Looking back on 2024, I can say it has been one of the worst years, if not the worst year, of my life, both for the family, and myself.
I spent most of the Summer ill from three medical conditions, one was a slight bout of Covid.
From June, when I was scammed into thinking the book on here would be publihsed by a group of promoters on Fiverr, until yesterday, I have not had a week when a lady has tried to scam me in some way.
In July, I was told my book was getting a lot of interest, where I have no idea, the only interest I got was from "promoters" in Nigeria. I realise I could have missed a genuine opportunity for the book to sell, but any contct with Nigeria I consider a scam. Besides, from the small contacts I had with the "promoters. I know more about the world of publishing than they did; I am not surprised, they may have a degree from some University in the far outreaches of the jungle, I have had 15 years trying to be recognised as a writer, I was giving them ideas how to promote.
Since July, I adopted the mindset "Better safe than Sorry."
My hope for 2025
The year is better than 2024, if it isn't, I may not be here to welcome 2026.
One of the movies I hope to watch tonight is the film Sangam featuring Raj Kapoor, and Vyjayanthimala. Though Vyjayanthimala is in her late 80's, it is the opinion that she is as attractive as many Bollywood ladies haf her age.
I am putting this for sale on eBay, not because I dislike the film, but because one of my favourite YouTube channels uploded it.
It is no wonder Saif Ali Khan plays the noble lover opposite Vidya Balan in several movies, he has royal blood in his veins.
In Bollywood, there is a lot of talk about who is classed as the king of Bollywood; the discussion usually focuses on the Three Khans. It is true, far back, they may have been related to a royal family, hence the name, Khan.
However, Saif Ali Khan can be called the King, his mother, Sharmila Tagore, was married to the last Nawab of Pataudi, who died in 2011.I can recall watching the Nawab paying in England.
Sharmila has her own unique heritage, she hails from one of the most prominent families in Bengal.
For several years, friends asked why did I choose self-publishing over traditional publishing?
Several factors came to play, before I saw the odds of getting an agent interested in my writing were less than the odds of an ice cube staying cold on a griddle.
One of the most significant discussions I had told e several friends had books ruined by bad covers. I can see their point, I had one of my covers ruined by a group of "experts" on Fiverr this year.
The cover shown here is an amended version which I did using Amazon KDP software, in less than 15 minutes. The cover they did did not sow the title, or my name.
I accept, my range of cover images is limited to my photo stock online, that is no problem for me; I usually writemy stories to fit the cover. There is an exception, I bought the cover of The Homecoming.
That choice will haunt me forever.
Another factor is as a self-published author, I could choose what to write.
I will say, the latest attempt to scam me was the best to date, why?
The lady who approached me on Facebook a few moments ago was close to my age, and very attractive, which makes a change form being seen as either a "daddy figure," or as a "sugar daddy."
The problem was I had seen this lady before on Zangi, so I knew her game before she got started.
I did have contact with a young lady in Ukraine who asked if she could call me "daddy," as I am the age of her grandfather. When I stopped using Zangi, as it became clear, it was full of people trying to run a scam, we lost contact.
I find it amusing; my blog has readers in the USA, India, Singapore, Hong Kong, but none in the EU.
The fact Germany is falling behind in the reader chart for the blog, is not a bother for me; I had few readers there anyway.
For a while, I had readers in Russia, and even Poland. If I had a target to be read in, it would be Israel.
I don't usually aim my posts at a trend, or area; that isn't saying I won't, only it isn't my norm.
I realise this is one reason the blog struggles to get readers, but I made the choice to be my voice, and I have stayed that way over the 16 years I have been a blogger.
I appreciate, my opinions can be volatile, and often controversial, but they are my views.
Being a writer on UpWork was trying at times for me.
I had three assignments I had to turn down, the reason for two was the request was too restrictive. One person wished for a story about a character she thought about, a character I couldn't envisage.
Another wanted a story set in Chelsea, London. As the request was for an area, I expected the person knew the area; all I know of Chelsea is it is in the West End of London, and known for being up market. The person wished for a story like James Bond, a world I cannot imagine.
The third task was not so much hard to comprehend, as it was confusing. The request I was sent was for one style of writing, but each time I chatted with the sender, she changed what she wanted; we went from Harry Potter to Stephen Donaldson; in the end, I said when you decide contact me.
I don't seek Charity sites out on eBay, but if I come across ones I feel are worthy I will happily buy from them.
