Miscellaneous Tik Tok Tik Tok Tik Tok

 Andy Burnham is employing Tik Tok kids to advise him on the social media platform which he intends to make good use of as Prime Minister. 

Gordon Ramsey invited Tik Tok kids and influencers to his restaurant opening night at The View From the Shard.   He did not invite the press.   Restaurant reviews in the newspapers are dead and gone he says and not where the spread of the word is anymore.  It is all about influencers and Tik Tok and Instagram. 

The April announcement by the Home Office as to the latest millions to be handed to France to secure the beaches was in the words of the press release a new way of dealing with the French and to reward them on results.  

The larger dinghies now being used to cross the Channel hold approximately 165 illegal migrants.  This fact is reported in The Sun, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail and The Times. It was also reported on Sky News and GB News.   The dinghies are piloted by one migrant who is given a free passage to take charge.   The dinghy is abandoned, along with life jackets, as soon as the boat reaches shore.  The migrants are taken to a centre to be checked and then dispersed around the country whilst awaiting asylum.  The picture of the most recent boat load of 165 migrants looked like strong, healthy young men from the faces that could be seen.  Several could even be described as "cocky" and did not look in poor health, suffering poverty or starvation, or frightened . Due to backlogs in processing illegal migrants many thousands are held in temporary accommodation doing nothing. Many disappear and "blend" into Britain whilst in the waiting process and are never seen again unless coming before a court on a charge of rape of women and girls, murder, stabbings of the innocent, supplying drugs, robbery and conspiracy to kill others and sometimes for working illegally and using false papers.

Yesterday I fitted a new toilet seat in my bathroom.  It was a very difficult task.  The seat fits securely.  I would wish that the fitting of toilet seats could be easier.  One has to blindly place fittings that screw from the underneath of the seat.  I was in contortions to reach around the underside of the toilet and place plastic washers, metal washers and bolts to the fitting and screw tight, all carried out by feel. 

It is still nice and hot here.  Everybody seems to know the size of a football pitch so it is used as a handy measurement to describe heath fires.  It is a measurement that gives instant recall for most people.  Acres and hectares are more difficult unless you are a farmer.  Dunwich Heath frequently has fires in the summer although this one has been bigger than other years and evacuations from homes have been involved. The BBC say it can take 25 years to recover and The Guardian say is is apocalyptic.  People believe these things.   Regeneration usually takes about two years. The first sign of green shoots comes with the first rain.  The BBC might be better to be a bit more factual about where the 25 years might fit in with Dunwich.  The fires are now stabilised.  The BBC and the Guardian take this moment to make it far worse than it is. They want you to believe that it is the sign of things to come. In fact heather fires in controlled situations are used each year as good husbandry.   Fires ravaged Norfolk in the summer of 2022 and now you would never know they happened.   Houses and heathland were destroyed.  Now you take a journey and look and see where.  I bet you would be unable to see where.    Combine harvesters catch fire every year, fields of standing crops are destroyed, stacks burn, the stack fires are the work of arsonists usually.  The fires in fields are caused by machinery striking upon flints of which we have many flints in our soil here or very hot exhaust pipes.  

Oh, nearly forgot, medical research is coming out that says that statins are not the answer to heart attacks after all.  Heart health is all down to good diet and exercise and sleep.  

Heat, Yam and Bras and Trousers

 Why would anybody want to read my blog I ask myself.  Today especially when all I have to relate is that I went for a Thai massage yesterday.  On the hottest day of the week, and the hottest day since I went last time when again it was the hottest day.  It was 34C.  

Last time during the journey there I was dripping with sweat, I had the hot coffee and was mopping my brow for an hour before I went to the massage lady's house. You may remember all this. 

This time I put the yam cream to the test and yammed up my wrist and lower arm before leaving the house.  You could say clutching at straws.  I attired myself in the very thin flimsy cotton trousers, that I purchased from Gundrun Sjoden three years ago;  Weaver's recommendation at the time because she had heard of the clothing company through one of her carers.  The trousers were thin and although I bought a pair, two actually, that were ample in size and not stretched to the limit over my expanded body, the seams all had to be re-machined by me because they split with gay abandon at every available point of joins and the material stretched away and tried to escape even from my machined repairs.  

I eventually stopped wearing them for the seam problems although I had put them away clean and repaired.  So yesterday out came a very thin pair  of lime green baggy trousers and, indeed,  they were better than the heavy linen Sahara ones I wore last time.  I concluded I should have taken these to Azerbaijan as they are much cooler than heavy linen that I did take.  However, I would always have been worried about the seams.   I was  over hot in Azerbaijan and eventually gave up bra wearing because the bra made me feel even hotter.   I only had a sports bra with me which was almost 100% elasticated and wearing it was like being encased in rubber.  It was not a good choice of bra for the holiday although I was not expecting the weather to be so hot in Azerbaijan. 

Although I wear shorts for all local sojourns into South Norfolk if I go to the big city, in the true teaching of my mother 60 years ago, I do not wear shorts.  If I was going straight from the train to the massage lady I might have considered shorts but as I was to spend an hour at least in the Odeon café writing, it turned into almost 2 hours because the massage lady texted to say she was delayed,  shorts were not the order of the day.  Anything may go for many cinema goers but for me I always feel some decorum is in order in a public place that is not a supermarket. Even a supermarket demands some but not quite so much. 

The Thai massage was tough and I endured it all without screaming out, she says the men are the worst for asking her to stop and their pain thresholds are low.  I have not had my original masseuse for some time as she has been working in London to earn money to pay  her tax bill as London pay rates for good Thai masseuses are very good and they are in much demand.  Her work in London seems to have made her even stronger in hands than before.  

Last night I was very tired and went to bed early and slept for 8 hours.  

Oh, and by the way, the yam cream worked and I was not dripping with sweat yesterday.  I also did not have a hot coffee.  I had an iced Frappé coffee as recommended by the barista and it was delicious. 

A Post to Ponder Upon

 I don't know what to blog about this morning although I have one thing I would like to blog about and that is the quiet life of blogs and why I do it.  But that is a difficult topic to put into words that won't be twisted.  I like a quiet life and to have followers who have a conversation with me like I would if I was out in a social situation.  It is a conversation to be had here with people who read and may be interested, not a conversation of bitterness and hate.  It does not always come across as happiness but I am a happy person in reality and when I meet my friends of which they are quite a few it is a time of fun, not corrections and bitterness and someone waiting at the door to correct the church cleaning or the church dusting or the church administration to correct the duster and give the reprimand.  It is a time of friendship.  

It is a time to celebrate the shared love of Britain as it was with shepherds pie, runner beans and gravy.   It is the shared realisation that if we do not stand up to attacks carried out on innocent people then queers will be thrown from buildings next and women will be put in the kitchen while the men eat.    It is a shared place for the love of Britain and its culture and the cabbage and peas and roses and perms and slow buses and a scrunched gear change and a summer's day with a sun hat and a cucumber sandwich and a 99.  It is the shared venue for the summer dress and the white socks and a bicycle and sandals put into the body of the elderly sipping water from the fridge door and watching Netflix instead of the BBC.  

The culture of Britain with a tin of sardines and tea together and Blue Peter and the News and an earthquake in Skopje and knitting squares and an atlas to see where it is and Top of the Form and school next day.   It was Aberfan and prayers.  

Now it is a quietness before bed and prayers to the penance of the day's bad thoughts and repentence for the bad word that was uttered in disgust at Louise Haigh and Angela Rayner and extra prayers said that it will all go away and will help with sleep and calm before the next day and it starts all over again.  It is personal life in the head that can make or break the night. 

The blog is for me to talk and find the rights and wrongs of me without the telling or the jerking or the ticking off, mum and dad did enough of that,  they fuck you up your mum and dad, they may not mean to but they do, in the words of Philip Larkin, so leave it at that because all that has been done and I don't want any more of that now.  It is over, those days are gone. 

