After the first 100 colour copies of my book on the Tees Transporter Bridge sold unbelievably quickly (thank you for making me and my favourite bridge feel loved) I ordered a second print run of the book in black and white. The second edition has one or two new stories from local people that came in after the print deadline for the original run. The second edition is now available to order and will be shipped at the end of October.
For those stumbling across this title for the first time, it is a collection of stories, musings and memories from both myself and people who live in and around Teesside. This is more than just a straightforward history book; it is a volume that examines the cultural significance of the bridge and its impact on the local community.It features over 50 original photographs of the bridge and the Middlesbrough area and, perhaps most importantly, it conveys the bridge’s unique narrative which spans from modernism to the modern-day.
Click here to order your copy of the book today!
The book is 92 pages, printed in full colour and priced at 9.95. Only 100 copies of the second edition will be printed.
THIS BOOK WILL BE SHIPPED WEDNESDAY 29TH OCTOBER 2014
THIS BOOK IS ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE UK. A KINDLE VERSION IS AVAILABLE FOR OVERSEAS CUSTOMERS.
To celebrate the launch of my book on Fading Ads of London I’m running a special walking tour event on Saturday 17th May. For the price of a pack of Black Cat Cigarettes you can come along!
According to the remaining ghost signs of London, you could once get 10 Black Cat Cigarettes for 6d. Yahoo Answers reliably (?) tells me that, taking into account the rise in earnings, this equates to £2.50 in terms of modern-day spending power. Consequently that’s the special price for this introductory tour.
The tour will start at Camden Town Tube Station at Midday and will last approximately two hours. When you get to the tube station look out for a blonde lady with a red clipboard (ruling out any ridiculous coincidence that will be me). It is a walking tour so please wear comfortable shoes and be prepared for my endless enthusiasm and random facts about hand-painted signs from a quaint but fascinating era.
Click here to book your place now!
Places are very limited to keep the group size manageable so please book soon to avoid disappointment.
Once bought tickets are non-refundable but the price can be transferred against the cost of a future walking tour as required.
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My lovely publisher, The History Press, sent me an advance copy of my book this week. Working with them has been an incredibly positive experience; they clearly really care about the projects they take on and (as is probably evident from the photo below) I was really impressed with the final design of my book. The volume isn’t available until May but it can be pre-ordered today from Amazon, Waterstones and The Guardian Bookshop.
Click on the image above to sample my book on film for free! If you like what you see, paperbacks are out now and can be ordered here.
Blurb: True Love is Like The Loch Ness Monster and Other Lessons I Learnt From Film is the debut book from film editor and writer Helen Cox. This series of essays includes freshly edited versions of the author’s best columns and ten brand new pieces especially written for the book, that guide the reader through the moral lessons to be learnt from forgotten films and films best forgotten. Learn why The Bride of Frankenstein is a feminist icon, how DVD destroyed the family unit and why being Katherine Heigl isn’t as easy as it looks.
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Cover design by Alfie Gallagher.
Today I unveil the title for my film book. Was it what you were expecting? Last week I ran a competition to win a copy of the book and the results are as follows:
The most humorous guess-the-title prize is awarded to Martin Conterio who, if he gets in touch with me via Twitter, will receive a free copy of my book when it is released mid-March. People who made the acknowledgements are: Daniel Green for ‘We Need to Talk About Helen’ Jane Read for ‘Slinema’, Tony Cowin for ‘Hissing in the Back Row (of the Movies)’ and Bazmann for ‘Monsterplex.’
About the Book
Think that the likes of Mannequin on the Move are devoid of artistic value? Think again. True Love is like the Loch Ness Monster and Other Lessons I Learnt from Film is a collection of essays detailing important moral messages from the last century (and a bit) of cinema. More details and the opportunity to sample and pre-order my book will follow in the coming weeks.
As a child I always remember feeling quite empowered when I watched Mary Poppins. I heartedly admired, and embarrassingly enough often mimicked, Mrs Banks prancing around the living room in Edwardian dress singing “Sister Suffragettes” at the top of her lungs. Having rewatched the film recently, however, I have come to see it in a different light as I more readily noticed, admittedly with a bit of a wry smile, the amount of simpering Winifred does around George whenever he enters their, immaculately presented, living room.
