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Kell

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    My Town

    in Introductions

    Posted

    LOL! That's the funniest description on London I've ever heard! I was in London just olast week & had a whale of a time there. There were loads of folks wandering aruond the Hammersmith aera wearnig Dream Theater t-shirts (I was one of them) & they were all nodding at each otehr & saying "hello" even though nobody knew each other. Right enough, other folks (who weren't wearing the t-shirts) were looking at us a bit funny. Maybe they thought WE were that secret society! Of course, we were all wearing stilts to hide the fact that we're all only 3 foot 6 - LOL!

    My Town

    in Introductions

    Posted

    Aberdeen - The Silver City - Energy Capital of Europe

     

    I currently live in the beautiful city of Aberdeen, up in the North East of Scotland, right on the coast. Many (in fact, most) of the buildings here are built of granite & when the sun hits them, they literally sparkle (hence the nick-name The Silver City). Contrary to popular belief, Aberdeen usually gets more hours of sunshine every year than almost anywhere else in Britain! (This from a place renowned for its constant rain!). We also have access to North Sea Oil & have vast wind farms off the coast as well as on land, so we've been awarded the title of Energy Capital of Europe - rather prestigious!

     

    I feel pretty lucky to live here, as not only do I have all the convenience of city-living, as soon as you're out of the centre of town, it changes completely & the 'burbs are more small-town-ish. There are many beautiful parks & public gardens, including the famous Winter Gardens at Duthie Park, which are almost entirely indoors in a massive greenhouse-like structure which displays plants from all over the world & the Cruickshank Gardens at Aberdeen University (we have 2 Uni's - there's Robert Gordon's too) which is so beautiful I had to have my wedding pictures taken there.

     

    We have a wonderful beach with golden sands, but unfortunately, it's marred by the fact that we also have Britain's largest seagulls which aren't at all afraid of people & will quite happily swoop down & pinch your fish & chips rather than hunt for food in the natural way.

     

    On the other 3 sides of the city we have some of the most beautiful countryside you will ever have the pleasure of seeing - all rolling hills & green fields, with two rivers running through it (& through the city itself), the Dee & the Don (our football team, Aberdeen FC is nicknamed The Dons after the river closest to their grounds at Pittodrie).

     

    Aberdeenshire has literally hundreds of standing stone circles, single standing stones & recumbent stones - if you go hiking, you can't help coming across several all in the same area. There's a rich Celtic history here & some of the folks in the highland areas still speak Gaelic as their 1st language with English as their 2nd (our local TV station, Grampian TV, stills runs Gaelic programmes to cater for this). Lots of castles, both ruined & maintained - all wonderful to explore. There's also the Whisky Trail, the Coastal Trail & Royal Deeside (where the Queen stays - Balmoral!) to see.

     

    All in all, you couldn't ask for a nicer place to live.

     

    And before anyone asks - I'm not even Scottish - I'm originally from Northumberland, so I'm a Geordie lass - LOL!

    My Town

    in Introductions

    Posted

    Well, here it is, the thread to tell everyone a little about where you live. Come on, tell us all about your home town (or city, village, hamlet, whatever - even if you live in the middle of nowhere!).

    Favorite Poet?

    in Poetry, Plays & Short Stories

    Posted

    Aha! I am little Miss Clever-puss - I have found the explaination & here it is:

     

    'You seem very clever at explaining words, Sir,' said Alice.

    'Would you kindly tell me the meaning of the poem called Jabberwocky?'

     

    'Lets hear it,' said Humpty Dumpty.

     

    'I can explain all the poems that ever were invented - and a good many that haven't been invented just yet.'

     

    This sounded very hopeful, so Alice repeated the first verse:

     

    'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

    Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

    All mimsy were the borogoves,

    And the mome raths outgrabe

     

    'That's enough to begin with,' Humpty Dumpty interrupted: 'there are plenty of hard words there. Brillig means four o'clock in the afternoon - the time when you begin broiling things for dinner.

     

    'That'll do very well,' said Alice: 'and slithy?'

     

    'Well, slithy means 'lithe and slimy'. 'Lithe' is the same as 'active'. You see, its like a portmanteau - there are two meanings packed up into one word.'

     

    'I see it now,' Alice remarked thoughtfully: 'and what are toves ?'

     

    'Well', toves are something like badgers - they're something like lizards - and they're something like corkscrews.' 'They must be very curious-looking creatures.'

     

    'They are that,' said Humpty Dumpty; 'also they make their nests under sun-dials - also they live on cheese.'

     

    'And what's to gyre and to gimble?' 'To gyre is to go round and round like a gyroscope. To gimble is to make holes like a gimlet.'

     

    And the wabe is the grass-plot round a sun-dial, I suppose?' said Alice, surprised at her own ingenuity. 'Of course it is. It's called wabe you know, because it goes a long way before it, and a long way behind it - 'And a long way beyond it on each side,' Alice added.

