Storks and powercuts. Banksy paintings. The manosphere and the womanospher.

 Somebody posted something today about the power cuts in Portugal being caused by storks nesting at the top of electricity pylons. Having seen storks’ nests recently in Portugal I could quite believe it.  In comments on the post someone said that a stork’s nest had n fact led to power cuts maybe 25 years ago. I doubt that one stork’s nest could take out the whole Iberian peninsula though. 

I’ve been having some difficulty importing photos onto my blog. When I follow my usual procedure I receive a message: “We have been unable to import your photos”. I’ve googled for help but all I find is more people with the same problem, and the suggestion to ‘try again later’. Not a lot of use. 

So maybe there will be a photo of a piece of Banksy artwork, one that appeared in Port Talbot some seven years ago and was moved, despite a fight to keep it. Or maybe not. Here’s a link to an article about a play telling the story.

What I want to know is how they move Banksy artworks. Do they have to remove a whole wall? Another thing to discover! 

i read this article about someone called Jess Davies, a 32-year-old presenter, influencer and women’s rights campaigner. Having made the mistake at 15 of sending her boyfriend a photo of herself in her underwear, she found her photo was making the rounds of her school and beyond. Surely even then she should have been aware of what might happen but I suppose you can still be quite naive and trusting at 15. She became a campaigner for women’s rights, and took a look at the “manosphere” - something if an eye-opener!

“Davies saw things she almost wishes she hadn’t. A game called “Risk”, for example, which has various versions but the premise is that someone posts a woman’s picture and if someone else “catches” it – by responding within five minutes – the original poster has to give him the woman’s full name and socials. One man was “risking” pictures of his mate’s wife and daughter. When asked how his own wife would react if she knew, he replied: “Divorce, no questions asked. She’s a bit of a prude. The risk makes it hotter somehow.””

Do women indulge in such stuff? I wonder! Not the women I am friends with. Here, by way of a contrast, is a link to an article about the “womanosphere”.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!

Watch your words! Deporting people. Putting up walls and fences. Power cuts.

You have to be careful about the opinions you express, and indeed the opinions you have expressed in the past, or even just casual remarks you made years ago. If you are at all in the public eye, someone will trawl through your words and use them against you. 

I’m not a great fan of rap music. Various people have tried to convince me that it’s worth listening to and I am prepared to admit that it often has a good socio-political message to impart but musically it does nothing much for me. Even so, I feel quite sympathetic towards the Belfast rappers Kneecap who have been faced with their US work visas revoked. 

“During their second set at the Coachella music festival in California on 18 April, the rap group, known for their political performances and support of Palestine, led the crowd in chants of “free, free Palestine”. Messages displayed on the stage’s screens during their set read: “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people” and “It is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes.””

Kemi Badenoch has been after them as well and they have apologised for an overheard remark a couple of years ago to the effect that the only good Tory is a dead Tory. Not a statement any of us should be agreeing with, even if we don’t like the Tory party. But the seeking out of past remarks is worrying. 

“The band has previously claimed they are facing a “coordinated smear campaign” after speaking out about “the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people”.

“To the Amess and Cox families, we send our heartfelt apologies, we never intended to cause you hurt,” they said in the 500-word statement.

“Establishment figures, desperate to silence us, have combed through hundreds of hours of footage and interviews, extracting a handful of words from months or years ago to manufacture moral hysteria,” they said.

“Let us be unequivocal: we do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah. We condemn all attacks on civilians, always. It is never okay. We know this more than anyone, given our nation’s history.

“We also reject any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual. Ever. An extract of footage, deliberately taken out of all context, is now being exploited and weaponised, as if it were a call to action. This distortion is not only absurd – it is a transparent effort to derail the real conversation.””

The USA deporting policy in general, though, seems rather harsh and extreme. I’m coming across all sorts of stories about tourists being arrested and deported, and, more harshly, mothers separated from heir children while awaiting deportation and then having to make a snap decision about whether to take their children, US citizens, with them. Traumatic times.

All the walls and fences and barriers being erected at borders are  affecting not only people but animals. Here’s a link to an article about the lynxes of the Białowieża forest which once freely prowled through 1,420 sq km (548 sq miles) of ancient woodland. Then, in 2022, the habitat was abruptly sliced in two. Poland built a 115-mile (186km) wall across its border with Belarus to stop refugees and migrants entering the EU. About 15 lynxes were left stranded on the Polish side of the forest, forced into a genetic bottleneck. Humans are causing havoc in the animal kingdom.

