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row2k Features
row2k features > Book Reviews
Book Review: 'Learnings from Five Olympic Games' by Frances Houghton
Oli Rosenbladt, row2k
Olympians tend to write books; just in the past year or so, we've seen a couple of Olympic memoirs, a sports psychology book with a strong rowing undercurrent, and a business management volume from Canada's Adam Kreek, and more. Rowing lends itself to many topics, both literally and metaphorically, and Olympians, by dint of their achievement, can occupy a perch that most folks in sport can only aspire to.
If any rowers could be described as perching loftily, it would be GB's Frances Houghton; Houghton participated in five Olympics for Great Britain, and captured silver medals in 2004, 2008 and 2016, in addition to winning the world championships four times.
Given her lengthy career, and certainly the amount of stories that could be told about five Olympics, it's all the more surprising that Houghton's new book, "Learnings from Five Olympic Games," clocks in at a tidy 100 pages. (By contrast, in "The Kiwi Pair," the book detailing Eric Murray and Hamish Bond's achievements between 2012 and 2016, the first Olympic Gold appeared on page 173; at this pace, Houghton could have delivered an 800 page coxswain weight, but, tellingly, did not do so).
Houghton (3rd from left) on the podium at the Rio Olympics
But telling stories is precisely what this small, fine, book is not about. As Houghton told row2k in a recent interview, creating the book took a good four years of sitting and distilling her Olympic experiences down to their essentials (it's also partly the reason you won't find this book on Amazon; in order to keep her vision for the book and the integrity of the project intact, Houghton opted to self-publish).
What this book is about is, as the subtitle of the book has it, "creating performance," and in seven very succinct chapters, Houghton outlines those habits and routines that allowed her to continue rowing and performing at a high level through five Olympic cycles. In the book, Houghton covers Teams, her Rio crew, the silver-medal winning GB W8+, and their approach in the run-up to the Games, Racing & Nerves, Daily Training, Meetings & Debriefs, Technique Fundamentals, and Injury.
The book's format is intriguing; part narrative, part list, and part graphical material, it gets at the essential subject matter it seeks to present in a direct and effective way. And, in its presentation the book ranges from the straightforward ("Sunglasses off in debriefs," Houghton writes in her section on Teams. "Disagreements never got solved quicker by avoiding eye contact."), the practical ("It's not the will to win that matters--everyone has that," from the Training section. "It's the will to prepare to win that matters.") and the profound, the book has mines a deep vein of rowing knowledge.
With a deft touch, Houghton mixes keen observations on rowing with her own experiences. In a segment on self-awareness, Houghton reflects on the realization that, what she thought was a strength, was actually a negative.
"Personality profiling was a powerful tool we used in the team to help us understand both ourselves and each other. When I first read my profile, I thought it would be great to work with someone so driven, detailed and focused on the end goal. But once I started to try and see that from the outside, and see what effect me being like that had on other people--especially then knowing a bit more about their personalities, I realised that it was often super destructive. We would always end up performing better than if I had been the 100% focused, no-stone-unturned version of me."
Equally as practical is Houghton's description of what she learned from the GB team psychologist, Dr. Steve Peters, when she went to see him in an attempt to get a handle on rowing more confidently. "The first thing he said to me when I walked into the room was, 'I don't believe in confidence. I won't talk about confidence.' He explained to me that what people perceive as confidence is a feeling that constantly fluctuates with mood, perspective and expectations depending on how prepared they feel for what is about to happen. To think clearly and pragmatically under pressure, to feel ready and prepared to perform no matter how you feel, and a state that is a lot more powerful and robust, involves being able to separate emotion from logic."
