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Bringing up Charlie
'Puerile witterings…' (Daily Mail)
Wednesday, 27 January 2021
Holocaust Memorial Day 2021
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Saturday, 23 January 2021
Agent Running in the Field, by John le Carré

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I've come late to le Carré, the late le Carré, prompted by the eulogies that accompanied his death to dig out some of the books I knew of but had never read (Tinker, Tailor; all the 'Smiley' novels) together with some of his more recent offerings about espionage in a post-cold war, privatised age. So far, the hype seems justified; the praise deserved. The craftsmanship of a plot that reveals just enough to set the mind (and, occasionally, pulse) racing is, of course, taken as read. And the prose is no more that its servant: the vehicle for the characters and the story, not a character, not a story in itself. In that, they're easy reading. But strangely compelling. And minutely observed. And although le Carré takes the literary high ground as omniscient narrator, showing just as much of his hand as he knows is necessary to keep the reader going, the voice - at least in this book - seems also to inhabit the characters in a manner that hides the former spy-cum-author perfectly, as he obviously intended. Agent Running in the Field is full of these acts of authorly ventriloquism: Nat, the urbane ex-field agent out to grass in an intelligence cul-de-sac back home, Ed the oddball whose path crosses Nat's on the badminton court and whose unpredictable, but ultimately honourable, activities almost bring about Nat's downfall. Each character speaks and the voice is perfect; we share each characters inner thoughts as if from their own point-of-view; and yet behind it all, le Carré the puppet-master pulls all the strings. And pulls them expertly.
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Monday, 18 January 2021
Blue Monday
It's either a load of old rubbish or a day to dread (more than any other day these last few months) but whatever you think, however you feel, it's cold and dark and this might, just make you feel a little bit better.
You're welcome!
Wednesday, 13 January 2021
Best Foot Forward!
If you're like me, you probably don't think much about it. Walking. Putting one foot in front of the other. Which is a pity, really, as there's so much more to it than that.
Neuroscientist Shane O’Mara has called it "our hidden superpower" and a new book by Yamuna Zake (author of The Ultimate Body Rolling Workout) published this week and called The Foot Fix encourages us to give it the respect a superpower deserves.
Healthy feet are fundamental to our health and wellbeing and The Foot Fix offers a simple 4 week program of quick and easy exercises to help get them back into shape. An initial walking test allows you to assess functionality in the four areas of your feet (heel, arch, ball and toes) and this is followed by exercises to help restore posture by aligning your feet correctly and strengthening your arches, all of which can help prevent problems later in life. Because Yamuna’s philosophy is "prevention". Most people wait until they’re in pain before they pay attention to their feet, but since you only get one pair and they’re meant to carry you through life, why not start taking care of them now? Just 15 minutes a day for four weeks can get your feet fully functional, says the author. And that means you're far less likely to develop foot or other associated problems such as back or hip pain and poor posture later on.