Not long now till the smoking ban!

(On the first of July the smoking ban will come in in England and Wales. Hip, hip hooray!)

"I'm into outdoor pursuits. Smoking mainly"

Now, that's more like it!

Aussie no-nonsense approach to nonsense:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21948930-601,00.html

Copycat bandwagon

What? Even more awareness? Is that even possible?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6225108.stm

Is it official?

Seems like the BBC is now officially pro-jihad. See:

http://timblair.net/ee/index.php/weblog/bbc_beyond_belief/

Perhaps it's Osama?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6768237.stm

Office romance

Regarding Sir Salman:

I saw this quote on a comments section about the Knighting of Salman Rushdie:

"It's always better to support those who write books, rather than those who burn them."

Funny..

Army dreamers

There is an article in the Telegraph today about the poor response time in getting wounded British Army personnel away from the battle fields of Iraq and Afghanistan. The article is at:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/17/ntroops117.xml

Apparently, response times are slower than was the case with the Americans in Vietnam decades ago. I think it's a disgrace how the British army is expected to extend itself in operations around the world without the proper equipment and logistical support. These brave men and women are asked to fight for their country but can't expect to have the latest, and therefore, safest equipment. There have been cases of deaths of soldiers just because the soldier in question was not issued with a bullet-proof vest due to cost saving measures. Also there was the issue of landrovers not kitted out with a armourmed plate underneath the vehicle (standard on similar US vehicles) to protect personnel from road-side bomb attacks.
I hope that the next Prime Minister will put an end to the trend of not supporting our troops properly. It's one thing to tell your young soldiers to go out and fight wars but the least you can do is to give them the right tools to do a decent job.

More Blair rides again..

More troubling scaring of youngsters of the 'Global Bogeyman is coming to get ya'-variety:

http://timblair.net/ee/index.php/weblog/bigelman_report_in/

Blair rides again

Tim Blair tells it like he sees it. Have a look at:

http://timblair.net/ee/index.php/weblog/global_traumaning/

I like reading Blair's blog not because I agree with every stand he takes but rather because I appreciate that he doesn't feel compelled to jump on every lefty bandwagon going, which is the case with most other pundits in the media. He has a wicked turn of phrase as well which I find amusing. Oh well..

Sir Becks?

http://www.theage.com.au/news/people/sir-beckham-watch-this-spice/2007/06/15/1181414548694.html

Quite:

Oh no, Yoko!

I heard Yoko Ono as a guest on Radio Four's Desert Island Discs this morning. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the programme, it's a nice twee sort of thing where a guest gets to choose and play some favourite songs which they wouldn't want to be without if they were to be sent to a hypothetical desert island.

In the introduction, the presenter said that Yoko One had long been reviled for having wrecked the Beatles, and taking away John Lennon from these shores, and for generally being a bit of a cow. I don't know. I don't much care for her 'art', and she always seems very supercillious but that in itself is no crime.

The presenter also said that Paul McCartney had recently declared that he'd changed his mind about her. Whereas he was once regarded her as a very cold sort of woman he now thought she was probably all right. He had added that perhaps it was just that unlike most other people she was more determined to be herself.

That last bit interested me. There must be a fine line between knowing your own mind and having little doubt about what you want out of life and how to get it, and being thought of as absolutely selfish and uncaring. Is there a point where one merges into the other?

Self-assuredness and a take-charge attitude will often scare off lesser mortals with all of their fears and doubts and many insecurities (that's you and me, perhaps?).

I will never be a 'fan' of Yoko Ono, but this intriguing description of her by Paul McCartney certainly made me think.

Not cherchez this femme..

Some women you just don't want to mess with:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/4253849.stm

Beeb PR

The BBC like a 'good' cause:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6750911.stm

Today's funnies

Responsible government

It's such a good thing that Israel withdrew from Gaza. See what a paradise the Palestinians are building there for themselves:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/14/wgaza214.xml

Yasmin's column

A short while ago I posted a link to a news story about a particularly sickening case of honour-killing here in the UK. A Kurdish father had had his daughter killed for loving the wrong kind of Kurd. And I wondered how we are to put up with barbarism like this, imported from areas in the world where values are held in regard that would not and should not be acceptable in the West.

