Now I'm not one to Complain but Daytime Television...

Being forced to iron shirts today I treated myself to a period of watching Daytime TV while doing so.  This was not good!  Having around 50 channels to choose from and finding nothing to watch is a somewhat sad experience.  Apart from several shopping channels offering important things like priceless jewllery at knock down prices, or beauty treatments that layer a womans face with enough paint to cover the Forth Bridge and those offering a variety of health giving machinery that once bought lies in the garage for ten years unused there was little to entice.  The inumerable unfunny American comedies that fill the screen, all with canned laughter that is added by someone who is not watchign the programme I suspect, all wth at least two hundred episodes to come offer little cheer, as do the 1970's cop thrillers filled with actors who died before most of the stay at home mums watching were born.  
How dreich is this I thought, even the news programmes, the word 'news' is not to be taken literally here, offer little of thought but much emotion.  Women's troubles, babies, film/record/other stars, personalities with no personality, deep caring moments that vanish the minute the object cared for is out of sight and all with too smart men and flighty women who apparently entice the viewers.  I am well aware of what they entice in me!  As for Victoria Derbyshire on two channels at once well, I had better keep my opinion to myself!  How did she get her job?  

The British drams, much more modern being only 20 years old also fails to excite.  'Monarch of the Glen?'  A pastiche that makes any other soap look like reality.  'The Sweeney?'  A rough, tough piece of nonsense that made a name in the 70's but did not deserve it then either.  It does make the real police on those 'cop patrol' programmes look realistic however.  And as for the constant hour after hour of programmes in which someone opens a garage or a locked storage unit or looks into a shed somewhere and finds riches beyond his wildest dreams please, please, go away!!!  These appear to be on three or four channels and never end!  Surely someone somewhere has become a millionaire and moved on by now? 

Now, 'Four in a Bed,' and 'Come Dine with Me' just what is all this tosh about?  I confess I can only stand a few minutes but why are people filmed having dinner?  I'm scared to ask what the other one is all about!  Then there are the house programmes all of which are designed to make you yearn for that million pound house in the country/by the sea/in the sun.  Like the antiques programmes the base is simple, appeal to peoples greed and they will come and watch.  It succeeds!  The houses look good but do you wish to live beside those people?   Movies, how many do we need?  I watch none yet on offer in the morning I note more US drivel or aged Black & White films that may have been made during the war, though which war is not always clear.  
And then there are the adverts!  Apart from BBC one and two these appear every few minutes and follow a simple pattern.  You ask about PFI, Insurance for the aged, Lawyers because you deserve it, charity for babies/animals/hungry/only £2/£3/£5 a month always followed by the same trailer for a crap programme you saw the last time the ads were on and will see again every few minutes throughout the day!  

 
There were only two programmes this morning that I could begin to watch.  One featured Tony Robinson walking through History he said, although I preferred to turn the sound down and avoid his inane chatter while watching and 'Coast' always worth a look but again with sound muted as all too often the voice gets in the way of the pictures.  I look to the 'Yesterday Channel' to offer history but all too often that also gives dross instead of history.  An excuse to show old cheap programmes rather than something worth watching.  It is worth a peep mind just in case.   
I only ironed three shirts, that was enough to cover me for the period ahead and force me back to doing something useful at the computer.  

