What the future holds for family; thought provocation from journalist Liz Jones

Tags

depression, family, Liz Jones, mental health, prolongation of life, sexual differences, stress, The Greatest Gift

I noticed an article in the Mail on Sunday today; it was by Liz Jones, the self-deprecating journalist who lives with her life on her sleeve. She was talking about mental health and depression, particularly in women over 60, resulting from the stresses of trying to balance their lives, looking after grandchildren, children and ageing parents. However, perhaps their concern is to do with the realisation that their own life is possibly coming to an end soon and the worry of, ‘Have I done enough for everyone; have I passed enough information about life on to my kids to ensure that they have an easier passage through it than I did?’

In reading Liz’s article, http://dailym.ai/1bzgXu3, I realised that without having consciously considered it, I have finally taken on board, (with my wife’s assistance of course) how very different Man and Woman is. Men tend to see a problem and want to fix it and then move on, whereas a woman will analyse the problem, project it forward infinitely and worry about possible future problems. I realise this statement could be considered both sexist and glib, however in real terms, both approaches are absolutely necessary to provide a balanced solution to family life.

My novel, The Greatest Gift, considers the future in terms of probable increased life span and improved intelligence and it’s my take on what might happen if humans were to live for far longer than they do at present. In it, I explore the possibilities of a much longer life and the difficulties that might raise. I further this ‘exploration’ in book two, Drifting Sands, which I am currently writing. However, with time being plentiful, disease under control and intelligence vastly increased, what would Man do? Imagine then, 20-30 generations all living at one period in time; it’s a bit of a worry!

Ken Balneaves wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)

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School holiday time, let’s stop hiking

Tags

Education, education secretary, holidays, Mr Gove, train strike

I read in the #SundayTimes today that at present Mr Gove has restricted parents from the previously accepted 10% withdrawal rule; to allow parents to avoid expensive school holiday periods. However, “From 2015, schools will have the option to alter term dates to avoid peak-season holidays.” Is this not, putting the cart before the horse?

These days, I am not affected by school holiday hikes in charges as my kids are grown up and until they have children, I can avoid these busy periods. However, that said, it has never been clear to me why prices should be increased at school holiday periods as it is grossly unfair on families, ours included in years gone by.

Surely, the answer is not to cause massive disruption to school terms, with the inevitable, one child off and the other not, due to differing school holiday policies. The answer is for government(s) to legislate against travel companies that increase their prices during school holiday time.

So Mr Gove, as Education Secretary, ever concerned about budgeting, how about understanding the pressures families are under and allow parents to keep their money by driving legislation to prevent price increases by holiday companies during school holiday time. In my view, that would be a far better use of your and Government’s time than restructuring school terms.

Until then Parents, follow the lead of the train drivers and vote with your feet; a one year embargo on companies who hike prices would soon see prices tumbling.

Ken Balneaves wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)

Frack to the future, or the past?

Tags

destruction, Fracking, fusion, future, geology, green, incendiary, new books, past, planet, seismic, stone

So, Fracking. Is it the incendiary for further seismic activity that will ultimately screw our planet, or is it the short term answer to our energy crisis? Answers chiseled on an tablet of stone please.

Methinks we need to solve fusion and fast.

Ken Balneaves wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)

Is ‘The Café’, a writer’s retreat?

Tags

café, Coffee, excess, Observation, people watching, writing

Now I like coffee as much as the next person but in my little village there are six cafés, with two more planned, I hear. That’s one café for every 1,800 of the population. Surely, that can’t be sustainable even if it does give diversity of choice.

Personally, I prefer the privately owned small outlets rather than the larger chains but the very reasons I like them, might be a cause of their possible demise. They are less busy, so quieter; the Yummy Mummy brigade with their pushchairs and wailing kids seem to prefer the chains (thank god), but they are regular spenders that the small cafés miss out on. Often, the smaller places don’t have wi-fi and that’s a major deficiency now, especially for a writer.

On the other hand, sometimes it’s good to frequent the multiples just to people watch. What is that meeting all about, are they plotting against someone; why does the man of that couple keep looking over his shoulder, are they married but not to each other; that lady looks lonely and sad, I wonder if she’s recently bereaved?

So, what’s the verdict, large or small, private or corporate, or do both have their place in our time? Probably, but eight in one small village?

Ken Balneaves wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)

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Is observation a writer’s subconscious skill?

Tags

drinking, driving, friendship, interaction, Observation, writing

Last evening, after work, I drove to my local pub and had a few pints with a friend. Later, my daughter drove me home in her car. My own car spent the night in the pub car park, a bit of a worry but it was fine when I collected it the morning.

To get to it, my wife gave me a lift, part of the way at least, on her way to work. The remainder of my journey was on foot, about half a mile or so. Me, walk, unheard of, but I quite enjoyed it, passing and actually seeing houses that I’ve been past a thousand times before but have never really noticed. I also went by two schools and observed just how many fathers take their kids to school these days; changed times, I was almost the only one when I did the school run when my kids were young.

