Avast

September 19th will soon be on us again! Yarr!

Be Loud, Be Proud! Free The Cape Town 1!

The arrest of Sir Mark Thatcher gives our friend here no pleasure. I too feel only sadness at the probable downfall of this worthy and useful citizen. Mrs Thatch today flies back ; let us join her mission of mercy.
We are DISTRESSED that he faces extradition to Equatorial Guinea, where the DEATH PENALTY is still meted out to wrongdoers. Let us march on the South African Embassy, with Lord Archer and Jim "Nick-Nick" Davidson in our vanguard, and demand the instant release of this wronged and innocent man, whose only crimes are to be A British Citizen and Son of Thatch! Let us all pull together and speak as one, echoing the Roman slaves in "Spartacus": "I am Sir Mark Thatcher!". Demand Justice for the "Cape Town 1"!

Grumpy

"Maul halten und weiter dienen"*.

Fine words to remember the day after an Annual Appraisal.

*"Grin and bear it and get on with the job" - Svejk

The Rural Economy

The recent focus on Boscastle brought back a memory of nearby "Arthurian" Tintagel which doesn't show me in my best light. Some years ago during a holiday in Devon we found ourselves in the Tintagel Gifte Shoppe, full of Lancelot lampshades, Guinevere gubbins, Gawain gewgaws, and I'd had enough (maybe I was trying to give up smoking, I don't know). I made some remark, audible to all, along the lines of "how can they bear to sell all this crap? Everyone here knows its all just some nonsense got up to fleece the tourists, etc etc". The chap behind the counter replied almost mournfully, "we're just trying to make a bit of a living", and it came to me that this was just about the only employment in town. I felt so crass and boorish I almost bought a Sir Galahad mead goblet. Only almost.

Scenes from the Sad

I just realised that I finished "Breathing Lessons" only to pick up and start "Coming Up For Air". Odd coincidence.

Bad Smell going well - 6 out of 6 and 2nd in the league. Although I'll only dislodge the first place team with a gun...

Innocence, like, retained, you know?

Just got back from a 2-week jaunt to SLOVAKIA... stuff & pictures tomorrow.

From the back seat of the SKODA, a genuine conversation - a 9-year old girl and a 7-year-old girl looking at a magazine or brochure...

9-y-o "She doesn't look like a real model, she looks more like a porn star"

7-y-o "What's a porn star?"

(2 adults in the front now agog for the reply)

9-y-o "It's, like, a model who doesn't wear a T-shirt."

Pix

My MOBLOG contains a few pictures of the Liptov region of Slovakia, where we spent a brilliant 2 weeks.