Ok, ok, I kneel or genuflect or whatever in the sure and certain faith that Star Wars "The Force Awakens" will make the Kessel Run and leave everything else in its wake as it hits the hyperspace jump... or will it? What if the hyperdrive motivator is damaged or worse, missing and we end up with something left field of the worst moments of Lucas' last effort?
I will reserve judgement but unlike when Phantom Menace was approaching and I could hardly sit still, I have a sinking feeling about this new reboot. As much the hints about the storyline when had I been writing it, I would have gone elswhere and further into the future with my ageing original cast members. But, it says "Star Wars" on the tin! Yes, I hear your cry. You will find few sadder Star Wars fans short of those who are truly obsessed. After all, I can practically repeat the dialogue for New Hope word for word.... And yes, I have much respect for J.J. Abrams but....it's just that.... I feel a disturbance in the force. Hard to see the future is.
Let's get to the also rans, then ;)
I have a feeling that Avengers- The Age of Ultron may compete with Star Wars for the best special effect and high octane film of the year. Judging by how the films have improved so far and thinking about Winter Soldier and Thor the Dark World, you have to be looking forward to this one, superhero fanz.
Woman in Black II - I wasn't one of those knocked off my feet by the idea of bringing a successful if ,limited stage show concept to the big screen. Did it need a sequel. No.
Oh, incidentally, neither did Taken and going to a part 3 is just indulgent.
I may have a look at Blackhat in January. At least that isn't hanging it's title item on someone else's old peg.
Jupiter Ascending caught my eye for February. The plot might look a bit like (but will fall short of) Iain M Banks "Against a dark Background" but interesting cast and directors could promise something very watchable. I feel very uncertain that The Seventh Son will do a great deal for fantasy film reputations but we live in hope. One film I will not be going anywhere near is "Fifty Shades of Grey" but I have no doubt that anything said about it will fail to get through to the following....
March and another that will not be in my potential list will be "Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel." Much enjoyed by the family members over 70 a couple of Xmas' ago, it was very well made, well delivered but ultimately slow and nothing new in the relationships or lessons from life, sorry. Seen them all before. Branagh's Cinderella looks stellar but should it be performed by live casts? *oof* could that be the sound of it tripping on its petticoats against the latest animated release from the usual suspects, "Home". And Heart of the Sea will be eaten up by larger films not just by itself - anyway, it just doesn't sound like a whale of a time ;) I do like Ron Howard films, though so this will be one to watch on the box.
I'm not even going to mention Furious 7 or The Moon and The Sun...oh damn! I just did. Yawn and oh dear. And Run All Night...I think you should Liam...when you saw the script. Don't you think we've had enough of these, now. We get it. You're a tough guy, too. And please, spare us from another Jurassic Park, another Transporter and another Mad Max. Insane Max by now, surely. As for Tomorrowland, am I the only one who has an issue with George Clooney in anything listed as suspensful and a thriller? Thankfully the Avengers will be rocking their stuff and then Ant Man will follow hot on the heels of the assembly! "Avengers Assemble!" We need someone to save the movie year!
The Summer looks like it's going to churn out remakes, games turned into films and what could have been a really good fun feature, The Man from UNCLE but I have a bad feeling about this and you know what should happen after saying that!
I have hopes for Autumn. One is that M Night Shyamalan will come back to the form that some of his early work suggested and that The Visit will be a classic. And I have a hope that Black Mass will overcome the urge to use stellar casting to excuse a script and will have twists and turns so we are kept wondering what will happen.
Why? Perhaps Ben Kingsley suddenly realised his wallet would be empty by October so persuaded Disney to use him to voice over Bagheera and Zemeckis to cast him in The Walk. Why? Would Disney remake what is perhaps their best and most perfect animated film of the older genre, The Jungle Book. Yes, I am sure that Idris Elba will voice Shere Khan well, that Scarlet Johansson will sex up Kaa and Bill Murray will ruin Phil Harris' version of Bare Necessities. Why? Guys, go find another story to voice over and suggest to Disney that there are many other good tales that Kipling included in the Jungle Books 1 & 2.
