Jean Harlow

 She is not what you think

Red-headed woman

To many, Jean Harlow is the original platinum blonde star of the late 1920's, but her hair was not the dazzling blonde you see in her movies. Jean was oriignally an ash-blonde. The dazzling blonde look was achieved with a daily dose on ammonia, clorox, and lux flakes.

The daily mix while not the only cause of her death, hastened her already weakend health, there were several causes which contributed to her death at the young age of 27, including blood poisoning from a massive tooth extraction she underwent as a teen, and a serious bout of influenza; but there is no doubt the ammonia burned her scalp and caused the kidney infection which killed her.

What a choice!

 Jean Harlow

Myrna Loy

In the movie, Wife versus Secretary, the ravishing Myrna Loy plays a wife who is concerned her husband played by Clark Gable is having an affair with his secretary, played by Jean Harlow.

Myrna Loy is recalled as the wife in The Thin Man series with Jean Harlow's husband, William Powell.

Clark Gable's wife, Carol Lombard, died in a plane crash in 1942, one theory is she flew back, instead of catching the train as she thought Clark was having an affair with Lana Turner.

Miss Lombard, and Mr. Powell appeared together in the film My man,Godfrey.                         

I am losing my memory

 The Thin Man Mystery

                                                             Missing DVDs

Two months ago, I ordered The Complete Thin Man Collection box set from eBay; they arrived, yet I have no recollection of the delivery, but I recall seeing them in our front room. Now, I can't find the set; the easiest thing to do would be to re-order the set, they are worth the £25 I paid, but that wouldn't solve the question of what happened to the first set?

This isn't the first time something like this happened in the months since my wife passed away in January, a few weeks after she died, we had a visit from a member of Bristol City Council about tenancy changes, I put my keys down, and have not seen them in the last six months

Does Rekha have the same issues as Greta Garbo had?

 Rekha

                                                   Sharmila Tagore

                                                         The Allure of the Older Lady

I can't help wondering if the Fashion Icon of Bollywood, Rekha, has the same issues that plagued the great Greta Garbo?

At the height of her popularity, Garbo walked away from Hollywood, she didn't want to her fans to see her age. Rekha had issues with her figure when she begam her film career, producers called her "frumpy, plain." These days she is rarely seen without impeccable clothing, and make-up. 

I can understand how she may feel, some ladies don't age well, while others such as Sharmila Tagore, Waheeda Rehman, and Mala Sihna keep their looks, my opinion. Others such as Helen Richardson have gained beauty, my opinion, in their later years

My Bollywood Mystery

 R.I.P. Linda

                                                                 The Missing DVDs

In the months since my wife's death, in January, 2025, I have been searching for two Bollywood dvds I bought.

Bibhas is the story of a doctor who exposes a colleague as a criminal for cheating his patients by using diluting the medicines, and overcharging them.

Kalyug is a modern version of the Hindi classic story, Mahabharata, about the rivalry of two strong-willed brothers. This version of the story features Shashi Kapoor, Raj Baabar, and Rekha. I had a buyer for Kalyug on eBay, which is how I found I had mislaid the disc

Arrogance or Stupidity?

 Kamala Harris

Arrogance be thy downfall

As Kamala Harris is trending on Twitter, I am brought back to her Election speech, when she said on television, "If I am President, I can put you out of a job, and ruin your family, and there's nothing you can do about it!"

There is only one way of viewing her statement, she thought there was no way she could lose the election. How is that for arrogance.

The obviouis reaction came when she lost, "she lost because she's a woman in a man's world." NO! She lost as she said she could make families destitute, and didn't give a damn about what her actions did.

The last of June's Journey

 June's Journey

Why Cheat?

Last night, I played my final round of June's Journey, until now I had enjoyed playing the game, so what turned enjoyment into a nightmare?

The short version is I didn't enjoy playing it anymore.

The reasons are many

At least two people are using cheat codes. This is plain to see as their scores are almost identical on each level.

The game has gone to extra-ordinary levels of difficulty, where they will stop your progress from reaching 100%, and advancing to the next stage by as little as 1% to get you to use energy, and buy more input.

Another factor is that I now strugglt to stay in the top 15, whereas before I was rarely out of the top 5 of a level, and I am certain many of those above me are using a cheat code.

My Bestselling Science Fiction series is selling again

 Book 1 of the Forgestriker series

I am in SHOCK

Last night, the opening eBook in my science fiction series Forgestriker, Sons of Baal, sold.

When the series came out in 2011, the seven-books sold over 1,200 eBooks, which is more impressive when you consider none of the last three books sold. The bestseller in the series is the title book, Forgestriker, which sold over 600 copies in only four months.

