Mum's Monday: Fierce at Four Foot two by Terra Jole

This book is an autobiography of the author Terra, from the reality TV program ‘Little Women LA’ and other film and TV.it is interesting to read that her ancestors lives were saved due to counterfeit tickets for the Titanic. Me being interested in the Titanic story also, this is something else/knowledge to add to the stories I have already seen and read about of it.

The information given in this book about dwarfism is very open and informative. I certainly have a better understanding of it now. To teach people the facts can only be a good thing to do.

It is awful to read about the school’s stance on terra performing a song from the film ‘Annie’ ‘Sandy’. I hope it wouldn’t happen today in 2019, or no school would get away with it. It is good to read she did eventually move schools. It is sad to read the end of chapter one.

The start of chapter two, I would say, starts off badly and it does but sadly, although bullying shouldn’t be tolerated at any level or at any time, sadly, it does happen to and can happen to anyone, Terra included. It is nice to read that Terra did get the jeans she liked in the end though.

To work hard and put all your effort into something is a good thing, but it is sad to read that Terra felt she ‘Had’ to prove herself beyond any normal range, ultimately it is nice to see it work out for her in the end.

It is good that Terra accepted that she had to start from the bottom and work her way up, yes it is like almost everyone else, in this case she certainly shows a strong level of determination.

We now learn that fellow cast mate of ‘Little Women LA’ Tonya doesn’t like snow; this is an amusing part to read although not for Tonya to experience. We also read that Terra has now met Joe, her now husband, it didn’t exactly go well for now.

It is good to see that at first what was a horrendous job turned out to be a good one on an unexpected shorter than was planned initially, tour.

The things Terra saw on another tour, it turns my stomach, just reading it. I am also glad she missed breakfast. I am now also glad that Terra has reconnected back with Joe.

It is sad how things turned out with ‘Mini Kiss’. It is however, good to see how much Terra learned from it and how it helped her career progress.

This book teaches the reader about what is offensive language and most importantly why, used towards ‘Little people’. If I hadn’t of read this book, I would never have known. It is good to know then I wouldn’t run the risk of offending anyone in the future. It is also good to see how Terra took control of working contracts, no one should put up with offensive language.

Now enter ‘Little Women LA’ and the rest is history, it is also good to see a spin off was made, teaching people can only be a good thing.

It was good to read of Terra’s time on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ she did extremely well despite only just having given birth for the second time.

This is not a woe is me story but it is a, here is me, I’m going to do it, story. From her start in life, her upbringing she has accomplished so much and has done so well for herself, good on her.

Long may it continue, I enjoyed reading this book. I found it very interesting.

The Written Podcast: I Do Love The English Language

From an outsider, the English language is a masterpiece of complications. From an insider, the English language is a masterpiece of complications. There is virtually no winning. Then again, as an outsider to the Japanese language, it is difficult to understand, what with there being three alphabets, each with their own individual symbols, which can be used with any symbol from the other two alphabets to create a different word. Learning a different language as a whole is difficult for anyone except children as their brains are like a sponge and soak up everything they hear and/or do.

I would like to say my memory is good, and at times I’ve surprised people and even myself with how good my memory can be (at times) but I have to admit that I do not have an eidetic memory, so learning a new language would be a difficult task, especially from scratch. For those who have dedicated a lot of time in learning English and can make coherent sentences, that’s an achievement. They then apologise for how broken their English was, but in fairness, they do not need to apologise for anything, because I cannot speak in their native tongue as well as they’ve just demonstrated speaking in mine.

To pinpoint the extreme end of the complications regarding our English language (which I dare say can be shown synonymously in pretty much every language in the world), the following paragraph will be written a little differently - and when I say a little differently, I mean, borderline unreadable. English speakers will understand it, but for those outsiders, I’m not expecting you to, because I am showing them how difficult English can truly be if you dig deep into the inner mechanisms. From this point onwards, brace yourself, because you’ll be in for one heck of a ride.

Igh eye were two tell u just how crazee the English language can be; I wood have to right it down. Butt, even then, veteran speakers will find it difficult two reed in they’re head. Ewe’re probably wandering igh what u’re reeding is actually legible. Four me righting this, mi average words-per-minute has taken a dramatic decline. The idea fore this article came too mee whilst righting the article showing oghgh how silent letters are more common than some people believe them too bee. Eye’ve spent all weak visualising how best two right this article, and to some it up in won sentence: It’s easier said than done. Eye have spent years righting the English language the whey eye was taught to right it, so two deliberately sprinkle this paragragh with what is believed to be the wrong whey, go against meye natural programming, and eye pause at every word eye want two change, sumtimes having two backtrack threw the sentence two change the word eye want changed, as eye automatically type the correct word that fits this paragragh’s context. Althouou, rather paradoxically, the inconsistencies r what this paragraf’s context is pointing out.

