#ESPspotlight Review: 'The Virtuous Concept' by Anthony Lyrics

The Virtuous Concept eBook by Anthony Lyrics is a contemporary, unorthodox take on Gandhi's 'Seven Blunders of Human Virtue'.  Now I must confess; prior to reading the eBook, I was entirely unfamiliar with the works. Being one who loves to learn however, I appreciated the introduction to the concepts...

The synopsis I was provided with had me slightly concerned; on learning that those same concepts were then to be applied in a modern, poetic setting, I was quite iffy on how exactly that was going to work...

"The Virtuous Concept is a collection of poetry by Anthony Lyrics that examines Gandhi's Seven Blunder of Human Virtue - a list of seven acts of passive violence that society needed to prevent in order to avoid reaching a point of violence. Written from the viewpoint of several contrasting characters, the eBook focuses on major perils from our modern world and relates them back to Gandhi's original 'Blunders'"

(Synopsis, Anthony Lyrics)

With a tentative "Okayyy...." in the back of my mind, I pulled up the eBook link and settled down for a read over my dinner. I'm all for putting a twist on things however; so 'Game On Anthony' I thought, proceed with the unexpected...

Opulent Destitute (A story about how easily fortunes can change) is an ambitious opener, handled well by Lyrics' two obviously juxtaposed characters. With interesting caricature graphics by Joonbug of Fresh Kaufee Designs that breathe extra life into the lines, the marriage of the two produce an instant visual that packs a punch without condescension, despite the lesson being literally spelt out for you in acrostic style. So there is no excuse whatsoever for not taking the tale's moral to heart.

In Youthful Callous (A story about falling for the wrong person), Youthful Malcolm is a sad victim of Nasty Yvonne in this woeful tale; when the offspring of their love isn't quite the bundle of joy one wants to reach full term. Think TLC's Waterfalls in an illustrated cinquain equation...

By the start of Blood-Stained (A story about the vicious cycle of Karma); you almost feel as though you have been eased in to the collection so far. Heavily reliant upon the concept of six degrees, this painful piece of free verse does more than pack a punch. It's more of a sensory-numbing wallop, as the severity of the tale hits out at every vicious stage of the aforementioned cycle. 

After the serious nature of the last piece, it was a refreshing (and smart) move to lift the tone of Spring Facts (A story about Supply and Demand) right back up to a topic for all seasons - of wealth as well as intellectual levels of the characters depicted, for the fourth piece. I'm not ashamed to mention that despite doing very well in my English Language exams, prior to reading this, I thought 'Haiku' was less Japanese poetic style and more Sun Tzu-type, battle checkmate. Ah well. You live and you learn...

Putting Vile Geriatric (A story about misplaced Trust and Care) in limerick form was actually a stroke of genius in the humble opinion of Yours Truly. It not only belied the seriousness of the theme with it's sing-song form; but the degree of underlying scorn actually sums up the reader's feelings on topics that disgruntle us only too often, in everyday news bulletins.

In all honesty Love Martyr (A story about sacrificing for a Greater Cause) is probably my least favourite piece as, although the theme eventually becomes clear after a few re-reads, something about it failed to click with me immediately. Once it did, the story of Faith versus physical love is very fitting of the chosen concept and a good means of bringing it into modern day light, but it did take a little while to get there. I had to look up the form definition as etheree is not one I remember from my acadaemia. I'm putting it down to the multiple descriptions of 'popular Internet verse form'. Now I'm not ageing myself here - but they didn't have the Internet in schools in my day...

Back to an almost sing-song form for the big finish, where Eton Views (A story about Social Division in the Class System) makes excellent use of villanelle style. The application is welcome, leaving room for the earlier scorn to return for an entertaining twist on challenging the social divide.

Overall, Anthony Lyrics succeeded in bringing seven very serious topics into a modern day light by blending humour, illustration and topical balance in a palatable, enjoyable way. The addition of mixing seven different poetic styles was the equivalent of sticking a glazed cherry on the top of the entire collection. Well worth a few reads and even more shares, The Virtuous Concept is most definitely 'ES approved'!

The Virtuous Concept
(download)

Get to downloading The Virtuous Concept by Anthony Lyrics here: 

And make sure you interact! Connect and share your thoughts on his fresh approach to seven important moral concepts via his Social Media Catalogue:

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Comments welcome as always! Catch you next time...

ES ;o)

Watch Your Mouth...Post Smart!

Good Evening Lovely People!

I felt the need to drop a little something different, inspired by events that have really bothered me in recent times.

There seems to be a very happy, casual throwaway attitude to comments, attitudes and offensive material placed online of late. 

Paul Chambers recently had what I considered to be a more than fair verdict overturned for recklessly tweeting about blowing up Sheffield airport in a 'moment of irritation'. A deluge of racist tweets have been the focus of speculation in the football world for quite some time, but in particular, since former Bolton Wanderer's Fabrice Muamba's frightening on-pitch heart attack and the on-pitch dispute between Chelsea FC's John Terry and Queen's Park Ranger's Anton Ferdinand; that resulted in a Crown Court trial as well as a still ongoing Independent Review by the Football Association. 

Olympic Bronze medallist Tom Daley received a shockingly hateful tweet about his Father, recently deceased during the recent games. Just last night, I personally saw a highly offensive video, where a young man was rude to an elderly woman and now there is a story dominating today's news about the Police being too heavy-handed in their sentencing for Twitter and online trolling.

