4295 days ago
Hot off the press today is my latest e-book. It is free to order (i.e. it costs you nothing) and is on the ten top stocks to short in London right now. It is published by the chaps at SpreadBet Magazine and you can order it by hitting on the humours little button below.
4364 days ago
Well here goes. My first e-book is live. You can now snap it up on Amazon or (better still) direct from the publishers, Harriman House. Letters from the Chestnut Tree Cafe (Thought crime in Britain and Greece, 1984 is finally here) is a collection of my best essays from the summer plus a sprinkling of a few other thoughts.
No doubt you all know where the Chestnut Tree Cafe is? It is in Airstrip One in Orwell’s 1984. I am a cynic about Government and deeply worried about free speech and Civil liberties issues. That seems to have been the theme of my writings but there is a good dash of Greek economic chaos, Tony Blair Jokes and much else besides.
I can’t say that it is a laugh a minute but those who have read it said there were enough jokes to keep them amused. You can snap up your e-copy at Harriman House HERE
4381 days ago
Whether Rotherham Social Services is run by incredibly stupid folks or human beings created by genetically modifying former members of the Stasi with Guardian reader genes does not matter – either is a scandal. The case of the UKIP foster parents marks another sad landmark in the death of free England.
By way of background I have never been to Rotherham but I gather that this grim Northern town has suffered far more than its fair share of child abuse scandals. And so you would have thought that finding a pair of responsible foster parents would be a dream for its hard pressed social services department. Step forward an un-named couple in their late 50s who live in a neat detached house in a village in South Yorkshire. The husband was a Royal Navy reservist for more than 30 years and works with disabled people, while his wife is a qualified nursery nurse.
These are socially caring folk who for seven years have taken in kids of all races and been praised for being fantastic foster parents. Their record of work and service should provide the poor kids with role models and stability. They have had an exemplary record over 12 placements.
Until the other week they were looking after three kids, a baby girl, a boy and an older girl, who were all from an ethnic minority and a troubled family background. The three thrived. The baby put on weight and the older girl even began calling them “mum and dad”.
But then the Stasi arrived and said that they had received an anonymous tip-off that they were members of Ukip.
4389 days ago
Final proofs of my first e-book of the Autumn are flying electronically between myself and my publisher Stephen Eckett tonight. Viagra man and Contra man are rushing to get this book to market. Except that Contra man reckons that the title is misleading. Indeed it is. So Viagra man is about to be bobbited.
The new working title is
Letters from the Chestnut Tree Cafe
(Thoughtcrime in Britain and Greece – 2012 is the new 1984)
We cannot keep changing titles as publication is imminent. Any thoughts on the proposed re-branding?
4389 days ago
Zak Mir tells me that he feels like death after leading me astray with our all night drinking session. Good. It serves him right. I feel the same way but have now realised the truly horrible consequences of my actions. That is to say I appear to have arranged at some stage during the evening to meet someone else for supper tonight. You can safely assume that I shall not be drinking alcohol and that I will not be staying out late. I am too old for all of this.
Meanwhile Corby goes to the polls today in a by-election caused by the resignation of the frightful Louise Mensch.
4406 days ago
As you may remember, having been booted out of the LinkedIn friends of Greece ( for pointing out that Greece was bust and uncompetitive – hardly a revalation) I am now a keen member of the LinkedIn Friends of Albania ( also LinkedIn West Ham Supporters, Friends of Israel, UKIP etc). But i am beginning to have second thoughts.
As it happens my Dad has bought my spare Albanian Lekke from me and landed in the country on Sunday night for a 10 day working holiday.
4410 days ago
I am about to tuck into a bottle of wine and watch yesterday’s episode of Dallas. I bloody well deserve it. Book one of three due this Autumn has just gone to the publisher. Almost 70,000 words long “The wit and wisdom of Viagra Man” is now complete. I think my copy is exceptionally clean and so hopefully we shall see an e-book out fairly soon. I shall be pushing Harriman House hard.
A night off now. Tomorrow I start to get book two over the line to its publisher ADVFN. Book three is not far behind. All three should be ready for your e-stockings. Forgive me, but no more articles today. No more tweets. It is JR, Bobby, John Ross and South Fork and a bottle of plonk for me. I am knackered but elated.
4447 days ago
You may remember that I was evicted from the LinkedIn Friends of Greece Group for saying that Albania was a better value holiday destination than poor old Greece. This mortified me, as a long standing Hellenophile, but I know when I am not welcome and so two months ago applied to join the LinkedIn Friends of Albania group. This morning, in a frightening display of efficiency my application has finally been accepted.
I see that the trending discussion is on how to combat drug and alcohol abuse in Tirana. I am ready to contribute my two lekke worth.
I wonder how many other folks on LinkedIn are Friends of Albania but also participate actively in the Friends of Israel and West Ham United supports groups. I suspect that a Venn diagram of these groupings would show me all by myself
4485 days ago
For me the dual highlights of the week were Madonna taking on Putin on civil liberties and the hilarious reaction of Russian church and state and my visit to the best bakery in Greece, indeed my whole time in Zitsa.
This is the penultimate video of this series. There will be one next week and then a two week break as I head slowly back to England. The book will, by then, be almost finished. And I have almost decided on my next move. So it is time to go back to the UK and sort that out.
Video Postcard from Tom #004 by dm_500db406b2995
On the Agenda