Wow, that was harder than I thought it would be. As I wright these next two sentences, my words-per-minute immediately increase as I wright how I was taught to. It’s ingrained in my head that there is only one way to spell certain words, even though there are other words which are spelt different, but sound exactly the same. The three words, “there”, “their”, and “they’re” are constantly inserted wrongly into sentences. They mean completely different things, so we must use them correctly. Not wanting to get so philosophical, but those words can be described as a bunch of symbols attached together with a space at either end, with an assigned meaning attached. They sound the same, but because we’ve been taught their meanings, we cannot use them in any other way. English would completely fall apart if we used words and how they’re spelt willy-nilly. They’d be chaos in the streets, people rampaging supermarkets to stock up on as much food and drink as possible to shelter themselves from the impending protests in the streets.

OK, maybe a little exaggerated, and I’m not using this article as a means to try and go against the system, to start using our words the way we want to, so long as it makes sense… for context and coherency and for people to understand what we are saying, keep it as it is now, but English is constantly changing. English has evolved over time to be how it looks today, and it will change again at some point in the future. How it’ll change is anybody’s guess. Maybe they’ll take out all the silent letters as that does sound like the easiest change to make, especially since many people already do just that when texting on their phones, to save time.

Text Speak can be viewed as an entirely different language altogether. Shorten words down to be only their letter counterpart; but what makes that language different from every other, is the use of numbers as well. Inserting the correct phonetic-sounding number into a word saves time when needing to write out a long text message. In Text Speak, “m8” is considered an official word, and when translated into English, comes out as, “mate”. Many people disagree with the use of numbers as words, but their disagreement isn’t going to stop those who use that language, from using it.

I love the English language, and so I do not use Text Speak. Sure, it may be an easier language to learn from scratch compared to that of Japanese, but whilst I’ve grown to accept Text Speak when I get a message through formatted that way, I do hope that Text Speak stay within the realms of phones and occasionally computers, not seep into everyday English…

Then again, English isn’t technically original, as it is comprised of many other languages across the many ages, so maybe the possibility of Text Speak becoming the more generalised way we write isn’t too far from reality… but I will state here and now that I do love the English language as it is now, and in no other way.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Mum's Monday: Where Eagles Dare

The film is well named as where the characters are going has not only ‘Eagle’ in the name, but it is also deemed only ‘Eagles’ can access it easily. This is a rescue mission; the person they are saving is very important. The terrain seen from the view point of the pilot in the plane, you can see that only an ‘Eagle’ or bird could easily navigate it.

Already the action or mystery is starting, one of the group sadly, didn’t make the parachute jump.

The mystery of this film continues, the American Schaffer (Clint Eastwood) is there ‘Because he is an American’.

The rescue team have arrived in the village, it is surprising and clever the amount of deception that is needed to get the job done, even the planning and the papers are in place.

It turns out the Germans haven’t got who they think they have, so an even more of a mystery as to this mission.

It is clever how, one, using a staff shortage they get a ‘Secretary’ on the inside of the castle and, two, handing themselves in, helping to get the team where they need to be, via a use of a gun.

The mission is still going ahead, we are yet to find out exactly why? At last though the team get to meet ‘Carnaby’ AKA Cartright Jones (Robert Beatty).

It is a shame that the best laid plans can almost be derailed by meeting someone who knows a lot about a place that you have supposed to have been.

It seems there is a ‘Double Agent’ in the team and it all becomes clear as to the purpose of the mission.

It is very clever how this film is all worked out the intricate detail, the script and how the characters are interweaved and used in the plan.

Now we see, they have achieved most of what they set out to do, the film is however, not over yet, they still have to escape the castle. The escape is a bit gruesome and keeps you on ‘The edge of your seat’.

Just when you think this film is over, it turns into what could be a plot from an ‘Agatha Christie’ ‘Who done it’.

This film all comes down to who you can trust, and the door is closed and the film and the mission is over now.

The Written Podcast: Silent Letters

The English language is commonly regarded as one of the hardest languages to learn. I’ve been a native speaker for 25 years and still not entirely sure how it works. It has many mysteries, but one in particular crops up when spelling. Silent letters can cause a heck of a lot of confusion, mainly because when the word is spelt, there is no trace of that letter’s inclusion, hence the phrase, silent letters. But when spelt, those pesky silent letters catch more people out than they wou(l)d like to admit.

When paying attention to just how many words actually have a silent letter, it’s surprising to ac(k)nowledge how many of them have a silent letter within. If you were to lis(t)en to those words, the letters are undetectable. The(i)r su(b)tle inclusion can of(t)en create c(h)aos. I do remember, years ago, back in primary sc(h)ool, during the mandatory spelling lesson, we had three levels of difficulty. The tier included the lik(e)s of silent letters, and I was not one of the fortunate people who understood how they worked, and fell for them ev(e)ry single time. Slowly but surely though, I got the hang of including silent letters in words, and now I’m a (w)riter, (w)riting blog posts and short stories and books. Inserting an unpronounced letter into a group of selected words has become second nature to me now. I remember how to spell those words, and the chosen silent letter to include within that word.