“Oh George! You didn’t jump in the river. How sensible of you.”
Going so far as to Google the subject I found a digitised tidal wave of blog articles, forum posts and general rants about the fact that in spite of the show of the “Sister Suffragettes” song the film actually promotes anti-feminist sentiment. Mrs Banks’s devotion to the suffragette charge is actually portrayed, according to the aforementioned digitised tidal wave, as the root cause of her neglecting her children. Ultimately the only remedy for this is for her to give up her engagement with equality symbolised, apparently, by the moment when she ties her suffragette sash to the children’s kite at the end of the film.
“You know how the cause infuriates Mr Banks”
Although many of the online articles about Mrs Banks cite the 1963 publication of “The Feminine Mystique” as an important morsel of context I’m finding it difficult in my own head to think of the 1964 Disney film as a significant cinematic backlash against the writings of Betty Friedan. Surely if this was the case there would be more openly submissive moments from Mary Poppins herself…and perhaps fewer tap dancing penguins?
Like just about everything in art, film, literature and life I guess the nature of the feminist underdones in Mary Poppins is down to personal interpretation. Yes! Mrs Banks’s simpering is unbecoming for a seemingly scrappy suffragette who hangs about with the likes of Emmeline Pankhurst but it’s also realistic to the period in which the film is set and the class to which the family are supposed to belong. I never interpreted her tying the sash to the kite as her giving up the suffragette cause but more as a realisation that there was a balance to be struck between her responsibilities to womankind and her responsibilities to her children. Plus Mr Banks is shown to be just as negligent of those dough-faced little tykes, if not more so, on account of his job in the city and has to make sacrifices in his standing there in order to better attune himself with his family. Doesn’t that count for anything?
Most of the down-with-Disney online reports like to highlight the fact that the author of the original books, P.L. Travers, was less than enamoured by the film version and she was particularly appalled by Mrs Banks tying her sash to Jane and Michael’s kite at the end. Having read the first of her books, in the name of research, however and having found not one mention of the word ‘suffragette’ I’m sceptical about just how factual these reports are. She definitely felt that Julie Andrews was a deeply diluted version of her haughty, dismissive creation but whether or not she truly felt that the cause of feminism had been set back by the creative license Disney took with her work remains unclear. Are these online crusaders genuine feminine freedom fighters with valid points and questions or uber-paranoid internet junkies bent on the downfall of large corporations? I’ll leave it to you, dear reader, to decide. But before you do please note: just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.
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From the reports I’ve heard from friends dating websites / speed-dating events are actually just a more efficient method of being dumped and tend to take a lot of the romance out of…well, romance. And if, like me, you’re unwilling to settle for anything less than opaque, unpredictable Alabama and Clarence style love, if you abhor the idea of mediocrity in matters of the heart, then have I got some alternative avenues to adulation for you?!
In addition to placing your, notably glib, personal in the London Review of Books you might also consider:
1. Using your literary preferences to find love. A new website has been launched that helps you find potential beaus based on their book tastes. Unlike all of the mainstream sites you know that you’ve instantly got something in common with all of the members i.e. you read on a regular basis.
2. Volunteering some of your free time to a cause that you really care about. Not only will you be able to gloat to everyone about how altruistic you are, you’ll meet people who are like-minded and who care about the same things you do. A great foundation for a relationship if ever there was one.
3. Actually pursuing your interests. Properly. If you like film, join a film club. If you like to sing, join a local singing group or form your own band. I know it’s sometimes difficult to find time but you should make time for the things you really enjoy about life and there is a social element to just about every hobby – even the really geeky ones. It’s another great way to meet people who share your common interests.
4. Looking out for single’s nights at art galleries and museums. You could go to a speed-dating event where you have to “sell yourself” in 3 minutes to someone who is more concerned about how their sales pitch is coming across or you could go and look at some cool cultural stuff and see if anyone catches your eye. I know which one I’d rather be doing.
5. Harrassing one of your friends into hiring a hooker as a birthday gift for you. Just make sure you’re his or her first job, that they have a penchant for Kung-Fu flicks and think that “anytime of day is a good time for pie.” It can’t fail. Trust me. I saw it in a movie once.