an exercise in percussive maintenance
This is too funny not to reblog. It’s funny, mostly because it is true. Oh, so very true…
It is my sincerest hope that reading my blog has made at least one or two people out there think of visiting South Africa. Should such a wonderful thing come to pass, I feel that I have a bit of a responsibility. 23thorns is not a travel brochure. It is not here to create some utopian wonderland full of bunnies and people who say “Have a nice day” like they mean it.
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Wow! These are long overdue. Back in July I was nominated for two awards but, as I was on vacation at the time I put them on ice and kinda forgot about them. Time to rectify that.
The Parasite Guy nominated me for the Liebster Award – my second one. I’ve noticed the same awards circulate with different sets of rules. I wonder why that is. A game of telephone gone awry? Nevertheless, this time around the rules are as follow: Continue reading “Some awards”
The Guardian reported this morning that there is to be a new Hercule Poirot novel, written by Sophie Hannah. Poirot is a Belgian detective created by Dame Agatha Christie who featured in thirty-three novels and more than fifty short stories. The character died in the novel Curtain which was published in 1975.
When Curtain was published The New York Times ran a full-page obituary in Poirot’s honour, and he remains the only fictional character to get such treatment.
Hercule Poirot, a Belgian detective who became internationally famous, has died in England. His age was unknown. Mr. Poirot achieved fame as a private investigator after he retired as a member of the Belgian police force in 1904. His career, as chronicled in the novels of Dame Agatha Christie, was one of the most illustrious in fiction.
Reviving deceased characters is nothing new. Continue reading “On resurrecting the dead”
“Television is an invention that permits you to be entertained in your living room by people you wouldn’t have in your home.” Sir David Frost, 1939-2013.
This quote by Sir David Frost landed in my inbox yesterday. Sir David was an English journalist and television presenter who is best-known outside of the UK for the interviews he had with former US president Richard Nixon. Sir David passed away on Saturday.
In one of the articles reporting on his death I read that he had had a great love for television as a communication medium. One easily forgets that that is the purpose for which television (and radio) was originally invented – as a way to quickly spread information among large numbers of people; a way that even the illiterate could easily access. Entertainment came later, probably as a way to generate funds through marketing.
Today entertainment (with the ever-present advertising) seems to have become the main point of television (if you’re in South Africa, between the shenanigans of our politicians and the incompetence of our two brand-new twenty-four hour news channels, that includes the news as well). Entertainment, as Sir David said, in our living rooms. One has to wonder about the people we let in to do that entertainment, though.
There are quite a few people from television (aforementioned politicians included) whom I wouldn’t allow in my living room in person. To find out who, click here
It’s time for this week’s Song Title Challenge.
Write a short piece of fiction, around 300 words, using the song title as your story title but don’t listen to the song. You can pick your own genre or use the one suggested to me. Remember to link back to this post so I can find yours.
If you would like to suggest a song title for a future post, you can do so from the challenge page. You can also leave a suggestion on the Facebook page.
This week’s song is Marijuana by Brujeria and the genre is Horror/Thriller. Thanks to bumblepuppies for the suggestion.
Continue reading “Song Title Challenge #15: Marijuana – Brujeria”
if all else fails...use a hammer 