Night & Football

Having spent most of the weekend watching mediocre football matches on TV or laptop I took myself out into the dark night.  The place I headed to was unobtainable so I wandered around streets I have not known for a while.
How different everything is in the early Sunday evening when dark.  
Away from the main roads all is relatively quiet, even those main roads have much less traffic. Lights at windows shine out revealing through open curtains adults wasting their minds on brain blurring TV, kids playing with tablets and policemen asking why I am looking at the buildings.  The family is quiet and at rest, the kids safely locked into their rooms, all is quiet.  
Had I ventured round here late on Saturday it may not be quite so quiet.  Late night revellers, parties here and there, an occasional police car.   At least when I delivered in this area that was the norm.  The austerity life has changed this somewhat I suspect.  
One noticeable thing then was the unfortunates who fell for Thatchers foolhardy idea of selling council houses.  These were erected to give folks a decent home, and the Conservatives under Harold MacMillan built three million themselves, she flogged them for a few votes!  The problem came when sickness or unemployment arrived and these people, fooled into buying cheap, selling high and moving 'upwards' now found themselves out on the street or in Council 'half way houses.'
In the past few years I suspect many more from here have fallen this way.  The happy contented families may be less contented than my quiet walk indicated.

      
I spent so much time watching football and being unsatisfied I had to start the day watching a game rerun on BT Sport.  It also was rubbish!  From Airdrie to Rome the games were not good. Still it's better than working.  Anyway I must go, Preston play Man U tonight and I have to watch it in case something relevant to the WW2 research comes in.....

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Man Flu

While you's were enjoying life and all it's fullness I was allying dying here.  On Monday the bug arrived unwelcome into my head and has ruined another week. Only now do I appear to be near normal, whatever that is?  The pain, the agony, the suffering continued night and day and yet I never once complained. Not that this made any difference.  I was however not happy!  Use of the laptop was limited as I just couldn't stand the glare so close up.  There was nothing there to entertain me either. Bah!  

The inability to breathe kept me up late and this revealed to me the wonders off late night TV.  I have to say 'wonders' can be taken in different ways!  Who, I kept asking myself, sits up late into the night watching this stuff?  Now some folks are sick, some insomniacs, some at work, but nor working hard, and a variety of reasons can make people stay up all night.  However who actually chooses to watch what is on offer?  I can comprehend those who sat up watching Alec Salmond and traitor Darling discussing independence, but almost everything else is tripe!  Just who spends all night watching 'Jackpot' interactive TV just to win a prize?  Is it the same person who joins 'Super Casino' in the vain hope of  becoming rich?  There are of course movies of dubious content and many channels showing 'Teleshopping!'  Who, I ask, wants to know about non stick frying pans at two o'clock in the morning, who?  Do you need to discover how to clean the floor at one thirty am?  how much enthusiasm can be raised to exercise sufficiently to lose four stones by following some American (these things are almost all American) advert?  Do people actually pay money for such things? 

What sort of person watches 'Road Wars,' during the day let alone in the darkness?   Are they the type who watch 'Cheaters' or 'Cleverdicks,' I wonder? It is sure they would not be among the few watching recordings of the Scottish parliament on the 'Democracy' channel.   Had I chosen to watch it I suspect I would be irked by 'Don't tell the bride,' and if I then turned over to 'Challenge Tommy Walsh,' it could have been taken out of context and got nasty!  

I started at Channel One as you do, The BBC channel of the usual routine drivel.  I wandered through the dozens of channels looking for something to enlighten my suffering mind, which it must be admitted was not as clear as it should be.  The usual American 'comedies' that fail to raise a glimmer of a smile, the 'Big fat Gypsy,' programmes that should be called 'Jail this git now,' the News channels at night with the split screen BBC offering, a nice looking painted lady one side and a fat rich man in Singapore talking money the other, then the 'Adult channels.' Now I have never seen these before, falling asleep long before they open up these came as a bit of a surprise to me.  For a start some of them worked!  I thought these were pay channels but no, some work.  I was confronted with bored, hard faced, almost naked women playing with their bits.  Now in the right place, my kitchen, this sounded good to me, however I found it a wee bit off putting.  There was little to attract, only one was actually good looking, and I sauntered back to the 'Yet another how we beat Hitler' programme on the 'Yesterday' channel.  

I eventually slept, but not well.  Why is it when you need something to divert the mind nothing suitable is available?  The next night was just as bad, but with a lot less TV that's for sure.  As I eventually coughed my way through in the morning, just after five, I noticed there was even more 'Teleshopping' and still 'Deal or No Deal,' and 'Cash Cab US' were running.  

I'm so glad I can use this beast again, while it still works that is.