The Martian...maybe, The Peanuts Movie, maybe but 20 years too late, Hunger Games Part 27, must we? Then M.I.5 - three or even four Mission Impossibles too far, The Revenant -oh I love the possibilities of that title but oh look, it's going to be High Plains Drifter etc without Eastwood and then we have (we all bow our heads and await the whispered opening words from the pulpit from a galaxy far, far away)......
Will 2015 be a classic film year? Not based on what I know or can guess but guys, don't worry, There's a new Star Wars film.
Sunday, 4 January 2015
Saturday, 3 January 2015
More for 2015
Continuing the 2015 theme, what, I wonder will be the outstanding series that we'll watch (or catch up on) this year.
Head of the list, I put Borgen. The fascinating Danish exploration of politics and behind the scenes of the Danish Parliament ("Borgen" is like saying "Westminster" here) are handled with typical Scandinavian style. The series illustrates how the trivial and "in the moment" items can override strategy and be blown out of proportion, requiring way more time than they deserve and causing far more waves.
Broadchurch - will the cast move on to a new location and can they produce as intense a dama as the first (but hopefully with a better ending).
The Tunnel - another co-operation between urbane Brit, Karl Roebuck and forthright, job-obsessed Elise Wasserman will be watchable. It was the central reason for this well-scripted show's success alongside tight writing and good support characters. We look forward to see what the writers will do next, assuming another series does appear.
The Blacklist - I know you can pick holes in the way things unfold and the mistakes made but it doesn't alter the fun of watching the ever stylish James Spader running rings around most of the cast and his interaction with Lizzie and Wrestler. Good fun with a dark edge.
I suppose I'd have to say that I'd like to see more crossovers and team battles in Flash and Arrow especially now The Mighty Atom is due to join them. We only need a couple more to have a regular Justice League turnout. I vote Green Lantern and Hawkman so we can see them done properly. After (spoiler coming) Oliver's apparent fall from the mountain having been stabbed through the chest by Ra's-Al-Ghul, we all wait to see if Flash got him to a medical centre swiftly and if it was, as it appeared, the right side not the heart that he was stabbed through. A collapsed lung and maybe other damage, mind you...
Oh and how could I forget? Game of Thrones V. Stroll on. Our favourite of all. Not long now until they catch up with the books. Come on George...time we had another. It's been many years since we started reading the series.
Head of the list, I put Borgen. The fascinating Danish exploration of politics and behind the scenes of the Danish Parliament ("Borgen" is like saying "Westminster" here) are handled with typical Scandinavian style. The series illustrates how the trivial and "in the moment" items can override strategy and be blown out of proportion, requiring way more time than they deserve and causing far more waves.
Broadchurch - will the cast move on to a new location and can they produce as intense a dama as the first (but hopefully with a better ending).
The Tunnel - another co-operation between urbane Brit, Karl Roebuck and forthright, job-obsessed Elise Wasserman will be watchable. It was the central reason for this well-scripted show's success alongside tight writing and good support characters. We look forward to see what the writers will do next, assuming another series does appear.
The Blacklist - I know you can pick holes in the way things unfold and the mistakes made but it doesn't alter the fun of watching the ever stylish James Spader running rings around most of the cast and his interaction with Lizzie and Wrestler. Good fun with a dark edge.
I suppose I'd have to say that I'd like to see more crossovers and team battles in Flash and Arrow especially now The Mighty Atom is due to join them. We only need a couple more to have a regular Justice League turnout. I vote Green Lantern and Hawkman so we can see them done properly. After (spoiler coming) Oliver's apparent fall from the mountain having been stabbed through the chest by Ra's-Al-Ghul, we all wait to see if Flash got him to a medical centre swiftly and if it was, as it appeared, the right side not the heart that he was stabbed through. A collapsed lung and maybe other damage, mind you...
Oh and how could I forget? Game of Thrones V. Stroll on. Our favourite of all. Not long now until they catch up with the books. Come on George...time we had another. It's been many years since we started reading the series.
