I have been known to go on a bit about the power of the media in shaping politics. Here I go again. Others, people more in the public eye than I am, appear to agree with me. Yesterday I came across a tweet, or something, from Owen Jones:
“The BBC made Nigel Farage. He'd be nothing without them. And now the media is going to normalise the new far right of Steve Bannon and Tommy Robinson.”
I’ve been saying that about Farage for years!
Also, I am reading John O”Farrell’s memoir, “Things can only get worse”, in which I came across this comment about Boris Johnson; “Boris was catapulted to national celebrity status after he appeared on “Have I Got News for You”; without which, it is my firm belief that he would never have won the selection to be the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London”.
John O’Farrell continues: “Somewhere out in the universe there is an alternative version of modern British history in which Boris Johnson was never invited onto a satirical panel show, never became Mayor of London, and never wielded any influence in a knife-edge vote on Britain’s membership of the European Union”.
As he says, “it’s one thing for members of the Bullingdon Club to have a laugh smashing up a restaurant and then walking away. It’s quite another to do it with the European Union”. Which is what some of those who caused the referendum to happen appear to have done, getting themselves a nice living making speeches here and there.
The media have a big responsibility. Free speech is great but the media give publicity to those they choose.
I also wonder if it’s a particularly British thing. One aspect of our much-vaunted sense of humour is the ability to make fun of ourselves and our institutions. And so we give credence to fools who appear on the television. Does it happen in other countries to the same extent?
Perhaps we don’t take our politics seriously until it’s too late. And suddenly we find that quite nonsensical ideas and people have become acceptable in the political arena.
Hence the Labour Party antisemitism stuff.
“Corbyn must step up and disown those who tolerate antisemitism” was the headline to an article by Michael Segalov.
It’s all very well but do we really know that there are actually
Labour people really “tolerating antisemitism”?
Mr Segalov writes:
“Jeremy Corbyn is not known to sit in silence: to confront the controversial has been part of his mission since the day he entered the political fray. It was by giving voice and action to his convictions that he has remained so often on the right side of history; it was his decades of campaigning that provided the framework for Labour’s progressive platform today. It’s his resolve that inspired me and hundreds of thousands of others to join a movement, but I fear that today it’s being hidden away.
On antisemitism, Labour needs strong and decisive leadership. Not because it’s rampant in the party, but because it has become a distraction that is refusing to go away. The reality is that there are a smattering of Labour members among the half a million who are explicitly antisemitic, and a small yet vocal minority who are blind to the prejudice that is very much there.”
But oddly, there is barely a mention in the media of the antisemitism that must also exist in the Conservative party. Or is that the respectable face of antisemitism?
Friday, 3 August 2018
Thursday, 2 August 2018
Getting heated!
A heatwave is forecast for just about all of Europe, starting today. Colourful graphics show maps with red - indicating extreme heat - making its way up from Africa through to more northern climes. So in Spanish it could be an “ola de color” as well as an “ola de calor”.
Temperatures in the mid to high 30s are predicted just about everywhere, including quite a bit of the UK. I read that a heatwave is different from just plain hot weather but I’m blowed if I can remember what the difference is. It has something to do with there being no wind to blow the heat around. Meteorological science was not taught in my school science lessons. And besides, when it’s as hot as today it doesn’t make the slightest difference whether it’s a heatwave or just plain hot weather!
The lack of wind affects the air quality. Late last night we had to shut all the windows as there was a distinct smell of burning. No sign of eucalyptus trees on fire around here fortunately, and besides, it smelt more like somebody burning stuff they should not have been incinerating. All in all, rather annoying, especially as when it’s hot I like to get up a little earlier to run before the heat gets going. And the temperature gauge at the end of the street already measured 23 degrees at 8.45. Okay, that’s not all that early but even a blogger has to sleep some of the time!
Out shopping late morning, I stopped for a glass of water in one of the local cafes. There I witnessed the waitress spectacularly drop a tray full of glasses and bottles of beer. Was this a consequence of the excessive heat? Or just a careless customer moving his stool at entirely the wrong moment? Was he affected by excessive heat?
I read about a sunflower grower in Canada having a bumper crop (result of lots of sunshine no doubt) and deciding to earn a little extra from his blooming flowers by charging people to come onto his land and admire the beauty and take some selfies. He employed extra staff and set up a parking area and portable toilets. A nice little earner! Or so he thought!