I exchanged ‘good morning’ with the lollipop man at the zebra crossing near the school. He then shouted hello to a passing bread delivery van driver, who I’m guessing, he sees every day, a passing friendship. I noted interaction between many people, smiling and talking as they met each other; parents cajoling their children along as they did so.

I also wondered why there was no queuing traffic at the junction with the main road as there always is when I’m in the car or is that just my perception when driving, trying to get somewhere in a hurry?

The sauntered walk was no more than ten minutes or so but I saw so much more of life in that time than I normally do when driving. The thing is, until my journey was over, I hadn’t realised I had taken all of this in, but I now have more stored memories to draw upon whilst writing.

So, the moral of the story? More drive drinking I think; or, I could get a dog. Either way, I think that, as a writer, due to my unconscious observational skills, my writing will benefit, and I might lose the beer belly too, haha.

Ken Balneaves wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)

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A writer’s research, a murderous business.

Tags

ballistics, iPhone, murder, notes, Paranoia, suicide

I was making a few notes the other day after researching on the Internet, something for my latest novel, when it suddenly struck me. If someone close to me were to die under suspicious circumstances there’s a whole load of potentially incriminating material on my iPhone. I have, in Notes, subjects such as war, rioting and ballistics as well as the effects of Cesium-137 and methods of committing suicide.

All of this is of course so I can use it to knowledgeably write about these subjects in my latest novel (honest), but I now realise that in the event of me being investigated, the Police might misinterpret this. And, if I died, they may think it was suicide, so no payout for my wife on the life policy. Haha. (Oops, did I say that out loud?)

My immediate action was to inform my wife what sort of content I have recorded; thank god I don’t write about children or pornography or both! That would take some explaining (Remember Pete Townshend?). However, when I told her the nature of my research including ways of committing murder, she just gave me an incredulous look and said, ‘okay’; what a trusting woman.

I jest but in the words of the prayer,

‘If I should die before I wake’,
Will someone please delete my iPhone notes, for goodness sake.

Ken Balneaves wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)

The mating game; friend, #lover or foe?

Tags

alien, Aliens, race, science fiction, war

I hope you don’t mind, I’d like to conduct an experiment. I apologise if you’ve read this blog before. I posted it four days ago with the title “The #aliens are coming, it could be the end.”; it bombed, with only a relatively small number of hits. So, here it is again with a sexier title and seven more words. I’ll let you know in a few days how it goes this time.

“As a science fiction writer, I spend most of my life thinking about the, ‘what if’ of life and beyond. Recently, on Discovery, I watched a, ‘How the universe works’ programme about the likelihood of alien existence and it set me thinking about what has to be the biggest, ‘what if’ of all time.

But what if they do exist? Religion, race, colour, creed, wealth and power have all at some time acted singularly or conspired to keep the human race at odds with each other. To a lesser or greater extent, these factors have succeeded over countless centuries, causing wars between individuals, families, tribes, counties, countries and continents. How then, would we deal with aliens, a truly ‘different’ race from other worlds?

They might be so vastly different from us as to be totally repugnant, or they might be some sort of super race and we know what happened the last time someone tried to create that. Either way, it is likely that the differences would cause us to want to defend ourselves from the unknown. To man and woman, the unknown is fearsome and ‘alien’ in any guise, until one acquires an understanding of those differences and their aspirations, whereupon previously held prejudices can often be set aside. Some might become friends or even lovers!

It’s not so long ago that we, as a human race, considered ourselves to be split into three. Caucasian, Mongoloid and Negro. These classifications were not very helpful in terms of unification of the people of the world and thankfully, are now all but dead. But the fact remains that we are all different and until and unless we understand these differences, we will continue to fight for our corner of this planet. Still, it’s a sad edictment that there are many wars going on in our World right now. I Google searched on how many, which returned varying answers from 16 to 43. One answer however simply said ‘to many’ (sic) so I have added another, the one against ignorance. And that brings me nicely back to the reason for those wars. Let’s all hope we have a long period of amail (alien mail) contact with our intrepid interplanetary travellers, ahead of when they arrive or before we visit them. If they speak one of our native tongues that is, otherwise, it could be the end of civilisation as we know it, the ultimate war; sometimes, only survival counts.”

Ken Balneaves wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)

The #aliens are coming, it could be the end.

Tags

alien, Aliens, race, science fiction, war

As a science fiction writer, I spend most of my life thinking about the, ‘what if’ of life and beyond. Recently, on Discovery, I watched a, ‘How the universe works’ programme about the likelihood of alien existence and it set me thinking about what has to be the biggest, ‘what if’ of all time.

But what if they do exist? Religion, race, colour, creed, wealth and power have all at some time acted singularly or conspired to keep the human race at odds with each other. To a lesser or greater extent, these factors have succeeded over countless centuries, causing wars between individuals, families, tribes, counties, countries and continents. How then, would we deal with aliens, a truly ‘different’ race from other worlds?

