Great bunch of lads, met up with them at Plusha on Day One of their commendable endeavour.Top end here - http://www.realclassic.co.uk/ridesfiles/end_to_end_slowly_part3_2013.html
There, heading northwards across the bridge, we spotted Hume and his anonymous little C90 Honda, who'd obviously taken 'Festina Lente' far more seriously than the rest of us. In recognition of this outstanding achievement, there on the north bank of the Spey and with yet another overnight stop planned before John O'Groats, Roger presented Hume with his medal as a fitting reward for his exemplary due diligence in the face of wanton, reckless and feckless haste. Festina Lente. If you've enjoyed this tale of daring do and would like to make a donation for Red Cross week, you can donate via the End 2 End Slowly website: www.e2eslowly.org/#!donate/c1vnr Source:http://thebridgeclubfour.blogspot.com/2013/08/130818-bunch-of-classic-and-very.html
130818 A bunch of classic and very charitable heroes were smoking out along the open road. Images
I think one of the biggest challenges for un- or under-published authors is trying to figure out what genre to write in. What will be hot when we're ready to publish? Remember jumping rope during recess back in your school days?Maybe I'm dating myself here! But there'd be a long rope and a girl in pigtails at each end, turning it. Sometimes they'd even have two ropes going in opposite directions. Cool kids could jump both at once! You're poised there like a runner with feet on the starting blocks, rocking, one foot in front of the other, pulsing with the revolving rope to get the timing, and then you leap in and start jumping. Successfully. Or else you trip and get tangled up and have to try again or, even worse, stumble away in humiliation.That's like a writer trying to jump into writing a hot genre. Someone else is swinging the rope. You have no idea whether they'll speed up or slow down or drop the handles and walk away altogether. You have no idea if you'll be able to hop in and stay in sync, or trip and fall smack on your face. For a long time, I felt like I was doing the latter. I started out writing speculative fiction twelve years ago, but as I got better at the writing craft, I began to realize that my stories wouldn't likely ever find a publishing home. Very few fantasy novels were appearing from CBA houses. Odds have changed. . . slightly. . but not for the stories I was writing back then.I wasn't into paranormal speculative. I wasn't into dystopian. I still don't get the whole werewolf/vampire/zombie thing. But I'd begun to check out the other skipping ropes around the schoolyard. Historical romance? Contemporary romance? Historical sounded like too much work to get right. Mary Connealy makes it look easy, but I'm pretty sure it's not. So that left contemporary, only I wasn't into high heels, designer purses, and the height of fashion. I'll pause for a moment while you envision Ruthy jumping rope in her stilettos. While swinging a Prada handbag. In skinny jeans. You're welcome for the visual. (Ruthy note: she's pretty sure she could do this AND write seventeen books/year while working full time, so she likes this Prada-swinging visual!!!)What could I write on that playground—which rope could I jump—that stayed true to me? I began writing Farm Lit three years ago, long before I'd heard the term. The skipping rope for that was way over in a weed-infested corner of the playground—or maybe it was my vegetable garden, but I digress—with one handle tied to a picket fence and the other lying in the oregano. Oregano wants to take over the world, by the way. A more invasive herb you'll never find. Oh, am I getting sidetracked again? Nobody was turning the rope. That made jumping it easy. I could hop from one side to the other without missing a beat. Nobody was watching. But still, you know, I wanted a viable rope. I wanted to be one of the cool kids, with expert handle-turners and others queued up, wanting a turn.I wrote about what I know. I've lived on a farm for most of my adult life. I'm into the whole gardening, bread-making, beekeeping, and canning thing. We're dedicated local-food lovers at our place. It seemed eventually other kids would wander over. After all, local food was (is) a hot topic in the media. Farmers' markets are springing up all over North America like dandelions after a spring rain. Heirloom tomatoes are as popular as Lululemon. Everyone loves to hate Monsanto and genetically-modified "foods." Eventually the rope began to twitch. Barbara Kingsolver picked up the handle that had been buried in the oregano when she wrote her memoir Animals Vegetables Miracles. A while later, Ree Drummond untied the handle from the fence and gave The Pioneer Woman a rotation.A few people began to notice. "Hey, we can READ about farm life, not just buy eggplant at the farmers' market!" And the Farm Lit genre skipping rope began to revolve. Was I the first kid to jump in from the inspirational side and (hopefully) not trip? I have no idea. I do know that three years of practicing—of honing my craft, of writing several local-food-based romances—is paying off.
