Stories (1194/0)
I Read It In Books
I am constantly surprised at the number of people who do not not read books. They give excuses that they are too busy , they can’t concentrate and it’s easier to watch the film or TV series. I was saddened when my mother gave two sets of encyclopaedias to my brother and sister because she decided she didn’t like books. She taught me to read before I hit primary school when I was 4 , so she was well aware of how important reading was, and I am thankful for that. I also did the same for my daughters, much to the chagrin of some of their teachers.
By Mike Singleton - Mikeydred2 years ago in Journal
Words With Friends, Tom Waits , Repairman Jack and The Adversary Cycle
My last few posts have been more focussed on single item although this is more about where I am at the moment. I had been playing Scrabble on Facebook with a few friends but it became less stable to the point of often not being able to play , and so I went back to Words With Friends which I had left about eight years back due to the number of pop up adverts that stopped me from playing, or at least slowed it down.
By Mike Singleton - Mikeydred2 years ago in Lifehack
Writing On Vocal (with some tips)
When I saw the ads for Vocal , I was a bit wary although my interest was piqued. It posited that you would become more disciplined with your writing and therefore be able to write better and more often and maybe even get paid for it. Anything that says you can make money is another red flag, very often the first thing that happens is that you are asked for money, then you don’t make enough to cover what you have paid out and the only people who profit are the people that you have paid.
By Mike Singleton - Mikeydred2 years ago in Journal
Copy Right?
This is essentially a diatribe on how copyright law is applied when you share on social media platforms such as YouTube , Facebook and Instagram . As yet I have had no issues with Twitter. The thing is I understand if the artist is not getting any benefit for my share , or I am being disrespectful, but where I can I share a link to buy the CD or digital copy.
By Mike Singleton - Mikeydred2 years ago in Beat
Hello May, Beltane and Jordan Reyne
It is an incredibly bright and sunny morning, though as I am writing this I am not sure what the temperature is like outside , although I will know by the time I finish this. I have been out and though it is clouding over it seems that winter has truly been banished and spring is moving towards summer, so weatherwise we are in a more clement atmosphere a;lthough there are still some dark clouds overhead , but as long as they wait until tonight before drenching us that will be fine.
By Mike Singleton - Mikeydred2 years ago in Beat
Seven Days In Krautrockland
At the end of the sixties many bands had dabbled with non standard music, such as the Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd who were not averse to producing extended soundscapes based on the actual sounds rather than standard song progressions.
By Mike Singleton - Mikeydred2 years ago in Beat
A Computer Steals My Life
I bought my dad a laptop for his 80th birthday. He virtually never used it, so I bought him a tablet and he gave me the laptop back. He likes the tablet, it's easy to use though he's still getting to grips with the concept of wifi, but he likes using it to watch youtube videos and research things via Google. So far so good.
By Mike Singleton - Mikeydred2 years ago in Lifehack
More Good Technology
After going on about the concept of distributed power (posited in the excellent F Paul Wilson book “Legacies”), this morning something happened (that has happened before) when I tried to photograph the moon which looked rather close , so I took a picture with my Canon camera that has a 25x optical zoom and 100x digital zoom (I think the more megapixels your camera has then the better the digital zoom will be) although when you get to very high zooms you need a way of stabilising the camera , just holding your device won’t do it. As an example my Google Pixel 2XL phone had one of the best cameras when it came out but only has a 7x digital zoom.
By Mike Singleton - Mikeydred2 years ago in 01
Reading and Pain
This morning I started the second book in the Adversary series by F Paul Wilson (“The Tomb” introducing, I think , Repairman Jack) after finishing “The Keep” which I found a good read although it’s not to everyone’s taste. Second World War intertwined with Gothic horror and “The Tomb” is a continuation although the ending of “The Keep” did not really indicate that there may be a sequel. The Michael Mann was apparently a financial and artistic disaster but does have a cult following but with Ian McKellen and Gabriel Byrne in the cast I will have to revisit it. I am sure I have watched it, but like so many many times I think I thought the film was not up to the book.
By Mike Singleton - Mikeydred2 years ago in Beat
Test
1: Where Do I Begin? This is a follow on from the National Novel Writing Post. In order to write a novel in a month you would have to maintain an output of two thousand words a day. As yet I have not even written that many words this week, let alone today. So last night I thought could I sit down and write two thousand words on the task of writing two thousand words or preparing for a novel. I have distractions, but am going to give it a go. This is not about quality, but entirely about quantity. I know there are people who can sit down, type and not be distracted. I am not one of those creatures. I have my first distraction about a hundred words into this task but will continue this later. It is eight thirty now, fifteen and a half hours left to complete my task!!
By Mike Singleton - Mikeydred2 years ago in Lifehack