Today is my day to do as I wish in the heat of the day.  Within the love of Britain that has the creation of the economy and pleasure and satisfaction of work, a Mars bar between six, skinny children who weren't starving and a tennis racket and ball in the park.  

Kevin Keegan's death brought back many memories for me of the 1977 Liverpool team of Ray Clemence, Phil Neal, Joey Jones, Tommy Smith, Ray Kennedy, Emlyn Hughes, Kevin Keegan, Jimmy Case, Steve Heighway, Ian Callaghan, Terry McDermott.  I felt very nostalgic when I read those names.  I could tell you what I was doing at any moment in time in that year, where I stood, what the kitchen was like, what the bathroom was like, where I was, where I worked, who I was with, what we did, what we said.  Kevin Keegan in 1996 I could also tell you about that night as well when Alex Ferguson got the better of him and Kevin went mad.  He was a man who wore his heart on his sleeve, awarded the Ballon'd'Or twice, and had a fight with Billy Bremner at Wembley.   RIP Kevin. 

People regardless of occupation can be wrong

 In life there are people who are good at their jobs and those who are not so good at their jobs.  This does not deviate and is the same in all occupations from shop assistants to hairdressers to doctors to carpenters to plumbers, to electricians, to bus drivers, to baristas to butchers to stockbrokers to tailors to candlestick makers to politicians, clerks, secretaries, teachers, gardeners, roofers, tilers, mechanics, priests and so on.  There are no exceptions to this.   

This is an oft forgotten fact of life.  

When we find a good one we note it don't we?  We remember him/her.  We may recommend him/her to friends.   We make a note of phone number in case we need his/her help in the future. 

The first rule to bear in mind when looking for assistance is that everything said is advisory.  If you decide to take up the advice then it becomes action and implementation.  

Whether you go to the next stage after advice takes consideration and weighing up of facts,  then, just as important as facts is following your gut feeling, intuition. I believe that some people  do not have intuition or they choose to ignore it as irrelevant. 

Using your experience in a field, using past experiences in your own life or that of your family, things you may have learned from your mother or your father.  Being guided by parents  - even when they are elderly they are still worth listening to.     Or just something that your gut is telling you.  Intuition can be solid and worthy of being acted upon.  You just know that something is wrong or right.  If it is wrong you step away, you don't have to say why.

The applies across the board but it appears to be easier to implement with some we encounter than others.  We judge the painter and decorator easily acknowledging our gut reaction to his attitude to preparation, paint costs, quality above cutting corners etc.  We do not hesitate to reject if we feel he/she is not on our wavelength. 

However, where we think someone has vastly superior knowledge than we do through accepted respect for certain occupations like doctors all what I have said goes by the wayside. We dare not question or doubt.  Our subconscious says how could the doctor possibly be wrong, give me the wrong picture, not go along the right pathways, not take into account factors personal to me/us  that he/she in his/her culture is unable to appreciate, give the correct weight to, how could any of what he/says not be gospel to be followed?  Will I endanger my life if I decide to ignore?  Has he made any of this clear?  Has he talked down to me?   Should I get a second opinion?  Will he be offended?  

Doctors can be wrong, misguided, come from different cultures regardless of what the textbook learning gave them, and they need to be given the same treatment as encounters with all the other occupations I referred to.   

News from home and abroad

 The young boy thrown into the crocodile enclosure from a 15ft walkway has now had 6 operations in Addenbrokes Hospital relating to broken bones sustained in the fall and operations and skin grafts relating to the crocodile attack whilst he lay on the ground.  The man who threw the boy into the enclosure was on a summer outing and had learning difficulties. He was being looked after by attendants who, onlookers observed,  were looking at their mobile phones as they walked around with him.  This is not confirmed either way.   The parents of the boy have both taken absence from work to be with their son.  This happened in June in Cambridgeshire and the man was from a Norfolk care home.  Norfolk County Council are investigating.  Norfolk Police said the man was unfit to be charged.  It is reminiscent of the  young French boy thrown over the balcony of the Tate Modern a few years ago.  The man responsible there was mentally unstable and had threatened to kill but had not been taken seriously and was allowed out of his sheltered living accommodation under a risk assessment which deemed him safe to go out on his own in spite of him saying he wanted to kill. The boy was in hospital for many months and his life was changed by the injuries.  The perpetrator is now in prison for a minimum of 15 years and was 18 years old at time of sentence.  He will be young and fit when released. 

In Germany, Berlin, a Lebanese boy, son of a Lebanese woman, born in Germany, has been shot dead after deliberately driving a vehicle into a Pride parade.  He was hunted down and captured hiding in a garden and shot.  One person died in the the attack on the parade and many were injured, some seriously.  The Lebanese German had been known to the police and had been classed  by them as an Islamist threat and had recently tried to go to Syria to join ISIS.  He was named as Abdul Ballout by the police. 

In Regensburg a bank clerk has died of injuries sustained in a attempted bank robbery.  Hostages were thought to have been taken and the bank clerk stabbed.  He later died from his injuries. Armed police attended.    The 20 year old robber's motive is said to be unknown but it looks to have been a bank robbery that went wrong.  The bank that he chose did not have any cash on the premises being a cashless branch.  The robber was known to the police.   He has been arrested.  Further details are not known.  

Sunday

 I met my friend C for coffee and cake yesterday.  It is something to look forward to for both of us and now is a regular Saturday thing for us. We never seem to run out of things to talk about.   We are going to the adult education garden party together next Saturday.  C did not want to go on her own.  She is a little bit more shy than I am!   C and I first met at a course on film run by the education group during the early part of Covid between lockdowns.  We talked a bit at that time but didn't really get to know each other until after Covid and we were on another course and we sat next to each other.  Then we kind of got to know each other better and then the 2024 general election clinched it when I told her I had voted Conservative when we bumped into each whilst shopping!  She hugged me in Waitrose and told me about her experiences with her bookclub where she didn't dare speak of politics, and still doesn't.  What a strange nation we are these days.  It was not like this for my mother, scared or not scared of talking politics,  in fact I don't think the question of speaking of politics outside the home every arose.  It was just something at the dinner table perhaps but even then it was low key and polite. My parents had friends of all political persuasions but it didn't seem to matter to my parents or their friends, as far as I am aware.   I remember delivering a present to a school friend immediately after I had left school and going into their house for the first time and finding they had a framed picture of Ted Heath on the wall above the Aga.   I remember being transfixed looking at it and thinking that perhaps politics mattered a lot more to them than to my family and it was all a bit in your face.  I pretended not to see it but the whole time I was there I kept seeing it out of the corner of my eye. (Ted Heath was the Conservative PM in the early 1970s, a surprise choice of leader at the time and not a popular one).   I still think of the picture on the wall as strange even now over 50 years later.  Incidentally I still see that friend and she still lives in the same house.  

Yesterday continued hot and after coffee and cake I came home and cleaned some windows which is making the outlook from where I am sitting looking at the garden much more pleasant this morning.  I can see some streaks I will have to deal with though. 

Today is the last day of the Tour so no more distractions of tour writing here. It has not been the most exciting of tours with Pogacar leading all the way and the gaps quite wide but it has had its moments and after missing it all last year because of my dissertation I have enjoyed catching up with it again and remembering and learning the names, both old and new. 

PS  at 10.43 am :    How strange weather is:  although we are experiencing temperatures here of 25 to 27C  hailstones are currently bouncing down outside on the garden and banging on my window and it is almost dark. 

Stage 21 - the Last Stage

 Stage 20 in the mountains was won by Carapaz so he got his revenge on Pogacar.  Kuss led but Carapaz closed on him and when Kuss went into the side and came off his bike on the descent Carapaz went past and Kuss couldn't catch him.  Pogacar didn't try any spectacular move and stayed with Del Toro for the ride in together at 4th and 5th.  Evenepoel came in second, Kuss third.  

