A walk this afternoon: briskly striding around the village with Cycloman. I want to be with him. On Monday I had news of a friend who died, leaving his wife and family and the sadness of it all is with me.
I see a red rose: in January, is this the last rose of 2011 or the first of 2012? The sun is already going down at about half past three and alters the colour of the photograph. There were three roses on this briar.
Cherished readers from other climes may not fully appreciate the delicacy of this. But it is with some trepidation that I dare to post on the topic of North Britain because a wrong word might lead to a punch-up – or even worse, a Glasgow kiss.
You see the Independent Tendency north of the Border (or perhaps north of Hadrian’s Wall) fancy going it alone in the new, globalised environment. But mine not to reason why they choose now as opposed to some future time when there might just be enough wonga about to pay for it all. They want a referendum in 2014, 700 years after the Battle of Bannockburn, which history records was a defeat for the English. A fitting date, they aver. Continue reading “Be careful what you wish for”
My first trip out to Oz, some 25 years ago was so exciting! I flew Garuda Airlines which, I later realised, flew the ‘long way’ round. We stopped just about everywhere it was possible to stop… and included a one night stop-over in Bali.
There was a group of Glaswegians on the flight – who had enjoyed the ‘free’ alcohol so much that by the time we landed in Abu Dhabi they were, quite literally, on their knees. It was my first encounter with heavily armed security guards and I really did not like the way they looked at my fellow Brits who were crawling around the floor shouting to know where the airport bar was . I loved the airport: small but magnificent with its mosaic water spout. And I was even more impressed with how little I had to pay for three gold bracelets. Continue reading “Here I Go Again!”
* SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee.
South Africa has a competitor at The Winter Youth Olympics currently on the go in Innsbruck. Surprised? Me too!
16 year old Sive Speelman, an ‘Alpine skier’ is participating in 4 events.
The athlete is currently there with his coach.
In addition to the coach, Sascoc have sent a 4 person support team, which includes Sascoc CEO Tubby Reddy, all flying business class (the athlete and coach flew economy) and no doubt staying in fancy hotels, using chauffeur driven vehicles and all the other essentials of an arduous ‘working trip.’
Not bad work if you can get it.
Sunday Times article here, editorial comment here and Mampara (fool) of the week award here
I have refrained from posting about the Perth Test, where both teams appear to be intent on snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, but I cannot resist pasting this extract from an article penned by Andrew Hughes in Cricinfo.
Talking about India’s selection for this match, he observes –
… experience leads me to suggest that the kind of team they will pick will be one that looks good on paper, sets off with purpose, gets within sniffing distance of the outskirts of victory, then wanders off to sit in a field making daisy chains before falling asleep under a bush.
While I’m here, how amusing that Sachin Tendulkar, usually known as “The Little Master”, is now being referred to in some Australian newspapers as “The Little Brat”, following his visible disbelief and subsequent hissy fit at his dismissal for lbw.
Sri Lankan umpire Kumar Dharmasena gave him out, and the DRS system – which cannot be used officially because the Indians refuse to accept it – clearly demonstrated that the umpire was right.
The Saffers continue to defeat Sri Lanka, I see, but only with 8 balls to spare in the latest ODI. Officially they won by five wickets, but squeaking in by the skin of their teeth sounds more appropriate to me. 😀
Today when I opened the curtains at about 8:45, I was greeted with white scenery. A hoar frost had covered everything and as the sun came up it made a wonderful sight. Soft yellowed light, long shadows. But no photos. I hadn’t had my first cup of tea.
Later, after Scout’s Judo run and a little light shopping we came back at about mid-day to find the little garden in our communal driveway still in shade and therefore still frosted.
Continue reading “January 14th – a brief nature report, for near Oxford, UK”
I like Cracked. Beyond funny as hell, they can be amazingly insightful. Sometimes the insights are obscured by the lulz, but sometimes they’re so clear that the only reaction can be ‘yeah, what s/he said’.
This is the latest, brand-spanking-new specimen of the latter category:
I don’t watch The Walking Dead, comics leave me indifferent, and I’ve always found Superman overrated and irritating. I’m a Star Wars fan, though, and that part says everything I could never have found the words to express myself.
Hot off the press. The latest technology that will save us all from man-made global warming!
Continue reading “We are saved!”
On Wednesday evening I returned from holiday in Germany and Denmark. One could include Luxembourg should one find that driving halfway through the country four times and stopping once for petrol as visiting. (Though, to be honest, Luxembourg is only roughly the size of an average English county) It was only a two-week visit, far too brief, but enough to get caught up with most people and visit a few sites.
As some time had passed since my last return visit to Germany the thought of how much would remain recognisable, how much would still make sense naturally came up. The answer was short in coming — home is home and home is, in my case, Germany. I had no difficult in finding my way around, no rough go in any form by the way of communicating with people. My German, despite showing an English influence in inflection and sentence structure, is still recognisably German and the word choice is strictly German. Moreover, I fit in quite well and did not stick out in the least — always reassuring when returning home.
Denmark was wonderful, of course. I was fortunate enough to be able to stay at an old friend’s flat which saved me a few quid, Copenhagen hotel prices considered. He took a few days off work to take me around, something which was much appreciated. The city of Copenhagen is beautiful. Not overwhelming, simply pleasant — a nice change from the exaggerated sense of self importance and convoluted grandeur of the USA or China.
We also went to Helsingør, site of Hamlet’s castle (Kronborg/Elisnore) and also an excellent place to see Sweden as well as a day-trip to the southern Jutland to visit another old acquaintance.
It was hard to return to the US, a country I’ve never come to accept as my own or have more than an indifferent acceptance of. Having to go through passport control 5 times was also a bit off-putting. My next trip across the Atlantic, in no more than a few years, will probably be one-way. Home is still home, my home is still Germany. My uncle, a director at the employment office, has already directed me in how to prepare for a job back home and what academic changes I should make.
To put it in a nutshell, I have had enough of gardening 5 acres! Hence with neither of us getting any younger we have decided to move into town. Not Bellingham, too full of liberals but Lynden full of fascists, ten miles up the road.
Boadicea's Chariot 
You must be logged in to post a comment.