Some of you will recall that I was the arch enemy of Popeye the Sailorman and together we battled for the affections of Miss Olive Oyl who we met on the harbour front in Boston. In fact, you might say that it was she who tore us apart for up until that time we had been crewmates and drinking buddies onshore. Ah, those were the days.
Yorkshire Pudding
"O God, I could be bounded in a nut shell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams." - Hamlet Act II scene ii
15 October 2024
Bluto
14 October 2024
Quiztime
2. What is the capital of Peru? (a) Quito (b) Lima (c) Santiago (d) Bogota
3. What is a young zebra called? (a) calf (b) foal (c) zebling (d) zebedee
4. Which singer-songwriter from Cleveland, Ohio wrote "Fast Car"?
13 October 2024
Duet
Our daughter Frances was born in 1988. We moved house the following year - to this house in fact, I can't remember if it was in that summer or the following year (1990) when we went on holiday to Tenby in South Wales.
We had rented a caravan (American: trailer) on a disused aerodrome at nearby Carew Cheriton - about four miles west of Tenby. One of the main things I remember about that holiday was the pre-recorded cassette tape I had in the car. It was "Tracy Chapman". God, I played that tape over and over again that summer. It felt revelatory in its sublime authenticity. There were no dud songs on that album.
Anyway, I heard one of the songs from that album this morning on the radio. It was "Fast Car". A little idle googling later and I was surprised to see that the song had quite recently been picked up and re-recorded by one of America's new crop of country artistes - Luke Combs from North Carolina. He said that it was his favourite song of all time and that he had first heard it as a child.
"Fast Car" received the accolade of "Song of the Year" at the 57th Annual Country Music Association Awards for 2023. At The Grammies ceremony in February of this year, Tracy Chapman joined Luke Combs on stage to perform the song together. Here it is, the older maestro and the younger fan, together:-
12 October 2024
Smelly
For a while I have been dipping into an American pro-democracy website called "The Meidas Touch". It was founded by Ben, Brett and Jordan - the Meiselas brothers - in March 2020. Their YouTube channel has received over four billion visits.
They seem to be on a mission to puncture Trump's bubble as they pick away at his rambling speeches and unfound claims in an intelligent, non-sensationalist manner. They have really got Trump's number and I suspect they understand him better than he understands himself.
This morning, one of the "Meidas Touch" videos made me chuckle and then guffaw with laughter. Again, in a non-sensationalist, measured manner they were examining widespread reports that Trump is literally smelly. His farts are by many accounts repulsive and it is believed he sometimes poops his pants. His former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, calls him Donald Von ShitzInPantz
Has such a thing ever been rumoured before about a leading politician in America or any other country? Check out the fifteen minute video yourself. You might also get a good belly laugh but look at it in another way and it is simply very concerning:-
11 October 2024
Exercising
Two hours later I showered, got dressed and was ready to roll out for a long walk. I didn't want to drive far so I headed for the Rails Road public car park in the Rivelin Valley. I have been there to start walks several times before and, just for example, previously blogged about one of them here.
Above - images from my walk by The River Rivelin. As you can see, sunshine made it all rather magical. I walked for two and a half hours. After the Rivelin Valley Road Bridge, I veered up the valley side to Hagg Lane and just before I reached its very end I saw this young woman approaching with her two horses.
I asked if I could take her picture and she kindly obliged. It's likely that she loves her two horses more than anything. She was taking them back to their stable.
10 October 2024
Three
We look after our granddaughter Phoebe every Thursday. She is with us all day and most weeks her parents join us after work for their evening meal after picking up little Margot from nursery school.
It used to be that Phoebe needed assistance with her attire but today I noticed that she put on her own coat, put on her own boots and later put on her hat and gloves. She's really growing up. With regard to vocabulary, today I asked her if she could say "Lincolnshire". She mimicked me perfectly and added, "I can say anything Grandpa!"
It was a clear and sunny autumnal morning but chilly too. We decided to take Phoebe up to nearby Stanage Edge for a walk. Stanage Edge is a three mile long ripple in the landscape - an escarpment made from millstone grit . First of all, we headed for a much photographed cluster of abandoned millstones before climbing up onto the edge itself.
