29 December: Bowling Day

Today is Bowling Day, because on this date in 1862, the bowling ball was invented. Here are ten things you might not know about bowling.

1. Bowling is a very old game. Items have been found in Egyptian tombs dating back to 3200 BC which suggest people were playing something like bowling all those centuries ago.
2. The first indoor bowling alley was built in New York in 1840.
3. The largest bowling alley in the world is in Japan. It's called the Inazawa Bowling Centre, and has 116 lanes.
4. Bowling was banned in England by King Edward III because he deemed it was distracting people from their archery practice.
5. Henry VIII also banned bowling, but only for the lower classes. He wanted to make it a game just for the rich. In his time, cannon balls were used for balls.
6. In America, a bowling alley was built in the White House as a birthday gift for Harry S Truman in 1948. The lanes were later moved to another building and fell into disrepair. In 1969, another bowling alley was built for Richard Nixon, which was renovated in 2019.
7. Up until 1905, bowling balls were made of wood. In 1905, rubber balls were introduced. In 1959, polyester balls came on the scene.
8. The bowling lane is 60 feet long and traditionally made from 39 strips of wood.
9. Nine pin bowling is banned in every US state except for Texas. Bowling with nine pins became associated with drinking and gambling, hence the bans. To give the game a new start and a more clean cut image, an extra pin was added to make it ten pin bowling - a completely different game that the whole family could play.
10. While it may not seem like the most athletic game on the planet, there are health benefits to be gained from playing. There's a certain amount of walking - up to 60 feet a turn, and handling a bowling ball which weighs on average 14lb helps strengthen muscles. Bowling also improves flexibility, balance and hand-eye co-ordination. It's also a social game.

Golden Thread

Terry Kennedy is inexplicably and inexorably drawn to the small town of Fiveswood as a place to live and work after university. He is sure he has never visited the town before, but when he arrives there, it seems oddly familiar.

Fiveswood has a rich and intriguing history. Local legends speak of giants, angels, wolves, a local Robin Hood, but most of all, a knight in golden armour. Fiveswood's history also has a dark side - mysterious deaths blamed on the plague, a ghostly black panther, and a landslide which buried the smugglers' caves.

Terry buys an apartment in The Heights, a house which has been empty for decades, since the previous owner disappeared. Now he has finally been declared dead, developers have moved in and turned it into six flats. Terry has the odd feeling he has lived in this enigmatic house before. But that is not all. Since childhood, Terry has had recurring, disturbing dreams which have been increasing in frequency so that now, he has them almost every night. To his dismay, the people from his nightmares are his new neighbours.

Except, that is, for Eleanor Millbrook. She is refreshingly unfamiliar. After Terry saves her from a mysterious attacker, they become close. However, Terry's nightmares encroach more and more on his waking life, until they lead him to a devastating discovery about who he really is.

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Goodreads Review for Golden Thread:

This is a standalone book rather than one of the "super" series. Excellent characterization, a "keeps you guessing" plot, and some fairly deep philosophical issues ! Would recommend this to anyone, but especially recommended if you would like to see a completely new "take" on the people with powers / alternate futures / general oddness type story lines. Somebody make the film !