Friday, 2 January 2015
2015 - Oh to be a soothsayer (sometimes)
It'd be more than useful to be able to cast a few goat's bones and come up with the winners and losers on the stock exchange this year but hey... there are downsides to what you might know, too.
So what's coming in 2015 on the political front?
Firstly, we'll have the whole run in to an election. How did the Conservative-Libdem alliance do out of ten. I'm not so wont to have a go at the government in power and rant on about how the anonymous "they" should have done this and that nor do I repeat what I read in the papers. I thought it was a good advert for a coalition because if you look closely, you'll see that there was some moderation of right wing politics. You'll see that the Libdems played their part and overall, I think we have to say that the government started in a very bad place economically and in the context of European politics. There were some disturbing movements and signs afoot. Remember seeing London burning. That wasn't just about one incident. That was part of a wider issue that people were having with the state.
It would have gone better if the Libdem percentage had been higher and they had been able to resist the initial rise in student fees although, people need to be realistic. Thirty and odd years ago, something like 2% of us went to a decent university and maybe the same again to polytechnic. Now, a massive percentage go to a vast range of educational facilities calling themselves universities. We have to face up to some choices and some points. If we want everyone to go, we can't afford the old subsidies and therefore both ends are going to cost more, fees to enable the universities to make ends meet and the costs because there won't be student subsidy either. Or we could (and in my view, should) go back to a realistic state which recognises that most people are not intellectuals nor university material. We should split the post school training into vocational/manual, vocational/administrative and university for academia and higher qualification work.
Look at what is happening as a result of all the students coming out of the sausage machine. Half or more won't get a job without doing something for free "to get experience" because nobody seems to want people who lack it, some top graduates will go into the burn off schemes that only recruit one or two out of 20 or more but get their pound of flesh from every starter and yes, sorry to sound a snob but the guy with a 3rd from some ex polytechnic/technical college will be treated as a second class citizen because frankly, they are. Better to get a proper qualification in gas, plumbing or electricity than a low class also run degree from a low class also ran university.
Perhaps the next government will take a long and serious look at that issue. It's hurting everyone, right now and we are getting thousands of kids emerging with expectations that have not been managed or been realistic and that leads to anger, frustration and depression.
What else? The financial situation appears to be turning about. The Conservative-Libdem Plan was valid. That isn't to say that the alternatives were not valid either. What had to be done was to take a course and stick to it. There is a danger in voting in a Labour government, right now if they simply reverse course too soon and we end up back at the place we were. Another reason I'd like a coalition. It could be a Labour one but they must not dominate it too much.
Then, we undoubtably have a vote on Europe. I hope (but do not expect) that we could have a grown up debate with a lot of properly presented information so we can make an informed choice. Please, ladies and gentlemen of the House, can we avoid an unnecessary flood of emotion but most of all avoid party politic slinging such as being more interested in whether Politician A completely agrees with the PM/Leader of his/her faction than the subject. I believe that one reason the British people dislike and distrust politicians is that there is so much avoidance, ignorant disagreement because you seem to have to put down anything the opposition party suggest rather than being an adult and recognising that you may have areas of agreement. If politicians stopped being children and started working together, we might develop mature coalition politics as are common in Scandinavia where government is far more for the people than here.
BTW, do you remember all that criticism of banks and the over extended credit? Did anyone actually deal with that? My hope is that the new government look hard at this area. I'm not earning anything like what I did but I can run up a bigger credit card bill than ever, borrow more money than I can afford and get myself into a bigger mess than 5 years ago. Does that sound right? I think we are still living on credit far too much and that carpet needs pulling out from under people with some lessons in how to live to your means and I mean lessons, real government sponsored night college lessons for the dopes who don't know that you can't have a new car, holiday abroad and wide screen tv and home cinema without having to pay for it somewhere along the way.
I believe as I write, we are still heavily invested in a number of far flung spots despite our talk of having moved out. I'd like to see less spent on "defence" (how that was never called "attack" or at least The Ministry of War). Yes, we ought to have an new aircraft carrier, probably two. But can we stop trying to police the world and play our part in UN/Nato ops and keep it at that. We can all see there are extremist governments and wars we'd like to put a stop to but this has to be a united mankind not the US and a few allies.
