Book reading s,TV series transcript s,comedy, personal, Red circle podcast, Book Review s,Interviews, its popcorn for the brain.
Blog copyright Mark Antony Raines
Recently we had a mini heatwave in the u.k and even had the second hottest recorded day -The highest-ever temperature in Britain has been recorded, weather forecasters said.
A temperature of 37.4C (99.3F) was recorded at Heathrow around 1.30pm-yes it was great but as we are british we soon started to moan about the heat,think we would win a gold medal every time in Olympics .I remember the summer of 1976 -41 years ago i think?-when i had to wear a blazer and tie in that heat at school very uncool.
The story of soldiers who spoke Gaelic to trick their Nazi captors is being made into a film
Private William Kemp, Corporal Sandy MacDonald and Lance Corporal James “Ginger” Wilson engineered their escape across wartorn Europe in June 1940 by fooling the Germans into thinking they were from Ukraine.-read more
The Lochaber trio, who served in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, had weeks earlier seen their regiment surrender to Axis forces following five days of artillery bombardment.
If you do not know i have movements of the body most of the time its small movements in legs and arms .I have worse what i call movement events when my arm will fly out or legs and arms move with me having no control yes it is scary but i need to tell you dear reader i have the attitude that i am not the disease am me .
It seems that no one likes to ring you on your home phone anymore is it due to mobile phones or e-mails .I think this is due that most mobile phones to other mobiles messages are free or cheaper and of course e -mail is easier to add attachments or photos if required.My wife Enid does not like this as says harder to communicate if you dont own a mobile.
It seems lately every week some report of a major event is being reported to the point i am beginning to think its the norm .Is it something in the air or a fact of the world we live in is getting a lot darker.
Recently i watched the newer version of blind date which reminded me how i once some years ago put myself forward to get a girlfriend in a different way.I not the date i put an advert in a bikers mag called Back Street Hero,s in which i put myself up for sale hoping to get a reply.In total i got 3 reply's ,one was my future wife and the others are what is termed as time wasters .Am i glad i did this yes as me and Enid are next year in total been together for 30 years came to Devon in 1988-married 15 June 1991 not bad for an ex shy Essex boy.
EMAIL SENT TO SUN NEWSPAPER-Hi I have small vessel disease of the brain which affects my cognitive skills and I am trying to find a support group without much luck. At moment awaiting more tests as doctors looking at possible dementia or parkinsonism .so I hope you print this type from mark Anthony raines aka ghostman
.REPLY FROM SUN NEWSPAPER -Dear Mr Anthony
Thank you for your email. Could you please supply the name of the town and county where you live which will help to identify if there is a support group locally.
It would be helpful if you could clarify if your condition has an official medical name, or a special nickname/common name.
Kay Cox
Acting Letters Editor. REPLY-live in holsworthy ,devon-Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD)-hope this helps you kay.thank you for replying from me mark aka ghostman
BRITISH dog or cat owners basking in summer sun should put their pets first as temperatures rocket to 32 degrees this week. But what are the signs that your four-legged friend is struggling in heat – and how can you help them?
Our furry companions do have natural coping mechanisms that keep them cool, but it is still worth noting the following tips and tricks to support your pet this summer.-read more
The Wakehurst Parkway in Australia runs along the Deep Creek Reserve which is submerged in darkness at night and has been the site of several fatal car accidents, according to the Manly Daily.
The area was also the site of a particularly gruesome murder that saw Stephen Dempsey shot and dismembered in 1994.
He was killed using a bow and arrow by Richard William Leonard who then kept the mutilated body in a freezer before killing another man just months later-read more
How does your small vessel disease of the brain affect me?well I have memory problems ;get confused; movements in body. .legs:arms..stutter; mood tends to be flat plus cognitive skills what direction are the doctors looking at with your s.v.d? Looking at possible dementia or parkinsonism; awaiting more tests. How do cope with s.v.d? At first it got to me but now just deal with it as just part of me .I have tried to see if support group but no joy so I hope this helps you understand me better. Ps i am a diabetic 'asthma; arthritis, neurology problems; o.c.d so not much else to cope with a
Yesterday i started the day by getting up at 5.30am as par normal but with a sense of knowledge of was going to say goodbye to my mum. For the journey i had to hire a rental car which my step daughers boyfriend drove to from Holsworthy to Southend on Sea essex and back in same day .T he journey up ran very well untill hit a127 road towards Southend as usual traffic hold ups met we got to Southend around 2.30pm so mark drove down to Southend seafront to see the sights and pier.T hen we went to Sutton road crematorium Southend and waited in car park area untill others arrived, i first saw my uncle and auntie and my niece and boyfriend then i saw jo and her husband and Georgia then jayne and John and James, nicky and tony,xanthia, peter and girlfriend came later think had car trouble. Then the person doing the service Emma came and said hello, As usual you feel strange in situation as dont know what to expect or dicuss with others, saw my auntie Denise and husband and one of her sons nick then the funeral car came and we went into the chapel. Seeing the coffin was hard as then hit me our mum was no longer around we listened to the service i managed to get the inner strength to say my words to our mum,songs were played, poetry spoken, then it was time for the final goodbye which i took badly inside then we went outside to see the flowers. Then we went to restaurant for a meal were i was just unable to find the strength to find effort to speak to some who were making less of an effort, no names this time,then left to go back home, i only said a quick goodbye due to feeling like crap.O n journey home was diverted a couple of times, a hard and long day which i did for the love of my mum who i will miss a lot, love you mum from your son mark
-years ago i watched a show in the 90s called BODGER AND BADGER which ANDY CUNNINGHAM was creator and star .Andy played SIMON BODGER and had a sidekick known as BADGER - voiced by ANDY CUNNINGHAM -who loved mashed pototoes and the show ran for a decade on B.B.C .Andy worked on 1983 STAR WARS RETURN OF THE JEDI as an puppeteer.