Troubles and irritants

This is my latest laptop, an HP job and on the whole it is quite good one considering I got it half price.  There are however one or two niggles that are beginning to annoy. 
The first one is the speakers.  You will note you canny see them, this is because these are placed underneath, near the front.  Quite what went through the head of the designers to make them consider such a daft placing is hard to imagine.  I suspect it was a female, who else would think that hiding the speakers underneath would improve the sound quality?  Clearly she thought this would improve the image but image is less important than whether the thing works properly and having the speakers positioned this does not improve the Quality!  With headphones the sound is perfectly acceptable to me but without it is deadened by being underneath and limited by whatever the brute is standing on.  Daft place to put speakers.
Another thing is the cursor.  This jumps around with a mind of its own.  I have played with the controls, touching this and changing that but I need to do so again as the thing likes to move where it will especially when I do not wish it to do so.  I find I am writing on one line and suddenly the brute is writing on another!  On occasions it is writing on something at the edge of the screen for no good reason.  It remains better than the curor on the Toshiba model, those appear to have a bad and I found well deserved reputation, which required constant fiddling.  I expected better from HP.
The keys!  The keys on the old machine were comfortable and I am used to them, these however are not so prominent, do not always click when touched and I am left with missing letters in words, ee what I mean?  Maybe it's just me not yet being used to this machine, maybe I'm just ham fisted?  Clearly the keys do not work as on the old model, I suspect this is how they all fit these days.
One thing I find is that it appears to halt for no reason all to often, possibly to file things away on cloud, photos or on my criminal charge sheet that lies waiting in the FBI/CIA/KGB filing cabinet.  This may only be for a few seconds but it is annoying when busy, more so when on facebook and someone places yet more needless videos of course.  I must look into how to stop the brute hanging like this but Microsoft have linked everything so that mortals like us canny control our laptops.  There is more than enough power in the thing, hardly anything on it, it ought to be faster in my voew.  Anyway I have to use this machine come what may as the old one is passing out.  So I am off to send lots of begging emails in answer to the begging emails I receive daily.

 

Poor History

One of the many standard media fillers these days is sentimental pictures of troops from the great war.  The DM of course knows its readership and each week, often each day, a similar second world war tale is shown.  This encourages some to remember the days when they 'stood alone' and others to fulfil their 'Waffen SS' fantasies.  The UKIP and Right wingers love these pictures.
The style is always simple, as it appears from the spelling mistakes, unchecked facts, and constant wrong information so are the 'work for free' employees who have been fooled into thinking they are learning journalism.  (This one was stolen from yesterdays 'Daily Express' apparently)  The simple style calls all 'our boys,' 'our boys,' always 'Brave' and certainly 'heroes.'  There then follows in the comments columns the usual drivel from the same UKIP/right wing nutjobs.  Half the comments claim "What would they say if they saw our country now?" The rest, "They fought Germany and Germany rules Europe."   Many with little tact indicate foreigners are living here of the fat of the land that 'our heroes' won.
I get annoyed at this.
Now I know a little about two world wars and I know that many what we see in these comments in the tabloids is the result of half truths and lies spewed out by said papers, all to benefit the owners and the Conservative Party.  By blaming immigrants for twenty years a generation, mostly over fifty, have come to believe their nation has been stolen from them, they are indeed right but not in how they see it.  With their eyes on immigrants and an unhistorical view of history the deluded have been and are being robbed daily.
Many immigrants came here after serving in our forces, fighting our wars, and suffering for the DM reader.  They deserve a place in this nation.  Anyway what right had we to go into their land and steal it?
It is certainly true that many who served in the Great War were heroes, many courageous acts occurred, often from people least likely to do them before they left.  Many also committed horrendous acts of needless aggression and enjoyed the opportunity to kill, maybe the DM reader would appreciate them of course.  He would be less likely to enjoy him living next door.  In the first war over two and a half million men volunteered, a fact that annoys those who claim the war was a 'rich man's war fought by the working classes.'  These like to blame royalty infighting causing war but royalty while making mistakes had nothing to do with making war, nearly all were impotent.  On the ther hand Asquith the somewhat double minded Prime Minister (still better than what we possess today) lost a son in the war, Churchill himself played at soldiers in the trenches for a while, and the general also lost children fighting.  The Great War involved everyone not just the 'lower orders.'

Were the dead of the Great War a futile dead?  No, had they not served, the French would have ost and that Germany, just as cruel as the later one, would have dominated the world.  Should so many have died?  Sadly it takes two to fight and unless one side steps down the other remains.  Politicians are responsible for wars, and there were none able to stop it and many willing to continue it.  
The second war was easier to defend, it could have been avoided by better politicians at home and abroad but in the end it had to be won.  Were these men better heroes?  No these were no different from the earlier generation, it is just that the later war appears less messy, it wasn't.  
Were these men brave?  Brave enough to go 'over the top' or be shot for cowardice?  The bravest were those who for decent reasons refused to fight and insisted on a better world, they suffered for their beliefs, they were the brave ones.  It is easy to follow the crowd it is difficult to stand out and be abused.