The majority of those words with silent letters thankfully only have one. But there are a few which have mor(e). The fo(u)rth tier if you will: When q(ueue)ing up at a supermarket, waiting to purchase a toy slei(gh) for (yo)ur dau(gh)ter for C(h)ristmas, and the sunli(gh)t is at the (w)rong angle, shining throu(gh) the window directly into (yo)ur eyes, (yo)u look toward (yo)ur nei(gh)bouring q(ueue)s to see if it’s worth moving over or stay where (yo)u (a)r(e) and wait for the line (yo)u’r(e) currently in to move forward and out of the li(gh)t’s line of si(ght). Once (yo)u’v(e) bou(gh)t the slei(gh) and wa(l)king home, (yo)u notice a cake shop with a scrumptious looking dou(gh)nut in the window. Temptation gets the better of (yo)u and soon (yo)u’r(e) heading home with t(w)o packets of dou(gh)nuts as well as the slei(gh) (yo)u bou(gh)t for (yo)ur dau(gh)ter for C(h)ristmas.

Makes perfect sense that, doesn’t it? (yo)u may have noticed the majority of those words with mor(e) are the same t(w)o, just within diff(e)rent words. “GH” are just there for the fun of it, I g(u)ess, as well as “YO”.

These words come with their own set of rules as they change the pronunciation into a differ(e)nt letter entirely. The letters themselves are silent, because they identify as a diff(e)rent letter. Cou(gh)ing so hard (yo)u start hiccou(gh)ing is not a nice sensation. (k)neeling on a concrete floor for a long period of time can be tou(gh); soon (yo)u have enou(gh) and resort bac(k) to standing once mor(e).

OK, I’ll stop highlighting the silent letters using brackets. Some of you may have taken one look at the article and clicked off immediately, not wanting to get in the middle of that mess. But it does make a statement on how many words have silent letters, and how often we use those words in every day speech and texts. Different accents determine which words are given the silent letter treatment. Some accents pronounce the word “different”, differently. Some include the “e”, some don’t.

But, by far the worst two words with silent letters in are: Featherstonhaugh and Woolfardisworthy. Pronounced “fanshaw” and “Woolsary” respectively. The first is a surname and the second is a place name. If you see that name written in front of you, your natural deciphering will have you attempt to pronounce it as it is written, but then, only to be corrected by the owner of the name. Confusion is undoubtedly going to strike in that moment. The same confusion will come from hearing how the place name is pronounced. Both times, we’re saying completely different words than what’s written in front of us. I thought the word “queue” was bad enough with four silent letters that are practically unnecessary as the letter on its own also comes with the sound of the word itself, anyway, but those two words take the cake, and eat it all at the same time.

The English language may have a number of fixed rules to follow, for grammatical purposes mainly, to help people understand coherently without much difficulty. But, the reason why we have silent letters is because the English language is in a constant state of flux. It has changed so many times over the years, and it’s going to change again in the many years to come.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Film of the Week: Aladdin (2019)

Disney’s decision to remake their old animated films into live-action was controversial for many. But, the one that struck a chord the most and was deemed as the least necessary remake was Aladdin. The main reason for it being unnecessary, Robin Williams.

Robin’s unlimited improvisational skill gave the animators so much to work with, they had hours of recordings left after completing the film. Those recordings have been kept in storage for years and have never been officially released to the public. His performance in Aladdin has gathered a strong following, and so it was understandable that the backlash toward the live action remake was also just as strong. Having someone else play the Genie, regardless in animation form or as a live-action counterpart, Robin Williams cannot be replaced.

With the rapid speed of which Disney is releasing their live-action remakes, it was inevitable that Aladdin would fall victim to that treatment. When it was announced and the first trailer was released, the internet exploded with rants and strong arguments against replacing Robin as the Genie.

In the context of it being a live-action incarnation of the story, Will Smith’s performance is actually quite good. It’s not a tolerable forced mess that I first believed it would be, but instead was entertaining enough to keep watching, although you’re subconsciously constantly reminded of Robin’s version of the character. This subtle familiarity comes from capturing the upbeat excitement Robin put into his performance. Even Will Smith admitted that to being scared of taken the role. What Will manage to do was not try and come close to that of Robin’s performance, but instead a slightly different direction but keeping the character’s enthusiasm throughout. If I had to choose between the two, of course I would pick Robin William’s characterisation, but credit where credit’s due, Will Smith’s version was enjoyable.

