Browsed by
Author: Colin Rowland

The Most Incredible Adventure The Screen Has Ever Created!

The Most Incredible Adventure The Screen Has Ever Created!

Above image copied from http://waichingsthoughts81.blogspot.com/2017/04/weekend-tv-movie-review-airplane-1980.html In case you ‘re confused, I want to talk about the movie Airplane!, one of  funniest and most irreverent movies ever made in my humble opinion. The trailer is just a taste of the sheer zaniness of this flick. It was written and directed by Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and David Zucker. This trio also gave us such gems as The Kentucky Fried Movie and, my all time favorite television series, Police Squad, which spawned the Naked Gun…

Read More Read More

As promised, an excerpt

As promised, an excerpt

I’m finally making progress on my Hidden Desires rewrite. The process is slow and a bit painful, as my source material has more than a few shortcomings. To confess, when I wrote the novel I suffered from an excess of hubris and actually thought my story was well constructed. For those who read that first edition, I apologize and offer the completed, although unedited, first chapter. Although fairly long, it provides the setting and sets the mood for the remainder of…

Read More Read More

The Year Ahead

The Year Ahead

Above image by Theo Crazzolara from Pixabay   The new year is here and tradition would have me listing a slew of resolutions concerning my 2024 writing goals. The problem, as I explained in a previous post, is that I am not much for announcing changes and intentions for the following twelve months. At best, my decisions will last two or three months, so why bother?  Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay It’s not that I am a lazy person by nature,…

Read More Read More

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Featured photo by Antonio Gabola on Unsplash Just a quick note to wish everyone the Happiest New Year. All of us at A Glimmer of Gold want the very best for you and your loved ones throughout the coming year. However you celebrate, please do so safely. I am not trying to lecture, but please take the time to plan the conclusion of your celebration. Arrange a designated driver or engage a taxi, Uber, etc. As for my wife and I, we…

Read More Read More

Some Christmas humor

Some Christmas humor

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash Although it’s not Funny Friday, I’m in both a festive and humorous mood, so I decided to share some amusing Christmas cartoons I found on the web. the authors or sites are listed in each cartoon. I was unable to provide attriution for the few that do not contain that information.They are not side-splitting, but they tickled my funny bone and I hope they do the same for yours.              …

Read More Read More

Christmas, from Regency England to now. How much has changed?*

Christmas, from Regency England to now. How much has changed?*

In the spirit of Christmas, I decided to refresh my memory with regards to celebrations of the season in Jane Austen’s day. It did not take long to find a trove of information. To tell the truth, there are so many good sources that condensing it comes down to a struggle between what to include and which to leave for another article. Christmas in the early part of the nineteenth century was similar to the season now. For estates such…

Read More Read More

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Today I want to share three of what I think are the prettiest Christmas songs of the past sixty years. They are not carols, but they do bring the spirit of the season. The first is “I Believe in Father Christmas” by Greg Lake. A bit of interesting trivia about this song is he did not compose it as a celebration of the season, but rather as a protest over what he saw as the increasing commercialization of the holiday….

Read More Read More

Computer History, From the Abacus to Today

Computer History, From the Abacus to Today

Image by Joshua Woroniecki from Pixabay In a previous post, I discussed the history of the printed word and the boon Mr. Gutenberg’s invention was to mankind. Today’s article is about computers and how they’ve changed the world. Did you know that the abacus is considered the first example of a computer? There is evidence of its existence and use in Mesopotamia as early as 2700 BC., where they used it to assist in calculations for their sexagesimal numbering system, which was based…

Read More Read More

Trivia Thursday, the Thanksgiving Edition

Trivia Thursday, the Thanksgiving Edition

Featured Photo by SJ 📸 on Unsplash Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends. As it’s Trivia Thursday, I thought you might enjoy some trivia about the holiday. Pretty much everything we know about the first Thanksgiving was written in a letter by a colonist named Edward Winslow. Written to someone he refers to as a “Loving, and old Friend,” the letter is quite lengthy and he touches on Thanksgiving only briefly. Thanksgiving has been around for a long time. In fact, George…

Read More Read More

Funny Friday-Red Skelton

Funny Friday-Red Skelton

Clem Kadiddlehopper, Sheriff Deadeye, Gertrude and Heathcliff, Freddie the Freeloader. These were characters created by Red Skelton, one of the finest comedians who ever lived. The Red Skelton Comedy Hour, which aired every Tuesday night at 8 pm, brought me home from whatever I was involved in. My family, all seven of us until 1969, when my brother Jann was born, all gathered around the television set to see which characters would appear on the show each week. I always…

Read More Read More