Saturday 12 February 2022

13 February

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 13 February:

  1. On this date in 2012, ITV1 screened the first ever British advert aimed specifically at Dogs. The 60-second commercial for Bakers dog food brand featured high-pitched sounds that cannot be heard by humans. It was a send up of the 1969 film The Italian Job.
  2. In 1972, Led Zeppelin was forced to cancel a concert in Singapore when officials refused to let them off the plane because they had long hair.
  3. It was on this date in 1988 that Michael Jackson bought the ranch in Santa Ynez, California which he would call "Neverland".
  4. On this date in 1974, Robbie Williams, British singer who found fame with the boy band Take That and later had many solo hits, was born. On his birthday in 1996 Take That announced they were breaking up. This was deemed so potentially traumatic for this generation of teenyboppers that Samaritans and Childline were placed on standby to counsel distressed fans. On his birthday in 2003, Williams was dumped by Rachel Hunter, ex-wife of Rod Stewart, because she could no longer put up with his mood swings. On his birthday in 2007 he checked into an unnamed clinic in the US to deal with an addiction to prescription drugs.
  5. In 1866, Jesse James, aged 19, held up his first bank. The crime took place in Liberty, Missouri and the amount stolen was $15,000.
  6. In 1980, police raided the home of former Sex Pistol John Lydon. He greeted them waving a ceremonial sword. The only illegal item they found was a canister of tear gas, which Lydon claimed was for defence against intruders.
  7. In 2003, a model of a gold plated molar, 2 feet tall and weighing over 5 stone was stolen from outside a dental surgery in Southampton. A youth was seen staggering away from the building with the tooth in the early hours of the morning. We are not told whether he was ever caught and if so, when he appeared in court, he swore to tell the tooth, the whole tooth and nothing but the tooth.
  8. The New York Times published its longest ever sentence, with 1,286 words, on this date in 1981.
  9. In 1987, a 5ft 6in x 11ft broom cupboard opposite Harrods was offered for sale at £36,500over £600 per square foot.
  10. In 2003, a tiny Wren, the weight of a £1 coin, flew 310 miles from Norway to Britain. It was the first recorded flight by one of its species. Sadly, the little bird landed in a pot of glue on an oil platform, and died.


A superhero love story:

The Power of Love

Willow believes in crystal healing, cosmic  ordering  and the significance of chance  encounters. She believes there's a spiritual  explanation for everything. Except she struggles to find a reason why she can turn herself into  mist and create a wave of energy which can slam a would-be mugger into a wall. Or why the love of  her life left her for a mysterious woman in sunglasses, who then disappeared without trace. 
 

A chance encounter with Firebolt, leader of the Freedom League superhero team, in a Glastonbury coffee shop, does turn out to be significant. He offers her a new start and the chance to use her powers for good.

Servant is a Christian who has joined the Freedom League in order to use his teleporting power to serve God. He and Willow clash from the start, yet they are drawn inexorably to one another.

When Willow leaves the team abruptly for reasons unknown, Servant knows he must put her out of his mind and find a nice Christian girl to settle down with. He is about to propose to devout and straight-laced Ruth, when Willow returns and turns his entire world upside down.


Available from Amazon:

Paperback


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