My young friend Jessica Mills in NY Times

I thought I would let you know about a bit more about my young friend Jessica Mills. Here's soem communication sent to me by her rightfully proud mother Deanie Francis Mills who is a quite well know American author:-

AWKWARD EMBRACES IN THE NEW YORK TIMES--IT'S A RAVE!!!

Guys, I'm forwarding this e-mail from my daughter but I changed her subject title because she so modest about this and I'm so excited!

Not only was Awkward Embraces selected, with a few others, out of more than 100, but the reviewer, Mike Hale (yes, that's his name <g>, and she told him she had a cousin with the same name)--featured Awkward Embraces at the TOP of the article with a lovely review, BUT, when you read the others--some of them are slick celebrity-produced Hollywood series; one of them has already won a national web series award, one is on Hulu.com, one on Sony.com, and one is a re-release of an animated movie!

Jessica's is the ONLY ONE that was done with nothing but grit, talent, and absolutely NO budget, which he refers to with a figurative smile.  His e-mails and phone calls to her have been very warm and funny.

This is a HUGE break for these kids. A publicist has already contacted them, offering to approach magazines like "Entertainment Weekly" and "TV Guide," using the NY Times as a springboard. And Jessica says that the entire Hollywood entertainment industry reads the NY Times Arts and Leisure section--so there is no telling who will see this.

Keep your fingers crossed that this could also "springboard" to a corporate sponsor or someone willing to sponsor these bright and talented young people, so Jessica can finally pay her talented cast and crew.  Recently, she had a fund-raiser where they were able to raise about $3000, which they used to help them film the first five episodes of Season Two.

The series has also attracted highly talented people in the industry who've offered to work gratis for now, and in Season Two, she's had help from a cinematographer, an assistant director, and others who've improved the production values, as well as celebrities in the world of comic books and horror movies who've requested that she write episodes for them, which she did! And they've had so much fun.

We are so proud of her, and we wanted to share this wonderful news with not just our family and friends, but people I consider Awkward Embraces family!

The link is provided below, after Jessica's letter of thanks to you all.

Love,
Deanie

"Deanie's Blue Inkblots"
http://deaniemills.com

From: Jessica Mills 
Subject: Awkward Embraces in the New York Times!
Date: Saturday, December 11, 2010, 1:21 AM

Guys, this is exciting news I've been DYING to share since Monday.  Mike Hale, television reviewer for the New York Times, has reviewed Awkward Embraces.  We are in the Arts & Leisure section of the Sunday edition!  However, the internet edition came out a day early.

This is HUGE!  I literally wandered around my house in shock for several hours after reading it.  Everyone on this e-mail list has worked hard for us, supported us, and helped us to get where we are today.

I sincerely thank each and every one of you.  Onward and Upward my friends!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/arts/television/12watch.html?scp=1&sq=awkward%20embraces&st=Search

Love,
Jessica

Lake District Weekend

Well, I went up to Glenridding to have a stroll with some other Duke of Edinburgh Award adult volunteers, driving up on Friday afternoon. John Pratt and I arrived in the dark with no Grid Reference or postcode for Almond Lodge where we were staying. We went a mile up a mountain track to get the the complex of building we thought was the right place. It took us a few minutes to find the correct building. Having arrived safely we set about putting our gear in the lodge. We had discovered a youth hostel on the way and they did food. John and I decided to have our evening meal there. Cumberland sausage, yummy, especially when washed down with a Malbec. We also booked in for a fat boy's breakfast the following morning. It as bitter cold and snowed during the night. Our "course director" Ed Chard decided that the conditions were too treacherous for us to go walking and cancelled the weekend. Some folk went with Ed for a walk towards Helvellyn and some went down the hill a bit. 

