Adam Bird - My Personal Blog

"Exactly 100 years ago today, HMS Alert and HMS Discovery sailed past Plymouth on their way from Portsmouth on an Arctic exploration mission which was to keep their crews away from home for nearly a year and five months. One of the members of this expedition, led by Captain Sir George Strong Nares, was a Newton Abbot man, Mr Henry Winser, who was picked as ship's carpenter for the team at the age of 24 because of his strong constitution. The expedition suffered many hardships and accomplished much, reaching 30 miles nearer the North Pole than any previous arctic explorers, but still fell 400 miles short of its target. The "Advertiser" of November 4th, 1876, summed up that the venture had demonstrated "that to reach the Pole is an utterly impracticable undertaking... deemed not to be accomplished by human energy." Henry Winser was believed to have been one of the sledge party which spent 70 days on the ice in conditions so rugged that it could only...

Earlier this year I wrote about a book I had read, A Quiet Belief in Angels, by Roger Ellory and how, since then, I had purchased all his previous works and had been enchanted by the epic worlds his creations had surrounded me. Last week his sixth book, A Simple Act of Violence was released and I eagerly visited Waterstones to get my copy. Roger Ellory doesn't write simple novels. They are vast in scope and character and although they share a similar theme, human nature, human relationships and the analysis of human behaviour against all odds, they are all vastly different. The synopsis for A Simple Act of Violence, provided by Amazon: "Washington, embroiled in the mid-term elections, did not want to hear about serial killings. But when the newspapers reported a fourth murder, when they gave the killer a name and details of his horrendous crimes, there were few people that could ignore it. Detective Robert Miller is assigned to the case. He and his partner begin the t...

In amongst the confetti and champagne that has flowed freely over the past two years, and looks set to continue at least until our own marriage in 2010, Saturday night marks the dawn of a new era. Mummy of the group Stephanie hits the big three-0. Although her birthday isn't until the 13th of October, current times amidst the credit crunch and close proximity in dates to sister in law Nadine and her best friend Kelly, both of which also hit the special landmark around the same time, sees a triple celebration as the three glam girls mark the occasion with a party to end all parties. I have a fear of hitting 30, due mostly to my own memories of when Dad celebrated his. A surprise BBQ at the house arranged by mum was not at all welcomed as Dad spent the whole day in a birthday depression rather than buoyant celebration. Being an impressionable eleven year old at the time wondering what on earth was so terrible about being 30. Was that the age that in which terrible thing beg...