The View from the Hill on Saturday 12th June
First of all, Mrs B survived the sandwich...
And so the country eagerly awaits the clash - England verses USA. I have no doubt that USA will win and that England will be forced to slink back into their hole and lick their wounds but actually USA will not have time to celebrate their victory too long, because later today there will be a re-match and England might win that one.
The first clash is Obama vs Cameron and their little chat about BP and the thousands of barrels of oil being delivered to the Gulf coast (minus the barrels). Obama will try and kick Cameron's arse and Cameron will bend down just enough to allow him a glancing blow - whereas in the past Bush dropped his trousers and Blair gave him a proper blow!
Anyway, they can talk until the cows come home, I never really understand where the cows have been and why talking will make them come home but...but they can talk and the oil will carry on spilling.
Later on today we have the football and I have to admit that last night, having watched a little of the France Uruguay match with Mrs B whilst baby-sitting the Beagles, we have decided to watch the game.
Partly because we can no longer watch Doctor Who - it really has lost its way and the new Doctor is rubbish and the stories are rubbish and this week the guest star is James Cordon and he is a fat turd.
This is taking longer than usual to type because I am listening to Ep 13 of You Might Regret It - and my brilliance is distracting me...I recommend it to you all. Hopefully the JP will upload it later to podcast fm - or via the blogspot.
Ep 14 will be posted too but the audio quality is not that good - and there is only one reason - it was a FOX!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
Follow by Email
Saturday, 12 June 2010
Friday, 11 June 2010
The View from the Hill on Friday 11th June
At what point does a pre-packed Waitrose sandwich become inedible?
I ask this question because Mrs B asked me to pick her up a mixed pepper and houmous sandwich yesterday, which I did (I had tuna and cucumber - 251 calories) but I was a little confused on the date front and have just realised that its display and use by date were yesterday!
So my question is based upon the need to identify at what point did the sandwich transfer from edible to inedible status? Was it at exactly midnight? Or do you think it might have had some weak lettuce or some anaemic peppers and so drifted into inedibility a little earlier? Perhaps the strength of the bread will allow the sandwich to cling on a little past the midnight deadline - perhaps the houmous is made from very resolute chick peas and bolstered by a little garlic they are able to save the sandwich and extend its life through until lunchtime today?
Anyway, I think it safer to simply get a pen and change the date so Mrs B doesn't realise what she's eating.
I hear on the news that football fans in Derby are going to march in protest on the city square this lunch time, they are protesting that the Council will not show the World Cup on the big screen tv they have there. I think the very fact that they will be protesting shows that the council is right! You don't want lots of unemployed drunken yobs cluttering the centre of Derby every day of the week - save the big screen for more gentile events like the ballet.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
"But hummus. When did that happen?...but there's a restaurant down the road that that's all they do. That is isn't a proper meal, that's a side-order innit? That's like having a restaurant just floggin' tomato ketchup."
Karl Pilkington
At what point does a pre-packed Waitrose sandwich become inedible?
I ask this question because Mrs B asked me to pick her up a mixed pepper and houmous sandwich yesterday, which I did (I had tuna and cucumber - 251 calories) but I was a little confused on the date front and have just realised that its display and use by date were yesterday!
So my question is based upon the need to identify at what point did the sandwich transfer from edible to inedible status? Was it at exactly midnight? Or do you think it might have had some weak lettuce or some anaemic peppers and so drifted into inedibility a little earlier? Perhaps the strength of the bread will allow the sandwich to cling on a little past the midnight deadline - perhaps the houmous is made from very resolute chick peas and bolstered by a little garlic they are able to save the sandwich and extend its life through until lunchtime today?
Anyway, I think it safer to simply get a pen and change the date so Mrs B doesn't realise what she's eating.
I hear on the news that football fans in Derby are going to march in protest on the city square this lunch time, they are protesting that the Council will not show the World Cup on the big screen tv they have there. I think the very fact that they will be protesting shows that the council is right! You don't want lots of unemployed drunken yobs cluttering the centre of Derby every day of the week - save the big screen for more gentile events like the ballet.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
"But hummus. When did that happen?...but there's a restaurant down the road that that's all they do. That is isn't a proper meal, that's a side-order innit? That's like having a restaurant just floggin' tomato ketchup."