I hope that the British people will not knee jerk away from backing the Libdems (although I think it inevitable) and go over to UKIP who are as much of a threat to sensible, mature government as the National Front were, sorry, British Nationalist Party. And while green is good, Green is often a long way from what you might expect in terms of being about sustainable energy projects that will do far from green things to places that ought to be protected. It would be good to see Green, Libdem and others taking part in a coalition. I think we are very far from that, just now. Let's not become like the US. Polarisation within the two parties is showing some ugly signs over the pond. You might find that having a "Tea Party" might not be about nice jam and scones. Can you imagine voting in someone who believes that people co-incided with the dinosaurs on the basis of trying to replace reality with timing from the bible? (Don't answer that one without pausing for thought ;)
I think we will see the press behave as badly as they always do, slanting things to try to brainwash the dullards into voting the way the owners want and trying to reduce the serious to a trivial level as ever. I find myself constantly disappointed in the media, especially when I hear some presenters say we ought to have an adult conversation and then pick on items that have no bearing on policy or the effect on our lives.
I'd like to see continuing investment in space travel and exploration. If we don't move thinking forward, what purpose is there in our existence? We surely must continue to try to answer the big questions or we might as well hand over to the next generation of primates.
I think we will see the same six to eight teams contest the Premiership and England will not end up winning the one day cricket trophy even if they get a run of luck. I'd love to see 2015 being the year that we re-start the old home championships in football with Wales, England, Northern Ireland and Scotland playing each other for the cup, either over one or maybe two seasons. I'd like to see a closer battle for the F1 titles between constructors with multiple race winners. Oh yes, and I'd like to see Sepp Blatter kicked out of FIFA and indicted from something. I'm sure there are few who deserve it more.
I could go on but I won't.
So what's coming in 2015 on the political front?
Firstly, we'll have the whole run in to an election. How did the Conservative-Libdem alliance do out of ten. I'm not so wont to have a go at the government in power and rant on about how the anonymous "they" should have done this and that nor do I repeat what I read in the papers. I thought it was a good advert for a coalition because if you look closely, you'll see that there was some moderation of right wing politics. You'll see that the Libdems played their part and overall, I think we have to say that the government started in a very bad place economically and in the context of European politics. There were some disturbing movements and signs afoot. Remember seeing London burning. That wasn't just about one incident. That was part of a wider issue that people were having with the state.
It would have gone better if the Libdem percentage had been higher and they had been able to resist the initial rise in student fees although, people need to be realistic. Thirty and odd years ago, something like 2% of us went to a decent university and maybe the same again to polytechnic. Now, a massive percentage go to a vast range of educational facilities calling themselves universities. We have to face up to some choices and some points. If we want everyone to go, we can't afford the old subsidies and therefore both ends are going to cost more, fees to enable the universities to make ends meet and the costs because there won't be student subsidy either. Or we could (and in my view, should) go back to a realistic state which recognises that most people are not intellectuals nor university material. We should split the post school training into vocational/manual, vocational/administrative and university for academia and higher qualification work.
Look at what is happening as a result of all the students coming out of the sausage machine. Half or more won't get a job without doing something for free "to get experience" because nobody seems to want people who lack it, some top graduates will go into the burn off schemes that only recruit one or two out of 20 or more but get their pound of flesh from every starter and yes, sorry to sound a snob but the guy with a 3rd from some ex polytechnic/technical college will be treated as a second class citizen because frankly, they are. Better to get a proper qualification in gas, plumbing or electricity than a low class also run degree from a low class also ran university.
Perhaps the next government will take a long and serious look at that issue. It's hurting everyone, right now and we are getting thousands of kids emerging with expectations that have not been managed or been realistic and that leads to anger, frustration and depression.
What else? The financial situation appears to be turning about. The Conservative-Libdem Plan was valid. That isn't to say that the alternatives were not valid either. What had to be done was to take a course and stick to it. There is a danger in voting in a Labour government, right now if they simply reverse course too soon and we end up back at the place we were. Another reason I'd like a coalition. It could be a Labour one but they must not dominate it too much.