Yesterday Spain and Portugal had a massive power cut. Public transport (well, trains and planes) came to a stop. Cash machines could not let people access their money. Phones could not be recharged. Internet was affected. They’re still investigating why it happened.

Today a friend of mine drove to Manchester rather than take the tram because there was a power outage on the overhead lines. That sounds a bit familiar! Is it a coincidence? 

Suddenly we become aware of what a fragile thing our power-dependent society is. Electricity supply fails and all sorts of things fall apart. We may all have to become survivalists. It’s all very well, however, our stocking up on tinned food and dried goods if we have no electricity to work the machinery to cook that food. Perhaps I need to look in the shed for the camping gear stored there and find the old calor gas stove that we used to take on our camping trips years ago! 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!

Thinking about how events are reported.

It’s interesting how things are reported. I don’t suppose any reporter can be completely unbiased but the best try to be so. It’s become harder and harder in the modern age. And events are reported in the passive voice rather than the active; things are “done” rather than people “doing” them. Here’s an example from Jeremy Corbyn:

“Palestinians are not “facing” starvation. 

They are being starved to death by Israel.

Yet our government still refuses to end all arms sales and implement sanctions, granting endless impunity for Israel's crimes against humanity.

End the blockade — and stop the genocide.”

And here’s a Michael Rosen poem about the media and how they report: 

Will it be one years time

five years time

ten years time

there'll be a prize-winning documentary

that will move us

and sadden us

that will be acclaimed by all

because it asks the question:

how could it have happened?

It will win prizes

because the media are always

so good at looking back 

at the past

and expressing 

what makes us weep

but are always so bad

at showing us

what might make us angry

at the moment

when it's happening.

There has just been a memorial ceremony for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner was there on our behalf. Meanwhile, in the present, the descendants of Jewish holocaust survivors are out on the streets protesting against what is going on in Gaza. 

Louis Theroux has made another documentary about settlers on the West Bank. He made one back in 2011 apparently and now he has made an updated version. Apparently he faced some hostility as he filmed; “During a visit to a Palestinian home, settlers drive up and point guns with laser sights through the windows at him. More than once, he has to politely ask people to lower their guns while talking to him. In one especially tense encounter, he has to bark “Don’t touch me” at a pair of balaclava-wearing Israeli soldiers.”

No doubt he’ll be labelled antisemitic. The film aired on BBC Two. We missed it but I have been told it is available on iPlayer. We must watch it before it is banned.

Life goes on, stay safe and well, everyone! 

Hunting for bluebells. Hiking and sauntering. The Pennine Way.

 We went out looking for bluebells again yesterday, with rather more success but still not a great a display as we were hoping for.

I found this quote from John Muir: 

“I don't like either the word ‘hike’ or the thing. People ought to saunter in the mountains - not 'hike!' Do you know the origin of that word saunter? It's a beautiful word. Away back in the middle ages people used to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and when people in the villages through which they passed asked where they were going they would reply, 'A la sainte terre', 'To the Holy Land.' And so they became known as sainte-terre-ers or saunterers. Now these mountains are our Holy Land, and we ought to saunter through them reverently, not 'hike' through them.”

I was struck first of all by the etymology of the word “saunter”. I like words and enjoy finding put their origins. Unlike John Muir, I think we should “hike” through hills and mountains, rather than “saunter”, which is altogether too slow and gentle. Health experts tell us that a brisk walk is better for your heart and lungs than a slow one. But on the whole, walking is a good way of seeing the countryside. Cycling is quite good but you miss the details, such as the wild flowers growing by the roadside. 

Who was John Muir anyway? Wikipedia tells me:

“John Muir (1838 -1914) also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, and early advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United States. His books, letters and essays describing his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada, have been read by millions.”

Apparently it’s 60 years since the Pennine Way was opened. Maybe it needs a shrine of some kind to make a pilgrimage of it like the Camino de Santiago. Anyway, here’s a link to an article about it, with photos of some of the pioneers who first agitated for open access to the countryside. 