Karl Pilkington
Thursday, 10 June 2010
The View from the Hill on Thursday 10th June
Doctors are not always right - the other day I went for a blood pressure check and to get the results of some blood tests and all was well until the doctor said, let's review your medication.
The outcome was he took me off a blood pressure tablet and then decided I should try and go without the tablet that counteracts excess stomach acid, which I was diagnosed with as a result of taking the aspirin every day.
Excess acid is bloody painful as anyone who suffers with it will know - but I stopped taking the tablet and two days later - agony!
I started taking them again last night and it seems to be settling down.
The tame JW's called yesterday and we had a lovely chat about faith and I asked them this question - where was God before he started creating things? They answered that he has always been and will always be there and we should not worry about things like that, we should accept the word of the Bible because that is the only proof we need.
We continued our chat and they even got their Bible out to show me passages in which various characters showed faith and faith itself is described thus in Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
We chatted a bit more and they left still brimming with their faith and I closed the door, still faithless but we had exchanged our views in a friendly way and it made me even more sure that although organised religion is dangerous, faith may not be.
I do have some faith - I have faith that James Cordon will be killed by angered Star Trek fans after the fat turd had a go at Sir Patrick.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It's been a long road
Getting from there to here
It's been a long time
But my time is finally near
And I will see my dream come alive at last,
I will touch the sky
And they're not gonna hold me down no more
No, they're not gonna change my mind
Cause I got faith of the heart
I'm going where my heart will take me
I got faith to believe
I can do anything
I got strength of the soul
And no one's gonna bend or break me
I can reach any star
I got faith
Faith of the heart...
Doctors are not always right - the other day I went for a blood pressure check and to get the results of some blood tests and all was well until the doctor said, let's review your medication.
The outcome was he took me off a blood pressure tablet and then decided I should try and go without the tablet that counteracts excess stomach acid, which I was diagnosed with as a result of taking the aspirin every day.
Excess acid is bloody painful as anyone who suffers with it will know - but I stopped taking the tablet and two days later - agony!
I started taking them again last night and it seems to be settling down.
The tame JW's called yesterday and we had a lovely chat about faith and I asked them this question - where was God before he started creating things? They answered that he has always been and will always be there and we should not worry about things like that, we should accept the word of the Bible because that is the only proof we need.
We continued our chat and they even got their Bible out to show me passages in which various characters showed faith and faith itself is described thus in Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
We chatted a bit more and they left still brimming with their faith and I closed the door, still faithless but we had exchanged our views in a friendly way and it made me even more sure that although organised religion is dangerous, faith may not be.
I do have some faith - I have faith that James Cordon will be killed by angered Star Trek fans after the fat turd had a go at Sir Patrick.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It's been a long road
Getting from there to here
It's been a long time
But my time is finally near
And I will see my dream come alive at last,
I will touch the sky
And they're not gonna hold me down no more
No, they're not gonna change my mind
Cause I got faith of the heart
I'm going where my heart will take me
I got faith to believe
I can do anything
I got strength of the soul
And no one's gonna bend or break me
I can reach any star
I got faith
Faith of the heart...
Wednesday, 9 June 2010
The View from the Hill on Wednesday 9th June
Sorry I'm a little late blogging today - it was a fox who stole the keyboard and then sat on the roof with it, laughing.
I do wonder if we can get through a whole day without foxes appearing on the news? There again I just realised Fox News has its own channel!
A day for writing today, lots to do and I also have a lunchtime appointment to go to the pub - a very rare occurrence for me. I shall drink only mineral water of course.
As I look in my diary I see the first ceremony I have to write is for a Mr Fox!
It makes a nice change for me to be able to write funerals for people who have all reached a good age, of the next five I am preparing the youngest is 73 and the oldest 94 - and yet last night I was sat with a family who have lost a husband and father aged just 48.
Enough about work, what about play - I hope that tomorrow evening myself and the Junior Partner will be recording another episode of our world famous podcast - You Might Regret It. We haven't done one for weeks and so it will interesting to see if we can still produce the magic. Well when I say we, I mean he, I do carry his meagre talent but it's nice to see him try - it's like care in the community or voluntary work for me.
Well, these funerals wont write themselves - off to jolly old work we go.
Have a nice day and I think I'll post you a nice song to listen to - now let's see....
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
W Shakespeare Macbeth
Sorry I'm a little late blogging today - it was a fox who stole the keyboard and then sat on the roof with it, laughing.
