#NotesFromASmallIsland by Bill Bryson - Mini review

Notes From A Small Island is a lovely little book about Britain from an excellent perspective; that is of celebrated author Bill Bryson, as an outsider who spent a considerable number of years living in Brtain.

Born in Iowa, Bryson portrays in equal measures his love and loathing for the British Isles, discussing the difference in nature of a homespun Brit to the rest of the world in their attitudes towards drinking establishments, eateries, public transport stations and 'walking' in Britain and how rather than being things to keep us as humans quenched, nourished and travelled they become activities to be complained about in their own right.

Brits will apologise when colliding with you; successfully arrange silently a multi-tier queueing system and have invented and consume an inordinate amount of baked goods, and these are all things that, while not uncriticised, Bryson communicates an endearment towards. And it's precisely these peeks and troughs that we love about or own country (though I may only be speaking for myself...).

From cities to seaside resorts; rolling hills of Scotland to the puddle ridden landscape that dares call itself 'the lake district', Bryson manages to cover on his 2 week trip many aspects of British life. I find it simultaneously uplifting and saddening, that despite the book being first published in '95, how little some of the locations described have changed.

Bryson has an informed yet witty way with words and describing the eccentricities of the locations he visits, but is especially astute discussing the architechture from place to place, and I very much enjoyed his opinionated stance on many of the wonders and eyesores that make up the void between copy and paste residential estates. In fact I found myself either smiling in agreement or in disbelief at a lot of his observations, but the key thing to remember is that I was indeed, smiling.

I'm surely in danger of no spoilers given the age of the book, but I do highly recommend this book as an insightful, humorous but loving depiction of Britain only someone who wasn't born here could have, and because of his eloquent way with words, 'Notes From A Small Island' is a joy from beginning to end.

#Bett2017

So last week saw my second visit to the Bett education show at the London ExCel arena - a show about all things technological meets education.

Travelling from Birmingham was a doddle - booked a London Midland straight through to Euston train in advance for £27, reading copious amounts of my Retro Gamer magazine on the way, then once in London used the exquisite, though crowded and quite grubby tube system just 'blipping' my contactless debit card when needed, changing a few times before arriving just a short walk (with a Starbucks en route) away from the arena. Excellent stuff.

Now this year, seeing as the schools know what they want in terms of hardware at the moment, I was much more interested in the seminars and talks that were on offer. The hardware being shown varied little from last year anyway - asides from the usual swathe of laptop and pc suppliers there were numerous 3D printing stalls, Virtual Learning Environment stands, robots of varying sizes and loads of different brands of interactive screens. In fact, it could of been 4 stands and a shed load of mirrors.

The major new arrival was the inclusion of VR technology and there were lot of stands and services dedicated to the new technology. It's amazing stuff and I look forward to our schools adopting it.

Moving on to the talks, the first one I attended was about the benefits of VR technology with regards to transition for children on the autistic spectrum. This was excellent and I can really see the benefit of this, allowing children with difficulties challenging their anxieties the ability to visit a new environment without evening needing to leave the comfort of their familiar classroom. Excellent stuff.

I also went to a few Microsoft talks - the use of the Microsoft Surface and Onenote in education is something I really want all of our head teachers to think about adopting. Due to funding constraints I can't picture our establishments going with 1-2-1 devices for children, but in terms of SLT using the devices to collaboratively work on documents simultaneously, I think its will be invaluable.

Windows Ink is also an excellent feature for anybody using a surface and I look forward to showing this to the heads that do have a MSSurface.

I also managed to play on Minecraft, embarrassingly for the first time. I wasn't sure about this at first but now I can completely see the benefits - it's so creative and free, teaching resource management, supporting numeracy, encouraging reading and algorithmic thinking... It was also great fun. which helps.

I also really like the Chromebooks and the discussions regarding google classroom and other google services. The devices are ace and should a school choose to go down the route of using solely Chromebook devices I think I would like to be involved in supporting this. The interface is clean and google classroom is excellent for managing content interactively in lessons.

Finally, I made my compulsory trip to the Lego coding stand. Nothing has changed since last year except Lego are now using a variety of resellers for the education market instead of supplying schools themselves. What I like about this is how it teachers coding but gives the children a physical output - so a robot for example will complete an actual task in the real world, instead of just controlling a game in scratch (though the coding is similar and thus the skills are transferable). The supplied content and resources are also completely free once you've purchased the initial sets, containing lesson plans for a variety of subjects, not all of which are to do with coding the actual. Great value and great variety.

