A Walk in the Park

A couple of weeks ago I did far too much walking than I needed.  Not only that, it was all in a couple of days squeezed together.  This was not wise.  It has taken almost two weeks of remaining indoors to recover.  So today, I wandered out across the park, trying to remember the way.  A walk around town, and back home to sit and stiffen up once again.  Stopping, when old, is not a good idea.  When you start up again it all goes wrong.

I sat here on this old tree seat as I don't think I have ever done this before.  The tree was chopped down along with some others that had come to the end of their life.  One or two may have had problems, but all were replaced with many trees being planted to replace the lost ones.  

The park used to form the gardens of the Big Hoose, who's owner left it, the gardens and the Big Hoose, to the High School for use.  The trees planted way back in the early 1800's were a very wide selection.  Whoever designed the gardens knew what he was doing and what he needed to plant.  Sadly the ones who planted the trees would never see them in full bloom.  Similarly the ones planted in the past few years I will never see reach the heights.  The Big Hoose itself is now a handful of expensive flats, sorry, apartments, with added houses at ludicrous prices. 

Tennis is rumbling on.  I would rather look at the gray clouds above, they are more interesting.

Space Filling

I have been trapped indoors for the past wee while by my knees, housework and laziness.  So I have dug out old photos as I have only been as far as Tesco's so far.  The gray skies have also been a hindrance, it is summer after all, and I have therefore sat here staring at the wall.  It is not a great view.

Like you I have been much impressed with the English cricket teams ability to be totally outplayed yet come through and win, this, some claim, was aided by the umpires incorrectly giving them a run they ought not to have had, gosh, that has not happened before has it?  Today the media was splashing their faces across the screen and front page behind the word 'England!'  The Irish captain took it in good stride and the chief batsman, born in New Zealand, attempted to work out what the word 'traitor' meant.  Tonight the players are invited to Ten Downing Street, I know they will be pleased...  Some claimed this was a result of being outside the EU, though all of them now live within the EU, and James Rees-Mogg (born 1672) claimed this is what England can do after Brexit, forgetting the many foreigners in the team.  The captain indicated the side were 'diverse,' and 'Multi-cultural,' while saying Allah was with them.  
Brexiteers everywhere are now confused.
Have England won anything with home grown players?

Talking of racism how come the US president can racially abuse several members of Congress and get away with it?  His order for the four women to 'Go back to their own country,' would lead to prosecution even for a Tory member in this country why not in the USA?   It is clear he will use a great deal more such language in the next year appeasing the Rednecks to get votes.  

This dangerous clown leads us to Boris.  The affair of the US ambassador looks each day like a stitch up worked out between Boris, Farage, Trump and all the other Blackshirt leaders.  I really hope the Met Police do investigate properly and someone is brought to justice for this.  Such secret info should never leave the building and action must be taken.  The reaction tends to leave the impression that this was a step too far so maybe someone will be called to account.

At least the Tennis is off the screen now and with golf hard to find, cricket over, netball ignored and only the Tour de France left, I tend to watch it for the views these days rather than the race itself, we now await the return of proper football.  This has started in Scotland and soon the moneybags English will throw vast amounts of cash at the game to see their side struggle.  I long for the day the bubble bursts and football returns to normal. 

I see Alan Turing will be the new face on the English £50 note.  This man, a scientist of high achievement and ability, was of course gay during the days it was rightly illegal.  Because he was, the gay lobby say, 'hounded to death,' he has become some sort of super hero.  Certainly the secret services of the day did not trust anyone who was gay, the five middle class Communists, some of whom made it to Russia, were gay and MI6 were keen not to be caught out again.  But does anyone care about that?  Does anyone really care about his success at Bletchley Park?  No they don't, they just wish to use him to propagate the gay life.  The Bank of England has gone along with this.  
How far have we fallen?

Nothing Monday

Wimbledon's second week underway.
I ignore this as I ignored the first week.
Hurry up with the football...