I do wonder if we can get through a whole day without foxes appearing on the news? There again I just realised Fox News has its own channel!
A day for writing today, lots to do and I also have a lunchtime appointment to go to the pub - a very rare occurrence for me. I shall drink only mineral water of course.
As I look in my diary I see the first ceremony I have to write is for a Mr Fox!
It makes a nice change for me to be able to write funerals for people who have all reached a good age, of the next five I am preparing the youngest is 73 and the oldest 94 - and yet last night I was sat with a family who have lost a husband and father aged just 48.
Enough about work, what about play - I hope that tomorrow evening myself and the Junior Partner will be recording another episode of our world famous podcast - You Might Regret It. We haven't done one for weeks and so it will interesting to see if we can still produce the magic. Well when I say we, I mean he, I do carry his meagre talent but it's nice to see him try - it's like care in the community or voluntary work for me.
Well, these funerals wont write themselves - off to jolly old work we go.
Have a nice day and I think I'll post you a nice song to listen to - now let's see....
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
W Shakespeare Macbeth
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
The View from the Hill on Tuesday 8th June
I finished my audio book yesterday whilst traveling to Lincoln via Sturton Le Steeple (never been there before) and this meant I was forced to listen to the radio - You and Yours on Radio 4 was about Retirement and Nursing Homes and as I have already picked out my choice for both my parents and in-laws, I had no need of the information they were sharing.
On twiddling the knob, I found myself in the world of Jeremy Vine - and what a world it is.
They started out talking about the children attacked by a fox in London - including contributions from animal rescue workers, a retired farmer and a man who keeps several of the animals as pets.
There was also a reporter who was obviously standing outside the house where the attack occurred, describing in very severe tones what she believed had happened and reporting how the mother had been escorted to the hospital through the throng of reporters - and that she was wearing a stripy top!
Why was there a throng of supporters I wondered? Where they all from the Daily Mail and will todays headlines read something like - This would never have happened if we hadn't banned hunting!
Meanwhile the reporter intoned how pest control had caught the fox and it had been humanely destroyed...Vine quickly asked "was it the same fox"? The reporter went quiet for a second before commenting that obviously there was no way of knowing.
Where were the CSI team, they could have made sure that the real offender was in custody but no - we just start killing foxes because they are all killers!
There was a man who rang in to say that he had lost millions of chickens over the years to killer foxes, that foxes had picked the locks on a secure barn and basically butchered his chickens and then painted rude graffiti on the walls bragging of how they would come back and dig up his cabbages too!
Luckily some sanity was restored with the man who kept pet foxes, he reported how they were better than dogs because they like to nibble his ears!
So, that was half an hour of Jeremy Vine - luckily I then arrived at my destination and when I came out of the appointment I was keeping they were talking about a council taking an overweight dog from it's owners - didn't ask what they did with overweight children?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Then old Mother Flipper-Flopper jumped out of bed,
Out of the window she cocked her head,
Crying, "John, John! The gray goose is gone,
And the fox is on the town-o, town-o, town-o!"
Crying, "John, John! The gray goose is gone,
And the fox is on the town-o!"
The Fox - Peter Paul and Mary
I finished my audio book yesterday whilst traveling to Lincoln via Sturton Le Steeple (never been there before) and this meant I was forced to listen to the radio - You and Yours on Radio 4 was about Retirement and Nursing Homes and as I have already picked out my choice for both my parents and in-laws, I had no need of the information they were sharing.
On twiddling the knob, I found myself in the world of Jeremy Vine - and what a world it is.
They started out talking about the children attacked by a fox in London - including contributions from animal rescue workers, a retired farmer and a man who keeps several of the animals as pets.
There was also a reporter who was obviously standing outside the house where the attack occurred, describing in very severe tones what she believed had happened and reporting how the mother had been escorted to the hospital through the throng of reporters - and that she was wearing a stripy top!
Why was there a throng of supporters I wondered? Where they all from the Daily Mail and will todays headlines read something like - This would never have happened if we hadn't banned hunting!
Meanwhile the reporter intoned how pest control had caught the fox and it had been humanely destroyed...Vine quickly asked "was it the same fox"? The reporter went quiet for a second before commenting that obviously there was no way of knowing.