I had planned another set of books, but the sales died off after six months; despite the mass of sales, I never had a "threepeat," selling enough eBooks to be paid for three consecutive months by Draft2Digital.

What shocks me more is this is the second month in succession I have sold an eBook, I haven't done this well in years, though I am still not considering being piad as I am well below the $10.00 minimum for payout, if I get paid at all; D2D were reliable once, since joining with Smashwords they are now being viewed as a scam. I never trusted Smashwords, and reading reports from other writers using the site, who say they never get paid, my original thoughts were solidified.

On the Buses

 The case for Muslim stupidity

Muslim Crimes

I had planned a peaceful day out today, the main reason for my trip was to pay my espects at the place of rest for my wife, who passed away in January.

However, the trip hadn't been in progress when two Muslim women on the bus began an argument with another lady, also a Muslim, what was the cause?

A slur on their culture, no.

A slur on the lady's character, no.

The cause was the child of the lady being attacked, had turned to look around,as young children.

The two "ladies" causing the row were obviously mother, and daughter, traits like these are shared via genetics; plus they looked very similar. Apart from the stupidity of causing a row over something so trivial, that ended in them getting told to leave the bus, the older women said the child was sexualising her, what a lot of BS, the child was barely 3.

Where can I buy your books?

 The Big Joke

Nerja

When I began reading this comment I was excited at the prospect of an eBook sale, yet a little confused. At the time, my writing was only on sale on Amazon, and I asked myself why ask when all you need do is look for me on Amazon?

As time has passed, I have gone from the excitement at the prospect of a sale, to almost saying "the joke is on you, for trying to get my interested."

To my Daling Linda,

 Happy Anniversary

R.I.P. Linda

Today should have been a wonderful day of celebration for us, it would have been our 39th wedding anniversary, instead, it is a day of deep sorrow for; it is the first time in 39 years you are not with me, love.

We miss you so much, yet we are grateful your pain and misery has ended. You never liked having your photograph taken, so we have few on file, but you left us with wonderful memories, and a residue of love which will not dry

No readers in the UK

  Pacific Rim

It's no surprise

I have known for a long time, my blog has no readers in the UK. Recent figure show a mass of readers in Hong Kong, Mexico, and Singapore, but few - if any - in the UK.

Many years ago, a buyer asked why do I write like an American? My reply shook him. I said, "the majority of my ebook sales are in the USA

The Allure of the Older lady

 Only Fans

                         Young ladies online  

I have nothing against the young ladies who hope to get me to join Only Fans, some of them I find very attractive, as the young lady who stopped chatting on Twitter this afternoon is.

The issue is at my age, I would have preffered an older lady, not a girl in her 20's.     

Another factor is I would prefer the sex chat during a friendship, rather than on a sex site.    

At the moment, I am not seeking anothe relationship, my wife passed away a few months ago, and it would not be fair on another lady if I began a relationship as we were together for almost 40 years

Nobody cared

 Lymphoma

The ghost of Linda Mary Place

All my life, I wondered what was causing the lumps in my armpits, I tried lots of things from pumice stone, to attempting to pick the lumps off, but nothing worked.

My parents never cared about me beyong what they felt was needed, the minimum, and never enqiuired how I was; it was only when I started dating the young lady who I would marry, that someone took notice.

This week, I found the name for my condition, Lymphoma,  the condition is not dangerous; I have had the condition as long as I can recall, and it is treatable with a good recovery rate

Muslim Crimes

 Egypt

Protect the Innocent

Three years ago, in Cairo, Egypt, FOUR MUSLIMS r@@ed a lady from Australia, they got off this crime as only three of them admitted the crime, by Islam law, it takes four men to commit r@@e.

In my book - Untold Truths - I intended for the female character to tell her male counterpart of the crimes Muslim are commiting, he didn't know about the crimes in Europe, he was based in London. However, I changed my mind fro listing the crimes, to giving a general report, there are so many, and continuing, it would take a book to list what they have done so far.

Protect the innocent

 Sweden

                                         Muslim Crimes

The overall view in Scandinavia of Sweden is one of distrust, and revulsion, here is another example why Norway, and Finland dislike Sweden, apart from a reason going back into the realms of history.

Last week, despite the Swedish parliament saying publicly they want to expel Muslims, and ban them from entering the country, if you believe that you are deluded, a judge cleared FOURTEEN MUSLIM YOUTHS from the crime of the mass r##e of a 14-year-old girl, his excuse is "rap###s are victims too," can you believe that BS, well coming from Sweden, I can.