I often ask the commentators who suggest todays generation are not like the previous ones 'what regiment did you serve in?' and et no reply.  They have never served, didn't want to serve, and would be no better than today's or any other generation of forced into war.  The bulk of the men were often brave, more often afraid and very glad the war is over.  They did miss the comradeship, missing at home, the excitement, foreign travel, pay, fun and laughter and a few tears also.  They came back changed and indeed still do whether from Northern Ireland, Iraq or any war we know little about.  I am never keen on calling servicemen 'heroes' but they deserve our respect, especially today when they are all volunteers and still face death if called into action.  We ought to thank them and avoid the nonsense in the daily press.

I WENT into a public 'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, " We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' " Tommy, go away " ;
But it's " Thank you, Mister Atkins," when the band begins to play
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's " Thank you, Mister Atkins," when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' " Tommy, wait outside ";
But it's " Special train for Atkins " when the trooper's on the tide
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's " Special train for Atkins " when the trooper's on the tide.

Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap.
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an` Tommy, 'ow's yer soul? "
But it's " Thin red line of 'eroes " when the drums begin to roll
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's " Thin red line of 'eroes, " when the drums begin to roll.

We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an` Tommy, fall be'ind,"
But it's " Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's " Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind.

You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an` Chuck him out, the brute! "
But it's " Saviour of 'is country " when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An 'Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool - you bet that Tommy sees!


Rudyard Kipling

The Edge of the World

As a matter of course I am always dubious about any book that claims to be an 'International best seller' as they are often pap that appeals to the less bright masses.  This book, pictured in a blurred fashion above, makes that claim and I am still wondering if it fits the description or not.
This is a big book with a great deal of research behind it (the author has read lots of books is what I mean) and each chapter is stuffed full of information.  That is one of the problems as there is a great deal of info written at high speed and we race along somewhat breathlessly through the story he offers.  Each tale attempts to fix on one man or one type of people living in a certain way around the north Sea.  Frisians, Norse, those who now fill the Netherlands, Belgian, Danish regions and including some of the British Isles when he feels like it.  There is a lot to read but with no previous depths of knowledge about much of it I cannot tell if he is historically accurate.   
However for all the pace I found it a hard read.
Possibly too many words, possibly as some indicate too much emphasis of the money side (the author appears to be somewhat anti capitalist while rolling in the dough the books he writes bring him) and possibly his irritating PC attitudes keep appearing.  He uses 'women and men' and 'BC & BCE' instead of 'BC & AD' needlessly just to prove his 'right on' credentials.  Occasionally he forgets this but I will not indicate where.
'How the North Sea made us who we are' is the subtitle of the book but I am not sure he indicate an answer.  Too much happens on land as opposed to sea and it seems to me that since the ice age left and the sea arrived we have been crossing it to trade or explore so what new can he say about this? We were passing across the sea since time began and if he intends to claim we are what we are because of the traffic round the sea I have to ask how else would we be as we are? 
Humans trade, explore and pick up good and bad ideas from one another.  The places we live in have an effect on how we live and how we see the world, no book is required to know this surely?  The author gives much information but while the book is well worth a read and will stay on the shelf for reference I am still not sure what his intentions were.
I must add here my family have often won the 'Most stupidest person' award many times and this must be taken into consideration when reviewing book reviews...!   

Now I'm not one to complain but when I saw the board outside Sainsburys this morning I was tempted to inform the girls that the board was out of date.  Both exhibitions advertised have finished and the new one is not yet on show.  
Should I let them know....
            ..or is keeping my teeth where they are more important?  

Gray Skies...Read About Them!

Observant types may have noticed the past post from so long ago made use of the word 'sunshine' and the words 'blue skies.'  This was optimism gone wrong.  Since that post the clouds have hung around, the rain has teemed down and I have sat indoors sleeping off the bug caused by the change from hot sunshine to cold usual summer.  
This slack mental approach of mine has limited my scribbling as I have only had enough effort to do simple things.  Forgetting to eat has not helped.  However I have managed to watch some of the 'Confederations Cup' football although some of this was so bad that I even preferred to discuss a woman's baby rather than watch it at one point!  
Outside I notice nothing has changed, English men still dress as if the weather was hot in spite of the drizzle all around them, politicians still refuse to increase firemen or policeman's pay in spite of glorifying them when trouble arises, nurses did not even expect anything, the NHS is quietly sold off by Jeremy Hunt when nobody watches and few people bother to write on their blogs these days making life even more boring than it already is.  
My method of improving the world was to spend today asleep, more or less, eat meat, rest more and tomorrow I expect to be almost normal.
What...?

