Baby Days

You know that human babies do absolutely nothing for me. Animal babies, on the other hand, send me into paroxysms of delight.

As I was taking my friend to the zoo as a birthday treat, I was very happy to see that a new emperor tamarin had been born. The official photos showed the baby with its mother, but the last time there were babies, the female-only golden lion headed tamarin group had acted as nannies.

So it was again - but their movements were so fast it was almost impossible to get a clear picture. Even when the baby got off and moved about by itself, it was incredibly brave and swift for an animal only a couple of weeks old.

The emperors tried to get the baby back on several occasions, and one must wonder how the poor little creature manages to feed!

On the nanny's back you can just make out the white mouth of the baby where its moustache is beginning to develop.

The tiny tail of the baby can just be seen as it follows the nanny tamarin it's just left. Not as brave as it thought!

When I entered Tiger Territory I was immediately struck by the fact that the opening alongside Jae Jae's favourite perch was boarded over. I wondered if the purpose was to limit his view of something or somewhere, or to limit someone's view of him. Such as Melati.

Later he came down and got his daylight and fresh air through another opening:

I did see a glimpse of Melati through the closed gate to one part of the enclosure, but she was not able to access the outside.

Then I saw the pool where the baby was allowed by keepers to drown - and it was not only drained, but filled with chipped bark. Ding! Light bulb moment. Melati's pregnant! I couldn't find anyone to confirm this, though the girl in the gift shop did smile a lot and said they "were not supposed to say anything" (ie. there was something to tell...)

Well, it looks like this time they've decided to be a bit cleverer about any new arrival and its safety. My meeting with the boss man seems to have paid off. I'm sure there were many other people who made their opinions known, but I'm glad to have played my part.

Magnificat

I really dislike this episode in every possible way, including how tired our man was.

Mad Hops

Love it when Bobby's angry.

Legion

I guess I'm not alone in finding the scene in the recording studio hot and funny.

Honours Board

Working at my old school has certain advantages - for instance, every time I go up a certain staircase, I cannot help but see two of my three entries on the school's Honours Boards. When I first appeared, in 1969, 16-year-olds who had just passed five or more 'O' Level exams were included under the box containing 18-year-olds who had gained three or more 'A' Levels. But the numbers were getting so large that the hall would soon have been swamped with boards, so the following year only those with 'A' Levels were included, and that's where I am under the 1971 entry. You can see both in the first two columns, almost side by side in the top half of the board. Tried and failed to find a way to highlight it...

Sadly, I also have to look at the previous board where my bitch sister appears. Only once, though, 'cos she only got 2 'A' Levels.

Legacy

It may have been a crap season, but with looks like this our Bobby kept the interest up.

Apologies

Sorry, folks, I've already spent a couple of hours just getting my computer to do anything but freeze. I'm going to have to leave visiting you all for a day or two more.

Lady's Man

I can't believe they now use this man as the DA in SVU. He has creepy eyes, and cannot act his way out of them. Sorry, he's perp material, not the stuff good guys are made of.

Unlike our beloved.

Jones

Anyone out there who does not list this among their favourites?

In The Wee Small Hours

Outstanding episode. Meaningful look. Bobby's not happy. But he is gorgeous.

1950s Childhood

When the hideously low-class Rab C. Nesbitt decided on TV this holiday to become Rab In Hoodie, we were treated to the iconic opening of the 1950s children's TV series The Adventures of Robin Hood.

Ah, memories:

Comfy Snuggles

My sweet silver Jaspa, who will be 20 in March, snuggles up with her sometime foe Dandy, who is 17-and-a-half.

Bless.

In The Dark

Yuck. Very unpleasant episode. Stone baby syndrome indeed.

But then we do get Bobby "in the dark".

Nothing New

But how could I resist sharing two tempting tiggers with you?

Sweet Melati relaxing.

 

 

Hunky Jae Jae snoozing.

 

Have a click for a bigger pic.

Big Mistake

Just watched an episode of SVU where Dean Winters (who plays Olivia's boyfriend, and was also the crooked cop at the night club with Goren in Purgatory) was accused of rape. The officer in charge of the sting at the end that saved him appeared to BE him. Even the voice was the same.