Metro

Sir Kim Darroch has behaved impeccably as UK ambassador to the US.  This man has studied his subject, the President of the United States and his government, and reported back in a clear, unambiguous manner to his masters as he ought.  How interesting therefore that some unscrupulous individual has allowed this information to be handed over to the public domain.
Who could do this?  Civil Servants, Politicians, and who else receives this info?   
Some say civil servants would never dare to release such info to anyone, not even each other.  Others claim a Brexit politician has done so to remove this 'Remain' ambassador and replace him with a 'Leave' one more suited to Boris.  Still others claim the civil service is so ruined by Theresa and her government they are willing to bring down anyone they fear.  
Now the ambassador has done nothing wrong, even so there may have to be changes.  While the whole world agrees with his comments, all heard before from many others, Trump will have a sulk and never speak to him again.  Lucky ambassador!  He will retire happily, his life work ruined by political chicanery elsewhere that is not his fault, and live happily in Surrey or the Cayman Islands on his large pension.
The fall out may go further of course.

 
Looking through a selection of recommended books I was struck by how many were either yukky wimmens romances or murder books.  Now I understand women's desire fro romance, especially when there is so little at home, but in my little mind I find the desire for books, films and TV murder stories a bit strange.
So far we have had almost 90 people killed in London this year, mostly I suspect young black men involved stupidly in drug dealing.  Now there will always be murders, especially in big cities and when aided by the loss of 20,000 police it is to be expected crime will rise.  Yet while people are knifed within easy reach so many people will sit watching or reading murder stories.  Whether Agatha Christie or modern day crime people are fascinated with the horror while ignoring it outside. 
So many TV programmes are detective tales, masses of books are similar, why?  If murder happened next door you might get worried but it appears people prefer the false murder on screen or in print to the reality.  Actually that is not quite true, people have always, since papers came into existence, wished to read the gripping tales of murder and the police chasing the criminals.  The Victorians loved a good murder, the horror led to many papers, booklets, books appearing on the market, often with helpful illustrations, the more gruesome the better.  There was and remains a market for this. 
What is it we seek?

Gloria

Now I'm Not One to Complain...

Daily Mail

A glance at the media reveals much about the election, the 'Daily Mail' has put meaningless things such as a tennis players wedding and a boat race for 'toffs' above the election because the Conservative Party is struggling.

Andy whatsisname clearly is an outstanding tennis player, even though tennis ranks as a 'sport' so boring that someone invented Basketball to make tennis look interesting, they failed by the way. Here he is in the middle of a media scrum with crowds of women peering at the dress as if it was important. The wee town of Dunblane would be an ideal place to avoid today if there was anything resembling a brain inside your head, if not join the throng and gape at nothing.  

As if that was not bad enough I was lucky enough to be sitting in a cemetery where more excitement could be found than on the banks of the River Thames where a boat race between university teams took place.  Normally this incident passes of without notice even though it fills precious TV airtime yet today it was called 'historic' by stupid people.  You see today they let the girls race on the same day and women everywhere proved their ineligibility for voting by making a fuss about this.  

Now normally when the Olympics occurs I manage to miss most of it, especially when English toffs treat Scotland with the usual disrespect, but rowing is one thing I like to watch.  It is a gentle sport, for the viewer, as teams of big hulks tear their limbs apart rowing for miles to win a medal.  I like watching this even if it is merely girlies pulling the oars.  However having listened to one of these harridans whining this morning about the horrid treatment they suffer, not being allowed to use the men's changing rooms, having to pay up to £2000 to row etc, I felt little sympathy for these rich little darlings.  They can afford the cash, daddy pays anyway, if they wish a changing hut why not build one or buy a suitable building? They will not do this as they want it for free, from the men!

I want equality!  I want every road gang to be half female and half male, I want the same for scaffolders, miners and 'white van men,' I want the number of murdered men to be the same as that of murdered women instead of 90% being male.  I wish men got the same 'consideration' in court females are allowed 'because of circumstances.'  I wish for all male selection quotas for election candidates, I wish men could win compensation for 'sexism' the way women do, poor dears.  I wish equality but it will not happen.

A 'historic event?' You rowed a boat in a race no-one cares about bar yourselves and the 'elite.'  You did nothing while men throughout the nation did a vast number of important things, but they will never be made known.

   Telegraph

Golf, the 'Masters' is being played but only shown on 'Sky.'  This means I have missed it.  Sadly I never realised I was missing it until tonight.  I can suffer on without it and I suspect the world will remain the same.  