Stage 20

1. Carapaz  4h 59'39"

2. Evenepoel  +26"

3. Kuss + 31"

4. Pogacar +1.05"

5. Del Toro +1.05"

The GC tonight before the last stage tomorrow:

1. Pogacar 72h 53' 44"

2. Evenepoel  +6' 26"

3. Del Toro + 9' 42"

4. Seixas + 11' 56"

5. Martinez + 13' 02"

6. Skjelmose + 14' 59"

7. Ayuso + 17' 48"

8. Carapaz + 20' 00"

9. Pidcock + 29' 28"

10. Jegat +33 21"

The gaps are the biggest I have ever seen. 

The Green Jersey is already decided and won by Pedersen and not going to change in Paris tomorrow.   The polka dot jersey goes to Carapaz.

Stage 21 is the finish in Paris.  Thoiry to Paris Champs-Élysées.  This has been changed to a ceremonial start in Thoiry then the riders will bus into Paris and the stage turns into a road race in Paris.  The route has been shortened to 89km because police are redeployed to fire areas elsewhere in France.

The Montmatre section will be explosive and intense.  Pogacar will want to win it because he was beaten on Montmatre last year.  The green jersey is already decided.  The sprinters will be hot on his tail to beat him.   So there you have it.  A short stage, starting on television at 16.50 pm.   If you want to see it live in England watch it on SC4 available there and on Iplayer.   

Edit  The Last Day

The last kilometre did turn out to be quite the most exciting part of the day and Pogacar could not hold on with his battle to win between him and Van der Poel, the Flying Dutchman, who Pogacar readily admitted that he could not hold on to him and the Flying Dutchman was the better of the two on that last kilometre and Pogacar had run out of energy.  Van Der Poel at the end lay on the pavement and it looked also like he was nearly out of energy and it had nearly killed him to hand on!  

Pogacar won the Tour for the fifth time and as ever he was gracious and modest and in his words "super happy" to win.  He said that history and records and things were, at that moment at least, unimportant and he was just happy to have that feeling of being in the Yellow Jersey and winning.   The GC places did not change since I last wrote them out so I won't write them out again.   So that's the Tour over for another year. 

Saturday

 Aloha. 

Yesterday Pogacar once again gave a master class in how to win a mountain stage, doing a remarkable chase to catch up 3 minutes and overtake Carapaz and Martinez in the final kilometre doing the chase on his own.  Today we see Stage 20 Le Bourg d'Oisans to Alpe D'Huez again.  A grand finale to the mountains, the final highland stage featuring the Tour's greatest cumulative vertical gain at 5450 metres. and links some  iconic climbs in the Alpine Massif.   Will Carapaz get revenge on Pogacar?    

This is the Alps in the rain which I found when looking through my old illustrations.   Not what it will look like today but you get the drift of the climbs. 

 

 

Yesterday the chimney sweep came and was most satisfactory.  We saw soot  first and then sky which is what you want to see in that order.  A clean chimney and a clear view to the sky at the end.   He was an unusual sweep in that he was a former civil servant having become disillusioned with the British Civil Service a few years back and switched to being a self employed sweep.  He said he had no regrets.  He didn't look anything like I was expecting.  He was tall, smart and like Raold Dahl with sweeps equipment and clean in spite of already doing two chimneys before he came to me.   He got very dirty doing mine and then as if by magic in his van he cleaned up when he finished and I was busy preparing washing facilities for him.  He self cleaned in his van.  We chatted about soot and chimneys and a few issues of politics.  I didn't want him to go.  

I ordered heating oil.   I do not want to get into any panic about not having heating oil and waiting weeks for it like I did last winter.  Not something I want to go through again.  Order, pay and be done with it.  Next thing is logs.   

It was soon over plus Tour de France now added late edit

The Labour Party is having a second coming under Burnham. It is fueled by conceit, inflated by self-importance.   I no longer have the positive feelings about them that I had three days ago.  They are fueled by power.  The bad of the previous cabinet has been replaced by the worse of the new.  Phillipson goes to be replaced by Powell who is as spiteful as the one before her.  The net zero zealot is replaced by a net zero zealot even more of a zealot than the one before her.  The new cabinet members make fun of justice and the release of prisoners who have raped and murdered and adopt a joke for their cover and how they treat the importance of the running of this country.   

I am finished with my days of positivity.  The sweet pill of the elimination of the 5% Vat on energy bills  may fool a few and the return of the  cap to the £2 bus fare; detail of where this funding is coming from has not yet been released.   "Let's keep the idiots happy before we come for them and take it all away when we rob Peter to pay Paul.  Let them think how good we are before we slap 'em".  

As the families of those harmed by hammer wielding murderers, rapists  the families who now sit in fear who have been attacked by the son, brother, father, uncle, the partner, who now will walk free upon early release from prison:  fear of the  knock on the door:  remember them in your prayers and remember that those in power who laugh will face judgment. 

Stage 19 of the Tour deserves a mention today and I will add it to the post now I am up and about.  I have the chimney sweep coming, it is a short post.

This is an old illustration of mine from a Tour gone by but it fits today's stage 19 because it is up hill all the way.  Gap to Alpe d'Huez.  That's 127 km up hill, relentless.  This goes on for two days, two days of breathtaking mountain stages.   

Illness has struck Pogacar's team and precautions are obviously being taken within the team to shield Del Toro and Pogacar.  All we can do is keep fingers crossed for them.  

People Time

 I wrote about The Odyssey last night and published it.  Few have seen it so I will keep an eye on it in case any comments appear.  Blogger still does not update very satisfactorily on reading lists, if it appears anywhere that is. 

Yesterday I went to Women's Institute meeting which I had mistakenly thought was the week before.  The speaker who was supposed to come had to cancel due to illness so one of the members spoke of her last winter's 3 weeks in Vietnam and Cambodia and Thailand.  Her two sons live there and so she put together a week with them and a two week tour on her own.  I am not sure exactly where her sons live, they do not seem to be connected and could be in different countries.  Anyway, she made it into a planned three country tour which involved helping one son at the embassy to get a passport when all his belongings were stolen in Bangkok and they had three days of form filling and attending various locations to finally get a temporary passport.  That seemed to take up most of the first week and then there was a short burst of when the other son and his partner joined them and then it was off on her own for the rest of the time.  It all seemed very nice in Vietnam museums where she took a lot of time learning about the Vietnam war of which she said she knew very little.  A bit odd I thought but probably true that we think we know but don't.  This area of the world has never particularly interested me except when my Thai lady invited me to Thailand with her for a personal tour with a native but apart from that Vietnam and Cambodia, no, not for me.   Hearing this lady's talk and seeing her photos did not change any of this for me. 

Then after her talk we did a quiz which me and my table of four found frustrating because there were a lot of anagrams and it was noisy and none of us could think straight in the noise to sort out the anagrams.  Funny because I can do them peacefully at home alone.  There was much laughter and no peace.  I have never been to a pub quiz so I have no idea if people keep quiet during the questions but I don't think I could cope if it was noisy.

I signed up for a winter outing to Cromer to the end of pier show which has a very good reputation so something to look forward to in December.  

I was so spurred on by the value of being with people that when I got home  I got in touch with the Chairman of the adult education group, the committee of which you may recall I resigned from a year ago,  and asked if tickets were still available for the summer party in his garden in a week's time.  He assured me I would be very welcome, ticket or no ticket, but yes, a ticket will be put aside for me.  

I still have not written any more about the new government cabinet and there are some names that I would like to write about and I will get there one day. 

The Tour stage yesterday was won by Philipsen with Schmit second.  The overall classification remains with Pogacar in yellow jersey Evenepoel second and Del Toro third.   Today's stage is stage 18 and for the climbers.  Voiron to Orciéres-Merlette passing by Grenoble.  I make no predictions because who knows who will be in the breakaway.  Too complicated for me to think about this morning.  