In all, I enjoyed my time this year and whilst I don't think there was much completely earth shattering, the progression in existing technologies is making everything much more user friendly and efficient.

#TheHitchHikersGuideToTheGalaxy by #DouglasAdams mini spoiler free book review

I've been meaning to get around to reading The Hitch-hikers guide to the galaxy, as being an avid fan of all things nonsensical, witty and sci-fi, it sounds like a book that could've been written bespoke for me. That being said, I actually knew very little about it, other than what I've said already. I'd not seen the film and I've never read anything else by Douglas Adams before.

Now I've finished my second book of 2017 I'm glad to have given it a go. It's a short story about how life came to be, and how it came to not be... and is full of strange, far-away places, races and oddities. It's complete nonsense, yet somehow makes utter sense in it's own miraculous silli-verse - as if Monty Python had gotten together and written a space story. I half imagined witty cartoon cutaways as the descriptions from time to time.

Arthur, our main character, is saved from the desturction of planet Earth only by some impossible coincidence, having incidentally befriended a socially awkward alien on Earth and making a much needed trip to the pub before our speck of blue became obliterated by an alien race. Then, by many more unfathomable coincidences, meeting a 2 headed alien president; another earth evacuee, a socially depressive android and a pair of super intelligent white mice from an alternate dimension, the story attempts to deal with the galaxies seemingly never ending question - What is the meaning to life, existence and everything?

It turns out, the answer is rather unexpected, but not half as unexpected as the question.

In tradition, I'll avoid and further spoilers, but just say the book was incredibly easy to read - It's only short and the levity of the story had me in smiles frequently. The explanations, whilst bizarre do at least make sense within the context of this book and the sheer improbable nature of it all makes this silly fantasy read very enjoyable.

I also assumed that it would've dated badly, but coming to it in 2017 it still felt imaginative and a fresh read.

I'd recommend to fans of Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Space, and good comedic writing - but not someone who likes something straight forward making sense in the context of our own existence...

Book two of 2017, I have done you!

Thanks for reading. Next up, some Bill Bryson!

#FoxgloveSummer (Rivers of London 5) by #BenAaronovitch spoiler free mini review

The latest in the Rivers of London series without buying a giant hardback, Foxglove Summer sees the story follow an ever improving police detective and warlock in training Peter Grant, as this time he moves away from London and into the rural wilds of Herefordshire, where he begins to investigate the mysterious disappearance of 2 young girls. As expected, it soon becomes apparent that something in the realms of the magical has had some influence in the disappearance, hence Grant's involvement as the investigations resident wizard.

In an effort to remain spoiler free, I won't delve into the plot. I really enjoyed the shift in location into the countryside, and find the descriptions of the hot summer days and the sprawling countryside and forests to completely absorb me into the environment. I felt this book was similar to that of The Prisoner Of Azkaban in the Harry Potter Series, as in the plot is an exceptionally well written story in it's own right, and rather than constantly weaving a sub plot throughout, just helps build upon an already convincing alternate reality. Old characters return, and more is learned of their histories but the focus here is very much on the mythical beings involved in some way, shape or form with the missing girls.

Incidentally, the creatures that are used in the story are again excellently described, really helping you to see them in your mind's eye. There's nothing incredibly original, but the way they're imagined is not necessarily how you would expect and helped keep things interesting.

The story also explores relationships well - the copper Grant liaises with in Herefordshire is one half of a gay couple, and Grant starts a semi-serious relationship with Beverly, who we know to be a River Goddess from previous books.

It's also clear Aaronvitch has done his research into the history of the area, often citing dates and known locations and often referring to the National Trust (despite some artistic license to assist with story development) and it feels like a lot of love has gone into the penmanship of Foxglove Summer.

I've really enjoyed all of the Rivers of London series, and I'm tempted to say this is my favourite since the first, but all are different enough in their own right to be just as enjoyable as the last. I thoroughly recommend this to all fans of good story telling, detective or fantasy fiction as well as the whole series.

Book 1 of 2017 finished! Thanks for reading!