With the rest of the film, not much can be said because it follows the same story as the animated version, the acting and singing was bubbly. I went into this film with nothing but pure curiosity on how they’d handle the Genie, and I came out actually having enjoyed myself. I wouldn’t say this is the superior film, by far the animated one is, and I wouldn’t attempt to force my opinion about this film onto anyone who likes the animated version, as that one has certainly a lot more to offer.

Aladdin does its best to make sure the live-action version isn’t trying to be what the animated version is, but at least captures the enthusiasm. Will Smith’s Genie be thankfully, noticeably different to that of Robin William’s performance, which was something I was worried wouldn’t happen.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Mum's Monday: Kill Keith

To sum up this film, it is a comedy horror competition. The presenter Cliff (David Easter) of a morning breakfast show is leaving the show and a replacement needs to be found. Some if not most of this film is dark in more ways than one.

It is an interesting way to portray a murder mystery ‘Who Dunnit’. It certainly keeps you intrigued.

It is brilliant how they interweave the hilarity in amongst all the dark and deadly parts. Add the fantasy, dreamy parts of basically underdog Danny (Marc Pickering) it looks like there is three films in one.

It is clever how they work with Tony Blackburn (Himself) you could say it is a bit cliché but it works in the film.

This film certainly shows you cannot trust anyone or to be careful who is watching. What started off as a harsh scene, quickly turned into a heart-warming one, with the help of a squeaky toy rabbit.

This film high-lights ‘Rules must be followed’ ‘No pass, no entry’. When the security guard was asked if he watches the show, his answer is truthful. It is surprising that someone can be so close to the action but yet so far away, at work.

The unusual representation of what is said by Danny after a few drinks, although an amusing snippet it still seems un necessary.

The special effects throughout this film is brilliantly done

Don’t you just love mums, sadly, ‘Baby photos’ is the least of Danny’s worries

This film high-lights that you shouldn’t jump to conclusions and that you should really look at your surroundings you find yourself in.

This film has a lovely, but unexpected ending, it certainly becomes brighter.

Film of the Week: Haunter

Putting a different spin on the classic horror genre, instead of the story being told from the human’s perspective, instead Haunter showcases what life is like as a ghost, and what it is like being haunted by a ghost. That’s right, Haunter is about a ghost who is haunted a house whilst being haunted by a ghost. It has everything you’d expect from a classic horror film that deals with supernatural entities, but for the viewer, knowing seeing it from a different perspective, adds a whole new experience on the genre.

The Others dealt with this concept way back in 2001, but it was deliberately set up to have a twist ending, surprising the audience. Watching it through a second time knowing they’re ghosts doesn’t add much to the story accept you’re more aware of the visual clues the film feeds you throughout. Haunter immediately tells you they’re ghosts, and plays it from there. There is no twist ending, just a classic ghost story, told from a different perspective. Unlike The Others, Haunter can be watched many times over without losing anything important from the story.

There were a couple of decent jump scares, but I quickly surmised that this film wasn’t about how many times it can make me jump, but instead just telling a different story. First detailing a time loop whilst setting up the main mystery, and then exploring an original avenue on how ghosts interact with the living.

There are plenty of ideas which are explored enough to understand what’s going on, but you do have to watch it to understand. You can’t take your eyes off the screen to check your E-mails or make a coffee, you actually have to watch it all the way through to fully understand what’s going on, but even then it’s understandable if you were lost halfway through as it does jump around the timelines a lot. The film does its best to hold itself together. Whilst it’d be difficult to regain control over the story once lost, if you are invested throughout it isn’t necessarily one you’d get bored with as the amount of concepts explored whilst maintaining not-so-much-explored different perspective does draw you in straight from the start.

The performances of the cast are at times a little clunky as they flit between so many concepts, but overall they are strong. Abigail Breslin’s character, Lisa Johnson being the only one who’s aware she’s dead allows the mystery to develop gradually, by itself in some instances as we get some explanations of what happened off screen – thus proving it can be tricky to follow if you’re not truly invested in the film as it you may be searching back through the film in the hope of finding the scene they’re explaining only to discover there isn’t one visually detailing what the characters are saying.

Haunter is a good horror movie for those who likes something a little different, and whilst the story is told from another angle, the core basics of a horror movie is the same as any other.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

The September Girls by Maureen Lee

The story starts off, with the Gaffrey family, Colm, the father, Brenna, the mother and is heavily pregnant with their third child, Fergus, aged six and Tyrone, aged four. Having taken a risk and been too trusting, they now find themselves stranded at Liverpool docks. Just off the ferry from Ireland.

As it is mentioned in the book, there are better ways off starting a new life, like not sending the money ahead to Colm’s brother Paddy. This shows a good life lesson, of not being too trusting.

This story also shows, things are not always as they seem, especially in the case of Marcus and Eleanor Allardyce.

