Years, Alan Ewing

 

Years

Alan Ewing

Is this you and me

Caught in tears

After so much laughter

the storm it came

whose to blame

for the hereafter

I think I'll laugh

Oh so naff

Afraid of tears

Let's pick up

Smile from above

And laugh again

©dewyswriter2021

The Loves of Mr Henson, a lyric by Alan Ewing

 

The Loves of Mr Henson

a lyric by Alan Ewing

Mister Henson loves his garden

He loves to dig up the weeds

He relishes turning up the dandelions

To take his mind off his weekly deeds

Mister Henson loves his car

He takes his family for rides

He takes them to the countryside

It occupies his mind 

Mr Henson, Mr Henson, The Loves of Mr Henson 

Mister Henson loves the sea

It gives a calming effect

It helps him to forget about the work

In a heap upon his desk

On Monday morning he rises early

And reflects on his weekend bliss

His thoughts are so tranquil

As he heads to his office 

Mr Henson, Mr Henson, The Loves of Mr Henson

He watches the sunrise in the sky, after he has left his car

He thinks back to the preceding evening, with the beauty of the evening stars

HENSON IS A DEFENCE MINISTER: HE PLANS NUCLEAR ATTACKS

HE LOVES HIS CAR. HIS GARDEN, THE SKY

ITS LOVE OF THE WORLD HE LACKS

Mister Henson!   

©dewyswriter2021

All In Life's Stride, a lyric by Alan Ewing

 All In Life's stride

a lyric by Alan Ewing

We all must find a way, to take life as it comes each day

Troubles they come, troubles they go, pick oneself up when things are low

Truer words can be never be spoken, like those which are honestly woken

A glem of honesty in the heart is a good way for us to start

All In Life's Stride

It's all down to you

All in life's stride

The next day is new

The experience you need

Is what you've been through

Discover humour as a key, because only this will make you see

That the world can be a funny place, nothing like the smile on a face

There'll always be people who'll put you down, always making you frown

Though take it lightly, and pass it by, believe in self and reach for the sky

All In Life's Stride

It's all down to you

The feelings you try to hide

Reveal themselves as truth

All In Life's stride

The next day is new

The experience you need

Is what you've been through

[Repeat previous two choruses]

©dewyswriter2021

A Wedding In Reading, a lyric by Alan Ewing

 A Wedding In Reading

a lyric by Alan Ewing

The groom was late by half an hour

Not realising that drink contained such power

The night before had been his stag night

His best man had ended up in a fight

After a bowl of cornflakes with scrambled eggs

He could hardly stand upon his legs

He gulped down his coffee and rushed out the door

And promptly fell face down upon the floor

A Wedding in Reading

A great happy day

New sheets and bedding

And laughs on the way

The bride she was a lovely sight

You 'd never have believed she's been up all night

She just couldn't sleep and watched the clock

Counting the seconds till her wedlock

Little sister was with her by breakfast time

With mother on the gin and father on the wine

They'd spent all that they possessed in the world

To make this day special for their little girl

A Wedding in Reading

A toot and a pip

To the bedroom it's heading

For a bit of a kip

Do you hereby undertake to spend all your days

Watching soap operas on the telly in a drunken haze

You have new days in the nappies, recoil from the smell of the crappies

Though it sure beats being alone in a flat, even if you feel like a doormat

A Wedding in Reading

A toot and a pip

To the bedroom it's heading

For a bit of a kip 

A Wedding in Reading

A great happy day

New sheets and bedding

And laughs on the way

©dewyswriter2021

Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds By William Shakespeare [a blog exposition by Alan Ewing]

 

Sonnet 116: 

Let me not to the marriage of true mind, by William Shakespeare

 

A blog exposition by Alan Ewing 

 

Firstly, Sonnet 116 itself, a slow absorbtion of the words, followed by a second reading, then read my paragraphs below, then returning to the Sonnet, as the rhythm of the language flows as you get used to it:

 

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove.

O no! it is an ever-fixed mark

That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wand'ring bark,

Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle's compass come;

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

If this be error and upon me prov'd,

I never writ, nor no man ever lov'd.

 

Outside of the Bible then Shakespeare is the ultimate writer about the sheer nature of love. In Shakespear this is romantic love, whereas The New Testament deals primiarily with general love. Sonnet 116 is about the stability of true love. A marriage indeed. One in which the lovers can face every trial that life may bring, every test that fate might throw into their path. Love does not change in the face of such change, else it is not true love. Love is like a fixed star that is immovable. 

