Author Archives: James - Page 12
Why vote in the European Elections tomorrow?
You might be forgiven for thinking that tomorrow's European elections are a waste of effort. If you care about brexit, either way, then it's vital you go and vote tomorrow. European Elections Tomorrow we have an opportunity to vote for the members of the European Parliament that represent the UK. After the brexit referendum and the shouting about the EU being unelected this might surprise you. However we've been able to elect Members of the European Parliament (MEP) for decades. Most of us don't, the turnout for European elections is usually really low. Bizarrely, Nigel Farage is an MEP and routinely claims his salary and expenses. The process uses proportional representation. You vote for a party and the parties have lists of candidates. The constituencies are huge. Scotland is one, London is another. Typically they have a population of about…
Expedition Challenge – Surrey Scouts Competition 2019
I spent my weekend helping with the Surrey Scouts Expedition Challenge weekend. Our scout troop entered this competitive event for the first time, and we had two teams. The elder scouts, including my son, were the competition team. Five younger scouts made up a training team, and I accompanied them on their walk through the Surrey Scouts Expedition ChallengeThe Surrey Scouts Expedition Challenge has been running for several years, more than eight. It's a competitive event that is scored. The basis are the requirements of the Expedition Challenge badge. The expedition challenge badge is one of the precursor awards to the Chief Scout's Gold camp for two nights, and hike on Saturday and Sunday. On both Friday and Saturday night they are given a set of waypoints and checkpoints as six figure grid references. It is up to the scouts…
One Word Kill by Mark Lawrence [Book Review]
One Word Kill by Mark Lawrence My rating: 5 of 5 stars If you love Stranger Things then you are very likely to love this book. It's a little geeky and features a bunch of roleplaying teenagers as the core cast. Unlike Stranger Things it's set in London, mainly the suburban SW, in the 1980s, also there are no weird creatures, although there is some weirdness, just of a different nature. One Word Kill Cover of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition with a set of dice on it (photo: James Kemp) One Word Kill was very relatable for me, as much because I'm the same sort of age as the protagonists (not now, but I was a teenager in the 1980s). I'm also running a D&D story for my son and his friends, so I've watched those teenage roleplayers…
Paul Blake Author Interview
Paul Blake's author photo. (Photo: Paul Blake) Paul Blake is a fellow alumni of the Open University creative writing course (A215), although not my cohort. I first found out about Paul Blake via twitter, we share some common interests. His book A Young Man's Game is an awesome take on modern spy thrillers. So I was very pleased when he jumped at the offer to do an author interview. His latest book, A Few Hours After This, is out today. Go buy a copy! Paul Blake Author Interview How long have you been writing for and what made you start writing? I’ve been writing since 2016. I was doing an Open University Degree in ICT, and doing pretty badly to be honest. I was fine with the theory behind concepts and how they were used in real situations, but when…
Nettlecombe Court – a Real Family Holiday
Nettlecombe Court in Somerset from the drive. (photo: James Kemp) Last summer I went on a Real Family Holiday with both my children. We had so much fun that we booked another. This time we went to the Field Study Centre in Nettlecombe Court, Somerset. We also went in the first week of the Easter holidays, and it was rather chillier than I'd hoped last week. Despite the cold weather we still all had a lot of fun. We also ate rather a lot of cream teas! FSC Nettlecombe Court The centre at Nettlecombe Court is much larger than the one we went to in Start Bay last year. It's a late Elizabethan mansion, completed in 1599. It's the sort of house that the National Trust tend to look after. This one is still owned by the Trevelyan family, and…