From there, Houghton writes, she learned that, "at my best, I saw performance as a creation, a chance to pit what we had put together against what anyone else brought on the day, not a fight, not win or lose, and certainly not judgement day."
In today's context of the looming Olympic Games and COVID, Houghton's section on coming back from injury may be the most apropos. Listing her go-to injury mindset as "Why is this going to be the reason I won?" Houghton inverts the typical athlete's anxiety about a lag or lapse in performance as a result of an injury and describes the attitude necessary to use an injury or break away from the sport to reset mentally. Given the amount of strong performances across the rowing world that we've seen in the past year, as the sport emerges from COVID, you'd have to allow that she is on to something.
In terms of perspective, Houghton addresses that to, in the form of a picture that she "kept at my kitchen table so I saw it every day over my breakfast and every day when I came in from training."
Simple, yet powerful.
In short, the book has everything that a currently practicing athlete (or coach) in rowing might want; in fact, the only readers that might come away from the book disappointed are those who are seeking inspirational Olympic stories. Houghton's book is inspirational, in spades, but it also makes you work for it--the book will reward multiple readings, and both athletes and coaches can glean any number of habits and approaches to apply to their daily practice that will have a positive impact on their performance. (In fact, we know of one coach who was so impressed by the book that he bought copies for his entire staff after reading it.)
So is Houghton quietly positioning herself as the next great rowing coach? Hardly--she's now a chef. But, without stretching the cooking metaphor too greatly, in her book she offers both ingredients and recipes for any competitive rower (or coach) to make formidable strides in his or her career by keeping a few key tenets in mind.
Frances Houghton's "Learnings from Five Olympic Games" is sold on her website.
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3 years ago in Daily GK Current Affairs
The central government has revoked a 36-year-old protocol to end VIP culture in ______________.
केंद्र सरकार ने ______________ में VIP संस्कृति को खत्म करने के लिए एक 36 साल पुराने प्रोटोकॉल को रद्द कर दिया है।
[A] Railways
[B] Aviation
[C] Shipping
[D] Both (1) and (2)
[E] All of the above
Attempted 15
Inderjit singh ubhi - 3 years ago
Inderjit singh ubhi from Faridabad, India is saying All of the above is correct answer
Ankit Mohanty - 3 years ago
Ankit Mohanty from Bhubaneswar, India is saying Both (1) and (2) is correct answer
Sayed badruzama - 3 years ago
Sayed badruzama from Mumbai, India is saying Railways is correct answer
Saumya Sharma - 3 years ago
Saumya Sharma from Jaswantgarh, India is saying Both (1) and (2) is correct answer
Jayashree - 3 years ago
Jayashree from Chennai, India is saying All of the above is correct answer
Where did Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan launch Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan, SUMAN initiative?
[A] Pune
[C] Hyderabad
[D] Kolkata
[E] Ranchi
By which of the following was San-Sadhan Hackathon organized in September 2019?
[A] Ministry of Jal Shakti
[B] Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities
[C] NITI Aayog
Which Indian Coast Guard ship is first in the class of seven new-generation offshore patrol vessels?
[A] Mackinaw
[B] Harriet
[C] Samrat
[D] Vikram
[E] Samarth
Which of these actresses won the Crossword Book Award in the popular Best Fiction category?
[A] Shilpa Shetty
[B] Soha Ali Khan
[C] Twinkle Khanna
[D] Kangana Ranaut
[E] None of these
Who was appointed as the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the office of Lokpal in 2019?
[A] Aditya Kumar Anand
[B] Dilip Kumar
[C] Ajay Kumar Garg
[D] Anil Kumar
[E] Hemant Kumar

