Reverse Robin Hood

You have to hand it to our wonderful Government - they insist we are "all in this together" (ie. the recession) in spite of evidence to the contrary - and only evidence to the contary.

Last week our 12-year-old Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, announced a tremendously fair budget, in which the highest tax rate was reduced, giving a bonus to high earners (like himself and his fellow cabinet members), but froze the additional allowance to pensioners with a view to phasing it out.

It's true that he is increasing personal tax allowances next year, but the intermediate tax rate, which kicks in at a surprisingly small income, will be paid on an even smaller income.

Public servants such as social workers, teachers, nurses, doctors, etc, are going to have to retire later. We must pay more for a smaller pension for when we do manage to get old and decrepit enough to retire, and when we get there, we have to pay more tax on it.

Meanwhile, the rich can pay a quarter of a million pounds to influence policy and have a private dinner with our Prime Minister (which the tax payer will pay for).

Before they were elected, this bunch said they would be the "greenest government ever", and they proved this in the budget by giving huge sums to the oil and gas industries, while freezing funding for renewables.

They didn't have any policy on destroying or privatising the National Health Service either, but they've gone ahead with doing so despite huge protests from the public and from health professionals. After all, what do we know?

How do you know a politician is lying? He's speaking.

Untethered - Day 9

Thinks: "Where did this brick come from?"

Untethered - Day 8

Gratuitous butt shot.

Bargain!

Anyone in the UK with a branch of The Works near them who doesn't yet have Fires Within can get a reall bargain - it's on sale there for just £2.99 (2 for £5 if they have another film you fancy).

Untethered - Day 7

Bobby does his naughty little boy act. I suppose he didn't get much chance to do it when he really was a little boy.

The Importance of Being Furry

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten to give you the latest lion cub update.

With a 2-hour wait to get as far as to buy a ticket for the Hockney exhibition yesterday, my friend and I voted with our feet and went to check up on the girls:



Dad's scruffy mane is just visible behind them.

Meanwhile, little Mitzi has taken a shine to the toaster as a place to, well get toasty on chilly mornings. Or warm ones.



Fur on toast, anyone?

Most Perfect Piece of Music Ever?

It'a sublime. It speaks directly to your soul and your intellect. It satisfies every part of your mind and being. It calms the savage beast (OK, maybe that should be breast). Does anyone know a more perfect piece of music than the overture to Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro?

If you are unfortunate enough to have lived to your present age without ever having heard it, feast your ears. I'd wager you won't regret it.

And when you've feasted on every perfect note - try to imagine playing it!

Untethered - Day 6

I can't help thinking that after this outburst, Bobby was lucky Ross came to his rescue later on!

Civilisation - Gone in the Teeth

Remember Anti-Thesis?

Who could forget Bobby's first encounter with SWMNBN/Old Heart-in-a-box?

Then there's the confusion of Mark Bailey between Ezra Pound and T.S.Eliot that led the detectives to his door.

I'm sure that, like me, you've heard Bobby make the quote so many times it's permanently etched on your brains.

Well, it wouldn't have been if you'd only ever seen it pre-9pm on Universal Channel UK. Their ridiculous policy of blanking out words they think might be offensive has surpassed itself. And all because a). they have extremely dirty minds that see rude language where there is none and b). they are extremely ignorant of the English language.

Thus, this evening, I heard "Civilisation................gone in the teeth" where I should have heard "Civilisation - and old bitch gone in the teeth". Every time.



Obviously these idiot half-wits think that the word "bitch" is simply a swear word. They do not know that it has the perfectly legitimate meaning of a female dog.

It's a pity that they did this the day after reminding viewers of Bobby's top L&O detective award last year, on the same day they replied to my January (yes, it took them 2 months) email about Season 10 in which I mentioned the award. I feel I inspired the mention.

I just hope that now I can inspire a bit more common sense when it comes to removing what their dirty little minds regard as vulgarity and swearing.

Untethered - Day 5

Bobby looks distraught when he finds out the cause of the vulnerable inmate's death.

Birthday Girl

When I got Jaspa I identified her as a him, and called her Jasper. The vet had already given her a complete set of jabs before noticing, when she went in to be neutered, that she was a girl.