After rising early and finding the weather being somewhat dreich putting off my plans I was forced by circumstances to return to bed this morning.  Of course this was much against my will but I struggled through, snoring appropriately, and made the best of it.  The plans for doing something having failed I decided to cycle downhill to the other cemetery and redo the photos from their.  This I did manfully fighting the wind that decided to blow from the north with a needless intensity.  The job done, the men still lying where they had been, I sat and watched the trees with my better camera awaiting the opportunity to picture the wildlife.  None appeared!  A squirrel in the distance alongside a Magpie were the sum of it all.  Birds chirped hidden from deep inside the trees but I could not see them.  

I gave up, returned the doings to their place, looked for the bike and lo , high overhead two Kestrel type birds appeared searching for lunch.  By the time I was ready for them they were miles away!  I suppose they were a mating pair as it is unusual to see two such birds together.  Why did they wait until I was homeward bound?  

However I returned in time for the Scottish football which does not really concern us until tomorrow when we play Hibernian.  I listened to the games online while my bones creaked and the muscles tightened slowly.  I stretched, I stretched again, I fell on the floor, I groaned, I stretched, I made no difference. All this cycling is harder than it was last year, I really feel it this time.  I might need to get one of those oarswomen to give me a massage, it makes a better use of them I say.

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It's Five in the Morning.....

And I am taking pictures of the rising sun shining in on the cupboard!  Summer is here again today!  For several days the sun has shone, the heat is high, the parks full of white bloated creatures turning blotchy red.  The northern breeze is welcomed by some lying there surrounded by plastic drinks bottles as swifts race across the light blue sky, dogs sniff for one another in the grass and adolescents avoiding school avoid the litter bins situated right next to them with equal lack of guilt.     

I wandered out to buy a couple of reduced price shirts.  It appears the shirts in the cupboard, some of which go back many years, have begun to shrink somewhat.  Quite why this strange phenomenon should occur I know not but it has happened before, around a dozen years ago.  At that time I required shirts for the work in which I was engaged, whatever that was, so obtained the regular cheap shirts (made in China) and by wearing one on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and the other on Tuesday and Thursday I made it through with little effort in washing and ironing and nobody noticing.  Of course a summer like this one and they might have noticed by Thursday mind.  So, that's two cheap shirts that fit, these are the er, XL type (Made in Scotland!).

I spent a decent amount of time early today informing the English press that Andy Murray is not 'British' as they emphasised continually, but he is Scottish!  Each and every English media outlet had made determined efforts to ignore his nation and use the word 'British' at all times.  Occasionally the word 'Scot' might break through, but this was tokenism at best.  The fact that the world considers 'England' to be 'Britain' is reinforced by this blatant English racism.  Such was the effect that the 'New York Times,' one of the colonial newspapers, tweeted "After 77 years Murray and England rule."  Sadly I was not able to answer this at the time, the FBI would be here by now if I had!  Others indicated their mistake and they amended things quickly.  The English media are desperate to claim Andy as 'British' to live off his glory, not unusual for them as the best 'English' are usually foreign.

Some of the commentators in the pages of the 'newspapers' in which I made clear my opinion resisted stoutly my gentle reminders of their imperialist racism, at least those of my comments that the papers published that is.  For some reason these appear to believe we live in a 'United Kingdom,' while at the same time putting down Scotland.  One day they will learn.

Anyway, congratulations to Andy Murray on winning the Wimbledon Championship, the first Scotsman since Harold Mahoney in 1896.  

'Lang may yer lum reek son!'

Ah! Harp Music!

This is all Soubs fault!  His latest post features a lassie singing a song in Welsh (or Welch if you prefer) and she is ably accompanied by a Harpist.  I like harp music and had forgotten all about it for a while.  So I am glad he has reminded me.  It is something gentle and quiet to soothe the soul and enable the mind to refresh itself, well sometimes anyway.  I think you will like this.  The Harpist here may well be Irish rather than Welsh but that matters not in music.

Murray

Wimbledon has begun.  Once more the BBC is filled from morning to night with tennis!  You know tennis, that game where a ball is hit with a bat over a net and then returned by hitting it with a bat over the net and it is returned and on and on and on and oh so much on, except when the ball hits the net or a player hits the ground with his bat and uses rude words.  This game for girlies, and thousands of them go to south west London, queue all night in the rain, pay stupid money to get in and plonk themselves down on a hill to watch a TV screen!  Why not stay at home and make your mans tea?  It's what you are there for!  