Of course, this being the age of social media the whole thing went viral as people posted their selfies. “Everyone was laughing and having fun,” Barry Bogle, the owner, told the newspapers. “Then all of Toronto showed up.” And suddenly the highways leading to his sunflower farm were clogged and his crop was in danger of being trampled. The full extent of the damage won’t be known until the crop is properly ready for harvesting.
At one point an estimated 7,000 cars were trying to park on the 300 capacity parking lot! Hundreds of people just walked into the fields without paying and in the end the police had to intervene and ask Bogle Seeds to close down the operation. The mind Bog(g)les! Sorry, I just couldn’t resist!
Some people are not happy with the cancellation of the selfie-fest. Some accused the Bogle family of ruining their vacation. “I drove two hours, three hours, I deserve to get my picture taken”, was a typical remark. Really?! Is the chance to take a selfie with a sunflower the high point of a holiday? Others simply drove around the corner and – selfie sticks in hand – snuck past the “no trespassing” signs. Mr Bogle has been getting abuse! And other sunflower growers are complaining that their farms are being invaded as well.
Such is summer madness.
Clearly the heat has gone to some people’s heads.
Meanwhile, as forest fires rage in California, some congressmen still don’t believe in climate change, or at least in the human factor causing it. They think it’s just hot weather as usual. I suppose they are entitled to their opinions.
Some people, on the other hand, do think that climate change is happening. A chap in Redding, California, one of the places affected by the fires said he didn’t need science to tell him about climate change. It’s “obvious”, he said. “Look at the trees around you right now. The leaves are falling out of the trees when they shouldn’t be. The environment is changing, and it’s changing everywhere.”
However, he doesn’t think we can do much about it. “The good Lord has to fix it. We’re not capable of it.”
That is another kind of madness!
Temperatures in the mid to high 30s are predicted just about everywhere, including quite a bit of the UK. I read that a heatwave is different from just plain hot weather but I’m blowed if I can remember what the difference is. It has something to do with there being no wind to blow the heat around. Meteorological science was not taught in my school science lessons. And besides, when it’s as hot as today it doesn’t make the slightest difference whether it’s a heatwave or just plain hot weather!
The lack of wind affects the air quality. Late last night we had to shut all the windows as there was a distinct smell of burning. No sign of eucalyptus trees on fire around here fortunately, and besides, it smelt more like somebody burning stuff they should not have been incinerating. All in all, rather annoying, especially as when it’s hot I like to get up a little earlier to run before the heat gets going. And the temperature gauge at the end of the street already measured 23 degrees at 8.45. Okay, that’s not all that early but even a blogger has to sleep some of the time!
Out shopping late morning, I stopped for a glass of water in one of the local cafes. There I witnessed the waitress spectacularly drop a tray full of glasses and bottles of beer. Was this a consequence of the excessive heat? Or just a careless customer moving his stool at entirely the wrong moment? Was he affected by excessive heat?
I read about a sunflower grower in Canada having a bumper crop (result of lots of sunshine no doubt) and deciding to earn a little extra from his blooming flowers by charging people to come onto his land and admire the beauty and take some selfies. He employed extra staff and set up a parking area and portable toilets. A nice little earner! Or so he thought!
Of course, this being the age of social media the whole thing went viral as people posted their selfies. “Everyone was laughing and having fun,” Barry Bogle, the owner, told the newspapers. “Then all of Toronto showed up.” And suddenly the highways leading to his sunflower farm were clogged and his crop was in danger of being trampled. The full extent of the damage won’t be known until the crop is properly ready for harvesting.
At one point an estimated 7,000 cars were trying to park on the 300 capacity parking lot! Hundreds of people just walked into the fields without paying and in the end the police had to intervene and ask Bogle Seeds to close down the operation. The mind Bog(g)les! Sorry, I just couldn’t resist!
Some people are not happy with the cancellation of the selfie-fest. Some accused the Bogle family of ruining their vacation. “I drove two hours, three hours, I deserve to get my picture taken”, was a typical remark. Really?! Is the chance to take a selfie with a sunflower the high point of a holiday? Others simply drove around the corner and – selfie sticks in hand – snuck past the “no trespassing” signs. Mr Bogle has been getting abuse! And other sunflower growers are complaining that their farms are being invaded as well.
Such is summer madness.
Clearly the heat has gone to some people’s heads.
Meanwhile, as forest fires rage in California, some congressmen still don’t believe in climate change, or at least in the human factor causing it. They think it’s just hot weather as usual. I suppose they are entitled to their opinions.