With a classic shape, gills and a sturdy stalk, it wouldn’t look out of place in a stir-fry – but in fact it’s the fossilised remains of a mushroom thought to have sprouted about 115m years ago. It is the world’s oldest known fossil mushroom, and it is remarkable that it was preserved at all.
“It is pretty astonishing,” said Sam Heads, a palaeontologist and co-author of the research from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “Mushrooms are really ephemeral in the sense that to begin with they sprout up, they grow and then usually they are gone within a few days – but they are not around for very long. Also when you consider their structure, they are very soft and fleshy and so they decay really rapidly, so the chances of one being preserved are pretty minuscule.”
While fossilised fungal filaments have previously been found dating back several hundreds of millions of years, only 10 fossil mushrooms, the fruiting body produced by some fungi, have ever been discovered – with the previous oldest dating to 99m years ago.
What’s more, all of these previously discovered fossilised mushrooms were trapped in amber. “You imagine mushrooms are growing on the forest floor, resin drops out of the trees onto the forest floor – and encapsulates a mushroom,” said Heads. “That is a much more likely scenario than the scenario that we see with this mushroom.”READ MORE
A surfer has described how he hit a shark on the head after it bit him on the leg while he was in the water off a Devon beach.
Teacher Rich Thomson, 30, estimated the shark was about 3ft (1m) long while experts said it was the first incident of its type involving surfers in UK waters.
Mr Thomson said the shark "grabbed me on the leg" at Bantham in South Devon and he turned to see a "little shark" on his thigh, wriggling it head from side to side.
Speaking to the BBC, he said: "I hit it on the head and it swam off. My hand was cut to pieces.
Read more at http://www.devonlive.com/teacher-bitten-by-shark-in-water-off-devon-beach-is-first-surfer-to-be-attacked-in-uk-waters/story-30377570-detail/story.html#xWS4M5u560pPBVP4.99
On the 5.-06-2017 around 12.15 midnight my wifes hospital alarm awoke us we found the house and outside in complete darkness which at first give me a fright due to just woke up.We then went on to have multiply mini power cuts and had to put on reserve candles and torch to hand ,we did all back to sleep.
Terrorism is wrong in whatever name it is given as innocents suffer and nothing is resolved.In a way it is a form of bullying to make us live in fear and hatred fro groups of people involved ,yes be sense able but keep going as it the right thing to do.
I always like the fact how people mostly knock region whatever your faith or belief maybe.But in times of trouble or personal problems like in my own case at moment of grief we turn to pray.Pray is a way too find comfort and empowering yourself to help your state of mind.
Yes it has finally happened in my lifetime ENGLAND have won a world cup in football ,the under 20 world cup 2017 making it the second greatest success in world football since 1966 .
Highlights: England win the U20 World Cup
England won their biggest international title since 1966 by beating Venezuela 1-0 in the Under-20 World Cup final.
It was England's first appearance in the final of a global tournament since their World Cup victory 51 years ago.
Everton forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin's first-half goal was enough for victory thanks to Newcastle goalkeeper Freddie Woodman's second-half penalty save.
Woodman denied Adalberto Penaranda from the spot after the Malaga forward was fouled by Kyle Walker-Peters.
With 17 minutes to play, the referee pointed to the spot to signal a penalty before immediately referring to the video assistant referee.
The decision stood - there was the slightest of contacts - but Newcastle keeper Woodman's strong palm kept out Penaranda's effort.
In the first half Ronaldo Lucena hit the post with an audacious long-range free-kick that had Woodman well beaten, while Tottenham midfielder Josh Onomah saw a powerful effort strike the underside of the Venezuela bar after the break.