Three years ago, the Norwegian Premier told Sweden, if you don't close your borders, we WILL send in the Army to protect our country. Finland has a policy of any criminal whose crime demands expulsion, has their photograph sent to all points they could enter the state. You can disguise yourself, but with modern facial recognition software, you cannot hide your facial structure

I didn't intend the story to go this way

 Untold Truths

Available on Amazon

My story, Untold Truths, thas taken on a life of its own; my orginal story - A Homecoming - was about a Jewish writer returning to Israel, he falls for a lady, but his editorial ambitions get in the way of the romance.

The story did touch on the LGBT issue, but only in passing as Tel Aviv has the second largest pride parade, only beaten by New York. I don't plan a story, I tried once, and the result was a disaster; the extended version could become an LGBT book, as the two main characters are now ladies.

Switzerland

 Journey into the Unknown

The life of a Blog

Before I get comments on this image, I know it is NOT Switzerland, this is a historic image of Greenland, why is it historic?

I took this photo en-route to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, in 2009. Less than a year later there was a massive volcano eruption which closed airlines crossing the Atlantic Ocean for weeks as the air filled with ash, this part of Greenland sank into the Arctic Ocean.

Back to the point of this article, today, the blog had some readers in Switzerland, this is the first time either of my blogs had readers there

Why cheat?

 June's Journey

Lac La Biche

It would please me to top a section in June's Journey, but I realise it is not likely to happen, why?

I have noticed, each section is topped by the same two names, either one person is playing two games, or two people are using the cheat code available online.

I have been able to reach third postion in several section of the game, I doubt I will better those positions, I am satisfied to be third, do my best, and know I didn't cheat.

I can see the thrill if you are an ego-driven person of seeing your name at the top, but using a cheat defeats the challenge for me. My late friend, Faye Dupre, and I noticed this in a game we played while I worked for  her in Lac La Biche, Alberta, Canada, in the late Summer and Fall of 2009. Within an hour of the weeks game opening, the same two names topped the list.

I know the ladies were cheating as the totals they achieved were impossible to achieve without AI assistance, the average score per minute was regular, nobody can maintain a regular score without assistance.

The ghost of Linda Mary Place

 R.I.P. Linda

                                              Ghosts don't dance

Technically, my wife has not left a ghost, yet going upstairs, I can still see the position her body was in when she held her final breath.

Her final years were wracked with pain and issues with her disability getting worse.

Her great fear was to end her life as her mother did, suffering from dementia; it can't have helped knowing her sister, who is eight years older, had a stroke months before she passed away, we were told a few weeks after my wife passed, her sister had another stroke, and now has no memory of her life.

Linda passed as she wished, in a house full of love, with her family by her side. Her other fear was to die in a hospital.

Department of Works and Pensions

 Armed Forces Pension

The Plight of the Pensioner

Several weeks ago, I was informed by a lady from the DWP that I was eligible for an Armed Forces Pension. I had not tried to claim this Pension as I thought you had to serve 10 years, or more, to qualify, and as I served six years,in the Royal Air Force, I thought I wouldn't be eligble.

It transpired, if you serve more than two years, you are eligible for a small pension. I did apply, but because I didn't have the details needed for the forms to be filled out I got nowhere, in retrospect this is a good thing, why?

While I was working for Bristol City Council, I wondered why men with two pensions were working, most of the earnings would have gone in taxes?

I never saw myself in that position, but I could have been, if this application had gone through, I would probably have lost it under the Labour government to fund more illegal immigrants.

As it is, my wife and I were not able to get Pension Credit with my two pensions taking us over the threshold.

The Happiest days of our lives

  Wedding Anniversary

Happy Anniversary

39 years ago, the young lady above, and I, entered an a new, and exciitng phase of our lives, as we prepared for our wedding. Our friends thought it would not last three years, as she had a son who took a dislike to me from the start, our marriage lasted for 38 years; August 16th would have been our 39th wedding anniversary.

With the passing in January of my beautiful wife, I face the future alone. we have children, but I lack the love from my wife, and life is too hard to continue

Can you beat the truth out of a person?

 Noir Writer

                                                   Netflix

When I watch crime series based in India on Netflix, they remind me of the 1950's in the USA, when all that mattered was solving the crime.

The common thread running through most is that violence can be tolerated to get the results, much like my short story from 2011. This story was praised for its realism by a poice officer I chatted to at the time, from Queensland, Australia.

To me, this raises the question, do you get the truth, or do you get the answer the person suffering the beating thinks you wish to hear, to stop the beatings?

I admit, I like films with a darker edge to them; the grit of life shows through.