Joyce Neville, who took part in the Pioneer Walk, was considered quite scandalous because she wore jeans. Women back then were expected to wear long tweed skirts if they went walking! Nowadays people need reminding to wear suitable shoes! Goodness knows how those who were shocked by a woman in jeans would react to young women in shorts and crop tops! How times change!

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone! 

Photos from yesterday. Ways of seeing, and “hearing” the world.

 Here, I hope, are the photos I failed to post yesterday. 

We saw lambs frolicking

lots of blossom

“pinkbells” - the pink version of bluebells

some good reflections

and zooming in on the view of the millpond, our old friend the heron. 

There you go! 

I read today about the Book Women of the USA. In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, a group of librarians, women librarians, rode on horseback to all sorts of out of the way places, carrying books: story books for children, novels, useful books like cookery books and instruction manuals. In 1943, with the Second World War raging, funding for his service dried up but while the service operated those women delivered over 100,000 books to nearly 100,000 people. 

I wonder what those librarians feel about the banning of books in some states!

Maybe they were the inspiration for Dolly Parton donating books to children all over the place. 

I hear that scientists claim to have discovered a “new” colour. They have called it “olo” but can’t actually reproduce it as it can only be seen with laser manipulation of the retina. So most of us will never see what is described as “ jaw-dropping” and “incredibly saturated.” And then a thought occurred to me: how do we know that we all see the same colours anyway? Maybe the red I see is different from the one other people see. 

Which brings me to Hellen Keller, who became deaf and blind as a result of an illness during her infancy. As a child was intrigued by the story of how she learned to speak, read, write and go on to lead a rich and fulfilling life. Then I came across this report of something that happened in 1924 as her family listened to music on the radio: 

“The New York Symphony was performing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony live. Someone in the room suggested she place her hand on the radio receiver to feel the vibrations.

What happened next defied reason—and redefined beauty.

With her fingers resting lightly on the diaphragm of the receiver, Keller felt more than vibration. She described the experience as “a sea of sound breaking against the silent shores of my soul.” Through the patterns of trembling and rhythm, she felt the pulse of cornets, the roar of drums, and the silken flow of violins. When the chorus soared into Beethoven’s triumphant “Ode to Joy,” she said it was like hearing “angelic voices rushing in a harmonious flood.”

It wasn’t hearing—not in the way we understand it. But it was something deeper. She felt music not just on her fingertips, but in her heart. She recognized joy, sadness, stillness, and power—all without a single note reaching her ears.

And in one of the most poignant passages of her letter, Helen remembered that Beethoven, too, was deaf. She said, “I marveled at the power of his quenchless spirit by which out of his pain he wrought such joy for others.”

A century later, that same joy lives on—because she proved that art has no boundary, and the human spirit can sense beauty in ways words can never fully explain.”

Nowadays I think there are special discos where deaf people can “hear” the music through vibrations on the floor. And maybe we all hear things differently too! After all there are people who see he world in a kinaesthetic way attributing colours to sound. I’d better not get started on taste and smell! 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone! 

Out and about on a Friday. Boots. Gossip. Nature.

 I went out quite early this morning so that I could take Phil’s boot to the cobbler in the market. The sole has annoyingly detached itself from the upper! This problem has occurred with another pair of boots and our market hall cobbler has sorted it. I was going to Manchester to meet some friends and so set off a little ahead of schedule to visit the cobbler. He took one look at the boot, shook his head and told me it was beyond repair. How very annoying! 

I did consider just throwing the boot in the nearest bin but, after all, it wasn’t my boot so I phoned home. After some umming and ahing Phil decided he would try to superglue the boot himself, on the principle of “waste not want not”. And so I wandered around Manchester with a boot in a bag! So it goes. 

My friends sat in Waterstone’s cafe, our regular meeting place, and reminisced about the time when we all worked together, swapping stories of scandals concerning certain members of staff. It’s amazing the stories that come out years later!

Eventually, as it was a fine day we decided to walk to Manchester’s Northern Quarter to an Italian restaurant we had enjoyed in the past. On previous occasions we have chosen a restaurant closer to our meeting place to avoid getting wet. But today the sun shone. Manchester was showing itself off! All of us can remember when the Northern Quarter was a scruffy place with second book shops, now it’s a very trendy place. 