     

    'Exactly so. Well then, mimsy is 'flimsy and miserable' (there's another portmanteau for you). And a borogove is a thin shabby-looking bird with its feathers sticking out all round - something like a live mop.'

     

    'And then mome raths ?' said Alice. 'I'm afraid I'm giving you a great deal of trouble.' 'Well, a rath is a sort of green pig: but mome I'm not certain about. I think it's short for 'from home' - meaning that they'd lost their way, you know.'

     

    'And what does outgrabe mean?' 'Well, outgribing is something between bellowing and whistling, with a kind of sneeze in the middle: however, you'll hear it done, maybe - down in the wood yonder - and, when you've once heard it, you'll be quite content. Who's been repeating all that hard stuff to you?'

     

    'I read it in a book,' said Alice

     

    Taa-daaaa!

    More than one at once?

    in General Book Discussions

    Posted

    I used to have anything up to half a dozenon the go at once & would have them deposited all over the place so I'd never be too far from a book. Lately, though, I've been doing the one-book-at-a-time thing as I work my way through my list. I'm not sure why other than I find it easier to write aw review if I'm only concentrating on one book. That said, I often start the next book while I'm mulling that last one over to work on the review, so i suppose that defeats the purpose really - LOL!

     

    I think that if I ever get to the end of my "to read" list, I may well go back to more than one on the go at a time, but I'll be honest & admit that i usually do that with books I've read before, so they don't require my full attention as I already know what happens.

    Favorite Poet?

    in Poetry, Plays & Short Stories

    Posted

    The only poem I've ever really loved is Jabberwocky which was in Through the Looking Glass & What Alice Found There by Lewis Carol. It's basically a nonsense poem, but it's such fun & filled with such drama that I always adored it & it's the only poem I've ever committed to memory. And if yuo ever want to know what the words mean, read the book - Humpty Dumpty expllains a lot of it to Alice personally!

     

    JABBERWOCKY

    `Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

    Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

    All mimsy were the borogoves,

    And the mome raths outgrabe.

     

    "Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

    The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

    Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun

    The frumious Bandersnatch!"

     

    He took his vorpal sword in hand:

    Long time the manxome foe he sought --

    So rested he by the Tumtum tree,

    And stood awhile in thought.

     

    And, as in uffish thought he stood,

    The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,

    Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,

    And burbled as it came!

     

    One, two! One, two! And through and through

    The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!

    He left it dead, and with its head

    He went galumphing back.

     

    "And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?

    Come to my arms, my beamish boy!

    O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'

    He chortled in his joy.

     

    `Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

    Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

    All mimsy were the borogoves,

    And the mome raths outgrabe.

     

    [PS It made a wonderful film too!]

    Maureen

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    See, that's where I disagree - Spin City just wasn't the same without Michael J Fox in it - that's when I stopped watching really & only caught a few episodes every now & then.

    Stephen King - The Dead Zone.

    in Horror / Fantasy / SF

    Posted

    How about Gerald's Game, does that take your fancy? It's a slightly battered, much-read, well-loved book (I just checked inside the cover & it's got my maiden name in it & is dated 1999, so I've had it a fair while). It's not a "horror" per se - more of a thriller & very much set in reality, so you might well enjoy it. I'll be pleased to swap it & widen your King repertoir.

    Maureen

    in Past Book Logs

    Posted

    Have you watched the TV series at all? I saw a few episodes here & there & it looked pretty good. I've never seen the movie yet though - I always seem to miss it when it's on!

    The Chronicles of Narnia by C S Lewis

    in Children's / Young Adult

    Posted

    Most definitely! It's been said that there has been permission given for 3 movies (I'm guessing at Prince Caspian & possibly The Silver Chair as being the other 2 after Lion), but I'm hoping they'll eventually do all of them!

     

    I loved the animated movie & really enjoyed the series they did a few years back (they did Lion, Caspian & Dawn Treader).

     

    I've always loved the books...

    Children's Books.. for adults too?

    in Children's / Young Adult

    Posted

    Quite a few recently, including Raven's Gate by Anthony Horowitz & The Book of Dead Days by Marcus Sedgwick. I also love Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series.

     

    Several of Pratchett's books have been aimed at younger folks, such as The Amazing Morris & His Educated Rodents, Hat Full of Sky & Wee Free Men, not to mention The Brommeliad (the Nome Triligy of Truckers, Diggers & Wings) - they all count as firm favourites of mine. As do the Chronicals of Narnia in their entirity.

     

    I also read both Witch Child & Sorceress by Celia Rees, then went & looked for another of her books & came away with The Vanished - all three were very good. The Devil's Footsteps by E E Richardson was another one aimed at kids.

     

    Not to mention the wonderful Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark haddon which has been given critical acclaim.

     

    All these are without taking into account the Harry Potter series. I'm proud to say I often peruse the children's fiction section both in bookshops & the library (where Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca was nestled discretely on the shelf under "Teen Fiction"!). I'll gladly put my hand up & say "I love children's books!"

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