Breaking news from Japan

  Is it true or a publicity stunt?

If, A BIG IF, we are to believe what the news is, we need to ecaluate what is being broadcast.

Apparently, I say apparently as I don't believe this, a new species of sea creature has been found off the coast of Japan, why don't I beleive this?

Why don't I beleive this?

Japan gave the world Godzilla back in the early 60s. In my opinion this is a stunt to promote the new series, Monarch.

There are two other versions which may be true.

A) This is a real discovery for science, which has laid hidden for centuries.

B) The creature could only have come to view now as a result of evolution in the 80 years since the Atomic Bomb was dropped.

Any of the three could be true, who is to say?

A great find on eBay

Nutan box set 

Last night, while browsing eBay, I came across a gem, for me, a box set of 6 films by the actress Nutan. I have several of her films already, but none in this set. This set will be a great addition to my collection of Hindi box sets.

Nutan is another actress from India who was popular at the time of Nargis Dutt, Meena Kumari, the early days of Waheeda Rehman. There is one set, I had my eye on but changed my mind; that is a set of films featuring Dilip Kumar. The only set for sale is from a site in India, while I don't mind paying a little extra postage, in this case the postage doubled the price tag; besides, I can build the set from films with Dilip from other sets, and single films.

The Nargis set, I need to buy as this set because it has one film that is not for sale out of the set.

Confusion on eBay

Wrong information causes confusion

For the third time this month ( four weeks), I have come across the same issue on eBay; it isn't a big problem, or even hard to avoid; but it could result in a no-sale for your site, what is the issue?

The issue at hand is to show the correct image with the correct information, not a hard option.

Last night, I came across a site selling a box set of DVDs; the information on the site said the box was for Sharmila Tagore, yet the image told you it was for Nargis Dutt. 

Both ladies were attractive, and in the case of Sharmila she is still very attractive - even in her 80s - however, there is a great difference in the eras they acted in. Nargis was popular in the late 50s, and early 60s; while Sharmila became popular in the 70s featuring in several films by Satyajit Ray. 

What does it take ro earn an Engineering Degree?

 Stupidity beats common sense

You may NOT believe what I am gong to say, yet sadly, it is true.

The image above is one of what happenes when the coast of the UK shrinks; the chalk caves below the hotel in the photograph collapsed.

Knowing the cliffs are riddled with these caves, my first thought would be to check how far they go underground before considering building a hotel on the site.

However, I didn't go to college /university to get a degree in engineering.

Anyone with sense would tell you to check the ground before you start to build, but the concern here is for money, not safety. The plan for the site was to in-fill the caves, then build a luxury hotel on the cliffface.

Well done eBay

 eBay policy works in my favour

Last month, I got scammed by three people on eBay; so, I put them on a lst of not being able to buy from me.

This morning, one of the people tried to buy the film above from me; I bet they got a shock when their money - if they inteded to buy the film - was sent back before I knew what happened. 

One way of seeing the stuation could be I lost a £3.50p sale, my view is s I still have the film, and I didn't loose the money n another refund scam.

Israel are the new leaders

A different market to explore 

Though there is a significant improvement in the amount of readers for my blog today, from Israel,  I am not considering the possibility of a sale for my eBook (above); though it is a romance / mystery set in Israel.

Part of the mystery aspect centers in the section entitled "The ghosts of Masada." The fort has held my fascination, nothing to do with religion, but from a military history point-of-view.

Not being a Jew, you may think it hard for me to relate to how the people in the fort felt, but I can, is some ways understand their dilemna. To go against ones's beliefs, rather than see your family enslaved must have been a terrible choice. 

Some of the people I used to know paid me the compliment of saying I think like a Jew; in some ways I do.

The odd thing about the story is the only account is written by a Jew, under Roman control, he always wrote that the Romans had great vctories, but this was written as the story of a lost people fighitng to the death, not at all victorious for the Roman Legion who took the fortress.

Welcome to readers in Israel

                            Beruchim Abaim

I wish to give a big welcome to readers from Israel today; it has taken time, but they got here.

A few years ago, I wrote a romance book called Aliyah -  A Homecoming - the story is about the return of a Jewish writer solving a mystery which has haunted him for years. The main story is set in Israel.

The actress on the cover is from France, her name is Anook Aimee; she was a major film star in the 70's, what most people don't know is she is half-Jewish as her father is from Israel.

The UK is SHRINKING!!!

 Our cliffs are collapsing

This is not a funny comment to get readers; this is a matter of fact; the geology of the South coast is mainly chalk, as such it is prone to erosion.

Two months ago, several people were almost killed when a large area of the coast of Dorset collapsed, and yesterday a huge chunk of the coast by Newquay fell into the sea. It is a good thing, in one way, it happened now as in the near future there were plans to build luxury homes on the cliffside.

If I had the money, I would not buy a house on the edge of a cliff for any amount.

The worrying thing, other than the geology, is though the land is decreasing, with the endless floods of illegal immigrants coming here; the population is increasng at a frightening rate.

Guru Dutt

 Waheeda Rehman

                                   Kaagaz ke Phool

In 1957, actor/ director Guru Dutt directed a film that is classed as a classic of the cinema in India - Pyaasa - the film starring Waheeda Remhan was a runaway hit, and launched Dutt's carrer as a director into the superstar bracket.

The story is about a poet seeking recognition for his work.

Two years later, he directed Ms Rehman in the movie Kaagaz ke Phool, this movie could be seen as - art imitating life - the film about a starlet going onto become larger than the person who started her career is seen as the end of Guru Dutt as a director; officially, he never directed another film, the film was both a critical, and a financial bomb as the audience could not understand the plot of the movie.

eBay closing down sale

 Bargains for all

This month will see the end of me selling on eBay; while I have no axe to grind with the site, or the people running it. The problem is the same with most online shopping sites, you need to trust the buyers, and many of the ones I came across on eBay were running a scam.

There is a way around the refund scam I wrote about earlier; that is to pay for the goods to be signed for; the problem with this is if you are only selling a DVD, the cost of the signing far outweighs the price of the goods.

Scammers win

A while ago, I wrote a blog about is Grace better than Sin?

My answer now, is the same as it was then, cheats always win.

I would rather come second knowing I did my best, than win by cheating, but these days that concept is out-of-date.