The story has a quick, strong and solid start, it goes straight into, where the two women, one being Brenna, who is rescued by Nancy, the Allardyce’s house keeper, and the other being Eleanor, are having their babies, Sybil Allardyce and Cara Gaffrey, and as the month is September, hence the title of the book. Interweaved into this part, we find out about both of the mother’s backgrounds, it all cleverly slots together.

It is sad to read about, how the nuns treat the two boys, Fergus and Tyrone, it surely wouldn’t be allowed nowadays.

As I read on, it turns out, Paddy, who due to an unfortunate incident his life had ended, but not until after, he had acquired a bit of good luck, that will change the Gaffrey family’s circumstances for the better. It is nice to read this, but can it undo all the bad feelings towards him for his behaviour? Answer is ‘Yes, it can’, now the family have found out Paddy’s surprise for them.

This story is a very good example of, ‘money can’t buy you happiness’. Brenna is happy, but she hasn’t got a lot, but what she has, she is going to love it, and be satisfied with her lot in life.

On the flip side, to prove the point further. Marcus has the money he craved, but his life is an unhappy one.

It is good to see the story make this point, as it proves, ‘money isn’t everything in life, yes it helps, but you can still be optimistic and positive, with very little money, as Brenna is most of the time. I just hope what little luck there is, lasts.

This book highlights the progress in educating children with special needs, which has developed over the years since the pre- second world war era, in the 1920s. education as a whole has come a long way since then as well. It is good to acknowledge.

In this story, just because Marcus is unhappy, it doesn’t give him the right to play a very dangerous game, to fantasise about another woman is not the correct thing to do. Especially as both are married.

I am glad to see eventually, they find out what is the matter with Anthony, the Allardyce’s oldest son, before it was too late. It is also good to see him get the help he needs as well.

There is one part that seemed strange to me. It is written that Paris is easily reached on the night train, from London, by Lily, Eleanor’s friend, who spends most of her time in London. The logistics of getting to Paris by the night train, seems impossible, as there was no channel tunnel in the 1920s. there were Ferry’s and you would have to travel by train from the ferry port to Paris. Getting to Paris back then wouldn’t have been as easy as it is today. I have heard of ‘Boat trains’, where the train was driven on to the boat and ferried across to foreign ports, but I am not sure they were around in the 1920s, when this story is set.

There is a funny part at the very beginning of chapter four, which made me wonder, ‘Does any woman, like being told she is in the wrong? answer ‘No, she does not’. Brenna sticks to that stereotype really well.

One part in chapter four, made me gasp and hasn’t stood the test of time, over the years since the 1920s, but for this book it adds a bit of realism to it. The part where Colm, states to himself that, his new friend Elizabeth, Lizzie for short, Phelan, ‘was the cleverest person he had ever met, despite only being a woman’. How times have changed, for the better, which is reassuring to see.

After a settled, but shaky start to the book, the lives of the main characters, are not perfect, but they all know where they stand, until all of a sudden, it seems their lives take a turn for the worse. This happens quickly and close together, like the stories have been building up, only to end in a big bang for Brenna and Eleanor.

It shows, whether you are rich or poor, lives can be parallel to each other, and money can’t buy you out of some problems, this is a good life lesson.

If you lose track of the story, it can be confusing, as to whose house the two women are in, but you can soon pick it up as to what is happening.

The story, all of a sudden, jumps years, where Cara and Sybil are celebrating their seventh birthdays. A lot has happened, but the story, only tells us what is in the now, and there is not much explanation as to how, it got to be how it has progressed.

It is a shame to read about Tyrone’s antics. This shows things were different, in all sorts of ways back in the 1920s. We know lads today, get up to mischief, but it is in another way, befitting to more modern times, nowadays.

In part two, the story jumps again to when Sybil and Cara are now 19 years of age. Again a lot has changed, including Tyrone, who is now married to Maria. Although the story is about the two girls, as they were born in September, and as per the title of the book, the story is mostly about their lives, so to cover too much about the other siblings, the book would warrant another title.

The second world war is about to start, during the part of the story where Neville Chamberlain, is announcing the start of the war, there is a throwaway line, where it comes to light that Brenna’s old neighbour Katie Macbride, had passed away a few years back. I originally read about Katie in the story, when she did a ‘Fortune telling’ reading for Brenna. Brenna just wondered now if Katie would have predicted the war was going to happen. Although this all together is to set up the news that Katie has passed away, but it does seem to me that the character in the book was forgotten, and to suddenly be remembered again, for the purpose, of just saying, whether she would have predicted the atrocity that was unfolding.

As the story of the war continues, Cara and Sybil, have joined up. the story gives a frank and realistic insight into army camp life, during the girls training. This is a good thing, and helps us understand how life was in the army for women.

