The tree ~l~

To be present at a scoop is a newspaper man’s dream. My lucky strike has no photographic evidence because as I’ve said before it’s unsafe to prowl these woods with a camera; bushwhackers abound. Therefore, you’ll have to take my word for it that the following happened.

The remnants of Hurricane Katia battered our shores inflicting widespread travel disruption. Continue reading “The tree ~l~”

A Literary Quiz

Earlier this week, I came across a book called ‘Wrotten English’ which contained some interesting references to the literary world. Below is a list of rejected titles for some well known novels. Can you work out which they are?

  1. First Impressions – Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen – Ara, PG and Google, with objections by CO!
  2. Novel Without A Hero – Vanity Fair, W M Thackery  FEEG
  3. Two and Two Are Four – HArd Times, Charles Dickens – Araminta
  4. 1805 – War and Peace. Leo Tolstoy – Papaguniea
  5. The Body and Soul of Sue – Tess of the Durbervilles, Thomas Hardy – Araminta
  6. John Thomas and Lady Jane – D H Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover – Araminta
  7. Four Years of Struggle Against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice – Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf – Bearsy
  8. Ba! Ba! Black Sheep – Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell – Araminta
  9. Something That Happened – Of Mice and Men , John Steinbeck – Theroyalist
  10. Zounds, He Dies – Farewell My Lovely, Raymond Chandler, Araminta.
  11. The House of Faith – Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh – Araminta
  12. The Last Man in Europe – George Orwell’s 1984 – Araminta
  13. If Wishes Were Horses – From Here to Eternity, James Jones – Araminta
  14. The Kingdom by The Sea – Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov – Araminta.

Try not to Google if you can help it. I think it would be more fun to work it out. If it is necessary, I will provide the names of the authors, in a random manner, as a clue.

Thanks Soutie.  OK here are the missing authors:

James Jones
Thomas Hardy
Charles Dickens
Jane Austen
Vladimir Naobokov
John Steinbeck
Raymond Chandler
Evelyn Waugh
Margaret Mitchell

Thank you all.

I want one….

….although I expect is costs a bob or two to replace the batteries!

Toyota’s TMG EV P001, with an 100% electric powertrain and Jochen Krumbach at the wheel, has just set a new lap record of 7 minutes 47.794 seconds – that’s quicker than a 380 bhp Porsche 911 Carerra S.

Prior to the 29 August record run, TMG’s ambition had been to become the first electric vehicle to break the eight-minute barrier and this was achieved comfortably on a day when the notoriously changeable Nürburgring weather stayed fine, although track temperatures were relatively low.

Using two electric motors, the TMG electric powertrain has a top speed of 163 mph, which combined with 800Nm of torque enabled the TMG EV P001 to achieve impressive speeds on the challenging Nordschleife track.

The TMG EV P001 is based on a Radical chassis which was then modified by TMG and the new lap record was completed on road-legal tyres, using the complete Nordschleife track. Lap times were verified by independent observers.

Hypocrisy of the Western world

So we, in the “West”, try to spread democracy around the world, even to those that don’t want it. We invade other countries in the name of it and we kill and maim in the name of protecting the innocent citizens of countries run by dictators. And, if we can’t do it ourselves, we sell arms to less democratic countries to do it instead. After we have sold them a whole bunch of weapons, that is.

Now, I accept that economics and politics are intrinsically linked, but when I read in my newspaper yesterday about the Annual London Weapons Fair, I tutted and shook my head in resigned sadness. We will never achieve anything in this world, let alone peace and harmony, and we, the western world, are in my mind as bad as any “terrorist”, “islamic fundamentalist” or suicide bomber.

Where’s the moral high ground? And who decides to whom we can sell these evil products?. The F.O. has said that “export licences are under review since the Arab Spring”. That’s reassuring. I hope Paddy Ashdown is doing the review. Continue reading “Hypocrisy of the Western world”