From Almond Lodge, Glenridding, looking West (a bit towards Hellvellyn)

I decided to stay in the warm. I went outside, took a few piccies. I also took a bit of "cine film" on our new Kodak ZX1 mini HD camera that I have uploaded to Youtube HERE. After about half an hour I went back indoors to catch a few Z's as I would be driving over 200 miles again. The troops got back between 12:00 and 12:30ish and there was chat about what they had done. It turned out that Ed had taken several dives in the icy conditions while he was breaking trail. Lunch was at 13:30 and started of with an excellent home made vegetable soup that Jacky and Elaine had prepared. That was followed by a main course. They had also done a really good chilli with a non mushroom option for John. There was also a non chilli version and this was known as mince. Being as how I had a long journey in front of me, I had seconds of the chilli with some bread and I washed it down with orange juice.

Looking down the valley toward Glenridding. Youth Hostel at bottom left.

John and I left the lodge at about 14:30 and I gingerly drove down the snow covered and treacherous mountain track. When we were about half way down we met a vehicle coming up. I skidded to a halt and pulled over on to a passing space because those going down always give way to those coming up. The driver of the other vehicle came slowly past and then slid into the back offside corner of my car. I swore. He looked across and told me that there was no damage.I got out and saw that there was just a black mark that would polish out. He had difficulty getting started up the hill and reversed to get a run up. As soon as he was out of sight it turned in to rush hour and five vehicles came down the slope. I decided I might as well follow on. When we reached the other car, it looked as though the occupants were deciding if it was going to be worthwhile trying to get up the track. I would say not. The rest of the journey home was uneventful but when we stopped at Scotch Corner for a rest break and cup of coffee it was really bitter cold. 

Several of us will be going to the Peak District for a one day outing with Ed on Sunday January second. Hopefully the weather will be kind to us and we'll have a good day out on the hill.

Bath, Beer, Bang!

It's a bloke thing. 

http://bit.ly/4wNXj9 Went to a Show

Eileen whose birthday is today, and I went to see Jersey Boys http://bit.ly/4wNXj9 at the Prince Edward theatre in London yesterday afternoon. It started with some sort of "rapper" number and I thought "oh no, this is going to be rubbish." But, that was the only such number and the show was really excellent. I thoroughly recommend it to anybody who can remember Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons or is interested in their music. I even found getting to and from the venue easy enough on a Sunday as public transport is very frequent. Our son in law Rich dropped us off at Surbiton railway station and picked us up again.

Awayday

I'm away to London with my wife this weekend. We are going to see "Jersey Bys" at the Prince Edward Theatre tomorrow afternoon. We have been told that it's an excellent show.

Awayday

I'm away to London with my wife this weekend. We are going to see "Jersey Bys" at the Prince Edward Theatre tomorrow afternoon. We have been told that it's an excellent show.

It is The Soldier

It is the soldier, not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,
who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier, not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the soldier,
who salutes the flag,
who serves under the flag,
and whose coffin is draped by the flag,
who allows the protester to burn the flag.

By Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, USMC

http://bit.ly/cva1ri Atheists Don't Have No Songs

A relative of mine posted this on her Facebook page. I listened to http://bit.ly/cva1ri and thought that somebody else may like it too. Or perhaps my sense of humour is just a bit weird. Anyway, I think that Steve Martin has done some good stuff in the past and this song is pretty good.

Challenge 2010

I am at The Challenge London meeting being held at the Renaissance Hotel near Heathrow airport. Ed Dale spoke first and provided a humorous insight into where he believes the internet to be going in the near future. It's obvious that with 500 Million people on it already, Facebook is one of THE places to be for networking and internet marketing. People who want to lead in a market must get to grips with online social media. I say this because with so much information bombarding us on a daily basis people are going back to their roots. That means they will buy from people they know, like and trust. Facebook, Youtube and Twitter may not pay, but, they will give us the presence required for others to know, like and trust us. 

I believe that once you know, like and trust me, I will be bale to recommend things to you and those of you who actually need or want those items, you will buy from the places I recommend. I will not put you wrong because if I do, you will tell others what an imbecile I am. Therefore my goal is to under promote and over deliver. If I can bring that off, I will hopefully gain your friendship as well as trust. I have put one link in this post to The Challenge. I have done this because I am learning a lot from doing it myself and I believe you can too. Even better, it's free!

Off back down to the meeting area now that I've eaten my first Chicken Balti Pasty I prefer Chicken & Mushroom slice) and had a cup of tea.