Then, we undoubtably have a vote on Europe. I hope (but do not expect) that we could have a grown up debate with a lot of properly presented information so we can make an informed choice. Please, ladies and gentlemen of the House, can we avoid an unnecessary flood of emotion but most of all avoid party politic slinging such as being more interested in whether Politician A completely agrees with the PM/Leader of his/her faction than the subject. I believe that one reason the British people dislike and distrust politicians is that there is so much avoidance, ignorant disagreement because you seem to have to put down anything the opposition party suggest rather than being an adult and recognising that you may have areas of agreement. If politicians stopped being children and started working together, we might develop mature coalition politics as are common in Scandinavia where government is far more for the people than here.
BTW, do you remember all that criticism of banks and the over extended credit? Did anyone actually deal with that? My hope is that the new government look hard at this area. I'm not earning anything like what I did but I can run up a bigger credit card bill than ever, borrow more money than I can afford and get myself into a bigger mess than 5 years ago. Does that sound right? I think we are still living on credit far too much and that carpet needs pulling out from under people with some lessons in how to live to your means and I mean lessons, real government sponsored night college lessons for the dopes who don't know that you can't have a new car, holiday abroad and wide screen tv and home cinema without having to pay for it somewhere along the way.
I believe as I write, we are still heavily invested in a number of far flung spots despite our talk of having moved out. I'd like to see less spent on "defence" (how that was never called "attack" or at least The Ministry of War). Yes, we ought to have an new aircraft carrier, probably two. But can we stop trying to police the world and play our part in UN/Nato ops and keep it at that. We can all see there are extremist governments and wars we'd like to put a stop to but this has to be a united mankind not the US and a few allies.
I hope that the British people will not knee jerk away from backing the Libdems (although I think it inevitable) and go over to UKIP who are as much of a threat to sensible, mature government as the National Front were, sorry, British Nationalist Party. And while green is good, Green is often a long way from what you might expect in terms of being about sustainable energy projects that will do far from green things to places that ought to be protected. It would be good to see Green, Libdem and others taking part in a coalition. I think we are very far from that, just now. Let's not become like the US. Polarisation within the two parties is showing some ugly signs over the pond. You might find that having a "Tea Party" might not be about nice jam and scones. Can you imagine voting in someone who believes that people co-incided with the dinosaurs on the basis of trying to replace reality with timing from the bible? (Don't answer that one without pausing for thought ;)
I think we will see the press behave as badly as they always do, slanting things to try to brainwash the dullards into voting the way the owners want and trying to reduce the serious to a trivial level as ever. I find myself constantly disappointed in the media, especially when I hear some presenters say we ought to have an adult conversation and then pick on items that have no bearing on policy or the effect on our lives.
I'd like to see continuing investment in space travel and exploration. If we don't move thinking forward, what purpose is there in our existence? We surely must continue to try to answer the big questions or we might as well hand over to the next generation of primates.
I think we will see the same six to eight teams contest the Premiership and England will not end up winning the one day cricket trophy even if they get a run of luck. I'd love to see 2015 being the year that we re-start the old home championships in football with Wales, England, Northern Ireland and Scotland playing each other for the cup, either over one or maybe two seasons. I'd like to see a closer battle for the F1 titles between constructors with multiple race winners. Oh yes, and I'd like to see Sepp Blatter kicked out of FIFA and indicted from something. I'm sure there are few who deserve it more.
I could go on but I won't.
Wednesday, 31 December 2014
C.S.Lewis
For those who loved the Narnia books and/or those who have read his papers, the biography on the BBC is worth catching. It paints a poignant picture of the sensitive academic behind the written word.
There were a number of great writers who emerged at the same time as C.S.Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. If you are not familiar with his works, I highly recommend E.R. Edison - The Zimiamvian Trilogy and The Worm Ouroboros for beautiful prose and wonderful characters.
There were a number of great writers who emerged at the same time as C.S.Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. If you are not familiar with his works, I highly recommend E.R. Edison - The Zimiamvian Trilogy and The Worm Ouroboros for beautiful prose and wonderful characters.