I am out to the hairdressers this afternoon. 

The Odyssey

 On Tuesday I went to see The Odyssey.  This is the latest Christopher Nolan film. Oppenheimer, Tenet, are two of his recent epics that have done very well and I liked.  I saw Oppenheimer many times because I enjoyed it so much and wanted to capture every detail of the script.  

The Odyssey will probably attract me back again before the end of the summer.  The first hour is rather slow though but you can't have it all. 

It was filmed for IMAX screenings but it would be good on any big cinema screen. 

The Odyssey is Homer's epic poem about the long journey home from the Trojan War of King Odysseus who has to battle monsters and angry gods and frightening witches, more gods and monsters and then the Sirens who are mythical half female half bird creatures out to steer sailors off course to their deaths.  There were bits where I was actually covering my eyes. 

King Odysseus is determinied that he will return to his wife and son waiting for him at home in Ithaca.  It is in a nutshell the story of determination and the importance of home and family.    The journey back takes 10 years and that is after 10 years of being at war.  

There are a lot of interruptions to Odysseus's journey caused by the monsters and gods and some stupidity in the case of men who do not listen to or obey instructions and suffer the wrath of the gods.  There are lessons to be learned here.   During that time Odysseus loses his men, he meets Athena (Zendaya) who is in the film for all of about three minutes if you add her appearances together and unless you know a bit about The Odyssey original story I think you would be wondering what she is doing there at all. She is the goddess of wisdom in case you don't know and she is in her brief appearances there to help Odysseus.   

Anne Hathaway plays Penelope waiting back at home and fighting off endless suitors who try to persuade her that Odysseus is never coming home.  

Odysseus is played by Mat Damon, you may think a rather unlikely Odysseus but I think he actually nails it within the script he is given.  I do not think that the script/dialogue is particularly strong.  It is a bit disappointing in fact.  However,  the film is  understandably for all and not just those who know Homer's Odyssey in its original version. 

I think those who go not knowing the story would struggle a bit and maybe confused.   But I could be wrong.  

The final third of the film is the best bit and the music score is very rousing and had me enjoying the music above everything else and quite blown away by it.  I am a bit of a softie for soundtracks.  The ending is not exactly the same as Homer's ending but given a film needs a bit of a closure it is probably better than how Homer left it.  

And when you have finished reading the original version as I believe many are now doing, you can then turn to Ulysses and see what James Joyce did with the characters.   It is all very fascinating.  

So did I like it?  Yes but if you had asked me that in the first hour I might have said I was finding it slow and looking at my watch rather a lot.  But stick with it, it gets better. 

Update

 It is still my intention to write a second post about the new cabinet post holders but not at the moment because other things are getting in the way. 

I went to see the Odyssey yesterday and I also need to write about that but that will have to wait too. 

The Tour time trial was won by Evenepoel yesterday and Pogacar was second.  Lipowitz, from memory only as I am not looking at anything this morning,  so fact checker  AI chapgpt  troll  Apple watch-wearer you have honesty here, I am not a Louise Haigh liar type of person, and had to retire from the race because he had a nasty crash on his own during the time trial.   What you see is what you get with me.   Yes, it was Lipowitz.  My memory is good. 

The GC remains the same with the adjustment for Lipowitz and Pogacar remains in the Yellow Jersey. 

Today is Stage 17 and is called flat but it has a couple or more climbs and is about 175 kms and is Chambery to Voiron.  Chambery is the gateway to the Alps so we know where they will be off to next.   No paperwork in front of me this morning and tiredness has overwhelmed me.  

Sorry, better posting next time.   I blame the Odyssey.

The Cabinet

 Well Miliband got a demotion and that has to be good news.  Foreign Secretaries don't hold much clout because big decisions are not made by foreign secretaries, they are made by No. 10. 

That is the good news for me. 

John Healey as Chancellor is the shock news.  He was in Gordon Brown's Treasury Team.  I hope he issues some war bonds to raise money for defence.  I think he is a good appointment but time will tell of course.   I may eat my words.    (I can't help but think of Denis Healey here and the IMF and the battles of the 1976  and all that terrible time of inflation of 25% and economic crisis but hopefully we will not see any of that.  Denis and John are not related).   But is this going to happen all over again?  

I am sorry to see Rayner back as Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary after her little misdemeanour with the stamp duty on her house purchase.  Now put to rights and she paid up the £40,000.Let's see if she can get Healey to abolish stamp duty. 

Shame that Hilary Benn is out of Northern Ireland and former priest Chris Bryant is taking over.   I like Hilary Benn.   I am always a bit sceptical about priests in politics, the two don't seem to go together.   And Paula Vennells certainly did no good for the image of former priests in  executive power positions in the post office scandal and should be in prison. 

Stephen Kinnock is to be Welsh Secretary, one of my favourite Labour MPs during Brexit when he respected the Leave voters and didn't become hysterical over Brexit in the House of Commons.  Burnham is a Kinnock fan, of his father, and perhaps we will see young Stephen rising through more to the fore.  If he continues like he did with Brexit he will be ok.  I don't see him as his father's son for some reason, but again, I might be proved wrong.  (Father would have led Britain to ruin if he had ever been PM).

Good to see that Rachel in Accounts declined to be defence secretary (at least rumoured that she did) the first wise move of Rachel.  Wes Streeting, son of Hackney, grandson of Kray friends and drinking partners, goes into defence.  Well, he may not know much yet but let's hope he has a good team of advisers as I don't think he knows much about defence but then that won't be a first. 

Ellie Reeves becomes AG and that gets rid of Richard Hermer, thank goodness.  I think Ellie has the brains of the family and has at least worked as a barrister and been involved in cases for the workers.  She is a bit trade unionisty but that can't be helped in a Labour government.  She does not come under that heading of "civil rights lawyers"  which so defined Starmer.  (In case readers of foreign lands are confused here, Ellie is Rachel Reeve's sister).

Well that is all for now, I could go on.  Oh, and  talking of civil rights lawyers, Lammy goes too which is good.  He can get back to some local constituency matters on the back bench and probably be a better person for it. 

More if I can write them out later. 

On balance, I am not so unhappy as I thought I would be with Andy Burnham.  But of course, they haven't done anything yet so I am prepared to eat my hat but I truly hope I don't have to. 

Tour stuff

 I just read that doping tests were carried out on Vingegaard at 2am in the "night" morning of the day he crashed out and  Pogacar at 5am.  Given the gruelling day ahead in the mountains it is staggeringly unfair to break into their sleep which is so important to the riders.  They were woken up in their beds. 

Tim Merlier has abandoned the race, he is one of the sprinters who has won stages 12, 8 and 7.   Sprinters often find that their bodies just give up in the mountains.  Cavendish was well known for this and often struggled to finish such stages before the cut off point.

Tomorrow we are back to the tour again. Stage 16, time trial. 

Pidcock has been docked 20 seconds for holding on to a car, twice, in stage 15.  He was also fined, but I am not sure how much, a few hundred euros.  The time docking is a blow to him. 

Air Mail Friends Old and New

 The emails I have received from blog readers over the weekend has been like having penfriends all over again.  It has been very nice and reminded me of schooldays when one would have penfriends all over the world.  I had a penfriend in Uppsala, Sweden, a girl in Brussels, Belgium, a boy in Kuala Lumpur and a girl in Wangaratta in Victoria and I remember learning from her that you can go ski-ing in Australia.  It was fun and watching out for the aerogramme in the post, that lightweight single sheet of blue paper that could be folded into a self-contained letter and envelope and you had to fit all your news into that folded format and then fold it and lick all round the edge to stick it down.   And they were bought at the post office and the price included the airmail fee so no stamp was required.

