Writer's & reader's civilised & serious conversation conference

[Horsa]

I thought I'd share a quote with you by the late, great Stephen Hawking who sadly died the other day at the age of 76 after decades of living with motor-neurone disease, "People won't have time for you if you're always angry or complaining". Has anyone watched the film made a few years ago based on his life called "the theory of everything"?

 

[Horsa]

I was looking for the song for this to share in music but couldn't find it & couldn't find anywhere else for it so I'm sharing it here. It's a laugh. I'd love to know why a wheel-tapper really tapped wheels though.

 

[Horsa]

I was amazed when I listened carefully to this beautiful song as it states that Van Gogh committed suicide which was news to me. Is it true?

 

[Horsa]

 

[Horsa]

I'm sharing this in memory of Bill Maynard who died today after a fall aged 89. (He's the 1 who played Claude Jeremiah Greengrass). He was also in the Royal, some carry on films & a lot of other programmes. My parents met him in Haworth for the 1940's weekend but I was busy looking in the shops so unfortunately missed my chance. He was a nice, down-to-earth guy & such a good actor. R.I.P. Bill Maynard.

 

[Horsa]

Happy Easter! Don't make yourself ill eating too much chocolate. Lol.

 

[Horsa]

There was a stand up to racism talk in Wakefield today but it wasn't about the racist attacks & behaviour that's been going on in areas since just before the Brexit vote but the expected new immigration policies which are necessary. I'm not racist, in fact I've got Asian, South African, Polish, Australian, Canadian & American friends, but can see that the existing immigration policies are a security risk because of previous attacks carried out by foreigners on our soil & our country is over-crowded. I'm not saying all foreigners pose a risk because they don't. I'm saying they should be vetted more stringently. I'm not anti-anything except anti-abuse of any kind, anti-racist, anti-rudeness & anti-hate. I'm also the other type of Auntie, 3 times.

 

[Horsa]

To be a little more light-hearted I'll ask a question which may or may not lead to a joke, Does anyone know how Ossett got its name?

 

[Horsa]

The smoking ban was put in place to help people with breathing problems. I think it makes things worse as before the smoking ban people could smoke inside in smoking areas in cafes & pubs & non-smokers could go in non-smoking areas & now they're only allowed to smoke at home & outside so people with breathing difficulties actually have to breathe in more smoke when they come from inside out because there are more smokers gathering as soon as they come out of pubs, cafes, shops & off buses, trains & coaches so whereas before they had to breathe in a few people's smoke every now & then now they have to breathe in everyone's smoke all at once in certain areas. The smoking ban helped put many pubs out of business along with ridiculous alcohol price rises as smokers liked a cig with their drink & couldn't afford to go out as often. I speak as someone who was born with slight bronchitis which only really affects me if I'm in a smoky atmosphere, I'm out in the wind, I've got a cold or I have to run.

 

[Horsa]

I went to Castleford, Freeport & Pontefract today. I could hardly move. It was that busy. There were some well-behaved children & some playful ones as well as some rowdy ones. It was pandemonium.

 

[Horsa]

I got stopped by a charity fund-raiser who was trying to tell me how much the charity he was fund-raising for do & how much they need. As soon as he told me what they did I knew that they worked in unison with the red cross. He wouldn't admit it at 1st until I let him know that I knew what the red cross did as I used to work for the red cross so I knew that if his charity did what he said they did they worked in unison with the red cross so the red cross did some of the work & paid some of the money out.

 

[Horsa]

Has anyone else dropped to sleep reading a book? The 1st time I dropped to sleep reading a book was the 1st time I read Charlotte Bronte's Villette. I just couldn't put it down. It's my favourite book so I go back to it time & time again. There are times when I'm always dropping to sleep reading mainly when I can't put the book down, when I'm tired because I couldn't sleep the night before (for people who've never suffered from it insomnia is no fun) or I'm due a retest & my eyes have got worse so I need stronger specs.

 

[Horsa]

A cowboy arrives in town on Sunday, stays for 3 days then leaves on Sunday. How is this possible?

 

[Horsa]

I've just won a book on horses. Woohoo! I can't wait to get my hands on it. I'm not doing very well with my reading challenge. I got onto the book that takes you out of your comfort zone & had to abandon the valley of horses as reading about horses being butchered was too much especially as it's fiction. Mother bought Sisters at arms & I said I'd read it 1st as she wants to read it after me. It's about the Q.A.I.M.N.S. or Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service & the role they played during the wars nursing our injured soldiers. These were very tough women who did a lot to save our injured soldiers. I'm really struggling with it as it's very distressing but I'm plodding on with it as it's history. I think @britbox, @mrzz & @Moxie would enjoy it though.

