Needles and crochet hooks

This is the first weekend in about two months when I haven’t spent both days sewing, embroidering or crocheting.

I promised writing news

So there shall be writing news.

Ick, people have no manners

I had a fantastic day out in Sheffield yesterday; I’m exhausted, mentally and physically today though. It would have been perfect but for the behaviour of some bad mannered little brats. If that wasn’t bad enough my aching legs carried me past a white-van-man this morning who though shouting insults at me was acceptable. This is a rant, by the way. Read on at your peril.

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I gave myself a kick up the arse today and started working on my novel again.

Archery

I’ve been thinking about archery a lot recently, mainly because I’m writing a zombie apocalypse short story set in Lincolnshire.

It’s Time To Talk About ‘British Values’

Media Diversified

by Neda Tehrani

Following their election victory, last week, newly appointed cabinet ministers were pressing policies, and future plans. Ultimately, the all-permeating sentiment in Conservative rhetoric, was the notion that British citizens have a duty to uphold British values. With the repetition of this phrase by Cameron and his team, comes the question of which values can be defined as inherently British. Much of the discussion in the media has gotten us no closer to understanding exactly what British Values are, and these elusive shape shifters are beginning to inherit a mythical quality.

I am sure many of us have a natural inclination to align with a set of values. This is often born out of a desire to find a sense of belonging. For many, it appears the most reasonable thing to do is to identify with the values that are a part of the society you in which…

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Limousines, bicycles, and fat ugly slags

Bells & Whistles

The other day I was cycling home when I stopped at a junction with traffic lights.  A huge stretched limo – you know, those achingly tacky ones, a giant Hummer, the sort rolled out by chavs at proms –  turned at the lights, and took the corner so badly that the driver was eyeball-to-eyeball with me, and gestured, impatiently, that I should move back.

This pissed me off on several levels.  Firstly, I was right where I was supposed to be – in the bicycle box – and yet he showed no sign of apology that he was cutting into the opposite lane of traffic, but merely anger at me – a tiny bicycle – hindering his intended route.  Secondly, I knew that corner was perfectly possible for large vehicles because I have stopped in precisely the same place on many an occasion and watched as double-decker buses swung around…

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Never Shall Be Slaves II – To Crown It All

Very powerful post; we should do something about the Land Laws. They make me twitchy.

One thing I should mention, though (completely irrelevant to the point of the blog post); it’s a common misconception that Harold Godwinson was shot, he wasn’t. According to the Chronicles, Harold wasn’t shot, he was cut down in the melee. His body was so badly damaged they had to get his wife Edith Swanneck to identify him by ‘certain marks’ on his body. Two of his brothers died next to him, equally cut up. The idea that he died by arrow to the eye comes.from the Bayeaux Tapestry, which originally showed the ‘death scene’ as a man holding a spear. Embroidery experts have looked at the back of the embroidery and found evidence that it had been tampered with in later centuries, and the the spear had been changed in to an arrow.

GODS & RADICALS

God and/or rebel? The Green Man, Norwich Cathedral. Source: Cathedral.org.uk.

How many landowners are there in the UK? Go for it. Guess. A million? 20 million? 30 million?

How about one?

Okay, that’s a bit of a lie. And yet, it’s all too true.

Let me explain…

In my last post, I talked about slavery – the extent to which the British people first got chained to the forces of imperialism, and then took up those chains for use on everybody else. In this article, I’m going to talk about another key sinew in the body politic of Empire in Britain – land.

As it happens, Land is more my professional area than slavery (thank goodness). I’m a PhD student currently, studying land management practices in the Broads; a vast wetland, strung along a bundle of rivers at the eastern edge of England. So land – who…

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Review: ’99 Keys to a Creative Life’ by Melissa Harris

Review: ‘The Buddha Pill’ by Dr Miguel Farias and Catherine Wikholm