And then there were airmail writing paper pads and envelopes and airmail stickers.  I remember when one of my early relationships ended sometime in the 1970s and the guy moved to Papua New Guinea  and we corresponded by airmail for years as we remained friends.   He then moved to Trinidad and Tobago and then Australia.   He eventually settled in Hamilton, New Zealand.  He was more in love with me than I was with him and not marrying him was probably one of the biggest mistakes of my life.  He remained single and lives with two dogs somewhere up there, or down there,  in Hamilton.  We don't correspond anymore.  His dad worked for ICI on Teeside, ICI, Imperial Chemical Industries, the barometer of the British economy for many decades. 

PS   The blog will remain public at least for the time being.  

Life

 The  information received from the lovely emails I have received is that the people who really appreciate my writing and who return here day after day are those who never say anything!   

To those who have said that they do not feel that they have anything to say but like to read my views, learn things and think,  please never feel that you cannot just say hi, thank you, you enjoyed the post, the post made you think or anything else like your family are like mine, not like mine, or  you live like I do, alone and have to work at it to not just give up. 

I write but I cannot forever write in a vacuum. Please never hold back from tellilng me that you like my writing, I am only human.  I sit here tonight watching the World Cup Final alone, that must be an illustration of living alone.  I am enjoying it in the chair alone. 

World Cup Final

 I hope that if you are watching the World Cup Final in Britain that you are watching with the Radio 5 live commentary.   This is available via Iplayer and is the best commentary by a mile.  Still o-0, 18 minutes gone.  You will have this commentary on the BBC World Service.  

Chris Sutton is  a Norwich boy. 

Stage 15 of the Tour De France etc.

 Tonight the big news is that Vingegaard is out of the Tour because he crashed near the end of the stage and has a suspected broken collarbone.   This is a horrible blow and something that nobody wanted to happen.   But it means that the podium spots have just got very exciting. 

Pogacar could have won the stage but it went to Evenepoel. Fascinating sportsmanship from Pogacar when he held back for his team mate Del Toro after the crash and  once again when he could have won the stage.  

First place went to Evenpoele, second to Pogacar and third to Del Toro. 

The GC tonight is

1. Pogacar 55h 41' 31"

2. Evenepoel  + 5'

3.  Del Toro   + 5' 58"

4. Seisax  + 6' 23"

5. Lipowitz + 6' 48"

6. Ayuso  + 7' 28"

7 Skjelmose + 9' 38"

8, Martinez +10' 28"

9.  Pidcock  +11' 19"

10.  Jegat  + 19' 26"

So there is the new GC with a 19 minute gap between Pogacar and Jegat at 10th.  Jegat is a new name in the GC.    The minutes and seconds are the gaps.  I hope you are following and enjoying the reading of the GC, the General Classification. 

I am sorry I have not done any illustrations this year but my life is very different now.  It is a measure of many things whether I am drawing or collaging or not. 

Here is an illustration from some years back but it could have been today's stage. 

The Green Jersey which is the award for the most points picked up in a day which is mostly from intermediate sprints is led by Pedersen and second is Philipsen and third is Kanter.  This is where we used to look out for Cavendish, Greipel and Sagan.   Pogacar is King of the Mountains with the polka dot jersey but as he is wearing the Yellow Jersey as race leader the King of the Mountains polka dot goes to Paret-Peintre who is second in that competition. 

Thank you to those who have emailed regarding the blog invitation.   I have been moved to tears by some of the emails received today. They are so lovely.  I did not realise that so many people read the blog and really care about me.  I have not answered them individually but please believe me when I tell you how much they have affected me today and please accept my thanks here.  xxx

Nearly forgot, Monday is a rest day in the Tour and it recommences on Tuesday with an individual time trial along the banks of Lake Geneva.   It is a 26 km time trial with ups and down. 

 

News

 First day of holiday, the  British father, bank official, is in jail in Cyprus for sitting his son on a hotel  windowsill for a few seconds and didn't see the window was open and the son falls out to his death.  The British Embassy have not visited him or his wife. He has a solicitor.   He is distraught in jail. Of course. The son's body is prepared to be flown back to England.   The prosecutor in Cyprus holds on to the man so that he can see "toxicology" reports.  He was on his way down to dinner with son and father-in-law.  Wife and daughter were to follow in a few moments, which they did to find the scene of tragedy.   Sitting the child on the windowsill by an open window is possibly to be judged as neglect.  The man is not a criminal.  The British High Commissioner is on leave. 

Oxfordshire village of less than 400 people, Piddington, prepare to fight the acceptance of 1200 asylum seekers in an abandoned Defence storage facility.  There are no facilities for 1200 asylum seekers in Piddington, nowhere for them to wander except in country lanes to look, feel and be like fish out of water with nothing.    The asylum system in England did not consult with the local councils, voices of the community, no permission is needed, no discussion.   The Home Office do this.  Piddington are seeking to become a independent state of Britain. 

Thetford in Norfolk fight a similar case. 

See this video and get your heads out of the sand if you continue to disbelieve vote fixing.   Listen to this man at least for 15 minutes if not the whole thing. 

England finally find passion on the pitch, well for a while.  Nice to know they do know what passion is and share it with the fans although it was too easy for France in the second half when it turned wrong for England. But they did win.    Good of Anthony Barry to tell us they have been such a passionate and close group throughout the tournament as we would not have known until the play off last night where they beat France 6-4.  As for the commentators saying that this was not real football, I don't know what planet they are on.  Simple football fans like me call this real football, the kind that we normally only see from teams like Croatia or South Korea or Cape Verde and Spain or France in last night's second half quality superb but not England's normality.  Beautiful goal from Jude Bellingham, my man of England in the World Cup.   It will cover the cracks for Tuchel but he will have some work to do before the next game for England which is against Spain in the National League in September.   

Meanwhile child rape ringleader released from prison, Shabir Ahmed, is in, or was in, a sex offenders midway house in Accrington, in the middle of the area where he arranged for the schoolgirls to be fed, drugged and raped and many still live nearby as young women now; he cannot be deported.  He has now disappeared, whereabouts not known.  Contemptuous of the judge in court at his trial, saw nothing wrong in what the gang did, and remained so in prison.  Now out there somewhere.  Unchanged. 

Andy Burnham, the nothing

 

Andrew Lawrence says it so succinctly. 

Thank you for all the emails; keep them coming in time for the disappearance.

"Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone". 

Private Blog access

 Please email me for the invitation link to the blog.  This will go live as soon as possible.  I will have Tour coverage as usual and the daily conversations.    My email address is accessed through this blog and is public so I don't need to publish it here.  Just click on the email link in the view complete profile link. 

As soon as I receive the email request from you the invitations will be sent.   (Please do not expect the invitation immediately by return though).   Many thanks and looking forward to seeing you. 

Thank you for the contacts I have had.  Please just email me your email addresses so I can send the invitation.  Thank you Simone, I got yours.  I am not publishing any comments on the subject.  

Stage 14

 I am only going to put the GC,  as at last night,  here this morning.  The stage 13 was good for British rider Tom Pidcock and saw him leaping up to 4th place in the GC.  

The stage was won by Swiss rider Mauro Schmid.  

1.  Pogacar  47h 18' 31"

2. Vingegaard      +3' 36"

3. Evenepoel  + 4' 06"

4. Pidcock  +4' 15"

5. Ayuso  +4' 22"

6. Seixas  +4' 35"

7.  Lipowitz  +4' 44"

8. Dell Toro +5' 08"

9. Skjelmose +5' 45"

10. Martinez +6' 34"

Stage 14 today is an unusual shape like a fish head with a tail and the riders will go around in a circle and cross the finish line once after 44 km and continue around the fish.  It is Mulhouse to Le Markstein Fellering.   It is a tough mountain stage of 155.3km and the finish is in the Vosges ski station.   Pogacar and Carapaz are high up in the betting for the stage win. 