The only constant thing is that everything changes.

Ed Dale posted a Tweet a while ago and the link http://bit.ly/ctmZKb has a short article on the subject of "What's dead in 2010." 

People do not like change, especially when they get to my age. I still work in a school at present and notice that youngsters accept change a lot more readily than nearly all of the teachers. When I was a working policeman I did not like change either. But, since I retired I have done a lot of reading about personal development and self improvement. One of the books I read is "Who Moved My Cheese?" by Dr Spencer Johnson. That was an "AHAaa" moment for me as I immediately recognised that I resisted change. My attitude and mind set have changed somewhat since before I read that book. I can now see that change is inevitable in all parts of my life. I am getting older and slowing down, my grandchildren are getting older and speeding up, I don't like getting up early in the morning, but then, I never have. I am looking to earn a living from internet marketing and to this end I completed The Challenge. I did not succeed in making a Dollar but I did earn 30 pence. This shows to me that it is possible to earn money from internet marketing. 

I shall continue learning new skills and putting them in to practice in order to reach my goals. I hope you do too.

http://bit.ly/9hJpmd Why we follow leaders or buy stuff.

I just watched this video (  http://bit.ly/9hJpmd  ) and I found it very interesting. The bloke explains why we do things such as buying goods or following people with ideas. Although I knew the information previously, I could not have explained it to others or even myself very well. Now I think can.

I've god a derrible gold!

My wife tells me that things come in threes. She could be correct. A few weeks ago I got hit by a van as I was walking to school. Last week I went down with diarrhea. Today I've started with a sore throat and feel "coldy." Hopefully, taking Vicks First defence and dosing myself up with paracetamol will keep me from "gedding a derrible gold". We have found that catching a cold early enough and taking First Defence nearly always stops it from turning into the full blown illness. We have recommended the stuff to friends and family and they have had mixed results. At least it seems to work for us. 

I hope that everybody following me stays healthy.

http://bit.ly/bbGxwJ I want one of these!

Bose have brought out a new TV that is supposed to have wonderful sound reproduction. I have an older Bose mini system that produces excellent sound from radio and CDs. When I can afford it, I think I'll try their new "speakerless" 46" television as shown here.

Duke of Edinburgh Award

I went to Derbyshire with two groups of Grammar School students who were doing their Silver expedition. They had to spend seven hours per day walking and working towards their "purpose" for the three days. They also have to cook for and take care of themselves, spending two nights in tents. One group had seven youngsters and the other six. Both bunches worked well together and did very well. On Sunday they walked a circuit from Edale to a camp site near Hope via Mam Tor and Lose Hill. I got one of them to take the picture of me on top of Lose Hill. 

On Monday they were supposed to meet me at High Neb which is one of the hill tops along Stanage Edge. I was up there some three hours in the cloud, cold and wet and only saw the two adult supervisors for the groups. While we were at High Neb, one of them got a phone call from the first group. They had decided that because the weather was so bad, they would walk along the bottom of the hills and were already at their camp site. We gave up on seeing the second group at about 4pm and walked down out of the cloud. When we were about a kilometre from where I had left the school bus we could hear voices. This turned out to be the second group. All were safe and well. 

Yesterday they had quite a long walk along a National Footpath that took them past Chatsworth House to the car park where I had the minibus and trailer waiting. Both groups were in good spirits when they reached the bus and said they had enjoyed the experience. They had doen really well, especially considering the amount of rain that they had to put up with. We got back to school at a little after 6pm, the lads made sure the minibus was clean & tidy and then they went home. A "job" well done.

Duke of Edinburgh Award

I have now finished my packing and am ready to go tomorrow morning. I'll be getting up at 06:00, having a shower and then breakfast before going to school and sorting out the minibus & trailer. It will take us about three hours to get to Edale where the two Silver groups will be dropped off to start their expedition. Once they are on their way, I'll go to our camp site to put my tent up and have lunch. After that I shall drive in to Hope, park the van and walk up Lose Hill to meet the groups and see how they are getting on.

