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Kell

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    My Town

    in Introductions

    Posted

    I'd never heard of it before I applied for college there - LOL! I'm something of a scaredy-cat when it comes to going to places alone when I've never been there before, so going away to college was a hige step for me & I couldn't have chosen a better place. It wasn't too small, but it lacked the "big city" feel, so I never felt lost. And the people there are very friendly, so I never felt alone.

     

    And of course, there are plenty of very decent pubs, several of which serve excellent food! I often used to eat at The Feuar's Arms down at Pathhead - they had award winning food there & for very reasonable prices. And there was the Cafe Continental, where they serve the best iced latte I've ever tasted. And then there was Fagin's, which looked like an old-man pub, but had the most wonderful atmosphere. Not to forget, Smithies Tavern, where we went to a pub quiz every week & Mike, the barman, would come round with a tray of unusual shots to try (always something we'd never heard of & always a lot of fun!). Lastly, I must mention Betty Nicols which serves liberal helpings of real ale & live music. I used to sing there in a band imaginatively called Catfruit after a character in the novel our lead guitarist was writing (originally Jonathon Catfruit, but changed to Ezekiel Catfruit for some reason we couldn't quite fathom). Either way, the name was better than the one we originally called ourselves which was Folio Deadline. I can't remember why...

     

    And that's not even mentioning the restaurants - whatever's your pleasure, from Indian to Thai, from Chinese to Italian, there's something there & there's nothing too pricey either.

     

    Crikey, I'm going to have to go back for a visit - I'm missing the place now!

    Dave Pelzer : A Child Called It

    in Non Fiction

    Posted

    I was chatting to my sis on the phone tonight & metnioed that I'd got hold of a copy of this. She said she'd managed to read all 3 books in little over a week.

     

    My sister doesn't read - it took her 6 months to read Jude the Obscure for her Higher English.

     

    This is something of a miracle.

     

    She's offered to lend me the other 2 when I've read this one.

    My Town

    in Introductions

    Posted

    I think a lot of that has to do with the accent perhaps. Then again, it depends on the area - some Scottish accents are incredibly harsh-sounding whereas others are very lilting & musical. Aberdonian kind of rolls off the tongue nicely, even the Doric (old Aberdonian) which is still spoken by many folks round here, old & young, is curiously smooth-flowing.

    Which is the best book in the Chronicles of Narnia?

    in Children's / Young Adult

    Posted

    It was kind of a toss-up for me between The Magician's Nephew & The Silver Chair. The first one described the beginnings of Narnia so beautifully that I always look forward to taking it down off the shelf, but Silver Chair is so much darker than any of the previous stories that you can't help thinking the books have grown up with the reader. I also remember going to see a stage production of it when I was about 9 years old & it was startlingly scary at the time - very mysterious indeed! So, in the end, I had to vote for the later book - I think it had a direct influence on my love of pitch-black books.

    My Town

    in Introductions

    Posted

    Infact the Battle of Hastings actually happened about 8 miles away in the village of Battle...

    So, technically, it should have been called The Battle of Battle? :rofl:

     

    Seriously, though, I'd love to go there one day - it sounds like a fascinating place. And Dover, well, I passed through on my way to France one time. Actually, we passed through France too - we were on a school coach trip to Holland to do a show - LOL!

    My Town

    in Introductions

    Posted

    Where I used to live - Kirkcaldy, Fife - Lino town!

     

    I went to college in Kircaldy, which is in Fife & just a little North of Edinburgh. I liked it so much that I moved back there after college & stayed for 18 months before lack of cash & loss of job forced a move back to Aberdeen.

     

    Kirkcaldy is right on the Scottish Coastal Trail & is, I believe, the only place in Britain that still manufactures linoleum (the rest is all imported). Infact, Kirkcaldy is famous for its lino production & even more famous for the smell that this used to produce when they used the older techniques - apparently you could smell it for miles!

     

    It's not a huge town, it's not a pretty town, but it's a very friendly town & I had the timme of my life there. It's also handy for Edinburgh, Scotland's capital, & much cheaper to live there than in the city!

     

    There's a wonderful ruined castle down on the beach called Ravenscraig & I used to go clambering about up there in the early hours of the morning when I was still a foolish young student - the sunrises from that vantage point were amazing - you could see right across the Firth of Forth.

     

    There's also a wonderful theatre there called The Adam Smith & both myself & my hubby have performed there (though not together). The original Adam Smith Theatre was turned into a cinema (where I worked), but unfortunately, that closed (hence no job). This particular theatre is a very popular venue for touring comedians & you'll see the likes of mark Thomas, Bill Bailey & The Reduced Shakespeare Company turning in sterling performances.

