Let’s state the obvious – smoking, drinking and drugs are bad for you. Don’t do it.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s look at this more responsibly. Smoking has a high casualty rate because it is so addictive. Once hooked, it becomes very difficult to quit – which is why it is better to not start in the first place. The problem is peer pressure and the fact that in older films the hero had a cigarette and it looked “cool” makes it one of those things which people are curious to try – and the fact that you CAN buy them at newsagents makes it easily accessible.  But drawing the smoke into your lungs will affect their ability to work properly – and a lack of oxygen will effect your bodies efficiency to work.

Drink is similar – but again it is considered socially acceptable to do and most adults will drink.  Indeed, scientists have noted that a regular SMALL amount of alcohol can have positive health benefits.  But the challenge is sticking to a SMALL amount. It is easy to overdo it – and quite often if you drink in company you don’t fully realise you’ve drunk too much until it’s too late.  Additionally, if you’re not drinking, you feel you’re missing out as everyone else is seeming to have a great time.

Finally, drugs. These are possibly the most complex of social issues as many of us depend on drugs for health reasons. But the illegal drugs are something else. Again, peer pressure might want to make us try them, but as they are banned they are bought from people we don’t really know; they won’t be made to a set standard (so we won’t be able to truly guarantee what we get from time to time) and most importantly- we won’t know for certain how we will react to a specific drug.  Far easier to avoid.

It’s fair to say that this is a difficult and complex subject for a blog.  It is easy to say “just say no” but the truth and reality are more complicated and many of us will try (or have tried it) to see what it’s like, so know what it feels to be curious about the effects.

"Are we there yet?" asked Timmy. "I bet we're lost" said Tom

The BBC radio are running a 500-word story challenge – the details of which can be found at the bottom of this article.

As I drive in to work in the mornings, Chris Evans has been interviewing a number of authors about their work – and also what they do to write their stories. I decided that I would use this article to also offer some thoughts about how I write my short stories.

My first thought is that you should just TRY. Quite often, good ideas don’t become real things because of that little voice in our heads that say “You’re no good at this.” There is a need to ignore this voice; if you have a story in your head, write it down – get it out. You can always “tweak” it and make it better later.

My next thought is that you should try to get away from distractions. By distractions, I mean the TV, the X-Box and all those things that put ideas INTO your head; you need to start letting your own ideas come out.

The third thought is that the creative mind is a bit like a muscle in the arm – that is, it gets stronger and better with exercise!

But what happens when you can’t think of anything? To be fair, you can’t force inspiration – but you can seek it out. For me, there are three ways that you can trigger the story.

My first route for getting an idea is look around me. I may even go into the garden – but as you look around, spend time focusing on little things and then open your mind. For example – that key on the shelf. Could it unlock an old box? Where did the box come from? What’s in the box? Or it could be that tree over there – the one with the knot hole. Could it be a hiding place? For who, from what? Why are they hiding? One of the books I wrote – the Navigation Watch – was a story inspired by a pocket watch I’d left on my bedside.

My second route for getting an idea is to get out the Lego. To be fair, I now have quite a “community” of Lego figures (about 150 minifigures at last count!), each with their own expressions etc. So I get a base plate, put a couple of figures onto the plate – then start to build. It may be a building, it may be a room. Quite quickly as the walls and windows start to take shape so the ideas about what the room is for, who lives there etc also come along. My short Story – A Mermaid’s tale – came about after I had built something for a new Lego character.
As an aside here – if you have enough pocket money, or are lucky enough, you can build your own “mini me” minifigure. By putting them into your Lego models, you can start to be part of the action!
My third route for getting an idea is a bit of a cheat, but I think it also works quite well. The knack is to take something that has already been written, look at one bit and get an idea from that. A couple of my short stories that I have on my other website were written following this way of thinking; but as a starter – if we take something simple like the story of Little Red Riding Hood we know that the Forester/WoodCutter comes to Little Red’s aid and chops off the head of the wolf. We know little else about the woodcutter – so telling his story might be of interest. How did he decide to live in the country? Was he a soldier or did he always live in the woods? Had his family suffered a wolf attack as well?

The only other small tip I would offer, if you are serious about wanting to develop your creative mind, is to carry a small notebook around with you. As ideas show themselves you can write them down – and then later you can more easily recall them.
Good luck!

For more information on the 500 words challenge, go to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/500words/2012/

So how’s the exercise recording going?

This week, let’s look at Sleep and Diet.  Firstly, sleep.

Sleep is an important thing. When we sleep, it gives our bodies a chance to repair itself, recharge our batteries but also when we sleep our brains get to sort out and organise all that information that it’s amassed during the day – and start to work out any niggles or things that are bothering us (Like where did I put my Lego set or that maths homework!). Scientists aren’t sure why we do sleep – but tests with people being kept awake have proved that it is not in our best interests.  Generally, it is reckoned that 8 hours sleep is about right – although this will vary from person to person.

What is important is that when we go to bed, playing video games, watching TV, reading or listening to rock music (that is, fast and exciting) will not help us slow down – so when you go to bed… GO TO BED!

Next, let’s look at diet. You might be interested to know that in the picture above, the chicken leg (held by chef) might be the most unhealthy thing there…  yup, pizza is not necessarily a bad thing!  The reason why the chicken leg might be the bad thing is because it’s typically cooked “skin on” so higher in fat. Now that doesn’t mean you should give them up… just be careful.

Diet isn’t just something you do to lose weight; diet means looking at what you are eating and considering what’s good or bad.  There are quite a few good guides out there about what you should eat – but large amount of crisps and chips aren’t good!

I was just demonstrating a Kick when he walked in front of me...

The boys attempted .... 1

Over the next few weeks the focus will be to record and improve your performance in undertaking certain exercises, such as press ups.

If you’re not used to exercise, then it will be a challenge for you, but one that you can overcome – and indeed you should. But this isn’t just so you can run quickly or be in the football team – there are some real health benefits that come from a regular fitness practice.

There is a latin phrase – “Mens Sana in Corpore Sano” – which means a “Sound Mind in a Healthy Body”.  This phrase recognises that our body is a machine – and like any machine it needs to be exercises to get the best out of it.

so good luck over the next few weeks!

"So this is the Outdoors.."

“The importance of the power of observation and deduction to the young citizen is great. Children are proverbially quick in observation, but it dies out as they grow older, largely because first experiences catch their attention, which they fail to do on repetition.

When once observation and deduction have been made habitual in the boy, a great step in the development of ‘character’ has been gained.”

We know that Scouting applies to both girls and boys, so we can overlook that little niggle in the quote (especially as it was written back in 1908!).  The simple fact is that observation plays a huge part in Scouting – whether it’s working out how to climb a rock face, working out if there are enough pegs to put the tent up, enough rope to make the pioneering project, or before we undertake First aid.  So this week is a quick test of your observation skills.

You’re going to need a piece of paper and pencil before you start.

When you are ready, stare carefully at the picture below for 30 seconds. (if you click it, it should open up as a bigger picture).  Then, scroll down so you can’t see the picture and see how many questions you can answer.  Don’t check back until after you’ve finished the test.

Ready?

1.  How many characters are wearing hats?

2. How many cans are in the picture?

3. Is the note in the figure’s left hand, or his right?

4. What colour is the seat cushion on the barrel?

5. What is above the big window?

And the final test – sketch the picture and where everything was from memory.

Right, now check that picture again – how well did you do?

As the term progresses, the site will have articles linked to the programme title for the evening – of course, it might not bear any relevance to what you actually do!

What would be really great though would be for the Troop to comment on what they learned that evening – or indeed on the published articles!