Leggings – A feeling of Relief. I went into Dereham yesterday, and found no anger there. This is the first time I've felt able to say this. There was an attempt at anger by a large family group in Wright Walk (unfortunately named) which was squashed by the citizens immediately. People came out from the shops and told them clearly not to start up again! They are dealing with loss of friends, from the factory folk who left years ago, too afraid to...

My optician advised me that because I have a 'complex prescription' if I see flashes or floaters in front of my eyes I should get to A & E straightaway as it could be a detached retina. Eight nights ago I was reading in bed. I thought I had a speck of dirt on my left lens but no. I have a little spidery thing that swivels round when my eye moves. Sunday morning at RD & E was quiet. I was seen in under 3 hours by the eye nurse. I would...

There's been a treasure trove of pieces this week - such a range that everyone will have found a good read. I've pulled out a couple of particularly dazzling pieces. Story of the week comes with the promise of more, as it is part 1. An intriguing opening from Proudwing https://www.abctales.com/story/proudwing/astrobleme-part-1 Poem of the week is also full of narrative, a rich treat from Kilb50 https://www.abctales.com/story/kilb50/old-dog-fox-...

I’m a duff reviewer. The narrator is a former Glasgow journalist trying to make sense of his life after his wife dies, but I don’t know his name. I’m not sure he has a name. Let’s call him everyman adrift. His background is on the page. And I like to play detective and mitch and match with the author. She was a second-year student and I was her tutor; a disgraceful state of affairs, as popular then as now. I was attracted by the difference. My...

On the flyleaf Heather Morris’s The Tattooist of Auschwitz is ‘based on the powerful true story of Lale Solokov’. You see that kind of affirmation attached to film titles. Lion , for example, was based on the screenplay of a book by Saroo Brierly and Larry Buttrose and it’s Saroo’s story that is told. Morris’s book is based on the screenplay she wrote based on the life of Lale Solokov (Ludwig Eisenberg). Gita (Gisela Fuharmannova [Furnam]) also...

I had a great audition on ‘The Voice UK’ tonight when my reggae interpretation of, ‘The Wheels On The Bus’, caused all 4 judges to turn amidst rapturous applause from the audience. Will.i.am, in reflective mode, said, “It was like when aliens land in your back garden and they ask you to take them to your leader and you think, ‘now that’s dope’.” Jennifer Hudson, hand on hip, ordered with attitood, “You come to Momma now, boy!” Tom Jones...

Why should we listen to Viktor E.Frankel? Well, he’s a scientist, philosopher, a psychiatrist and author, but the real reason we should listen to him is because of the time he spent as an inmate in Auschwitz, Dachau and other concentration camps. That gives what he says heft, he’s walked the walk and suffered the indignity of being regarded as less than human and treated as a throwaway thing. His life and death as a Jew having little or no...

I really enjoyed this short novel. Many of the themes resonate, identity, disillusionment, a search for meaning in a life that has no meaning. He stood at the back gateway of the abattoir, his hands thrust into his pockets, his stomach rigid with the ache of want. Men in white coats and baseball caps whistled and shouted as they moved between the hanging carcases. He couldn’t see his father, yet he did not want to venture in. He knew the sweet...

The Bulger Killers: Was Justice Done? http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-bulger-killers-was-justice-done/on-demand/66601-001 James Bulger: A Mother's Story https://www.itv.com/hub/james-bulger-a-mothers-story/2a5514a0001 I watched both of these programmes. We know what happened. Twenty-five years ago, when Tony Blair was Shadow Home Secretary, ten-year-old Robert Thompson and Jon Venables took toddler James Bulger from a shopping centre in...

It’s certainly going to be a busy year.