   
I did at least manage to finish two books but both took a lot of reading and now I canny be bothered telling you what they were about.  It took so long to get to the end of one I have forgotten what he was on about at the beginning!  It might be his writing but it might be my hereditary stupidity, decide for yourself.  I have of course begun other books which will take a while to read and will get back to you on this.  I also received a new book in the post today, free at that as books ought to be.  
It does make me realise how powerful books, and indeed writing in general can be.  The written word can entertain, inform and delight, it can take us out of ourselves, into a new world and change our life.  How sad that some people get no further in their reading than the local or national paper, and how twisted and ill informed are they!
Give books to people, make them read!

Blue Skies From Now On...

How nice to be out and about in the sunshine.  Most of last week I suffered a bug that took what little strength I have and remained hiding behind the laptop doing only those things that do not require thought.  This is a position I am best at.
Yesterday I was forced out and spent the rest of the day asleep.  Today I was also forced out and dragged myself all the way to St P's and back although the return was healthier that the going for some reason.  Above the skies displayed clouds that appeared to have been squashed flat and spread across the skies, as I returned I noted these were being replaced by puffy 'cotton wool' ones and the hot sun giving the lie to the threat of heavy rain tomorrow.  This ought to arrive late on once I am back home safe under a blanket.

  
As I have done nothing for over a week I have one of those long 'to do' lists which I shall glance at soon.  The problem is so much may as well wait until next year as it has waited that long already.  The 'Spring Clean' began well but has stuttered to a halt.  Things already clean need another go already, dust appears from nowhere in this place, the fridge needs attention and I am positive I attended to it only last May, or was it the year before?  Anyway all these things need doing and I am unable to until later this week.  Hopefully a tragedy, good news, event appears to make me forget all about it until next year again.

  
Also the laptops have been playing up again and now I am in the middle of the muddle clearing this from that and replacing that with this and so on and on and on...  
In between I have been ignoring the media as nothing important is happening, well except Theresa May keeping her job by giving the Northern Ireland DUP party one billion pounds to spend so they will keep her government in power.  However this money may mean the Scots lose out and I wonder in the dozen Scots Tory MPs will stand up and be counted or will they vote against May unless they also get one billion pound for Scotland?  I do hope so.
The fire last week has left many homeless and still struggling to cope, the media have however moved away...

A glance at the media shows how awful the world is.  People say it is getting worse every day but I have began to search the Newspaper Library and a quick glance at the local rag for August and September 1914 revealed similar tales to today.  There are mentions of the war and some of the effects breaking through, adverts aplenty offering things you really don't need, local news, important people crime, murder and assault.  The layout may be unusual but the hack knows what sells his paper, he knows what he can get away with, he knows who to attack and who to support, he knows what the people wish to read! 
It is however hard going online as the words are small, working the buttons not that easy and the thing takes forever to turn a page.  However it is worth having even though it costs money I canny afford.  I will get my moneys worth however...

Flying Beast!

Found one of these flying around the room last night, attracted by the light.

I am now hiding in the basement!

Dead Men Tell tales...

 

I have spent much time avoiding the sun, head down over the laptop searching for dead men.  There are plenty around, in fact they are all over the place, we never appear to run out of them.  I am reminded of one wit who, in a creepy tone  reminded his listeners that the dead outnumber the living, what is worse it that their numbers are growing all the time.   When you consider that in the twentieth century, which seems so long ago now, it was customary to identify and bury the war dead we forget that for centuries before this often a less organised system operated.  The winning side may have dug one grave and marked this for their men while being less caring for the opposition.  Each culture followed their own ideas.  Only the other day I read of a grave in Poland of dead Russian solders killed in action and buried reasonably well in the circumstances but with little marking it appears.  In hot countries it was the thing to strip bodies and reuse material and later gather the bones together, many just left them for the dogs of course.

Sometimes I wonder if we treat the war dead in those large cemeteries better than we do the men who survived?  After the war men were sent home with a few pounds as a 'gratuity' and thanks for coming and left to their own devices, today there is some help at 'debriefing' but I winder if it is enough and do men take it?  I doubt our government cares, caring costs too much!

