillet steak or coq au vin whilst longing for a Tyrannosaurus Rex cutlet or Mammoth Osso Buco ? I prefer to think that evolution will catch up. Mac and cheese followed by peach cobbler and ice cream will hopefully do me or at least future generations, far more good than artichoke hearts and a tofu sausage. Mother Nature implants desire into us for our own good.  Humans are sex mad to keep up procreation. Therefore, there must be a method behind me salivating at the smell of frying bacon or going weak at the knees at the sight of a chocolate eclair!

..and another thing (continue to read this post)

Attention dog toy manufacturers! May I introduce your product development team for 2021

  • January 10, 2021
  • Animals/Pets Food & Drink Kids/Family/Relations
  • View all 1 Comment
Why...

Do ALL dog toys turn into confetti? Fifty years ago we put a man on the moon. In  2004 Greece won the European Football Cup. In 2020 mankind developed a vaccine for an unknown virus in under twelve months. We can do anything... except produce a dog chew that can last longer than the first time a teenage boy has sex. This Christmas some very dear friends sent a Fortnum and Mason hamper to our French Bulldogs Clouseau and Mowgli. They were super impressed. I was green with envy. Inside was an assortment of treats, toys and tucker that should have been enough to keep a pack of Transylvanian werewolves happy for a month. Let’s discuss the toys. The first ‘indestructible’ toy was a floppy rope knotted reindeer from Kong, the leader in indestructible chews. It was shredded in under a minute. The second, an eye wateringly expensive green and red Christmas cushion lasted as long as my first coffee. Next the Fuzzu Donald Trump doll soon had white kapok coming out of his head. It looked like steam from anger, no doubt following the Senate vote in Georgia. Finally there was a tough suede ball made from the same leather as desert boots. I actually heard Mowgli burp as he devoured it. He then looked up at me. “Next time mate, it needs more salt.”

..and another thing (continue to read this post)

2021... about bloody time!

  • December 29, 2020
  • Entertainment/Media/Arts Finance/Law Friends Kids/Family/Relations Uncategorised
  • View all 1 Comment
Why...

I shall stay up till midnight this New Year’s Eve?

Like guests who have overstayed their welcome and I shed crocodile tears as I wave a relieved good bye, I shall bid an un-fond farewell to 2020.  Indeed, I shall stay up to make sure we do go into January 1st 2021 rather than have Groundhog Day and get stuck on 31 December 2020.

There is no need to dwell on the all the obvious reasons of why I shall be ecstatic to say Adieu to 2020; US elections, riots, Brexit and COVID.

Here are a few less known things that have expired and I am saying goodbye to in 2021.

My Tabasco sauce of five years,

My Lea & Perrins of ten years ago and

Any Twinkie cakes buried in the cupboard and bought when my Kindergarten teacher was born must also now go the the giant dustbin in the sky.

I know that within a month of every electrical guarantee expiring, the gadgets will all go phut... unless I paid money for an extension on the guarantee. The equipment will duly give up the ghost the next day after expiry of the longer warranty.

Unbelievably, beer only lasts four months from bottling. Whoever has kept beer that long anyway?

..and another thing (continue to read this post)

Bruce Springsteen was right... 🎶 57 Channels and nothing on🎵

  • December 20, 2020
  • Entertainment/Media/Arts Food & Drink Friends Kids/Family/Relations Technology
  • View all 0 Comments
Why...

Can’t I find something to watch? The most common question I get nowadays is not about COVID measures, UK versus EU or how Donald Trump combs his hair. It is... “Have you seen a good series recently?”  There are two things we all have in common during lockdown. One is continually opening the fridge and expecting to see different content despite not having been to the shops to feed it. The other is binge watching TV series, despite earlier stated noble ideas of learning via the Internet fluent Swahili or being able to perform open heart surgery armed only with a Swiss Army knife. This is where Springsteen was prophetic in his song from 1992. You would think with more drama being produced than ever before this would be easy. There is no doubt that the best of television now is the best ever created. The most talented writers, stars and directors are forming orderly queues outside the offices of Netflix, Hulu, Showtime, HBO and Amazon Prime. Unlike us at the cinema. However, I have a problem. Everyone wants to create a Fargo, The Bridge, Breaking Bad or other cutting edge shows. Sadly many fall as flat as one of my soufflés. Can we not have a sprinkling of less edgy but more accessible shows? Not every lead has to be damaged, not every scene shot at night or every plot about the evils of drugs, dysfunctional families, child abuse, serial killers or big Pharma. (PS this last group along with another baddie, single use plastic, have just saved our asses so back off a bit maybe?) I am not asking for wall to wall Murder She Wrote or Midsomer Murders. I have sleeping pills that have the same effect. However, there are numerous thrillers, drama stories and even comedy books out there that are a little more mainstream and would make great TV. Or do I need to be put down as I am obviously getting old and crinkly?