Some people, on the other hand, do think that climate change is happening. A chap in Redding, California, one of the places affected by the fires said he didn’t need science to tell him about climate change. It’s “obvious”, he said. “Look at the trees around you right now. The leaves are falling out of the trees when they shouldn’t be. The environment is changing, and it’s changing everywhere.”
However, he doesn’t think we can do much about it. “The good Lord has to fix it. We’re not capable of it.”
That is another kind of madness!
Wednesday, 1 August 2018
A DAY for everyone and every place!
It would seem that today is Yorkshire Day 2018: the celebration of all things Yorkshire. Once again somebody has decided that today is a DAY!
Well, Spain and Italy and probably most other countries of Europe have DAYS for this that and the other. So why not Yorkshire? After all, every dog has his day, they say!
One of yesterday’s papers asked readers to tell them what the county means to them.
“Yorkshire Day is upon us once again, a time to celebrate all things great about the county – although for some, everyday is Yorkshire day. First marked in 1975 after the Yorkshire Ridings Society protested against local government reorganisation, this year’s official celebrations are taking place on Wednesday in the county’s smallest city, Ripon. There are plans for a parade through the market square, live music and a Wilfra Tart festival.
In past years people across Yorkshire have celebrated the day with pudding throwing contests, renaming pubs and councils have even come together to call for a “coalition of the willing” to fight for a devolution deal. We want to know how and where you’re celebrating God’s Own County this year. Are you taking part in town parades? Is your local pub doing anything to mark the occasion? Are you a believer in devolution?”
In my case, it means memories of the Yorkshire relatives turning up at intervals throughout the summer to stay with us in the house where I grew up in Southport. Slow speaking, with a marked accent, in my grandmother’s case dressed in black and looking like an illustration of a “peasant woman” from some school text book. She would have fitted in perfectly with the elderly Spanish ladies dressed in black who I came across when first I visited Spain in 1968.
As for devolution, well, I know a few who would happily go for free rule for Yorkshire.
Our village, Delph, used to be in Yorkshire, before the boundaries changed. Some people still have white roses on their gates and would go back to being in Yorkshire tomorrow.
Other friends would add Greater Manchester to it and go totally independent and probably stay in the EU! Alternatively, the whole of the north of England could join Scotland and go independent.
Would it cause as much disturbance as the Catalunya independence movement? I wonder!
Well, Spain and Italy and probably most other countries of Europe have DAYS for this that and the other. So why not Yorkshire? After all, every dog has his day, they say!
One of yesterday’s papers asked readers to tell them what the county means to them.
“Yorkshire Day is upon us once again, a time to celebrate all things great about the county – although for some, everyday is Yorkshire day. First marked in 1975 after the Yorkshire Ridings Society protested against local government reorganisation, this year’s official celebrations are taking place on Wednesday in the county’s smallest city, Ripon. There are plans for a parade through the market square, live music and a Wilfra Tart festival.
In past years people across Yorkshire have celebrated the day with pudding throwing contests, renaming pubs and councils have even come together to call for a “coalition of the willing” to fight for a devolution deal. We want to know how and where you’re celebrating God’s Own County this year. Are you taking part in town parades? Is your local pub doing anything to mark the occasion? Are you a believer in devolution?”
In my case, it means memories of the Yorkshire relatives turning up at intervals throughout the summer to stay with us in the house where I grew up in Southport. Slow speaking, with a marked accent, in my grandmother’s case dressed in black and looking like an illustration of a “peasant woman” from some school text book. She would have fitted in perfectly with the elderly Spanish ladies dressed in black who I came across when first I visited Spain in 1968.
As for devolution, well, I know a few who would happily go for free rule for Yorkshire.
Our village, Delph, used to be in Yorkshire, before the boundaries changed. Some people still have white roses on their gates and would go back to being in Yorkshire tomorrow.
Other friends would add Greater Manchester to it and go totally independent and probably stay in the EU! Alternatively, the whole of the north of England could join Scotland and go independent.
Would it cause as much disturbance as the Catalunya independence movement? I wonder!
Tuesday, 31 July 2018
Sports stuff. Mobiles. Weather.
It was rather dull and damp all day yesterday. We went to the shopping centre at the end of the street, not to shop but so that Phil could play some informal, practice chess games against one of the young stars of the area.
The shopping centre has a nice area with stools and tables, and wifi access, where you can sit and socialise without coming under any pressure to purchase refreshments. Some people go there to use the internet, others to play cards or chess, grown up people to chat and young people to get excited about the latest apps on their mobile phones.