     

    It also has, right on the high street opposite where the cinema was, Britain's very best Indian takeaway called The Spicec of Life - their pakora are to die for! (I hope it's still there). There was also, down along from Ravenscraig, britain's best Chinese takeaway, called Michael's Chinese (he was 2nd generation), but it closed when his wife, who did all the fablous cooking, died. it was a sad day indeed as they were a lovely couple who were always kind enough to throw in a few extras for the hungry students (us!) who would come in every Sunday night for their weekly treat!

     

    Fife College, where I studied, runs one of the only Theatre & Drama HND courses outside a major city & it was the most fun I ever had.

     

    Kirkcaldy will always have a special place in my heart!

    Richard Adams - The Plague Dogs

    in Children's / Young Adult

    Posted

    I probably wouldn't be able to read it - I've never been able to get through Watership Down as it upsets me so much, but that could be to do with the film - it really freaks me out (I'm such a chicken!).

     

    Richard Adams seems to go for really tough subjects when he's writing. The only book of his I've ever read is Maia & it deals with sex slavery! Funnily enough, the 1st time I read it, I got it in our school library - I think our librarian must have just thought "Oh, he wrote Watership Down" & added it to the shelves without checking the content as it's rather risque! I managed to track down a hardback copy years later & it sits on my shelf, wating to be read again (which I do every now & again). It's well hefty though - over 1000 pages!

    Which Dan Brown Book is Best?

    in Horror / Fantasy / SF

    Posted

    I voted for Digital Fortress - I thought the plot was the most believable & that the cryptography technology described in it was amazing. It was also the one where Mr Brown broke from formula a bit & let the leading lady have someone in her life right from the start, rather than having her fall for the leading man (even though both had still had a troubled past - LOL!).

    My Town

    in Introductions

    Posted

    I am a dying breed in London - I am British. Unfortunately, this does mean that I am unable to speak any of the local dialects and speak only to myself when out in public
    .

    ... Jo this is so true. I remember the first time I came to London I was totally amazed by this! There were 15 people of other nationalities to every British person!

     

    We went on a tour bus in London last week & we were told that if you stand in Picadilly Square for a maximum of 37 minutes, you'll see someone you know. Unless you're from the Galapagos Islands apparently.

    My Town

    in Introductions

    Posted

    Where I'm from: Ashington, Northumberland - World's Largest Mining Village

     

    I grew up just over the border into England in a little town called Ashington, which was, at one time, the largest mining village in the world till the pit closed & they reclassified it as a town due to population growth.

     

    Ashington never really recovered from the pit closures in the 80's which spurred a mass exodus for places where there were actually jobs with prospects (hence we headed up to Aberdeen when I was 11 years old).

     

    Folks in that particular corner of Northumberland are known collectively as Geordies & the accent is extremely recognisable - it's very lilt-y & sing-song-y. People in Newcastle (the nearest city) are known as Toonies (Townies), in County Durham they're Mack'n'tacks * & when you get as far south as Sunderland, make sure you don't mention monkeys! **

     

    There are LOADS of castles in the area, many of them are still lived in. A notable example of this is Alnick Castle which is home to the Percy's (Duke of Northumberland - you may remember him from Blackadder!).

     

    Again, there are a fair few standing stones & stone circles & there are very close ties with Scotland (which is less than 100 miles away from Ashington). Lots of open fields & rolling hills - very pretty scenery. As it's North of Hadrian's Wall, I guess the Roman's lumped us in with the "Heathens" from across the border - LOL!

     

    The Geordie people are some of the friendliest you'll find in the world - folks still wander in & out of each other's homes & they think nothing of putting folks up for the night even if they barely know them. And people tend to use the back door still - front doors are for brides & corpses only!

     

    Newcastle, famous for it's Brown Ale, has a fantastic nightlife - people travel specifically to the city for the weekend just to take in the pubs & clubs, & there are many very fine restaurants down on the riverside which is lit up beautifully at night. There's also great shopping, both throughout the town & in shopping centres such as Eldon Square (which has the old grassmarket attached) &, out at Gateshead, the massive Metro Centre where you could shop all week & still not go into every shop! If you can't find it there, you can't find it anywhere!

     

    One last point of interest - Northumberland is still technically a Kingdom in its own right - even if we don't have a King there!

     

     

    * In Ashington we "mayk a cayk & tayk it to the bakers", in Durham they "mack a cayk & tack it to the bakers" - it's all in the pronunciation.

     

    ** A monkey washed up on shore way back when & they thought it was a French man, so they hanged it - it's all really rather embarrassing (there's a pub in Aberdeen called "The Noose & Monkey" which is run by a couple from Sunderland).

    My Town

    in Introductions

    Posted

    I think I'd prefer the South of Malta, away from all the nightclubs & obviously "touristy" bits. And Gozo sounds really interesting too - I can hardly believe there's a place in the so-called developed world where people still do their washing by hand - that I'd have to see! It all sounds lovely!

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