I don't have many sites on eBay which I avoid, but there are some such as We Buy Books, World of Boks, and Deep Discount mainly because they have attempted to sell goods they didn't have. I did try to buy a Nutan Boxset from a seller in the USA, but after taking the money, I found the seller didn't have the gods in their possession. After I checked the films, the set would have had little for me, so I saved some money on films I wouldn't have wanted.
No matter who is in Parliament, they forget one bit of intel which is VITAL to control immigration.
We need a larger Navy. The UK has a sea border of over 1,000 miles, not too mention the numerous inlets a small dinghy could enter.
I know your next question - where is the money coming from?
I had the answer before you asked the question.
CUT FOREIGN AID
You may ask isn't that being unchristian, not to offer help to those in distress. Ask yourself this question, when was the last time the UK had aid for the floods we get most years?
My view is if a country can afford new weapons, or a space programme, they have the funds to care for their country.
To my delight, I have found another book for my collection which i have been searching for.
This could be classed as a Comedy of Errors, as the Prosecuting Council had a trying time attempting to win his cases.
The stories by A.P.Herbert feature Roy Dotrice as pensioner Albert Haddock who regularly broke the law, but won his case, how?
Albert broke the law, but won his cases as he knew the law so well, he knew the old laws had not been repealed, so were technically valid, much like the law requiring London cabbies to carry a bale of hay, even though there are no horses on the roads.
The cast
Judge - Alastair Sim
Prosecuting Council - Thorley Walters
Albert Haddock - Roy Dotrice
After the third case, you could see the resignation, and frustration on the face of the prosecutor, knowing he was fighting against a man who knew more about the law than he did. But, he was paid to fight the case, though he knew he'd lost before he began.
Movie Night will be a series of posts showing the films I watch on an evening before I go to bed, some will be added to my list on eBay. This is one film I wish to keep, even if it is a romance with Vidya Balan, and Saif Ali Khan as the leads.
I have a couple of films with Saif in, the one I have seen so far is Phantom with Katrina Kaif.
I have three with Vidya Balan I have seen, Jalsa with Shefali Shah which is a murder mystery, Bhool Bhulaiyaa which is the story of the ghost of a dancer who haunts the palace she was killed in - Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 with Ms Balan has been out for a month in India - and the tragedy Begum Jaan about a hostel in the Punjab at the time of the partition, 1948. I do have more to see with Ms. Balan.
Reading, and watching Bollywood news items, and films I have learned some interesting things about the Generation Game.
Knowing a little of the cinema in India, I am curious as to which side the current generation has the stronger genetic code.
Two examples are the daughters of Dimple Kapadia (shown here), and her husband Rajesh Khanna, and their daugters, Tinkle, and Rinkle. BOth girls take after their mother in looks.
On the other hand, Kareena Kapoor, and her sister Karishma Kapoor bear a striking likeness to their great-grandfather, Raj Kapoor.
Several years ago, I came across an intriguimg missing person case involving the attack on Pearl Harbour.
The case centers on the disappearance of a Naval Lieutenant.
Timeline
27th, November, 1941, after returning from his daily walk along the hills around Pearl Harbour, he reported to the doctor "claiming" he'd slipped, and injured his arm. The doctor put his arm in a sling, and excused him duties for the rest of the week.
December 4th, 1941, the officer, now fit, went for his regular walk, but never returned to base. The world knows what happened a few days later, a date known as The Day of Infamy.
We have two scenarios here
A - He went for a walk, and had another accident which left him unable to return.
B - He came across a Japanese spotter crew whose task was to guide the planes for the attack the next day.
You could make a valid argument for either scenario, yet, one thing remains fact - his body was not found.
I go for scenario B, if he'd had the accident, his body would have turned up at some time.
Other than the attack what was their error?
Despite the superior knowledge of Japanese Intelleince networks, the news that the 7th Fleet was on an exercise, and not at harbour, was ignored.
After the attack, there was an argument between the Air Commander, and the Naval Commander of the force.
The Air Commander wanted an immediate second raid to hit the US twice, and hopefully cripple the oil supply needed for the ships coming back.
The Naval Commander argued he'd need every ounce of fuel for his planes to give air cover on their return to Japan. The Naval Commander was correct. Hitting the base a second time so soon would have been suicidal; the raid worked because of its surprise, now the US Forces would be ready, and the loss of aircrews would be horrorific. Not only that, the second wave would be flying into the fires, and fuel explosions from the opening raid.
As was proved later, getting good pilots for the Japanese air force was to be an impossible task during the War in the Pacific.