I was busy yesterday and had the car brakes relined.  It is impossible to save money;   the news continues to be grim and Indian workers are to benefit if they come to England and will be cheap labour for British companies because of the latest Indian/British trade agreement reducing 5 years of NI contributions for Indian employees.   English unemployed will not be helped by this if employers can take an Indian for £5000 less per annum than one of us. 

The result of the Police Commission poll in Norfolk yesterday was Reform with the winning candidate and the Conservatives second.  The victory for Reform was resounding polling over 32,000 votes with the Conservatives nearest with 18,000 votes and Labour trailing after Greens and Independents.   The vacancy occurred because the Labour post holder stepped down, reason stated "for family reasons"  and went to Leeds and took another job.

In two by-elections for local council vacancies on Norfolk County Council,  also held yesterday, the Conservative candidates won both.  

Sadiq Khan has been made a peer to sit in the House of Lords. 

Britain is to send £153M aid money to Pakistan. 

Pakistan refuses to take back Pakistani  grooming gang manager and rapist and he must stay in Britain. 

Stage  14 result 

At the end there are two gruelling climbs on Col du Haag :

3.9 km at 9% gradient

1.6 km at 10% gradient. 

and then 7 kms to go to the end. 

A great stage win for Pogacar going out front to win and he launched his attack on the steepest bit I described above.   He is a great rider.  

He is now 4 minutes 30 seconds ahead of Vingegaard in the GC.

Pidcock dropped time and is now 9th in the GC, 7' 59" behind Pogacar.     The boy Seisax is now 4th and 5' 19" behind Pogacar.  

I hope you enjoy my Tour placings etc. and you learn a little about the great riders of today. 

The stage 15 is on Sunday, tomorrow.  Champagnole to Plateau de Solaison. In the Jura Mountains with a gruelling mountain climb. 183 km. difficult mountain stage towards the end.  11 km with an average of 9% gradient.    

(Don't forget to email me for the invitation to the blog when it will be private.) 

Basel

 As I said in last night's post, today is Stage 13 of the Tour.  I mention it again because it is so easy here to get the days muddled with posts appearing late and stage numbers confusing me so I write to remind myself as much as you.  

I said last night that I once went to Basel for a holiday.  I was with P at the time.  We went by Eurostar from London, stayed overnight in Paris, and travelled onwards to Basel on a train from the Gard De L'Est.  Our hotel was a two minute walk from the station. It was all very convenient.  We travelled in July as was the regular time for my two weeks annual leave before the schools broke up in England.  I would leave the school holidays to the two men in my office who had children and I would always take my break in the first two weeks of that month. 

I had a German client at the time who thought it most bizarre to take a holiday in Basel.  (I know Basel is in Switzerland but it is on the borders of where Germany meets Switzerland and France and she spoke of the city from knowledge of going there).  She was in fact quite dismissive of it even being a holiday destination.  I assured her that we would find lots to do and, of course, we did.   I had always wanted to visit the city since school days where the different spelllings and pronunciations had fascinated me.  Of course the different spellings are because of its proximity to Germany and France.  

Apart from being on the Rhine, where we spent many hours just sitting and watching the river (a "wire" ferry point was particularly fascinating),  it also has trams and  I would organise out tram schedule  at the end of each day for the next day.  It is important to know how to get from A to B in my eyes if you have places you want to see and limited time and not just blindly standing at a tram stop wondering which tram to board and what direction they go in.  I like to be organised. 

There are also many restaurants if you want to eat out somewhere different each night.  For us we also like to eat in our hotel room and there was a food  market near the station, next to our hotel, where we could obtain a variety of foods, picnic style, for our evening feasts.  The hotel we were staying in was more of a bar/restaurant with rooms, the kind that you find in France, and we would also eat there some evenings.   Breakfast each morning was in the bar area and I don't remember much choice but it was adequate for what we were paying.    

Then Basel is also a cultural centre and there were several art galleries on my list to visit.  I remember there was one major exhibition of contemporary art on whilst we were visiting.   

And finally there is the main line station adjacent to which we were staying which enabled us to have days out  and we visited Zurich and Chur which included a long train ride through the Swiss countryside and mountains.   

In conclusion, Basel was the perfect place for a holiday for us.  The train ride was quite an adventure too with harvest going on as we passed through France and of much interest to me and P.  There was also an incident when the train stopped at Troyes when a family became separated when the train doors shut when only half the family had boarded.  Troyes station is a very long curved station so we were able to see this happening a long way further down the platform on the bend.  Fortunately, if anything can be fortunate in such an occurrence, one parent and one child had boarded and one parent and one child were left standing on the platform.  French trains do not wait and the stops are very quick.   The family had a pushchair and luggage.  They were Indian and she wore a sari. I could see her distraught on the platform as the train left without her. 

Stage 12 : Crash mars the finish

 Today's stage 12 finish gave a nasty domino effect crash 500 metres from the line.  It didn't look nice and a lot of sprinters involved.  Tim Melier and about 15 other riders got away from the crash and Melier came in first, followed by Kooij, and Philipsen.   The GC riders keep out of the way of the sprint finishers on stages like this. 

The GC is the same tonight so, again, no need for me to type it out.  All tht will change tomorrow.   

Stage 13 is Dole to Belfort in the Haute Saone department starting in the Jura mountains and ending in the Vosges Mountains. These are two separate mountain ranges in the Eastern part of France.  Dole is about 30 miles from Dijon.  Belfort is close to the Swiss border.  We are gradually getting close to Mulhouse where France, Germany and Switzerland meet.  I have been there!  It was the gateway to Basel where I went for a holiday many years ago. 

Stage 13 is the longest stage at 205.8 kms, starting undulating and then with two climbs, the big one being 8.7 km up the Ballon d'Alsace.  This will suit the strong climbers and the descenders.  Pidcock is amongst the betting.  He had a crash yesterday but he says he is ok. 

Enjoy.   

England Out

 I went to bed when Anthony Gordon was taken off.  The madness of the decision was enough for me to hit the sack and relax.  

This morning I have just watched the final 20 minutes to see the two Argentina goals. 

England's luck ran out, the luck they had in beating Mexico and the luck they had in beating Norway, both wins that were not on merit.   

Without Pickford's saves it could have been a lot worse. 

I hope the whinging doesn't start this morning.  The best team won.  

Tuchel disappoints me for the first time.  The English disease of fear of losing overcame him and no casting of fate to the wind and putting on the attackers for Tuchel either.    Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. 

Oh Ivan Toney and Rashford come on for the last five or so minutes.  Toney's first appearance in the World Cup he comes on with five minutes to go.   What an ask. 

My personal barometer is how the team sing the anthems.  Argentina had the passion in oodles and England had the look as if they couldn't give a toss.  Even if the stadium rang out with the anthems it was not with a lot of assistance from the England players.  Britiain is a country who hate themselves.   This is Britain. Flags not allowed. Pride not allowed. We are always going to lose because this is what we stand for and we are told this is what is to make us happy.  We are not a country anymore, we are to hate ourselves and be the losers that the government wants us to be.  We are learning to fulfil that easily by keeping quiet, pulling the flags down and doing as we are told, taking labels of far right and far left and accepting everything that once we would not accept in Britain is now to be accepted as the norm.  

 If I was the England manager I would forget about football when I first had my squad together and get them to write down what it is to be British for them, what they think of Britain, what effect seeing other teams singing their anthems has on them as individuals. I would get them to share that out loud with each other.  I would ask them what they want in playing for England and how much do they care, not just clichés but really make them think.   I would ask them to talk about things that may embarrass them about playing for England, if they have any.  I would clear the air and then get a level playing field.   All this behind closed doors.  Then I would do some dramatics with them, acting out what it is to be part of Britain and only Britain, not international politics like bended knees and political opinions. 

I would build up this side of things before I started on the football.  