..and another thing (continue to read this post)

Christmas farmers must raise tiny turkeys

  • December 14, 2020
  • Food & Drink Kids/Family/Relations Life
  • View all 1 Comment
Why...

As I turn my focus from the actual size of my stomach to what I intend to put in it over Christmas, have I already goofed. In October I made a Christmas cake the size of the heel stone at Stonehenge and Christmas pudding so heavy that when it is engulfed in flaming brandy I will need a crane to bring it to the table.  Same for the turkey. Ever since my wife introduced me to the Southern US joy of deep frying an 8lb turkey in under an hour, a big bird presents no problem. So I ordered a 12lb one this year as we expected a dozen for lunch and a house full of guests. Oops! So far Christmas lunch is for four with overseas family unable to take flights to visit us and others here in Malta locked up in lockdown. We cannot even invite strangers as they would be considered outside our bubble! If I was a Supermarket, I would get rid of large boxes of mince pies by selling  them individually. Special offer would be ‘Xmas style tiny turkeys’ (chickens) for four people, walnuts in packs of six and Stilton slices. The only large family gatherings are going to be around a Zoom screen rather than a Christmas tree or dinner table.

..and another thing (continue to read this post)

Thanksgiving, the boring day before Black Friday ...Christmas Day? Thats just blah blah before the Boxing Day sales!

  • December 5, 2020
  • Kids/Family/Relations
  • View all 0 Comments
Why...

Has a public holiday become simply just the day before a sale? Putting aside any religious connotation, it's a wondrous idea that all nations have certain days during the year that are set aside to unwind with friends and family. However I challenge anyone to give me an example when a national holiday nowadays is not followed by a sale. OK maybe not April 15th in North Korea which is Day of the Sun (Birthday of Kim Il Sung)....I dunno' though?....I could be wrong. Maybe you can get a deal on a nice set of finger nail extractors....I mean nail clippers....at ten potatoes off list price. (You never know who is reading this stuff. Ask a Sony)! Whilst Labor Day or Memorial Day are not inextricably linked to buying, Christmas is. Spending the whole month of December wracking my brains at what to buy Auntie Incontinent or Uncle Halitosis (or more likely did I give them the same thing last year) do I really want the day after giving and receiving all this detritus to put my brain into buy mode again? A cracking good example as to how easily we lap up special days to spend money on was my blog about card companies making up superfluous celebration days http://www.andanotherthing.com/beware-card-shark/#andanotherthing.

..and another thing (continue to read this post)

Find me someone who can undo a child lock and I’ll find you a Houdini in the making

  • November 22, 2020
  • Entertainment/Media/Arts Food & Drink Kids/Family/Relations Technology
  • View all 0 Comments
Why...

Do I need the dexterity of a safe cracker to open a jar of vitamins? I am always amazed at Health and Safety’s belief in the stupidity of others. Of course dangerous things should be kept away from the vulnerable. And that includes some parents from kids. Why should responsibility and common sense be the albatross around Proctor and Gamble’s neck? I was  at a dinner party recently and instead of after dinner games like Ibble Dibble or Are you there Moriarty?, we were presented with the challenge of trying to open a box of washing pods. Impossible. Perhaps colouring them like sweets is not super smart but you’d need a mouth like Julia Robert’s to actually eat one. A) just keep box away from kids, B) give them a huge telling off if they try to even reach for them and, C) explain they taste yuck. Give them a tablespoon of mustard if they don’t believe you. Tough lessons worked on every generation back to the dawn of civilisation. Whether it was... “Don’t kick a sleeping saber tooth tiger,” Or “Never wear a black conical hat and talk to your cat in front of the Inquisition,” up to Don’t lick the plug socket!  It was pretty simple. If you did, the consequences were your own fault. Nowadays it’s never your fault, even if you are as thick as a whale omelette. Accidents are never caused by kids because no one told them not to... put the cat in the microwave to dry it, not to get stuck toast out of a live toaster with a fork or jump off the roof using a plastic bag as a parachute.

..and another thing (continue to read this post)

This is not a full stop . It’s a lethal weapon

  • November 9, 2020
  • Entertainment/Media/Arts Friends Kids/Family/Relations Life
  • View all 0 Comments
Why...