  

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Sunday Night

Sunday night entertainment was spent crawling through the ever darkening streets attempting to find a spot where I could picture the sunset and feature the large crescent moon.  By the time I found a spot it was quite dark and the moon itself looks awfully small in this pic, but it is there!  Wonderful sky tonight, the colours are hard to beat as the sun sinks below the distant horizon (there must be hundreds of them there, one goes down there every night!).  In spite of the beauty of the skies above I noticed that few appeared to notice.  How we miss so much by looking no further than our nose!  

Star

The football world was upset today by the news of Gary Speeds death. He was found hanged at home early this morning. Police state that no suspicious circumstances were involved. Forty two year old Speed was manager of the Welsh football team and had a good reputation within football.  Only yesterday he had appeared on a TV football programme and had spoken to one or two of his friends and appeared outwardly to be happy enough.  Both TV and radio have been filled with stunned friends and colleagues sharing their shock at his death.

The reason for his suicide is not yet known but several articles end with reference to the Samaritans and stress the importance of 'talking to someone' if a man has problems.  This is a wise precaution as many men feel despair at their various situations yet will not talk about it to anyone.  Some feel weak if they talk, others embarrassed.  The Samaritans, as well as doctors and other agencies have seen it all before and are well able to offer a non judgmental listening ear, and able to direct individuals to the help they require.  No man needs to suffer in silence!  

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Night Experiment

A night shot that almost works, once I have cut out much of the surrounding area.  This worked quite well, it is the looks on the face of the man in the pub who wonders what I am playing at that could be tricky.  Two public houses next door to one another.  'The Boars Head' has stood there for centuries, as indeed have some of the customers, while the one next door who's name I forget has only been open a few years.  As there was also a wine bar and these two pubs almost opposite one another the council allowed a third to be opened a hundred yards up the road.  With two more and a night club a further hundred yards on round the corner some might have thought this a mistake.  It was!  If it wasn't for the late night football and the midday food this one would die.  The one a hundred yards up the road is so successful it only opens part time, football and all!  You can have too much of a good thing, especially during a recession.  Still the picture almost works so I don't care.  I have never been in any of these watering holes, and it is five years since I have been in any pub.  I see little attraction to gulping large amounts of booze these days which is just as well I suppose.

Glasgow Herald

I isn't it just the way!  Once it is too late 'new' evidence appears that 'throws doubt' upon the guilt of Megrahi, and are we surprised?  Well no actually.  His guilt was clearly a political stitch up and a disgrace.  There was evidence, deliberately ignored, that showed this man could not be guilty and that the PFLP were responsible for the downing of Pan-Am 103.  Now that the leader of that group is long dead, the west more willing to take on Syria, and Gadaffi gone the truth is allowed to sneak out slowly.  Soon all this will be swept into the abyss, just like the guilt of the man who brought down the Iranian jet that caused all this.


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Experimental Night Shot

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I am amazed at how dark it is by 7:30 these days, it's almost like Autumn!  However as I was strolling around looking in folks win taking my constitutional I realised I may get a shot of some bright lights.  Naturally I could not remember, or take the time, to work out how to take night shots on this camera so I just plugged away and pressed the button anyway.  Not bad but too dark for a night shot (what?).  Now, where are those instructions....?

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The Nights are Drawing in!

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This was the scene about 8:45 last night.  It would have been brighter had it not taken me so long to get a place to get a shot without buildings being in the way.  However I returned to a dark room, and others already had lights on, and it was just after nine O'clock!  Darkness means a small light to type by, more expense, and pains in the eye from straining at the screen.  Now as you know complaining is not my forte but surely I ought to have won the lottery by now?  This would enable me to move to a country where the light hangs around a lot longer.  I am sure there will be a Greek island on the market cheap enough for a small lottery winner to purchase?  Darkening nights, leaves are turning yellow, falling and littering the streets,  daft folks are already talking about Christmas, and as soon as the school holidays are over the gifts will start to appear in the shops. Makes you glad to be alive!

Now pardon me for asking, but is this how the American woman of yesteryear prepared for the winter? While some bemoan snow drifts ten feet deep this proto-feminist is shivering in her swimsuit (and shoes) acclimatising to the cold. Are you sure she was about to prepare 'Mom's apple pie?'  The ladies of Edinburgh knew better than she, and they did not throw 'motor oil' onto their coal fires in a somewhat thrilling method of heating the house.  Is she related to any of my readers perhaps.....?

The 'Tea Party,' taking literalism a step too far!