Today looks to be a quiet, and a  hot day.  The sheets are in the washing machine and no plans for anything today.  The films continue to be not my kind of films so no visit to the cinema.  No shopping of interest, no money to spare for clothes except essentials like a pair of shoes which will be coming from Pavers chosen in the summer sale ready for winter.   A 50p vest was acquired at the charity shop this week.  I washed it and dried it yesterday.  It came from a skep of three items for £1.50.  I could only find one that would fit me.    

I have been out to vote for the Police Commissioner, got the newspapers, the shoes have been delivered and I am wearing them to break them in.   

I have changed the bed putting the washed bedding back on the bed straight off the linen line.  That is the joy of a good summer, the waashing dry and straight back to whatever it is meant for, wearing or bed, and skipping the airing cupboard. 

Stage 11 Tour

 It's been a hot and lazy day here for me.  The booking of a new chimney sweep was the important action of the day.  My previous man has retired he informed me this week.   

I went out for the paper in the usual procedure for days when I am here as opposed to going out somewhere on the train and can buy a paper at the station. 

I called into one village shop where I used to purchase a paper and was told they haven't sold them for two years.   That was a surprise and I suppose a sign of the times that people do not read newspapers like they used to. I carried on to the nearest small town and purchased my paper in the supermarket. I didn't buy anything else.  

Stage 11 of the Tour today was the fastest stage in the tour history.   This was measured in speed which was 50.9 kph averaged by the stage winner Soren Waerenskjold   

It was a bunch sprint finish and came in a bit messy with an elbowing and a swinging around and the result was that Jasper Philipsen was banished from 3rd to 119th adjudged to have elbowed rival Girmay.  This was a bit of the old Cavendish gripe that riders used to have with him, elbowing and swaying you will recall. 

The ride was flat, and fast, and there is no change in the GC tonight so I won't type it out again. 

Tomorrow's stage is stage 12 and another flat stage, possibly more undulating than today's.  It is Circuit Nevers Magny-Cours to Chalon-Sur-Saone, 179 kms, which is a bit of a mouthful.  It is still in the Loire area and chateaux abound. 

This is last stage for the sprinters so more fast run in and hopefully less chaos.

 

This post is dedicated to Ann Widdecombe, straight talking, honest woman, and it is  dedicated to God who will always listen and when you are alone and you wish to share troubles and seek help he will always listen.  The power of prayer is the most powerful thing there is. 

Stage 10

 Another great day for Pogacar in the Massif Central where 2 years ago the duel between Pogacar and Vingegaard at the stage had been neck and neck to the finish line and Vingegaard taking the win.  This time it was totally different with Pogacar going out on the break alone at 15 km before the end, destroying Carapaz's lead of 1 minute in seconds to go all out for the stage.   Vingegaard couldn't match it and lost time. 

The stage win was Pogacar at 3hr 58' 08" followed by Evenpoel at 3hr 58' 40", Seixas at 3hr 58' 42" and Vinegaard coming in 7th at 3hr 58' 52".   It is good to see Paul Seixas doing so well.  As I said at the beginning of the Tour, he is a boy to watch. 

The GC tonight is 

1. Pogacar        36h 15' 02"

2..  Vingegaard           + 3' 36"

3. Evenpoel                + 4' 06"

4, Ayuso                     +4' 22"

5.  Seixas                  +4 35"

6, Lipowitz               +4.44"

7. Del Toro               +5 08"

8. Skjelmose            +5.45"

9. Martinez               +6.34"

10.  Pidcock           + 11.49"

Tomorrow is stage 11 and Vichy to Nevers.   It is a flat stage and 161 km.  This is a stage where again we will see the bunch sprint finish and I will get to know those names of the sprinters.   Tim Melier is the tip for the stage.    Nevers is a beautiful city and the Loire river passes through.  It is in central France and known to many who have been in search of the chateaux of the Loire region as I have. 

I had a quiet day at home.  Temperatures were in the mid to high 20s here and it was 26C late afternoon. 

I will watch France v Spain to see the skills of the teams that are top in Europe and to see if Wenger is right in saying that Spain can beat France because they are technically better. 

The country makes me despair and I know that Britain is finished but today I prefer not to think too much about it.  On Monday we will have a new Prime Minister that nobody has been asked if they want him and the destruction of Britain continues and nobody in the Labour Party stands against him so he walks into a job that he has not described nor what he stands for nor what he will do for Britain.  The country deserves a General Election. We have a Police Commissioner local election here on Thursday.  I know who I will be voting for.  We have a man that drives from Rotherham in Yorkshire from a county that writers claim has no crime to Dartmoor and murders a defenceless woman and drives back in time for tea.  The lady had many gay friends who respected her as well as Catholics and Church of England friends, all of whom lived happily with mutual respect.  Just because a person does not  profess and openly to love gay marriage or trans or abortions or female priests it does not mean that they cannot and do not love people and they cannot be loved back.  Even David Hockney preferred gay liaisons without marriage, enjoyed smoking without state intervention and valued the Bohemian life style above anything that the state wanted to throw at him.  Ann Widdecombe was a strong woman with values of free speech, personal views and principles just like the rest of us have.  They may collide sometimes but it doesnt't mean we cannot be friends.   One of Widdecombe's best friends wrote a tribute to her at the weekend. He is gay, spoke to her most days including the day before her murder, and they had enormous fun together even if she never went to his wedding, he didn't invite her, she didn't mind and  he didn't mind.  That's friendship on a level that we knew when we were growing up in Britain.   

Spain are 1-0 ahead.  So far Wenger is right.

21.21 hrs

2-0 Wenger's words continue to ring in my ears. 

Spain through to the World Cup Final 2-0, and French hearts broken. 

Spain were brilliant.  

 

Disclosure Day

 Today as I had nothing to do and had spent all day yesterday at home alone I decided to go out to the cinema.   The temperature outside was around about 22C and there was a breeze.  The trains were running. 

 This is the latest Steven Spielberg film and stars Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor and Colin Firth.

I didn't like it at all, I found it boring, stupid, difficult to follow, and I left before the end.   After 30 minutes I felt like I was still waiting for the film to begin.  I stayed for another 45 minutes and nothing improved for me and I left.  I was disappointed in the movie.  I wanted to like it. 

Stage 9 and forthcoming Stage 10 Bastille Day and World Cup

 Stage 9 was reduced from 185.5 to 155.5 km today after Correze was placed under a red heatwave alert.  Removing the opening 30km placed the intermediate sprint at around 15km.  The temperatures were around 37 C.

The stage was one for sprinters and the first in was Van der Poel, followed by Johannessen and third in was British rider Tom Pidcock.  

The GC has one change in that Vacek who suffered today in the heat on the climbs and dropped out of 10th position to 24th and Bernal takes over 10th spot.  The other places are unchanged. 

Tomorrow is the rest day and racing re-commences on Tuesday, Bastille Day, when we have a mountain day again.  I suspect young Paul Seixas will be wanting to make a good show for France on that day.  It should be a good Pogacar and Vingegaard duel.   The stage is stage 10 and  is 166 km, Aurillac to Le Lioran.  Le Lioran is a ski resort in the Auvergne region of central France.  

I watched the England Norway quarter final today as I had nothing better to do and  just to see the tournament through. I've started so I may as well finish. Once again England had a fair degree of luck on their side to come away with a win and a place in the semi finals against Argentina. It was a slow game in the heat of Miami and England did not make a good showing in the second half where they allowed Norway to get on top of them.  Norway scored first in the first half and then Bellingham equalised in stoppage time before half time.  Norway went ahead in the second half but the goal was disallowed because of a shove by Haaland on Anderson before the corner kick was taken.  Personally I saw it as England being wimps and Anderson should have jumped up but in international rules this shove was a foul.  Kane had already been wimpish laying on the ground at the time of the first Norway goal calling for foul and his leg hurt like a baby.  The referee ignored him.   However, with that spell of good luck on their side they managed to get through after extra time with a 2-1 win.  It was a bit of a scrappy game but Bellingham was in the right place at the right time to get the ball in the back of the net twice.   They play Argentina in the semi final on Wednesday at 8pm.  Given this run of luck for England which includes a spidercam wire goal assist last night, I am making no predictions as to the result.  