 

Time cannot affect love if it is true. For it grows within time. Shakespeare is telling us that fickle fancies will also not interfere with the course of true love. When it is entwined then it is rooted in such a way as to be the foundation stone of life itself. Companionship, friendship and loyalty are enshrined within it, through good times and bad. Love can conquer every hardship, even when all seems lost, and is the most powerful force that we ever encounter in our lives, when it is true. If not, says Shakespeare, then he, The Bard, was never a writer.

 

 ©dewyswriter exluding Sonnet 116

 

Excerpt here from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, with Kate Winslet as Marianne reciting part of Sonnet 116

 

Persona, a blog by Alan Ewing

 

 

 PERSONA

 

a blog by Alan Ewing

 

 

 

 

Is our past self our present self? For the universe is in Fluxus Quo. It is in a constant state of change. Brought to mind by my recently turning 60, the point at which metabolism ceases to regenerate. What then? Is this the change that sees the ebbing away of the old human body? The New Testament teaches us that we evolve into a new spiritual state:

I Corinthians 35-49: (NIV)

³⁵ But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” ³⁶ How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. ³⁷ When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. ³⁸ But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. ³⁹ Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. ⁴⁰ There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. ⁴¹ The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.

⁴² So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; ⁴³ it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; ⁴⁴ it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”^[a]; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we^[b] bear the image of the heavenly man.

 

So we evolve. What we evolve into will be defined by our present self. The present, though is always changing. The universe itself expands, and when contractions arrive, will then start to reverse in time, according to the latest scientic theory. All that is becomes as it was. In following this through then self is a myriad of states. We cannot alter the past, for that would go against the physical laws of the universe. We can only affect the present which, as observed, is constantly changing. In conclusion, our persona is never fixed at any point in time

 

 

 

 

 ©dewyswriter2021

 

 

 

 

The Ultimate Betrayal, a lyric by Alan Ewing

 

 

 

 

 The Ultimate Betrayal

a lyric by Alan Ewing

 

 

 

Trust was put in him,

but he betrayed without a care;

he committed the ultimate sin.

By giving over one so fair.

Thirty pieces of silver in hand,

he received his pay.

The world was just a grain of sand

In the universe on that fateful day.

Oh! Judas, you fool, you fool!

For playing satan's game.

Couldn't you see that you were just a tool?

For the assault upon The Holiest Name.

Oh! Modern churches unify,

In His Holy Name.

Sectarian interests multiply:

you have only yourselves to blame.

For is this not also betrayal?

To segregate His words.

Substituting conflict and dogma,

for the true message being heard ...

 

©dewyswriter2021

image The Last Supper by Carl Heinrich Bloch 1876

Emotional Dysregulation, a personal blog by Alan Ewing MSc, BA Hons, Cert HE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Emotional Dysregulation

a personal blog by Alan Ewing 

Having been diagnosed with this mental health condition this week, then my purpose here is to give some explanation about the condition. First though, it is with relief that I finally have a mental health diagnosis, given years of exploring various medicines and therapies to find an answer. Now, at last I can receive the correct medicines and treatments for a condition that has mentally plagued me for years. It is also a massive weight lifted to be able to tell family and friends why I often behave in the way that I do. Like not wanting to talk or chat at certain times, like appearing anti-social, or over-wrought. A long period of self-isolation, five years, has taken place in order to get the answers as to why I have had disastrous relationship break-ups, which then in turn affect the condition. And as to why there are times when I wish to withdraw from society.

 

Emotion Dysregulation, is, in simple terms an inability to process emotional feelings and control them in response to provocative stimuli. The effect of this is a response which can be hostile, or temperamental brewing to anger in certain situations. Whereas, a person with Emotional Regulation can quickly gauge when emotions are going wild, then the person with Emotional Dysregulation is unable to gather rationality once the emotions have been aroused. This can then result in irrational behavior and creation of conflict. Confusion reigns as loss of reality takes place with a series of emotions that swing from one place to another. This causes problems in close relationships, as patterns of behavior change.