This is not a particularly recent picture of her (making herself at home in a drawer where there was a bag of catnip) but she still looks as trim and beautiful as she ever did.

Her birthday is my estimate of when she must have been born - 18 years ago. What a gorgeous old girl.

Untethered - Day 4

Bobby is so pleased to find he has a nephew.

Untethered - Day 3

There's those hands again.

Would someone help me understand why Frank would have kept their mother's ring and not sold it to get dope? He missed the funeral after all, so it wasn't for sentimental reasons.

That's Showbiz

Those of us who have reached a certain age will remember this lovely lady, a 1950s female crooner.
Others still will recognise her looking more like this, from her appearances on ER as a woman with dementia.

They may even know that she was married to this man (apparently, twice).

They are less likely to know that this man is their son.

He is Miguel Ferrer, actor, whom I was surprised to see turn up in NCIS Los Angeles this week. Looks a lot like his father, doesn't he? His father Jose Ferrer. Not good looking like his mother, Rosemary Clooney. Nor his uncle, Nick Clooney.

And certainly not like Nick's son, Rosemary's nephew, Miguel's cousin:

Yes, in case you hadn't put it together before, he is George Clooney's cousin.

George is pictured here with his father after his arrest for daring to be on the steps of the Sudanese embassy trying to prevent another humanitarian crisis in Sudan. And just a couple of days after dining with Obama and Cameron, and having Obama's ear in a private meeting about the Sudan situation.

How dare he defy the police like that? What's a few more deaths in Africa as long as they get to throw their weight around?

He may not be as sexy as our Vincent, but Clooney is an all-round good bloke.

Untethered - Day 2

Bobby's always got his brother's number, no matter how Frank tries to twist things. No wonder he gets angry with him.

Spare £9 million anyone?

St Cuthbert was the Bishop of Lindisfarne (Holy Island) in the 7th century, where he was buried after his death. Eleven years after his death his casket was opened to reveal his remains intact. This led to the movement to canonise him.

When the Danes invaded Lindisfarne in the 9th century, the monks took Cuthbert's remains across to the mainland, where they wandered for some years. Ultimately, in the 11th century, a new cathedral was built to house his shrine.

Sr Cuthbert's Cathedral, Durham

When his remains were transferred into his new shrine, this copy of St John's Gospel was found with his body:

The St Cuthbert Gospel ended up in the hands of the Jesuits after passing around various private owners following the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII in the 16th century. Thought to be the oldest European book still in existence, it has been on long loan to the British Library for many years, and has now been offered to them for a coll £9 million. It will then be displayed half of every year at the Library, half at the Cathedral.

Good to know religious groups are so generous. It would be so inappropriate for them to make money out of something holy...

Untethered - Day 1

Wonder what Bobby did with that brick between buying it off the homeless guy and using it to smash the car showroom window? Why would he even keep it when he had no idea he'd have a use for it?

iPad update

The video on my iPad post has been removed from YouTube, and I've replaced it there, and am posting it here as well for those who have not had the pleasure.

Sad Centenary

It's a hundred years ago today since Captain Lawrence Oates uttered the famous words, "I'm going outside and may be some time." He then went out into a blizzard from the tent on the Scott team's return from the Antarctic, thinking that sacrificing his own life might save the rest of the team. He had severe frostbite and knew he was slowing them down.

Sadly, as history relates, no one survived the expedition. But Captain Oates's courage, recorded by Scott in his journal which was later found with the rest of the team's bodies, will be remembered for as long as their are people to remember it. Oates's body was never found.

Self-Made - Day 12

It's been said before...Charley still has some anger issues with his father!

New Use for iPad + World's Worst Promotion

In case you haven't seen this, enjoy a humorous alternative to using modern technology:



There's also the funniest ever instore promotion doing the rounds, giving one possible reason why Tesco, Britain's most profitable supermarket, isn't doing as well as it was:

Self-Made - Day 11

That lucky book gets to rest in those hands on that lap.

Self-Made - Day 10

Just another excuse for a perfect picture.

Self-Made - Day 9

Bobby enjoys taunting as much as we enjoy watching him taunt.

Self-Made - Day 8

Lots of strong-arm stuff in this episode. Just as well Bobby has really strong arms.