Later in World War 2, the USAAF were to experience the same dilemna when attacking Schienfurt, Germany. The first raid went well with heavy damage to the ball bearing factories, however, the raid the following week, was as the US would say a "turkey shoot." On their return, the Americans found the site proyected by flak guns, some on rails, and gunners capable of inflicting heavy losses
This is the story of how I came across the lost film of Satyajit Ray, the premier film director in India during the 1960s, and 70's.
I could say I found the film through a dedicated search stretching over years, that is partially, but not totally, true. When I read the story behind the disappearance of the short story, Mohinara, I was intirgued.
As a top director, Ray was invited to enter stories for the 1961 International Film Festival, held in Paris. He entered the trilogy Teen Kanya, a triple bill of stories about three girls, and moments that shaped their lives. However, to enter, he was asked to cut the film as his entry wsa too long. The director cut Mohinara, and left it on the floor of the cutting room, where it lay for years.
There was no trace of any part of the film since 1961, this roused my interest, and I began a search online; after a while I gave up the serious search, and did the odd hunt, but never imaging to get anywhere.
Then, the unthinakable happened!
While watching another film, on the same site, I came across a link to the lost film. My first thought was "This has to be another film of the same title." The film had been lost for over 60 years, without trace, how could I have come across it when reaswerchers with knowledge couldn't locate it?
I was wrong.
The link took me to the lost film, which I downloaded.
Most people have heard the sayings "set a thief to catch a thief," and "No honour among thieves," well they are the mottos of Reform UK.
In the election, Farage had the opportunity to take Labour seats, but chose not to, though the seats gained would have given HIS party more in the House of Commons. Why did he opt not to enhance the party?
Why did he choose the easiest seat to win? As USA readers would say, it was a "shoe-in" meaning an easy fit with no struggles, did he question his ability as an MP?
Don't forget, he is a three-time loser. Not to mention an egotist, who has three houses, none in the UK, and you thinks he cares about us; that IS the best joke yet!
If you believe the lies that Reform are growing, remember they are accepting Labour Rejects, not growing.
The challenge he entered, allowed his colleague Starmer to win the election, and now you want more of this jerk!
With what went on, I have no doubts in my mind that Starmer, and Farage were working hand-in-glove during the election.
Last year, I took eBay up on their offer to promote some ofmy DVD selection.
For me, as a private seller it turned out badly; the small % they charge took away what little profit I had from the sales; and, their promotions did nothing to boost my sales. At the time. I was trying to sell my Warhammer books.
In the film anthology Bombay Talkies, the character portrayed by Rani Mukerji claimed you can tell if a man is gay by asking if he prefers either Madhuri Dixit, or Sridevi?
Where does this put me?
I have seen several Madhuri movies, and didn't like any until the Netflix series The Fame Game. This is mainly because she spent her early years in musicals with Anil Kapoor, and Aamir Khan, and I cannot abide either of the men, or the musicals they were in.
As for Sridevi, for no particular reason I have not seen any of her films, again she appears a lot with Anil Kapoor. Sridevi didn't have a long career, though she was the top Bollywood lady of her era. Her death is a mystery, the answer to which lies with her husband Boney Kapoor.
If the family did allow an inquest, it would create more questions than it would answer, the main one would be, if you had nothing to hide, why demand there was no death certificate issued?
At the time of her "death," Sridevi had been forced out of retirement to make films to cover the cost of her husband's trials. Why I don't think it was an "accidental death" is Sridevi took out a life insurance policy which was the amount to cover Boney's bills, stating it could be paid if she died in Dubai, then she flew to the city for her daughter's wedding. By his admission, he found her drowned in the bath, but there were no water marks around the bath. This happens if the bather is taken by surprise; even if you are sleepy, as she was, if you slip under the water the gag reflex kicks in, but there were no water splashes at the scene.
At best, the death could have been classed as assisted suicide; by that I mean, Sridevi was depressed, and to overhear someone casually say, "If she died, his debts would be cleared," may have been the trigger for her to take her life, if she did?
Other things don't add up either, as the most notable face in the cinema in India, why were no images of her seen online for two days before she died? Why did the family tell the hotel not to open the door to her room for two days?
The answers to these question will NEVER be answered as the Kapoor Family are Bollywood Royalty. As I said, if they did answer the questions, it would lead to more questions, and after hiding the truth for several years, would you believe them?
Many people will say, a person's past criminal record should not be brought up in a trial, as it could influence the jury.
I suffered verbal abuse for over 30 years, and if charged my step-son would only have been charged for one offence; even though the abuse, which three times turned violent had gone on for years.
In the UK, threat of violence is not classed as criminal action; no matter how long it goes on. The Police could not act as the law hadn't been broken as I had not been attacked at the time, and the Social Services were biased against me as I was the step-father.