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Soyuz 2.1a rocket with Progress MS-11 encapsulated on top sits at the launch pad before launch. It was transported to site 31/6 on April 1, 2019.
Russia launched Progress MS-11 atop a Soyuz 2.1a rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to send supplies to the International Space Station. Following a successful orbital insertion, the autonomous cargo vehicle reached the station in just over three hours before autonomously docking with the Pirs module.
Liftoff took place at 11:01 UTC April 4, 2019, with a docking with Pirs at about 14:22 UTC. Monitoring the launch from the space station's Zvezda module was Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Aleksey Ovchinin of Expedition 59. Kononenko is the commander of the station's six-person increment.
Had there been a problem during rendezvous, the two could have use the controls of the TORU, which is a backup manual docking system that can be used to remotely pilot the uncrewed spacecraft to the docking port. However, everything went by the book.
The rocket was rolled to pad 31/6 at Baikonur on April 1, and raised to the vertical position. The spacecraft is carried some 3,400 kilograms of supplies for the ISS. This included about 1,530 kilograms of propellant, 50 kilograms of oxygen and air and 400 kilograms of water.


The National Emergency Management Agency says no fewer than 9, 822 Stranded Nigerians were assisted back home by the International Organisation for Migration from 10 different countries in 18 months.
The Zonal Coordinator of NEMA, South West Zone, Alhaji Yakubu Suleiman, disclosed this while receiving another batch of 153 Assisted Voluntary Returnees brought back by IOM from Libya on Friday.
He said: "The IOM analysis of the exercise reveals that out of the total figure, 59 per cent of the returnees are males and 41 per cent are females.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the new batch of returnees arrived at the Cargo Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos at 1.05 a.m. on Friday.


Local community efforts to support each other and those in need are always inspiring and Pyrmont residents raise significant funds and provide great opportunities for building stronger communities. In Parliament, I commended this impressive venture, which last year donated to Freedom Hub's work to stop human trafficking, Pyrmont Cares' furniture and whitegoods recycling to help people in need and Barnardos' Aboriginal Early Years Service. My speech is HERE.


London 3D Design is a small team of 2 people Natalie & Kaveh Savage. Natalie is a graphic designer and Kaveh is a fashion designer and project manager.
Natalie Savage is an experience Graphic Designer with more than 11 years of work in graphic design industry. Kaveh Savage is a successful London Fashion designer for the past 30 years. Natalie is working on technical part of the projects and Kaveh is the project manager. We work on 3D graphics, vector design, web-design, promotional animation and branding. We apply our knowledge and expertise together to provide design services across the board.


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The International Rescue Committee II
Liberia, March 2003
Since 1989, when Charles Taylor's rebels invaded Liberia from Cote D'Ivoire, Liberia has known only intermittent peace. In March of 2003 the country was devastated by years of fighting. The war had killed over 200,000 people and uprooted more than 1.5 million, half the country's estimated 3 million residents.
The IRC has been in Liberia since 1996, providing humanitarian aid to internally displaced people and refugees from Sierra Leone and Cote D'Ivoire. These photographs were taken to illustrate the difficulties faced by the Liberians and illustrate how the IRC aimed to ameliorate conditions and improve their lives, shortly before violence erupted in May 2003.
A woman and her child who have been displaced by renewed fighting on the outskirts of Monrovia.
A woman and her family wait for help at a Transit Centre near Monrovia. There were estimated 250,000 internally displaced people in Liberia in March, 2003. Many were forced to flee their homes as fighting in the north intensified between government forces and rebel groups. Camps were receiving up to 500 people a day. Help for IDP's was limited as they do not fall within UNHCR's mandate for refugees.
A family sit in their tent in a transit centres for IDP's in Ganta. Up to 500 people sleep in large plastic tents originally erected to register IDP's on arrival. Many families, like this one have been living in this tent for over a year. They cannot return home due to continued fighting in their home town and even if they were to return, everything they owned has now been destroyed.
Thousands of children have been separated from their parents as a result of the conflict. The IRC runs programs to assist with family reunification. At this camp for IDP's in Ganta young children are encouraged to study images on a notice board to see if they recognize their parents.
This young girl and her baby brother were orphaned when their village came under rebel attack. She fled with her grandmother and cousins to reach this transit center that has also come under attack recently from rebel forces. The IRC are offering assistance to orphans like this girl and trying to ensure that their remaining families can look after these children.
A woman feeds her baby in Sanniquellie Hopsital, Nimba County. The IRC was providing support for obstetric care in this hospital until the end of January. Conditions are dire, and there is rarely a doctor in attendance
At Karnplay Health Clinic, the IRC arranged for an eye specialist to visit for two days. It was the first time an eye doctor had ever been to the region. Over 200 people queued up to be seen. Many were diagnosed as having cataracts, and were referred to the hospital in Ganta for treatment. Others were given simple treatments on the spot. This man was due to received treatment the following day and it was hoped that his sight would be restored in one eye.
A mother from Cote D'Ivoire with her young child. Having travelled for over three weeks to reach Saclapea camp in Liberia all of her seven children are in need of nutritional help.
Naya is 12 years old. Her parents were forced to flee their home in Lofu county over a year ago and have had to relocate 4 times. She is now being looked after at a feeding centre at Saclapea, where hundreds of young children receive treatment.The World Food Programme was recently forced to reduce food rations for internally displaced people from 2200 to 1800 calories per day. Liberians internally displaced by fighting will only receive food rations once all refugees from Cote D'Ivoire have been catered for.
A food ration per person per day at Saclapea Camp, Liberia.
Schooling is difficult for children to continue when they have been displaced. The IRC established numerous temporary schools in IDP settlements throughout Liberia - Here young children participate in a lesson on HIV awareness.
Schooling is difficult for children to continue when they have been displaced. The IRC established numerous temporary schools in IDP settlements throughout Liberia - This school in Ganta has been set up in an old warehouse. 200 children are forced to learn together in one classroom but the IRC are in the process of building more classrooms so that class sizes can be reduced.
A young girl sits on the floor in her classroom, because there are no desks or chairs. Schooling is difficult for children to continue when they have been displaced. The IRC established numerous temporary schools in IDP settlements throughout Liberia - This school in Ganta has been set up in an old warehouse. 200 children are forced to learn together in one classroom but the IRC are in the process of building more classrooms so that class sizes can be reduced.
Following the start of conflict in Cote D'Ivoire in September, 2002, thousands of refugees fled over the border into Liberia. Many are Cote D'Ivoire nationals, but many are also Liberian returnees, who previously crossed the border to escape fighting in Liberia. The IRC carried out assessments in these areas and reinforced existing projects in these regions and built new water supplies in camps. Here girls are seen carrying water back to their tents from one of these supplies in Saclapea Camp.
A girl and her young baby stand in the doorway of an IDP settlement in Monrovia.


