In the spirit of Thanksgiving,  I thought that I would share some wise words written by the father of our country, George Washington. Whether you are hosting Thanksgiving or will be an honored guest, may I humbly suggest that you read President Washington’s rules of etiquette and behavior and ensure that you do not end up being an embarrassing family epithet. I hope everyone has a happy and safe Thanksgiving weekend. Rules According to George…  

Matthew 19:14 “But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” King James Version (KJV) It has been almost one week since the terrorist attacks in Paris, although, somehow, it seems much longer than that. In these scant few days, we have witnessed both huge outpourings of generosity and kindness, alongside a lack of compassion for one’s fellow man that I find hard to articulate.  One thing is… Read more »

Thanksgiving is just around the corner here in the USA – the annual celebration of family and gratitude, cleverly disguised as an exercise in gluttony and football.  Every year, families gather together to share an enormous turkey dinner, watch the Dallas Cowboys lose to whoever, and argue bitterly about why the government is to blame for the burnt apple pie. (Thanks Obama!) As a native Brit, I am relatively new to Thanksgiving and all it’s delectable comestibles.  The main “eating” holiday in Britain… Read more »

Now that Halloween is behind us, I thought that it would be fun to introduce you, gentle reader, to a very British autumnal celebration – Bonfire Night (aka Guy Fawkes Night). Every year on November 5th, bonfires are lit – from small backyards to large community affairs – and fireworks set off, to commemorate an unlucky would-be terrorist and his part in The Gunpowder Plot of 1605. “Whaat?” I hear my non-British friends cry, “Explain please!” Oh, all right then! Sit back,… Read more »

For the final post in my “Halloween” series; I thought that I would discuss the three movies which I think are among the scariest of all time: “The Wicker Man” (1973); “Poltergeist” (1982) and, Stanley Kubrick’s horror masterpiece, “The Shining” (1980). Maybe I’m just getting old, but in the days before CGI, film-makers really had to work to make their movies authentically scary.  You couldn’t just put an actor in front of a green screen and ask them to emote terror against… Read more »