A growing Roman Catholic following

 Hindu

                                                                           Cinema in India

I have nothing against posting about religion, not that I do a lot about the subject, other than posting about Hindu films from India, as I post often about Bollywood

Until this week, my posts didn't have much following in the Roman Catholic world, other than Poland, and Mexico; this week, they have been joined by Lithuania, Estonia, Romania,and Spain. I haven't posted much about Spain on this blog, but I did a lot on my old blog; at the time I was into films, and series on Netflix based in Spain

IMDb Correction

 Nargis Dutt

Dilip Kumar

This week, I sent in a correction to IMDB about the Bollywood movie Babul, featuring Nargis Dutt, Dilip Kumar, and Munawar Sultana.

What was the correction?

In one phot, the person adding the names has the lady named as Nargis Dutt, when she is Munawar Sultana. From the image above, you can see the ladies are differentt, Nargis is the ladyat the top of the dvd cover.

If you read my blog, you will know one of my pet peeves is incorrectly naming actors, I found masses of these errors on YouTube, considering most of the uploaders are in India, you would think for a few seconds extra they would take care to put the correct information on their video

The Good Old Days

 USA Today

Many thanks to readers in the USA

Tonight, I wish to thank readers of this blog in the USA.

For the first time in over a year, you gave my inspiration to continue writing, I will never know who you are, but I am forever grateful to you.

If only 1% of readers turned into buyers of my eBook selection, that would make me a v happy writer

The Secret Garden

                                                                       The Ash Tree

Alan Place - Nature Lover

It's been eight years since a fire forced us to move from Horfield to Hartcliffe, Bristol, a move my late wife said saved me from having a mental breakdown.

At the back of the garden is a wild area where a tree has grown, until this afternoon I didn't know which variety it is, it is an Ash Rowan. I was going to cut it down, but I saw how healthy it is, so I chose to let it stand.

I hope to live another decade -into my late- 70's -this way I can notice its growth from a sapling to a young tree.

As a teen, I used to spin helicopter seeds in a woodlands in Clevedon, North Somerset, I thought they were Sycamore seeds, they are Ash seeds.

Crying in the rain

All our Yesterdays

                                                                                       Faraway lands

Two days ago, I was almost involved in a car accident; I would have been to blame for the incident, as I wasn't watching what I was doing, my mind was not concerned on what I was doing it was miles away.

I was coming back from our local Morrison's, thinking about sitting in the park near us in Hartcliffe, Bristol, as I don't get out often being disabled.

My mind was on the Everly Brothers hit "Crying in the rain," as it was raining. I was about to cross a road, I'd looked left, at the last moment, I realised I hadn't checked to my right. It was a good thing I stopped, a car was less than two meters from where I was about to cross the road.

Do you find it annoying?

 An early Bollywood movie

A taste of Bollywood

Before I go further, I shall explain my meaning, in this post, of an early Bollywood movie. In this post, I refer to one of the first Hindi movies I recall seeing, not one of the first made. The term Bollywood was "coined" in the 1940's, the film I refer to is from the late 1960's.

I have no idea of the stars, or the title. All I recall is the plot, it centers on the will of a car driver, who was "supposedly" killed racing in Malaysia. The main theme is about a group of people trying to convince the widow they are her husband's family, though he never mentioned them.

From this era, the film could star Helen Richardson Khan, Hema Malini, and possibly Dharmendra, as they were the stars of the late 60's in the cinema in India.

Nargis Dutt

 The Nargis Dilemma Part 2

The Nargis Dilemna

Again, I find myself in a quandry over the title of a Bollywood movie featuring Nargis Dutt, and Dilip Kumar.

In this film, Nargis and Dilip are life-long friends who vow to marry, but he is wooed a more sophisticated lady, and Nargis tries desperately to win him back.

As a wedding proceesion passes her by, she climbs a tree to see, singing "my love will return." as she does, the branch collapses, and she suffers a head injury. Dilip seeing this, rushes to her aid, and vowx to marry her, even though she has days to live. This is similiar to an incident in his life, he was married, but decided to get a seperation from his wife, with her pemission, to marry the actress, Madhubala, who was going to die from a faulty heart valve.

I will probably need to re-watch some of my Hindi movie selection to find the answer, though irritating, this will be enjoyable for me

Animal Shelter Aid

 My first dog

Border Collie

Though I am struggling with the bills, I always give food to our animal shelter. It was from there, we got my first dog, a lovely border collie cross we called Bonnie - affectionately nicknamed "Binky." We had her for over 13 years before we had to send her across the Rainbow Bridge, she passed away many years ago, but I still miss her.