Be woke? I understand the woke generation are now bleating that a full stop/period  is offensive and could be taken as a sign of aggression. Therefore, it must no longer be used in punctuation. Aggression is when Hitler invaded Poland. Or hijacker Leila Khaled who was convicted as a terrorist took over a TWA jumbo jet in 1969. But recently she was invited to San Fransisco State University to address a forum on Gender Justice and Resistance. Did I miss reading about this exchange? “Right. We are taking over this plane. Men to the left aisle, women to the right. Those among you who are gender neutral, we will be letting you disembark.” I don’t think so.

..and another thing (continue to read this post)

I feel like Benjamin Button. Not only do I wear shorts and sandals but I have started adding fractions to my age.

  • September 27, 2020
  • Food & Drink Kids/Family/Relations Life
  • View all 2 Comments
Why...

..and another thing (continue to read this post)

So bad they named it twice

  • September 6, 2020
  • Entertainment/Media/Arts Kids/Family/Relations Sex Technology
  • View all 0 Comments
Why...

Do drug companies give their products not one but two instantly forgettable names? Is this because they all themselves have multiple names. GlaxoSmithKline, F. Hoffmann-La Roche or the puzzling Johnson & Johnson. Were they twins? Take statins? I do. Everyday. Lowers cholesterol and good for your heart. The actual name for mine is Rosuvastatin. Sounds like a Russian spy. However they sell it under the name brand Crestor. Why? It is confusing for me and plain difficult to remember. Isn’t it a toothpaste?  And as for marketing, the name Crestor does sweet F.A. in telling me what it does. How about Heart-help? Ticker-tablet or Pressure buster? Same with just about any drug you can think of. Here is a list of the most common drugs with their retail name and fancy name. Levothyroxine (Synthroid) Lisinopril (Prinivil, Zestril) Gabapentin (Neurontin) Amlodipine (Norvasc) Hydrocodone/acetaminophen (Vicodin, Norco) Amoxicillin (Amoxil) Omeprazole (Prilosec) Metformin (Glucophage) Losartan (Cozaar). Unless you are actually taking them how many do you recognise or know what they treat? Yet they are sold by the gazillions! With the $€¥ billions these guys syphon off us, does their marketing department really think that unpronounceable and hard to remember names gives them gravitas and therefore the right to charge like the Light Brigade for their product! It’s loopy. I suppose Viagra comes close with association with vigour but Hard-as-rock is much better. Vicodin should be Zonked and Gabapentin Ouch-away. As for herpes busting Zovirax (real name Acyclovir) how about  No-sex-just-yet.

..and another thing (continue to read this post)

Today’s blog was too good ... You can’t read it

  • July 11, 2020
  • Food & Drink Kids/Family/Relations Life
  • View all 1 Comment
Why...

Am I getting brain fade? I have written these little ditties for over four years now, on over 200 topics ranging from my dog’s television viewing habits to me never being around when moving house. It is getting increasingly challenging to find things to scribble about. Last week whilst driving in the shoal of Malta’s kamikaze drivers I was struck by a subject so ripe that I actually started laughing. For a moment I wondered whether I should stop and write it down or record it into my phone. Nope! No need. It was too funny. How on earth could I forget? Try as I might, I cannot remember it. I even drove down the same road listening to the same songs in the hope the Muse of blogs would reach out and jog my memory. Nothing.

..and another thing (continue to read this post)

Exactly what is the definition of survival of the fittest?

  • June 19, 2020
  • Friends Kids/Family/Relations Sex
  • View all 2 Comments
Why...

Is it always portrayed in the media that only ‘Tarzans’ can survive in the post apocalyptical  jungle? What exactly do people mean by survival of the fittest anyway? I am prepared to admit most of the contestants on Gladiator could run circles around me (or trapeze above me waiving a giant Q-tip trying to knock over another contestant) but how much use would they be in a post apocalyptic Armageddon? Without whitening toothpaste and an endless supply of spandex, not much. In fact the gap between dumb as dog-slobber and super smart seems to double every 5 years. Technology has made dimwits of 99% of us. I mean how many reading this actually knows how a smart phone works, yet I suspect 200 years ago, 99% of us understood how to make smoke signals. And what skills would we need to survive? I suppose that depends on the environment of survival. If it’s all 1984 or even Terminator, being a geek looks a good bet. Q rather than 007. Planet of the Apes apocalypse and I suspect being able to run fast is critical, as is having an endless supply of nuts. A post nuclear disaster, I’d suggest being a welder who can whip up a lead suit to keep radiation out is a plus or a decent cook if you have to spend eternity in a bunker.