Where were the CSI team, they could have made sure that the real offender was in custody but no - we just start killing foxes because they are all killers!
There was a man who rang in to say that he had lost millions of chickens over the years to killer foxes, that foxes had picked the locks on a secure barn and basically butchered his chickens and then painted rude graffiti on the walls bragging of how they would come back and dig up his cabbages too!
Luckily some sanity was restored with the man who kept pet foxes, he reported how they were better than dogs because they like to nibble his ears!
So, that was half an hour of Jeremy Vine - luckily I then arrived at my destination and when I came out of the appointment I was keeping they were talking about a council taking an overweight dog from it's owners - didn't ask what they did with overweight children?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Then old Mother Flipper-Flopper jumped out of bed,
Out of the window she cocked her head,
Crying, "John, John! The gray goose is gone,
And the fox is on the town-o, town-o, town-o!"
Crying, "John, John! The gray goose is gone,
And the fox is on the town-o!"
The Fox - Peter Paul and Mary
Monday, 7 June 2010
The View from the Hill on Monday 7th June
The clock on the wall says 5.40 am - the voice in my head says get up and make a start on the day - I wish they'd both shut up!
My television viewing must be very bad - I had only watched two of the programmes that won Baftas.
Crime and punishment is the topic for today though, and as anyone who has followed my linguistic ramblings will know, I am not in favour of the death penalty however there is something quite serendipitous about the death of murder suspect and porn actor Stephen Hill.
Hill had murdered a fellow porn actor and was located by Police and a stand-off developed on some cliffs in Los Angeles (where else?) After a long discourse where the actor threatened to jump to his death, the Police decided the best way to end the situation was to use a taser - which they did, rendering the suspect rigid by use of several thousand volts of electricity. Well, they didn't render him totally rigid because the poor man twitched a little and fell off the cliff, smashing his head and body on the rocks below - he then died. Whoops!
Well it saves the expense of a trial and the formerly unheard of porn actor will now be famous and the youtube footage will make him the star of one of the biggest viewed films in history. That's the irony, an actor who gets fired and kills his work mate with a Samurai sword, who would have thought the best move of his life would be over a cliff edge?
I once chased a man who had gone a little mad and was wielding a sword around and it was only when I got quite close to him that I realised the foolishness of my actions. As he turned to face me I suddenly remembered it was my birthday and how neat it would be to be born and die on the same date - I swallowed hard and started to move towards him - he raised the sword over his head and started to laugh and at that point a colleague ran him over in a transit van - not lethal but effective.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The pen is mightier than the sword - and considerably easier to write with!
Marty Feldman
The clock on the wall says 5.40 am - the voice in my head says get up and make a start on the day - I wish they'd both shut up!
My television viewing must be very bad - I had only watched two of the programmes that won Baftas.
Crime and punishment is the topic for today though, and as anyone who has followed my linguistic ramblings will know, I am not in favour of the death penalty however there is something quite serendipitous about the death of murder suspect and porn actor Stephen Hill.
Hill had murdered a fellow porn actor and was located by Police and a stand-off developed on some cliffs in Los Angeles (where else?) After a long discourse where the actor threatened to jump to his death, the Police decided the best way to end the situation was to use a taser - which they did, rendering the suspect rigid by use of several thousand volts of electricity. Well, they didn't render him totally rigid because the poor man twitched a little and fell off the cliff, smashing his head and body on the rocks below - he then died. Whoops!
Well it saves the expense of a trial and the formerly unheard of porn actor will now be famous and the youtube footage will make him the star of one of the biggest viewed films in history. That's the irony, an actor who gets fired and kills his work mate with a Samurai sword, who would have thought the best move of his life would be over a cliff edge?
I once chased a man who had gone a little mad and was wielding a sword around and it was only when I got quite close to him that I realised the foolishness of my actions. As he turned to face me I suddenly remembered it was my birthday and how neat it would be to be born and die on the same date - I swallowed hard and started to move towards him - he raised the sword over his head and started to laugh and at that point a colleague ran him over in a transit van - not lethal but effective.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The pen is mightier than the sword - and considerably easier to write with!
Marty Feldman
Sunday, 6 June 2010
The View from the Hill on Sunday 6th June
A delayed blog thanks to a rather large thunder storm which sat over us this morning - didn't want to be sat next to anything electrical if we got struck so I was lurking in bed prior to visiting Langwith and then coming home, going for a walk with Mrs B and then snaffling some salad.
