Peter Cheyney - Who Knew Him?

Ok, so Dave and I are sitting in The Snug at the most fine Twisted Hop last week and we gaze across at the bookshelf full of books. Now, in Hay-on-Wye (near to my old home of Monmouth in Wales) they have a thriving second-hand book trade where pubs can buy books by the weight to fill up their bookshelves and give it a "homely" feel.

I wondered to Dave if the same happened here.

I then grabbed the closest book.
It was by Peter Cheyney.

Heard of him? Nope, neither had we but we had the power of the web at our fingertips and a quick search brought up Wikipedia: Peter Cheyney.

By God! He was a multi-million selling author from the 1930's, 40's and 50's.
MULTI-MILLION! He was probably as well known then (a mere 60 years ago) as, say, Dan Brown is now. He was HUGE!

Reginald Evelyn Peter Southouse Cheyney, known as Peter Cheyney, (22 February 1896 — 26 June 1951) was a British crime fiction writer who flourished between 1936 and 1951. Cheyney is the author of hard-boiled short stories and novels, some of which were adapted to film; his character Lemmy Caution was famously appropriated by French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard for the science fiction movie Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution.

And we'd never heard of him.

But he has an official website: http://www.petercheyney.co.uk

We trawled through a few of the pages and quickly discovered why - his writing was contemporary and was writing for the audience of the day. It was all "The moment she walked in the door I knew this dame was trouble", slightly "gum-ball" and very "hard case" and made Dave and I laugh.

Of course it's easy to look back and giggle on those from the past but on reflection what it did bring up for me was a huge admiration for those that created work that is as relevant now as they was when the public first laid their eyes upon it.

My Son, The Published Poet

Well, it's in the March 12th Worser Bay School newsletter (pdf) which is available on the World Wide Web so that makes him as accessible as J K Rowling in my eyes.

From the City
All sorts of things come from the city.
Smoke like fog floating around.
Cars roaring like Tigers.
Squeaky wheels like mice scuttling.
Babies crying like birds cheeping sweetly.
Trucks like bears grumbling hungrily.
Trees whooshing like raindrops splashing quickly.

by Jack R

No8.co.nz - WTF You Numbskulls

So, I see an ad on TV with a bunch of rugby-types advertising http://no8.co.nz and I think, "Hmm, that's right it's World Cup year next year". Having been a small player last year in a similar site aimed squarely at cashing in on "all things World Cup" I was intrigued as to who these jokers were.

So I went looking ...

... never found it.

But, I did find this bee-a-uty within their Terms & Conditions:

So that means I broke their Terms & Conditions by linking to them in this post.

Google, Bing and anything else crawling their site and then linking back to it are breaking their Terms & Conditions.
Every poor sod that ever wants to send someone to their site is ... well, you get the idea.

I'm sure they will not come after any of us with a lawsuit.

What it does say to me loud and proud is that they do not understand the web.

It also says to me that it is a closed and "give me your details so I can market to you" approach.

I do not like, trust or appreciate that point of view on MY web.

I will not be signing up to No8.co.nz.

For the same reason I no longer use Facebook.

Wellywood Sign, Meh, Time To Get The Pillars of Argonath [Updated]

Today it was announced (Stuff: A sign of success for Wellywood hills) that there will be a "Wellywood" sign on the side of a hill into Wellington Airport sometime in June - here's what the Stuff.co.nz artists think it might look like:

picture from Stuff.co.nz

Whilst I think that's an okay idea I still believe that Duncan's idea from way back in March 2008 is much better - either side of the Miramar Cutting have the Pillars of Argonath!

This what they look like from the films (made in Miramar, of course).

And this is what the Miramar Cutting looks like from Google Streetview:

See, perfect place to have them!

It's just before the landing/take-off from Wellington International Airport and so would be seen by thousands of people.

Awesome idea eh!

And one that is supported far and wide ... ish

Update - and this is a mashup between the two photos from MrReasonable:

BTW: I'm not actively pursuing this idea, I'm not really thinking it's gonna happen - it's a blog post, nothing more. Lighten up anti-Wellyword-sign people, life's a little more complex and important than a bloody sign on a hill. That is all.

And to help you smile, check out the Wellywood Sign Generator from SkullAandBones

FINALLY! Give-way Rules Set To Change

For anyone that has the pleasure of being in the car with me you will finally get the peace and quiet of turning off/onto a main road without me blurting out, "Fucking stupid rule!"

Here's the proposed change from "madness" to "sanity":


All the details at Stuff.co.nz: Give-way rules set to change - Govt

New Zealand is the only country in the world with this priority rule. The Automobile Association says the rules are a factor in 2560 intersection crashes, and one or two deaths, each year. Some 17 percent of crashes are at intersections.

Thank you Colin for the heads-up tweet

Pure Gold! "Lalalalala laaaaaa laaaaa laaaa" [video]

Я очень рад, ведь я, наконец, возвращаюсь домой

Thanks Nick for the Buzz

A Few Places Available For Breathing Space: Anger Workshop, March 10th

This just in from Breathing Space about their latest workshop:

Kia ora everyone, Liz and I hope this emails finds you well.

I am delighted to say 'Being Present with our Children Workshop’, was a huge success. Participants came away inspired, with a heightened awareness of when they are connected with their children and how different it feels when their not connected. We hope that more of you can attend it in the future.

I would also like to inform you that we have a few more places left on the Anger Workshop this month - details below:

Understanding Your Anger Workshop
Venue: Miramar Playcentre, Crawford Green, Miramar
Date: Wednesday,10th March
Time: 7-10pm.

Upon registering (and receiving payment) Liz and I will send you a couple of exercises that will ask you to reflect on your anger, consider what the triggers might be and how anger manifests itself for you.

The workshop then introduces ways of further understanding anger and will provide strategies for you to take more control of it.

The cost is $75 - but don't forget you can still use your 2 for 1 offer (for those of you who attended the Diane Levy Event) - valid until April 2010. Email helen@breathingspacenz.com to make your reservation.

If you have any comments or would like to find out more about our services, please contact us. Our details can be found below or on our website www.breathingspacenz.com

Kind regards

Liz and Helen