..and another thing (continue to read this post)

Are you a lockdown fashionista

  • June 13, 2020
  • Fasion Health & Beauty Kids/Family/Relations Life
  • View all 1 Comment
Why...

Has Covid-19 superseded Vogue as the trendsetter of fashion? I suspect less  than 0.1% of men have worn a tie over the past ten weeks with bras going the same way. Stilettos, false eyelashes, leather shoes with laces and evening attire have also been banished to the cupboard whereas fashion no-no’s  such as the onesie, head band and tracksuit have made a comeback even Sinatra would have been proud of.  The most shocking aspect of lockdown is the sudden appearance of facial hair; mostly, though not exclusively, on men. As someone who has sported a well trimmed beard and moustache for a decade, I am amazed at the birds nests many friends have now got stuck on their faces. Even my beloved father-in-law, decorated pilot, Diplomat and US Government Advisor suddenly looks like Uncle Sam with his natty goatee beard! The first question is why?

  • Is it an act of defiance to the old rules? No more office, suit, tie and hair as slick as a second hand car salesman’s patter? “I am the master of my destiny and phooey to convention like shaving.”
  • Is it to show the ‘outdoorsman’ in face of lockdown. “Hey Covid-19 I’m Grizzly Adams. I cut down trees with my teeth and drive in masonry nails with my bare hands. Don’t screw with me.”
  • Or is it simply:
“I cannot be bothered to stay trim and trimmed. What can I binge watch next?” To see if it’s really a fashion statement rather than a whimper, let’s see how much of the facial topiary will survive the ending of lockdown.

..and another thing (continue to read this post)

Beware, Card Shark

  • May 30, 2020
  • Entertainment/Media/Arts Friends Kids/Family/Relations
  • View all 4 Comments
Why...

Do I get roped into imaginary celebration days? Before I start this week's blog......I have a confession. For a few years I was the co-owner of the Hallmark Channel (Internationally) that I bought with a consortium from the eponymous card company still owned and controlled by the Hall family. There were some pretty freaky things that I learned about cards (before the digital universe blew a hole in Hallmark with Blue Mountain, Moo, Jibjab, Moonpig and Funky Pigeon). Firstly, was that the more Catholic or Protestant the country, the more cards it sent. You expect the major European countries, but right up near the top was the Philippines! Now for those of you who have never been there, I beg you, go.... I adore all of Asia (with a special love for Vietnam) but if you want to see a race in self-conflict you cannot beat the Philippines. Nothing on earth trumps Catholic guilt and boy, the Filipinos, with their lust for life and smorgasbord of sin, have a tsunami of things to feel guilty about.....and yet Christmas carols start blaring from the radio in September. They send a shedload of cards, several to the same recipient!!

..and another thing (continue to read this post)

Please stop interrupting during video lessons and eat more

  • May 10, 2020
  • Food & Drink Friends Kids/Family/Relations Life
  • View all 1 Comment
Why...

Is a dear friend and teacher more frustrated than a brain surgeon with hiccups? In this new world, teachers are struggling during on-line lessons because of continuous interruption and comments from parents. It seems that when little Johnny is having a problem with algebra or the date of the Battle of Hastings, know-it-all parents cannot wait to chip in with their answer... which in the case of algebra is nearly always wrong. It’s bad enough having to deal with delusional parents during PTA meetings who believe their offspring is the love child of Einstein and Madonna - see earlier post HERE. But to have parents digitally hanging over the teacher’s shoulder is enough to have anyone mainline Clorox. In addition, in some households there is a queue to use the one decent size computer. Dad for porn, Mum for gambling, elder kids for on-line dating, games or movies. Everyone wants the youngest off the machine as quickly as possible. So instead of the rest of the household being on-line themselves, they are constantly operating the only other thing outside of the Internet they continually use; their teeth. Lockdown has turned everyone into elephants in more than one sense. We have grown huge and munch constantly. Many of the locked down are so fed up with long distance relationships, they are moving the fridge to their bedroom.

..and another thing (continue to read this post)

It’s not Dr. Doolittle who talks to the animals

  • January 24, 2020
  • Animals/Pets Food & Drink Kids/Family/Relations Love
  • View all 7 Comments
Why...