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Night falls

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Sadly I cannot remember where this picture originated, but I suspect I found it on the NASA site, but I post it as I like it a lot. A few days ago we enjoyed the longest day of the year, although much of it was hidden behind cloud, and this picture sums that up, the good times are over, the nights are drawing in!  A most disagreeable situation in my mind but one we must endure with our usual cheerfulness. Do at least try to be cheerful about this, I always do. Of course had the shuttle taken that picture a hundred years ago it would have been very different indeed. Gas would have supplied most of the town lighting in big towns and cities, and many would still use oil lamps in more rural area. The cities lighting would not have been as efficient as the masses of amber lights that line our roads, nor would shop fronts, well lit though they were, be as efficient as the neon tubes that scream out at passers-by. Africa may well have been almost unlit, although bush fires can be seen from space they say and the Europeans who dominated in that 'humble' manner would have found some way of lightening their path in the evening, at least in the main centres. Much of the world would have been a black ball with occasional small outbreaks of light, while today that black reveals huge areas of brightly lit life and only much of Africa and the furthest reaches of Russia, and I suspect, Motherwell, miss out. The big ball may well turn black again soon as the energy runs out, it certainly will be dimmer soon when the hiked up prices start falling through our doors in the Autumn. As from tomorrow I switch everything off unless needed, except this PC of course.  

hodgepodgeryripple

I am annoyed that this Blogger system uses such a bad spellchecker.  This brute uses American English, and the world and his Grannie knows that Americans canny spell!  Several times I have been stopped because this dictionary does not know the correct spelling for everyday words, like 'Motherwell,' or ' realise.'  It appears to think that a 'z' is required, and who in their right minds would think that?  Worse still is the imperialist manner in which the spellchecker operates.  Those of us who believe that the world needs to hear our ignorant rantings on newspaper comment columns have found that all are using American spellcheckers!  Surely this is a disgrace and the imperialist English press ought to stand up to this rather than submit meekly.  I suspect however most of the dozy trainees who appear to be running the media today have yet to realise that their spelling is incorrect.  Facts and getting things right is a lost art in the press today.  (I can talk!!!)   I also note that on 'Word' even if you change the font default to 'UK English' it still wishes to return to the 'American Way.'  Bah! Imperialists!  Good job I am not one to complain that's all I can say!


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Saturday Night

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Bit of a change from last night and lovely sunsets! Just after two this afternoon it began to snow, and by five it was about three inches thick! The traffic has slowed to ten miles an hour, tonight almost nobody moves around, and I successfully discovered how to get the 'Night' mode work on my little camera. Now that I call success. The fact that the amber light has come out a strong yellow is irrelevant. In spite of my dislike, nay hate, of horrid snow I really enjoyed walking alone across the park with the snow and cloud giving a delightful light all around. The cold, the accidents, the people stuck on major roads nationwide mean little when a fall of snow makes the world a different and delightful place. Tomorrow I will attempt pictures of the snow covered world in daylight, and by Monday I will be heartily sick of it all in a more normal manner!

I suppose you all noticed that the Heart of Midlothian drew with the ever improving, defensive minded and hot on the break, Inverness Caledonian Thistle. A one all draw is sufficient especially when the side worked so hard to win the game in difficult circumstances. Third place and with rival clubs gathering many postponed games to make their lives difficult in the next few weeks we can sit back happily and enjoy their suffering. By the way, Hibs got beat, and Lee Miller got sent off and may well miss the Ne'erday Derby.  Shame that!


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The Shortest Day

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.
And the evening and the morning were the first day. Gen 1:5

This is the best day of the year, why? Because it is the shortest! From today the days get longer and the nights get shorter. From today we look forward to the arrival of Spring, warm weather and, being the UK, lots of rain! Still never mind eh? We are headed in the right direction and this makes me happy! Some folks may live in places where the nights never vary, in those regions where there is an almost constant warmth and allowance of daylight. How I wished I lived there! Of course it could be worse. In places like Finland there are six months of total darkness, then followed by six months of constant daylight. Now the latter part of that suits me! I suppose six months of daylight must affect an individual in some way? The darkness certainly does! The areas affected do see lots of suicides and depression as the months tick by I understand, and I can believe it. We work better in natural daylight and flounder with the dark. No wonder so many there take to drink!

However, now we can rise in the darkness knowing that soon we will rise with the the dawn chorus greeting the rising sun. Blackbirds and Thrushes, Robins and Tits greeting one another in the early morning before any bar the milkman and postman have risen remains a favourite time for me. Their song fits the sky above - unless the weather interferes! Ah yes, the British weather! Caught between the Atlantic and the Continent which leaves us with warmish rainy weather and lots of reason to grumble! Where would we be without that? However even Brits find it hard to grumble when their eyes meet a sight like this as they rise.

