Too Many Henries (Or Is It Henrys?) And Joan Of Arc

  An Utterly Impartial History of Britain: (or 2000 Years Of Upper Class Idiots In Charge) by John O'Farrell, continues, and we have been through a load of Henries (Or Is It Henrys?), stopping at Henry VI, and the only one who was any good was Henry V, but he died of dysentry (which was common for soldiers in those times.

A fifteen-year-old girl (Joan of Arc) gets armoured up and then leads the French to victory against Henry VI, but she is then sold to the English and burned at the stake. A bit like what is happening today across the water and in the royal Family.

Based on surveys regarding biblical literacy in the United States, there is a widely cited, albeit startling, statistic that a portion of Americans confuse historical and biblical figures. 

• The Survey Statistic: Multiple reports, often citing a 2005 Barna Group survey, indicate that approximately 12% of Americans believed that Joan of Arc was the wife of Noah. Some sources suggest this figure may be even higher in certain contexts, mentioning 20%.
• The Confusion: The misconception likely stems from a conflation of "Noah's Ark" (the biblical boat) and "Joan of Arc" (the 15th-century French heroine).
• The Reality:
  • Noah lived in the ancient biblical era.
  • Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc) was a French peasant girl who lived from roughly 1412–1431 AD, over a thousand years after the biblical timeframe.
• Context: This statistic is frequently cited to highlight issues with biblical literacy and historical knowledge in the U.S.. 

While it is more commonly reported that people believed she was Noah's wife rather than his daughter, it highlights a significant, humorous, and sometimes criticized misunderstanding of history and the Bible. 

I am still reading "Imajica" by Clive Barker on my Kindle. This is a book I never want to end. When I finish it, I just restart it.

I recently discovered that my American Amazon Author page has a feed from this blog, which you can see here. It only shows on the .com site but not on others. C'est la vie.

The music is "Snuffin' In A Babylon" by Alberto Y Los Triod Paranoias from their "Snuff Rock" musical EP.

Mike Singleton - Vocal Stories

I am not sure if you are aware of my writing on Vocal, but these are a few of my stories if you would like to sample them:

1. The Plagiaristic Poetry Series - Poems Taken From Random-Themed Lines
2. Another Raven - A Take On Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven"
3. The Cleaner - An Autism-Focused Christmas Special
4. The King Of Elfland's Daughter - A Wonderful Book By Lord Dunsany
5. An Owl In A Towel - A Beautiful Book by Lesley and Cheryl
6. Barter Books - An Amazing Bookshop In A Railway Station In Alnwick
7. Three Reasons Why I Love Settle - Scaleber Force, The Hoffman Kiln and Castlebergh Crag
8. The Accidental Book - Helping a Great Vocal Friend Resulted In Me Publishing My First Book
9. Call Me Les - A Great Friend and An Amazing Writer, and this is her Instagram

Life Is Louder

Was wandering through town today and noticed a lot of people in the street talking ...... to their phones. There's nothing inherently wrong with it, I do it, although some people make sure everyone in the quadrant can hear, it's as though they are shouting to ensure the other persona (and everyone) can hear.

The thing is this is everyone now. Pre mobile phone you used a call box, often at work people had individual offices so calls were private and not broadcast. We hear lots about making sure calls are secure, but lets face it, recording devices have a hell of a range these days.

I never thought it would happen but call boxes are disappearing, sometimes replaced by open boxes with huge advertising screens but really there is not much need for them these days, except when you are out of power or minutes on your mobile.

The thing is this is the way things are going and everyday life will get louder so for the first time I'm going to share some Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark with you with "Talking Loud and Clear".  This is a video I've never seen and also did you know that prior to their final name they were called The Id (namechecking "Forbidden Planet" I think.

Another short post but my third today.