There isn’t a soul around today who hasn’t heard of the mysterious disappearance of Madeline McCann. If they haven’t heard of it, they have surely spotted a poster of the adorable little girl’s familiar and innocent face in their local supermarket noticeboard; or perhaps watched news footage of the McCann’s slow and terrifying descent into despair, as their vulnerable three year old apparently simply vanished into thin air.  We all held our breath for weeks and months, and alternatively sympathised and felt anger for this elusive couple, who by all accounts appear as the victims in the matter. Well, perhaps they are to some extent, but surely the one and only victim here is Madeleine herself? The mute little angel who has obviously suffered at the hands of some grave injustice. Kate and Gerry McCann have been the focus of much public vitriol in the last four years. We can recall Kate’s gaunt and withdrawn stature on that fateful night on May 3rd 2007. The stark image of a mother ravaged with pain as she silently stood amongst the throng of cameras and police officials, all at a loss as to what happened to the little girl. We all felt her desperation, her sense ...

"Dad, what does a tickle look like?" Who would have thought these cute little books could amalgamate into a billion dollar industry? Sold in 28 countries around the world! Plus did you know how the books came to light? When the author's son Adam Hargreaves asked his father what a tickle looked like, Dad drew an orange body with long rubbery arms. And so the empire was born. I do believe that the cute simplicity and utter charm of these much loved children's books and television cartoons is what lends them their unique beauty. Yet, as old age creeps in I still have trouble remembering all the mister men's names, and that was before those little 'misses' made an appearance. According to The Guardian report 16 'google doodles' have been unveiled recently honouring Roger Hargreaves 76th Birthday, plus we have the possibility of our much loved little rogues hitting the big screen. So which little man was your favourite? A fantastic birthday or children's gift is the Mr Men Complete Collection containing all 50 of the fabulous legendary books. Available at Amazon and priced at a £44.80 Or try the Mr Men Complete DVD series with an extra bonus christmas special for the great price of £5.99 Available at Amazon ...

I’ve spent some time recently wondering to myself, on a scale of one to ten, how frivolous I am. To work this out properly, I’ve had to sit back and think about my general personal expenditure, that is - my needs as opposed to my wants - and how regularly I fulfil all of these things in a material way. Now to be blunt, I think every person’s view of frivolity - (cute word) differs vastly. A rich person might find it frivolous to buy five expensive cars instead of two. A much poorer person may find it excessively greedy to buy more potatoes in a sack than they might consume within a week. I would imagine that most of us are very much in-between these two extremes. Putting myself in context with most working class individuals, I realise that most of the things I want – I get. But the difference here is that I’m not a big follower of fashion. Can’t stand designer-anything, and I can’t remember the last time I bought myself a nice pair of heels. With a toddler-in-tow, those things aren’t within my needy radar anyway at this point in my life, and I know this might sound odd ...

I love Halloween. It happens to be my favourite day in the entire year. Why? Because I was born on this auspicious ghostly day, and also, because I simply love reading anything that sends shivers down my spine, or watching movies that make me sweat under my bed sheets. (Why oh why do we do it to ourselves?) Just this week, and quite coincidentally, I met up with an old friend who was wearing a strange looking star necklace. The lady professed that she was into the old Wiccan practice and beliefs. This immediately conjured up images of cauldrons, brooms and magic spells. In fact at that very moment, I was secretly praying that this lady liked me very much! The last thing I wanted to become was a warty frog with a loud croak. These silly notions were quickly put aside when she assured me that her beliefs were of the pure and positive variety. But being the cynical and terribly knowledge-thirsty person I am, I rushed home to find out more about the hidden Wiccan corners of the world. I was surprised to discover that Witchcraft is pretty much a world-wide activity, with traditions going as far back as the middle ...

I'll never understand how  intelligent modern women, many with a strong sense of equality, concede to societies view of what an aging women 'should' look like. I ask one simple question. "Are you a botox victim? If so, why?" Since it's an established fact that women look dreadful with most types of cosmetic surgery on their faces ('take Alicia Duvall, Leslie Ash and 'The bride of wildenstein' as an extreme,) why do they continue to boost this invasive and shallow industry? Thousands of women, including girls in their teens, are devout fans of the hollywood-borne style treatment which work by filling out 'wrinkles' in the skin giving a smoother appearance. Public demand has lowered the price of botox injections considerably in the last few years, in that they have become as popular and normal a procedure as a quick 'cut and blow dry' at the local salon. In fact, they are as necessary to some women, and much less painful, than a regular leg wax. Before I am slammed by critics here, let me reiterate that I am no bra-burning feminist. Yes, I wear make up and I like to look good, and I'll even admit, perhaps my sense of personal maintenance would have been more trendy back in the days when the ...

Gosh, it seems that everyone is using the internet for just about every fancy essential (and non-essential) these days. India has manaeged to establish a large online 'library' where books may be delivered to your home or office for a monthly fee. Tis somewhat slightly different to downloading an actual e-book, because here you're choosing a book in printed format from an E-Library. Weird or simply wonderful? There are of course delivery charges as well monthly fees, and so it begs the question of how this might balance out when e-books become cheaper to purchase? We may eventually see e-book libraries for the actual purpose of borrowing an e-book which could expire on your device within a set period of time. Well, I can already think of one benefit to that - you'll be pressed to actually get through your reading list within a decent period of time. Related Posts http://business.rediff.com/report/2010/sep/06/tech-you-can-order-a-book-from-e-libraries.htm

The Horror genre is a very subjective thing when it comes to a reader's personal taste. Could it be howling wolves, bloodthirsty vampires, or demonic forces that make your knees shake with fear? Stephen King’s ‘Pet Sematary’ was a book which particularly haunted me. As a teenager I was horrified by the thought that if my dog passed on, it might actually dig itself out of the ground and return to my house as a demonic creature, whereas some of my school-friends thought the book was quite ‘funny.’ Hence, to ask a person what their favourite type of horror story is, would be inviting all sorts of replies. One comforting element of most horror stories is that you know they are fictional. (Well, the majority are anyway.) But what about the ones that centre around evil spirits, poltergeists or real life haunting events? Since there is particularly strong evidence, worldwide, that evil spirits do exist, surely this type of horror story might be a tad more disturbing than your average 'moaning zombies' in the cellar? Here I explore three of the best books (subsequently made into popular movies) which have scared millions of people around the world, in the last thirty years. The Amityville Horror - Jay Anson (First Published 1975) One of the most frightening books (and ...

‘I was eight years old when they marched past me with swords and all because of a published book.’  Michael Tomasky, The Guardian, posted an article recently on the subject of various books which have been banned across America. He makes reference to a few that are mentioned in the Top 20 Amazon’s list of most frequently banned books.  Seeing Michael’s post reminded me of a very real and very frightening event I happened to witness in my youth, directly related to a certain ‘banned’ book.  I was eight years old when my parents were driving me home after having collected me from a school within a small industrial town in the UK.  Quite unexpectedly, the traffic came to a halt for what seemed like an unusually long time. We sat waiting patiently and were surprised to see policemen coming into view. They were heavily armed and on horseback, some trailing along in cars, and on foot. One of them stopped by each car instructing every one to roll up the windows and sit quietly and peacefully. I felt a foreboding sense of panic when a very large crowd of men appeared behind them. Hundreds of Muslim men were marching along very slowly wearing heavy sheaths, and holding menacingly sharp swords raised to the sky. They all held threatening expressions. I have to admit ...