If you're a veteran or are currently serving in the Armed Forces, a VA loan presents another, potentially more attractive, alternative.
Designed for members of the military, veterans, reservists and National Guard members, VA loans allow people to purchase a home with little or no out of pocket expense. Even spouses of military personnel who died while on active duty or due to a service-connected disability may be eligible.
Guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA loans do not require the borrower to take out mortgage insurance. They are also one of the few options that do not require borrowers to make a down payment.
While VA loans aren't entirely fee-free, the cost of getting one is lower than that of any other type of financing. For example, a borrower securing a VA loan for the first time, with zero down payment, is likely to pay a fee of around 2.15 percent of the total amount borrowed. This fee reduces to around just 1.25 percent if the borrower can make a down payment of 10 percent or more. Individuals receiving disability compensation may see their fees waived altogether.
Even though the guidelines for VA loans are more flexible than they are for conventional mortgages, borrowers must still demonstrate that they have sufficient income to cover the payments and they don't have excessive debt. Most lenders will have their own requirements, which will differ, but Veterans Affairs does not require a minimum credit score.
If you're not a soldier or a veteran, but would still like to go down the 100 percent financing route, a USDA loan could be right for you. USDA loans are issued through the USDA Rural Development Guaranteed Housing Loan Program by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and are among the less known subsidized loan programs. Similar to FHA- and VA-backed mortgages, USDA loans are issued by a participating lender, but guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
USDA loans differ in that they don't apply to metropolitan areas. Rural areas and suburbs are nearly always eligible, which makes this a god option for people that want to take advantage of the lower home prices in rural areas or on the outskirts of big cities. A USDA loan allows a borrower to finance 100 percent of a home's purchase price and get access to better-than-average interest rates at the same time. Their fixed rate nature also makes USDA loans a win-win for many buyers.
As is the case when you're looking to secure any mortgage, you need to be aware of some of the common predatory lending practices that companies sometimes employ.
Inflated fees – Look into standard fees in your area so you can spot inflated lender fees a mile away.
Abnormal early payment penalties – Early payment penalties are common, but some lenders charge over the odds.
Exploding adjustable interest rates – Some adjustable interest rate mortgages do not include the ability for rates to go lower, only higher. Beware of these.
Repeated refinancing – Repeated refinancing can see you sign up for a larger mortgage with a higher interest rate and additional fees.
Asset-based lending – This is where buyers are encouraged to borrow more money than they should. Loans are often based on home equity and not income.
A poor credit score shouldn't stop you from fulfilling your dream of owning a home. While the best solution would be to get your finances in order and apply for a conventional mortgage when you are in a position to do so, you do have options right now, even with a checkered credit history.