 Coming from the "fens," I suspect that they will be tired when they reach their camp site. I have got a camera so will take some pictures of the scenery and the youngsters for their records. I am looking forward to it even though the weather forecast is not all that wonderful. They have to walk for three days and camp out two nights, cooking for themselves and generally being self sufficient.

Packing Up

I have startred packing up my camping gear for the weekend. Two teachers from school will be supervising a Duke of Edinburgh Award Silver expedition group each and I will be assessing them from Sunday to Tuesday. We have got the school minibus and trailer to take the sixteen of us, plus gear, to theDerbyshire Peak District. The weather is supposed to be cooling down for the weekend and that will make the walking a bit more comfortable for them. I will be taking some pictures and will post one or two for you to see. In fact, I had better put the camera battery on charge. Done that, so it should be cooked by the morning. 

My small walking rucksack will contain:- Waterproofs, windproof top, lightweight pullover, six person bothy, survival "bivi" bag, first aid kit, water bottle with fitted metal mug & "cooker" with fuel, lighter,  emergency rations, compass, map, head torch & spare batteries, wool hat & headover, and gloves. I also use walking poles to distribute my weight to help me going up steep hills. I almost forgot, comfy bum. Never go on the hill without soft toilet paper as one never knows when that particular bit of nature will call.

Challenge Team

I've just got off Skype afte having a conference with the team I am in for The Challenge this year. I am finding that the support, encouragement and knowledge sharing is a real boost. Not only for morale but gaining ideas and the means of using them too. When reading up on personal development I have noticed that just about all of the "gurus" recommend having a group of people to bounce ideas off, give support and be accountable to. As I am now experiencing these benefits, I can also recommend it.

http://bit.ly/9KpJ7g About Apple TV

Apple TV May be more powerful than you imagine. See here for today's details.

I am Lucky

I've been off work since Tuesday due to a collision on the road and have not felt up to much. I was walking across a road junction on my way to the school where I work when I saw something big and white looming from my right. It wasn't hanging about considering it was approaching a main road. I managed to get my arms up so that they could take the impact rather than my body. The van hit me and I did a little dance in order to stop myself going under the wheels. The van stopped and the driver and I exchanged pleasantries. I thought I was alright and carried on walking to school. Later in the morning I was writing instructions for the class on a board and realised that I could not raise my arm without a lot of pain the arm had become weak. I went to the local hospital for a check up. By this time my shoulders and upper arms were well stiff and sore. I was advised to go and put ice packs on the affected parts, take some paracetamol and keep moving the limbs. It was painful but I did it. Wednesday morning I was really stiff and sore. When I checked myself I found a bruise on my right knee, another on my right forearm and yet another on the back of my left hand. My left wrist had some small scratches where my watch goes and I could hardly move my shoulders and upper arms. I kept on taking paracetamol and gently moving & stretching my arms. It was hurting but Eileen told me that I must keep going. Yesterday afternoon I had a visit form a Police lady who did the accident booklet for the collision. 

This morning when I woke up I realised that my shoulders and arms were not hurting so much when I washed my hair. I am definitely on the mend and consider myself very lucky as if I had been a second or two later off the pavement, I would have gone under the van and been a lot worse. I am fairly sure that I shall be able to go back to work on Monday. Now I am going to use today to do some research and write some content for my web sites.

http://j.mp/96xc4b the myth of preparation

http://j.mp/96xc4b to have a look at what Seth Godin has to say on preparation. I have seen that many people give up just before they are about to become successful. A lot more try for perfection before they try to do anything. If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly at the start of your "doing process." We do not get better by doing nothing, we get better by practising. When I was on the firearms team, I practised drawing and shooting a lot. This brought a "muscle memory" that stood me in good stead when I needed to do shoot quickly and accurately. The old saying that practice makes perfect is not far from the truth.

http://ht.ly/2CGmB to see why most people fail.

Most people fail because they give up on their ideas, goals or targets. Ed Dale who started The Challenge is seen here giving a brief chat on why he believes that people fail at internet marketing and why people are not told the pitfalls for those trying to start up an online business.

http://t.co/yXgpfLG Singularity University Limited Briefing

Singularity University Limited Briefing http://t.co/yXgpfLG looks to be something that will interest a lot of people who are concerned about what we humans may have previously done to the planet and how we can possibly do something about improving it.

http://j.mp/conyyG to see Google's improvements.