Tomorrow I will leave aside the dead and work on something a bit more cheery.

The end of the Hot Spots in sight.  Up north rain has teemed down and I have enjoyed sending pics such as this to my friends.  Well they were friends before I sent the pics.  Today clouds hung about for a while and normal temps appear.  I might be able to go out properly now!   This is a shame as I was enjoying watching the half naked women  young children playing in the sun, they were so happy running around the park.  

The heat changes the way we look at life.  Our outlook is affected by the climate and geography in which we grow.  Peoples living high up in mountain regions do appear to have a tough outlook on life, Australians in the 'Bush' also develop this and like to show a droll humour to go with it, something lacking maybe in those in the mountains?  What does that make city dwellers raised in comfort and ease?  Those raised in a land where it rains, clouds go gray easily, and cold winds find openings you never knew about have their own individual outlook on life... 

A Hard Day's Work in the Heat!

Wearing nothing but a pair of aged shorts and tying a notice reading "Please give water or beer" round my neck I made my way to the museum.
I was sent home!
Venturing forth dressed in a manner considered more worthy by my snooty superiors I returned not caring to mention the large fan blowing a gale in their office while no such apparatus was made available to me.  Referring to the shop as the 'Gobi Desert' brought no relief in spite of the doors being wide open until Peggy my hard working colleague (she reads this!) arrived.  As we downed our first gallon of tea/coffee/water and fanned ourselves with handy brochures that lie about we awaited the hordes of people barging through the door.
None came.
So I wandered off to chat up discuss important issues with the curator as she made enough coffee for herself to fill a MacDonalds outlet for a day.  I know she needs to keep awake but really!
Work arrived and my friend was ordered out into the searing heat (I had to mind the shop you see) to deliver posters and leaflets of the upcoming exhibition to shops that would display them for us.  I handled the crowds that came when she had gone.  
Both young ladies who arrived were very competent and pleasant, most are when I chat to them.
On returning it was found more leaflets required delivering, naturally I offered but was refused permission to do so by her indoors.  Poor Peggy had to once more bear the heat of the day though I noticed she managed to take her time and do her shopping while delivering. 
I therefore was left alone to deal with a bus load that came on a visit elsewhere in town and dozens of old women lassies arrived to wander throught the exhibition.  Each offered a £5 note for a £3 entrance with no consideration to our lack of £1 coins!!!!  Not that I am one to complain but wimmen...!

It is difficult at 4a.m. to get a decent pic of the moon when looking through a wndow at a tight angle....
Tomorrow is the Longest Day of the year and from then on the nights close in, innit it a horrible thought!  Half way through the year already.  Christmas adverts will start appearing soon!

However it remains like Aussieland here, I'm off to stand beside the fridge....

Sweltering!

I was forced to walk, at noon, in the 82% heat today on my way to St P's.  That's 27% to you foreign folks out there and it is not something we are used to.  It was remarked when I arrived, tired and weary, that only 'Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.'  "You," they said in unison, "Are not English!" Much hilarity ensued!  
Three days running this heat has hit us and in the south we will get a bit more tomorrow.  Up north it is wet of course, but that is what they are there for, to catch the weather falling over the Atlantic!  
I confess I prefer this heat to the usual rain though an ideal temp of somewhere in the 70's would be more workable.  Even typing is hard when great drops of sweat keep landing on the keyboard. 
I'm sure I saw a Duck Billed Platypus walking past as I made my way home.