My conversation partner, mother of the young chess star, tells me that her son, aged 13 I think, does not have a mobile. He doesn’t need one, she maintains. He doesn’t hang around places like the shopping centre on his own with friends (she thinks there are too many youngsters with too much freedom nowadays) and so he doesn’t need to phone home and she doesn’t feel the need for him to have that extra security gadget. If they are out and about he uses her phone to look up stuff on the internet.
I tell her that our grandson, the same age, has had a mobile since starting secondary school. But then, he travels to school, like so many English kids, on public transport and may need to contact his mother if there is a problem. The young chess star travels to school, like many Spanish kids, on the designated free school bus which picks him up and drops him off more or less outside their home. Different ways of doing things. However, I suspect he is unusual in not yet having a mobile of his own.
And now I find myself wondering if all Spanish schools organise buses to collect their pupils. I am pretty sure young Madrileños travel across the city to school using the Madrid metro system. Teenage Madrileños that is, not very young ones. But then, capital cities are always that little bit different.
The young chess star is off to Pontevedra tomorrow to a chess camp prior to taking part in the chess tournament there. A week of chess training and other fun and games - football, swimming, trips and probably sitting up late talking! He and Phil might get to play each other more seriously during the chess tournament. After that they will both play in another tournament in Mondariz.
So, having played in age-group championships earlier this summer, the young chess star will have spent most of his long summer break playing chess. Not bad!
It’s a bit like the cyclists who have done the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France and are now gearing up for the Vuelta a España which starts on the 25th of August in Malaga. They could follow that immediately with the Tour of Britain, starting on September 2nd.
Summer is a busy season for sportspeople.
Reports suggest that neither Geraint Thomas nor Chris Froome will be in the Vuelta a España. Froome, after all, went straight from the Giro d’Italia to the Tour. He must be a bit tired. And the Welshman is probably going to be celebrating his success and then training for the Tour of Britain. The sports reporters suggest that the Sky Team will be pushing a young Scot for the Vuelta. He has the unlikely name of Tao Geoghegan Hart. Tao sounds positively foreign. Geoghegan sound like a good Celtic name. And I suppose Hart is pretty Celtic too.
It will be interesting to see how the Spanish commentators get their tongues round his name though.
Today the sunshine came back. Here's a view from the promontory of A Guia.
The shopping centre has a nice area with stools and tables, and wifi access, where you can sit and socialise without coming under any pressure to purchase refreshments. Some people go there to use the internet, others to play cards or chess, grown up people to chat and young people to get excited about the latest apps on their mobile phones.
My conversation partner, mother of the young chess star, tells me that her son, aged 13 I think, does not have a mobile. He doesn’t need one, she maintains. He doesn’t hang around places like the shopping centre on his own with friends (she thinks there are too many youngsters with too much freedom nowadays) and so he doesn’t need to phone home and she doesn’t feel the need for him to have that extra security gadget. If they are out and about he uses her phone to look up stuff on the internet.
I tell her that our grandson, the same age, has had a mobile since starting secondary school. But then, he travels to school, like so many English kids, on public transport and may need to contact his mother if there is a problem. The young chess star travels to school, like many Spanish kids, on the designated free school bus which picks him up and drops him off more or less outside their home. Different ways of doing things. However, I suspect he is unusual in not yet having a mobile of his own.
And now I find myself wondering if all Spanish schools organise buses to collect their pupils. I am pretty sure young Madrileños travel across the city to school using the Madrid metro system. Teenage Madrileños that is, not very young ones. But then, capital cities are always that little bit different.
The young chess star is off to Pontevedra tomorrow to a chess camp prior to taking part in the chess tournament there. A week of chess training and other fun and games - football, swimming, trips and probably sitting up late talking! He and Phil might get to play each other more seriously during the chess tournament. After that they will both play in another tournament in Mondariz.
So, having played in age-group championships earlier this summer, the young chess star will have spent most of his long summer break playing chess. Not bad!
It’s a bit like the cyclists who have done the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France and are now gearing up for the Vuelta a España which starts on the 25th of August in Malaga. They could follow that immediately with the Tour of Britain, starting on September 2nd.
Summer is a busy season for sportspeople.