Google Instant is just starting up and they state that we can save time by using their new system. For information on how it will work, go to http://j.mp/conyyG

Not for the Faint Hearted http://bit.ly/bDKfRD

I was sent this link http://bit.ly/bDKfRD to see the "top ten" low fly past scenes on video.  With some of them, the margine left for any error is minimal to say the least. Enjoy.

Back to School

The students started back at my school today. It seems to me that some of them have taken the school holidays as an opportunity to do absolutely nothing. What I mean to say is, they have not even done anything to enjoy themselves and I find that very disappointing. How am I going to motivate them to get some work done if they can't motivate themselves enough to have a good time? I have tried to explain to them that the UK government is going to make big cuts to many budgets and I reckon education will be among them. This will mean that there will be less university places and my students will have to do really well in their exams, and, be able to show that they have something more to bring to the table so that they stand out from the rest of the applicants. To this end, I am trying some incentives and I'll see how we got this year. At least I've got a brilliant bunch of youngsters to work with. It's just that I can not seem to be able to convince them of just how good they are. I'll just have to introduce them to my old school chum Percy Vere.

http://bit.ly/1bbuiN for a Jessica Mills writeup

My friend and actress Jessica Mills has a series of short films on the web. http://bit.ly/1bbuiN gives a writeup of what a critic thinks of the show. Go to http://www.projectaproductions.com/Awkward_Embraces.html to see what the fuss is about. I have watched them all and have not been disappointed. But then, I am weird. Go on, you know ou want to.

http://amzn.to/cQDtnE for Who Moved My Cheese?

I recently bought a "classic" book called "Who Moved My Cheese?" by Dr Spencer Johnson. There's some good stuff in it. It's reduced in price on Amazon at present http://amzn.to/cQDtnE

Bleucchh!

I am a complete bonehead when it comes to sorting out anything to do with websites. I have a number of URLs with Namecheap and hosting with Hostgator. I was trying to get a "simple" Wordpress web site sorted today but just messed up. At least I have now got the DNS server stuff sorted and should be able to get on and do a web site over the weekend. I can't do it Saturday as I am off to RAF Duxford with my son in law Rich to see the Battle of Britain aircraft displays. That said, I shall also be using Wordpress Direct to sort some more web site stuff out in quick time as I wrote a couple of articles today. Back to school tomorrow!

http://bit.ly/cEblcI Seth Godin says don't forget about colour

I just read an interesting little article on Seth Godin's blog.It is about the use of colour in our lives, how it can affect us and how we can use it to our advantage. Go here http://bit.ly/cEblcI to read it.

http://bit.ly/a5hr8t If you feel unlucky

I already know that I am lucky to have my wife, family, friends, job and health. This http://bit.ly/a5hr8t makes me realise even more how lucky I am am.

http://bit.ly/agSTzn for Shaun the Sheep fans

I stumbled across this web site that has a Shaun the Sheep game on it. http://bit.ly/agSTzn

Visited Mum with family yesterday

My mother was not able to go to my younger daughter Janine's wedding in June. Therefore we arranged that my wife, both daughters and families would visit Mum yesterday with DVDs of the movies and pictures taken on the day. We had a great day and I got to eat fish 'n' chips! It's Mum's birthday in a couple of weeks and so we took her present too. The picture is of Mum and my grandchildren, with Mum's dog Fern.

http://bit.ly/9W5lD2 for Dropbox File Sharing & Saving

I am finding Dropbox handy for moving and saving my files. You can find it at http://bit.ly/9W5lD2 One idea would be to save files to it in school & pick them up at home for doing the dreaded homework. I am finding it useful as I have an iMac and a Macbook that I am using for the Challenge which you'll find at http://www.challenge.co

http://j.mp/coFLSB Keyboard Shortcuts and Typing Tips for your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch

Keyboard Shortcuts and Typing Tips for your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touchhttp://j.mp/coFLSB  that I hope you will find useful. I know I shall as I have just ordered an ipad and already use an iphone.

