Swedish Justice

This is Shrien and Anni Derwani. They were on honeymoon in South Africa when their cab was hijacked. He was ejected, she was abducted and later found murdered. Anni was a Swedish national, Shrien is British.

The cabbie was charged with murder, along with two accomplices, but he also implicated the groom, saying Shrien had paid them to kill his new wife.

South Africa has asked for him to be extradited. He was remanded, but later released on bail.

Compare this to the case of Julian Assange. Although governments have announced that lives would be put at risk through his Wikileaks, the worst that seems to have happened is the severe embarrassment of numerous government officials.

He has been accused of two sexual assaults in Sweden, and has been remanded pending extradition. Word is that the assaults are old news and were previously dismissed. Are Swedish strings being pulled?

Certainly Sweden is now trying to pull the strings of British justice. Assange has been granted bail by a British court, but Sweden has appealed, so he remains in jail.

A suspected murderer walks free. A suspected assailant stays banged up. Make sense to anyone out there?

New Lemur Species

"A new long-tongued, squirrel-sized species of lemur has been discovered in Madagascar, researchers report Monday.

The new creature doesn't have a species name yet, but is of the genus Phaner, otherwise known as fork-marked lemurs. These lemurs get their name from a black, Y-shaped line that starts above each eye and joins at the top of the head. The long-tongued species has a unique head-bobbing move that showed up in the flashlight beam as discoverers searched the treetops for a glimpse of the animal."

In fact, it was first spotted 15 years ago, but this year was the first time researchers have had the chance to go back and look for it properly.

I LOOOOOVE lemurs.

Chinese Chippendale

Wonderful episode. Bobby was never cleverer, nor more gorgeous.

Chinoiserie contains two of my favourite scenes from the whole of LOCI:

Not the X-Factor

Never watched it. Never want to. Don't know who won. Don't care.

But the V-Factor - now you're talking!

Say thank you again to Secret Santa who provided the pictures, and to the lucky people who took them.

As for the watermarks - if it's a choice between having the pictures with them, and not having the pictures at all, I'll take the pictures with them.

What a Naughtie Boy

On Monday morning, a much revered presenter on BBC Radio 4's flagship Today Programme, James Naughtie (pronounced "nockty") did an accidental spoonerism when talking about an upcoming interview with Jeremy Hunt, Culture Secretary. He fought bravely with his laughter while reading out the news headlines moments later, trying hard not to corpse.

It became something of a matter for debate. Some people complained, as if he'd done it on purpose.



Bizarrely, a little later that morning another eminent presenter, Andrew Marr, made the same mistake about the same politician. Then later still, someone else added an accidental "n" when talking about Government cuts.

Monday was a great day for ancient Anglo-Saxon!

A Day in the Garden

This fluffy boy keeps visiting my garden - mostly in the hope of catching a bird at my feeders. He belongs to a neighbour.

Mitzi likes to chase ginger boy away. The hens had a good rummage for insects. YouTube refused to recognise my video format, so I have no idea how this will display.

On The Defensive

Not keen on this episode. The perp needs a dominatrix to make him be a good boy and stop whining.

Quote of the Millennium

"iTunes? I organised it all with Steve Jobs".

By the only completely deluded and deranged Heather Mills.

A Warm, Comfortable Bed

The counters in my kitchen aren't used for much food preparation. Most of them contain cat beds. There are enough cat beds for each cat to have its own, and a few more on the table and chairs for good measure.

Nevertheless, multiple bed occupation is common. But it still surprises me when the bedmates are Jaspa and Beano.

When Beano was a tiny kitten, with ears bigger than his head, he once went to sleep on Jaspa's back without her noticing. I got a picture (sadly I have never scanned it in) before she woke up and had a hissy fit.

So you can imagine my surprise today when I saw this:

He's a bit big to fit along her back any more, in fact he really can't even fit in the same bed. But he's a cat, he's bound to try. Why she stayed put is more of a mysery. I mean, just look at the empty bed right next door!

A Gift From Santa

A kind wellwisher has found the pictures Diane posted on The Valentine Cat minus most of the watermarks and has donated them to the world of V-dom.

They are from 2004, and many have been seen before, but here's a small selection of some very cute ones.

The importance of December 8th

Today I walked past the site of the old Lewisham Odeon cinema, long since demolished to make way for a new road and a traffic roundabout.

In 1963, a mere 10 years old, I went along there with my older sister and her friend to see The Beatles live on stage. I thought I remembered that it was December 10th, so it seemed appropriate that I should pass it and remember the event today.


A quick check online, however, shows that I was mistaken, and the date of the concert was December 8th.

The thousands of screaming fans would never have been able to imagine that just 17 years later, on that very day, but in a very different kind of place, John Lennon would be murdered.

If only he'd stayed in the UK.

I took your advice

I found time today to go in search of a wireless mouse for my laptop. I chose a slightly dearer one than I needed simply because it felt most comfortable in my hand.

I'd forgotten how great it is to be able to scroll without the kind of problem you get with a laptop mouse. This one also has a few extra bells and whistles - for example, you can just click a button to go backwards or forwards, and you can also programme those buttons to do other things if you prefer.

So thanks, folks, for encouraging me to take this step. I'm already feeling more chilled because I don't have to keep going back to do things again.

Classic Bobby

Another episode that we all seem to love (as long as SWMNBN is edited out for Diane!)

It's all right, Diane, she's old Heart-in-a-Box now, you can relax!



















Oh, look, the index finger's longer than the ring finger!So the danger from prostate cancer's reduced, and we know the testosterone levels are OK!





Invisible cigarette lighter.