Archive
Bloody awful
Will this weigh upon the conscience of The Donald, given that he is largely responsible? It might, if he had one.
Utter
We watched Midsomer Murders tonight, right to the ludicrous end, held spellbound by the sheer inanity of the plot and the impossibility of the means by which the victims were dispatched.
Neil Dudgeon was always an unlikely successor to John Nettles, but he becomes less convincing with every episode.
This evening there were times when we could not contain our laughter. If MM has any future, the producers must come clean and admit that it’s a flat out comedy.
Fishy
Last night John talked me into trying a fish he had off menu. He said it was a Mero, but didn’t know the English name.
I had it and it was interesting. Afterwards I had a rummage on Google and discovered that I’d just eaten a Grouper, one of these. As I told John, last time I saw anything like that it was wearing a black shirt and front of house in a restaurant.
Why is all this happening?
And why are we footing a lot of the bill!
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/live/2018/may/12/eurovision-song-contest-2018-live-lisbon
A week to go ….
…. until the eleventh celebration of Arrels de Vi, the annual wine fair in St Martí d’ Empuries, a must for oenophiles in Empordà and for those who simply like a good day out.
As always the finest Empordàn wine-makers will be offering tastings of their range, alongside other artisan products.
Where the sun never shines
Last Sunday, I flew out of Edinburgh Airport. I have this thing that when I travel I always like to keep my baggage within sight, but the security procedures there don’t permit that. There is no such thing as hassle free security but there are officials who see it as their job to be officious.
Anyway, as Rexie would say, a couple of hours later I realised on board the aircraft that I didn’t have my Kindle Paperwhite although I remembered taking it out for inspection. I also remembered an officious official rearranging items in the two boxes I presented and moving items from one to another for no obvious reason.
Next morning I reported the loss via the Airport website. Shortly afterward I had an email from someone named ******, described as a Sales and Retail Assistant at an entity known as Luggage-point. She said she believed they had my property, and that I could have it back, on production of photo ID. (It’s a Kindle dear, it doesn’t have my name on it.) She added that in addition to producing my driving licence, bus pass etc, I should also produce £12, the ‘Standard retrieval fee.’
When I pointed out that any citizen finding an item of property is normally expected to hand it to the police, ****** said that was not Airport policy and that I had seven days to cough up. At my request she attached a copy of the Airport Bye Laws (sic).
I am afraid that I advised her I could not comply with her requirements and that her organisation should place the item somewhere absolutely beyond the reach of sunshine. Let’s hope she understood.
Go Jim.
Last night I finished my current read, ‘A Higher Loyalty: truth, lies and leadership’ by James Comey, who was three and a half years into a ten year appointment as director of the FBI, until President Trump fired him, without hint of warning.
The latter part of the book was not new to me; the matter (a word I chose carefully, as those who have read it will understand) was well documented when it all went down. The rest is an account of Comey’s early life and career. During that time he served three presidents; the fact that he was appointed by Trump’s hated predecessor may have been the underlying cause of his dismissal. Or it may simply that Comey refused to surrender the essential independence of his office to the president, a concept that Trump’s seriously disturbed mind did not allow him to understand or accept.
Of course there are two sides to every debate. It may be that Comey is the deluded liar. However given Trump’s general behaviour, and his self obsessed, utterly boorish manner, and Comey’s emphasis on the ethics of leadership, that is not the way I would bet.
Let’s assume that the allegations of Russian hookers urinating, in Trump’s presence, on a bed once used by the Obamas, are untrue. Jesus, I hope they are. Even so, the fact that many, possibly most, people consider them credible is evidence enough that the minority of the US electorate who put him in office have made a very serious mistake.
Run its course
After a couple of seconds of contemplation yesterday, I have decided to retire my website. It was set up before this blog, and it isn’t self managing, so it’s well out of date. Also, most of the information on it is duplicated here; ergo, it was serving no useful purpose.
The site has gone, but to avoid confusing the hell out of Google, its address will stay. From now on any surfers who click on it will be redirected here, automatically and instantly.
Now this is funny …
My two favourite superheroes.
news.sky.com/story/deadpool-sorry-for-joking-about-beckhams-voice-11367173
Another TV ad ….
…. that annoys the hell out of me: Sixt Car Hire.
Narcissus
Being a Man U fan has been tough since Fergie left, but may his retirement be long and happy.
When Mourinho arrived he promised joy, but he always does. It hasn’t happened: two years in and he hasn’t a clue what his best team is. Okay, he’s won some silver but he’s been embarrassed by Guardiola. Being second in the league doesn’t cut it when United is also the second best team in Manchester. Lately he’s shown an aptitude for demotivating and ruining very good young players. To cap it all, two games left in the season and it’s clear that he still doesn’t have a clue about what his best team is.
The one thing he does know is that the face he sees in the mirror every day makes him very happy.
I wonder
I’ve just read a piece about Senator John McCain, and resolved to read his new book.
It planted a scenario in my mind that I will turn into a novel one day: be warned, copyright now applies. It begins with the birth of a black boy, the latter day Christ, in one of the flyover US States. He grows, performs a few miracles, the most spectacular involving turning all domestically held firearms and ammunition into soap, heals someone resembling John McCain, and his authenticity is beyond doubt.
How does it end? I have my vision but I will keep it to myself in advance of publication. Perhaps you have yours.
Spinning
The story says that one third of the jobs cuts will take place overseas. I guess that whoever wrote the press release felt the need to emphasise that.
You don’t have to be much of a mathematician to work out that two thirds of the 13000 will be lost in the UK.
news.sky.com/story/bt-to-cut-13000-jobs-in-cost-cutting-plan-11366075
Quintin Jardine's blog 