The Winter King

I am currently watching the exciting historical television series Winter King, based on the novel by Bernard Cornwell. The series begines when High King Uther banishes his son, Arthur from his kingdom. The banished Arthur rescues a dying boy named Derfel and entrusts Derfel to the wizard Merlin and his apprentice Nimue; Meanwhile Uther has a new heir, however Merlin receives a dark and disturbing vision for the future concerning this New heir. Then an untimely death leads Merlin to locate Arthur and urge him to come back to Britain because Prince Gundleus has invaded Avalon. Eventually after fierce fighting Arthur takes Gundleus prisoner, and learns that his’ uncle Gorfydd is preparing for war.

Nimue returns to Avalon, meanwhile Owain and Derfel go to King Cadwys to collect taxes, but he persuades Owain to raid a nearby mine instead to pay off the money. Meanwhile Nimue takes drastic action when she discovers that she is pregnant so Merlin helps her; Derfel is uneasy about Owain’s attack on the mine, sure enough Tristan shows up demanding retribution for the raid on the mine. So Arthur and the tribe kings enter peace talks. Arthur suggests that as a show of faith, he marry Gorfydd’s daughter, Ceinwyn. She is horrified by the news. However while Arthur and Derfel are travelling to Powys Arthur meets and falls in love with, Guinevere, Ceinwyn’s lady-in-waiting. predictably This puts a spanner in the works regarding his marriage to Ceinwyn and angers Gorfydd king of Powys.

Following a series of attacks Arthur sends Bedwin to attempt to negotiate peace with Gorfydd king of Powys. However, when Morgan and Derfel arrive in Powys, they discover Bedwin being crucified. A Christian mob accuses Nimue of poisoning them and demand justice from Arthur, so Arthur exiles Nimue to the Isle of the Dead. However Nimue is later cleared of any wrong doing, so Derfel travels to the Isle of the Dead to finds Nimue and bring her back. Ceinwyn reveals that Gorfydd has decided to ally himself with the Saxons. So Arthur agrees to meet the Saxon King Aelle and hands over information which will benefit their advance into Britain. In return, the Saxons agree not to attack Dumnonia for an agreed period of time; Then Arthur vows to fight to save Britain from the Saxons….

Lola” Beltrán

Mexican actress and singer. María Lucila “Lola” Beltrán was born in the town of El Rosario, Sinaloa on 7 March 1932  where she was schooled by Carmelite nuns. Her mother enjoyed singing and her father managed a mine. She completed secretarial studies while participating in singing competitions. She was intrigued by ballads and the singing she heard in church. Eventually, Beltrán and her mother moved to Mexico City so that she could find a career performing.Beltrán worked as a secretary at Mexico’s radio station. XEW, She pestered the radio station to be allowed to sing. The station and listeners were so impressed that within a year she had her own radio show. Beltrán credits the station with giving her a chance, which enabled her to make a career. It was there that she met the songwriter Tomas Mendezwho composed songs for her, including the international hits “Cucurrucucú paloma” and “Tres Dias”. Beltrán was the first wife of the matador and film actor Alfredo Leal Kuri  and had a daughter with him, singer María Elena Leal

Beltrán made her film debut on El cantor del circo (1940), an Argentine film and later appeared in the 1954 film El Tesoro de la Muerte. After appearing in dozens of films, most of them musicals, she obtained a starring role in the telenovela Mi rival with Saby Kamalich. She also shared credits with Mexican movie stars such as Emilio Fernández, Ignacio López Tarso, Katy Jurado, María Félix and Pedro Armendáriz in La Bandida (1963). Her last film appearance was in Una gallina muy ponedora(1982) sharing credits with Columba Domínguez. As a television presenter, she hosted the programs Noches tapatias (1976) and her own television program entitled El estudio de Lola Beltrán (1984), programs in which she received stars such as Cornelio Reyna, Juan Gabriel, Lucha Villa, La Prieta Lindaand Luis Miguel. She made the song “Priscila el que se fue” collaborations with other Mexican music stars such as Amalia Mendoza, Juan Gabriel and Lucha Villa. She was internationally renowned for her interpretation of the songs “Cucurrucucú paloma” and “Paloma Negra” and sang before world leaders. She was nicknamed Lola la Grande (“Lola the Great”). Her song Soy infeliz (“I’m Unhappy”) was the opening music for Pedro and Almodóvar’s film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