They might be so vastly different from us as to be totally repugnant, or they might be some sort of super race and we know what happened the last time someone tried to create that. Either way, it is likely that the differences would cause us to want to defend ourselves from the unknown. To man and woman, the unknown is fearsome and ‘alien’ in any guise, until one acquires an understanding of those differences and their aspirations, whereupon previously held prejudices can often be set aside.

It’s not so long ago that we, as a human race, considered ourselves to be split into three. Caucasian, Mongoloid and Negro. These classifications were not very helpful in terms of unification of the people of the world and thankfully, are now all but dead. But the fact remains that we are all different and until and unless we understand these differences, we will continue to fight for our corner of this planet. Still, it’s a sad edictment that there are many wars going on in our World right now. I Google searched on how many, which returned varying answers from 16 to 43. One answer however simply said ‘to many’ (sic) so I have added another, the one against ignorance. And that brings me nicely back to the reason for those wars. Let’s all hope we have a long period of amail (alien mail) contact with our intrepid interplanetary travellers, ahead of when they arrive or before we visit them. If they speak one of our native tongues that is, otherwise, it could be the end of civilisation as we know it, the ultimate war; sometimes, only survival counts.

Ken Balneaves wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)

I don’t swear or use the word, ‘awesome’ but the UK #Paralympic Games were simply F*%>\ng Awesome.

Tags

awesome, disabled, discrimination, fire, Olympics, Paralympic Games, Paralympics

It was with complete and utter awe that I watched the closing ceremony of the Great Britain Paralympics’ Games last night. As a writer, I try not to swear too much although, on occasion, my characters do. However, the spectacle of the end of the Games was indeed F*%>\ng Awesome.

It was reported that there would be fire and there was; the imagination of the director, Kim Gavin knew no bounds this time. He had apparently said not to look for the derivation of his inspiration for the set pieces; they were, as it transpired, fantastically fictional and doubtless, entirely from his own cerebral invention, much like when writers write science fiction.

Its story however conveyed the message that these games, the Paralympics’ Games, were about the greatness of people. People who, for various reasons, are disabled; from relatively minor injuries or abnormalities to unbelievably debilitating conditions that have a huge impact on their way of life.

Their recent battle against such adversity making achievements against all odds cannot, and must not, be simply for the sake of the past ten days. They have striven for Great Britain for years to qualify and subsequently win medals, but even the taking part is more than admirable.

Let’s not forget the Olympians of course, they too have, ‘done us proud’ coming third in the World, like the Paralympians, was also a fantastic achievement.

And the Gamesmakers, what a fantastic bunch of people, working long hours and managing to maintain a cheerful demeanour, it was almost like being in a US Disney park and just as clean.

Thankfully there were no antics from the warring factions of this World. It was really great to see our troops (and the Police) there in a peaceful role, enjoying their work, making the Games memorable for the right reasons.

So finally, for the disabled, it’s up to us, those who are able bodied and minded. The mood in the UK towards them has palpably changed; let’s keep it that way and afford them as much assistance as they need and deserve. Well done Team GB.

Ken Balneaves wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)

For one so talented, what a sad life you led.

Tags

artist, darkness, Lowry, matchstick men

What a dark and dismal life you led, failing to reach the considered acceptable level of competence, rejected at an early age but striving nonetheless. Constantly seeking recognition, particularly from the one who mattered to you most of all.

Always living with your parents, you tried to find your individual style, most important in your business, and when eventually you did just that it was not for everyone, but then art seldom is. Still, that further dented your fragile self esteem and, despite your growing recognition, your self worth could not follow.

When your father died, suddenly and unexpectedly, bad enough, but your mother consigned herself to bed, leaving you as her long term carer. Wonder not then at the black mood that constantly emerged in your own sparse time, dictating the desolation of your latest creation.

When eventually your mother died, your pain showed clearly through your work, desperate and dark. Many waiflike characters depicted together but somehow looking lonely and alone, with only a few examples of colour inspired by occasional lighter moments in your hapless life.

And the sea, always the sea, featureless and empty in the way of your loveless existence, except for your bedroom where you surrounded yourself with images of beautiful women. But not painted or drawn by you. No, your view of women was clouded by the relentless but quiet control of your mother, whose approval you never received, closure never reached. What a sad existence.

——————-0—————–
I wrote this following a visit last year to The Lowry Centre, having been moved by what I learnt about the artist, L S Lowry’s life. He was famous for his depiction of the Northwest of England, particularly his style of painting dark industrial scenes with matchstick men and matchstick cats and dogs. He even inspired a song of that name, matchstick men.

If you’d like to know more, check out the Lowry website at http://www.thelowry.com

L. S. Lowry
Laurence Stephen Lowry (1 November 1887 – 23 February 1976) was an English artist born in Stretford.

Ken Balneaves wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)