The Curious Cliché of The Black Scarab, by Mark Millicent: #BookReview.

Subtitled ‘The Dry Crumbs Of An Adventure’, this is a humorous tale of unlikely events taking the reader from darkest London to even darker Egypt via routes made more convoluted than expected by the hapless participants.Two ‘gentlemen’, I use the term loosely for these men, earn their comfortable if confined living by producing an archaeological …

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The Sea and Little Fishes, by Terry Pratchett: #BookReview.

I’m sure I once read a Terry Pratchett book, but judging by my records it must have been many years ago. I read this book largely because of his reputation; I could do with some laughter in this awful world we currently inhabit. Fortunately, I found the humour I needed. But it’s an intelligent humour, …

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My Socks Have Gone Bonkers, by Dale Neal, Illustrated by Mark Millicent #BookReview.

This charming and funny book of rhyming verse will appeal to children of all ages as well as to the childlike part of most adults. The illustrations are clever and fun, too. It’s a book your children will delight in whether reading it themselves or being read to by their favourite aunt or uncle. The …

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Killing O’Carolan, by Walt Pilcher: #BookReview.

Subtitled ‘A Mark Fairley Mystery’, this humorous novel follows the reluctant emerging PI on his journey to solve the apparently unsolvable, after his unlikely success in ‘The Accidental Spurrt’.As a parody of the genre, this will entertain those who take their crime fiction with a cellar full of salt. The O’Carolan of the title is …

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The Accidental Spurrt, by Walt Pilcher: #BookReview.

Subtitled ‘A Mark Fairley Mystery’, this parody of the whodunit will have you smiling, grinning, chuckling, and laughing out loud as the author takes you on a revealing journey with his reluctant PI.There are many characters in this humorous novel, some of whom are deliberate cardboard cut-outs to mock the worst of the genre, but …

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The Playboy of the Western World, by J. M. Synge: #BookReview.

First published in 1907, the text of the stage play I read is introduced by a preface from the author. Here, he talks about the language he has used, how and where he encountered it, and why he has employed such colloquial idioms in the work. I can best serve the author’s intent by quoting …

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Today’s #Picture 20/Jun/21

Should We? Enjoy!#View my pictures here. You can buy them as digital files, framed prints, canvas wraps, or Giclee art prints.

National Cake Day in Ruritania, by Mark P. Henderson: #BookReview.

362 pagesSatire Fiction/General Humorous Fiction/Humour Humour is so personal. What makes one person laugh can make another frown or fail to respond at all. I’ve no wish to put readers off, but this book, included in the ‘humour’ genre, didn’t tickle my laughter muscles, I’m afraid. That doesn’t mean it will fail to stimulate yours. …

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The Poop Diaries, by Abby Ross: #BookReview.

237 pages Nonfiction This book is about plumbers and their experiences in the world of pipes, sewers, toilets, poo, and everything that impacts on their lives in that role. I’ll try to avoid scatological humour in this review, but I’m not promising anything! If you’ve ever had to invite or beg a plumber to unblock …

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I'll Have…

I’ll Have… Artichoke asparagus and aubergine addled by aspicBeetroot boiled beef bones and beans bathed in bloodCabbage cauliflower chips and creamed cress chopped and coddledDoughnuts dates duck and devilled ham drenched in dillEgg enchiladas Edam cheese and eggplant eased under EmmentalFish faggots felafel full-flavoured and fragrant filled with figsGruyere Goat ghee groundnuts guacamole grilled for …

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I Will Laugh. A #Poem

Here’s another poem for you. And a quick sketch to go with it. Something to confirm my intentions to be positive this year. I Will Laugh If I seek enjoyment in this world of misery am I then pretending blindness to the facts or do I defend myself against those negatives combining to defeat our …

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Where Now?

It’s an odd situation for me, though I know many writers visit this apparent desert frequently and often for prolonged periods. But I appear to have hit that dreaded void known as ‘writer’s block’. But is it real? And, if it is, what causes it? I’ve spent the past few weeks catching up on all …

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The QI Book of General Ignorance, by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson: #BookReview.

393 pps Humour/Puzzles & Games/ Subtitled ‘The Noticeably Stouter Edition’, this book of humorously presented erudition is a gem. Clearly, a book to be dipped into, rather than read at one sitting, it is nevertheless addictive. Those who know the TV show, first hosted by the inimitable Stephen Fry and latterly by the equally unique …

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Dogwatch, by Karen Wolfe: #BookReview.

Love dogs? Love crime? Love humour, even if a little dark sometimes? Then this is for you. Georgie Crane is at it again; getting in deeper than she should, that is. There’s a degree of ‘woman in jeopardy’ about this comi-crime novel that lifts it above the general level of the genre. The dogs, and …

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Inanimate Objects, Again!

On Tuesday I wrote a short tale of woe about my Mac that deprived me of the means to work over the weekend, and also lost me some photographs. I could pretend someone, somewhere, has it in for me, but I recognise the random nature of such events and feel no personal threat from the …

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