Krasnodar, 24 January – Yug Times. A large-scale activity aimed at putting in order of the waste container sites and liquidation of the unauthorised dumps has reportedly started in Krasnodar.
Over 30 vehicles have been engaged to help accomplish the work. By the end of this month, the garbage collectors will have tidy up the area of over 1,800 container sites, full of household waste.
During a working tour of the city, Mayor Yevgeni Pervyshov personally inspected the work of the regional waste disposal operator in and around the container sites at Kalinin street, where heaps of household waste had been accumulated. In some places, the unauthorised dumps had occupied twice as much place as the container site itself. After the inspection, Mr. Pervyshov ordered that the main cleaning activities must be fulfilled within the period of two months.


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Clay Co. Times-Democrat
Stories from Thursday, July 9, 2009
Rector Kids College a success (Local News ~ 07/09/09)
The first Kids College program in Rector was a success, as 44 boys and girls took part in the unique event last week. "I thought everything went real well," coordinator Jacinda Welch said. "The response was strong, especially considering this was the first year we had Kids College in Rector. I definitely think this sets the stage for the program to continue to grow, as well as bringing in more programs."...
Clarks renew vows (Local News ~ 07/09/09)
In the years following World War II, Piggott became known as "the marrying town." Residents of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and other states flocked to the city for their nuptials...mainly because there was no three-day waiting period in Arkansas. ...
Muse honored for service to county (Local News ~ 07/09/09)
Former Clay County Justice of the Peace Triply Muse was honored Monday for 20 years of service as a member of the quorum court. Judge Gary Howell made the presentation on behalf of JP's Dennis Haines, James Jeffress, David Cagle, Greg Ahrent, Rex Smart, Doyne Holifield, Mark Watson, Burton Eddington and Jody Henderson. ...
Browse other days
© 2021 Clay Co. Times-Democrat · Piggott and Rector, Arkansas
Site Index · Contact Us · Partners · Terms of Service · Back to top


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Q: Easy wait script I'm trying to implement in my web form an easy wait function, it works, but not as I would.
My code is this:
    for(int i = 0; i<5; i++)
    {
        Label1.Text = "Invio: " +i;
    System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(6000);
    }

The problem is that Label Text doesnt' change every 6 seconds.
This script should use 30second and change the label text in this manner:
"Invio: i" every 6 seconds.
Instead it waits 6 seconds and then it change the text in "Invio 4".
Why?

A: The reason this happens is because of the view state . Before you render your page the back-end code is executed, after it finishes, the DOM start to render and then your page is ready. That means your page won't refresh the label value every N seconds, because it has been already set. If you want to change the value of this dynamically you should use some front-end method as JavaScript or jQuery. If you want this approach - comment so I can make a fiddle for you.
Also this would be helpful for you - ViewState
Here is a fiddle to check if you want something like this - Fiddle demo
 var count = 1;
time = setInterval(function(){

    document.getElementById("label1").innerHTML="Indio: " + count;
    count+= 1;
    if (count == 5)
    {
        clearInterval(time);
    }
},6000);

A: Back end like this:
public partial class _Default : System.Web.UI.Page
{
    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
    }

    protected void Timer1_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        Label txt = Label1;

        int i = Convert.ToInt32(txt.Text);

        if (i == 4)
        {
            Timer1.Enabled = false;
        }
        else
        {
            i++;
            Label1.Text = i.ToString();
        }
    }
}

and front-end is like this:
<asp:Content ID="BodyContent" runat="server" ContentPlaceHolderID="MainContent">
    <asp:ScriptManager ID="ScriptManager1" runat="server">
    </asp:ScriptManager>
    <asp:UpdatePanel ID="UpdatePanel1" runat="server" UpdateMode="Conditional">
        <ContentTemplate>
            <asp:Timer ID="Timer1" runat="server" OnTick="Timer1_Tick" Enabled="true" Interval="6000">
            </asp:Timer>
            <asp:Label ID="Label2" runat="server" Text="Invio: "></asp:Label>
            <asp:Label ID="Label1" runat="server" Text="0"></asp:Label>
        </ContentTemplate>
        <Triggers>
            <asp:AsyncPostBackTrigger ControlID="Timer1" />
        </Triggers>
    </asp:UpdatePanel>
</asp:Content>

This will loop 5 times with a 6 second interval.
Timer on page will trigger a postback, server side will execute and will update an updatepanel.

