Ashes anxiety?...Take the fantasy cricket remedy...

Ashes anxiety?...
A bit of bother “Down Under?”…
Constantly fantasising about cricket?...
Then here’s Doctor Grace’s casebook…

Are you like me?
Troubled by events ‘Down Under’?...
Worried about the old ‘Bodyline’?...



Tense?
Nervous?
Headache?...

Can’t sleep?
Regularly need to get up in the middle of the night to listen to Test Match Special?...
Then Doctor Blogbrary has a remedy; he has consulted with his old pal Dr. Grace and he recommends a good dose of Ashes cricket books to ease your pain…
Specifically, try a little tincture of Harold Larwood, or a beef broth of Botham....if that doesn’t work, just glug down some Fiery Fred. Once you’re on the mend, you could even treat yourself to a little fatty batter?...
Just to stick to good, plain English fare…

What can those Aussie flying doctors offer in return? Priscilla the Queen of the Desert? Pah!

If you still can’t sleep, though, do as I do and draw up your own imaginary Ashes ‘dream team’ (in batting order, naturally)

“ENGLAND’S FINEST” –MY HEROES XI
Dame Judi Dench
Geoffrey “Boycott” Chaucer
Mr Len Goodman
Queen Boudicca
Sergeant Wilson (Captain)
Georgina, Duchess of Devonshire
JRR Tolkien
Mr Alan Knott (wk)
Phillip (“Wayne”) Larkin
Delia (“MJK”) Smith
“Field Marshal” Monty Panesar

“ANTIPODEAN STROLLERS” ~ AN AUSSIE XI
Jason
Kylie
“Alligator” Irwin
Mr R Harris
Mr N Kelly
Mr C James (wk)
Mr C R Horwood (retired hurt)
Ms Dannii Minogue (Captain)
“Dame” Edna"
Mr Blue Kangaroo
Mr P Andre

Well, dear reader, although I am constrained by the strict limits of impartiality & confidentiality , I think I know who I favour..."For England, Kent County Cricket Club, Freddie, and Saint George”…Let battle commence!

And, if all else fails, and we’re facing a particularly ‘sticky wicket’, then just click HERE

As ever, your comments, cricket-themed remedies, or team selections are always welcome, via the comments box down under.

TTFN

Gilda O'Neill - Lives remembered...

GILDA O’NEILL – LIVES REMEMBERED…

We were very sorry to hear recently about the death of the author Gilda O’Neill. Gilda was only 59, and an enthusiastic advocate for public libraries and the work we do; in return, library users loved her books, and recognised an authentic storyteller and pioneer of oral history.

Nowadays, there are loads of books recording ‘lost voices’ of working people, but it was Gilda who set the standard for recording voices from the East End…"Real history for real people”…

Her roots were proper East End – a grandfather was a tug skipper on the Thames, a great uncle had been a minder at a Limehouse gambling den, and her mother ran a pie and mash shop.
Well, Londoners aren’t known for their reserve or lack of cockney chat, but – back then – many people were still reluctant to spill the beans, to tell their own life stories to strangers or outsiders – so Gilda could relate to them as “one of their own”. She knew that everyone had a story to tell – and what stories!
She recalled one particular anecdote from her father…once passing the little terraced house where he grew up in the 1920s she expressed amazement that all his extended family could have squeezed into it, especially when Aunt Mog came home from the workhouse at weekends…That’s not the half of it, her father replied, “we had the Harrises living upstairs!”…

Hop pickers, street life, changing communities, larger than life characters – these were the themes that dominated her books, but Gilda was a versatile writer, too – she could turn her hand to history as well as fiction (she wrote both East End sagas and crime novels). She was passionate about writing, too, urging everyone to try it, to tell a story, and record their own family life histories.
Her stories reflect an age of change, of transition and uncertainty…she wrote: "People are often mourning when they tell their stories, mourning the loss of a way of life in which they were part of a community that had grown organically over the generations… Unlike the planners and architects who moved them around as if they were pawns in a chess game, they understand that communities are not created by ordering removal vans simply to transplant people from one location to another – not if they are to have a cohesiveness that makes sense to those who live within them."

Gilda O’Neill ~ 1951-2010

ROGUE MALE WANTED...

Seeking Adventure?...Bexley Librarian seeks Rogue Male for thrills, adventure, and maybe more…

No, no, dear reader…it’s not what you think!

Let me begin at the very beginning (”a very good place to start” as Julie Andrews once so wisely said); not long ago, someone asked me to recommend a really good old-fashioned thriller. Naturally, my thoughts spun immediately to – in my humble opinion – the greatest adventure yarn ever written…
“Rogue Male!” I enthusiastically bellowed (much to the consternation of the assembled multitudes in the library…one or two even looked up, expectantly…)

Now, I`m going to let you into another little secret – not only is this THE classic British thriller of the `stiff upper lip` era, it’s now become something of a rarity in our libraries…Imagine my unconfined joy, therefore, when we discovered that Bexley Libraries still held one precious copy, stored in its sturdy ancient vaults…
Much as Howard Carter must have felt when unearthing the tomb of Tutankhamen - “I can see wonderful things” – upon rediscovering this long forgotten classic tome for myself I was instantly transported back to an age of tweed suits, pipe smoke, damp Labradors and leather arm patches. Splendid stuff! They don’t write `em like this any more….

And, should this type of yarn strike a chord with you, dear readers, then how about some of the following `old school` authors?...
–Thrill! at the high jinx of Erskine Childers…
–Gasp! at the audacity of John Dickson Carr…
–Tremble! At the cut`n`thrust of John Buchan…
–Swoon! at the square jawed Sapper…

And, while we’re at it, why not hunt down books by Dorothy L Sayers or Margery Allingham? (Has it ever struck you how few authors are called `Dorothy` or `Margery` these days?...Not enough, I dare say).

Anyway, must dash – I’ve a Rogue Male to track down, unless you beat me to it…

Meanwhile, if you can suggest any other books of a similar ilk, please do let us know…Use the comments box below.

TTFN