I like initiative shown, when a bus journey was taken instead of them doing the 20-mile march.

When Cara and the rest of the girls were on the bus, and when Cara returns to Liverpool by train, there is a lot of singing going on. This seems over the top, but if that is what happened to keep spirits up, the singing had to be included in the book, so to keep it truthful, for what went on in the war.

The war carries on, and after some leave in Liverpool, Cara is back in the billet with two other girls from the previous camp, Cross and Fielding.

They are learning to drive, and it is made apparent, that Fielding is short in statue. A funny part is described as people move out of the way, when she is driving, because the vehicle looks driverless.

Cara is now in Malta and her life moves on at a fast pace, meeting Christopher (Kit for short) Farthing, making a commitment, without telling her family. It is nice to read, Sybil, agree to the invite, despite her mind being Liverpool. The fact that there is a connection between the two girls cannot be denied, even if they don’t see eye to eye. This is made very clear in the story.

Most, if not all have heard of Churchill, and what he successfully achieved during the second world war, but it is not clear, what parliamentary party he belonged to. This book implies ha was a labour party prime minister, but I have since found out, through research, he was actually a conservative one, with labour’s Clement Attlee as his Deputy. This makes this book very interesting and got me thinking more about Churchill, other than what is more commonly known about him. The party he belonged to seemed irrelevant, until the story, made me aware, that we have a party politics system. This intrigued me enough, so I wanted to find out. I like the fact this story made me ask a question, I never before realised I wanted to ask and say ‘Which party in politics did Churchill belong to?’

It turns this book, for me into a fascinating read.

As the war story in the book is progressing, we hear more about Cara’s brother Fergus’s time in France. As this affects Cara’s family it is fair to hear more about, what he is referred to as a war hero, which he is because he threw himself over a young lad in a ditch, during an air raid in France.

Cara’s life has now taken a severe, change of direction, having met Kit in Malta and with an, even more of a reason to marry him on the way. The story is written in such a way, that I felt I was on the edge of my seat, waiting for impending doom. Sadly, Cara returns to England alone. Some things that are meant to bring ‘Good luck’ don’t, or in the circumstances are at a loss.

With all the air raids bombarding Liverpool, it is good to see that life goes on, Cara, being in her predicament, shows that not everything evolves around the war, people just get on with their lives, as best they can.

It is nice to see that Fielding, survived the raid in Malta, which was a nice surprise to read, and Cara, being able to take her new born baby girl, Kitty, to meet her, was lovely in the beginning anyway, but we soon find out there is a war on and there are not, in this case, many good options available for injured service women returning home from the army. 

Brenna’s reaction is realistic, and in keeping with her character, but I could see why Cara couldn’t tell her mum what was happening in her life.

In chapter 12 we find out things have changed for Cara, some information has come to light, that is somewhat unexpected, and now Marcus is no longer in the picture, his legacy, throws up a generous gesture for Cara, much to the annoyance of Sybil. Whilst reading this chapter, it is strange, when I remember how they all met, and how far they have come.

As I read on, I see, that a father’s/ grandad’s urge to keep his daughter and grand-daughter safe is stronger than his desire to keep his actions a secret. Having sent Cara and Kitty to Lizzie’s flat, he can protect them, but at the cost of being found out. Cara has to contemplate her family’s future. I did question why he sent them, but I can see their lives are more important to him, than his other life.

This book never ceases to throw up surprises in amongst all the doom and gloom of the war, there is some good news, as life goes on, but some people may not see it acceptable life choices however, it is good to Brenna begin to realise at last, her children have grown up, into adults and that she no longer has control over them.

The story shows that, tragedy can occur, by any means, just because there is a war on it doesn’t mean a person who has enlisted in the army, gets killed by fighting the enemy. As we see in the story, just going to a party, sadly can be fatal.

Sometimes during this book, it is like the author has, all of a sudden, come up with an idea, but instead of going back and changing what she has already written, she writes the outcome and refers back to how it came about. During these parts, I forgot that this is a book actually written by someone, and going back and re-writing some of it, would have ruined the already smooth flow of the storyline. Some of it would have, run the risk of being, long-winded and over explained.

It was nice to see Cara find happiness and Sybil’s wedding day to come, at the end of this book, and I realised that Katie MacBrides predictions and Nancy’s ever helping hand were a constant, running through the storyline, and I hope Katie’s last prediction, comes true, it looks like it will, if it indeed, means the person Brenna thinks it does.

It seems also that Nancy’s work is done, the families are happy, independent and ready to embrace the new chapters in their lives. With the book ending on VE day things can only get better, and they don’t need Nancy anymore, sadly, just as well really.

The Written Podcast: A Smell

I have a mystery on my hands. Unfortunately, it’s a mystery that’ll never be solved. It generates a lot of questions, but no answers. All I can do is speculate and draw my own conclusions, but even then it is difficult to conceive of a strong, adequate and coherent timeline.

