We watched an interesting film last night, The Client , which had Susan Sarandon in the role of a lawyer who was trying to represent and protect a young boy, played by a twelve-year old Brad Renfro, who had witnessed the suicide of a Mafia lawyer.  The FBI and the Mafia are both convinced that the boy knows more than he's telling. Sarandon was later awarded a Bafta for Best Actress for this film which launched Renfro's career.  He went on to act in over twenty-one films, but then threw it all away by becoming a heroin addict.  He died in 2008, aged just twenty-six, of a heroin overdose. Maybe he'll become another of those dead 'could-have-beens' which the media love to idolise.  Jimmy Dean and Jim Morrison are their favourites.  It's so easy to project fantasies onto a star who isn't around to wreck their own image.  Dead poster boys don't go bald or chubby - well, Jim's weight ballooned but those pics are quietly set aside - or check into rehab

  I have maintained MySpace pages for several years.  I've got one for me, one for Spooky Cute Designs, one for Riverside Writers and one for Richard.  MySpace used to be easy to navigate, the profile editing was easy too, and it was full of lively social networking.  Spam was a nuisance but readily deleted.   Then they "improved" it.  New layouts and a new direction were imposed.   Now the site is clogged with trivia, and trying to update a profile page is long-winded and fiddly - and that's when it works.   I've been trying to update Riverside Writers' page since the middle of last week and the site software isn't responding, the 'Help' isn't helpful, and my email query has yet to be responded to.   As for the promotion of new bands, there's a good reason why most of them languish in obscurity.  A haircut doth not a musician make.    I am not entertained.

A humorous look at creative writing:- Creative Writing Clubs!

Press Release Event:   Telling Tales - An Afternoon with Riverside Writers Date:     9th July 2011 Time:    2pm Venue: West Kirby Library, Wirral. Fee:       Free Riverside Writers will stage Telling Tales, a celebration of this imaginative group's original fiction and poetry.  Many of the group's members are published authors, and the group's literary tastes are entirely diverse.  This will also be a chance for people to snap up the last few remaining copies of Riverside Writers 2010 anthology. Telling Tales will take place at 2pm on the 9th July.  West Kirby Library has kindly agreed to play host, as they have on many other occasions for this lively creative writing group's popular public events.  The library is within The Concourse, which is next to West Kirby train station.  There is ample car parking to the rear, and a frequent bus service directly outside.  Previous similar events from this Wirral-based creative writing group have included Old Tal

"Attending SA's 2100 conference will give you the opportunity to meet and get to know the revolutionaries who are making it possible for you to have an unprecedented chance at a radically extended healthy lifespan in a future of unlimited potential...  It will reveal the scientific foundations of cryonics, the latest advances in cryopreservation research, and the scientific basis for thinking that revival from cryopreservation is a realistic possibility."  - extract from SA's conference brochure. The conference will take place between the 20th and 22nd of May, 2011 at the Hyatt Regency Pier 66 Resort at Fort Lauderdale in Florida, USA.  Speakers will include Steven B Harris (MD), Saul Kent, Max More (PhD), Stephen Valentine, Brian Wowk (PhD), Greg Fahy (PhD), and Ralph Merkle (PhD). The conference will be broadcast online, and will also be available on DVD from SA. Further information:  http://www.suspendedinc.com/

"We are now witnessing the greatest transition in the history of the human race. " - Michio Kaku

The large white and purple envelope has arrived, carrying the census to our door.   The questions seem silly, given that the data they seek is readily available from other sources.  HM Taxes can confirm that we pay our taxes, and how our income is generated.  All bank accounts have been on computer for decades already, so The Powers That Be can easily peer into how anyone gains and spends money.  The house can be seen on Google Street View and its design and legal description can be found at the Land Registry.  Our birth dates and similar information were logged with the appropriate official bodies at the appropriate times.  Council Tax banding has long been settled upon and so our home's number of rooms, etc. is well established.  Who cares how we heat our home?   As the Census information is supposedly kept private for 100 years - unless some anarchist hacks into the database - who cares that we don't have central heating, apart from a central heating company who might ho

According to all the self-proclaimed web experts, in order to have a "successful blog" the author is supposed to pick one subject and stick to it.  That's fine if a person has one predominant interest but I have numerous, and always have had. Blogging about my writers' group, then showing photos of the snowdrops currently flowering in my garden then waxing lyrical about myths both ancient and modern, then chattering about paella, cryonics, pottery or my dogs apparently makes it harder for search engine bots to categorise my blog, and therefore it's likely to reduce traffic. I'm also suppposed to trawl through Google's lists of Adwords and Keywords, then create a blog post with the highest scoring words laced through the text.  Perhaps someone should patent this as a cure for insomnia.  Certainly I suspect reading such a blog would quickly inspire me to browse elsewhere, in search of something much less mechanical. These experts would probably tell me

Following from the success of Riverside Writers first anthology, which was published in 2010, the group has decided to produce a second collection of original fiction and poetry.  Submission guidelines can be viewed on our group website:  http://www.myspace.com/riversidewriters