Think of your absolute favourite literary or film heroes/heroines – which characteristics caused them to fire your imagination? Was it looks, wealth, lifestyle, personality – or a combination of all of these?  Was your favourite, perhaps, not even a main character but a minor role which grabbed your attention? I was thinking about this yesterday, while hubby was contentedly glued to another viewing of The Magnificent Seven . I strongly suspect that, in my opinion at least, Yul Brynner was the only bald-headed man to look sexy. The rest just look like they can’t grow hair. This reminds me of a friend who has recently embarked on a moustache-growing competition. Now, personally I think that the right facial hair on the right man can look incredibly sexy. (A bedraggled, untrimmed hedge-like beard looks scruffy and unhygienic, however.) When I mentioned this, I was met with surprise. Surely I can’t be the only female to like facial hair on a man? Would your chosen fictional hero eve

Emily is peering over the edge of the extensive boardwalk, which runs along part of West Kirby beach towards Red Rocks at Hoylake, (by the houses you can see on the horizon. The beach continues behind these buildings). On one side is the golf course, on the other lie tall sand dunes, reed beds and ponds. Natterjack toads breed here, along with newts and tiny lizards which look like jewels. There are masses of wetland and shoreline birds, too, of course; the Dee Estuary is one of Britain's premier sites for migrating birds. The weather is rather grey and choppy today. You'll be able to see this for yourself if you take a peek through the Wirral webcam. I've just added this to my links list on my page. If you're patient, you might be able to watch the seals. http://www.camserv.co.uk/wirralcam/home.shtml Last night saw another gathering of Riverside Writers . This month's writing project had been set on the theme of The Missing Chai r inspired, apparently, by my

Note: This post was originally in the form of a clickable poll, published on LiveJournal. Having spent the better part of today trying to settle on a name for a young male character in a short story, I have finally come to a decision. I’ll sign off and do something else! PS. Baby name dictionaries make for very boring reading. Poll #936357 name a character Which of these is your favourite name? Oliver Dominick Elisha Tavion Rowan

My low opinion of television has been echoed in a recent study, which has called for a total ban on TV for all children under the age of three, for a maximum of one hour per day for the three-to-fives age group, and for severe restrictions on time spent in front of the screen for older children. Psychologist Dr Aric Sigman has published a report analysing thirty-five scientific studies about television's effects on viewers, which has identified fifteen negative effects. These include obesity, damage to the immune system due to reduced melatonin levels, eyesight problems, an increased likelihood of Alzheimer's, Autism, diabetes and attention disorders. Read the full article here:- http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=265852007 To these disorders, I would propose that of decreased imagination, as all any television viewer is required to do is to stare mindlessly at the contraption while a constant stream of mediocrity and trash (and who-knows-what subliminal messages) pour into

Mutley Cuddles Incarnate c. 1993 - February 18th, 2007. Early this morning, my adorable tom cat succumbed to old age.

Art in Liverpool http://www.artinliverpool.com/blog/blogarch/literature/  and Nerve Magazine http://www.catalystmedia.org.uk/issues/misc/articles/word_is.htm  both carry write-ups of the recent Word Is They Say (WITS) literary festival in Liverpool, which I took part in. One of the funniest films I've watched in a long time is Jake West 's Evil Aliens , produced by Tim Dennison . The blurb on the back of the DVD box says, "Michelle Fox (Emily Booth) takes a film crew to deepest, darkest Wales to investigate claims of alien abduction. The television crew don't believe a word of the story until the real stars arrive. They're aliens and they're not friendly." What follows is a hilarious spoof splatter/gore film - hardly my usual preferred choice of genre, but this truly was so funny. Suffice to say that I'll never see a combine harvester again without remembering this film. Recommended! In contrast, one of the most boring films I've seen in m