My wife stood by and let it go on, if she did react, it was to tell me to leave the room, which made me the culprit, not the victim, and re-enforced my step-son's position.
Things got so bad for me, I was on the point of emigrating to Canada when my friend there died, in 2009.
I have always said the past should be shown, as it can give a true representation of the character. In the Dominique Pelicot case, the crimes were committed over a period of a decade.
You can call me Barbaric for what I am about to say, but remember what the husband did to Dominique Pelicot, before passing judgement on my comments.
After what the lady went through, there is NO PUNISHMENT too severe.
Men who r##e women, in my view should be sentenced to the roughest prisons. The guards should be told to turn a blind eye, and throw the keys away. In cases like this, any lady could a target for this type of criminal. one of the accused had got out of prison months before, after serving 14 years for committing the same crime against his 14-year-old daughter.
A long time ago, I was a writer on a site based in Amsterdam, called Angie's Diary. I had been introduced to the site by my friend, Paula Shene,
My stories quickly became popular, as many of the stories I wrote on friend's blogs had done.
Angiw often thanked me for giving her site link backs, this happens when one site links with another, as here, this was my page on Angie's Diary. As you see, I left the site in 2014, why did I leave?
Why did I leave?
There are several reason I left the site.
Though I was getting thanked for the link backs, my blog never got any readers from the 1,500 people reading the site.
The most damnng time came when Angie made two decisions which drove many writers away.
The first was backed by most of us writing on her site, she banned publicity of books by authors with a contract. Her next action went too far by many of us, we were banned from writing, only allowed to comment on her posts.
I never regretted leaving the site, why would I, the site did northing foer me,
There is a great irony, known to few, other than myself about the success of my Science Fiction series.
The biggest irony is prior to writing the series, I had read little science fiction, I preferred Military History.
The great advantage to writing science fiction is nobody can fault you on your scenarios, as you created the world you write about.
My preferred genre to be recognised in would have been as a writer of a ghost story. One of my ghost stories earned an award in a Facebook writing contest.
In a way, my award-winning eBook - The Chronicles of Mark Johnson - could be classed as a ghost story, I prefer to consider it a series about demonology.
Many years ago, I wrote an online serial for several weeks; it was loosely based on the classic Ray Bradbury science fiction story -Fahrenheit 451- I added more twists from my warped world of science fiction. A world which later created my bestselling eBook series - Forgestriker - the first four stories have sold over 1,100 eBooks.
At one time, the serial had over 100 daily readers, why did I stop the serial? It became apparent that figure was not a true figure, boosted by readers being bored with Christmas TV, once the period ended the figures dropped to a point were I was writing more pages than I got readers. That didn't mean I wrote a lot, but I had few readers, at this stage I ended the serial.
Later, I tried to turn my stories into an eBook serial, but by this time my sales were next to nil, and have remained as such since 2013. I found the files for my story a few years ago, I had written over 90 pages of this story, and I had visions of the story doing more, what was the point?
Years ago, I had friend in Canada, at the time we were friends I respected her views, until she proved to be not only a hypocrite, but a mindless moron.
If you have to be taught what to think, you are not human, you have become an automaton. You thought brainwashing was only done in Gautama Bay, it goes on underground under a new name. To conform one thing, this practice has been outlawed by the West since the 1960s.
What caused the change of Opinion?
During one conversation, she she said was going to fitness classes in Edmonton, she lives in Bonnyville. To give you some idea of the distance, that is about the same as going from Los Angeles to Seattle. Okay, in her area there is little between the cities, but what stopped her from watching videos?
The next thing is she is going on about how evil the world is, and how Jesus will return to save us. Okay, I may not agree with her, but as Voltaire is quoted as saying "I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend your right to say it to my death."
This is were the hypocrisy enters the stage.
If you didn't know her, and read her messages, you would think she lived hand-to-mouth from handouts. Nothing is further from the truth. That last time we chatted, she said her husband had paid for a tree-person sauna to be fitted. Both of them have cars, belong to the golf club, during the summer she is also the cook for the club.
That is why I unfriended her on Facebook 15 years ago. She only got back in touch this year for my birthday.
While many people were looking forward to watching this film star's new film at Christmas, my wife and I were watching Black & While films from the 1940's.
I continued the trend when I went to my room, before going to bed I would watch a movie from India.
I have been asked many times, what do I enjoy about Black & White films? The answer is easy to understand; in the days before colour, a film needed a good plot to keep the viewers attention. Which is why I still prefer the original vampire movie, Nosferatu, from Germany, than any modern version.
