There are lots of broken branches around this morning, snapped off in the night by Storm Lilian. There must have been storms when I was a child but I can’t say I remember them. I remember one at the end of the 1980s or beginning of the 1990s, a storm which blew huge trees down all over the place, let alone just breaking branches off. But that was before storms were given names. That started in 2015, with the aim of raising public awareness of severe weather. Yesterday on a news programme they spend some time debating whether Storm Lilian is the first of the “winter” storms or the last of the “spring/summer” storms. They must have been short of items to discuss, although don’t see how.
This morning a disgruntled Granddaughter Number Two had to go to work by bus as the Ashton-Manchester trams were not running; trams were down because of Lilian. She was extra disgruntled as she had had to collect their dustbins which had been blown over. Still, it could be worse! Apparently tents have been blown away at Leeds Festival!
“‘Worst day ever', says Leeds Festival goer
published at 12:28 British Summer Time
12:28 BST
"It's honestly really bad here," says a Leeds Festival attendee whose tent has been destroyed by Storm Lillian.
"The fabric ripped open and leaked the whole tent with the rain," says Carrie Gill, 19, a university student who says she was told to leave the area by festival organisers.
"All our stuff is in our mates' tent, phones on 30%, all the stores have blown over, the urinal walls are gone and lads are just pissing against fences, people's tents are in the sky," she says.
Gill has spent £60 on a replacement tent, but it's still too windy to put it up so she's waiting in a nearby McDonald's. If her new tent doesn't last, she'll be forced to go home.
"As you can imagine being a student, it's quite an expensive festival to be going to and to be let down like this," she says, "it's the worst day ever."”
Goodness! I don’t think I could have afforded to go and buy a new tent, just like that!
I recently commented on a family in California finding brown bears swimming in their pool. My daughter and family recently stayed at a B & B where the owner told them that his two large dogs liked to go for a dip in the pool most days. My reaction was very much one of disgust at the idea of getting into a pool where large animals have been bathing. After all, it’s hard to ensure that all the people shower before getting into the pool, let alone persuading dogs and bears to do so!
It seems that the French agree with me on this. Swimming shorts are banned in public pools. Apparently this is “because they can be worn outside the pool, they are seen as unhygienic, with the potential to carry sand, dust and whatever unthinkable germs lurk on bus seats into the water.” Fair enough! Speedos or similar swimming trunks are the rule. And the rule is enforced by lifeguards:
“One Paris-based Irish journalist recalls how he attempted some early-morning back-stroke in a pair of standard Marks & Spencer navy swim shorts that came "about halfway down my thighs". As he lowered himself into the shallow end, the pool attendant screamed that his oversized attire was outlawed. "I said they were being ridiculous and glided into the middle of the pool. A lifeguard jumped into the water after me, three other attendants fetched a big hook for fishing out drowning people and hauled me in. I had to come back in an unbelievably skimpy pair that were somehow acceptable, but bloody uncomfortable for me and anyone who had to look at them."”
But fashionistas report an increase in sales of skimpy trunks:
“Asos reports a “significant year-on-year growth in sales of Speedos”, and the iconic swimwear brand enjoyed a 200% spike in sales last summer in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Meanwhile, the UK-founded shopping platform Lyst says searches for “budgie smugglers” are up 89% year on year.
Several factors may have contributed to this. As men spend more time in the gym, they’re increasingly keen to flaunt their physiques. Additionally, the rise of the “reverse male gaze” – the theory that men dress for the admiration and validation of other men – is thought to have led to more daring swimwear choices.”
Fashion and the conscious choice of what wear is important, it seems. What politicians wear is examined for political significance as this article about Kamala Harris and her tan-coloured suit tells us.
So it goes.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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