In unrelated timing, The Atlantic posted Chick Lit is Dead; Long Live Farm Lit only a few days before I signed a contract with Choose NOW Publishing for a 3-book series we're calling A Farm Fresh Romance. It leads off with Raspberries and Vinegar, which finds Josephine Shaw and her friends renovating a dilapidated farm with their sights set on more than just their own property. Transforming the town with their sustainable lifestyle and focus on local foods is met with more resistance than they expected, especially by temporary neighbor, Zachary Nemesek. Jo needs to learn that a little sweet makes the tart more tasty. The other two books, featuring Jo's roommates, release in 2014. What about you? Where on the playground are you hanging out? Are you standing in line watching Mary Connealy line dance while jumping three ropes at once and wondering how you could ever compete? Are you standing over at the contemporary line, where Ruthy juggles adorable toddlers and chases chickens and never misses a beat? Are you in the line where Julie smooches while doing the jitterbug and keeps right on jumping? Or where Debby can skip rope while shooting at a target—and get a bulls-eye every time? Maybe you're trying to hop the Amish rope or the mystery rope or the spec fic rope. Are you in the right line for you?You might well be, but think about it. Pray about it. Maybe God wants you to go find a different rope, even if one end is tied to a fencepost in the back forty. Maybe He plans to put the right people on the handles at the right time and give that rope a good workout. And if you've been practicing hopping over it while it lies lifeless on the ground, you'll be ready to skip like a pro when the rope starts turning. No jump rope is dead if God holds the hands of those who hold the handles. What part of the playground are you going to check out today?To celebrate the release of Raspberries and Vinegar, I'd like to give a copy to one Seekerville commenter (or a digital version in your choice of format if the winner lives outside the USA as I do). But all of you are winners! My publisher and I have put together a Book Blast package for anyone who orders a paperback copy of Raspberries and Vinegar from August 6-9. Order a paperback and email your receipt, and you'll receive not only the digital formats of the novel but a whole bunch of other fun downloads as well. Check out the graphic for details.
I know Seekerville is all about the food. I knew that even before the Virtual Retreat in June, but wow! That brought it home. In honor of Raspberries and Vinegar I've brought Raspberry Vinegar which just happens to be a punch-like summer drink featured in the book, and one that's a regular summertime staple at our place. I've also brought a virtual pan of Raspberry Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake. What do you have for the sideboard that's made from raspberries? Feel free to add something tart as well! Let's share some recipes.And while we're visiting over the buffet, I'd like to invite you to a Facebook party at 9:00 p.m. EST tonight, hosted by my publisher, Nicole O'Dell. You'll need to like my author page then stop by for a visit, bringing a (virtual) item of food that is local to you. Everyone who joins the food fest will receive a custom menu by email tomorrow with all the ingredients in use. Should be fun! Bring something unique and make it a challenge for me. You know you want to, for poking fun at Ruthy. Half an hour in we'll be switching to a webcast, where you can ask questions about local food, about books and genres, about beekeeping—whatever you want to know—and put me on the spot. I really hope you can join us. We'll be giving away copies of the novel there, too.
Wow. So much information! Hope to see you at that other party tonight but, for now, let's talk skipping into genres while we sip Raspberry Vinegar out on the veranda. The ceiling fan is lazily rotating and there are plenty of porch swings, wicker rockers, and Adirondack chairs for everyone. Sweetpeas and morning glories climb the trellis, wafting a gentle floral scent. Flies and mosquitoes have been banished. Let's talk. Which jump rope line are you in? How is it working out for you?
A schoolgirl ran up a £3,800 mobile phone bill on holiday in America by posting Facebook updates.Casey Snook, 14, used the website to post updates about her dream holiday to New York with her mum.She eagerly told friends about her trip to the Empire State Building, Central Park and Times Square and uploaded a series of pictures with her iPhone.But she was unaware of the massive bill until her father's bank account - which funded the phone - suddenly went overdrawn after the holiday.Phone company Orange said she ran up the charges by using Facebook with data roaming - a service which enables internet access abroad.Mrs Snook, 43, a catering assistant, accused the company of 'extortion'.She said: 'When I heard about it I felt physically sick. Casey was very upset and embarrassed and I was in tears.'I can't believe that a company would let a bill which is usually £50 get up to that level. Did they not worry the phone had been stolen?'She was only using it for the normal teenage stuff, updating her friends with what she was up to and this and that.'It was an experience - we visited the Empire State Building, Central Park, Times Square, Grand Central Station and the Whispering Wall. She was just using Facebook like a normal teenager to tell her friends.'Casey, of Hengrove, Bristol, jetted off to the Big Apple with her mum on May 27.Four days into the trip the teenager received a text from Orange warning she had gone over her internet data limit - and her bill had gone from its usual £50 to £320.The company barred the teen from sending any more text messages or making calls - but did not block her data roaming.Mrs Snook told Casey to stop using her phone until they returned to the UK in two days time.But once the family returned home Mrs Snook received a phone call from Casey's dad Victor, who pays the bill, to say his bank had told him he was overdrawn.Orange insists it sent a number of warning texts to Casey to say she had exceeded her data usage.The firm also says it sent a message to Casey asking if she wanted to continue to use data after she had gone over her limit - and she clicked 'yes'.But her parents are calling for an explanation as to why no further warnings were sent after the text message explaining the bill would be £320.Mrs Snook said her daughter does not remember this, and believes many people would not understand