Not an Athlete!

The Paris 2024 Olympics are nearing an end and, once again, the events that have me most glued to the TV coverage are the Park Skateboarding - both women's and men's.

Sky Brown won a bronze medal - again - for Team GB but our only hope in the men's event, Andrew MacDonald (Andy Mac) didn't qualify for the finals because, despite two (almost three) perfect performances, the judges' scores were not high enough to place him in the top eight. To be fair, the standards were very high.

Andy MacDonald and Tony Hawk go way back - see this clip of their 'doubles' routine. 

I'm older than Tony Hawk and I'm not an athlete so skateboarding was never a sport for me to try - although I did regularly go roller-skating when I was a teen. Loved it but was never particularly good at it.

Not an Assassin, either!

Skateboarding aside, the event I'd really like to see included is Parkour. Knowing the way the Olympics is years behind the mood of the people, this won't happen for a while but the perfect debut would have been the Paris games. Indeed, their open ceremony paid tribute to it.

Parkour to be included in the Olympic Games?

Finally, back to skateboarding, kids who enjoy it should have more encouragement. Domed indoor facilities would facilitate year-round practice. There are quite a few outdoor parks (many neglected, mostly unsupervised) but these are only useful for the three months of fair weather we have in the UK. It's no wonder that Australia picked up this year's gold medals and that our Olympic-standard Brits are from America! Check out this UK skate park website.

Stephen King - Fairy Tale - Review

A short review, not a synopsis. There are many reviews of this fantasy novel already on the internet (none of which I've yet read) but here goes with mine, anyway.

The story of a teenage boy from Illinois. An ordinary boy who lost his mother at an early age and all but lost his father at the same time, because the pain of losing his wife led Dad to alcohol dependency and, as a consequence, he lost his job. The boy, Charlie, had to grow up fast. Not a happy beginning to a novel. 

One day, Charlie was walking home from school when he heard a dog frantically barking; he rushed to investigate and his intervention saved an old man's life. He was used to looking after his dad from an early age so he volunteered to look after the neighbour and his dog. After getting to know the old man, Charlie's life took a different turn, from ordinary to surreal.

Most of the book is a fairy tale setting, often 'grim' but with a happy ending.

So what did I think of Fairy Tale? As usual, with a Stephen King novel, the story has significant detail and the characters, although many, are described well. There was a bit in the middle when I wished he'd get on with it but you have to persevere as it may be revealed to be important later in the book.

Tip! You may want to keep a pencil and paper to hand. There were a few pages containing loads of uncommon words, most of which meant nothing to me - and I should have made a note of them to look up afterwards.

There were some grammatical faux-pas for which the proof-reader(s) should be held responsible. These include 'compare to' and a couple of others, which are no doubt mentioned elsewhere in this blog in some grammar rants. Incorrect grammar momentarily disrupts my reading enjoyment but I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority.

Another nice detail at the end of the book was that the author included a section that tidies up loose ends.