Now that’s what I call a jackpot!

I’ve just read in Le Figaro that a lady from Antibes  won over four and a half million euros on a slot-machine in the casino La Sieste at Antibes yesterday afternoon.  Apparently there is a system now linking the slot machines of various casinos in the same group and this is not the first multi-million euro jackpot.  I presume it didn’t cascade all over the lady’s feet.

I’ve never been into that casino.  In fact the only time we have ventured into such a place was at San Remo.  We wanted to see the James Bond type glamour.  The only part of the casino open at that time was the slot-machine room, a dark, dingy, stuffy place, decorated in shades of brown.  Husband got out his camera to record the total lack of glamour and immediately a couple of heavies appeared and requested that he desist.  They then escorted us off the premises. The children think it highly amusing that Mum and Dad got thrown out of a casino, as if we were about to break the bank or something. I found out later that there was an underworld dispute over control of various casinos along the Italian Riviera, so perhaps we were thought to be spies for the opposition.

Perhaps next time we’re in Monaco I’ll fight my way through the Ferraris and Lamborghinis in Casino Square to see if the atmosphere in that casino is any pleasanter.

Zoot tunes

There’s a young man lives up the road that every night plays his saxophone. Silhouetted behind the curtain, the notes are pleasant enough. While admitting that jazz is not my scene, I’ve always admired the sax solos of the late, great Clarence Clemons of E-Street band fame. Having never met a sax player before, a chance meeting in the street got me acquainted with my neighbour. He told me playing the sax is his job. Continue reading “Zoot tunes”

A Framework of Thought

There are several vital differences between totalitarianism and all the orthodoxies of the past, either in Europe or in the East. The most important is that the orthodoxies of the past did not change, or at least did not change rapidly. In medieval Europe the Church dictated what you should believe, but at least it allowed you to retain the same beliefs from birth to death. It did not tell you to believe one thing on Monday and another on Tuesday. And the same is more or less true of any orthodox Christian, Hindu, Buddhist or Muslim today. In a sense his thoughts are circumscribed, but he passed his whole life within the same framework of thought. His emotions are not tampered with.

Now, with totalitarianism, exactly the opposite is true. The peculiarity of the totalitarian state is that though it controls thought, it does not fix it. It sets up unquestionable dogmas, and it alters them from day to day. It needs the dogmas, because it needs absolute obedience from its subjects, but cannot avoid the changes, which are dictated by the needs of power politics. It declared itself infallible, and at the same time it attacks the very concept of objective truth.
 George Orwell

Continue reading “A Framework of Thought”

This man has trashed Australia


This greedy, self-centred Irish gobshite (a word I hate, but nothing else is appropriate) has singlehandedly trashed the image of Australia around the world, playing havoc with our economy and ensuring that the airline that we were once proud to describe as an Australian icon will inexorably lose money and morph into another low service, poor safety Asian also-ran.

He ignored his customers, stranding some 80,000 of them around the globe.

Last year he took home $11 million as his salary plus bonus, but his declared objective is to get round Australia’s strong employment laws so that he can pay his employees Asian sweatshop wages.

He is a scrote.

Thank goodness that even Juliar had sufficient balls to (indirectly) order Qantas back into the air.

Competition links

Just a quick reminder, in case anyone has missed the carefully placed competition links on the right of the page:

SHORT STORY
the closing date for the short story competition is 31st October, UK midnight.

“The short story should be posted as a separate blog and linked to the one in the link above.
It should be up to 2000 words long on the theme of ‘wedding.’
The first scene will start with two people in a room. There’s a key on the table. During the story you should include the words ‘football’ and ‘armchair’.”

PHOTOGRAPHY
The deadline is Friday November 4th at midnight UK time.

“The photo competition this time is on perspectives… in particular the vanishing point of parallel lines, or the vanishing point of a river or road, or anything where the vanishing point is shown, maybe on a smaller scale …. you get the picture? See what I’m after? Please post your photos in comments on the original post . Thank you!”

In the Bleak Mid Winter: October Short Story

She sits in the armchair smoothing the worn fabric. There is an old key on the table. She focuses on the key, clears her mind of grief and allows the happiness to surface and grow like a flame. On this special anniversary, she is weaving magic in the moonlight, plaiting strands of memory to bring them back to her.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, my darling. Don’t be late!”  He smiles, play growls, and kisses her enthusiastically.

She watches him walk to the car and waves as he drives off.  After she has locked the front door and put the key back on the table, she makes a fuss of Jed, tops up his water and climbs the stairs to bed.

 Beyond the kissing gate, the gravestones are rimed with frost, glinting in the sunlight. Her dog looks handsome this morning, sporting a red kerchief and making the best of it. He would rather be about other business, but he keeps pace with her careful steps along the silver path, towards the church door.

Her bridegroom whispers, “You look beautiful, Mary, just like a snow queen.”

Continue reading “In the Bleak Mid Winter: October Short Story”

All at Sea

I had planned a blog about a local event that is usually well worth a visit and in preparation I moved the boat about 60 miles on Friday, about 30 miles on the Bay and 28 miles up the Chester river to Chestertown, Maryland, an interesting little town of some character. The event is the annual Downrigging Weekend which marks the end of the working season for many sailboats, the event attracts a large number of original and replica sailing craft, ranging in history from The Kalmar Nyckel a replica of the ship that established the first Swedish settlement in what was to become Delaware in 1636 through the Schooner Elf built in the 1880’s and still afloat. My personal favorite and a winter resident of Chestertown is the schooner Sultana a replica of a colonial revenue cutter built ten years ago from original lines taken off the ship when she was bought by the Royal Navy in about 1770.

We got in late on Friday and anchored opposite the Chestertown waterfront in time to see the firework display.  After that things got dark and interesting (well it is close to Halloween). A gale of wind and heavy rain descended, forcing the few of us who were anchored out to seek out the more sheltered local creeks to ride out the storm.  Saturday came slowly, bringing with it gale force winds and driving SNOW.  So far all the Saturday events have been cancelled together with my plan to take lots of good pictures of the various ships under sail.  The forecast looks none too rosy for tomorrow either but we will hang here in this creek and see what happens. More later.