Xmas Cheer and next New Year ;)
So that was Christmas and a Happy New Year....
Nothing quite like a good family Xmas so it was good to gather the family around and to enjoy each other's company. The house feels so much warmer and like there is something waiting to happen around each corner. Now everyone has gone and even the nearby family won't be around for dinner until January, the house has fallen silent, losing that soft buzz of voices and thoughts.
It's still the peaceful house even when it is full of folk. This Xmas, it was so good to be able to sit down and talk about writing styles and content. With my daughter editing a novella and working on a novel, it has been even more of a family subject than normal.
Good, too, to mix a few old favourites amongst our many board and other competition games with some newer ones over the last few weeks. This year, we all learned to play the Japanese card game, Titchu, which was good fun, had a go at the Star Trek deck builder (we thought some of the criticism levelled at the game was unfair), got to grips with the Pandemic card game, Contagion as well as playing La Cittia, Seven Wonders and Dominion.
One of the gang gave us Thunderstone - The Elementals so we have three sets of the game, now, to torture people with. Such a beautiful game to look at, I have always felt it just falls short of being one of the greats, even with the amended rules that we have introduced.
Something else I wanted to mention. It's always a huge pleasure when an old friend gets in touch. I was thrilled to see an email from one of the finest on-line role players I have ever had the privilege to play alongside and the creator of Ared. Look forward to hearing from you again, my old friend. We have much catching up to do.
I hope to hear from more of you. I long ago lost ,most of the Sigil email addresses when my old lap top went suddenly and I found the backup had been corrupted, also. We saved some of the files using hard disk extraction tools but some data was hopelessly distorted.
Happy New Year to you all. I hope 2015 brings you things that you wish for.
Nothing quite like a good family Xmas so it was good to gather the family around and to enjoy each other's company. The house feels so much warmer and like there is something waiting to happen around each corner. Now everyone has gone and even the nearby family won't be around for dinner until January, the house has fallen silent, losing that soft buzz of voices and thoughts.
It's still the peaceful house even when it is full of folk. This Xmas, it was so good to be able to sit down and talk about writing styles and content. With my daughter editing a novella and working on a novel, it has been even more of a family subject than normal.
Good, too, to mix a few old favourites amongst our many board and other competition games with some newer ones over the last few weeks. This year, we all learned to play the Japanese card game, Titchu, which was good fun, had a go at the Star Trek deck builder (we thought some of the criticism levelled at the game was unfair), got to grips with the Pandemic card game, Contagion as well as playing La Cittia, Seven Wonders and Dominion.
One of the gang gave us Thunderstone - The Elementals so we have three sets of the game, now, to torture people with. Such a beautiful game to look at, I have always felt it just falls short of being one of the greats, even with the amended rules that we have introduced.
Something else I wanted to mention. It's always a huge pleasure when an old friend gets in touch. I was thrilled to see an email from one of the finest on-line role players I have ever had the privilege to play alongside and the creator of Ared. Look forward to hearing from you again, my old friend. We have much catching up to do.
I hope to hear from more of you. I long ago lost ,most of the Sigil email addresses when my old lap top went suddenly and I found the backup had been corrupted, also. We saved some of the files using hard disk extraction tools but some data was hopelessly distorted.
Happy New Year to you all. I hope 2015 brings you things that you wish for.
Tuesday, 16 December 2014
Xmas at Hogenroast Malpractice (Pronouced Hoonroast)
Hello all
I bet you thought I had forgotten you. Yes, this is indeed Squire Townshend St John De Grincheux signing in to spread a bit of Christmas Cheer.
Maddie and I will be hosting the usual eighteen to twenty odd for dinner. Cook and her team are all prepared, turkeys have been stored, hams salted and one thing and another. I have taken the liberty of picking the drinks to be served, of course.
