| Insomnia rulezzzzz |
[Jan. 30th, 2010|04:28 am] |
Can't sleep, chiz.
It's probably because I laid meself down on my bed at 1.30 pm with the radio on, intending to listen for half an hour to Blair on the Iraq invasion. I woke at 6.00.
Tony, you have discovered a cure for insomnia!!!!! |
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| Funny David Cameron posters |
[Jan. 21st, 2010|07:35 pm] |
http://mydavidcameron.com/
Cameron ("Call me Dave"), Old Etonian millionaire and ex-PR man, is the leader of the British Conservative Party. There's a General Election this June so the ads and politicking have started. There are a lot of satirical versions of the current billboard floating about the Net, some silly but some very good satire. |
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| Interesting BBC programme on the Royal Navy |
[Jan. 16th, 2010|02:12 am] |
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00q3l9k
It's a bit gung-ho, admittedly, but at least the presenter acknowledges that the Elizabethan adventurers Hawkins and Drake were slave traders. Not many people know that - and they should.
Lovely photography of beautiful scenery and handsome replica ships - and rather too many lingering shots of the undeniably handsome presenter, historian Dan Snow - but as an overview of the Navy from Queen Bess to William of Orange it is quite good. He is very good on Pepys and his reorganisation of the Senior Service. Though I suspect that anyone who knows more than the basics of the history of the Royal Navy will find it rather light. History-as-entertainment, but Snow doesn't pretend it's anything else.
Take a look, see what you think. |
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| Old Mother Brinkley's sage advice, or, Sossages Redux |
[Jan. 15th, 2010|07:42 pm] |
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If you have a tame economist hanging around the house, do not permit him to attempt to remove a sossage from the grill-pan. He will knock it off the grill-pan with his wildly-flailing fish slice, and it will fall on the floor. |
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| Supper's Ready! |
[Jan. 15th, 2010|07:03 pm] |
Sossages, mash, carrots, Yorkshire puddings, gravy. Comfort food.
Yes, it's a chilly, rainy night and my newly-vegetarian daughter is away. |
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| The Conspiracy of Kings: a poem by Joel Barlow |
[Jan. 14th, 2010|01:40 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | poetry | ] |
| [ | music |
| | wincing at the England cricket team's ineptitude | ] |
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1048&context=etas
This was written in 1792 by an American who lived in France at the start of the Revolution. It was written while France was trying to found a Constitutional Monarchy, before the Terror. A lot of what he says still seems relevant to me, though the manipulating Tyrants aren't necessarily Kings any more - the news media and reality tv sprang to mind.
Lots of vitriol for Burke, who supported the American Revolution but not the French one.
I got the link from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) sounis the excellent fan community for the books of Megan Whalen Turner |
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| Haiti earthquake |
[Jan. 14th, 2010|01:17 am] |
Here's the webpage for medicins sans frontieres: http://www.msf.org.uk/ if anyone cares to donate.
I know there are other organisations offering help, but msf seems to be the one that's already on the ground. The snow in the uk is delaying our response: until now I wasn't too concerned about the way that 5" of snow means the country grinds to a halt, but when it means that rescue workers from the UK are delayed, it becomes more serious.
Apparently the right-wing Christian loony Pat Robertson says that Haiti got earthquaked because there are devil-worshippers/vodoun followers in the country. http://gawker.com/5447408/pat-robertson-thousands-died-because-haitian-slaves-swore-a-pact-with-the-devil-for-their-freedom I do wonder if this man says these false things simply to get money from exploited morons.
Not all of us Christians are like this. Many of us have brains, which we use. This man is bringing my faith into disrepute and I loathe what he says. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 11th, 2010|01:53 am] |
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Oh, fuck. Certain of the comms I follow have been invaded by crap adverts. Does anyone know how to get rid of them with extreme prejudice without the risk of infecting my own dear flist? |
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| Aunty BBC on Africa |
[Jan. 10th, 2010|09:58 pm] |
Two wonderful programmes: the first is on the ancient kingdom of Nubia, where there is evidence that people were living 6000 years ago, and which provided the Pharaohs of the 26th Dynasty of Egypt: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00pq946/Lost_Kingdoms_of_Africa_Nubia/
The second is on Timbuktu, where there are libraries of centuries-old manuscripts: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00pq946/Lost_Kingdoms_of_Africa_Nubia/
Wonderful photography in both; but what I found most fascinating were the beautiful faces. One little girl (about 40 min into the second programme) standing in a doorway with her baby brother on her hip, looks so like one of my Sunday School kids! Both have the same delicate bone-structure.
There aren't enough programmes about Africa that treat the continent with the same seriousness as programmes on European history. |
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| Exercise |
[Jan. 10th, 2010|06:17 pm] |
I have an exercise bike! So far the exercise has involved 3 hours of putting it together... |
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| Chilblains |
[Jan. 6th, 2010|01:45 pm] |
The silver birches outside are laden with snow even on the skinniest little twigs. It looks lovely, though the rows of redbrick '70s houses rather spoil the scene of unbridled Nature.
Oxford in the 60s in a Victorian vicarage with no central heating. Snow meant chilblains (inflamed feet and hands due to cold and damp) which are bloody painful. Does anyone get them any more? I remember wearing 2 pairs of woollen socks to keep my toes warm. Now I have thermal socks which are much more comfy.
Thermals are one of the unappreciated joys of the 21st century. (Ok, they were available in the '80s and '90s but it's more dramatic to mention the 21st century.) They almost make up for the lack of jet-packs and hovercars. |
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| Dr Who |
[Jan. 1st, 2010|08:15 pm] |
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I've stopped crying now. |
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| Last year of the decade! |
[Jan. 1st, 2010|12:27 am] |
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Happy New Year, all you goodpeople out there. I hope 2010 brings you all good things and happy times! |
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| Whisky Tango Foxtrot? |
[Dec. 31st, 2009|12:07 am] |
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Your fairy is called Columbine Goblinfilter She is a bringer of riches and wealth. She lives in mushroom fields and quiet meadows. She is only seen on midsummer's eve. She wears lilac and purple like columbine flowers. She has gentle green wings like a butterfly. |
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| Xmas eve stockings |
[Dec. 25th, 2009|01:43 am] |
I am waiting and waiting and waiting for Sonne to switch off his light and go to sleep so that I can drape his stocking elegantly across his bed. Daughter has been asleep for 3 hours, bless 'er, so her stocking is sorted AND draped.
TV has '10 best sacred Christmas Classics' including 'Messiah' and 'Ceremony of Carols' and Vivaldi's 'Gloria' and I am annoying ye olde man by croaking the alto lines, hehehe.
Though they never show Stephen Oliver's 'Slippery Soules' which is the Bethlehem story written for my school, in which I sang "Two beds and dinner for two - quickly!" as one of the couples demanding a room at the inn. Because we were upper-class, we got the room, and Mary and Joseph were poor and sent to the stable. If you ever get a chance to see it, do. It's excellent. Oliver's opera 'The Duchess of Malfi' is also fantastic. The madmen sing pure Bach.
Still waiting for John to go to sleep... |
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