Guess how I spent my birthday?

Jae Jae was separated from Melati when I first arrived. He was where Melati had been last week.

 

 

He was spending the time chomping on a bone.

 

 

 

Melati was in the place that last week had been Jae Jae's domain. She was very relaxed.

 

 

 

Suddenly she became more alert.

 

 

 

They'd opened up the whole enclosure, and Jae Jae was looking for a chance to sneak up on his girl. But he had to content himself with waiting, wondering and dreaming.

 

Once a landmark birthday...

...now 60 is just another year older.

Time was I would have started to collect my old age pension today. I understand the need for fairness by equalising men's and women's retirement ages - but I'd always assumed they'd bring the men's age down as well as raising the women's.

I was in my 50s when they decided to raise the women's. We were assured that women already in their 50s would not be affected. They lied.

They recently changed it again so that my friend, whose birthday is not till July, instead of retiring in September, has to wait till next March.

On the plus side for her, she will receive the new higher flat rate pension, while I will miss it by days. My male school friends will be similarly recompensed.

Meanwhile, the retirement age for all will eventually rise to 67. And there are mutterings that it will one day in the not too distant future rise to 70.

This is because we are all living much longer. For now.

Bad luck for those who don't. Bad luck for those in hard physical jobs who just can't do them any more. Bad luck for those with problems that restrict their ability to continue to work, or cause them to collapse in exhaustion at the end of a challenging day. (Try teaching 30 of other people's recalcitrant children in your late 60s. There will be a lot of teachers - the group I know most about - dying before they even draw their pensions.)

And bad luck for any young person who thought the very high unemployment rate among under-25s was likely to reduce any time soon. Sorry. The oldies are going to be stuck ahead of you for years to come. Whether they want to, or are capable of it, or not.

Well at least I can get free prescriptions now, and travel around London for free.

Whitney

By special request.

Sadly, Botophucket, that amazingly incompetent photo site, has decided to rearrange my pictures in an order which is only non-random to them ie. 1, 10, 100; 18, 180 etc. The option to see the whole album has disappeared, with no alternative. And they also fail completely to answer any contacts.

Arseholes.

Final Olee for now

Love that shoulder.

Tiger Territory

At last! Today was the big day - the preview day for London Zoo members to see the new tigers in their new territory. It didn't disappoint.

Unlike Photobucket, which has repeatedly failed to upload my pictures so I can make a slideshow. They don't answer queries any more, either, now they've imposed their new system on those who did not want it.

So here are some pictures direct from my computer, smaller than I would like, but lovely nonetheless.

There's a tiger-sized climbing frame.

 

   And a nice new pond.

 

Jae Jae seems to be master of all he surveys

Inside and out

 

But Melati has other ideas.

 

Fed up with sleeping...

 

...she remembers seeing Jae Jae off earlier.

 

And now she's arrived he's made a total retreat

and is nowhere to be seen.

 

Olee Again

I just can't resist him. But you might have to do without him for a few days while I get my breath back. I just did a couple of concerts as well as going to work, not to mention failing completely to find time to do any shopping, so it's catching up on sleep and chores now for a few days.

Two's not enough either

I could go on like this forever.

Jaspa's 19th

Today is my pretty Jaspa cat's 19th birthday.

She got her name because I wanted to call her "sister" (who died just after Christmas) Amber. And I thought she was a he. So she started out as Jasper, even through her vaccinations, till the vet had to newter her, and got a surprise. As did I.

Apart from a couple of wasp stings when she was a kitten, and a dental or two, Jaspa has been the model of health. She is very slightly built, she's not fond of cuddles, but is mellowing into snugglabilty with me and one or two of the other cats.

I think of Jaspa as a relative of the aliens UFO lovers call "Greys, because she has a tiny face with great big eyes. Not much room for brains, I guess, but LOTS of beauty.

Because...

...One picture of Olee was never going to be enough.

Good Luck?

The best! Best luck, favourite VDO film, fave character. OLEE!!

Impostor

Major Hathaway - a rare example Of a good baddie, or a bad goodie?

Quick Quiz

What do the Pope, Muslim fundamentalists and the Christian right have in common?

They all want to control women's rights to control their own bodies.

I am SICK of the constant barrage of news about this new pope business. I do not care. Britain is barely a Christian country any more, and disestablished the Catholic church centuries ago.

I do not want to listen to people prattling on about their imaginary friends. Jesus was a real live character from history. He might have been good. That's it.

Religion has caused more deaths in the history of the world than just about anything else other than disease and old age. People, grow up. You don't need a supernatural being to explain the world.

The end.

Imaginary Crimes

And real dimension difficulties! Sorry, Mr Webster. Can I have my physical chastisement now?