 

 

An illustration of how Emotional Dysfunctuality operates, usually with the front locus of the brain, is shown in this diagram.  A burst of creative energy can often lead to be a sense of overwhelming, which can then result in a straight collapse. A disappointment or let-down, or a point of conflict with a close person can then result in an eruption, which will then be followed by angst. A root cause of Emotional Dysfunctionality stems from anxiety disorder. A sense of not being able to get things right, to get communication across and concerns about how other people are being treated. This can lead to extreme self-isolation.

 

 

 

The next diagram illustrates how this path maps itself out, as emotions explode with no self-awareness, followed by a complete lack of self-control.
 

 

The condition should not be confused with bi-polar, as that has periods of low despairing moods alternating with manic episodes. Rather Emotional Dysregulation has its motions through anxiety related disorder. It also has roots in psychological and emotional trauma that may have taken place throughout life and these may have caused the condition to grow. The nature of close relationships in life will have a huge impact. Damage can be severely inflicted by abusive or malicious intent from others.

Alan Ewing, MSc, BA(Hons), Cert HE

 

©dewyswriter2021

Past, Present & Future, a blog by Alan Ewing

 

 

 

 

  Past, Present & Future

A blog by Alan Ewing

 

The latest scientific thinking is that time travel to the past is not possible. This being because it is still happening. The evidence of this lies with the expanding universe and how we can look back in time to the early stages of the universe with telescopes. Same as in how light from stars emanated at an earlier period of time and yet we are seeing it in the present. We cannot go back to what is still happening

The present is a product of the past. It only exists maybe for a fraction nano-second as time keeps moving. So to be in the present may well be a misconception. The present tense becomes the past tense within the flicker of an eye-lash. So therefore our concept of the present moment is always out of date. And of course, as explained, we cannot go back to the moment that has passed.

The future then. Well, once again we cannot go into it. We can only predict what with the evidence that lies before us. Scientific thought says that all stars die and that eventually we will be left with black holes. All ends with The Creator, my own personal belief system. Again, on the question of the universe collapsing in upon itself, then The Book of Revelation says that everything will return to God, including Christ. Our choice is to believe that all of this is meaningless, or else something is behind it. 

 

copyright dewyswriter2021

Somebody, a lyric by Alan Ewing

 

SOMEBODY

a lyric by Alan Ewing

 

 

Chorus

And if somebody

Brought love back to you

And that somebody

Always would be true

And can somebody

Really come through

Not like somebody

Who leaves you cold and blue

Verse 1

There was a time I lived in need

When it seemed to me

I needed a hand

From someone who believed

Repeat Chorus

Verse 2

Then came a place

When it seemed to me

That I had a gift

To go out there and set others free

Repeat Chorus

© dewyswriter 2021

President Jimmy Carter: A Prophecy, a blog by Alan Ewing

 

 

 

 

  President Jimmy Carter. A Prophecy

a blog by Alan Ewing

 

 

 

We live in an age now of mass consumerism. All spiritual values tossed aside in the madness of the Fruedian id. No longer sociologically do the ego or super-ego exist. Everything is based on "I want" and self-opinionated bluster. Money has become the god ...the golden calf. In 1979 Jimmy Carter, President of America made a heart-felt plea that still resounds to this day. It was ignored, and Reaganism/Thatcherism would come to rule the world. For some that meant standing up to the Soviet Union. For others, it meant hard poverty as the rich got richer as they protected their interests.

Carter in early parts of the speech outlines energy and consumption. Fine, Amereican domestic politics then. Though he goes on to outline not just the future of America, though also the future of humanity; Watergate and corruption; the loss of caring in society.

"Our people are losing that faith, not only in government itself but in the ability as citizens to serve as the ultimate rulers and shapers of our democracy. As a people we know our past and we are proud of it. Our progress has been part of the living history of America, even the world. We always believed that we were part of a great movement of humanity itself called democracy, involved in the search for freedom; and that belief has always strengthened us in our purpose. But just as we are losing our confidence in the future, we are also beginning to close the door on our past.

Carter outlines how Americans , the leaders of humanity, has become economic in nature and is failing to see the spirituality upon which it was founded:

"In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit communities, and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. But we’ve discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning. We’ve learned that piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose."

The speech stands as a statement about all that was to come. The selfish greed that would appear. Maybe it is time for the centre-left to redraw itself and realise that the only way back is to take down selfishness and greed. To create a more humane and caring society, that can then be addressed to the developing nations.

