2009 — 18 May: Monday
As far as Christmas treats and traditions were concerned in our little household, the two immutables (among the older two members of the trio) were a Terry's chocolate orange for me, and some ghastly chocolate-coated marzipan and nut stuff (from Germany, of course) for Christa. Guaranteed to put a smile on her face.
Tonight's picture of Christa — again from the late 1970s, when we were still just a duo — shows her clowning around with a bag of her home country's finest sweetmeats (a bit like an English chap downunder with a jar of Marmite, perhaps?):
Christa in Old Windsor; a typical Christmas in the late 1970s
I won't deny that chocolate is one of the finer food groups, of course. Time (00:03) for some sleep. But I'm not tired, dammit. And Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour has just kicked off. This is too good to miss. The divine Jane, indeed. And Carol, this link's for you!
G'night, at 01:01. Yawn.
Sunny start
It's bright, fresh, windy and sunny. I whizzed through a few chapters of Rick Wakeman's lightweight grumpy anecdotage last night, pitying the state of his liver. And Mr Postie gently knocked a few minutes ago to draw my attention to a few DVDs and a credit card bill for a great many more. (Win some, lose some.) The thirst cuppa has done its job (at 10:43) and I'm gently contemplating the desirable sequence of half a grapefruit and some cereal. But first, it's time for "Falco".
Understatement of the year... dept.
That pesky Human Rights legislation gets everywhere, doesn't it?
Mr Justice Collins ruled more widely that the MoD had an obligation to avoid or minimise risks to the lives of its troops, wherever they were serving — even while on patrol or in battle.
Otherwise, he said it risked breaching the "right to life" enshrined in the ECHR.
The MoD appealed amid fears that the judgement raised serious questions over sending troops into combat abroad, because absolute protection could never be guaranteed on the battlefield.
Dubious assumption of the year... dept.
I shall have to give up the BBC web site — it makes my brain hurt.
There is evidence to suggest a good education is associated with a reduced dementia risk. And the latest study suggests there can also be a positive effect of mental stimulation continued into our later years. Those people who retired late developed Alzheimer's at a later stage than those who opted not to work on. Each additional year of employment was associated with around a six week later age of onset.
Back to breakfast!
Well-fired...
... with success after my little loafing expotition into Eastleigh. I've left the car out on the drive... it will either get a wash in what looks like more rain or tempt me down into town later on. But (at 13:38) my tum has agitated the next lunch into the oven where it will shortly go "critical" on me (and in me, come to that). Bumped into young Roger a few minutes ago in Waitrose; he's safely back from 10 days in Eire, and looking very refreshed on it.
How do I know the time? Clock this! — thanks for the link to it, Ian.
Good grief!
No wonder I'm starving hungry... it's suddenly 19:08. Oops.
And now it's 23:35 already. I've been reading anecdotal memoirs by Denis Norden and William Shatner; great stuff. I've also discovered a less irritating way of catching BBC4 documentaries (whose visual style I generally find relentlessly trendy) — simply listen to them upstairs on my "headless" Freeview receiver while getting on with something else. So far, it's worked for the "Narnia code" (I was leafing through the hardback in town earlier) and for the programme on the Orkney poet. It also made the programme about the art price "bubble" quite tolerable while not cutting too much into the reading enjoyment and the other bits of PC and non-PC pottering I've been doing today. Tomorrow I need to negotiate with Barclays on dear Mama's behalf. Deep unjoy.