The Author's Blog

The Leisure Cruise: this is the second cruise that I've been on. Co-incidentally, it's the same ship, too. But why write about it this time? Well, mainly because (I had nothing to do for several afternoons and) I thought I'd make a few observations this time round, now being an "seasoned" cruise passenger.

The cruise was "Escape to the East" and is run by Thomson. The cruise ship was The MV Thomson Celebration. I'll tell you about Jeno and Zoltan (the Hungarian maestros), The Bride of Frankenstein, Egyptian fighting and social classes. All in one blog!

Or not ... as the case may be. I warn you ... this is a rant.

It's a rant about websites, noteably fan websites. Specifically fan websites "written" by fans about celebrities, actors, actresses or whathaveyou. I know a thing or two about fan websites. I've written one or two of them (actually seven to date) and have two offical (as in not-fan) sites and of course, this one. I've been writing, designing (creating, or whatever you want to call it) websites since around about 2005, and my very first actual fan website was for the actress Georgia Moffett (which I created in 2008).

Let me start by saying that this isn't a rant! Unlike my recent blog posts, this is merely an observation rather than a moan or a complaint (what do you mean, it makes a change?).

Celebrity Tweeters then - as far as I have observed, celebrity tweeters fall into two categories; "Those That Do" and "Those That Don't".

Let me explain: "Those that do" are those celebrities that sometimes interact with their followers, "Those that don't" are those that..er..don't! Interact with their followers, that is.

So in true Harry Hill (British TV Comedian) style, I like "Those That Do" and I like "Those That Don't", but which is better? There's only one way to find out.........

Let me just briefly explain what a Twitter Fake is, for those not in the know...

If you are a Twitter user, then you have a Twitter account (from which to post tweets, obviously). Anyone can have a Twitter account (some have many) - all you have to do is sign up, provide an email address (and a password) and you're away! You make up your twitter name when you create your account - which can be anything (within reason, there's a character limit etc).

A Twitter Fake then, is someone who creates a Twitter account in the name of another user (usually a celebrity) and then proceeds to post tweets as that celebrity or user.

Now some of us (me included) would call that fraud.

Comedy Roasting. This, I believe, is a predominantly US thing, (although there have been incidences in the UK where a Comedy Roast has been "performed") and I gather quite a few have been broadcast over the years.

The idea is quite simple. Pick on quite a famous celebrity and then get their "friends" to basically take the piss out of them - all in the name of idol worship. Eh? OK, so the idea works quite well sometimes - I've seen several other Comedy Roasts, including William Shatner and (a UK-made) one for Bruce Forsyth. Both of those were quite enjoyable and amusing affairs, with a bit of gentle piss-taking and ribbing, nothing too harsh. Naturally, the British-made Brucie one was funny, but as no-one wants to upset Brucie's sensitivities, so maybe not as harsh as some of the US made ones I've seen.

How To Kill: Written From A Villain's Point Of View..and Valerie Leon is the full title of this blog post, however doesn't fit into the title line very well!

Just a bit of nonsense as I've not written for a while..

I've just watched the opening 20 mins of "The Spy Who Loved Me" - the (Sir) Roger Moore James Bond film from 1977.

I recall that I watched this at my local cinema at the time it was released - I would have been about 16 at the time - well into puberty. [Sadly the cinema I watched it at is now a bingo hall, but enough about that before I go off on a rant!]

So this - as the title suggests - is a blog entry about Twitter. Not really a rant as such, but more of a comment on the idiosynchrasies of the general public - of which I am a member.

I've been a "twitterer" for quite some time now - since around June 2009 and I have to say that I do enjoy using and reading tweets quite a lot!

Sometimes I am (probably) more than a little slow to pick things up. These aren't objects that I've dropped. No. These are things that people write or sometimes say. Takes me a little while to pick up the gist of things. This is not due to a bad education, either. I had a very good Grammar School education thank you, even involved some classics along the way (Latin was just awful).

However. Reviews, or what's probably more to the point, reviewers, is what I'm meant to be ranting about. Reviews have been around for many, many years of course. Ever since people started entertaining other people, there have been the Critics and therefore the written reviews.