the implications of continuing to use their phone.'To be honest, I wouldn't understand what a data cap was, and I don't think a lot of teenagers would,' she said.'This is about the extortion of a 14-year-old, and Orange is completely refusing to budge on the bill.'The rates that are charged are ridiculous and I just don't understand why another message wasn't sent after the one that said the bill had reached £320. Why wasn't one sent at £500 or £1,000?'We are just going to have to pay it. I'm going to give her dad half of the money, but neither of us can afford it.'A spokeswoman for Orange said: 'All Orange customers have a number of protections in place - customers are even automatically opted-in to a roaming data cap, which limits their charges to £49 for a set amount of data.'Customers receive warning texts to alert them of their data usage and we have an app that helps them monitor data usage, and opt-in to a data bundle if needed.'In this instance the customer received numerous text alerts which updated them on the roaming costs for the USA, and also updated them on their data usage.'Once they had reached the limit of their data bundle, the customer actively opted out of our roaming data cap so that they could continue to use data, effectively removing the in-built protection from large data roaming bills.' 
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Share The salafist man finds it unbelievable that there are people who do not believe the same way he does. He considers this difference as a personal attack. He is astonished that the whole world is not Muslim and he is going to correct [this mistake].The following op-ed was originally published in French in the Algerian newspaper Le Quotidien d'Oran. Translated by Anna Mahjar-Barducci It is not going to stop, [instead] it keeps on reproducing itself in the cities of the Sahara, it becomes vocal and shouts, then kills, taking you by the throat; it destroys giant Buddhas and [people's] bodies and advances like a desert that dries out even the desert itself: salafism/Islamism/fundamentalism, the cancer on the face of the world and on the will to live. All this no longer obeys the ancient forms of the threat: it is no longer a brigade, a group or a front, but a sort of tumor: it may swell under your armpit or on the streets of London. It kills; we then arrest the killer, but we do not stop the disease. We kill the hostage taker, but not the malignant cell. And it has a banner, a sort of skein of darkness, that is waved in the dry and dead wind of a theological infinity. It is everywhere and it is like barbed wire running over your bare skin. Everywhere, as the living dead himself explains: "It is Allah who says that Sharia should be implemented." And "in Islam there is no democracy, for that would mean that people have the right to challenge Allah and to decide in His stead. This is inadmissible and one will not allow this heresy, may God protect us." Who is speaking? A dead cell, convinced that God spoke to it and that it has the right to infect a world that shines and replace it with a world that kills. Unbelievable: at first, one might think that Islamism is an ideology, a policy or a line of thought. This is a simplistic point of view -- political orthodoxy, conventional wisdom and ideas. No, we must also see through the prism on biology: It is a disease, which intends to devour the world, it is not an issue of faith and belief. A salafist man is not looking for God, but in the dark, he is after your throat. He believes that the whole world must believe the way he does and, if it does not, it is the whole world that is 'sick' and must be brought back to the right path. By persuasion or by blood. The salafist man finds it unbelievable that there are people who do not think the same way he does! He considers this difference as a personal attack. He is astonished that the whole world is not Muslim and he is going to correct this. First of all, we must stop talking about ideas: It is a disease like the Plague in the Middle Ages. It is the disease of the century, but without poetry. It is a pathology against civilization. This disease will stop only when the whole world will be a total tumor. This is what is threatening the future and frightens people down to their bowels. What eventually arrives are wars, massacres and slaughters against our children, who will have to fight a war of survival against the black flag, which is not the symbol of a "nation," but the end of nations and of the earth. For [the Islamists] all look alike, as, in general, corpses do: from Yemen to Mauritania, from London to Australia. Same hirsute look, same crazed eyes, same surreal sales pitch, same signs and anger and same convulsions of the body inhabited by a demon made of ink and verses. And all this proceeds from south to north, from your neighbors towards you. This accursed Salafi flag everywhere wants men to prostrate themselves, and explains what is right, that God has spoken, that the earth is the booty of heaven. A terrible and murderous world which intends to kill us all: us, our children, light, art, hope, freedom and the dignity of questioning. This is not a pessimistic view, just a glimpse of what is coming: salafism/Islamism/jihadism is a disease that wants to destroy the world. We must see it and treat it as such. The black flag is the abscess under the armpit of the those who are plague-ridden. A sign of death. Kamel Daoud is a journalist based in Algeria. receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free gatestone institute mailing list 
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I am one of those people who was never into Star Trek. Not the shows, not the movies, nothing. Then in 2009, director J.J. Abrams rebooted the franchise in a big way! Star Trek was a huge success at the box office. And, it got people like me, who knew nothing about the mythology, to jump on board the USS Enterprise and explore the universe. It's 4 years later, and the entire crew is back. This time, there's a mysterious villain in the dark, trying to take out Star Fleet. The sequel is Star Trek Into Darkness, let's go!What I liked about the film:The Entire Gang is BackThe chemistry between the actors, and the relationships between the characters is what really pulled me into the first film. Chris Pine is back to captain Jim Kirk. Zachary Quinto plays Spock, Captain Kirk's trusted commander. Let's not forget about the rest, who I'll only list: Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve, Bruce Greenwood, Anton Yelchin. 