Mrs B and I purchased new walking boots yesterday and so have now officially bedded them in with a 1.65 mile walk around the locale.
I just want to touch on Britain's Got Talent - the right act won of course, Spellbound were excellent, but I felt sorry for the old Scottish windbag - Janey Whatserface - and this is because ITV are cheap and rely on backing tracks not a live orchestra.
They paid thirty seven people to sit on stage and pretend to play because it is cheaper than real musicians. But a real orchestra with a first rate conductor or musical director would have prevented the embarrassment of Janey being one line behind the music. He would have played the intro until she started singing and then bought the orchestra in with her...so shame on you ITV for your cheapness making an 81yr old look like a wrinkled old moron.
Of course during the show we had the World Cup song that Cowell is pushing, with James "Overexposed' Cordon and Dizzee Rascal. I will lay my cards on the table - I am not a football fan and will not be watching the world cup - well not much of it. I will tune in to see England knocked out on penalties by some footballing giants like New Zealand or Honduras.
I am not in floods of tears because poor Rio can't play, he should be happy because now he can go and dance on the sand instead - see what I did there, a sort of Duran Duran thing!?
Televised football matches, 90 minutes of soccer stretched into a four hour show so that they can pay Cordon and Adrian Chiles to blah blah blah - my idea of hell.
Anyway - Bafta tonight, Sky+ comes into it's own, we can FF through Graham Norton and just see the best bits, like Simon Cowell trying to be sincere as he receives a special award - and the award for best actor goes to Simon Cowell for that speech!
Julie Walters will be gutted if she doesn't win something, she's nominated in every category except best sports presenter I think.
Must do some work now, thanks for dropping by - I hear a rumble of thunder again but don't panic - it's just the salad!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow!
You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout
Till you have drenched our steeples, drowned the cocks!
You sulphurous and thought-executing fires,
Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts,
Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder,
Strike flat the thick rotundity o' the world!
Crack nature's molds, all germens spill at once
That make ingrateful man!
W Shakespeare....King Lear
A delayed blog thanks to a rather large thunder storm which sat over us this morning - didn't want to be sat next to anything electrical if we got struck so I was lurking in bed prior to visiting Langwith and then coming home, going for a walk with Mrs B and then snaffling some salad.
Mrs B and I purchased new walking boots yesterday and so have now officially bedded them in with a 1.65 mile walk around the locale.
I just want to touch on Britain's Got Talent - the right act won of course, Spellbound were excellent, but I felt sorry for the old Scottish windbag - Janey Whatserface - and this is because ITV are cheap and rely on backing tracks not a live orchestra.
They paid thirty seven people to sit on stage and pretend to play because it is cheaper than real musicians. But a real orchestra with a first rate conductor or musical director would have prevented the embarrassment of Janey being one line behind the music. He would have played the intro until she started singing and then bought the orchestra in with her...so shame on you ITV for your cheapness making an 81yr old look like a wrinkled old moron.
Of course during the show we had the World Cup song that Cowell is pushing, with James "Overexposed' Cordon and Dizzee Rascal. I will lay my cards on the table - I am not a football fan and will not be watching the world cup - well not much of it. I will tune in to see England knocked out on penalties by some footballing giants like New Zealand or Honduras.
I am not in floods of tears because poor Rio can't play, he should be happy because now he can go and dance on the sand instead - see what I did there, a sort of Duran Duran thing!?
Televised football matches, 90 minutes of soccer stretched into a four hour show so that they can pay Cordon and Adrian Chiles to blah blah blah - my idea of hell.
Anyway - Bafta tonight, Sky+ comes into it's own, we can FF through Graham Norton and just see the best bits, like Simon Cowell trying to be sincere as he receives a special award - and the award for best actor goes to Simon Cowell for that speech!
Julie Walters will be gutted if she doesn't win something, she's nominated in every category except best sports presenter I think.
Must do some work now, thanks for dropping by - I hear a rumble of thunder again but don't panic - it's just the salad!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow!
You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout
Till you have drenched our steeples, drowned the cocks!
You sulphurous and thought-executing fires,
Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts,
Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder,
Strike flat the thick rotundity o' the world!
Crack nature's molds, all germens spill at once
That make ingrateful man!
W Shakespeare....King Lear
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)