Hartlepool Nature And Animal Photographer Andrew Bruce

Hartlepool photographer Andrew Bruce has recently been photographing a variety of animal subjects, including his sister's baby rabbits.

As a long-time vegetarian and lover of all animals, Andrew's feel for his subjects comes through in his enchanting photos.

See his gallery here:

http://www.x53web.co.cc/~andy/

Lack Of Sleep And The Creative Flow

I've not been sleeping too well lately, mainly due to my cat Sparkle waking me up early in the morning. I can't say that not getting my eight hours a day in has harmed my creative output, but does insomnia itself aid the creative process?

Sparkle: "To hell with your creative genius, I want to get even fatter!"

Freddie Mercury Would Have Been 65 Today

Queen's Freddie Mercury, arguably rock's greatest showman, would have been 65 today. It shouldn't be forgotten that he composed the odd blinding tune, too, most notably Bohemian Rhapsody... And he played a mean piano.

Live Aid was Freddie's finest moment. A day when humans around the planet pulled together - for once. Here's Bohemian Rhapsody and Radio Ga Ga for starters.

Queen at Live Aid, July 1985

Queen discography on booksmusicfilmstv.com
http://www.booksmusicfilmstv.com/Amazon/queencds.htm

American Poet, Writer And Artist Susan Elliott

Susan Elliott was my first friend on Associated Content if I recall correctly. She's a gifted poet and artist, and her writing and art advice articles are probably the best articles of their type I've read on AC.

Susan's blog
http://susanspoeticblogosphere.blogspot.com/

Lack Of Page Views For Writers On Writing Sites - Glitches Or Something More?...

I've recently started putting up writing articles on my website, booksmusicfilmstv.com. It's been interesting to compare the amount of hits I get, as opposed to the amount of hits I get on various writing sites.

I post links of my writing articles on Twitter, and the comparisons between the results from various sites pose some questions.

Curiously, similar writing articles on my website get twice as many hits as similar articles on some other writing sites. Despite Google's Panda causing mayhem recently, some of the writing sites I write for still get many more visitors to their websites than mine, so why the differences?

Glitches are the most obvious cause, especially for webpages laden with ads. But I hope that's all it is... For the record, the sites that get comparable hits to booksmusicfilmstv.com are Helium and HubPages.

George Gently Tiny Review

George Gently was good again tonight on BBC1. I never guess who the murderer is. Nice to hear Cream's We're Going Wrong, but a strange choice of music, as the murderer/ess (not saying which, for those who haven't seen it) was led away.

Martin Shaw is never less than excellent in anything he appears in, and strange to see Neil Morrissey as an embittered, lecherous, boozed up middle aged  radio/TV personality.

George Gently on booksmusicfilmstv.com:

http://www.booksmusicfilmstv.com/Drama/GeorgeGently.htm

Luton Town Manager Gary Brabin Perfects The Shaven-Headed Look

Shaved my head recently. I intimidate myself, let alone anybody else. Luton Town manager Gary Brabin perfects the shaven-headed look. My cut is not quite so fine, so his razors must be more lethal. I nearly did a van Gogh on my ear, so a bit nervous about giving the noggin too fine a cut. Though maybe the Brabster's hair just fell out?...

Looking at this menacing picture of Gary, after Luton's lack of ruthlessness at both ends of the park, maybe he should come out to play.

http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/Sport/Luton-Town-FC/Brabin-says-bloopers-are-creating-video-nasties-03092011.htm

Video: Spalding Guitarist, Dave 'The Furry Man', Sings

Recorded the voice of this legendary Spalding character singing 'Lemon Tree' on August 3rd. I tried to stop him halfway through, but he wasn't having any. Only had a fuzzy photo to work with, so had some fun with the video effects in Windows Movie Maker. Dave doesn't believe in chords and notes. He says he has his own style, and it's amazing he's still with us. He was living in a Moulton Chapel bus shelter, suffering with cancer - in the middle of winter.

Google's Panda Is Killing Writing Sites - And Writers

Now I love pandas, who doesn't, but Google's quadruped I find hard to love.

As a writer for Demand Studios, Wikio Experts, and a former Music Contributor at Associated Content, I've recognized that, financially, those sites have been hit hard by Google's Panda and its mysterious algorithm.

