Gaiman's milk odessey

I was kindly invited to a reading of Fortunately, the Milk on Tuesday night.

It's a kid's story, but trust me it doesn't matter.

The compère was good value; the punk act, a little more dicey – but I've never been that sure about punk.

Fortunately, the Milk

But from almost as soon as the author, Neil Gaiman, stepped on stage I was certain I was in for a treat.


Chris Riddell, the illustrator, was also in attendance to do some live pictures; impressive stuff, believe me.

And there were special guests helping with the readings (Lenny Henry being the last minute surprise).

Living books

And so it was that a select cast of brilliant orators got together to read this fabulous book.

I was jealous of the kids in the audience: what would it have been to be a child at this event?

There should have been more of them, maybe you should do another one at the weekend Neil...

The story

Fortunately, the Milk tells of a father's journey to fetch some milk.

However, this father battles pirates, monsters and ghouls on his not so humble quest.

It's beautifully written, with moments for adults and kids alike.

You may not laugh out loud (yes I'm going to write it in full), but you will certainly smile.

Verdict

I feel privileged, go buy it (even if you don't have a kid).

Chocolate in the UK

We have dipped our toes into WIlly Wonka's factory as chocolate week begins.

There are events happening in and around the UK from today onwards.

Get involved.

Very interesting government report

I found this interesting dissection of a benefits report online.

I've been ill so I missed this information, though it is no great surprise.

They make job seeking on benefits as hard as possible.

Conflict-free phones

I really enjoyed speaking to Tessa Wernink, Communications Director for Fairphone yesterday.

She was talking about a new pre-order system to sell their new conflict-free phones.

Many phone companies have pulled out of mines in the conflict ridden Congo, so as not to fuel the problem.

Ambitious project

Fairphone have chosen a different strategy.

In collaboration with the Dutch government they are mining out of non-conflict areas within the Congo in the hope of stimulating economic growth in the areas that remain conflict-free.

It was inspiring to hear a woman that feels that product supply chains can make a difference to the world that we live in.

For the full article on Fairphone check out The Manufacturer online.

Pride and Prejudice, text generation

I found this on YouTube.

It's a really nice behind the scenes modern take on Pride and Prejudice.

Well done girls, as if you needed that affirmation.

Calling time at the bar

Simon Pegg has another movie offering in The World's End.

In the same vein as Shaun of the Dead Pegg's protagonists find themselves dealing with a perfectly normal night out, which is inexplicably turned into a day of the dead type sceanario.

The plot

Five friends reunite through the infamous Gary King who clearly has not and probably never will grow up.

But what began as an 'innocent' bar crawl soon takes a sinister comedic turn, as it transpires that the town has been body snatched by robots.

The friends decide that there only answer to this horrendous realisation is to go on and reach the end of the pub crawl: The World's End.

The verdict

This film takes a while to warm-up, I confess to crafting a flower part of the way in to stave off boredom, but when it gets cracking it really gets cracking.

There are some epic comedy fight scenes and some priceless Pegg moments and it's worth the entry fee.

It isn't Simon Pegg at his best, but it still makes for a fun night out with your mates if you don't fancy an epic pub crawl.

America has gone nuts

So Obama wants to pass a health care bill, not even as cool as our NHS, and the government has had a hissy fit and thrown all of its toys out of the pram.

They've shut loads of things down.

Here's a great explanation.

Some one should have informed the I love America brigade, in the pub I was trialing in.