theroyalist

The anonymous likers

As Butch said to Sundance- “Who are those guys?”.
It’s probably been prevalent for some time though it’s just came to my notice about the different avatars displayed in the “bloggers like this” category on a lot of posts. One or two seem to be appearing at regular intervals. These “stRangers” hit the like button without commenting. Do they read the posts? Are they shy? Are they real? Who are those guys?
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The Pit of Hell

A quick press while the American Football is having a time-out.

Judas Priest are the most Spinal tap of metal bands: motorbikes, dandruff emitting guitarists, studded leather jackets with fringes. The only box they don’t tick is the Sudden Death dead drummer syndrome. They have went through a lot of percussionists, though. The most infamous being Dave Holland who was imprisoned for sexual offences against a mentally ill boy.

Rob Halford, the singer, is to my knowledge the only openly homosexual heavy metal star. There will be others but none as successful commercially as Judas Priest. JP do have a lot of big songs in their locker. This song is first Down material. Play it loud.

The disgusting Holland is not the drummer in this clip. It is a man called Scott Travis.

Feel Good hit of the Summer*

The last ten days have not been the best. I have been suffering from severe pains at the back of my head. I have a high pain threshold and while the ache was not excruciating it was an annoying jabbing throb. With great reluctance and as a last resort I booked an appointment with my GP.

Before I get to the nitty-gritty (no nits were found in my hair, for the record) I must recount my waiting room experience. Continue reading “Feel Good hit of the Summer*”

The housing market will rise from the bunker

The party conference season gives MP’s a chance to play rough and have a swing at existing arrangements. At last week’s excellent Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton, Vince Cable, business secretary in the coalition government, made proposals to increase the stock of social housing. As well as introducing regulated Mortgage Rescue Schemes to allow families struggling with repayments to sell all or part of the equity in their house and rent it back from a housing association or private firm to help keep them in their homes, Mr Cable said.

“After years of this Government’s apathy, which allowed the housing market to boom hopelessly out of control, millions are now feeling the painful consequences of a market in freefall.
Now is also the time to allow councils and Registered Social Landlords to borrow against their assets to buy up unsold properties and sites from building companies in order to replenish the social housing stock, to deal with the current 1.67 million households on social housing waiting lists.” Continue reading “The housing market will rise from the bunker”

British Psycho

Dexter raved and drooled whenever he had something on his mind. Cleopatra’s, the new eatery on Floyd Avenue was the hottest place in town according to his sources. We’ll hit the place at lunchtime, he said. Parking the car round the bend we headed for the entrance.

“Not today, gents.” our way was blocked by an imposing male, impeccably dressed.

“We have a reservation.” pleaded Dexter. Continue reading “British Psycho”

Closing time in Iran

The game of bluff adopted by President Saddam Hussein of Iraq to confuse nuclear weapons inspectors of Iraq’s nuclear capability didn’t work. The toppled and deceased Hussein brought invasion on his land and no weapons were found; the dictator was playing with an empty hand. It begs the question, what game is Iran playing at? Are they also full of bluster or more sinisterly have they an ace up their sleeve?

Secret papers smuggled out of the Islamic Republic of Iran by a dissident scientist reveals the truth behind Iran’s nuclear program. Continue reading “Closing time in Iran”

October poetry competition: Charity

BillStruth! Yet more evidence that the world is bonkers. I won a poetry competition.
Nevertheless, this is one of the happiest days of my life.

The theme for the next competition is Charity. You can interpret that any way you want. All styles, formats, lengths are acceptable. There’s just one little add-on.

I’m pinching an idea from Ferret (wherefore art thou, Ferret?). In a previous creative comp he wanted participants to include a song title in their story. To win this month’s poetry competition your poem should include the title of a film. It would be nice if the movie were well-known and not an obscure art house project. Extra points if the title fits into the story of the poem.

Closing date- Midnight on Tuesday October 23rd.

Cans and cant’s

My uncle used to visit us on many occasions when I was young and my father would share a few beers with him. They used to have a competition to see who could crush an empty can of beer into the smallest pulp. Their rough hands would destroy the piece of tin. This machismo impressed me for awhile until I posed the question- could they return the squashed can to its original state? Now the assault course on the Krypton Factor would be a breeze for these guys, this intelligence test part that I’d put to them was more of a challenge. Continue reading “Cans and cant’s”

Paterno

Our American based authors will be familiar with the Pennsylvania State University child sex abuse scandal of last year. A former assistant coach of the Penn State football team, Jerry Sandusky aged 68, was found guilty of sexual crimes against children. He is expected to receive a sentence of sixty years in jail.

Joe Paterno was the legendary head coach of the team from 1966-2011. He was fired amid accusations that he knew about Sandusky’s crimes and concealed them. This biographical book was in the process of being written by Joe Posnanski before the scandal erupted. Inevitably, the author has to include details of the heinous crimes of Sandusky though the book is not primarily about that. Tragically, three months after receiving the sack Paterno died of lung cancer. Posnanski completed the book a few months later. Continue reading “Paterno”

Lillian (I could change the world)

It was the bleakest day of the blackest hue
The day you broke my heart in two
You were the fish I couldn’t catch
The fates decried we were not a match Continue reading “Lillian (I could change the world)”