Strolling Through the Town Tonight

I took a stroll tonight, about nine o'clock, across the park opposite. The dusk grants us the wonderful sight of deep blue skies and clouds tinged with the remnants of a setting sun. The trees stand tall, darkly silhouetted against the sky. Far off a star twinkles in one direction and an aeroplane slowly arcs round in another.
Leaving the darkness of the park the street lights seem harsh and even painful. However, the air is remains warm and still. The streets quiet. Only when one reaches the town centre proper does the Saturday life appear. Couples and small groups wander towards their destination, the club or one of the, oh so many, public houses. From 'The Swan' blaring, and decidedly unmusical, music breaches the decibel limit. A noise made worse for the occupants by the assistance it receives from several inmates. A thin young man waits while his shapely girlfriend collects cash from the 'hole in the wall,' then, hand on backside, hers, not his, they happily head to a watering place.
Large, suited men, stand outside the club and several public houses. How nice to know that the local doormen have all received a certificate from an authorising organisation granting them permission to bash someone's head in while assisting his flight for the door. I find that reassuring somehow. At one door, three hoplites banter with the collection of adolescents sitting in the marketplace. Adolescents full of testosterone, fear, ignorance and a desperate desire to be old enough to enter the premises so well guarded by the bruisers. Drivers opposite rush to their cars to deliver the 'chicken and chips,' or 'Special Kebabs,' to hungry souls to
lazy, or to drunk, to cook for themselves.
People pass another of the three pubs in the market square, intent on their evening. What are their thoughts? Are they happy? We all love a good time, and they appear happy. This is the entertainment centre for the town, that's why they are here. A penny for their thoughts, especially in the morning!
Wandering past the taxis ranked in a row, drivers mostly standing chatting, awaiting the evenings end when they would earn their keep and overcharge to their hearts content, I pass to girls headed the other way. I noticed them, well as much as one can notice to young lassies with their skirts up to their backsides and legs that stretch all the way to the ground. As they passed, their eyes watched me suspiciously. Did they think they had overdone it? Were they too noticeable? Was I just another dirty old man? Well yes! Of course I am. How old were they? They looked sixteen to me but were probably at least eighteen, maybe older. The two noses had raised themselves in the air as they passed, I suspected their legs would be finding a similar position before the dawn broke, although they may not actually be sober enough to be conscious of it at the time themselves.
A typical Saturday night and wandering around I thought 'I miss this.' But do I?
Having a ball is, well, a ball! But is this what my life is about? I miss the social life, but do I want to be drunk and wasting life again? Jesus has made himself known and that life, however much fun it can be, does not satisfy! There is more to life than that!
I saw also my inadequacies as I passed by. The inability to relate to folks. I am always so far from normality it seems to me. Too self conscious, to much a wimp, too dumb. Just too inadequate. I wonder if I will ever relate to folk normally.
The love of Jesus must be stronger than I thought. How could he want me when there is so many worthwhile folk out there?

Early Morning

Habit brings awakening before four in the morning. Fumbling in the dark while getting dressed, at the same time struggling to dry the weeping eyes and curb the yawns. Through the curtains, drawn to keep what heat there is from escaping, shows winter remains frozen, bleak and waiting to welcome.
An occasional car drifts through the night, the noise in the silence harsh and unwelcome.
Silence.
The darkness seems to shroud noise,not even birds are awake yet. When they do waken the noise, before traffic arrives to drown them out, is deafening. Such small creatures yet so loud a voice. One that entertains sweetly. Blackbirds and robins join in the early morning chorus, bringing delight to human hearers, but most likely a warning to other feathered ones. Claiming their remit over this part of the earth.
Cats brave the cold to wander round their estate, like birds nestling above, guarding their homeland jealously against the interventions of prowling neighbours. Stopping occasionally to stare with large round attentive eyes into the blackness, at nothing at all. Nothing moves. No life whatsoever. Yet the cat sees it. Is it real, or just imaginary? Only a cat will ever know.
A police car slowly passes through the amber lit streets. Young men with dreams of legal glory desperately searching for crime in the quietest area of the land. How can promotion, and a purpose filled life, be achieved by helping old ladies over the road, and patrolling empty highways? A postman makes his way to work, idling through a red light on an ageing bike which, luckily for the law, has no lights of its own. The law guardians pull him over and discuss the highway code with a drowsy, recalcitrant figure. His opinions regarding the way they see their duty is best not input into any future 'circum vitae' they produce.
Slowly, oh so very slowly, the sky begins to turn a lighter gray. Gradually easing and chasing the darkness away to the west, altering the atmosphere, the feel, of the streets, as street lights switch off, the traffic increases, and early shift workers will walk somewhat unwillingly into another day, life, as we know it, begins anew.