Nothing like starting the day with a bit of a halloo over the moors, before lunch. A stirrup cup of spiced rum or mead and then off to dinner. "Freddie" Flingstuff is going to be along to add a bit of celebrity colour as well as the usuals, Nigel Snipe-Razzell, Geoffrey Loosely-Gaye, "Bogroll" Bligh, "Wingit" Hershaw and, of course, our new MP for our adjacent county Upper Middleshire & Blazering, "Perkie" Perkins or Sam as he prefers to be called. Dashed good thing he beat off that UKVIP candidate, Joseph H. Snottham. Borderfolk & Sheepshire is a staunch Conserve-IT seat. We'd like it to stay that way next year.
I did invite Henry Treadsoftly but it sounds like my sister Hildebrande has some things for him to do before they pick up dear old Colonel Somewhat-Vague and Henrietta from Crumbleigh Towers and the Much Vexing mob come to join us for lunch.
At one time, the Colonel would have led the charge, of course but in those days we would have been chasing real foxes instead of a chap dressed as one who the winner "shoots" with a foam lump loaded ina toy gun. Oh well, at least we can use a few hounds.
The economy hasn't been the same since the days of the hunt. I'm not a lover of blood sports and don't like seeing foxes killed or birds shot but I have to say that a lot of people who had jobs which relied on the extra income from those sports have left the area, now. The kennels are largely closed, the blacksmiths and farriers went, makers of all sorts of gear, a local brewer, I could go on. The town folk won't have it until the foxes start on their bins and become a nuisance but we had a delicate control here in the country. We did know what we were at, even if it looked like we were a lot of rich old farts overdoing it. No gamekeeper on my estate ever gassed a badger, shot a bird of prey or saw off wildlife. I saw to that. I still have the odd hen harrier but not like we did since the grouse moor closed. I couldn't have all those protesters stomping about. Same with the fox hunting. We stopped it but I tell you, now, if you live in the country, you get a different perspective and maybe you should think on that. It's easy to make judgements about things you don't understand because you aren't close enough to care.
Now, let's get back to enjoying a good Xmas. Wherever you are, I hope you enjoy the company of your family and some time to relax. We could do with more time off in this little nation of ours. It's quality time when well spent and we should all have that opportunity. So grab a bottle of something you like and here's a toast to a great new year in 2015.
Damson Gin....now where did I put the Damson Gin? Excuse me, folks, I have a couple of important bottles to dig out. The home made stuff is just nicely ready for the festive season. Hope you grabbed some of those bunches of sloes back in the Autumn.
Happy Christmas All
I bet you thought I had forgotten you. Yes, this is indeed Squire Townshend St John De Grincheux signing in to spread a bit of Christmas Cheer.
Maddie and I will be hosting the usual eighteen to twenty odd for dinner. Cook and her team are all prepared, turkeys have been stored, hams salted and one thing and another. I have taken the liberty of picking the drinks to be served, of course.
Nothing like starting the day with a bit of a halloo over the moors, before lunch. A stirrup cup of spiced rum or mead and then off to dinner. "Freddie" Flingstuff is going to be along to add a bit of celebrity colour as well as the usuals, Nigel Snipe-Razzell, Geoffrey Loosely-Gaye, "Bogroll" Bligh, "Wingit" Hershaw and, of course, our new MP for our adjacent county Upper Middleshire & Blazering, "Perkie" Perkins or Sam as he prefers to be called. Dashed good thing he beat off that UKVIP candidate, Joseph H. Snottham. Borderfolk & Sheepshire is a staunch Conserve-IT seat. We'd like it to stay that way next year.
I did invite Henry Treadsoftly but it sounds like my sister Hildebrande has some things for him to do before they pick up dear old Colonel Somewhat-Vague and Henrietta from Crumbleigh Towers and the Much Vexing mob come to join us for lunch.
At one time, the Colonel would have led the charge, of course but in those days we would have been chasing real foxes instead of a chap dressed as one who the winner "shoots" with a foam lump loaded ina toy gun. Oh well, at least we can use a few hounds.