 
Last night the folks who endured the fire in the tower saw the beginning of the end of the 24 hour news coverage of their story.  This was because a right wing nutjob took it upon himself to copy the Islamist type attacks and late last night drive his white van into a crowd of Muslims leaving a mosque where they had been attending Ramadan prayers.  He crashed into a group who were busy aiding an aged chap who had collapsed.  The driver hit them and killed one and seriously injured several others. While trying to escape he was caught by the crowd and rescued from them by the Imam from the mosque and handed over to the police.  
Today Theresa May desperately trying to look human rushed to the mosque muttering about ending 'right wing extremism.'  I am left wondering if she would include the 'Daily Express' in her 'right wing extremist' list, or the 'Daily Mail' and naturally Rupert Murdoch's 'Sun?'  All these as well as the 'Telegraph' another extreme right wing paper that has gone downhill to make money have blamed Muslims and immigrants in general for every wrong and for many years, this is now the result.
Genuine questions regarding immigrants exist, genuine questions regarding some mosques and their imams need investigating, the media, and these papers in general have not done this!  Instead they play in the fears of the 'white working class' in general and the population altogether with half truths and deliberate distortions, that is how they make their money.  By such usage Rupert Murdoch and others have a control over the country they ought not to have in a democracy.  I am unaware of any cash Murdoch might invest in the Tory Party but his influence is clear, Michael Gove, removed by Theresa the minute she got the job has been returned as 'Environment Secretary,' a job he is singularly unfit for with his opinions totally at variance with environemntal reality. 
The media can be useful, the newspapers can inform, educate, build up, however what sells is sensation so news is replaced by sex stories and 'shock horror' tales, individuals are attacked or sentimentalised with no concern for the reality, they are used and abused with no control over the media possible, this is because the Conservative Party need the papers to get votes!
There are more right wing nutjobs out there, almost as many as there are Islamist nutjobs, extreme propaganda from either side must be opposed by truth, we do not have the media able or willing to do this.

 

Too Hot

Too hot to write....

 

Sunny Sat

I spent some fifteen or so minutes sitting in the park watching the clouds above change shape and twist and turn as they passed by.  Clouds, as you know, fascinate me.  They are such huge great monstrosities that we take for granted.  Some reach thousands of feet into the air, other cover whole continents, many are dark and foreboding while today most were of the large fluffy type.  This was the nearest to a rain cloud we saw today.  
I was led to wondering what is actually in them?  Water vapour we know but what else fills these Goliaths in the sky?  Reading today about a man visiting Antarctica and learning of the huge icebergs that contain pockets, if that is the right word, of the air, the atmosphere from five to fifteen thousand years ago.  An air breathed by the Sumerians before they learnt to write, an air early man knew as he spread out about the earth.  How different it is today.  How long will we be able to breathe such air as daily it changes content and each change brings more pollution.  Maybe we will require workers to open the old icebergs and release fresh air!

    
With the weather reaching 80% today and nothing in the news bar the Tower aftermath we run out of things to say.  My tired mind has spent much time looking through the village census for 1911 seeking any link to men I cannot trace.  The facts noted are however interesting.  People in their 70's and 80's still claim to be 'Agricultural labourers' a few being pensioners, the over 70's were granted five shillings by Lloyd George in 1909 and this caused Margaret Thatchers father to leave Lloyd Georges Liberal Party and join the Conservatives.  He did not agree with dole to the unemployed nor pensions to the old, this tells us something.  One poor woman had been married twelve years, had given birth to nine children and only two were surviving.  I noted that neither child was listed at home, only an adult Boarder, and wondered about her state of health and mind and where would the children be living?  I never found my lost men but did get an insight into village living in 1911.

      

Charity Begins at Home...?

I was impressed by the screaming headlines in the press this morning concerning the tower block fire yesterday.  All called for someones head, all yelled about safety, all demanded something ought to be done.
Where were they several years ago when the tenants of this block demanded changes?  Where was the press opposition when the Labour Party attempted to ensure landlords made their properties safe for tenants?  They were nowhere as these were not important stories for the daily press, sex, scandal, political intrigue and immigrants sells papers not dangerous housing, especially among the lower orders.  Especially when some 71 Conservative MPs who voted against the Labour bill demanding landlords took action were and still are landlords themselves!  The Tory press would not mention this.
Out of some 400 or so tenants less than half have been identified, I feel for the foremen who have to clear the building once it is made safe.
When these buildings arose in the 1950's they were an answer to a desperate housing problem.  It was not long before the dehumanising aspect of the style of building came to the fore, and indeed the misbehaviour of the people living in such blocks.  Lack of authoritative control, ignorant tenants and soon these places were wastelands.  Only once done up and sold off to paying owners with porters, sorry 'Concierge' at the door could such places work.  It is not just the building but the people that ruin such creations.  Of course many were badly designed, many have been destroyed and more human housing produced but in the end the people decide whether a housing development works or not.
I liked the idea of being high up, great views, wonderful skies, but if the lift breaks you are trapped.  We know know, and ought to have known long ago, that fire is a hazard to be avoided.  No block of flats ought to go over four stories in my view, this enables most firemen to gain access to you.  It was very difficult to watch the pictures of the trapped high above, or listen to the tales of the survivors.  This made worse by endless speculation and repetition of survivors stories over and over again to no-ones advantage.  
Of course the £62 million or so taken from the Fire Service has to play a part, closing fire stations, and I read somewhere that yesterday the government sold all the fire engines and equipment to a private company on the very day this fire erupted.  That requires checking but sounds just like this government.  I was intrigued to find a link on Twitter to an item in the London Evening Standard blaming cuts to services as one factor responsible for the fire, the Evening Standard the paper now 'edited' by one George Osborne the failed chancellor of the Exchequer who brought in the 'austerity' that gave us the cuts and decimated the Fire Service, the Police, the Ambulance crews, the NHS and everything else!   I wonder if George read that item?

