Mea Culpa: Yes, I'm sorry to be late today and my excuse is a mixture of 'Good News' and 'Bad News'. The 'Bad News' is that I have been a bit under the weather recently such that I have no longer been able to boast/bore about my habit of hitting the swimming pool five days a week at 7.00 am - you may have noticed an unusual reticence on my part! However, the 'Good news' is that the 'quacks' have put me on some new meds and as by coincidence we all get an extra hour in bed today, and as I feel a lot better, I decided to take the plunge. Needless to say, most of the rest of the morning was spent recovering snoozing in bed. This was followed by a stonking great lunch at The Tippling Philosopher pub and so I thought it best to get something down in writing before I snooze off again!
The war game gets, er, war-like: Odd little story in The Telegraph this morning bringing news of an outbreak of warfare inside the 'high command' of the English Chess Federation. Apparently one English Grand Master has defected - oh my Gaaaard! - to the Welsh Chess Federation! Was this, one wonders, a big mistake or perhaps a deeply cunning ploy? Chess analysts are working on it.
It's 'Fuck the Frogs' year this year: Apologies for the crude sub-title, I will explain. Today ...
... gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day ...
because, of course, today is the 600th anniversary of the quite incredible battle of Agincourt when a small, sick, lame and halt English army (with a goodly number of Welshmen, too) literally slaughtered an enormous French army. And, of course, as you know because I have reminded you(!), this year also saw the 200th anniversary of Waterloo. No wonder the Frogs detest us!
The not quite so Secret Service: A fascinating piece in The Telegraph, to be screened on BBC on Monday evening, by Frank Gardner, the BBC's Security Correspondent. He obtained a sanctioned interview with two MI6 officers, one male, one female. Of course, in the nature of such a thing it leaves more questions unanswered than otherwise but even so it provides a fascinating glimpse. What is of great comfort to me as a died-in-the-wool traditionalist is that the head of MI6 is still referred to as 'C' and is still the only person allowed to sign letters in green ink. Of course, whether or not they produce intelligence any more accurate than the tosh provided to Blair prior to Iraq is anybody's guess. (Psssst! Don't tell anyone but this is a photo of their HQ and if you slip me a few quid I'll tell you where it is! Waddya mean, ya know already!)
"Blow the wind southerly": Or northerly, or any direction you like, really, because it's an ill wind that doesn't blow the hot air emanating from the media back into their silly, alarmist faces. I have more or less lost interest in global warming and all that jazz because it is now perfectly clear that the whole thing was a Leftie put-up job. Hence, I don't visit the excellent 'Watts Up With That' site so often these days. So I nearly missed a follow-up to all the alarmist rubbish concerning 'Hurricane Patricia' which was supposed to herald the end of Mexico but which ended up more like a wet fart. However, what was interesting on the site was an anniversary that you will not see celebrated by 'Green War', Al Gore and their like. Yesterday, 24th October, was the 10th anniversary, or if you prefer, 3652 days (including leap years), since America was hit by a category 3 or higher hurricane. Whodathunkit?
No more rumbles tonight
Well David, I know there are meds for your ailment and from what I've learned, these meds are quite effective. If they allow you a dip in the pool for at least some cardio work, then it will be worth it. Little by little.
The Tippling Philosopher, isn't that the charming place you mentioned nearly a year ago with photos? Seems I recall it and commented that it is the sort of place we like as opposed to shiny, modern and sleek.
Posted by: Whitewall | Sunday, 25 October 2015 at 15:19
It was even, er, better years ago. This from a local historian:
"Now, whether it was the desire of the inhabitants to show their determination to support the laws and carry out the laws of the country, and suppress evildoers, or whether it was a mere chance, that the execution of Tom Price, a criminal, had been fixed for the same day! Local history does not tell us, but at half past one in the afternoon that wicked and no doubt miserable Tom was drawn in a cart through most of the streets of the town, and at three in the afternoon was hanged, outside the public house called the 'Tipler' [spelt with one 'p' - the pub changed its name in the first part of the 1800s to The King's Head]. Whilst hanging there, he was repeatedly shot at, and remained hanging whilst a large party of loyal inhabitants of Milborne Port were celebrating the occasion of the meeting by a public dinner in the Tipler, from the window of which poor Tom was in full view. After having done themselves well, and dinner was over, Tom was drawn in a cart to the top of East Hill and there burnt!
http://duffandnonsense.typepad.com/duff_nonsense/2010/10/ye-goode-olde-days.html
Posted by: David Duff | Sunday, 25 October 2015 at 16:15
Hmm, those local folk were a rowdy bunch back then. The American "old west" of the 19th century had nothing on them it seems. Maybe different fashions. There were many English, Irish and Scots present in our Old West.
Posted by: Whitewall | Sunday, 25 October 2015 at 17:44
Whitewall. The good old days in Glasgow was when the mice and rats had access to food. The mice are now elected.
Posted by: jimmy glesga | Monday, 26 October 2015 at 00:00
Jimmy...elected and turned into rats?
Posted by: Whitewall | Monday, 26 October 2015 at 02:25