Today, I read a good article in The Independent by Yasmin Alibhai Brown:
http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_a_l/yasmin_alibhai_brown/article2650971.ece


She makes a good argument in a clear and concise manner. I've always read her articles with interest and often disagreed vehemently with her. She would always respond to my emails to her, though, no matter how scathing I was at times when commenting on her writing. Although often an incorrigible leftoid, she probably is basically 'a good egg'.

Rich list

The Sunday Times rich list. I'm not on there..

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/specials/rich_list/rich_list_search/

Fug this!

Stumbled across this so-called Fug blog http://gofugyourself.typepad.com/

It's full of pictures of celebrities and their crimes against fashion and good taste, all commented upon by someone who knows how to bring that bitch-on-wheels tone to the fore. Good fun for a few minutes although very US-focussed so some of these would-be starlets are completely unknown to me.

Driving around in circles

Recently, due to necessity, I've taken to driving a bit more. Now I live in England, in a fairly large city with notoriously narrow streets and a lot of inhabitants who don't seem to realise there is such a thing as a Highway Code. When I still lived in Holland I owned a small car and used to enjoy the driving itself, although pretty soon I got quite fed-up with all the morons and maniacs on the road who seem to think it's somehow cool to show off their deathwish.

In England we have an enormous number of round-abouts. Rather than a junction or a crossing you'll often find one of these round-abouts, either with or without traffic lights. And I must admit that they work. Even when traffic is heavy a round-about will guide the flow of vehicles in a fluid and efficient manner. They really are a superb invention and one that I gather is now taken up more and more in traffic infrastructure in Holland as well for that manner.

But to my former Continental eyes the movement of cars on a round-about seems somehow a bit random or arbitrary, even though I realise it's not. When moving around one of these wide circles I never feel quite certain that drivers on either side of me are going to keep to their own lanes. There does seem to be a lot of room for error, especially when it's easy and sometimes tempting to ignore the rules.

I probably need a lot more practice so I'm not worried about my mild anxiety when driving around here. One more thing I've noticed about this town is that everyone parks just wherever the hell they want. You'll turn a sharp bend and there will be a car plonked in front of oncoming traffic, yellow lines or not.

I've always maintained that motorways and supermarkets bring out the worst in people. Given that it's hard to navigate through modern life without resorting to them, I'll just have to deal with it.

Probably to be continued..

Brave new world...

'Oh, he is a fantastic dog. In the morning he fetches the paper and at night he takes it to the recycling bin.’

Wonderfully multi-culti..

Begs the question what cultural baggage should be accepted by the host country and what should be rejected. Perhaps stuff like this should be denounced and condemned for a change:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6722699.stm

Poem for a Monday

Here goes:

A Beard Came Along

With his one glass eye on the shaky world,
and his parchment hand on his pocket watch,
the old grey man went whistling along,
passing houses tense with sorrow,
grief and mourning.
He paused at each; gave a nod,
a wink and an extremely cheeky smile,
and, lo and behold, after he'd gone,
in those dreary dismal domiciles
something bright broke through;
a gentle ray of simple sunlight
on this the greyest of grey days
since grey day recordings began.
Oppressed occupants now managed
a careful smile themselves;
an eye-twinkling was perceived,
and the once-loved and oldest joke around
lovingly re-told.
Even the family cat returned home
after a six year absence, in which,
it was rumoured,
it had been living the high life
on some Costa de Something or other..

Poor Mr. Clarkson goes camping

What hardship for a soft Southern Top Gear luvvy..Funny though:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/jeremy_clarkson/article1781398.ece

Editing and editing

Just put the final touches to the print issue of my poetry magazine. The next issue is due in July and I am running out of time slightly. Never mind. I was able to choose a fine looking cover for this upcoming print issue and I am really pleased about that.

Have a look at the online version of Ancient Heart Magazine at: http://ancientheartmagazine.co.uk/

It’s a quarterly poetry magazine that appears online and in print. I’ve been editor of this would-be august publication for a few years now and I still enjoy picking submissions and publishing new budding poets.