@abbott_56 in 2016 on #Reading #RetroGaming and #Recovery

It's been an incredibly varied year for everyone & most will probably remember it for the negatives, such as the vast amount of celebrities we've tragically lost including David Bowie, Alan Rickman and most recently, Carrie Fisher.

Then we've had so many negative news stories, deaths in accidents; further escalations in Syria, terrorism; political uncertainties regarding the US elections and Brexit votes and so on. It certainly has been a rollercoaster of a year.

Of course, there are many good things about the year, too. In entertainment we've seen amazing new releases from the worlds of music, movies and more.

My year from an introspective point has been much the same for me, with many ups and downs. I'm still working on improving my mood and dealing with my eating issues, but feel that actually I've ended the year in a positive place, generally feeling better more of the time and being more sociable, allowing myself to treat (however rarely) and I've made steps to improve myself further through my work, my hobbies, my financial wellbeing and making general life improvements.

I began going to a group therapy session for people with eating disorders which has been really helpful. Knowing what you're going through isn't as stupid as you think because it's an illness and actually others are going through the same thing too has been no end of a comfort.

I've started seeing my friends a lot more, through trips to the theatre, cinema, places of interest and just down the pub. Highlights include the many National Trust properties, visiting Bristol and going to Budapest with my sister; the new Star Wars, David Brent and Hunt for the Wildermen films were all excellent and I've really enjoyed all theatre trips big and small.

I've really gotten back into my music, playing my flute in a local marching band, picking up my guitar more often and playing the piano more, too. I've also been to a shed load of live music, and I've seen big bands like Feeder, Spunge, Less Than Jake as well as local bands such as the Dead Sea Skulls and The Joy Formidable. I love going and always have a blast. I've listened to loads, too; I adored the new Bowie album this yea, and I've made even more of my Spotify subscription than usual through 2016.

I've done more gaming, which has pleased me as I went a long time acquiring games but not actually playing anything. I'm not bothered about playing things to a platinum trophy level of completion, but I'm aiming to finish more games in 2017 too, if only to the end of the main story. My most played entries from 2016 are probably Monster Hunter Generations, Okami, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Stella Glow and the countless retro games I keep going back to. I'll also continue to keep inhaling books at my current rate, and I've read some excellent stories this year, especially those from the Rivers Of London series from which I'm eagerly awaiting the paperback release of the most recent so my collection matches...

Finally, I feel I've made strides in my work, and despite not getting a job I went for my title at work has changed to reflect my responsibilities more accurately and I've convinced big bosses that the work I do was worth a pay rise, so I feel my career trajectory is on the up.

Though the bad moments tend to take a very sheer drop, I find these are fewer and further between and this blog is really just a small effort to note down what I'm thankful for this year. I love my friends, my family and when it comes to it, no matter how small it may seem to some I believe I've achieved a lot.

Not only that, my friends and family are also doing exceptionally well in their lives with their careers, interests and life plans which makes me even more grateful to simply know such amazing and talented people. Everyone I have the pleasure of meeting has helped me this year and I am eternally grateful, no matter how small you think you're influence may have been.

I hope to hear from you about your year. But if not, have a very happy 2017.

#StrangeTimes #TheGhostInTheGirl by #TomDelonge mini spoiler free book review

Another sci-fi collaboration from Punk Rocker Tom Delonge, this time writing with Geoff Herbach who has written a few other teen fiction books.

The Ghost In The Girl tells the tale of an unlikely band of stereotypical teen angst outcasts who are thirsted together to tackle an enticing mystery through banding together and ultimately becoming a surprisingly close unity of friends, paving the way for future stories nicely.

This story is a mystery and a good old fashioned ghost story, and feels akin to the Goosebumps series of novels from when I was growing up, only with more swearing to appeal to the definitely less adult, more teenage audience that the book feels aimed at, more so than either Chasing Shadows or Poet Anderson before it.

It's an extremely accessible, easy and interesting read, with enough twists and turns to keep you interested without ever becoming overly convoluted. All of the characters have an interesting back stories, with personalities gradually becoming deeper throughout the short book, revealing things about them and their histories. The locations and paranormal events are well described, and in some places quite anxiety provoking, which can only be a good thing for a ghost story.

If not ground breaking, the story is solid and enjoyable, and whilst I felt it wasn't quite as well written as Delonge's previous efforts, I'd still recommend to fans of science-fiction stories looking for a quick read.