This middle class game has many asking "Why so few British players?"  Well it is middle class, to be the tops requires great determination and money, clubs are few, support limited and the chairman if the Lawn Tennis folks gets paid over £600,000 a year.  I can see one way of raising cash to encourage new players of this drab, repetitive, mind numbing game, but the LTA will not approve my idea.  This fortnight of boredom, endlessly spouted on TV, radio and newsprint, happens year in year out to the eternal question, "Will he win it?"  This time Andy is once again the man most likely to become an anti climax and thence return to being a 'Scot' rather than 'British!'  Of course he will not win it, at least three others are miles ahead of him (and one, Nadal, has already gone out) and the trophy will go to them.  After a Sunday afternoon is wasted come Monday and tennis has already been forgotten!  Hooray I say, bring it on!


p.s. Can I point out that 57 people have looked at my Saturday post and the majority have refused to comment. That tells you something!

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Friday Fribble

I sit here, the daylight still strong and the sun not yet totally out of sight, well apart from the trees and building s of course, enjoying what is almost warmth at this time of evening.  Some might mistake this for summer if they are not careful.  

Having worked my way through the dreariness of the papers this morning it was clear there was nothing worth noting.  Of course Cameron is hand in hand with Obama in this daft idea of sending weapons to Syrian 'rebels,' he did send our foreign minister William Hague the vague to Washington for instructions the other day, and now we can expect a nation under austerity to join a war.  Just think, bin Laden, the Wahabee Sunni Muslim, the man behind Al-Qaeda, was removed understandably by the US president.  Now the intention is to back Saudi Arabian and Qatari friends, who are all Sunni Muslim, some members of Qaeda in one form or another, and aid them fighting Shia backed Assad!  Brilliant!  A no fly zone over Syria is proposed, although Russia (remember them?) and China may well give arms to Assad.  Russia by the way has already given anti-aircraft equipment that could end a no-fly zone, but we will not mention this in the UK press.  Leadership. it's easy, especially if you have no idea what you are doing!  Oh and around 100,000 are dead, but mostly Muslims so that's OK.  Oh and by the way, we are still cutting our armed forces to save a few bob!

Nothing else of interest in the world tonight.  Another stupid girl ran off with a schoolteacher, and got caught.  Prince Phillip refuses to die and give the media something to fill the weekend papers empty space,  but they are still hopeful he will 'pop off' on a quiet day.  One bad event however is Tennis!  Once again this bore has returned to take over the TV.  This evening I was happily awaiting 'Eggheads' so I could once again discover how dumb I am to find Andy Murray once again struggling against an unknown at Queens, whatever that is.  This meant 'Eggheads was fifteen minutes late!  How dare they hold back something important for tennis!  I know that in a week or two the whole world will be desperate for Britain's number one to win Wimbledon.  As he will fail again I suspect the Scot will be catcalled by the usual types.

I managed to get several things accomplished today, I cleaned and oiled the bike in the hope I will get out on it tomorrow, and then looked for a woman!  I had to, the ironing needed done!  A huge pile of shirts, most of which have shrunk since I washed them, had to be ironed.  Would you believe that the woman in Tesco refused, in a full and frank manner, to do them for me!  "Missus," I said, "You are a woman aint you? It's what you are for!"
I canny give the reply, I didn't quite catch it as I was ducking the blunt instrument she flung at me.  Some girls are a wee bit touchy I find.

After  had done the woman's work, fixed the bike to a tolerable state, watched 'Eggheads' (5/6 for history questions tonight, a big improvement on last time) and chatted to the handyman fixing the floor in the neighbours condominium I felt entitled to sit in the sun before it runs away.  This does show the bug is not so bad at the end of this week, probably because the warm air makes life so much better.  I did waste time musing on other folks houses, how the rich live.  By using Right Move I can shove my nose into the houses my neighbours are trying to flog.  How prices suffer.  Since I last looked I see some Edinburgh homes have been reduced from well over the £400,000 mark to well under it and still no takers.  I did like one down in Newhaven Road, Edinburgh.  They only ask £495,000 and my savings account now stands at £2:34 so I may have a chance there, in a year or two.  

