A Day in the Life

It's approaching the end of May now, and here in little, old Eng-er-land it seems that finally we're getting some decent weather. Temperatures are now reaching up to 26 degrees Celsius, which may not sound like much to some, but to us it's a little slice of heaven, probably because we've had some  most bizarre conditions of late. As Gary over at his site, klahanie (see link on the right of this page) reports, April was the wettest since records began, although at the same time we were officially in a drought. I even heard one weather reporter say that we were getting the "wrong type" of rain to alleviate this situation. Just how do you get the "wrong type" of rain? Also, to say that our climate is inconsistent is perhaps an understatement. I went out for lunch with a friend yesterday and she said that only a couple of days ago the temperature in her car was 2 degrees Celsius, whereas yesterday it was 22. Maybe this is all to do with climate change, b...

So, a little bit of positive news this time. Of late, it seems, there has been something of an improvement in the media's reporting on mental health. With an increasing number of celebrities being open about their mental health problems there has been a growing interest in mental health in the media, as well as what appears to be an increased understanding of such matters. People like cricketers Andrew Flintoff, Marcus Trescothik and Michael Yardy have all been open in the media about their experience of mental ill health, and the media's reporting of their problems has been, largely, sympathetic and understanding. Perhaps most significantly, ex-boxer Frank Bruno's recent relapse into mental ill health was greeted with a tellingly more sober response than when it was first reported, many years ago now, with the sensational and derogatory headline, "Bonkers Bruno Locked Up". So perhaps it is that finally the impetus for celebrities to be open about their experienc...

Those who read this blog will know that one of my major interests is cinema. And, a few weeks ago me and a few other members of the Pathways Group went to a film night at the local Film Theatre in Stoke. One of the short films shown there had been produced with the involvement of one of our members, Dom, hence our presence. There were other films shown there, however, one with footage of Marlene Dietrich giving a performance at a concert in London in the '70s. My friend remarked that Dietrich had lived into her 100s, but later corrected himself, saying that in fact she had only lived into her 90s, and that he had been confusing her with another, famous (nay infamous) German female figure of the cinema, Leni Riefenstahl, who indeed did live until the grand age of 101. Although involved in the same industry, the figures of Dietrich and Riefenstahl were polar opposites in terms of their political beliefs. While Dietrich was a fervent anti-Nazi, and became an American citize...