When I met one of my women today we discussed, among other important topics, the response to the tragedy.  People were collecting items to send, food, clothes, blankets and the other daily requirements that the folks from the tower have lost.  I noticed some wished to do so round her, others as far away as Fife were offering items and then I began to think something was not right here.  For a start this disaster occurred in London, relatively close to the centre of the city and with seven or eight million people and a good number there willing to help there is no real need for people at a distance offering such aid.  A friend of mine is in close contact with the Latymer Church which is close to the tower and had things been desperate I suspect a call would have gone out for items.  

So what makes people respond this way?  When I was fifteen the Aberfan disaster occurred.  This was a mining village in Wales where an unsteady coal bing, the residue of coal waste that towered above the village gave way and fell across the village destroying the primary school and killing around one hundred and fifty young children.  Far away in Edinburgh watching this unfold on our rented Black and White TV I was gripped with a desire to go and dig out the kids.  An absurd idea as if miners and police could not save the I certainly would not.  
Years later while working for a charitable organisation I came across a wise item in a magazine where the author asked about those helping at Aberfan, they would come for miles to help he said but would they care about the man next door having a breakdown?  It is easy to rush to a disaster, it is hard to cope with daily stress of individual or local group disasters, no less real but not so spectacular.   Is rushing to a disaster such as this from far away the right thing to do, is it really 'loving your neighbour?'

  
Another man who has had a personal disaster is Tim Farron the Lib-Dem leader.  His party did not have an great success during the election, it did however grow from I think 8 seats to 12 so it wasn't all bad, but he himself was hounded by the media not on his policies but because he follows Jesus.
When interviewed there were few policy questions merely constant queries regarding whether he thought as a Christian homosexuality was a sin.  This was the constant refrain and sadly he failed to cope with this.  Instead of loudly brazing it out and saying "Yes it is!" he attempted to compromise out of 'consideration' for others opinions.  This was wrong!  The other day a senior Liberal in the House of Lords resigned because he objected to the biblical position offered by Tim, this has forced Tim Farron into resigning his position as leader.  A mistake in my view.  This Lord ought to have been castigated for his intolerance, his prejudice and his religious discrimination and thrown out of the party!  It is the Liberal Party after all so why has he now allowance for liberty?
Underneath all this lies the clear anti-Christian forces that dominate the media, that through the gay lobby harass those who stick to Christian principles (the Muslims are however never attacked as they might fight back) and white, middle class socialists, who have never done a proper days work in their lives, dominate the world.  We must obey their commands and accept homosexuality and all the other apparently new found behaviours as normal even if they are not.  From primary schools now children are indoctrinated to believe such behaviour is normal, instead of accepting people who behave thus, a very big difference!  The gay lobby leads the attack on the church as that is the truth that the power behind them hates, Christians such as Tim Farron ought to be given support to take his stand and not attacked constantly because of this.

We are right to wonder if there would have been a Lord grumbling if Tim won a lot of seats, we are right to wonder if all would be different then?  Possibly the Lord was only one man involved in a coup and we will soon know if his friend the new leader, whoever he may be, invites him to be a spokesman for something in the Lords.