Reports suggest that neither Geraint Thomas nor Chris Froome will be in the Vuelta a España. Froome, after all, went straight from the Giro d’Italia to the Tour. He must be a bit tired. And the Welshman is probably going to be celebrating his success and then training for the Tour of Britain. The sports reporters suggest that the Sky Team will be pushing a young Scot for the Vuelta. He has the unlikely name of Tao Geoghegan Hart. Tao sounds positively foreign. Geoghegan sound like a good Celtic name. And I suppose Hart is pretty Celtic too.
It will be interesting to see how the Spanish commentators get their tongues round his name though.
Today the sunshine came back. Here's a view from the promontory of A Guia.
Monday, 30 July 2018
Bits of news stories.
Well, I finally saw a little bit of the Tour de France. In the bar last night they were showing a recording of what looked like most of the final stage: shots of the peloton riding through the rain in the outskirts of Paris, dangerously thin racing tyres on wet roads, the Sky Team riding into the centre of Paris, lovely shots of Paris seen from the air. Of course, you could not hear any commentary because the other television set in the opposite corner was belting out pop music videos. So it goes!
Our daughter tells us they have had torrential rain over the weekend - probably the same weather front that gave them rain in Paris. This morning we had cloud and drizzle. And it continued all day. But both here and in the UK the summer is predicted to return. A friend of mine back in Manchester has been complaining and putting in her central heating. I think she exaggerates! 18 degrees does not really call for central heating and big jumpers!
Now for some odds and ends I found in the newspapers.
From the Sunday Times:
“Ministers have drawn up plans to send in the army to deliver food, medicines and fuel in the event of shortages if Britain crashes out of the EU without a deal. Blueprints for the armed forces to assist the civilian authorities, usually used only in civil emergencies, have been dusted down as part of the “no deal” planning.
Helicopters and army trucks would be used to ferry supplies to vulnerable people outside the southeast who were struggling to obtain the medicines they needed.”
I couldn’t read any more than that as the Times online demands a subscription.
Stingy tory paper!
Note that the article talks about having to ferry supplies to “vulnerable people outside the southeast”. Even in a crash-out-of-Europe-with ;o-deal-Brexit situation it seems than other southeast will still be more privileged than other parts of the country! More seriously what kind of mess is the UK staggering into?
From the Independent:
“Trump has threatened to “shut down” the government unless Congress passes legislation that would fund his proposed wall across the US border with Mexico.
In an early morning tweet, he demanded a raft of changes to the country’s immigration laws, adding he wanted “great people” coming into the country. “I would be willing to ‘shut down’ government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall!” he wrote. “Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country!” “
That sounds like a plan!
And from I don’t remember where, but possibly somebody’s post on Facebook:
“People who want British citizenship have to make an affirmation of allegiance to the Queen and loyalty to the UK. Now I'm a British citizen, I have been all of my life, I was born here, however I have never made an affirmation of allegiance to the Queen and have no intention of doing so. So why do people who seek British citizenship have to make this ridiculous pledge?
It boggles my mind. What do the government think it will achieve? Does it mean anything? If a person was intent on doing harm to the UK and wanted citizenship to enable this in some way, they would make the pledge, so it doesn't protect the country. Why bother with it?”
Personally I have not pledged allegiance since I left the Brownies, where we all had to say: “I promise to do my best, to do my duty to God and the queen...” The rest of the promise I have completely forgotten.
How long before the PM ends every speech with “God belss the United Kingdom”?
And finally, I read about an ice cream parlour in downtown Washington called Presidential Scoops, supposedly so named because when ice cream is served in the White House President Trump gets two scoops while everyone else gets just one. And so customers are not asked if they want their ice creams super-sized but “Do you want it Trumped?”
The owner has named each ice-cream after an American president as chosen by an online poll, including Nixon’s cookies and cream crumble, Lincoln’s decadent pretzel, JFK’s America’s birthday cake, Jefferson’s Monticello ripple, Carter’s patriotic peanut, Reagan’s raspberry truffle, Obama’s strawberry jubilee and Trump’s extra rich chip. His own favorite is Washington’s vanilla beans.
And the slogan of the shop is “Making America sweet again”!
Our daughter tells us they have had torrential rain over the weekend - probably the same weather front that gave them rain in Paris. This morning we had cloud and drizzle. And it continued all day. But both here and in the UK the summer is predicted to return. A friend of mine back in Manchester has been complaining and putting in her central heating. I think she exaggerates! 18 degrees does not really call for central heating and big jumpers!
Now for some odds and ends I found in the newspapers.