Self-Made - Day 7

That expression speaks to me. You too? What does it say?

Self-Made - Day 6

Bobby looks like a naughty boy who's just been told off. I can think of some good ways to "discipline" him.

Who got the insurance money?

I've often wondered what happened to the insurance policy Declan took out on Frank with William Brady as the beneficiary.

Obviously, if Bobby had killed his brother, the policy would have been null and void. But he didn't.

There is no William Brady to inherit - but as Frank's only relative (assuming Donny wasn't eligible) surely Bobby should have inherited the money? But would he have wanted to touch what he must have seen as blood money, even though his financial situation was so dire?



Does anyone know the answer to the actuarial problem? Should we get his penpal on to it?

Self-Made - Day 5

I can think of better things he could use that mouth for. And those hands...

Self-Made - Day 4

Unfair! That should be me!

Zoo Baby

The lion cubs were around today, sleepy at first, then very naughty, driving their mother to near infanticide! Unfortunately they were doing this in a part of their enclosure behind a small mesh that made filming and photographing them pointless.

But the meerkats have had another addition to their group, just one baby on its own, just over a month old. Sadly, soon to be a meerkat without the end of its tail, if my eyes don't deceive me.

There were some Keeper-for-a-Day people throwing them some food, and the littl'un chased around trying to get mealworms ahead of the adults. It got a few, too.

Self-Made - Day 3

I love his big swagger. Among other things...

Blubbing for Britain

I cry very easily. I cry at sad stuff, at heart-warming stuff, at happy stuff. I choke up. I can hardly speak.

Take today. I found a wallet in the supermarket car park as I was on my way inside to do my "big shop". I waited at the Customer Service desk for an assistant to be free. She looked inside and found a name. It took her a while to register that it was the name of an employee (there are hundreds of them, it's a huge store) but they couldn't find him. I went off to do some shopping, but a vew minutes later they called my name over the tannoy.

They'd located him, and there was this young disabled man who walks with the aid of crutches. He hadn't even known his wallet was missing. He thanked me, but I was the one who was grateful. Grateful he hadn't been distresseed, glad he hadn't been deprived of his valuables. I could hardly speak 'cos I would have given my emotional state away.

I went for years without crying at all. I wonder why I didn't then, and I do now.

Self-Made - Day 2

A smell Bobby can recognise.

20 Years ago today - my first pet bereavement

When I was a child, we had pets that died. But Biggles was the first of my own pets to die.

He was not my first cat. That was Puddy, who was several years older than Biggles, but outlived him by 3 months.
Biggles was the kitten of a pregnant stray I took in for my mother. She was adopted by a neighbour, who called her Glenda, and had four sweeties under his bed. My then husband and I adopted Biggles, named after a fictional flying ace. He was born on 11th August 1976.

He was a little so-and-so from the start, constantly tormenting Puddy, who never became accustomed to him. He was also incredibly affectionate.

He developed kidney disease in his early teens, and was successfully treated with steroids. But these were not as effective as present-day treatments, and 18 months on, at the age of only 14-and-a-half, I had to have him put to sleep.

Biggles was wonderful, and losing him broke my heart. Shortly after losing him, and before Puddy died, I took on Shelley (who died in 2010 aged 19 years 5 months) and his brother Byron (who dies aged 5 after an unknown accident). Since Puddy's death I have always had at least 2 cats, and aside from the original 4, I still have them all, two aged 18, two nearly 16, one almost 15 and a nearly-14-year-old.

They really are like a family to me.

Self-Made - Day 1

Bobby's on to something. Pity's it's not me...

Depths - Day 12

The whole series of pictures this comes from is irresistible, but this one of his neck just spoke to me.

Depths - Day 11

Behind you!

Perfection

While fiddling around on my old laptop yesterday I found this equally old video I made. Top man, top pictures, top music.

Depths - Day 10

Looking handsome and mysterious in the semi-shade.

A Smaller Bigger Picture

I've gone on at length recently about the Hockney exhibition. I've done my best to explain my fascination and enjoyment, but nothing could equal experiencing it for yourselves.