#Uprooted by Naomi Novik spoiler-free mini review

Uprooted is a fantasy novel by Naomi Novik, who is known for her Temeraire series of books. I myself was completely new to her as an author when I stumbled across Uprooted and decided to give it a punt solely on the premise from the blurb and the stunning cover.

The novel has been nominated for and winner of many accolades the 2016 Nebula Award for Best Novel and the 2016 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel amongst others, and it's easy to see why.

Uprooted feels like a fantasy story for a modern age, in that whilst it contains many expected features of fantasy fiction; wizards, magic, monsters and a young, expecting heroine, the way in which the story is told and the descriptions of the quaint villages to the elaborate dress sense of the feared wizard known as the Dragon, all feel extremely fresh and original.

There are many twists and turns throughout; many characters, some definitely more likable than others without being less significant to the plot; lots of locations and many magical beings and elements. Nothing feels over described, detailing the world believably without pandering to the readership. The writing is often beautiful, and I actually found myself re-reading segments purely because of how they felt to read. I especially like the descriptions of how magic is controlled through voice and when it works, it works because the user has stumbled across the correct way to perform or annunciate or sing a spell, instead of simply learning words and performing a spell.

The evil blight that plagues the land is an interesting and original concept too. Our heroine Agnieszka's small country village is plagued by an evil lurking in the nearby wood, and the creatures within are all strange, horrifying and unique. It can be fairly frightening and gruesome in places, with battle scenes epically told and descriptions, such as the use of magical fire to burn enemies, is intricate in it's detail.

The novel is also strangely romantic; it's a lovely story not only between some of the characters, but also between our heroine and her home land. She cares for everyone and everything, deeply, and quite simply wants to help in anyway she can, despite her self-deprecating sense of uselessness. For this quality, I found myself drawn to Agnieszka; she's an endearing and likable character, 

I found the story a little long towards the end; the concluding events seemed to keep returning to the brink when you believe all is lost, and back again a few too many times, and I struggled to stay as absorbed for the duration. I was however rewarded for my perseverance, with an extremely satisfying and equally beautifully written conclusion.

In all, I would recommend this story for fans of innovative fantasy fiction, just with the proviso of being persistent to the end. It's worth it.

A Christmas Carol at the Crescent

In the true spirit of delving head first into the deep end of the festive spirit I went to see A Christmas Carol at the Crescent theatre in Birmingham. At £8 a ticket, I thought it worth a punt to welcome the yuletide season.

I love the story of A Christmas Carol - grumpy, rich man strives to redeem himself after being shown the error of his selfish ways by a variety of supernatural beings and save his soul from eternal torment, already suffered by his late and similarly selfishly inclined partner.

The version at the Crescent was produced by their in house theatre company and directed by Alan K. Marshall. Whilst I would struggle not to enjoy a retelling of the Dickens classic, I did feel this rendition was somewhat lacking.

The cast, whilst appropriately chosen, did seem to lack an amount of passion within their roles. Scrooge didn't seem nearly as cold in the heart as I feel he should be, and some of the younger cast though did a cracking job for their ages, just felt a little unbelievable and emotionless. I was particularly disappointed with the portrayal of Jacob Marley, who instead of being a terrifying spectre intent on filling Scrooge with dread, became almost comedic, and at times incomprehensible thanks to him shouting almost every line. Scrooge's half hearted responses didn't do much to assist this. At least the cast were all well made up, looking the part in their costumes and makeup.

The cast had good presence on the stage and filled the space with the effective scenery well. The prop for the final spirit however was extremely cheesy, and it's bright green LED eyes weren't nearly as evil as I assume the director thought they were.

I did enjoy the score, mixing motifs from Christmas carols with filmic music, however the quality of the sound in general seemed poor. Edits between tracks and sound effects seemed abrupt; levels were quite erratic and I found myself struggling to hear the cast occasionally. The noise of the movement on the stage often hampered my enjoyment of the music, too, not to mention the added effects from a nearby latecomer's mobile phone (definitely not blaming the theatre for this, just wanted to add it in!).

Despite these negatives, I still enjoyed the performance, and it did help me get into something resembling a festive feeling, though had it been more than £8, which it is for the evening performance (£15) I think my disappointment wouldn't so easily dissipate.

Thanks for reading!

For more information, visit The Crescent Theatre website.