They have a point …

Yes, I know it’s my third post of the day.

It is rare to find Sipu and Janus agreeing; it is almost miraculous for me to agree with both of them.   But on this occasion I have to say that they have a point.   Such a fundamental point that our honoured leader, Boadicea, might even consider it for inclusion in her site guidelines.   They have chimed a chord, they have struck the right note, they have sung in harmony.

“WTF”, I hear some of you cry, “is Bearsy on about?”
The rest of you might exclaim, with greater decorum, “My goodness!”

Let me ease you gently from those tenterhooks and explain.

S & J (or is it J & S) have recently concluded that the enjoyment of posting comes primarily from the writing; from that solitary feat of authorship.   Furthermore, they have jointly recognised that the success of a post is a matter to be judged by the author alone.

How liberating!   I heartily commend their philosophy. 😀

Yankee Chickens Panic at a drop of rain

When an area of Queensland larger than France and Germany put together was under water, did your image and video code still get corrected so that other Charioteers could view them?   Yes!

When our capital city was inundated under 30 metres of water, were your grammar mistakes and your typos still efficiently put right?   Yes!

When Boadicea and I sat for days and weeks under a metal roof pounded incessantly by tropical rainfall at six inches or more per hour, did the high quality of the Chariot degrade for even a minute? No!

When Cyclone Yasi thundered across our State, remaining at Category 1 for a thousand kilometres or more until it crossed the border with the Northern Territory, did we wimper?   No!

But when New York was threatened by no more than a tropical storm, the American nation reacted as though the Four Horsemen had teamed up with Al Qaeda to precipitate Ragnarök.   Certain cherished colleagues – Charioteers who inhabit the effete country and a timid canis lupus – so lost their intestinal fortitude as to suggest that grammar and punctuation were no longer important.   The editorial suite was shaken to its core.

A dose of stiff upper lip (from the Poms), and a laid back “She’ll be right” (from the Aussies) is what you guys need.   Forget punctuation?   “Tell ’em they’re dreaming” [The Castle, 1997].

Toby Harnden summed it up pretty well on the Telegraph.

No disrespect to LW, CO or OZ intended.   Well, not much, anyway. 🙂

One in the eye for the politically correct tossers

Radike Samo is a Fijian-born Rugby Union player; a bloody good one, too.

He plays for the Wallabies and was one of the try-scorers on Saturday when Australia won the Tri-Nations competition.

Two enthusiastic fans won airfares and tickets to the match from Qantas, a ‘condition’ of which was that they would dress up as their favourite team member.

So they did.   Qantas published a photo of them and were immediately attacked by the pc brigade for being racist.   Qantas apologised and removed the photo.

But hey, hang on a minute.   The tossers were well out of order, it seems, because Samo was tickled pink at what his fans had done; he was genuinely flattered.   Here’s what he said –

I don’t know what all the fuss is about. These guys were actually paying me a tribute.  It was a bit of fun and I think it was great they regard me as their favourite Wallaby.

I didn’t have an issue with it at all. I was glad to be in a photo with them, so I don’t know why anyone is getting worked up – that sort of reaction is just silly.

On This Day Forty-Two Years Ago.

L. Wattage and the late Mrs. Wattage wed barely two years before, left the UK for a life in Canada.  We stayed ten years, it seemed longer than that at the time (a single Canadian winter seems to last almost a lifetime).  Some recent work reminiscences have led me back to the slender dusty records of those distant days.

Continue reading “On This Day Forty-Two Years Ago.”

Who Am I – And What Didn’t I do?

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I’m sure that most of these faces are instantly reasonable. The main question is – what do these people have in common?

Araminta has the prize! They were all considered for the part of James Bond – and none of them actually starred in any of the films…

More information 

Continue reading “Who Am I – And What Didn’t I do?”

Drummed

I made a comment to FEEG earlier on Mr. Mackie’s post which included a clip of H.M. Royal Marines (who are undoubtedly the best in the military business) at the Embra tattoo and it set me thinking. A day or so ago the DT published an article on the World Air Guitar Championships. Why isn’t there one for air drummers?

I’ve always loved the drums, military or otherwise and play air drums on my steering wheel or pillow or armrest as the mood takes me – can’t do it to save my life as I have no natural rhythm (probably couldn’t be a Catholic either 🙂 ), but there have been some great drummers. Think Keith Moon or Mick Fleetwood, Nick Mason or Charlie Watts, but think of these too:

The late, great Cozy Powell

Continue reading “Drummed”

Germany ’48 – ’53 A Child’s Tale Part 3

At the time, I don’t suppose anyone ever thought that they were living through history, and just how important the Airlift would be to the free world! In 1997, I was staying in the Victory Services Club in London, prior to moving down to Wales. My stay coincided with the 50th Anniversary of the Berlin Airlift, many of the surviving aircrews were staying there as well. It was a very moving experience, talking to elderly men, who in their late teens, early twenties had flown those life saving supplies into Berlin! Continue reading “Germany ’48 – ’53 A Child’s Tale Part 3”

Germany ’48 – ’53 A Child’s Tale Part 2

My father did two postings in Berlin, one with his Regiment and one with another Corp, interspersed with a posting with back down the zone. It was whilst living in Berlin that I saw the results of war damage. Whole areas of Berlin were taken up with what us kids called the brickfields. These were acre upon acre of reclaimed bricks as far as the eye could see. The only people you saw working on them were women. In the two years since the end of the war the majority of the bombed out buildings had been taken down, but no rebuilding had started. Another thing that sticks in my memory is large signs on all the major roads stating that it was an offence for military vehicles not to stop and offer a lift to any service person in uniform. Life was very hard for the population. The German boys that I played with all looked very undernourished. If ever I had sweets or chocolate it was a real treat for them. It wasn’t all fun with the German kids though, both communities knew who had won the war! I had many a fight with them, sometimes we won the war, sometimes they did. I remember playing football with the local boys (even then it was England-v-Germany), I was the only one to have football boots. As children do, I grew out of them very quickly and gave them to one of the German boys. He was so emotional, he cried with gratitude. His father even came round to our house to thank us. I have to say, after that, my days of re-fighting the war were over! Continue reading “Germany ’48 – ’53 A Child’s Tale Part 2”

Cultural Experience

Today’s the day for my major immersion in the Edinburgh International Festival.

Obviously, I attend all Mrs M’s performances, although she has let me off ‘Daphnis & Cloe’ because I think that it is a total load of Boleros and because I have already watched the Proms performance this year on BBC 4. Got a good review but I still don’t relish Ravel. Continue reading “Cultural Experience”