A: Unfortunately there is no easy way of doing that kind of thing purely using basic Asp.Net webforms (unless you use Asp.Net Webforms AJAX - which I personally find very confusing).
Assuming you are trying to provide some feed back to your user, about a long running operation, I'd use a combination of javascript (using JQuery Ajax for example) and a simple page to poll if the task is done, then redirect to result page.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Click on the link below to "LIKE" the Jif Facebook page and click on the Hazelnut Samples tab to score a Free Jar of Hazelnut Spread. Simply fill out the form and submit. Hurry – this is only available to the first 10,000!


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Q: FileSystemNotFoundException: Provider "gs" not installed (Android) I'm attempting to connect to a public Google cloud storage bucket, using code based upon the example provided by Google at https://github.com/googleapis/java-storage-nio under 'Quickstart' and 'Accessing Files'
I added the following line to my app module's build.gradle (Google's documentation says to use 'compile', but Android Studio complains that it has to be either 'implementation' or 'api'):
implementation 'com.google.cloud:google-cloud-nio:0.120.0-alpha'
My code:
try {
    Path path = Paths.get(URI.create("gs://gcp-public-data-goes-16"));
    List<String> lines = Files.readAllLines(path, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
    for (String line : lines) {
        Log.i("bucket", line);
    }
}
catch (IOException e) {
    Log.e("bucket", e.toString());
}

It compiles, deploys to the emulator (API 28 w/Google, x86_64), then dies with the following error:
java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start activity ComponentInfo{pantherkitty.experiment.bucket/pantherkitty.experiment.bucket.MainActivity}: java.nio.file.FileSystemNotFoundException: Provider "gs" not installed

I'm mystified by the "Provider 'gs' not installed" error... isn't that what the library included by Gradle from google-cloud-nio is supposed to do?
If it matters, the project itself was created in Android Studio 3.5.3 as a new project with blank activity. I'm running it in the emulator using the x86_64 Android 9 ROM with Google API support. Google's docs give the impression that the only dependency that needs to be added is the Gradle reference to google-cloud-nio, which I did.


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DVD Review: Fright Night
Interview: Nikki Reed and Kellan Lutz talk Twilight
Emily Stockham
Arrow Video Frightfest Review: Come To Daddy
Editor's Choice, Film4 Frightfest, London, London Reviews
Elijah Wood sure knows how to pick 'em.
Now firmly ensconced in the horror fraternity thanks to career-changing turns in the likes of Maniac, Open Windows and even Cooties, Wood is back again for more in this off-the-wall, gory opus that throws as much horror entertainment at the screen as it can in the hope that most sticks – which thankfully it does.
Perhaps we shouldn't be too surprised by the tone, as it comes courtesy of 'The Greasy Strangler' producer Ant Timpson (making his directorial debut), so you should know what you are letting yourself in for.
Safe to say this is one of those films that you just let wash over you – or 'experience' as some would have it – as to give too much away would not only spoil the myriad twists and turns, but also its pretty difficult to describe anyway.
In a nutshell, Wood plays Norval, a needy fantasist who turns up on the doorstep of his estranged father (who lives in the remotest house you can imagine), having received a letter from said 'daddy' offering a reconciliation after three decades of absence.
At first things seem fine, if strained and certainly awkward, but then things begin to turn very dark – and noises can be heard coming from the basement…
That is as far as I am going to go, as the pleasure I did get from Come To Daddy was muttering 'WTF' at the various plot shifts.
True, the film does try a bit too hard to be 'wacky' (even the opening shot of Norval and his attire set off 'pretentious' alarm bells) but it does deliver – especially on the grue front.
Wood is fine and there is solid support from the likes of Martin Donovan, Michael Smiley and Stephen McHattie, although their performances are slightly buried by the film's hysterical tone.
In actual fact the film's opening is pretty subtle, and the chills come from both father and son chipping away at the other's ego, with Norval in particular forced to accept who he really is beneath the sheen and bluster.
But then things go south – and pretty exhausting – as Timpson dials up the chaos. Giving the prestigious opening slot for Frightfest, Come To Daddy certainly ticks the boxes, but it is unlikely to be anyone's favourite of the festival.
Simon is a journalism tutor in London, who also just happens to be a movie fanatic, with a craving for the darker side of cinema. He has written three books - on the horror films of director Bob Clark (2014), the history of the character Norman Bates (2015) and the work of British exploitation director Pete Walker (2017). He is currently working with director Richard Loncraine to explore all avenues in a bid to orchestrate the re-release of 1978 Mia Farrow chiller Full Circle