Sometimes the feedback I receive from contributors is quite heartening. And let me tell you that I don’t hearten easily..

I will be sure to post here when the new issue goes ‘live’ in July.

Well done on the lads!

http://optasportsdata.telegraph.co.uk/?107026

Cracking article

A truly great article by Janet Albrechtsen in The Australian today:

http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/janetalbrechtsen/index.php/theaustralian/comments/desperate_for_enlightenment/

Logo nasty

Tim Blair on the changing culture in Britain and the sheer ugliness of the logo for the Olympic Games in London in 2012:

http://timblair.net/ee/index.php/weblog/mo_mentum/

Slim fidgets

If you ever thought that being fidgety brought you absolutely no advantages, think again:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6725107.stm

The Year of Living Dangerously

One of my all time favourite films is The Year of Living Dangerously, by Australian film director Peter Weir, and starring a young Mel Gibson. There is just something wonderfully inviting about Peter Weir’s earlier films. A deftness of touch in the story telling, vivid characterisation and beautiful photography, and, perhaps above all, a love for the subject that shines through in every frame.

In this gorgeous film Mel Gibson is the ABC reporter on his first overseas posting in Jakarta during the Soekarno-era and the communist uprisings. Gibson gets entangled with the local problems and gets involved with the resident community of foreign journalists and international embassy personnel, amongst whom we find Sigourney Weaver, his love interest.

The chemistry between Gibson and Weaver is almost tangible and thoroughly believable. There are priceless scenes at the British Embassy parties where a colonel straight out of central casting is slightly protective of assistant Sigourney Weaver’s attraction to Gibson.

Linda Hunt is amazing as Gibson’s local reporter. There is a deep sense that behind the façade in Java, there lurks a whole hidden cosmos of ghostly whispers, gossip set to gamelan music, and exotic intoxication.

I just love the feel of this film and I must admit that I’ve always been a sucker for those films where a Western reporter is stationed in some tropical otherworld where he or she has to deal with a bewildering host of strange new impressions. Add to that a good tense story and I’m your man.

If you like Peter Weir’s more recent films but haven’t seen his earlier ones, this is definitely one to watch.

Alas, the BBC ain't what it used to be..

Article in the Telegraph today: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml;jsessionid=XLJOIE3YV1BPXQFIQMFCFFOAVCBQYIV0?xml=/opinion/2007/06/02/do0201.xml

I have to say I agree with the sentiments expressed in this piece about the anti-Western bias by the BBC. You'd think it was the cold war and the BBC was the Soviet state-run broadcaster. It's very tiresome to have this lefty PC nonsense shoved down the throat by the BBC everyday and to have to pay for the privilege. I used to admire the supposed objectivity of this broadcasting corporation and almost assume that what you heard on BBC news was probably right on the money. Those days have surely gone and I think it's very sad. Sic transit Gloria Mundi..

Lyonesse, my blog of poems

Have a look at my poetry blog at http://lyonesse.blogspot.com/

The title of this poetry blog is Lyonesse, after the legendary lost island kingdom off the Cornish coast.

You'll find a great many of my poems on this blog, going back over the years. You could almost call it an archive because I've managed to gather here a comprehensive listing of my poems.

Tube Diary making sense

My thoughts entirely:

http://london-underground.blogspot.com/2007/06/baby-on-board-badge-spotted.html

A poem for you

For your delectation, one of my favourite poems. I have warned you that I am a poet..

Carpe Diem

Gaze upon a tired world
ancient and wise at times
scurrying creatures made from clay
forever re-inventing life

Shape-shifting immortal mortals roam
deep within oblivion; hiding, biding
their precious remaining days
Sand runs out with an eerie smile
reflected on the dusty hour-glass

Tiny trickling specks of nothing
going nowhere fast
Last but not least; a glorious feast
dancing and all the while not knowing
long ago the dye was cast

Then I heard you calling me
calling upon me
to call you

Daylight dreams evaporate,
Shades of remembering cling.