On New Years Eve, I spent the day and evening relaxing with Dylan and Russell, my bengal cats.
They enjoy anything warm and spent most of the evening cat napping on their new heated mat and the Sky Box, see photos below (click on images for full size):
Russell Cat Napping Against My Foot on the Heated Mat.
Dylan Cat Napping on the Warm Sky Box.
While they napped, I read and watched TV. I got throughly absorbed into the world of James Frey in his book A Million Little Pieces. I’m about 100 pages in and will complete a review when I’ve finished reading it. If you want to know more about A Million Little Pieces by James Frey, click on the image below to visit Amazon:
The Year I Met You tells the story of two neighbours. Jasmine Butler has made her career her life, but after being sacked she is forced to take gardening leave for a year. Matt Marshall is a radio presenter on a controversial radio show, that is until an incident on the New Years Evening show leads to him being forced to take some time off-air.
Neither Jasmine or Matt cope well with their change in circumstances. Jasmine starts actually gardening. Matt drinks copious amounts of alcohol. It is at this point that Jasmine starts to notice her neighbour from across the road – Matt. The book is written from Jasmine’s perspective, with her writing to Matt referencing him as You.
All of the characters in The Year I Met You were believable and likeable. Jasmine is an meticulous people watcher who keeps the people in her life at a distance. Matt loves his family but has become entrenched in the daily grind of life. Both characters feel lost, something we have all felt.
Stylistically Jasmine’s perspective was enjoyable to begin with. However her use of You when referencing Matt did become frustrating. Luckily as the reader reaches the midway point in the book, she begins to use you a lot less. This was not only practicable, but symbolises a change in the relationship between Jasmine and Matt.
The storyline was good, but the book was slow paced. That said, there’s not a lot could have been done about it with the premise behind the story. The ending was excellent, reflective and interesting.
Overall a reasonable story. One that is an enjoyable read, but that you probably won’t read more than once. The story is essentially about the characters rediscovering who they are, their friendship that develops along the way and the transformation of themselves so that they are able to move forward.
Last week was a tough week. I needed cheering up, so head to my local supermarket and bought Nina Conti’s live show – Dolly Mixtures, along with some popcorn and a multipack of Curly Wurly’s.
Superb Ventriloquist Nina Conti presents her live show Dolly Mixtures on DVD, filmed in Leeds. The hilarious comedy show is a laugh-a-second and cheered me up no end. It’s part scripted and part improv, with Nina making herself the butt of many of her own jokes.
Nina starts the show with her long-standing puppet Monkey. Monkey presents a lateral thinking puzzle: A crowd is covered in strange lumps of foam, on the floor empty suitcases, an old mans clothes and a paint brush. What happened?
Nina’s Daughter and Inner Child who sings ‘My Face Hurts When I Play Guitar.’
Killer the Camp Dog who tells his story of how he raided Claire’s Accessories during the riots.
Stefan the Builder who is a step-in puppet that requires some audience participation.
Granny the Clairvoyant who shows off her clairvoyance.
The Human Puppets with Talking Mouths, which leads to more audience participation.
Granddad John the Painter who leads to a bizarre but extremely funny show’s ending.
Throughout the show, there’s plenty of good natured audience participation with the themes being: good fun & humour.
Nina is fantastically funny and by the end of the show my sides hurt because I’d laughed so much. The show ends by showing the lateral thinking puzzle, that even God couldn’t solve! LOL.
I’ve watched Nina Conti’s live show – Dolly Mixtures several times since I bought it and never failed to lose myself in laughter. If I star rated DVDs, it would be five out of five star.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard has been written and illustrated by J.K. Rowling. It contains five classic children’s stories, aimed at young wizards and witches: The Wizard and The Hopping Pot, The Fountain of Fair Fortune, The Warlock’s Hairy Heart, Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump and The Tale of The Three Brothers.
After each story are notes from Albus Dumbledore from the Hogwarts Archives. The introduction explains that Dumbledore wrote these notes about eighteen months before the events that took place at the top of Hogwarts’ Astronomy Tower.
Each of the tales in The Tales of Beedle the Bard are superb, magical and thought-provoking. They carry moral messages about: kindness, perseverance, vulnerability, tolerance and wisdom. Dumbledore in his notes discusses the stories messages, reveals more about his history and life at Hogwarts.
My only criticism of The Tales of Beedle the Bard is that it was too short (at 109 pages). I absolutely loved reading the stories and Albus Dumbledore’s thoughts about them. So J.K. Rowling, just so you know, if you do a More Tales of Beedle the Bard, you’ve got a guaranteed sale from a fan here.
Each copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard that’s sold leads to a donation of £1.61 to Lumos, a charity working to change the lives of disadvantaged children. Lumos was founded by J.K. Rowling after she read about the terrible poverty some children live in.
Antony Simpson is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk.
