Shit. If you’re like me, and you tell your big sister that she should really move house because it’s going to burn down (she lives in Canada, not LA California) but not to worry too much because her grandkids are toast, because of global warming, then, as Hannah Ritchie shows, you’ll really need to change your apocalyptic-scenario storyline. I’ve got a fall-back position that the moron’s moron Trump will start a war with China. So I’m kinda OK...

Here’s the remit. Denise Mina was commissioned to write about Mary Queen of Scots through a contemporary fictional lens. A very short novel in which the major characters of the Scottish aristocracy appear in a plot against the Crown. She focused on the murder of David Rizzio aged 33, at Holyrood, on Saturday the 9 th March 1566. Rizzio came from an area we now call Italy. A commoner that could speak four languages and acted as the Queen’s...

I’d read (and reviewed) Billy Moore’s A Prayer Before Dying . He tells the reader how Prisoner ‘Moore A7853AP’ is getting released from Wandsworth Prison. He’s finished his time after getting deported from the Thailand prison system. Free but not really free. Like over 70% of other prisoners he’s soon back to doing what he was doing. The UK prison system is a costly mess. But Moore is one of the lucky few. For starters, he can read. His book, A...

My expectations of this film were so low I was ready to switch off before I watched the first frame. But they flipped stereotypes by blowing something up, and commenting on expectations. I was sucked right in. An absolute raging ragtag delight. The best film since Roddy Doyle’s The Commitments , which was set on the other side of the Irish border. The music in The Commitments was classified as soul. The kind of music an old guy, like me, would...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002385t/parole-series-2-1-trust-no-one https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002385w/parole-series-2-2-can-leopards-change-their-spots https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002385z/parole-series-2-3-no-smoke-without-fire https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0023860/parole-series-2-4-the-gravest-of-mistakes Jimmy Boyle claimed he’d no special skills other than ‘being good at violence’. I’m friendly...

Sir Alex, BBC 1, BBC iPlayer, Director Jason Ferguson, Narrators, Sir Alex Ferguson and Jason Ferguson. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m0026jq0/sir-alex?seriesId=m0026jpz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Ferguson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Alex_Ferguson:_Never_Give_In A hagiography of the longest serving and most successful manager of Manchester United. And the most successful manager of Aberdeen and of British football—by...

Question Eleven – What comments &/ situations with others, in regards to your “single status” impact you the most negatively? Donna That I won’t have any children in old age to look after me. Alyss I am not sure if it is a chauvinist thing, or a single lady thing, but being patronized and treated like I am less capable than others, is not cool. Fortunately, my life experiences and personal achievements are more than ample evidence for my...

From Lizanne: The journey of single-parenting Single parenting entails stepping into a completely new life, embracing the unexpected, overcoming a million hurdles and maintaining one’s sanity, respect and love for God. Through the following words, I hope to give insight to those people who support single parents, and then to single parents themselves who are struggling to identify their emotions. For someone who hasn’t themselves been a single...

Question Ten – What comments &/ situations with others, in regards to your “single status” impact you the most positively? Donna Seeing married people and how busy their lives are, so I go with stay single because married life is hectic! Alyss People remembering me; like with an invitation to something I can attend. Over the last decade, I invited people, or organized to meet up,or organized to stay overnight at a friend’s place so I can...

Firstly, Happy New Year to you all, I hope you have the sort of year that you would wish for yourself. Secondly, my apologies for the appalling pun in the title. In my pre-Christmas blog post ' Christmas Stuffing' I set out a plan to write and publish (on here) three seasonal stories. I did this because I knew it would force me not to be as bone-idle as I am by nature and actually do something in the run-up to Christmas and New Year. In my...