Snow over Britain

No, not that sort of snow. Though we have had plenty of that in the last few days.

I'm talking about the Snow family.

There's broadcaster and newsreader Jon Snow, who seems to have been a fixture on our screens forever.

Then there's his cousin Peter Snow, renowned for leaping about on out TV screens, especially at election times.

But Peter's son Dan is making quite an impression these days. He looks just like his father, wounds like him too. He's a history man, and was most recently on our screens from Syria in a documentary about the phenomenal history of the place. Brave man.

Quite a hunk too (though a bit young), a big gangly man like his father, at a mere 6'6".

The family legacy is assured.

Household Saints

All hot and sweaty...

Hotel Paradise

Who could resist the Naked Stranger? Even the snake couldn't.

Naked Tango

Not naked enough.

Roro Your Boat

Cross Channel ferries are known as roro ferries, short for "roll on roll off". They have a very large capacity, with multiple vehicle decks and lounges and restaurants in several places. The bow doors open wide to allow vehicles on and off with maximum speed.

Sadly, on the night of March 6th 1987 the maximum speed was downwards as the ship sailed with the bow doors wide open.

She capsized really quickly as the rising waters swooshed the vehicles about and destabilised the vessel further. The only reason no more that 193 people died in the cold waters was that the Herald of Free Enterprise was over a sandbank and very close to the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium.

 

You can see the wide open bow doors.

The Herald and her sister ships originally operated on the Dover to Calais (France) route, and I had taken students on them for day trips to France when I was a French teacher. It all felt really close to home. I still shudder when I think about it.

Feeling Minnesota

One of Vincent's many characters called Sam. Unexpectedly cute.

FMJ

Poor Private Pyle, while he's still innocent.

Orson Around Again

This time we got the voice too.

And a unique view.

First Turn On

Turns you off.

Poor old Lobotomy.

Sexy Sam

Who would ever choose the skeleton over him?

Moriarty

Deliciously devilish.

Awesome Orson

Born to be Wells.

A Non-V Movie

Yesterday I went to see Life of Pi. I suppose given the tiger content it was predictable that I would. But I knew animals were going to come to grief, so I'd been resisting. I decided not to read the book for the same reasons.

But the pressure from others became too great, so when the opportunity arose, I took it.

Certainly some of the 3D special effects were staggering, but I found I got used to the 3d-ness fairly quickly, and the glasses, on top of my own, were quite uncomfortable and very heavy. I don't mind not seeing any more 3D films for a while!

On balance I enjoyed it, though. And the young actor playing Pi gave a real tour-de-force performance, completely carrying the movie. He should be getting all sorts of awards.

Father Casey

Hottest priest EVER.

Gordon

Gorgeous.

Charley

Beautiful, sad, sexy.

Elton

Beautiful, sad, sexy.

As you "axed" me...

A clearer view of the axe in Vincent's character's chest:

Fire With FIre - Epilogue

The End.

Well, there is some more film, but no more Vincent.

Fire With Fire 10

Axe in the chest, anyone?

The London Underground Map

Anyone who's braved the London Underground will be familiar with the underground map. It's stylish and geometric, but it bears no resemblance to the geography above. This wasn't always the case. At first, the tube map was as if superimposed ona a map of central London, just like the Paris Metro.

In 1931 a man called Harry Beck started to play around with the map, and though there have been departures in between, his basic idea of using no angle less than 45 degrees persists, making this huge, complex and still expanding network comprehensible in a way that spaghetti on a street map would not.

I'm hoping it will get bigger if you click on it...

Tit, Tit, Hooray!

Today I went to the hospital breast clinic to enquire about having my boobs reduced. Since many of those waiting were fearful of cancer diagnoses, I was feeling fortunate. By the time I left I was smiling.

There would not be days in hospital, just an overnight stay, and no need for immobility, just a firm sports-style bra.

To get this done under the NHS you must first convince the specialist that it is needed for health reasons (just ask my shoulders, they'll convince anyone!) This doctor was not difficult to convince.

But the system to pay for this has changed. It used to be a Primary Care Trust that had to agree, and they often declined because it is usually seen as a cosmetic procedure. Now GPs hold the funds, and as my GP referred me, I can't imagine I'll be turned down. I hope.

Being as my nipples have, as the doctor said, "gone south" they will have to be repositioned, and there may be some resultant necrosis. (Hell, leave the bastards off altogether for all I care!)

The closest I could find of a likeness to my own boobs online was the "before" picture below, though mine are bigger. I hope the "after" will be even smaller - B cup, maybe?

Fire With Fire 9

Here comes the Fire.