It was frequently remarked of the honourable Julian Carruthers-Jones that “He was not a clubbable man”. This statement was belied by the presence of a bloody cudgel which lay some little distance from the corpse of the late Carruthers-Jones …
I deleted that Facebook post I wrote after having consumed 10 pints of strong beer, the one in which I made unfounded allegations about Ms Y and Mr X. Its no longer showing on my Timeline so it’s all fine now, isn’t it?
Well no, it isn’t! Once something is out there on the internet it is impossible to completely erase it. In the above (fictional) example the post has disappeared from the Facebook user’s timeline. It has, however already been shared many times before the drunken Facebooker had the nouse to delete it. Mr X’s lawyer has already written to Facebook asking that they disclose the poster’s details in order that legal proceedings may be commenced against him. To compound matters Ms Y’s boyfriend knows who the poster is and is on his way round to his home to “have a word”.
In this purely fictional example one may smile at the stupidity of the poster. However such instances of stupidity are commonplace. Take, for example the unfounded allegations regarding certain prominent persons that they where paedophiles. Quite rightly the persons libeled took great exception to the slur on their character and sued.
I feel sorry for young people today. While at university there was no internet so student antics could not be plastered all over the World Wide Web (not that there was anything to plaster in the case of yours truly I hasten to add. I was, of course a model of rectitude …)! However in this age of the internet every unguarded comment made online can come back to haunt the poster. A young teenager, their emotional and mental development still in flux says something on social media which on reaching adulthood they bitterly regret. Sadly it often seems to be wholly irrelevant that the poster now genuinely disavows their youthful comments. The media shows no mercy and they are pilloried for comments which, had they been made in the pre internet age would have been, in all likelyhood long since forgotten.
In Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell introduces Memory Holes. All scrap paper and documents which are no longer relevant or are embarrassing to “The Party” go into these recepticles and are taken to furnaces in the depths of The Ministry Of Truth for destruction. It is never made explicit in the novel but one is left with the strong impression that there are no such furnaces. The Memory Holes are just what it says on the tin – a place where information is stored by the authorities to be used at a later date against the population of Oceania. Virtual Memory Holes are alive and kicking for anyone with the patience and technical expertise to access them. Post in haste repent at leisure.
Kevin
Dowson is one of my favourite poets. I hope therefore you will forgive the indulgence of a reblog. Unfortunately the link to Dowson’s work is no longer working and I have been unable to find the book on Amazon (although I have my own copy on my Kindle). Kevin
I can not quite recollect when I first came across the poet Ernest Christopher Dowson. Perhaps it was while listening to one of the many recorded anthologies of verse which have delighted me over the years. Possibly I read his “They are not long the weeping and the laughter” while browsing through the Oxford Book of English Verse. Be that as it may, I was delighted to come across The Poems And Prose Of Ernest Dowson With A Memoir By Arthur Symons as a free download in the Amazon Kindle store, http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000JQUZY6?ie=UTF8&ref_=oce_digital_UK.
Dowson was born in 1867 and died in 1900 at the tragically young age of 30. During his short life he produced some of the most moving poetry in the English language including his often quoted “They are not Long”
“They are not long, the weeping and the laughter,
Love and desire and hate;
I think they…
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I have felt the fire at midnight’s hour
It kindles brightly and sinks within the hour.
I have gazed at embers dying fast
Looked into the future and gazed into the past
I have raked the ashes cold, felt the bleakness in my soul.
Those who have visited London will have experienced the delights of crowded public transport. There is, surely nothing more pleasant than having one’s nostrils tantalised by the sweet scent of one’s fellow commuter’s perspiring bodies on a baking hot summer’s day.
I can also highly recommend the sardine game. This entails packing as many human beings into a tube or mainline train as is humanly possible then adding a few more for good measure. Oh the delights of being clobbered by heavy baggage as one’s fellow passenger’s show their pleasure at visiting this great capital city by swinging their luggage with gay abandon.
Another fun aspect of the daily commute is the manner in which it enables one to make new friends. The train or other mode of transport jolts and one finds a total stranger sitting on one’s lap (that is if you have been fortunate enough to obtain that rarest of comodities, a seat)!
Talking of seats or the lack thereof, I have hit upon a sure fire way of obtaining one when travelling in this great city of London. I proclaim at the top of my voice,
“Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
“Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!” he said.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.”
My fellow commuters are so moved by the power of Tennyson that they rise in unison and vacate the carriage leaving me to my declaiming. They are no doubt deeply touched by the majesty of the poem and rather than show emotion in front of me choose rather to express it elsewhere.
To all of my fellow commuters, happy commuting!
Kevin
As a visually impaired author and book lover the vouchers for free audio books are of interest to me. Thanks to Chris Graham (The Story Reading Ape) for sharing this information. Kevin
Author Loretta Livingston has started a special group on Goodreads and sent me this message…
Hi Chris.
I’m wondering if any of your friends here with audio books might be interested in a new initiative I am trying to start on Goodreads.
Free Audible Vouchers for the Blind and Visually Impaired
A group to provide offers of Audible audio book vouchers for blind and visually impaired readers.
All authors welcome, and any reader who is blind or visually impaired and would like the opportunity of free Audible vouchers.
Readers, please note, the authors here would appreciate reviews but reviews are not obligatory.
Authors, please do not chase readers for reviews.
This is a brand new group and will need a little help to get off the ground, so please help spread the word.
Thank you.
Loretta
My collection of short stories, “An Act Of Mercy” is free in the Kindle store from 12 March until 16 March 2015. To download “An Act Of Mercy” free please visit http://www.amazon.com/An-act-mercy-other-stories-ebook/dp/B00EHS74CS or http://www.amazon.co.uk/An-act-mercy-other-stories-ebook/dp/B00EHS74CS.
One Amazon reviewer writes as follows:
“A collection of well-written stories (set in the U.K) that had me engrossed from beginning to end. I like this author’s style and have not been disappointed
yet. “.
If you read “An Act Of Mercy” or any of my other books please do consider leaving a review. I always appreciate your feedback.
Many thanks,
Kevin
She does what she has to do
Sees it through
Provides a semblance of love
Wraps him in her hug.
Her thoughts far away
Tonight she must stay
Its all for the pay
Wishes herself far away.
Likes the money and clothes, not the sex, god know!
Many thanks to JC for this post. I haven’t read “The Razor’s Edge” but will certainly make a point of doing so. Kevin
A challenge, issued by Kevin Morris at Newauthoronline to write a post about our favorite book. (Please visit Kevin at his site; you will be glad you did!)
My choice is, The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham published in 1944.
An unusual book in that the author narrates but also plays himself in the story and hints that the novel may have some truth in it. You can Google it and find a few websites dedicated to proving it factual.
The story begins at the end of WW1 and follows Larry Darrell who served as a fighter pilot and saw action over the skies of France. Larry befriends another pilot, a jovial Irishman who dies after saving Larry’s life. From here on Larry’s life changes as he searches for answers about death, God and what’s the purpose. Larry returns home to his fiancée Isabel and befuddles everyone as he turns…
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In my experience the 3 little words “I’m not being … ”, (insert the relevant missing word of your choice) are often the precursor for an insult or other offensive comment.
Shakespeare’s words, “One may smile and be a villain” spring to mind.