And now look at this!  This woman here reckons its winter where she lives!  Bah!


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Dead Sunday

Nothing to say.  The papers are full of Andy Murray, a Scotsman, being the first British tennis player in the final at Wimbledon for yonks.  The 'Daily Mail' reader hates him because he  unwisely stated he wanted the England football team to lose, as all sensible, decent Scots do.  Having been imperialists by nature they have turned against him in their usual English way by supporting his opponent.  The facts of history are ignored, and reading the 'Daily Mail' they will remain hidden from them.  Do I car? No.  Tennis means little to me, although I have watched some of it, and naturally in between the camera focusing on the 'B' celebs who must be seen there Murray has held his own reasonably well.  I suspect he will lose as Hibs folk usually do and Federer is a step above most players, not just Murray.  The rain has stopped play as it always does and the roof that cost millions to install has not yet been closed. I am amazed at the dafties who organise such events! 

So now I look for something to blog. My tired mind remains unfocused, the rain inhibits wandering about with the camera, forgetting to eat limits walking about also! The papers have nothing to say except Murray this and Murray that, although they are more interested in the celebs who watch. Meanwhile the rain keeps falling here, flooding some folks and yet parched lands are missing their share elsewhere. Climate change, disbelieved by some, affects those who look up, although preferably under a brolly today!

Does it mean the end of the world? Yes, but that could take a hundred years yet. Does it mean man has damaged the world he was meant to protect? Yes, but volcanoes and other natural events have not helped either, just ask the cows in the nearest field what they give the fresh air around them! This year has been very damp, but warm at least. I am supposed to be out in this at the walled city tomorrow, I bet it lashes down then!

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I'm Annoyed

I'm annoyed!
Now as you know I never get annoyed. That is one of the disadvantages of being so nice! However, I always remain calm in all situations - not counting hurling bricks at those brats screaming past on their Vespa's of course, and using the chainsaw in the market place that time, but other wise I am always cool, calm and collected - oh yes I forgot the problem at the Hibs ground when the goal went in. Suggesting that Leith docker could go, er chase himself, was probably unwise with hindsight. Anyway I did get truly upset last night, so much so I even did the 'Daily Mail' thing and wrote to the BBC!
A British (which means she was probably not English) female tennis player was being interviewed after her defeat. She was somewhat emotional and instead of informing them where to go as she ought to, the lass burst into tears. Now in my mind the thing to do here was back off and give the lass space, but oh no, this is television, so the camera closed in, changed angles, and got a close up of her tears. The bastards! I was so angry at this! Clearly she was upset (clearly she was also rubbish!) but to use her tears because this is 'good television' was just wrong! I was so angry I spent a good long while attempting to e-mail the Beeb, (and this is not easy). Of course such shots are considered 'good television' in the business and are to be found in all reports from troubled regions. No war zone is complete without the crying women and bandaged children! To me using her this way was heartless! The picture has of course been repeated many times since, and "Dearie me," the commentators said, "Poor lass," but they use her just the same.
The bastards!


I'm still annoyed!
Stickies! These are wonderful things! Post it notes for the PC screen (That's Personal Computer not Political Correctness Dummy!) and I use them all the time. Excellent things I find. Even better they are FREE!!!!! However I have an annoying problem. Along the top of each one is the white control bar, and I use this to move each one into position. However I moved one small yellow Sticky right to the top of the screen and the white bar along the top went to far. Now I can't get the thing back down again!!!! I am right annoyed again!




Now I am about to watch Spain play the USA! USA! USA! at the Confederation Cup nonsense and the aerial is giving trouble again. But I am not one to complain.....Unless Spain lose to the Yanks I suppose...

Tennis!

Quite what folks get out of watching tennis for hour after hour I do not really know. The sight of two big black Yankee women slugging it out yesterday was so irksome to me I went looking for a woman who wanted to talk about her baby! What a waste of grass tennis is.

Today I actually found myself watching the Men's Final. The last time I did this I think Rod Laver won and that was before I was born! However, in between writing begging letters today, and in between the stoppages for rain, I actually got hooked for a while on these two 'stars' of the game.