From the Sunday Times:
“Ministers have drawn up plans to send in the army to deliver food, medicines and fuel in the event of shortages if Britain crashes out of the EU without a deal. Blueprints for the armed forces to assist the civilian authorities, usually used only in civil emergencies, have been dusted down as part of the “no deal” planning.
Helicopters and army trucks would be used to ferry supplies to vulnerable people outside the southeast who were struggling to obtain the medicines they needed.”
I couldn’t read any more than that as the Times online demands a subscription.
Stingy tory paper!
Note that the article talks about having to ferry supplies to “vulnerable people outside the southeast”. Even in a crash-out-of-Europe-with ;o-deal-Brexit situation it seems than other southeast will still be more privileged than other parts of the country! More seriously what kind of mess is the UK staggering into?
From the Independent:
“Trump has threatened to “shut down” the government unless Congress passes legislation that would fund his proposed wall across the US border with Mexico.
In an early morning tweet, he demanded a raft of changes to the country’s immigration laws, adding he wanted “great people” coming into the country. “I would be willing to ‘shut down’ government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall!” he wrote. “Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country!” “
That sounds like a plan!
And from I don’t remember where, but possibly somebody’s post on Facebook:
“People who want British citizenship have to make an affirmation of allegiance to the Queen and loyalty to the UK. Now I'm a British citizen, I have been all of my life, I was born here, however I have never made an affirmation of allegiance to the Queen and have no intention of doing so. So why do people who seek British citizenship have to make this ridiculous pledge?
It boggles my mind. What do the government think it will achieve? Does it mean anything? If a person was intent on doing harm to the UK and wanted citizenship to enable this in some way, they would make the pledge, so it doesn't protect the country. Why bother with it?”
Personally I have not pledged allegiance since I left the Brownies, where we all had to say: “I promise to do my best, to do my duty to God and the queen...” The rest of the promise I have completely forgotten.
How long before the PM ends every speech with “God belss the United Kingdom”?
And finally, I read about an ice cream parlour in downtown Washington called Presidential Scoops, supposedly so named because when ice cream is served in the White House President Trump gets two scoops while everyone else gets just one. And so customers are not asked if they want their ice creams super-sized but “Do you want it Trumped?”
The owner has named each ice-cream after an American president as chosen by an online poll, including Nixon’s cookies and cream crumble, Lincoln’s decadent pretzel, JFK’s America’s birthday cake, Jefferson’s Monticello ripple, Carter’s patriotic peanut, Reagan’s raspberry truffle, Obama’s strawberry jubilee and Trump’s extra rich chip. His own favorite is Washington’s vanilla beans.
And the slogan of the shop is “Making America sweet again”!
Sunday, 29 July 2018
Cycling fame!
Geraint Thomas is winning, indeed by the time I get around to posting this, will already have won, the Tour de France. Short of falling off his bike, there is really no way these days that whoever wears the yellow jersey at the end of the penultimate stage will not win the Tour. Very occasionally there has been a close call and an actual race on the cobbles of Paris but as a rule tradition has it that the Tour winner has already been decided and is not challenged on the final Sunday.
And besides, Geraint Thomas has an almost two minute lead over the next contender.
And so he becomes the third Briton to win the Tour de France. I almost wrote “the third Englishman” but he is a Welshman and that is different, despite the fact that to most Europeans the English, Scots and Welsh are all regarded as English. We are all inhabitants of the bigger of the British Isles. Maybe that’s what does it. Irishmen are a different matter, at least in Spain, but maybe that has something to do with the long friendly relationship that seems to exist between the two countries. It probably goes back to when England and Spain were sworn enemies.
Anyway, the Tour de France comes to an end today and I have not seen any of it. There has been rather a lot of resentment and nastiness. However, the news reports tell me this:
“Yet Thomas is widely liked by all the peloton – and by most fans too. They admire the way he rode during the 2013 Tour de France with a fractured pelvis, which required him to be lifted into his saddle. He described it as “the worst pain I’ve ever experienced on a bike” – yet never took anything stronger than ibuprofen for the pain.
Eight years earlier he also needed an operation to remove his spleen, after a piece of metal flicked up from the road into the spokes of his front wheel, in Australia. Yet on Saturday evening all the struggles and strife were suddenly worth it.”
Now, that is what I call dedication! He must really enjoy his cycling to put up with all that stuff. He appears to be quite modest about his success too. “I know people won’t believe it, but it was only on Friday night that I started to think about it,” he said. “That last mountain stage was just a fight and I knew I had to just follow Tom like poo on a shoe. On Saturday I won’t celebrate too much because if you switch off the Champs Élysées is hard. I’m going to have a burger and certainly a beer or two but I will save the real celebrations for Paris on Sunday night.”