I discovered this mystery at work, whilst looking at the jobs which were booked in for a later date. My task whilst going through the jobs is to put the necessary parts on and/or to order the necessary parts and/or just leave it if it is a diagnosis and the necessary part needs to be defined by a technician. The job which had the mystery within was a diagnosis, so no parts were needed to be put onto it. I found out about it being a diagnosis job after opening the VHC line, which had notes describing what it is the customer would like to be looked at. It said:

“The customer has complained about a bad smell coming from their vehicle, which they have described as a smell.”

Well, they’re not wrong. You might be wondering what the mystery even is – if you take the sentence for what it is, everything is explained: There is a bad smell coming from the vehicle, and that smell is most definitely a smell. There’s no doubt about that, it is 100% a smell.

Doesn’t help the technician, though. There’s a lot can which can unpack from that sentence, and the more you start thinking about it, the more questions form with no answers attached. How did the conversation go between the customer and the person in the booking office? Who actually stated the smell was indeed a smell, was it the person inside the booking office or the customer themselves? What exactly is the smell that they are smelling?

I can imagine the conversation going something like this:

Customer: “Good afternoon” (I chose the time of day to be the afternoon as I’m visualising the customer having woken up at midday due to a long night of partying in the night clubs; yes, plural)

Customer: “I would like to book my car in as there is a bad smell coming from it.”

Booking office: “OK, I can do that for you. All I need is a few details from you and a short description on what the problem is to help with diagnosing.”

*Customer details are handed over and an official booking is generated*

Booking office: “Thank you, now all we need is a description on what the problem is.”

Customer: “Yes, it’s a bad smell coming from the car.”

Booking office: “Can you describe the smell?”

Customer: “Yes I can; it’s a smell.”

Booking office: “Perfect, thank you.”

Customer: “Excellent, thank you for your help.”

*The phone call ends*

Or did the customer rattle on about something that went flying over the booking office’s heads that they simply put “A smell” just so they can end the conversation there and then and continue on with their day?

When the technician starts the diagnosing process, what on Earth are they going to do to troubleshoot where it’s coming from? It could many reasons why a bad smell is coming from the car. I can think of many just off the top of my head:

They haven’t cleaned out their boot in months.

They partied too hard and they’re the ones who’re smelling.

An oil leak.

A fuel leak.

A coolant leak.

Something’s stuck inside one of the air conditioning pipes.

It’s a new car and haven’t acknowledged they don’t like the new-car smell yet.

There’s a hole in the exhaust system and fumes are being funnelled into the car.

And many, many more…

What if the owner of the car cannot smell anything and is booking the car in based on advice from a neighbour who had to physically hold his nose whilst walking passed the vehicle? That question may be a bit of a leap, but the utter ambiguity of that sentence has gotten my mind racing with possibilities. There may be an entire paragraph that’s missing which explains everything, but the booking office decided not to write it down as it was quarter to pub on a Friday.

That would be the mid-point to this story:

Technician: *After looking at the vehicle and nodding his head with confidence that he knows what the problem is, writes his findings down on the job sheet and heading back to the service adviser to phone the customer to tell them what is wrong with the vehicle* “I have diagnosed the problem.”

Service adviser: “Excellent. May I have the job sheet, please.”

Technician: “Certainly.” *Hands over the job sheet and walks away proudly after solving another mystery.

*The service adviser looks at the job sheet and there, written in the notes section are the words, “they require an air freshener”.

The car is going to be looked at by the technician anyway, so I do hope to find out the reason why there is a bad smell coming from the vehicle, so in a roundabout way, that section of the mystery will be solved, so I’d be able to rest easy then.

But does the customer describe everything like that? Do they describe a noise to be “a noise?” Do they describe something they’re tasting as “a taste?” Do they describe something they’re touching as “A touchable object?” Again, they’re not wrong, but they’re not right either, and I feel for them that they may never know they are wrong. That feeling I would be feeling there would of course be “a feeling.”

Whoever they are, they are obviously living an easy life, a stress free life; a life where complications don’t exist. There must be people who understand this person perfectly, who after hearing what a particular description of something is, can decipher every piece of information needed to move on with their life, and not get bogged down with confusion and end up writing down this mystery in a blog post as it is the only way to get it out of my head.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Film of the Week: Fast and Furious – Hobbs and Shaw

The Fast and Furious franchise has grown a lot since being about street racing with each new film raising the bar higher for just what can be achieved when it comes to car stunts. Branching off to absolutely unrealistic physics, the franchise is remaining strong. Being Universal’s biggest franchise at the time of writing this blog, there’s no wonder they want to add more properties to that success, and with the characters Hobbs and Shaw being two of the most popular among audiences, it does make sense to drag them into a spin-off film.