After the match, England forward Dominic Solanke, due to join Liverpool from Chelsea on 1 July, was awarded the Golden Ball given to the player of the tournament. Previous winners of the award include Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, Luis Figo, Paul Pogba and Sergio Aguero.
To me adam west was batman as i havr watched every episode and loved the tongue in cheek action and sideways sets and the cartoon like action when fighting the bad guys. Most of the youngsters of today would find the batman of this era sightly camp but that was that gibe it cult appeal. So i salute you adsm west you will always be the batman i liked the best .follow link to original film of series 1966
https://youtu.be/zLXPYQ6bu8Y
The sense of fair play is an important human trait, but new research suggests that it's a key behaviour for dogs and wolves as well.
In tests, if one animal was given a more substantial reward when performing a task, the other one downed tools completely.
It had been felt that this aversion to unfairness was something that dogs had learned from humans.
But the tests with wolves suggest that this predates domestication of dogs.
Scientists have long recognised that what they term a "sensitivity to inequity", or a sense of fairness, played an important role in the evolution of co-operation between humans. Basically, if others treated you badly, you quickly learned to stop working -read more
I really appreciate the opportunity to get the word out about my book !!
I started writing it a number of times, the first chapter kept going round and round in my head like an ear worm !! I was dreaming it, living it, being kept awake by it, so I decided to put it down on paper, if only to get a chance of some sleep!! I wrote most of it then got disheartened and left it on a shelf to gather dust, it was only after making contact with a couple of author friends via the internet that I actually felt able to take the plunge and get it published!!
The authors in question are Keith McCloskey, author of The Dyatolov Pass Incident, and Return to Dyatolov Pass. Also Bill Bradshaw, author of From the Horses Mouth, A Jailers Tale and his new book Hello Welcome which is about to hit the book shops.
I sent Bill a sample chapter for a bit of advice, he was amazingly encouraging and gave me the impetus to get another couple of chapters on paper and seek publication. The first three publishers I sent it to all accepted the book and wanted to publish, however, they all wanted me to sell and Kidney in order to do so !! That's where Keith stepped in, he was pretty scathing about that type of publisher and advised me to do as he had just done, and publish through Amazon, which has worked out really well, it's just the hard work of getting it noticed now !!
Charlotte is now 18 and is suffering from severe Autism, severe Epilepsy, severe learning and speech delays. She is generally a happy bunny, however, she can turn on a sixpence and will cross the room to give you a thump !! Nowadays she is taller than me, so it really hurts if she catches you unawares!!
I have another book I am working on currently and plan a follow up to this one about Charlotte.
The other one I am working on is based on the amazing stories my mom told me as a youngster about her and her sisters growing up in the War years, one married a GI and went to live in the US, one had a couple of children with another GI, in addition to the 2 she already had with her husband, who was away in Grand Bahama for 7 years looking after Edward and Mrs Simpson - he had a lovely War, I strongly suspect I have a great many 'relatives' in Grand Bahama !! My mom was only 15 when the War ended and I suspect had seen and heard more about life than many young people in that day and age could have ever dreamed of!! It's a very gritty, down to Earth story so far...lots of work to do on that one yet !!
I have put the synopsis below and a note of the reviews I have had from the publishers and Bill. I have some really lovely reviews on Amazon too.
Let me know if you need anything else, and Thank You once again for this opportunity!!
Yours
Jo Coombe
Synopsis
Charlotte Elizabeth is often precocious, cute and cuddlesome, however, when the Evil Twin surfaces any number of disasters may ensue! A heart-warming and often humorous story about a mother’s journey to understand and accept her daughter’s Autism. Together they navigate the highs and lows, the tears and the laughter that forge the bittersweet path of life. ‘The Chronicles of Charlotte Elizabeth’ is their story.'
Testimonial’s:
‘A heart-warming and engaging read’ Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd, London.
‘your book is well-written with an absorbing and heart-warming narrative, we see potential in the work. We believe that it deserves a chance to reach the general readership’, Olympia Publications, London.
‘The Chronicles of Charlotte Elizabeth’ is wonderfully engaging, beautifully written, surprisingly funny, steeped in love and honesty. Bill Bradshaw, Author, Playwright whose works include ‘From the Horses Mouth – A Jailer’s Tale and also the upcoming novel ‘Hello Welcome’.
A paw print made by a cat in Roman times has been discovered on a 2,000 year old roof tile in Gloucester.
It was dug up in Berkeley Street in 1969 but the footprint has only just been discovered.
The print was found by an archaeologist at Gloucester City Museum who was examining thousands of fragments of Roman roof tile.
The cat is thought to have snuck across the wet tiles which were drying in the sun in about AD100.
The tile, a type called tegula, was used on the roof of a building in what became the Berkeley Street area of modern Gloucester, a spokesman said.
Councillor Lise Noakes, from Gloucester City Council, said it was a "fascinating discovery".