What strikes and worries me the most about every single one of these cases, is not just the apathy surrounding the serious nature of what we're seeing online at the moment, but more the outright support of rudeness, negativity and in some cases, the blatant hostility.

Personally, I fail to see how Paul Chambers was unfairly treated, as was the claim by so many since his case came to light. Supposedly his tweet was an 'angry joke' and he is entitled to his Freedom of Speech. That's fine; but perhaps the decision to overturn his fine should have considered whether any of the families or survivors of 9/11 got the punchline?

When it comes to football, there could not be a more disinterested person on the planet Earth, than I. Being a devoted Aunty to several footballing nephews, aged from a spirited toddler to a 19-year-old semi-professional player, however; rampant racism across social media that my 8-year-old nephew can access from school is an issue I consider, quite serious.

It's only a few weeks since British Diver Tom Daley received an outrageous tweet from a 17-year-old who cannot be named due to being underage. I suppose you could chalk that one down to age, but I would love to know if his Father is proud?

Last night I caught a video that I will not post here, because I refuse to add support by directing web traffic to it. A young man had his friend film, as he spoke quite rudely to an elderly Jehovah's Witness through his intercom. As the daughter of a Witness, I'm by no means saying that what occurred was the most offensive act I have ever encountered - far from it. However rather than simply saying "I'm not interested, Thank You. Please have your Organisation remove my address from your Ministry list", his response was to try to 'outsmart' her with Scripture (he failed); before resorting to verbally bullying her with more Scripture and determined ignorance from behind what I can only describe as a 'Back 2 Africa' stance (which still did not support his ill-thought out argument and showcased his lack of knowledge on the subjects that He raised).

I'm from a very traditional background, so manners toward anyone, especially one's elders, is automatic. Although I was disturbed by the discourse that occurred; the fact that the action was taken towards a Jehovah's Witness is not the worst infraction here; I would view the behaviour in the same light, no matter the faith involved. It was the blatant disrespect by a young person of their elder, that disgusted me.

As someone heavily involved in online content on a daily basis, many of the things that I see offend me but, for the most part I have  trained my eyes to go blind to it because trolling and online abuse are fast becoming the accepted norm, for one thing. For another, if I stopped to engage every offence, I would get nothing else done! At the same time, I'm quite mindful and concerned that by keeping silent on so much of what I'm seeing, I am, albeit unwittingly, contributing to it.

For reasons I fail to understand, it is perfectly acceptable to agree with online trolling and abuse, support it and repost it; but if you speak against it, then YOU become the one in the wrong. The Police are currently under fire for acting against the above offences  (barring the video) when shamefully, the UK is in fact, one of the most lenient Countries in the world when it comes to these cases.

Yes, everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but there is also a little something called Social Responsibility that is far too overlooked in this day and age. We are all responsible for the  messages and content that we post online. Not only do we need to think about who we're influencing with our content, but we also need to recognise, that the same way that some are free to share things of a questionable nature; those still insight of their moral compass are free to speak against them.

Richard Bacon's 'The Anti-Social Network', first aired on BBC3 earlier this year, perfectly sums up the growing problem of what's happening today. Unfortunately, the episode is no longer available from the BBC, but catch it on an independent YouTube here:

Catch you next time, folks.
ES ;o)

Introducing...Charli-Anne

I first met Mrs. S back in 2005 and she's been wowing me with skill upon skill ever since...The below can tell you about the professional, but on the personal side, I can tell you this Lady has the biggest heart you will ever come across in another human being! All of that goes into every handmade creation, and that's what makes Jelli Ltd designs and deer oh deer especially; stand out from every other label on the block.

Charlotte ‘Charli Anne’ Shirley

Charli Anne grew up with art as a big part of her life. Her father, a traditional Slade School trained artist, hugely influenced and encouraged Charli’s creativity; nurturing her freedom of expression from a young age. It was his influence, in addition to growing up with an autistic elder sister that fuelled her interest in helping those with disabilities through art. 

Charli Anne went straight from school into employment as a special needs assistant. She moved from London to Southampton to study Art and Psychology at age 23, gaining a diploma from Southampton New College in 2001. Returning to London, Charli then spent the next few years working in the corporate sector.

In 2005, Charli took up the post of Fundraising Manager for an autism charity, where she was able to utilise her creativity once again and fulfil her desire to help others. This also re-ignited her passion for experimentation with various design techniques and hands on work, and she began playing around with different innovations and ideas in her spare time. She met and married husband Andrew, who only served to increase her passion for alternative fashion and design. It was through his contacts she got her first tattoo and became inspired by the art culture that so influences her work now.

Uniting her formal training and natural creativity, Charlotte grew her creations into a business and decided to take the brave leap from full to self-employment in 2009, when ‘deer oh deer’ was born. She now works out of her home office, pouring her heart into every new concept; hand making each jewellery piece with true love and bringing her own art to life at every opportunity.

‘deer oh deer’ expanded to include dedicated men’s line, ‘The Stag Collection’ in December 2010. With the launch of the couture boutique in March 2011, the introduction of the ‘Made In Britain’ tee line in April, offering a sassy alternative to traditional Royal Wedding attire; followed by the colour burst that was the SpringSummer11 Collection in May; fans of the brand can only prepare to be blown away by what comes next.

The AutumnWinter11 collection (October 2011) will be the biggest expression of Charli-Anne’s ever-evolving design flair. Breaking away from the 'colour pop' of the closing fashion season, let's just say the Heritage Collection will take us ALL back to our roots...