Speech here ...ic.com/speeches/jimmycartercrisisofconfidence.htm

 

Alan Ewing

 

©dewyswriter 2021

 

Wentworth Prison (Australian TV Series), a blog by Alan Ewing

 

 

 

 

 Wentworth Prison (Australian TV Series), a blog by Alan Ewing

 

     Leading characters together, Bea Smith, Joan Ferguson, Franky Doyle take the centre stage
 

 

 Wentworth Prison is an Australian prison drama, based on Prisoner Cell Block H, an Australia prison dram from the 1980s. It is a complete reinvention. Wentworth is the ultimate prison drama. The sheer brutality of the power struggles that go on with thin this women’s prison are harrowing as they battle for Top Dog status, and yet compelling viewing, as the correction system tethers on collapse at times. Lesbianism, drugs, knife crime are rife, as is betrayal and scheming. The prison staff meanwhile have the good characters and the bad characters. This blog is an introduction to five of the main players within this drama.




Prisoners

BEA SMITH (Danielle Cormack):   The ultimate Top Dog. Begins life in Wentworth in a state of terror. Following the death of her daughter a new edge develops that turns her into the most power fun character within the whole series. Her reinvention owes more than a little to Joan Ferguson (see below).

FRANKY DOYLE (Nicole Da Silva):  In a battle for Top Dog when Bea Smith arrives. Franky was a victim of childhood abuse and this has shaped her outlook upon the world.

                                                                         Allie Novack

ALLIE NOVACK: (Kate Jenkinson)  The most unlikely of Top Dogs. Ally is the blonde bombshell whose survival skills have been learnt through years of drug dependency. She becomes Bea Smith’s lover.

 

 

 Staff

JOAN FERGURSON (Pamela Rade): A Prison Governor who likes to wear her uniform. “The Freak” as the women call her. A voyeur, a manipulation. Game-player supreme.

 

                                                                           Will Jackson

WILL JACKSON(Robbie Magasiva): If you are looking for a good guy then Will is your man. Helps the girls where he can, though is very much a Ladies man.

 

Theme Music

 

 

Seasons 1 - 8 are currently on Box Set on the My 5 Player ... the final season (9) is due to be released over the Summer.

©dewyswriter2021

 

 

Conspiracy Theorist, a lyric by Alan Ewing

 

 

 

 

  Conspiracy Theorist
a lyric by Alan Ewing

I’m a conspiracy theorist
If you get my gist
Spend my days spreading memes
If you get my drift

Don’t believe the news
Just believe in me
I’ll fill your mind
With some conspiracy

Get all my facts straight
Within my own world

Gonna give you the whole truth
The best you’ve heard

I have worked it all out
What they’re gonna do
I’ll tell you right now
Then it’s up to you



©dewyswriter2021

British Film Noir "Marilyn/Roadhouse Girl", a blog by Alan Ewing

 

 

 BRITISH FILM NOIR" "MARILYN"

a blog by Alan Ewing

 

This British film noir has an usual connection to Marilyn Monroe. Released in 1953, the same year as MM’s “Niagara”, it was released in the UK as “Marilyn”, while in the USA as “Roadhouse Girl”.  The British made film is not about Marilyn Monroe in any way, though it does, with its main character, played by British actress, Sandra Dorne, bear a sticking resemblance to the character of Rose Loomis, in “Niagara”.

This well received film veers around themes of narcissism. The lead character is Marilyn Saunders, who lives in a make-believe world of fantasy where all is perfect. When reality intrudes upon this, then whoever intrudes upon her dream will pay a heavy price. She is unhappily married at the start of the film. A roaming mechanic comes to work for her husband and soon she is involved with him. This leads to the accidental death of her husband. She has fed her dreams to the mechanic and quickly drops him as she finds another stepping stone to her perfect life in the form of a playboy who is passing through. 

 

Sandra Dorne

The film is well worth checking out. I should say that the ending has not been given away here. Its themes are absolutely relevant to the world that we find ourselves in today. An age where narcissism is encouraged through social media.