The women in the crowd, and this is a women's game, not that they play it well but they certainly like watching the men play it well, the women were getting very excited and taking sides as their man first looked a dead cert winner, then found himself on the ropes. Some of them have not been that excited since their man bought that new car - which they have commandeered! It was actually a very good match. It had folks on the edge of their seats, unsure who would win to the very last ball - if that makes sense - and for many the best game they will ever see. I actually enjoyed what I saw of it, and felt the best man lost. Not that he was the better player, just that the Spaniard looked a right miserable git, and I hate folk like that.........

AAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrggghhhh!

There is NO football on the telly tonight! Because the majority of Euro 2008 has taken place and we await the last three games there will be nothing to watch now. I expect to be seeing spiders crawling up the wall by 8:30 tonight.

Even worse! Not only is there no football and the TV companies are returning to their usual diet of mindless drivel and unspeakable 'pap' but the BBC have now added Wimbledon to the list! Tennis! Yes Tennis! That middle class lawn game that was surely only invented to make Basketball look interesting? It failed there also didn't it! Why oh why with all the resources available to them do the BBC let the football go to ITV and Sky yet insist on spending our money on two weeks of monotony?

I'll tell you why, women! In spite of the feminist lies that fill the world today the fact is women are not naturally team motivated. While men will join with folk known and unknown and support a football or other team through thick and thin (mostly thin down Gorgie way) women tend to go for the one to one option. This is why activities (I cannot call this 'sport') is such a big draw for the girls. Of course they are lusting uncontrollably after some swarthy, tanned, French, Romanian, Australian or Yank nancy boy as they rush about the court swearing at the umpire and acting like the spoilt brats they are, but they are attracted by the single opponent idea. This is also why so many women spoil acres of really good country by insisting on playing Golf there. Would they be so happy to just walk around the woods like men do, and I have noticed some funny men walking around the woods in my time I can tell you, or do they really have the need to hit a wee ball into a far of hole?

You see it is true that while men gather at a football match, a proper sport, they together support 'our' team. Women at football, rugby or whatever, if not there just to pick up a man as most of the young ones are, support 'their baby.' A far more insular thing. They do have a liking for cricket because while this game is a 'team' game it is in reality just between two men. The bowler, the one who throws the ball, and the batsman, the one who tries to hit it with a big stick. So while eleven run about the pitch most in fact do nothing whatsoever. This makes it a great pastime for those who wish to keep themselves in a state of fitness well into their fifties and beyond.

Of course as Tennis is so female dominated, the women play less games than the men and yet get paid the same amount of cash. How sexist is this? As they play less games they can also add to this the doubles and mixed doubles which men at the top cannot find time or energy for. The top lassies therefore take far more money for far less effort from the tournament than the best men can possibly do. Blatant sexism but for crying out loud do not point out facts to these whining self seeking bitches, in this fascist world facts are not wanted, just 'chip on the shoulder' emotion. Being female dominated also means that the Beeb must hold onto it or the women who run the Corporation will stamp their foot and go blue in their faces. They will also talk for hours about such crime, and who would want to endure that? Not those who should no better at the multi national (yet will not give Scotland it's due respect) BBC.

Two whole weeks of this. Grunting and sweating and middle class anxiety over who will win, and why has Britain (meaning England) not produced a winner since Fred Perry the shirt maker? Who cares really? Roll on the football season.

Women Tennis Players and Money

The girls at Wimbledon claim they are being paid less than the men, why? They play less sets, three at most instead of five, and feel that being given less money for doing less work is 'unequal!' The truth is these selfish greedy women take MORE money out of Wimbledon than the men! How? By playing in more tournaments! by having to play longer matches the men are less inclined to join in the doubles or mixed doubles games. This however does not matter to the 'two sets at most' girlies. Not only do they make money by entering these matches they have more time to sit around feeling sorry for themselves. Poor dears. If only equality was what it ought to be! Men being men, and women being women. Each being the best they could be and free to be themselves and develop themselves into the best possible. To accept the physical, mental, emotional differences that exist, and to LIVE WITH IT rather than force an unreal world on themselves and others. Then we could have equality. Then pay would matter less, but be rewards for ACTUAL work, and not just earned by going into a huff! And let's face it, tennis is boring!