Growing up, coming down... and finding yourself booked up
Today marks the anniversary of Victory in Europe Day (1945). VE Day was the date that Second World War allies accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany. While the war with Japan continued, after six long years, people finally glimpsed the beginning of the end of the war. It brought them out into the streets. Outside Leeds Town Hall, people danced on the steps and staged impromptu street parties and marches long into the night.
Thespian Simon Callow will be wielding Charles Dickens’s walking stick for a new exhibition at Dickens’s home. exhibition “traces Dickens’s epic walking journeys into all corners of society”. When Dickens came to Leeds, he wasn’t very flattering about it, saying there was “a paucity of ale houses” and that he also had difficulty buying a pen-knife and related that he heard locals saying “dom” a lot.
Today sees a landmark court case which could affect thousands of people across the land. A shop owner from Middlesbrough is due in court charged with selling so-called Kodi boxes, which allow free access to premium content. The case is being watched with interest, as its implications, depending on the outcome, could be far-reaching.
Today also sees the launch of The British Book Awards. Guests include Lauren Laverne, the Hairy Bikers, Joe Wicks and Sarah Perry. Last year, sales of physical books (as opposed to ‘e-books’ on platforms such as Kindle), rose by seven per cent, while sales of their electronic counterparts fell.
Singer Bob Dylan, who went into hiding last year after winning a Nobel Prize, will play a gig in London... in person.
Hollywood star Chris Evans, the man who plays anachronistic superhero Captain America, is to appear as a guest presenter on CBeebies The US star will read
by Shelly Becker and Eda Kaban, a book showing children how to cope when they are feeling overwhelmed.
The Convention debate on impact of Brexit will be a two-day ‘debate’ beginning on Friday and running into Saturday. Expected speakers include Alastair Campbell, Anne Applebaum, Caroline Lucas MP, Alan Rusbridger, Kwasi Kwarteng MP, Lisa Nancy MP, Ian McEwan and Sir Bob Geldof.
The Convention’s website says it aims to find out “where we are, how we got here and what we’re going to do about it”. All the best with that...
Anyone who thinks life is over once you hit 70 or 80 or even 90 (and dare we even go so far as to suggest that come your 100th birthday, you might have to think about taking it a little easier?) can think again, because on Saturday, a 101-year-old will attempt to break the world skydiving record.
Brave Bryson William Verdun Hayes, known as Verdun to his friends, will take on the 10,000ft skydive with three generations of his family.
The veteran, from Croyde, north Devon, will be aged 101 and 37 days when he attempts the feat for charity. Currently, the world record is held by Armand Gendreau, who skydived in June 2013 aged 101 and three days. Competition over skydiving world records between 101-year-olds is, it appears, quite fierce.