When we arrived at our destination, Noi Quattro, we found it was closed until 5.00. So we did that very French thing of wandering around assessing the possibilities before deciding where to eat. It was probably quite appropriate as three of us have been French teachers in the past. We ended up in another Italian place, whose name escapes me completely. 

Some time after I arrived home, Phil and I decided to go for a stroll round the village - correction: a brisk walk round the village, much better for general fitness! Now that the days are growing longer, especially as we seem to be having some sunshine, it is very pleasant to walk out in the late afternoon / early evening. We saw lambs frolicking, “pinkbells” - the pink version of bluebells, lots of blossom, some good reflections, and zooming in on the view of the millpond, our old friend the heron. 

There should be photos of all of those things but i seem to have messed up the process of adding photos today. I’ll put them in tomorrow’s post. 

Life goes on. Stay sate and well, everyone!

Bits of unfairness and inequality here and there.

 Last night on BBC Newsnight someone, a smart, probably Tory lady who writes for the Telegraph, made the point that we now look back in horror at the way Alan Turing was mistreated all those years ago just for being gay. She thinks that in 50 years’ time people will look back on all the current fuss about gender recognition in much the same way. 

Somehow, though, the gender question is much more complicated. We have biological male and female, transgender male and female  and cross-dressers who may well dress up as the opposite of their biological gender but don’t in fact identify as the gender whose clothes they wear. Throw sexuality into the mix as well and it’s a real mess! 

What I would like to know is how anyone plans to police the toilet question. How do you check that a person who dresses as a woman, moves like a woman, looks like a woman is in fact a woman? Especially when that person walks into the ladies’ toilets?

I came across a story for this time of gender-kerfuffle. The magic circle used to be a male-only preserve. Women could not be magicians. They were supposed to be the magician’s “beautiful assistant”. Someone called Sophie Lloyd was good at magic tricks and wanted to join the magic circle. So she dressed herself up, even added “plumpers” to her face to make her jaw line look more square and masculine, put gloves to disguise her ladylike hands and presented herself for judgement by the Magic Circle. And “Raymond” Lloyd was duly accepted. 

In 1991, hearing that the Magic Circle was about to start admitting that women could also do magic tricks, she confessed her big trick. And they expelled her! Which seems a bit harsh! Now they have welcomed her back in. “We are delighted to finally be able to invite Sophie back in to the society as herself,” said the Magic Circle president, Marvin Berglas. “It is something we should have done when we accepted those first women into the club in 1991. I’m so glad she has accepted our apology so we can right this wrong for what happened all those years ago.” 

It still sounds a little condescending to me. But I suppose she should consider herself lucky. At times in the past she would have been regarded as a witch I suppose! 

Inequality is an odd thing. We tend to think that up in the “higher” professions all would be well. Not so. There is this set of statistics: 

“Although more women than men now study law at university, the bar has been slow to catch up; 41% of barristers are women, but just 21% of KCs (senior barristers). Junior women at the bar earn on average 77%  of what junior men earn: female KCs earn on average only 67% as much as their male colleagues. In 2024, 62% of court judges in the UK were men, rising to 69% in the high court and 75% in the court of appeal.” What do the other women who studied law do? Surely they don’t all become teachers of A-level Law in sixth form colleges. Here’s a link to an article about it. 

I particularly liked the description Brenda Hale (first female president of the supreme court) uses privately to describe most male barristers:

“quadrangle to quadrangle to quadrangle boys” – lawyers who had been at independent boarding schools, then Oxbridge and the Inns of Court in London, their lives bounded by similar architecture and privilege.

Another area of imbalance is reporting. What’snthe difference between a “massive attack” and a “wave of attacks”? Here are some headlines:

“Children in school shelter among 25 killed in wave of Israeli strikes on Gaza”

“Zelenskyy to cut South Africa trip short after ‘massive’ attack on Kyiv – Europe live”

“Children among nine dead and at least 70 wounded by Russian attack, Ukraine says”

And here is something Michael Rosen has to say about the situation:

“Given that the phrase 'two-tier policing'  got some traction a while back, maybe now's the time to talk of 'two-tier reporting': Ukraine and Gaza.

Recent bombing of Ukraine is called 'deadly'. Recent bombing of Gaza is described as a 'wave' of attacks.”

It all depends on your point of view!

Life goes on. Stay safe and-well, everyone!