I often think about this as I move around the village, gathering news for Hethersett Herald. Why so I hear you ask? Well I like to reflect local campaigns and align myself to what I feel is best for the village. Hopefully I will always back what I feel is right for us. But it's often my own opinion. Opinions like the fact that facilities should come before building expansion but I know it sadly never will. Sometimes I wish there was another publication set up in opposition to my Hethersett Herald. It would be good for some competition that isn't competition. I can never have competition as such as there are no costs involved in my project. I can never lose advertising revenue because there is none involved and that puts me in the happy position of bringing you news and features without the threat of being drummed out of business.
Here's just one of the many enjoyable pieces from Pickwick Papers.
"Of course it was essentially and indispensably necessary that each of these powerful parties should have its chosen organ and representative: and, accordingly, there were two newspapers in the town—the Eatanswill Gazette and the Eatanswill Independent; the former advocating Blue principles, and the latter conducted on grounds decidedly Buff. Fine newspapers they were. Such leading articles, and such spirited attacks!—‘Our worthless contemporary, the Gazette’—‘That disgraceful and dastardly journal, the Independent’—‘That false and scurrilous print, the Independent’—‘That vile and slanderous calumniator, the Gazette;’ these, and other spirit-stirring denunciations, were strewn plentifully over the columns of each, in every number, and excited feelings of the most intense delight and indignation in the bosoms of the townspeople."
How's that for unhealthy competiton and insulting the opposition?
* * *
I seem to be getting quicker at solving Wordle. For those who don't know about this word game, it features a five letter word. You have to work out what it is by entering a word on a grid. After each go a square turns green if you have got a letter correct and in the correct place. It turns a kind of yellow/orange colour if you have a letter correct but in the wrong place.
Sometimes I can agonise over the words for half an hour but the last five days I have got the word in a matter of seconds rather than minutes.
*. *. *
Yesterday we said goodbye to John Nightingale, a real gentleman of our parish. John is a former chairman of Hethersett Parish Council. He was always up for a chat and there was fulsome praise at his service which saw the return of our previous Rector The Rev Derek McClean.
It was good to have a chat with him - mainly about music. His tastes veer on the side of heavy metal. Now I look forward to meeting our new rector Lynn Chapman who also has a love of music but my money is on it being of a much quieter kind.
Meanwhile I will be writing a piece on John N for the next Hethersett Herald and Good News. It will include some of his own words he wrote for his funeral.
Before going to the funeral, I had a few minutes in hand. When I have a short time and not enough to start anything big, I tend to go on the piano. I took down a book entitled "Sounds of Summer" which I bought for £1 from a charity shop in Holt. Opened it up and the sheet music that appeared was for "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square."
I'm sure John Nightingale will be singing somewhere.
*. *. *
The excitement is mounting. We are at last on the home stretch for the publication of our book "Hell in Paradise" about the massacre in Northern France in May 1940. I won't pretend that the road to publication has been an easy one but we are finally getting there.
We have had a wonderful front and back cover designed by Joy Smith, wife of one of our Le Paradis Commemoration members Nick Smith. This has now been adapted by our printer and his associates to flow across the front and back of the book to give it a very professional look.
Next step is to review a mock up copy of the book and to purchase an ISBN number and barcode. We are well on track for the book to come out sometime in February.
As I have said, it hasn't been a smooth ride. Our road has been pitted with potholes which included being accepted and then badly let down by a national publisher and then having to rewrite sections followed by having the difficult task of having it proof read and going through it numerous times, making small corrections and alterations.
I was hugely disappointed when the National publisher pulled out but now in a strange way I'm glad because it has meant that we have kept total control of the content and the project.
One lengthy section of the book reproduces the diary kept by one of the two survivors. It's full of what appears to be pretty mundane stuff but to me that is part of the attraction as it allows us into the thoughts and the world of a prisoner of war after the massacre. I know the publisher would have cut this section drastically. Now we have it in full and it's something that has never been published in book form before. If we had gone down the publisher's route we would have been almost telling people which part of the diary they are allowed to read. By keeping all of it in we are giving people the choice of reading the whole thing or just reading a chunk.
I look forward to the book being a success as it undoubtedly will be and I look forward to telling the publisher that let us down that their loss is our gain.
In case anyone wants to buy one we will be sorting that side of things out shortly and I will let everyone know where they will be available, how to get them and the price. Watch this space as they say.
*. *. *
At last I had my shingles jab yesterday after a few delays due to pregnancy (not mine I hasten to add). I would say I felt a small prick but I'm not that kind of person ( honest).
The last time I turned up for the jab it was for a one off with live vaccine which I couldn't have due to daughter in law being pregnant. Yesterday's was one of two Jabs with what must be dead vaccine. So in the words of Arnie "I'll be back."
*. *. *
There aren't very many television programmes that I watch regularly. Coronation Street is one of those but I'm getting rather fed up of the storylines which seem to revolve around serial killers, drugs, violence etc.
I do like Dragons' Den though and Thursday's was very good. Guest dragon Gary Neville brought a new dimension to the programme with his super intelligent business acumen and down to earth manner.
As a result of that programme I need to seek out cacao and a healthier eating regime. Something I've been thinking about for a long time and something that should have stopped me going to the pub yesterday to eat Nachos and drink Guinness - although as we all know, Guinness is good for you and full of iron. I rest my case.