He just had to follow Tom Dumoulin “like poo on a shoe”. That must be the poetic Welshman speaking! A very well thought of Welshman, as indicated by the final line of yesterday’s news report: “He has ridden with maturity and class throughout this Tour. And he emerges as the most worthy of winners.”
Isn’t that nice? I wonder if his mum has a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings.
And besides, Geraint Thomas has an almost two minute lead over the next contender.
And so he becomes the third Briton to win the Tour de France. I almost wrote “the third Englishman” but he is a Welshman and that is different, despite the fact that to most Europeans the English, Scots and Welsh are all regarded as English. We are all inhabitants of the bigger of the British Isles. Maybe that’s what does it. Irishmen are a different matter, at least in Spain, but maybe that has something to do with the long friendly relationship that seems to exist between the two countries. It probably goes back to when England and Spain were sworn enemies.
Anyway, the Tour de France comes to an end today and I have not seen any of it. There has been rather a lot of resentment and nastiness. However, the news reports tell me this:
“Yet Thomas is widely liked by all the peloton – and by most fans too. They admire the way he rode during the 2013 Tour de France with a fractured pelvis, which required him to be lifted into his saddle. He described it as “the worst pain I’ve ever experienced on a bike” – yet never took anything stronger than ibuprofen for the pain.
Eight years earlier he also needed an operation to remove his spleen, after a piece of metal flicked up from the road into the spokes of his front wheel, in Australia. Yet on Saturday evening all the struggles and strife were suddenly worth it.”
Now, that is what I call dedication! He must really enjoy his cycling to put up with all that stuff. He appears to be quite modest about his success too. “I know people won’t believe it, but it was only on Friday night that I started to think about it,” he said. “That last mountain stage was just a fight and I knew I had to just follow Tom like poo on a shoe. On Saturday I won’t celebrate too much because if you switch off the Champs Élysées is hard. I’m going to have a burger and certainly a beer or two but I will save the real celebrations for Paris on Sunday night.”
He just had to follow Tom Dumoulin “like poo on a shoe”. That must be the poetic Welshman speaking! A very well thought of Welshman, as indicated by the final line of yesterday’s news report: “He has ridden with maturity and class throughout this Tour. And he emerges as the most worthy of winners.”
Isn’t that nice? I wonder if his mum has a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings.
Saturday, 28 July 2018
Disappointing moon. Manchester bees. Job titles. Food.
Well, as I predicted, we did not see hide nor hair of the moon last night. Too much cloud. So no views of the much talked-about blood moon. No sightings of the eclipse. All in all, a big let down.
The last time there was an eclipse of the sun in the UK it was a fine day. I was out running and kept seeing the sun with a chunk missing out of the corner of my eye. It was very hard not to look at it although I knew that it was dangerous to do so. When I got home I had fun following some instructions I found online about casting shadows onto the floor through something with holes in it, such as a colander, and seeing interesting patterns showing the progress of the eclipse. Why did we never do stuff like that in science when I was a kid in school?
But, as I said, the total eclipse of the moon was a big disappointment. The same thing happens back home whenever they say that there will be a meteorite shower. The cloud moves in and there is no chance of even trying to catch a falling star!
The bee is a symbol of Manchester. I was never aware of this before the Arena bombing after the Ariana Grande concert. Then suddenly everyone was sporting bee symbols on their cars, getting bee tattoos and generally showing off their bee-affiliation to the city. Here is a link to photos of bee statues that have apparently been put up all over the city centre.
Here is a link to yet another article about women’s size and body image and so on. It has a lot of the usual stuff that you can’t argue with about how important it is for people not to be pressurised to conform to social pressures. A couple of things struck me as I read it.
Firstly, describing a young woman featured in the article it said:
“This year, for the first time, she wore a bikini on holiday. When she posted photos of herself by the pool, she received vicious abuse, but the freedom was revelatory, and the memory of it continues to make her smile.”
Now, here in Spain I see women of all shapes and sizes, and ages for that matter, wearing bikinis. (That’s another thing: there is a kind of unstated belief that beyond a certain age you should stop wearing a bikini!) Do Spanish women not post photos of themselves in bikinis? Or does nobody worry about it and so the abuse does not happen? Or is it just that I have not heard about it?