 

©dewyswriter2021

 

"Charlie Says" A film drama about The Manson Women 2018, blog by Alan Ewing

 

 

 

"Charlie Says", a film drama about The Manson Women

 

I have already written about the horrific murder of Sharon Tate and her friends on 9th August 1969 in a previous blog. Suffice to say that the most harrowing moment within "Charlie Says", is when a re-enactment of eight-month pregnant Sharon, shows her sobbing and pleading, after her group of friends have been murdered before her, to be allowed to live to have her baby before the knives close in upon her.  It remains as one of the most heinous acts of brutal crime in history. Even a dramatic reconstruction has the power to reduce any viewer to tears of grief and despair about human nature at its worst.

Charles Manson was a shrewd manipulator. A known felon in many states who was allowed to roam by the authorities, finally setting up a cult, "The Family", based on a mixture of paganism, hedonism, Judaeo-Christian misinterpretation, and a strange listening of The Beatles White album. He viewed himself as a prophet. His ranting about white supremacy, and his visions of his followers turning into elves who sprout wings are documented in the film, together with his deluded sense of musical genius, fed by his friendships in the rock circles of the late 1960s. Manson's vision would soon turn into guns and knives.

The film in question here concerns the story of The Manson Women, Lulu, Katie and Sadie, who together with Ted Watson committed atrocity under Manson's brainwash.  And the work done by Karlene Faith, Ph.D with them. The film turns though on the story of the women. Each renamed by Manson from their original names as given by their parents. Faith carries out therapy on these women in jail, where they are each still under cult brainwash, and endlessly quote Manson, aka "Charlie Says". Deep questions arise on whether or not these women are victims. 

By the conclusion of Karleen Faith's psychological work all three have had to realise their true identities and the absolute horror of their actions. Manson is renounced as, in Faith's words, she has opened them up to their true life sentences, in which they will be tormented every day by the actions that they committed.

"Charlies Says" can current be viewed on the All4 Player. Link at https://www.channel4.com/programmes/charlie-says

 

Alan Ewing

Got To Move On, a lyric by Alan Ewing & Martin Karlsson

 

 

 

 

 Got To Move On

a lyric by Alan Ewing & Martin Karlsson

 

 

 

 

Got make this mine

Have to take my time

Rebuild from inside of me

Moving on is all I see

 

No more dealing with psychodrama

When all turns into a panorama

I just need to set myself free

In the end I just gotta be me

 

Can you fight the wind?

Can you make love to the rain? 

Slowly we wake up

Just to fall asleep again

 

©Ewing/Karlsson

 

The Circle, Channel 4 TV Series, a blog by Alan Ewing

 

 

THE CIRCLE

a blog by Alan Ewing

 

The Circle is a Channel 4 reality TV show. It is based on its participants staying in an apartment block in different rooms, without seeing each other, while isolated from the outside world. Their only means of communication with each other lies in voice controlled social media.

The show is complex as the Catfish take part. Those who use fake personas. Fakery corrupts the genuine as friendships are formed to create alliances for the goal of winning £100,000. The Freudian id competes with the ego and super ego as the game intensifies. There is much in this tv social experiment that lends itself to social media, particularly Facebook. Your best friend may be playing you. That beautiful woman or handsome man may actually be the opposite sex or many years older than they are presenting themselves.

All becomes a matter of trust and perception as the game develops. So much relates to Facebook as it becomes difficult to know who is being genuine and who is indulging their own ego. In offline life a person may be completely different to how they are portraying themselves online. Emotional and psychological gameplay can do great harm to the vulnerable. Rooting out narcissists who do this becomes essential to online experience.The saying "Fool me once, you're the fool, fool me twice, I'm the fool" is prevalent within the show's atmosphere, as emotions soar.

The Circle is on All4 Player

 

 

 

©dewyswriter 2021

Battle Of The Sexes, a lyric by Alan Ewing

 

 

 

 Battle Of The Sexes

Alan Ewing

he takes her home in his car

he thinks he owns her 

he 's such a star

and she is nowhere

Battle of the sexes

Neither wins

Both lose

Until they are intact

 

he sees a little possession

something to overpower

to assert his ego

in the manly hour

 

Battle of the sexes

Neither wins

Both lose

Until they are intact

 

she wants protection

someone to trust

a ship to anchor

A sure must 

 

Battle of the sexes

Neither wins

Both lose

Until they are intact

 

for only a woman

can save a man

God's lovely creation

so hard to fathom 

only can a man

protect a woman

his little Eve

so much trouble

Battle of the sexes

Neither wins

Both lose

Until they are intact

 

copyright dewyswriter 2021

 

 

 

 