I was forced out into the sunshine thrice today.  Not only did I have to visit two supermarkets to obtain cheap supplies but the brutes at the bird feeders broke one of the feeders and later I had to walk in the heat wearing dark glasses and bumping into things just to buy another.  Naturally the young girls at the counter were impressed with my 'James Bond' approach, I could tell by the way they looked at me, one of them even woke up long enough to almost smile.  I could see she was finding it tough having spend many years in school learning about many things and discovering work was in fact boring!  Having gained umpteen 'O' and 'A' levels and been interviewed as if she was applying for work as a rocket scientist she finds herself at a check out in a far too warm and stuffy store dealing with the public!  Poor lass, I hope something better arrives soon.  I always like to cheer such as her up by reminding them they can leave at 65 or 70 and enjoy retirement but they always look so glum when I do.  
It's a giggle mind! 

Tuesday Twitter

A flower for the DUP

The museum was quiet again today. Three visitors, one of whom I knew from the Braintree Facebook Page with his delightful wife and a Scandinavian lass who came last year with her children, this time with a niece.  My chocolate, freely offered, appeared to be the best part of the day for her!  The handful of events thereafter allowed me time to browse our book selection and save money inform myself of the history around us.  This kept me awake.

Two of my women were off again ensuring I had to make my own tea and sit alone bereft when as visitors appeared.  No superior bothered to check whether I was alive or dead, no offers of tea, no offers of work either, so it was not all bad.  This is such a hard life at times, however men who have been in war zones often indicate life can be tougher than this, I doubt that!

Getting out in the morning is such hard work.

Once upon a time we would meet together, two, three or four of us, staying up late and often until near one in the morning.  Next day we were at work at 8 or nine o'clock and felt it none!  Once I rose at 3:30 am and left by 4:30 am for work, now I must be out by 9:25 am and I feel it is too early!  On Sunday I leave at 10 am yet that feels to early and next day getting there by noon means a struggle to get things done.

All I need do is wash, breakfast and dress yet it takes sooo looong to do in such a short time!  How come when young we could stay up past midnight yet now nine in the evening is cocoa time?  Am I working too hard?  According to my two women today the answer was not a positive one so that's not responsible!  It may be I lack exercise, proper food, and get up and go, though I had that once and it got up and left.  

I had suggested to myself that making the tea, burning the toast the night before might make it quicker in the morning but that did not work out well.  The porridge was not a success this way either.  I avoided washing but the women objected for some reason, placing all the fancy soaps we then stocked in my pockets was going a bit far I thought.  I could of course avoid reading the news online but them I would know nothing wouldn't I?  What do you mean what's the difference?  Anyway as I am off tomorrow, no suggestion of being called in unsuspectingly later, and nothing important to do either I will naturally rise around four in the morning and be unable to sleep!!!  Bah!

The other day I posted a green abstract work and indicated I did not understand it.  Today I looked at the blurb alongside and still don't  It was one of three such works all concerning the artists family, weddings, moving on, as far as I could make out.  Only a woman artist would understand. 

However those who understand can pop into the shop and acquire some small token regarding the works on offer.  Individual hand made items, even cards and postcards for those who wish to just put that on the wall are available at a reasonable price!  

The three adults and one kid who entered today bought nothing!  Not even a pencil!  Not even a book I ostentatiously proffered!  Ah well in a week or so we begin the summer exhibition aimed at the kids.  That will mean a million brats running around screaming, bashing and vomiting for weeks on end. 

I'm looking forward to this....

    

 

Life is a Bit Blurred Today

My eyes have worn out from yesterday's efforts in the sunshine.  Nothing has been done today, a situation made worse by the TV and radio news constantly going over and over the nothing news that we heard yesterday.  With nothing to say, nothing new, nothing interesting they have been producing unknowns from here there and everywhere to fill time and repeat what we already know.  How they get paid for this I don't know.
Certainly some new news has arrived with a cabinet reshuffle as Theresa May tries to hold off all those who might stab her in the back and places between them and herself her chosen few.  The power grab is on and she is toast.  
Theresa's decision to work with the Northern Irish DUP has not gone down well.  Most object to their opposition to homosexuality, gay marriage and abortions.  I see nothing wrong with that straight forward godly view.  However few indeed bother to mention the DUPs relationship with terrorism and the recent murder in Northern Ireland.  
The only objections are to their Christian stance and that speaks volumes for people today.  I say again this nation is under judgement and possibly Theresa is one aspect of that.  She cannot be considered a gift to the nation!

Luckily there is nothing more to say so here is a picture from the exhibition.
No, I have no idea what it represents either...

Carnival 2017