I have been bitten by the baking and cooking bug this month..thank you for this!!
I've made this SO many times, and each time failed to get a photo before it's all gone. Thanks for sharing the recipe - I love it!! Also love that there's no kneading involved!


Neil Flynn is an award-winning writer for radio, stage and screen who lives between Ireland and London. He was recently under commission to RTE radio drama and is developing original work for television and film. He began his writing life writing poetry and is in the midst of completing his first collection of poems. He is represented by the Knight Hall Agency London.
Like a lungfish leapt through time and out of the sea.
In the full-blood, high-low of a boy unstrung.
The wrist-deadening weight, his wren-soft, pleading grip.
Rapping sans malice: 'Use the bás to cover your hand.
enemy, one day in the summer of something BCE.
take it up with the peat machine operator.
Spanish pine resin imported from the land of Zog.
Narcissus before he was born.
in the hallowed bowels of the National Museum.
limb-stripped Bog Men I wish I'd known.
my skull trepanned a second time!
for the crime of loyally serving my Lord.
I drank my piss, I chewed my tongue.
I cannot imagine you know.
Two beautifully rendered poems. Love the imagery of the boy playing for the first time in the first one most especially. Richly enjoyed.


Hmm, tricky this one. The first memory I have of food is lambs brains. I adored them as a child, however, actually cooking something? I think it was probably helping out at family bbq's, helping my pa put fat unpeeled prawns into the bubbling yellow liquid of the paella dish. I do have a vivid memory of making an apple crumble in home economics at school, and eating all the crumble off it on the way home.
This would have to be my entire family. We were taught the value of cooking and eating well from the word go and virtually ever male in the family is a dab hand in the kitchen or involved in food preparation as a job so it was never divided along gender lines. Everyone cooked. Everyone ate.
Nope, I was a very ugly child.
No phobias as such, I am very allergic to prawns (only developed a couple of years ago and so have to wear latex gloves if I'm handling them. Large amounts of coriander on dishes scares me as it tastes like soap.
My most valued item is the chef's knife that the girlfriend bought me for me birthday. 20 inch Global chefs knife. I love it and gaze at it lovingly when alone in the kitchen. Biggest let down, my oven, which decided to spark alarmingly over the weekend and then die.
I have a secret love of old fashioned "English" curry. You know with sultana's and apple and stuff.
Cured ham, olives and the smell of onions and garlic softening in a pan.
Any question you missed in this meme, that you would have loved to answer?
What's the most ambitious meal you've ever cooked?
Full Christmas dinner for 22 people when I was a student. It involved three student kitchens in three separate flats each on a different floor. We used to take a lot of drugs back then, which probably explains why we thought this was a good idea.
You will probably never eat - Human flesh.
Your own signature dish - At the moment I keep messing about with panna cottas, but I'm well known for spaghetti with meatballs at poker games.
I imagine just about everyone has done this by now I tag whoever feels the inclination to be tagged....have fun!
MG, you are of Iberian heritage?
We are a muddle of Mediterranean and North Africans!
Globals are wonderful, aren't they?
LOL, I can't believe I found someone who ate lamb brains! I used to have a very intelligent llama who guarded my flock of sheep. One Christmas there was a present under the tree for me with a card that said it was from the llama, and that he requested that I open the package and "install them as soon as possible." Inside I found a five-pound antique tin of Armour's Sheep Brains! Sadly, the tin was empty, and the highly intelligent llama was forced to continue to put up with his brainless sheep.