Secondly, I came across the description of someone as a “certified eating counsellor”. Not just a nutritionist but a certified eating counsellor. This approach apparently “rejects restricted eating in favour of recognising the body’s own signs for hunger and satiety”. Presumably this means learning to recognise when you have had enough to eat rather than alternately binging and starving. Eating sensibly in other words. But, what a curious job description!
On the subject of nutrition, I found some facts about how the heatwave is affecting food production in the UK.
Lettuce is struggling, wilting, you might say! Average wholesale prices for lettuce are up nearly 22% year on year as the long spell of warm weather has lifted demand by 40%, while yields are down by 25%. Lettuces stop growing in high temperatures and the heads can be damaged by heat. Wholesalers and farmers have been forced to fly in supplies from abroad to meet contracts with supermarkets. Yet here, in the Mercadona supermarket next door, iceberg lettuce still sells for €1 here, in fact down to 70 céntimos yesterday.
Apple growers would like some rain but the long sunny spell will mean sweeter fruit. However, they might need to negotiate with supermarkets to persuade to accept smaller fruit. We have all grown too accustomed to standard sizes for our fruit.
Dairy farmers are having to use fodder intended to feed their cattle later in the year as the hot weather has made much of the grass dry up. And as a result milk yields are lower than usual.
On the plus side raspberries are having a longer season than expected, making up,for a late start with the slow start to spring. And cherries are having a bumper crop.
It’s not all bad then!
The last time there was an eclipse of the sun in the UK it was a fine day. I was out running and kept seeing the sun with a chunk missing out of the corner of my eye. It was very hard not to look at it although I knew that it was dangerous to do so. When I got home I had fun following some instructions I found online about casting shadows onto the floor through something with holes in it, such as a colander, and seeing interesting patterns showing the progress of the eclipse. Why did we never do stuff like that in science when I was a kid in school?
But, as I said, the total eclipse of the moon was a big disappointment. The same thing happens back home whenever they say that there will be a meteorite shower. The cloud moves in and there is no chance of even trying to catch a falling star!
The bee is a symbol of Manchester. I was never aware of this before the Arena bombing after the Ariana Grande concert. Then suddenly everyone was sporting bee symbols on their cars, getting bee tattoos and generally showing off their bee-affiliation to the city. Here is a link to photos of bee statues that have apparently been put up all over the city centre.
Here is a link to yet another article about women’s size and body image and so on. It has a lot of the usual stuff that you can’t argue with about how important it is for people not to be pressurised to conform to social pressures. A couple of things struck me as I read it.
Firstly, describing a young woman featured in the article it said:
“This year, for the first time, she wore a bikini on holiday. When she posted photos of herself by the pool, she received vicious abuse, but the freedom was revelatory, and the memory of it continues to make her smile.”
Now, here in Spain I see women of all shapes and sizes, and ages for that matter, wearing bikinis. (That’s another thing: there is a kind of unstated belief that beyond a certain age you should stop wearing a bikini!) Do Spanish women not post photos of themselves in bikinis? Or does nobody worry about it and so the abuse does not happen? Or is it just that I have not heard about it?
Secondly, I came across the description of someone as a “certified eating counsellor”. Not just a nutritionist but a certified eating counsellor. This approach apparently “rejects restricted eating in favour of recognising the body’s own signs for hunger and satiety”. Presumably this means learning to recognise when you have had enough to eat rather than alternately binging and starving. Eating sensibly in other words. But, what a curious job description!
On the subject of nutrition, I found some facts about how the heatwave is affecting food production in the UK.
Lettuce is struggling, wilting, you might say! Average wholesale prices for lettuce are up nearly 22% year on year as the long spell of warm weather has lifted demand by 40%, while yields are down by 25%. Lettuces stop growing in high temperatures and the heads can be damaged by heat. Wholesalers and farmers have been forced to fly in supplies from abroad to meet contracts with supermarkets. Yet here, in the Mercadona supermarket next door, iceberg lettuce still sells for €1 here, in fact down to 70 céntimos yesterday.
Apple growers would like some rain but the long sunny spell will mean sweeter fruit. However, they might need to negotiate with supermarkets to persuade to accept smaller fruit. We have all grown too accustomed to standard sizes for our fruit.
Dairy farmers are having to use fodder intended to feed their cattle later in the year as the hot weather has made much of the grass dry up. And as a result milk yields are lower than usual.
On the plus side raspberries are having a longer season than expected, making up,for a late start with the slow start to spring. And cherries are having a bumper crop.
It’s not all bad then!
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