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Good evening, Rusty!
We are only just home from our daughter's..... !
We did a few jobs whilst there.......and the cat also demanded a lot of attention!
A bit dreich out now.
You are far more up-to-date with the DNA testing of Prince Philip than I ...
I didn't think that the testing had even been carried out.......
And I have never heard of "passion bearer" status!
It will be interesting if you can find out more about the DNA results.
I have been reading what you have been discussing about smoke -jumping.
I have read a fictional book entitled "The Smoke Jumper" by Nicholas Evans.
(He who wrote " The Horse Whisperer")
Do you know this book?
I thoroughly enjoyed it.
It was not totally about the smoke jumping, as there were other aspects to the book, but that was the main theme.
I think it was supposed to be an accurate account of how the fires were fought?
Well, we are hungry...so I suppose I had best think about something for us to eat...!

Hello, Elle!
Great afternoon here!
You are doing well by your daughter!
I do not know "The Smoke Jumper", but I have heard of "The Horse Whisperer".
Yes, there are different techniques in fighting these fires, including burning the trees etc that are in the path of the fire, hoping there will be nothing to burn when the fire gets there and it does not "jump" across the gap!
i remembered the book I had.
It was called "Young Men and Fire", by Norman Maclean.
It is mainly about the Mann Gulch fire which the author actually saw.
He went back many years later to try and find out actually what went wrong. Why did the smokejumpers die?
It is excellent!
And....! I discovered that Norman's son has written a book about another fire tragedy.
"Fire on the Mountain", about the South Canyon fire in Colorado.
"Hotshots", "smokejumpers" and helicopter crew died in that one.
Men and women.
I have ordered it.
Russia has many smokejumping crews, too.
I had two farm eggs for my tea!

Hello, Pigale!
If you were interested, there is lots on YouTube about the Mann Gulch fire.
I'll have a browse later.

Hi, Rusty!
It should be very interesting to compare the fire-fighting tactics between the two fires, as described in the books.
Particularly as they are written by father, then son.......and the fires were about ,,,what?.......45 years apart?
I like Nicholas Evans as a writer.
His books are good.
He also wrote "The Divide".
Yes, "The Horse Whisperer " will be the most well-known of his books.
Possibly because there was a film made from the book?
Rather disappointingly - certainly, to me - the film story was changed somewhat from the book, especially the ending.
I thought this a pity.......yes, the book ending was sad, but then to a point, so was the film....
But I would far rather have a true correlation between book and film.
We had beefburger with cheese and fried onions on a roll, for our meal!
Probably not terrible "healthy" .......but deliciously mouth -watering!

Hello, Elle!
Your tea sounds great!
Hope you both enjoyed it!
Long time since I had a burger!
Yes, I am looking forward to the book arriving to see what lessons have been learned.
I seem to remember a series on National Geographic Television about a horse whisperer?
It sounds familiar anyway.
Was your Horse Whisperer book a true story or a novel?
The films are never as good as the book!
Though I think Jaws was.

Controversially, rusty, I think Nick Hornby has been well served by films - IMHO both High Fidelity and About a boy are better films than books

Hi, Rusty!
As far as I am aware, "The Horse Whisperer" is fictional.
There are only rare occasions where a film is truly representative of the book.
"To Kill a Mocking Bird " is one, and "One Day" , a film based on David Nicholl's book of the same title, is another.
To my mind, a film should follow the book story and not be adapted to "improve" or "make more dramatic" the original story.
I could never bear to watch an adaptation of Tolstoy's "War and Peace" for fear that the film version would "ruin" memories of the book!
I think I need a coffee........


Hello, Chris,
I don't think that a film version should ever be an "improvement" on a book.
I think the stories should strictly correlate.
For this reason, if I have very much enjoyed a book... I don't usually watch a subsequent film .......and .especially if I have reason to suspect a "deviation" in the story!

Hello, Elle!
Still a nice evening here.
Has your rain stopped?
I do not know "One Day", and I have not seen many films, especially modern ones, but nearly all the films have not been as good as the book.
"Jaws" and "Babe" were as nearly as good, and "Perfect Storm".
In my opinion.
But I prefer a book to a film any day of the week.
But...I read years ago that "Battleship Potemkin" was a very good film and I found it on YouTube, and have "saved" it.
i have not read War and Peace, and I started Crime and Punishment but only managed a few pages and abandoned it.
It was not for me.

Good morning, Rusty!
A fine start to the day here...but heavy rain is forecast for later.
Yes, I totally agree with you in preferring a book to a film.
I have read Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment," but many years ago......I could not tell you about it now!
I also enjoyed Pushkin's short story "The Queen of Spades" but likewise that was a long time ago!
In my ...er..."youth"!
You are going out with a (or more?) granddaughter (s) this morning, aren't you?

Good morning, Elle!
A fine bright day here, so far!
The Oxford Dictionary Tweet today was about the usage of "into" and "in to".
I will read it later, as I often have to think about which one is "correct" for the sentence I am writing!
And I probably often get it wrong!
"Shall/will", is another puzzler for me!
Yes, Miss O and me are going out.
Not sure where we will end up.
The drive to Pine Cone is along country lanes mostly and there are roadworks in the area just now
So detours will have to be made.
And I am navigating....!