Kell

Author: Dan Brown ISBN #: 0552151769 Publisher: Corgi 1st published: 2002 http://www.danbrown.com/ Deep beneath the Arctic ice, NASA has located a meteorite which may hold physical evidence of life elsewhere in the Universe

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).

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!

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!

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!

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!).

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!

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.

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!]

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.

So's mine. And it was pretty sunny here too today, although the temperature was a bit more baltic than what you had - LOL!

Isn't it hilarious?! I was the same, but I love him when he's being funny - I adored Hot Shots & Hot Shots Part Deux - I laughed my fluffy bunny slippers off!

Looking forward to it. I'll find out postage & everything this weekend & then it'll be winging its way to you in sunny Malta...

Well, if you fancy finding out a bit ore about the film before you watch it, you can check it our here http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0085407/ on IMDB. Enjoy!

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.

Yeah, why not - I've got my swap list posted so take your pick if there's anything you fancy.

I think the film stars Christopher Walken (if I remember correctly). The TV show stars Anthony Michael Hall (of Wierd Science & The Breakfast Club).

I'm going to have to get hold of this one - I've been meaning to for donkey's years. I don't know why I haven't done so far!

I'll be surprised if you want any help with them - I always just want to scoff the lot - LOL!

ISBN # 0330426737 Publisher: Macmillan 1st published: 2005 Set at the turn of the last millennium & based on the Viking sagas, Odinn

I just got hold of A Boy Called It, so it's on my reading list now - I think I already know I'll be reading all of them at some point...

Our Snaps are shaped a bit like Pringles, so they're probably similar to your Swoops - they are deliciously more-ish to boot. ANd I agree about Lindt chocs - especialy the dark ones - mmmmmm!

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!

i just got myself a copy of Pet Semetary, so it's been added to my to read" list...

Ooh, goody - another fan! I'll admit, most folks just say "who?" & look puzzled when I mention her, yet I'm always recommending her works to people, left, right centre.