Despite having a huge cast, everyone has something to do. I will get into the story aspect of the film in a moment, but I loved watching these characters. I'm not going to say there was a ton of character development for everyone in the film; but I will say the relationships between them have matured. The dynamic between Kirk and Spock has changed. I loved seeing them go from adversaries to close friends. They are almost brothers by the end of the film. The relationship between Spock and Uhura (Saldana) has changed as well. You see Uhura demand emotion from Spock, who has difficulty showing any. There's a lot more examples as well. Kirk and Bones (Urban), Kirk and Scotty (Pegg), etc. All of these make us appreciate the already appealing characters in the film. 
And my favorite, even though barely shown in the film, is the relationship between Kirk and Pike (Greenwood). Fans of the first film will remember that Pike recruited Kirk into the Star Fleet academy in the first film. Now we get to see what the two mean to each other. Awesome stuff!The Writing
Whether it be the story, the character development or the dialogue, I loved the writing in this film... for the most part (more on that in a minute). Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman wrote the first film. This time around, their back, and Damon Lindelof also co-wrote. The story is somewhat explained in the trailers. A rogue Star Fleet member is out to kill his old colleagues. He has blown up a Star Fleet building and the USS Enterprise has been tasked with killing him. This story, coupled with quick and witty dialogue delivery by the film's stars, satisfies on multiple levels. There is definitely a twist in the film, but not the one you'd expect. I really enjoyed this film.The Villain
Holy badass. Benedict Cumberbatch has just landed on my top actors to watch list; and he did so with this movie alone. His character is physically superior and he is incredibly intelligent. He's evil, unforgiving, menacing, manipulative and that's just in the first half of the film! There have been countless stories written online about who Cumberbatch REALLY plays in the film. And let me tell you, without spoiling anything, the name of the character is irrelevant. We must forget the original series and the original movies to truly accept this franchise. I have an advantage in that I've never seen any of the original films, so this character was new to me in every sense of the word. I loved this villain! The Action
The movie starts off with an amazing chase scene. That's just the first 15 minutes. The action is much bigger in this film that in the first. And I love how it simply lends itself to the story. No one is shooting at someone else just for the fun of it. The writers created true consequences for the character's actions. There is something at stake for every action scene in the film. And J.J. Abrams is just getting better and better at shooting these large scale films. Hand to hand combat, flying vehicles, gun battles, last second rescues, the whole nine. There is a scene in the trailer that will have you in awe; involving a spacecraft crash landing in San Francisco. It's a sight to be seen. What I didn't like about the film:Again Hollywood: Pointless Characters & Suspension of Disbelief
John Cho's character, Sulu, is barely in the film. BUT, his character plays an integral part of the team. However, there are characters like that of Alice Eve which I swear were written into the movie as an afterthought. The writers needed a character to merge two situations and sort of just made her the daughter of a major character. It's like, come on! Don't worry I didn't spoil anything.Also, I left the movie asking myself a few questions. Why this? Why did he do that? I mean, I know there is an expected level of suspension of disbelief, but some if it stretched really thin. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the script very much! But there are some aspects of the film which you just scratch your head and go, 'did anyone stop and think about this before the film was made?'The Verdict:J.J. Abrams is just Plain Awesome!
This is what Summer action films should strive to be like! Great characters, a great story with a great villain, and amazing eye candy. That's all we want Hollywood. This movie, as well as the first, were all because of J.J. Abrams. He has built an ensemble cast around him that just nails it. The special effects of 2013 make us believe that the USS Enterprise could be a possibility in the future. The villain in this film FAR surpasses that of Eric Bana's in the first film. And, the franchise is treated as its own, without convoluting it with details from the shows and films before it. I loved this film and look forward to the third entry in the franchise, in the not too distant future. 