She gave concerts before various world leaders icluding President Charles de Gaulle of France,  the leader of Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito, Soviet foreign minister Andrei Gromyko, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Leonid Brezhnev, King of Spain Juan Carlos  and Queen Sofia, Queen Elizabeth II, American Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnsonand Richard Nixon and Presidents of Mexico Adolfo Ruiz Cortines and Carlos Salinas de Gortari. She was the first ranchera singer to perform at the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts), the premier opera house and concert hall in Mexico. She also sang in the Olympia Music Hall in Paris, the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow and the Conservatory of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) in the former Soviet Union. Beltrán was honored in 1995 with her inclusion into a series of commemorative postage stamps, issued by her native Mexico, honoring ‘Popular Idols of Radio’. This was done in recognition of her lifetime achievement in the realm of popular music and her success in spreading an appreciation of Mexican culture throughout the world. She had appeared in about 50 films and recorded about a hundred albums.

Sadly Soon after recording Disco del Siglo (English: Album of the Century) with Lucha Villa and Amalia Mendoza “La Tariácuri” and produced by Juan Gabriel, Beltrán died of a pulmonary embolism at Hospital Ángeles in Mexico City. 24 March 1996. Her body laid on display in the rotunda of the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) in Mexico City in order to give her countrymen a chance to say goodbye; only the most acclaimed artists, singers, poets, writers and actors are accorded this honor. Beltrán is considered one of the most successful ranchera artists of all time.

Alternative World Book day

The original, global World Book day takes place annually on 23 April, however in certain countries this clashes with St.George’s day, and the Easter School holidays, so to get round this the United Kingdom launched an alternative World Book Day which is held annually on the first Thursday in March. It was launched in 1995 and is sponsored by UNESCO. The purpose of World Book Day is to promote reading, publishing and copyright. It is the local manifestation of World Book and Copyright Day (also known as International Day of the Book or World Book Days).

During World Book Day, every child in full-time education in the UK is given a voucher to be spent on books. The Day was first celebrated in 1995 in the United Kingdom at the Globe Theatre in London, when Several million schoolchildren in Great Britain were given a GB£1 special World Book Day Book Token (€1.50 in Ireland) which could be redeemed against any book in any UK bookshop. A specially created WBD anthology priced at £1 (€1.50 in Ireland) was also published. All World Book Day point of sale and the £1 book carried the special World Book Day logo to help unify the initiative through all outlets. These include online retailer  Amazon previously celebrated World Book Day 2019 with nine free ebooks, from their Read the World page, including books written in Mexico, the Netherlands and Israel which were available to download for free.

Every World Book Day since has followed a similar pattern, gradually growing each year to encompass more initiatives, such as Spread The Word, Quick Reads Initiative and Books for Hospitals. Every year, the number of children receiving a World Book Day Book Token has increased. In 2000, instead of a single £1 special anthology, four separate £1 books were published, covering a wider age-range. Since then, each year has seen a new set of special £1 books published.

In 2006, World Book Day began its support of and association with the Quick Reads initiative for adult emergent readers. In 2007, World Book Day celebrated its 10th anniversary with the publication of 10 £1 books. Since then every child in full-time education in the UK and Ireland is entitled to receive a £1 World Book day Book token every year. They can swap their WBD token for one of specially-produced £1 WBD books or they can get £1 off a full-price book or audio book. In 2007, the Spread the Word promotion was revamped into an on-line book group featuring a number of adult books suitable for book Groups. A short list of 10 titles was announced on 1 February 2008, and the winning book, was Boy A by Jonathan Trigell. World Book Day 2008 was declared by The Bookseller magazine to be more successful than any previous World Book Day. World Book Day has been billed as The Biggest Book Show on Earth and is celebrated with a variety of events in schools and libraries, including a festival hosted by Tony Robinson, presenter and author of the Weird World of Wonders series, who gave advice on how to start writing.