Then I remembered seeing another Winters in the opening credits. So I looked them up Scott William Winters is Dean's younger brother by one year.

I really think using a looky-likey soundy-likey was a very confusing mistake.

Anthony, not Dick

That's the artist Van Dyck, not the actor Van Dyke. Sounds the same though.

For nearly three decades the BBC had produced a programme called Antiques Road Show, in which antiques experts tour the country, and in prime locations film them examining and valuing people's treasures. I believe it also exists in other lands - Canada, Australia, possibly the US too. Certainly they have done "specials" from those places and achieved a following.

Occasionally they find a total gem of exceptional monetary value. One such was the rare slipware jug  Ozzie the Owl, who sold for over £20,000:

A few months ago a priest brought in a painting he had bought for £400, hoping to find it was worth more, so he could sell it to get his church bells replaced. The experts thought it just might be a lost Van Dyck, which would make it worth rather more than the man thought.

Turns out it is - and it may be worth £400,000! Much restoration and research seems to reveal it might be a sketch for a group portrait that was destroyed hundreds of years ago.

Don't know about you, but if I gambled £400 on an art work, it would turn out to be worth 40p!

The Insider

Nasty FBI guy. Lovely hint of tongue tip.

Ten Years Later

Just been watching Zoonotic and A Person Of Interest. How did it take me 10 years and more to notice the header of the letter Nicole was shown raising doubts about her citizenship and whether it was obtained by bribing the judge? It said "Austrailian Ministry of Citizenship"! AUSTRAILIAN!!!

Very official-looking.

Inert Dwarf

How irresistible are the curls, the shoulders, the neck. Sigh. The man.

Remembrance of Things Past

 Back in 1606, a shipwright in Deptford in south east London called John Addey died and left in his will £200 towards "the relief of the poor people of Deptford to last forever". So says the tablet to his memory in the churchyard of St Nicholas', where both he and the murdered playwright Christopher Marlowe were buried.

How do you make £200 last forever? Well, the executors invested it in some land, and later the funds were used to open a school a school was for the children of the poor in the area.

In 1715 Dean George Stanhope, chaplain to Queen Anne, also founded a school for the poor children of Deptford. In the 19th century this building was opened in Deptford High Street:

You can see the boy and girl statues over the central window.

Towards the end of the 19th century the two schools amalgamated to form Addey and Stanhope school. Eventually it became a grammar school, which means pupils were selected on the basis of an exam at age 11. Eventually the education system changed again and the school, while maintaining its small size, became a comprehensive. Although it is publicly funded, it still has funds from the original endowments with which it can fund developments. It still owns the very small plot on which it now stands (not the original or secondary site) and has recently expanded by demolishing buildings on adjacent land that it also owns, and built a very modern extension.

The oldest part of the current building dates to 1899:

The modern addition is very futuristic:

This is where the old post office used to stand.

 



 

The top floor of the blue stripy building is the new sports hall.

The tarmac you can see is the only outside space the school has.

 

So why am I telling you this? Well, from 1964-1971 I was an Addeyan. As a representative of the poor children of Deptford, I was just the sort of pupil they liked to have. I loved it, and they did me proud. I was even Head Girl in 1970-1, and I appear on three Honours Boards.

 

Yesterday my agency sent me for an interview for a temporary post there. They wanted a full-timer, and I was supposed to have a job-sharer, but she pulled out at the last minute. But they still interviewed me as well as a full-time prospect. They appointed her for the interim post, but didn't want to lose me, so they've decided they can afford to employ me for two days a week for at least 6 weeks. This suits me fine!

 

It's the kind of school people stay loyal to, and many ex-pupils have always returned to teach there. When I was a child, the Geography teacher was a former pupil. He stayed for his whole career, only retiring a relatively short time ago, having risen to the post of Deputy Headteacher. He married an ex-pupil briefly, and later was romantically involved with two or three members of staff. Another pupil came back to teach PE, having always had a crush on the History teacher, and she snagged him!

 

The boy statue was lost many years ago - perhaps more than a century - but the girl still has pride of place, standing today in the entrance of the new building.