The Way, by Alan Ewing

 The Way

 

 

Some people tell you what to think

They tell you what to say

They take you to the brink 

Of another way

But they have never known The Way

Their lives have never known its Light

They have never known The Truth

They are yet to see The Life

Let those people think what they think

Let them say what they say

Let them travel to the brink

Of another way

For they have never known The Way

Their lives have never known its Light

They have never known The Truth

They are yet to see The Life

All must try to find The Way

All must try to find The Way

All must try to find The Way

All must try to find The Way

- Alan Ewing

©dewyswriter 2021

 

The Way, song by Alan Ewing 

When The Lockdown Breaks, by Alan Ewing

 

 

 

 When The Lockdown Breaks

When the lockdown breaks

then take my hand

just twist and shout

all across the land

When the lockdown aches

have taken a toll

just be my Bonnie

be my little moll

When the lockdown takes

its heavy hand away

just dance with me

on a brand new day

When the lockdown makes

us all cry with shock

hold me in your love

be my little rock

When the lockdown lakes

are full to overflow

drag me from the mire

make my troubles go

 

When the lockdown breaks

when all has gone away

release me, forgive me

all of my days

 

-
Alan Ewing

©dewyswriter 2021

God ... a conversation with a friend

 

 

 

 God

a conversation with a friend

 

 

 

 

Seriously, I find that it helps to see God in the feminine at times ... six of one, half a dozen of the other ... away from convention ... I read Biblical Books like "Song of Songs" and learn that God is far closer than we think. God is a personal matter, so the last thing we want is a friend talking at us about that which encompasses us all. I try to see this in science too, as Creation expands, until renewed. Though in the end, it is for us ourselves on a personal level to work it out. I always as a teenager loved what Jesus said, oh you know, about keeping your prayer in your room. Yes, I did the church gig and played music in there, lead services up to Intercession, backed for priesthood; though I still love the personal gig. I can't prescribe anything ... I just know that God is in everything that we do ... it is not a club.

I don't have all of the answers ... I just say Hallelujah anyway ... even when all seems dark ... I did that in prison in short spell there (unjust episode in life) ... I simply read The Lord's Word and prayed ... one of my most cherished memories in life was when I did a reading in the Chapel and guards and prisoners alike gave me a round of applause ... I knew then that God was with me and related so much to St Paul when he was imprisoned

 

 

Alan Ewing

 

Pretty Little Liars, TV Series, blog by Alan Ewing

 

 

 

 

 Pretty Little Liars 

 

This astonishing American TV series revolves around the principle Gang of Four high school American teenage girls. What begins as a simple premise for an an at-the-hop show develops into one of the most complex TV series of all time.

Based on the series of books by Sara Shepherd, the series twists and turns on every level. Rosetown, Pennsylvania is the setting: a place of pleasant suburbia underneath which lies threatening presences and deep threats to the leading characters.

The plot begins with the disappearance of the fifth ex-member and former leader of the gang, Alison. When strange texts start arriving to the girls from “A” then the assumption is that it is she who is sending them. This is as far as the plot description goes on this blog, as no spoilers.

The secondary characters, as in all good writing, ably support the main characters in the story. These bring in other age groups, with the parents, partners in sub-plots involving them and associates.

The show covers many themes. Part of the main theme covers human identity, and how intentions are interpreted. This is masterfully done as we as an audience swing from from one extreme to another in our own interpretations of what an individual is motivated by. Part of the craft of the writing is how we are led into that. The questions that we all face as human beings about ethics, and survival, are fully explored with the darker side of experience.

The show cross-references its own influences, with the detective aspect, “Nancy Drew”, “Charlie’s Angels” and “Scooby Doo” all referenced, as well as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and JK Rowling.

In essence, the series continually goes up a notch in each of the seven series that it expands out to. The acting and screen writing are masterful. This is a TV Box Set on BBC i-Player that is completely and totally addictive.

The series spawned a series of sequels, with 'Pretty Little Liars: Redwood' and 'Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists' incorporating supporting characters into main roles. The really big update came in 'Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin' with a slasher-horror movie angle as 'A' returns in shocking mode to haunt the lives of a brand new set of characters. This sequel is a no-holds-barred reinvention designed to put viewers on the edge of the seat. Again on BBC i-Player

 

Alan Ewing Feb 2021 

 

Theme Song

 

 Outro