What will we watch over New Year' Eve, we have a good selection of Black & White films to watch, aided by YouTube videos.
Don't get me wrong, there are some modern films I would like to see.
The news of a farmer's suicide this week, will NOT affect the rich fat cats of Labour.
His note saying he didn't want to become a tax burden under the new Inheritance Tax laws will be the first of many I fear. The farming community subsists on a knife edge in the best of times with this year's meagre gain paying last years' overdraft, which is why farmers hate the hunting of foxes as much as anyone does; those people do far more damage in two or three hours than any poor fox can in several years.
I doubt the new tax laws will be implemented on the members of Labour who have inherited wealth such as Sir Keir Starmer. Foxes do more good than harm for the countryside, they clean up roadkill, and keep down the rodent population; they pose NO THREAT to humans, cats, or dogs.
Instead of hitting the farmers, the government should be doing what the USA does, and begin a programme to help them. Labour are responsible for destroying many industries over the years, not only the steelworks, but the fishing trade. They forget, as an island we cannot feed ourselves, especially now we have mass illegal immigration each week.
The Bitter Truth about Labour
Under Labour it is cheaper to buy coal, and steel from Scandinavia, than to produce ours; that cost includes the cost of shipping.
The 1978 movie Dom featuringAmitabh Bachchan is a colour remake of the the 1956 Black & white film Chinatown featuring Shammi Kapoor.
The plot centres around a character, in the original he is a singer, who is asked by the police to infiltrate a gang safter the death of the gang's leader in a car chase. The only person who knows of the death is the Police Inspector chasing him.
Zeenat Aman plays the singer who is in love with the leader, and suspects that the lookalike is not the leader, but she has her reasons for not outing him. This role was played by Helen Richardson Khan in the original.
Helen also appears in this version as the mother with a secret of her own to tell.
I decided not to point out the numerous typos in the videos I watch from India, on YouTube.
There are several reasons for this.
If the uploader cannot get the information correct, why should I point out their lax attitude?
From what I have seen, the correcting could be a never ending task.
Does anyone care about me pointing the error out?
It only takes a few seconds to check your information, if you disrespect your viewers enough not to check your spelling, why should I point out your lax behaviour?
I don't have a date for closingmy eBay page; that decision lies with the buyers. For now, all I can say is that I won't be adding to the 30+ DVDs on sale, unless there are more sales, I don't see the point of adding items which are not selling.
Whether you look back to the begginings of the Cinema in India, or view today's scene in what is called Bollywood, one family has its threads running through all eras, the Kapoor family.
The great grandfather is Prithviraj Kapoor who often perforned with Durga Khote back in the late 40's. Until recently, with the ascent of Kareena Kapoor, and her sister, Karisma Kapoor, the most known were Raj Kapoor who founded R.K. Films, and his brother Shashi Kapoor who was married to Jennifer Kendall.
Though I enjoy most, not all, of the family, I dislike Rishi Kapoor, and Shakti Kapoor.
Long ago, I stopped trying to trace which member is related to which part of the family, as some of the family are related via uncles, and brothers of aunts. Being in the movie circle limits who your family see fit for you to marry, they are linked to the Tagore family a well-known Bengal family of poetsvia Kareena, who is married to Saif Ali Khan, the son of Sharmila Tagore.
Many of the DVD selection I am trying to sell on eBay are through an error of judgement.
I bought some featuring ladies such as Madhuri Dixit, Raveena Tandon, and Rani Mukerji thinking I'd enjoy them, only to find I can't stand watching the lead actors such as Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Govinda to mention a few.
Now the shop is closing, I have learned to be more careful when buying a DVD.
One thing you need to consider when charting the rise of anything, is how much the rise is caused by outside factors.
This I think is what is happening with Reform UK, they are not so much growing, after all Farage refused to challenge several key Labour seats, which when they fell would have enhanced his party.
I think a large proportion of the people who are saying they'd vote for Reform are Labour voters who feel wronged by Starmer, and his cronies.
Why shouldn't they?
A 61-year old man was put in jail, and died there, for speaking against a Muslim attacker; while men who attacked three policeman at Manchester Airport, breaking ones nose, were allowed to walk free for several weeks.
Add to this, cutting pensioners winter fuel allowance; cutting the allowance was NOT political, as many young people have grandparents who are pensioners, and now live in the cold wondering it is better to have a hot meal, or put the heating on for a short while?
If that isn't enough, illegal immigrants are being housed in hotels at the cost of the tax payer, while our young people are left on the streets; one young man died in a store car park last week :( :(
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