Up there, a German woman asked me where Stanage Edge was and I said, "This is it! You are standing on it!" Then I gave her some other guidelines. Soon, to my surprise, I noticed her putting on a knee support brace ready for her hike along the rocks with two friends.
Phoebe was somewhat over-confident on the edge and kept saying, "I'm all right Grandpa! I can do it!" or "You don't need to hold my hand! I'm a big girl now!" Luckily, she didn't fall. In spite of her assertions, she was closely shepherded.
Back on the main path back to the car, Shirley let Phoebe change into her wellington boots specifically so that she could splash through the puddles. She enjoyed that.
It used to be that she would never communicate with strangers but today I noticed another change in her. She confidently greeted passing ramblers with a cheery "hello". This was so nice to witness.
We came home for lunch and then afterwards, Shirley took our little princess for her weekly swim at Dronfield Sports Centre. "I'm not a princess Grandpa! I'm Phoebe!"
The evening meal was pork sausages with fried onions, baked beans and jacket potatoes followed by sticky toffee pudding with vanilla custard but instead Phoebe finished off with a mini ice cream lolly covered with milk chocolate and nuts. Of course, she got some of this around her mouth. Well, she's still only three.
9 October 2024
Remote
My old friend Bert will be 88 years old next month - that's if he makes it of course. I went round to see him last Friday. He has recently spent two weeks in hospital following an episode that involved significant loss of blood from his back passage. It was all very concerning but the issue seems to have settled down now with no need for surgery. I tried to read the hospital discharge report but I could not make head nor tail of it with all the abbreviations and the obscure medical terms.
When I went round, his younger son Philip was there. He is effectively Bert's main carer.
The telephone rang and it was Bert's estranged wife Pat at the other end of the line. I spoke with her for a little while before passing the handset across to Philip. A conversation began about her television and the remotes that work it. Many older people do not find it easy to operate televisions these days when it all used to be very easy. There was the on/off button, the volume control knob and we only had two channels to choose from - BBC or ITV.
Of course I could only hear one side of the amusing conversation but it went something like this:-
PHILIP: What's the problem Mum? ...You need to press the AV button... It's the one next to the TV button... It's got TV above it Mum... No. I said the AV button... It's at the top on the right... They are next to each other... The AV button is on the left... No Mum, I didn't say AB... I said AV. V for violin, not B for Bobby... Yes. That's the one you need to press... No Mum - you didn't need to switch it off... No Mum! Switch it back on again!... I am not shouting Mum. I am just telling you what to do... Just press the AV button... It's next to the TV button. It's at the top... You don't need to change the channel... It's on the sheet I did for you... It's on the shelf... The one under the telly... No Mum you can't talk into it.. You have mixed it up with the phone... Press the AV button. The one next to the TV button...
And so it went on.
It was nice to see Bert again. He seemed calmer than before - less aggressive in his confused comments about Philip and Pat. I brought him a can of Jamaican rum and coke. At the end of a night in the local pub, he would often treat himself to a Bacardi and coke after three or four pints of Tetley's bitter.
Then he would toddle off down the road to Napoleon's Casino where he'd drink a couple more pints or three and mingle with the other late night regulars and previously unseen visitors but he never gambled. Frequently, he would head home at three or four in the morning, getting up around midday.
Oh yes, the old boy was a bit of a rogue in his time. In retirement, he dissed the old maxim: "Early to bed, early to rise, makes Jack healthy, wealthy and wise". That was never Bert's way. I hope he makes it to 88 and I think he will. In spite of his ailments, he's a tough old bloke.
Most Visits
-
Last night, we lay down on sunbeds and watched Mrs Moon rise like a tangerine over The Aegean Sea. To capture the beauty of the scene fa...
-
Chavs being chavvish. Just the other day, I spotted a male "chav" down by the local Methodist church. He was wearing a Burberrry ...
-
So there I was standing in the kitchen of our son's terraced house. Something caught my eye outside in his little urban garden. It was a...