 

[britbox]

The smoking ban was put in place to help people with breathing problems. I think it makes things worse as before the smoking ban people could smoke inside in smoking areas in cafes & pubs & non-smokers could go in non-smoking areas & now they're only allowed to smoke at home & outside so people with breathing difficulties actually have to breathe in more smoke when they come from inside out because there are more smokers gathering as soon as they come out of pubs, cafes, shops & off buses, trains & coaches so whereas before they had to breathe in a few people's smoke every now & then now they have to breathe in everyone's smoke all at once in certain areas. The smoking ban helped put many pubs out of business along with ridiculous alcohol price rises as smokers liked a cig with their drink & couldn't afford to go out as often. I speak as someone who was born with slight bronchitis which only really affects me if I'm in a smoky atmosphere, I'm out in the wind, I've got a cold or I have to run.

The smoking ban was hugely damaging to pubs in the UK. It's not an understatement to say that thousands of pubs, particularly the small ones have had to shut up shop... supermarket booze (cheap) was another factor.

I'm a free choice kind of fella... if you don't like smokey pubs then don't go to them. The counter-argument was "I want to go to the pub without breathing in other peoples smoke"... well, those guys won... but clearly didn't have the numbers of people to support smoke-free pubs. The result... no pub at all.

Local pubs were a great place to get to know people of all ages... Youngsters would get to know older people... there was a huge social positive. Take that away and you have a big demographic divides....

 

[Horsa]

The smoking ban was hugely damaging to pubs in the UK. It's not an understatement to say that thousands of pubs, particularly the small ones have had to shut up shop... supermarket booze (cheap) was another factor.

I'm a free choice kind of fella... if you don't like smokey pubs then don't go to them. The counter-argument was "I want to go to the pub without breathing in other peoples smoke"... well, those guys won... but clearly didn't have the numbers of people to support smoke-free pubs. The result... no pub at all.

Local pubs were a great place to get to know people of all ages... Youngsters would get to know older people... there was a huge social positive. Take that away and you have a big demographic divides....

I agree. It was bad for the economy as lots of ex-barmaids/barmen had to join the unemployment queue. It spoilt the social life of some people who liked to go out on a weekend for a drink & to watch/listen to entertainment or those who liked quizzing, dancing, playing bingo, pool, darts & dominoes. I enjoyed myself down the pub.

I'm for freedom of choice too. I used to sit in the non-smoking area. Most of the non-smoking areas were accessed before reaching smoking areas so I saw no problem with the way things were. As a person with breathing difficulties in smoky atmospheres I actually have more breathing problems now as before people smoked every now & then when they felt like it not huddled in corners outside pubs & as soon as they get off buses & coaches. I think the government should do away with the smoking ban.

I agree. It used to be a great mile-stone when you were of age & could go to the pub & have a drink. You got everyone enjoying themselves, listening to the entertainment, singing & dancing along, older people meeting younger ones having a chat, playing dominoes. There isn't much for older people to do now. There are a few clubs about for elderly people to socialise in but not many. I remember passing on the bus an old man just wandering about looking lost & hearing a lady say he always used to go to the pub to meet & talk to friends but since the pubs went there was nothing for him & I felt sorry for him & thought that it was so sad & something should be done about it.

 

[Horsa]

I just thought I'd ask a question that was asked on 1 of the reader's & writer's groups I'm in on facebook which I answered as I wondered what other people thought. How true do you think T.V. adaptations & films should be to the book they're based on & why? For me, the nearer to the book, the better.

 

[britbox]

I just thought I'd ask a question that was asked on 1 of the reader's & writer's groups I'm in on facebook which I answered as I wondered what other people thought. How true do you think T.V. adaptations & films should be to the book they're based on & why? For me, the nearer to the book, the better.

I don't get too beat up about it... in most cases, the book is usually better. Often a movie/TV adaptation doesn't seem so good when you've read the book, but on the same note, I get fed up with the bookworms moaning about a movie/series not getting characters or events right. It is an "adaptation" after all - not a reflection of the book. Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings bookworms are the worst... the movies and TV series are great but the nitpick over the tiniest detail.

 

[Horsa]

I don't get too beat up about it... in most cases, the book is usually better. Often a movie/TV adaptation doesn't seem so good when you've read the book, but on the same note, I get fed up with the bookworms moaning about a movie/series not getting characters or events right. It is an "adaptation" after all - not a reflection of the book. Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings bookworms are the worst... the movies and TV series are great but the nitpick over the tiniest detail.

I don't moan. I think in most cases the books are best but if bits of the book weren't missed out while filming the t.v. programmes would be very long. I like films & t.v. programmes to be as true to the book as possible but realise that although everyone reads the same book they all imagine the characters slightly different & things being said differently or events done differently because we've all got different imaginations so 1 realistic adaption to 1 person would be totally unrealistic to another person.

 

[Horsa]

I've got a question for all reader's that came up in a reader's group I'm in. The question is "do you class listening to audiobooks as reading?". My answer was that although I understand the reasons why people listen to audiobooks rather than reading such as people's eyes are playing them up & they haven't got time to read a proper book I don't class listening to audiobooks as reading because it's more passive than reading as you're not sat pawing over a book & have all the story/information read to you so you don't have to imagine voices & voice tones but you still have to use your imagination unlike when you watch a film or T.V. adaptation of a book.