"Dog paw prints, people's boot prints and even a piglet's trotter print have all been found on tiles from Roman Gloucester, but cat prints are very rare," she said.-read more
This not just a normal bubble car but one that looks like car in classic cartoon THE JETSONS .This 3 wheeled car is a 1965 PEEL TRIDENT ,7.3 LONG,39 IN wide and top speed of 38 m.p.h .Similar to GEORGE JETSONS AEROCAR it has a glass bubble dome which the driver must lift to get in and out and only 45 made.
A partial fossilised skeleton of a very ancient ancestor of humans discovered in north-western New Mexico has revealed that the first primates lived in trees and that they were not obligate ground-dwellers. More complete fossil material shows that the Palaeocene plesiadapiform known as Torrejonia wilsoni was adapted for a life in the trees. The fossil discovery is important as most of the Palaeocene mammals associated with the first primates (Euprimates) are only known from a handful of bones and isolated teeth.-read more
What is the right way or wrong way to show grief as i am unsure.Is it to sob your eyes out daily ,scream and shout,get angry or all of them.Myself i tend to feel numb and think of all the good memories .read more if helps
A study of dog DNA has revealed a genetic mutation linked to flat face shapes such as those seen in pugs and bulldogs.
The research reveals new insights into the genes that underpin skull formation in people and animals.
Scientists say their findings also shed light on the causes of birth defects that affect babies' head development in the womb.
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute analysed DNA samples from 374 pet dogs of various pedigree and mixed breeds. The dogs were being treated at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies.
All of the animals underwent body scans as part of their care, producing detailed 3-dimensional images of the dogs' heads.
These high-resolution images -- called CT scans -- enabled the researchers to take precise measurements of the shape of the dog's skull.
By comparing the dogs' genetic information with measurements of their skulls, the team were able to pinpoint DNA variations that are associated with different head shapes.-read more
When i was growing up i used to watch the cult childern,s show BLUE PETER and one of my favorite presenters was JOHN NOAKES who in this show for twelve and half years -1965-1978.He was famous for doing daredevil stunts like climbing nelsons column in Trafalgar square ,crashing a bobsled,leaping fro a plane to free fall 5 miles.He had a real on screen chemistry with resident collie co star -SHEP -who died in 1987 -and would say on many a show get down shep which became a bit of a catchphrase .
The unique feathered creature was spotted hopping around and being fed by its mother in Newport, South Wales, by hobby photographer Claire Griffiths.
The stunning white bird could be mistaken for an albino, but the 46-year-old believes it has a condition called Leucism which only affects the pigment in its skin and feathers giving it its white hue. -READ MORE
Eddie Hall has become the first Briton in 24 years to be crowned the World’s Strongest Man as he beat runner-up Hafthor Julius Bjornsson – better known as The Mountain from TV show Game of Thrones.
Hall, who is nicknamed The Beast – made history by winning the competition in Botswana on Sunday.
The 31-stone strongman came out on top in the squat lift, Viking press and deadlift rounds on the way to winning the title.-read more
If you are willing to try yet another fitness fad method please consider the following -BUGGY BOOTCAMP -in which new mums can use their babies as weights no for me .
LONDON -- They may look placid while grazing in fields but sheep's faces can tell us a lot, according to scientists in Britain who have developed a new system to work out if sheep are in pain or just feeling sad.
The test is based on 500 photos of sheep collected by veterinarians and used to design an algorithm by researchers at Cambridge University that measures five key markers of ovine facial expressions.
When sheep are in pain their eyes narrow, their cheeks tighten, their ears fold forwards, their lips pull down and back and their nostrils change from a U shape to a V shape, according to the scientists.
They now hope to extend the test to other species, including horses, rabbits and some rodents.
By installing cameras in sheep pens, the scientists hope the test will help farmers spot injuries or illnesses early on and find treatment.-read more
CASCADE
A paw print made by a cat in Roman times has been discovered on a 2,000 year old roof tile in Gloucester.
A partial fossilised skeleton of a very ancient ancestor of humans discovered in north-western New Mexico has revealed that the first primates lived in trees and that they were not obligate ground-dwellers. More complete fossil material shows that the Palaeocene plesiadapiform known as Torrejonia wilsoni was adapted for a life in the trees. The fossil discovery is important as most of the Palaeocene mammals associated with the first primates (Euprimates) are only known from a handful of bones and isolated teeth.-read more
The unique feathered creature was spotted hopping around and being fed by its mother in Newport, South Wales, by hobby photographer Claire Griffiths.
LONDON -- They may look placid while grazing in fields but sheep's faces can tell us a lot, according to scientists in Britain who have developed a new system to work out if sheep are in pain or just feeling sad.
Fossils found by workers digging a tunnel for a new railway line in Los Angeles have been identified as the remains of a giant sloth and a bison.