A number of surprising firsts this week.
One of France's most celebrated chefs, Sebastien Bras, who runs the acclaimed Le Suquet restaurant in Laguiole near the Aveyron, announced on Wednesday that he wanted to be dropped from the rankings of France's gastronomic bible and lose his Michelin stars. Why? He'd had enough of the rat-race and wanted to concentrate purely on making good food. An Iraqi cleric praised the Jewish people for having emerged from the Holocaust following WWII and managed to win "the respect of the world through science", while Muslims he said are seen as having become "the world's headache." A major speech by Theresa May in Florence on Friday was actually praised and welcomed by the EU, and even by Boris Johnson. And for me, personally, my latest book became a 4 time international best seller - especially in Australia - a country which I've never visited. Surprising as the book's selling simply via word of mouth. Thank you everyone, but especially my unknown readers in Australia.
17th September 2017
A standard world news week. Terrorist attacks in London and Paris and global warming effects in the West create banner headlines, whilst far worse in the third world goes largely unreported. Little minnow North Korea pretends it's competing with mighty America by firing a deadly arsenal nearer and nearer to the US. TV dramas obtain audiences of millions by simulating terrible murders, searing explosions and eulogising gun-toting 'heroes' who think nothing of killing as many people as possible. So thrilling! Children's stores are ludicrously eliminating all gender-defining clothing (and schools now allow boys to wear dresses if they want to), whilst continuing to sell rubber guns, water pistols and armed warfare toys, thereby setting up children's mindsets that killing others is a fun game! Forget gender dressing and learn that it's 'macho' killing and schadenfreude that must be eliminated once and for all. Hasn't the world learned anything? Maybe that's why my latest book is doing so well - currently ranked #1 in its category in the UK, #10 in the US. Does it contain any murder, killing or schadenfreude? No! It's light and full of man's humorous exchanges with other cultures. Do yourself a favour, relieve all that stress and grab your copy of Pensioners in Paradis now by clicking the picture opposite. You know you want to.
10th September 2017
"Why worry? If you've done the very best you can, worrying won't make it any better" Walt Disney...
As I write this, hurricane Irma is heading towards Miami, soon followed by hurricane Jose. In Asia severe flooding is getting worse. And what does the world do? They're still discussing how man can reduce greenhouse gasses. It's obvious our climate is changing but my view is it's far more likely to be caused by natural planetary shifts, not by man at all. Was the Ice Age then caused by man? 1950s Bham was full of yellow factory smog and we never talked about greenhouse gasses then. Today the air is so much cleaner and fresher. The UN needs to discuss urgently not the causes but how to deal with the effects of climate change - moving people away from current and future likely hot spots, building tide barrages, reinforcing surge areas, building stronger houses - on stilts in flood areas etc.
.....The US is a capitalist society and Walt knew very well....if Disneyworld in Florida has closed its doors today, things must be bad. Stay safe everyone.
As I write this, hurricane Irma is heading towards Miami, soon followed by hurricane Jose. In Asia severe flooding is getting worse. And what does the world do? They're still discussing how man can reduce greenhouse gasses. It's obvious our climate is changing but my view is it's far more likely to be caused by natural planetary shifts, not by man at all. Was the Ice Age then caused by man? 1950s Bham was full of yellow factory smog and we never talked about greenhouse gasses then. Today the air is so much cleaner and fresher. The UN needs to discuss urgently not the causes but how to deal with the effects of climate change - moving people away from current and future likely hot spots, building tide barrages, reinforcing surge areas, building stronger houses - on stilts in flood areas etc.
.....The US is a capitalist society and Walt knew very well....if Disneyworld in Florida has closed its doors today, things must be bad. Stay safe everyone.
3rd September 2017
The anniversary of the start of WW11. As a writer I do a lot of research. I am always fascinated - indeed horrified - by how major conflicts of the past were started, and then exacerbated by tricks of fate or the wrong word said by someone at the wrong time. Millions of lives can be affected by such things. I often talk about an unknown man called Arthur Greenwood, a drunkard member of Churchill's war Cabinet, always exuding a palpable whiff of alcohol. The times were grim. Those around the war table were set to vote with Lord Halifax and Chamberlain in signing an accord with Hitler. History often records that sometimes in the chaos theory of life the right thing is said at the right time. This was such a moment. The drunken Greenwood stumbles to his feet and says No, no. How can you even contemplate surrender or negotiation with such a man? Churchill, as Chairman, sighed with relief. The tide turned, culminating in Hitler's eventual defeat. But what if Greenwood had been sick that day and absent from the table? Has your life been affected by such tricks of fate? Have a read of Vichyssoise - click on the image on the right - and leave your review on Amazon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
