My blog and occasional comment on current affairs.
I embarked on a reading challenge at the start of this year, and I am loving it. I should preface this by saying that I read a lot already but fancied upping my game. The benefits have been numerous, and I can see this being an ongoing thing. Being a bit of a nerd, I…
Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki has been on my reading list for years now, which might explain why I’m still broke. The book is ridiculously popular and must have made Kiyosaki an absolute fortune. It tells the story of Kiyosaki’s two “dads”: his biological father, who was highly educated but struggled financially, and…
I have become mildly obsessed with Brain.fm recently. I read a lot about productivity, especially in relation to being a writer – it’s an ironic form of procrastination. I kept reading about Brain.fm and how great it was. So I downloaded the app and went to try it out, only to find that I had…
I used to be addicted to my Kindle. I had the original one with the mini keyboard and then the one that had the tabs on the side to change pages. Or possibly they were the same one… No matter. Around 10 years ago, I got one of the first Kindle Paperwhites and never looked…
SAS Rogue Heroes became something of an obsession for me in the run-up to Christmas. We recorded the show as they aired and then binged the lot in a couple of days just after the final one aired. It was a glorious period. I had also bought two copies of the book it is based…
Ahh, Saturnalia, my favourite Roman pagan holiday! As an atheist, I respect (but don’t believe) in all the religious aspects like worshipping the god Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture and time. But I otherwise enjoy all the festivities and rich traditions, such as getting drunk and eating too much. In case you didn’t know,…
The new Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny trailer was released recently and as often happens with films in series I adore, I am anxious – but also hopeful and excited. So it is quite the gamut of emotions. I’m a HUGE fan of the three Indiana Jones movies and can’t wait for another….
I have recently become mildly obsessed with current affairs podcasts. There is a famous Chinese curse that says, “May you live in interesting times!” Well, we do. Of course, it is all relative. Most of history has been overly interesting and horrendous – think plagues, world wars, Mongol invasions and so on. The year 536…
I have been to Singapore multiple times and have always had a great time. It’s a great city that is clean, safe, and easy to get around. I couldn’t live here because it is a bit too clean and orderly for my liking, and I love a bit of chaos. That’s why I live in…
As a writer, I spend a lot of time typing. Yet bizarrely, it had never really occurred to me to get better at it. Thinking back to how much time I could have saved over the last *ahem* 32 years, it is a little depressing. However, I really started to notice the benefits of faster…
The last few years have been trying for us all and unfortunately, that has led to an evil Frasier. Which is a shame but, as a huge fan of the show, it was inevitable. Although he was a successful man, every week piled on some new stress and awkward situations. Well finally, Frasier has snapped…
The James Webb telescope has started beaming back incredible pictures, and screensavers around the world are being updated. The new telescope is seen as a replacement for good old Hubble, which launched in 1990 and was supposed to retire in 2005. In case you missed some of the astounding pictures from James Webb, here are…
A Litter of Bones is the first in the DCI Logan series by JD Kirk. I knew of JD Kirk from his parallel existence as a humorous sci-fi writer. So I was curious about his style would transfer to gritty Scottish detective thriller. Impressively, it transferred incredibly well. There is still humour – usually from…
I bought an Oculus Quest 2 a couple of months back. It’s time to discuss whether that was a good idea in terms of productivity and entertainment. Basically, is it worth it? The original justification for buying the Oculus I had read quite a few articles about working in VR – such as this one…
I got a PS5 recently, after having held out against scalpers for a year. The way I got one was down to luck – but I almost thought it was a scam. Here’s what happened… I used to live in London, and consequently, my Playstation account is based in the UK. I had been hellishly…
I just saw Top Gun Maverick and felt the need – the need er… for a review. I haven’t written a film review for a while as I tend to write about things I just saw at the cinema. And that has been a few months. Top Gun Maverick sees Tom Cruise reprise his role…
I just got back to Thailand after six weeks from the UK. I hadn’t been back to Blighty for around two and a half years and the difference was a bit of a shock. Nothing major, but enough to possibly be of interest to anyone travelling in either direction. I was in a Bangkok bar…
I am currently doing this weird thing called travelling abroad. People used to do it all the time, but it has fallen out of favour the last couple of years for some reason. Being something of a contrarian, I went from sunny Thailand to London. In March. I hadn’t left Thailand since 2019, so I…
I was er, ‘working’ when I came across Owlkitty on YouTube. I do a lot of research, just so I can keep things fresh and exciting here at the Word of Ward and this genuinely made me laugh out loud. So I thought I’d share. OwlKitty is the stage name and channel for Lizzy the…
Can fasting cure type 2 diabetes? It seems like it is possible and is something I am in a position to find out – as I have it. A brief history of getting type 2 diabetes I found out I had type 2 diabetes about four years ago. I knew that losing weight was one…