Being a part of a franchise that had cars as their core element, this spin-off film had far more spying action than actual car action. You could take Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jason Statham, give them different characters but put them in the exact same movie, slap on a different title, I’m confident no one would batter an eyelid. It absolutely felt as if this spin-off movie was done purely to make money for the main franchise, but to contradict that criticism, whilst watching it, I didn’t care. Hobbs and Shaw is an entertaining spy movie with the characters we like from the main franchise. The product as a whole may feel like a cash grab, with comparatively hardly any car action to the rest of the main franchise, but the entertainment value between the two characters were non-stop, and when the car action did crop up, it was in the same tone as the current fast and furious – crazy and utterly unrealistic stunts which defy all known physics, especially the train of dune buggies attached to a military-grade helicopter preventing it from taking off. The car stunts weren’t anywhere near as massive as what are featured in the main franchise, but there was no need to be.

The spin-off was made to be in a lower key than the main franchise, and so the car stunts had to be synonymous with that tone, and the filmmakers achieved that perfectly.

OK, so I’ve praised it, but unfortunately I did spot a couple of things I feel should be brought up. The first is the scene on the plane; it felt as if it went on a little too long – it didn’t fit the pacing of the rest of the film. It was there to showcase their banter and to set up a character cameo who’d be useful later on in the film, but we already know how they act when in close vicinity of each other, that’s purely the reason this film got made in the first place, and the character cameo was played by Kevin Hart, who took an uncredited role. It makes sense in the story to meet someone who would be helpful later on, but the scene could have been played out differently to make it fit with the rest of the film. The way Kevin Hart was introduced looked like he was just there because we know both Dwayne and Kevin get along well.

Ryan Reynolds’ uncredited appearance was much larger than Kevin’s and was handled a bit better, but unfortunately Ryan’s character was too Deadpool-like, implying that we’re only bringing in Ryan Reynolds because he’s currently one of the biggest actors in Hollywood at the moment, and if he acts like Deadpool then we’ll win all the audience members. However, as stated his character was handled better than Kevin’s was, and I recently found out that he’s also the voice of the Eteon, which I had never had guessed until I had read it myself as they change his voice so much to ramp up the mystery of who it really is.

Other than those two criticism which I know can be argued against as being nick picks, the film as a whole was entertaining and does fit nicely within the Fast and Furious franchise, even though it could just be another spy movie but had the Fast and Furious name stamped on it anyways to rake in as much money as possible, and you know what, I’m OK with that. If they make a sequel, I’ll be waiting in line to watch it, that’s for sure.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Mum's Monday: Flight 93

This post is a tribute to all the lives that were lost on Tuesday September 11^th 2001

We are all aware of the tragic events that happened on ‘September 11^th 2001’. We know that the Twin Towers and the Pentagon were hit by hijacked aeroplanes.

We are also aware of the fourth plane that was hijacked, but due to the heroism of the passengers and crew Flight 93 failed to reach its unknown intended target.

There have been a few films made about the events on that day, mostly set around the Twin Towers in New York. I am aware of some and have a few on DVD. This one however, to me, was unknown until I found it on a shop shelf for sale.

I am glad this film was made as the heroism of the passengers and crew on Flight 93 should not go un noticed.

The film starts like any normal day, whether it be getting ready for work or a flight or both, as in a work trip.

The airport scenes are realistically done, security being a hive of activity. The scenes where they show the boarding cards are touching to see, as it shows that behind every boarding pass there is a person, human being and a life.

The attention to detail in this film is well done even down to the pre-flight checks carried out in the cockpit.

In one part, as in the late passenger running for the flight, this is not uncommon. I feel a mi of relief for him that he made the flight, but also a sense of sadness that he made the flight. We didn’t know at that time of the day how events were going to play out later on, on that day. Probably best we didn’t, and still don’t know what’s going to happen as we go through life each day since. What will be will be.

As the events on that day unfold the film is turning sinister and more and more people are becoming aware of what is happening.

Sadly, this film highlights that you should be wary until you know for sure, a crew member’s family was told that Flight 93 was fine, but as we now know you shouldn’t assume everything is safe.

It is good to see Thomas E. Burnett, Jr. (Christian Clemenson) get a message to his wife and it showed initiative on her part to call 911. I would, I hope, have done the same, although it is 999 here in the UK.

A mistake made by one of the hijackers, where he transmitted to the ground control instead of the passengers on the plane. In the case it is good to know that the people on the ground are now aware of the situation of Flight 93. Sadly, nothing can be done but the right people know.

Some of the film is guess work but from the calls that were made to families at home and others the outcome of the flight and the events on the plane can be pieced together. we know although sadly lives were lost, many more were inevitably saved.

It is nice that this film highlights the fact that although the flight attendants have a duty of care to the passengers they also have families at home.