As a consequence, a lot of writers are now enduring financial hardship, and many will become unemployed. Sites like Helium are trying radical new things to keep going, but it's beginning to seem obvious that writers are going to have to start helping themselves.

This means getting a personal website or blog, and getting material out through Amazon's Kindle. Good luck everyone, and welcome to this harsh new reality.

Monty Panesar Hopes To Save Luton Town FC

English cricket's star spinner and Luton Town fan Monty Panesar hopes to get his hands on some of Allen Stanford's cash for the lucrative Twenty20 international, in Antigua in November.

The game between England and a Super Stars XI will be worth $1million a man - for players on the winning side! Hopefully, speaking as a Luton fan, Monty will be selected, as he says: "I'd buy Luton Town Football Club if I won the money."

Genesis Live Earth Review; Genesis CDs, DVDs & Books

Genesis Live Earth Review; Genesis CDs, DVDs & Books

Andy Poseidon Bruce's New Age Directory

Hartlepool legend Andy Bruce's Ascension New Age Directory is smacking the opposition. See it here:

http://www.ascension-newage.net

Andy Warhol Books

Andy Warhol, silver screen...From Pop Art to giving a leg up to The Velvet Underground, Warhol was the most important art figure of the second half of the 20th Century. Check out just some of the books about and by him at Amazon.co.uk.

From A to B and Back Again Author: Andy Warhol
I Shot Andy Warhol Author: Mary Harron, Daniel Minahan
Andy Warhol's Colors Author: Susanna Rubin

The Time Tunnel Episode Guide Now On booksmusicfilmstv.com

Summaries of all 30 episodes of the classic '60s sci-fi series The Time Tunnel, plus the  main cast list, have been complied by Paul Rance for booksmusicfilmstv.com here:

The Time Tunnel Episode Guide

Songs Of The Humpback Whale

Sounds to move you.

(Amazon.co.uk)
Songs of the Humpback Whale

(Amazon.com)
Whalesong

Save The Humpback Whale - A Personal View By Paul Rance

Not since 1963 have humpback whales been slaughtered, so a sarcastic congratulations to the Japanese for taking us back in time.

Read more here.

Spare No Pity For Kate Middleton

Kate Middleton recently whined about being hounded by the British media. Well, when you see this hideous, cruel young woman stag hunting with the always cruel royal family, then she deserves, at the very least, to be the quarry of the paparazzi.

Hate Britain - Re The Murder Of Rhys Jones

The murder of 11-year-old Rhys Jones didn't really prove to me that Britain is sick, as I've thought it's been sick for years. It just proves it's sicker than I thought!

There's more of a nastiness now in society, than when I was 11, and when I was kicking a ball about, I just had the worry of a grumpy neighbour confiscating my ball.

I was in a gang as a teenager, but it was just macho posturing. No guns, no knives, no fighting. You can blame the current climate on a lot of things, but it comes down to respect. If you can't respect the life of an 11-year-old boy, what the hell can you respect?

I don't really know what makes the minds of these kids tick, but YouTube are quite happy to give 'em a voice here: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=LWk3mXooTQQ. This vid was featured on the news a few days ago.

I'd rather look at this tribute site to Rhys by his friends:
http://pic1.piczo.com/LovingMemoryOfRhys/?g=29378596&cr=1

Shambo’s Pals Killed

Skanda Vale didn't really bother to protest too much this time. The Welsh Government Assembly thugs have probably broken their spirit. And, you know what, they're probably proud of themselves.

Now Britain is useless at stopping gangs of toerags roaming our streets, killing children, but we're world champions at pitiless bureaucracy.

RIP
Bhakti
Dakshini
Shambo

Latest Skanda Vale statement, with photos of these truly beautiful animals: http://www.skandavale.org

Foot-And-Mouth Paranoia

Foot-and-mouth is rarely a fatal disease in animals, so the obvious question is why does paranoia break out every time there's an outbreak of the disease in the UK?

The answer, of course, is about protecting the meat industry. You rarely hear, in news reports, anything about the poor animals, but a helluva lot about farmers scared of losing money.