Is there no kind of border, post code or demarcation point for where dogs can crap without the owner having to pick it up? At what point do you say to yourself when bending down wearing a cheap smelling pooh bag as a glove “What am I doing this for? I’m nearly a time zone away from the nearest village.” I always clear up in town after my dogs have answered the call of nature (cats seem to get away scot free though). If I see people let their dogs foul a footpath or park, I march up to them and hand them my own dogs pooh in a bag saying, “I think you forgot this.” They usually are quite shocked, then embarrassed, yet accept the bag. A small victory but quite satisfying. The other day I took my two pugs out to the country. They are essentially town dogs, as metrosexual as David Beckham or P.Diddy. They think mud is what you put on your face whilst having a ‘manny/peddy’, the TV remote is for chewing not sharing and strenuous exercise is running in from the garden to eat their lunch in the kitchen. However I convinced them to go for a walk with my brother-in-law’s labrador way out in the wilds last year. As soon as the big dog got into the forest, it answered the age-old question about what a bear does in the woods. The labrador had a sh*t. After a moment he casually carried on with his walk. My two pugs started barking and ran after the labrador, twitching their noses at him. They then shot me a look. “Hey, buddy. Watch this. Each time we have a crap that idiot comes up with a bag and scoops it up.” The lab stopped, a foreleg lifted in mid-air. “You gotta’ be kidding, ” he said, raising his ears and giving me a furtive glance. My two pugs immediately squatted down and in perfect unison like a pair of synchronised swimmers did their business. I calmly walked by leaving their gift to nature in the grass, relieved at one advantage of being way out in the country. The look of shock on my dogs was palpable. “What the f…? He always picks it up, ” they pleaded looking at the lab who had been watching the non-show. “Lying Townies, ” replied the labrador and with a snort ran off. We may not talk to the animals but they sure talk to each other. And they try and talk to us.

..and another thing (continue to read this post)

I wish you all a Happy New Year... now here’s something to add a little sparkle!

  • January 8, 2020
  • Entertainment/Media/Arts Kids/Family/Relations Travel/Nature Work
  • View all 1 Comment
Why...

I have thoroughly enjoyed writing this blog over the past four years. My close friends were relieved as it stopped me sending them endless emails on my observations of the day and gave me a platform to pontificate to a wider audience. My secret passion (well the one I’m prepared to discuss in public) is writing. So in addition to the blog, I rolled up my sleeves, shut the door and wrote a book. My debut thriller FALL OUT launches in May and pre-sales are now available on Amazon both in the UK and USA. It is the first in a franchise of thrillers set in the film industry. My target is 5,000 pre-orders which kicks it into bestseller territory. FALL OUT  An LA screenwriter is killed shortly after completing his latest script, FALL OUT - a thriller destined to be a blockbuster but written with a secret double purpose.  Echoing events from the past the screenplay is sent to a very specific group of people and will change their lives forever. All are connected to a movie that had abruptly stopped shooting in the jungles of the Philippines years before. FALL OUT exposes the truth about a conspiracy and murder that led to a half-a-billion-dollar fortune for a select few.  Follow the story of Producer Marcus Riley, who sets out on an increasingly dangerous quest to get FALL OUT made. From a powerful agent’s office in Hollywood, hidden treasures in Belgravia and a remote chalet in the Swiss Alps to murder at the Cannes Film Festival, Marcus teams up with designer Melinda (Mako) de Turris as they and the other recipients of the screenplay are pursued by an assassin from the past. With clues cleverly concealed in the screenplay, Marcus and Mako unravel a lethal puzzle that for some will bring death, others the truth and ends in a cave with a shocking secret.....  If you have enjoyed the blog and fancy something longer than just a paragraph or two now is your chance! Click here for Amazon UK  book location Click here for Amazon US book location

..and another thing (continue to read this post)

I will get arrested if I ask a stranger to stuff my pudding in her secret little container

  • December 20, 2019
  • Fasion Health & Beauty Food & Drink Friends Kids/Family/Relations Travel/Nature
  • View all 1 Comment
Why...

By a remarkable set of coincidences have I managed to get to 63 and never spent Christmas Day in the snow? On the only two times up to age 24 it snowed in the UK on Christmas Day I was out of the country. Every other year was spent there. No snow. My wonderful parents never got the ski-bug, so I actually never skied till I was 42! Once I started making a few bucks, my love of diving had me spend nearly every Christmas somewhere hot. So that was nearly 25 Christmases doused in Ambre Solaire with the odd one spent again with family and friends in snowless England. Now married to my American wife, we live in Malta where Christmas is usually around 20c/75f. Occasionally we spend it with her family in Old Town Alexandria, just outside Washington D.C. I missed a snowbound Washington Christmas, coz the planes from the UK were grounded due to bad weather or a strike or both and again when it snowed in the UK a few years ago we were in Washington enjoying a heat wave. So, I have given up.

..and another thing (continue to read this post)

What is rss? "rss" is about getting live web feeds
directly to your computer.

Site created by Iron Dome IT.