The closest I could get to this was pulling a clip from the latest TV programme. After copying it from my satellite TV box on to my DVD recorder's hard drive, then copying it on to DVD, the next route was to rip it from the DVD on to my computer.

Sadly, I never got round to putting my DVD ripping software on to this computer, so I decided it would be quicker to use an older laptop. WRONG!

It's so long since I used it, everything needed updating, and all the updates took forever. Meanwhile, the film, which was in widescreen at almost every stage, played on the computer, and ripped, as standard screen, which doesn't give the visuals their due.

Well, here is the best I could manage. It shows how intelligently Hockney talks about art - his own and art in general. He is articulate and eloquent, and what he says is truly eye-opening. I'm a complete convert.

Depths - Day 9

Talk to the hand.

Thanks, Bobby, but I'd rather suck the fingers...

Wednesday Ratings

This came up on a Google alert. I thought I'd share it with you.

Channel 4's 10 O'Clock Live was watched by a total of 1.1 million viewers, a 6% share, between 10pm and 10.55pm. (This is a topical comedy show with some well-loved comedians.)

It had the better of BBC2 sitcom Roger and Val Have Just Got In, which had 700,000 viewers (3.5%) between 10pm and 10.30pm, including 38,000 viewers on BBC HD. (A comedy show starring Alfred Molina. Looks like another miss, Alfie.)

And the winner in this time slot is:
Channel 5's Law and Order: Criminal Intent, had 1.2 million viewers (6.7%) between 10pm and 10.55pm. (Some US cop show or other...)

Depths - Day 8

Now this picture I immediately recognise the attractions of...

Bigger, Better, Louder

As my student Alex has gone to spend a few days in respite care (and strangely didn't want me to take his school work there...) I took some of his paperwork into the hospital school today to file it.

A couple of years ago I did a post about the hospital school and the children's hospital where it's housed (sort of). It has a huge glass atrium where the school was inserted with no walls, no ceiling, glaring sunlight, heat in summer, cold in winter and voices echoing all round you and leaving you with a headache. The architects and engineers did such a good job of this abomination that six years after the building opened they are installing internal scaffolding so that they can replace the glass, which it seems is not safe. So now the heat is even worse because the school area is boxed in, and the noise is unbearable. Imagine being in a box with someone banging scaffolding together around you. Once I had finished, I intended to try and get some science DVDs for Alex's schooling. I was unsuccessful. But my long trek (seemed like about 3 million miles, but it was probably only a round trip of 5 or 6) took me close to the Royal Academy of Arts, so I decided to see if I could get in to see the Hockney exhibition.

Wow! It was stunning. Even with my legs dropping off, I spent an hour-and-a-half taking it all in. It was much better than the Leonardo exhibition, because real thought had been put into how to group and display the pictures. I suppose it helps that the artist is still alive to supervise.

The landscapes date back over his career back to the 1950s, with a substantial number done recently specifically for the exhibition. There are oils, b/w sketches, watercolours and TA-DA! pictures done on the iPad. There are slideshows of them on several machines, and there are huge, multi-page printouts. I wish I had an App for that...

Of course, the crowning glory of the exhibition was the filmshow. Hockney had supervised the editing together of his nine-camera films so that 18 frames were showing at once, with the same scene filmed at different times on either side. There were audible gasps as one pair of films moved into the next.

Most people were awed into silence as they watched. It was a really peaceful and calming experience.

Except for the man next to me with his audioguide on (why?) and loud enough for me to have to suffer it too.

And the woman who took a phone call. The ringtone was not enough. Her side of the conversation was not enough. She had to make sure I could hear the other half too.

And the man who felt obliged to explain every set to his wife. Obviously she was stupid and he was so brilliant he had to give her - and the rest of us ignoramuses - the benefit of his genius.

And the women who held a loud conversation, most of it nothing to do with what was on show, and who weren't even looking at the screen. My contribution was to ask them equally loudly to take their conversation outside.

What is wrong with people? Why can't they relax and enjoy having something so wonderful just wash over them?

Depths - Day 7

Doesn't he just glow?

Depths - Day 6

Truly stubblicious.

Depths - Day 5

Can anyone explain to me why this shot makes me feel all peculiar?

Depths - Day 4

Pitying the poor sucker of an ex-husband.