YAY! I've sold a book http://www.lulu.com/content/1995822

When I checked my e-mail this morning I saw a Facebook message written by an old friend of mine from my Lincolnshire Police days. Her son goes to the school where I work and when we found that I knew his Mum, he took my best wishes to her. She in turn told him of an incident that happened when we were both in a marked  police car with me driving. When he came back to school he reminded me of it. She has now asked where she can buy a copy of my memoirs. After she purchases it, I shall have to send 35p to UKCOPS charity that helps the families of deceased Police Officers, and, 35p to the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal as I have promised to give ten percent of any of the book's profits to both of those charities. If you too would like to read my story and indirectly help those two charities you can find it at http://www.lulu.com/content/1995822 

At last I've uploaded something to Youtube.

I did a DVD the still pictures of my younger daughter Janine's wedding for my Mum. Each picture shows for six seconds and I put them to music. The first part is at the B&B we stayed at and you can see my family including both daughters and my grandchildren. I thought I would put the results on Youtube so that my family and friends coud see it too. You can watch it at  if you are interested. It's about ten minutes long.

How to Train Your Content to Get Your Audience's Attention http://bit.ly/dbE6XK

 

  

How to Train Your Content to Get Your Audience's Attention http://bit.ly/dbE6XK is an article that will help us get the content on our web sites scanned and noticed so that visitors will be more likely to read it. Obviously if they are then take the time to read it, they are also more likely to take the follow up action that we recommend.

http://www.khanacademy.org/ for those wanting to learn.

Bill Gates's favourite learning web site at present is at http://www.khanacademy.org and it has an awful lot of items on different subjects. These include, Maths, Banking and Money, History, Biology, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry and Physics.  You may well find something to interest you there.

Reading a Book called Accidental Genius by Mark Levy

I sent away for the book called Accidental Genius (2nd Edition) by Mark Levy and it arrived this morning. I'm nearly half way through it and I think I shall go and finish it now. Then tomorrow, I'll start doing the "exercises" that he recommends.

Posterous Redesign Highlights Ways to Share Beyond E-mail http://j.mp/aJtlc0

Hav a look at the linked article in order to see how Posterous is improving its service for us all.

Conference Call

Just got off Skype with the members of the Challenge team I joined. It's good to bounce ideas off each other.

Started a Journal

I started a journal yesterday as recommended by Jim Rohn  who was an American what I would call "life system advisor." I learned a lot by reading his books and listening to his CDs etc. I never put most of the advice into practice but I am starting to now.

I Recommend "Go Givers" Book

I have just finished reading a book called The Go Givers http://bit.ly/bSZtCQ by Bob Burg and John David Mann. It will be a bit of an eye opener for many people.

Accidental Genius

Sent for Accidental Genius http://amzn.to/co5ISS by Mark Levy as recommended by Ed Dale for The Challenge

My First Book

My autobiography can be bought at http://www.lulu.com/content/1995822 
10% of any profits will go to UKCOPS and 10% to the British Legion Poppy Appeal.

Updated Squidoo Lens

I have just updated my Squidoo lens on Outdoor Garden Lighting.

Back from Holiday

I have had two weeks away with my family, staying at Teignmouth in Devon. One day we went to Hay Tor on the edge of Dartmoor and I took this picture of my youngest granddaughter Fritha near the top.

The Challenge

I have been updating my Wordpress Direct blog this morning. http://www.wpdirect.com/members/?thankyou-page=31080

The Challenge

Have been updating my Wordpress Direct ( http://bit.ly/aB0QeN ) blog this morning.

Why This Blog?

I have started this blog because I am in the process of learning how to go about internet marketing. To this end I am taking part in The Challenge. It is a free course running over seven modules of seven days that take a bit under an hour per day to complete. Obviously many people will be faster than me but at least I am keeping up! There is also a seven day rest or catching up period between each module. Therefore is is going to take about thirteen weeks to finish the course. I'm happy at that as I like the way the training is laid out. The web site I have started for The Challenge is Outdoor Garden Lighting