The economy hasn't been the same since the days of the hunt. I'm not a lover of blood sports and don't like seeing foxes killed or birds shot but I have to say that a lot of people who had jobs which relied on the extra income from those sports have left the area, now. The kennels are largely closed, the blacksmiths and farriers went, makers of all sorts of gear, a local brewer, I could go on. The town folk won't have it until the foxes start on their bins and become a nuisance but we had a delicate control here in the country. We did know what we were at, even if it looked like we were a lot of rich old farts overdoing it. No gamekeeper on my estate ever gassed a badger, shot a bird of prey or saw off wildlife. I saw to that. I still have the odd hen harrier but not like we did since the grouse moor closed. I couldn't have all those protesters stomping about. Same with the fox hunting. We stopped it but I tell you, now, if you live in the country, you get a different perspective and maybe you should think on that. It's easy to make judgements about things you don't understand because you aren't close enough to care.
Now, let's get back to enjoying a good Xmas. Wherever you are, I hope you enjoy the company of your family and some time to relax. We could do with more time off in this little nation of ours. It's quality time when well spent and we should all have that opportunity. So grab a bottle of something you like and here's a toast to a great new year in 2015.
Damson Gin....now where did I put the Damson Gin? Excuse me, folks, I have a couple of important bottles to dig out. The home made stuff is just nicely ready for the festive season. Hope you grabbed some of those bunches of sloes back in the Autumn.
Happy Christmas All
So I got to the end of the second book and set it aside to edit later. I have a couple of the readers looking at it, already but won't distribute it as widely until I have run through at least once. I may have edited three chapters or so out of 32.
Onto the 3rd book. I had written an opening some time back but that was amended, then again and then partially returned to the original style. Getting into the third is proving harder as it's not as interesting a line of plots as the 4th and 5th but I have a lot of material that needs to get out before we get into those two plot lines. Also some new characters to introduce, not least, Finn's muse and love of his life, Sylvander.
Also entering this one are Zira, the arabic blood thief and lightweight magess, Gorwen, the fey dragon with his butterfly wings and low attention span, Goric the dwarven smith and Grimstob, the ex dwarven lord who wants to forget his past, Caliban, a young assassin who becomes Finn's shadow and possibly a few others. There's a rumour that Seabharinn may make his appearance but although a first chapter is written, use of his name is still under negotiation with Ross.
In the second book, we met Thunderchild, properly, Bo, Jeffery, Marcabru and Ylloelae again and Finn's companions who work for him, Targ and Prendar. I would have liked to bring in so many others but there is so little space when it comes down to it.
If any of you ex-Sigil players are reading me and you are happy for me to use the rp characters you created, let me know. I know I own the rights on Sigil and the copyright to its plots but I regard the characters as yours and won't put them in without written permission. I'd love to feature more of them so... you know the mail addys. They are still the same as ever.
For the rest of you, if you have a character idea you'd love to see in the tale, I'm always open to creative ideas.
Until next time.
Onto the 3rd book. I had written an opening some time back but that was amended, then again and then partially returned to the original style. Getting into the third is proving harder as it's not as interesting a line of plots as the 4th and 5th but I have a lot of material that needs to get out before we get into those two plot lines. Also some new characters to introduce, not least, Finn's muse and love of his life, Sylvander.
Also entering this one are Zira, the arabic blood thief and lightweight magess, Gorwen, the fey dragon with his butterfly wings and low attention span, Goric the dwarven smith and Grimstob, the ex dwarven lord who wants to forget his past, Caliban, a young assassin who becomes Finn's shadow and possibly a few others. There's a rumour that Seabharinn may make his appearance but although a first chapter is written, use of his name is still under negotiation with Ross.
In the second book, we met Thunderchild, properly, Bo, Jeffery, Marcabru and Ylloelae again and Finn's companions who work for him, Targ and Prendar. I would have liked to bring in so many others but there is so little space when it comes down to it.
If any of you ex-Sigil players are reading me and you are happy for me to use the rp characters you created, let me know. I know I own the rights on Sigil and the copyright to its plots but I regard the characters as yours and won't put them in without written permission. I'd love to feature more of them so... you know the mail addys. They are still the same as ever.
For the rest of you, if you have a character idea you'd love to see in the tale, I'm always open to creative ideas.
Until next time.
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