Sunday

 News came in late last night that a 28 year old white male has been arrested in South Yorkshire on suspicion of the murder of Ann Widdecombe.  Devon and Cornwall police have declined to give out any more information than this which must be a good thing whilst investigations are still on-going. 

At least 4 British people trapped in their car  have died in the forest fires in Southern Spain.  Others are missing and unaccounted for including several British people. 

The EU used to send out directives to not clear scrub and allow it to grow.  Five year cycles were recommended.  This was and is bad husbandry and management of land   My brothers  said this would lead to uncontrolled under-growth and be a fire hazard and leaving scrub in this way would result in fields being taken over by brambles and dense and dangerous undergrowth.   This is now happening.  When certain individuals try to second guess why I voted to leave the EU I have said over and over again that I voted to leave the EU because of the stack of directives, bureaucratic, idiotic and many of them downright insulting,  that we as farmers received every year.  Often treated as criminals and talked down to constantly.  Money being taken by Juncker for Luxembourg and the bureaucrats was also high on my list of disagreement with EU membership. 

On personal news, I met my friend C for a lunchtime coffee/tea and chat yesterday.  She requested to see some of my photographs of Azerbaijan so I showed her on my phone.  How different it is now that we don't have a Boots pack of photos to hand over and go through.  However, the phone photos had their advantages in that she was enlarging bits and faces she wanted to see in more detail. C and her husband have both worked in Baku in their oil business where C was a business language teacher and her husband in some kind of supply business that he owned.  

We moved table in Waitrose café at C's request when two toddlers were playing running around the tables next to us.  Later a man came over and spoke to  us about our moving and said he sympathised.  By then the family concerned had left.  We all had a chuckle.

I enjoyed our chat immensely because C and I are on the same wavelength and oh, what a joy that is, no explanations needed when we chat.  We have only known each three or four years and only closely for two years and been meeting up for Saturday coffees now and again during the time that her husband was extremely ill and she needed some respite.  Sadly he has now passed away and she still needs the respite with me she says!

We chatted for two hours, two coffees and a cake each.  I got home at 3pm and felt the happiest I have felt all week.  Apart from the massage on Thursday and the septic tank maintenance man  on Monday I had not seen anybody.  

Hopefully this week I will feel well enough to go to the W.I. meeting and get back into that once more.  I missed the June meeting because on the day I was not well enough to go out.  I also missed the June Creative East session for the same reason.  I also missed the late May session when I first got back from my holiday when my illness was at its peak.  I am missing my Creative East friends.   I am feeling very reclusive this summer in regularly  not seeing anybody for days on end.  I must not slip into this.  It sometimes feels like it felt during Covid lockdown and that is not good.  The blog takes on a greater significance  because it is an opportunity to chat to friends, even it is a one-sided chat, it is still me talking if only to myself!   

Harvest is well underway in Norfolk.  It is a beautiful time of the year seeing the combines in the fields and the corn being cut and to smell the barley as you drive by with the window open.   The growing year comes to its climax and fruition. 

Stage 9 Tour de France and Brive

 The result of today's stage does not change the GC so, again, I won't type it all out.  

A bunch sprint decides the stage and throws up a few new sprint names for me.  Tim Merlier, however, does it again.

The first ten were as follows:  

Merlier, Girmay, Koolj, Philipsen, Bitten, Pluimers, Ackermann, Russo,  Kanter, Fretin. 

Tomorrow's stage, Sunday, Stage 9 is Malemort to Ussel  185.5 km, undulating, or more like hilly and an over 3300 metre elevation gain and then back to almost the same height above sea level as at the start. 

The nearest place I can see that I know near Ussel is Brive where as a teenager with two friends we were put off a train late at night for being on the wrong train in that we had the wrong price tickets and the guard threw us off.  (We had innocently boarded the wrong train in Paris some hours before).   We slept in a fairly isolated station all night and caught the first slow train next morning.  We were heading south.  It was my first trip abroad.  

Favourite for stage 9:  It looks like the finish could throw up some new names or also some we know but haven't heard for a while like Alaphilippe.    Could be Pedersen, or Pidcock or Van Der Poel or Godon.  Outsiders Ben Healey Ion Izaggire, or Plapp.  

Monday is the first rest day. 

By the way, if you don't read my posts because you think the Tour is not for you that is fair enough and totally understood.  However, I would say that in most of my posts there is always something more to read here if you are a close inquisitive reader and interested in the lives of others.  I could write a book about my life and the experiences I have had without children or grandchildren or spouse.  You might be surprised but there is life without children.  There is a whole world out there where you find your own way and you learn a lot in taking the trouble to fix your computer and your smart phone yourself, 

RIP Ann Widdecombe

I heard of her sad death yesterday and then last night saw reports that she had been murdered in her home.   I was watching a real life homicide investigation on television at the time.  It came as a real shock to me and of course the reality of these murder investigations that I am watching.  Whether it was Ann Widdecombe or any other lone woman in a lonely house it is a great tragedy and shocking.  

I see the news this morning is that a young man who was arrested yesterday has been released and is no longer a person of interest. 

I wonder if it was a random robbery that went wrong, perhaps she was not expected to be at home.  

For those overseas who do not know her, Ann Widdecombe was a retired politician and long serving MP in the Conservative Party  and much respected with strong opinions and ethics and loyalty to Britain.  She joined the Reform Party in 2023 and was still active with them.   She was regularly seen on tv political discussions and was also a celebrity contestant in Strictly Come Dancing a few years ago.  

RIP Ann Widdecombe. 

Today's Tour Stage 7 and looking ahead to Stage 8 to Bergerac

 Stage 7 of the Tour was the sprint to Bordeaux and it has not changed the GC rankings from Stage 6 so I won't type them all out again.  Pogacar still has the Yellow Jersey. 

The sprint stage today was won by Tim Merlier.  Philipsen came in 5th.  The names in the top ten were Merlier, Waerenskjold, Girmay, Kanter, Philipsen, Bauhaus, Artz, Godon, Pedersen, Van Ashbroeck.  I am hoping by writing them out I will become familiar with the latest crop of sprinters.

Sadly  Torstein Traeen who was in the Yellow Jersey two days ago at the end of Stage 5 has dropped out of the Tour today following his injuries received yesterday on the Col du Tourmalet. 

Tomorrow the Tour goes into the Dordogne area and this is the stage where Cro will be within waving distance.  Stage 8 Périgueux to Bergerac. 

It is 180.4 kilometres, flat and lots of lovely scenery.  

This is another bunch sprint finish stage so the names I am trying to learn, above,  should be in the top 10 stage finish again tomorrow in possibly roughly the same order.   We shall see.  I haven't seen any of the tour today.

Yesterday Recap

 Today will be a Friday of staying in the house and keeping cool.  Yesterday's visit to the masseuse was pleasant once I got there but the journey and walking made me very hot and dripping with sweat. The train was cool and on time.  But on alighting from the train the air hit me like an oven.   I spent an hour in a café writing but I think my choice of a hot coffee was the wrong one and I should have had iced coffee.  I spent the hour trying to mop the sweat dripping off me.  I saw later that hot drinks can set off sweat responses and the body reacts accordingly.  I had always thought that a hot cup of tea can be refreshing in hot weather but maybe it works with tea but not with coffee.  A lesson learned. 

The massage was deep tissue which is what the Thais specialise in and I was not expected to have oils.  I think oils would have been a bad thing on such a hot day with my body very hot.   My regular lady is currently working in London helping out at another salon so I was with her new lady and I was happy with that.  She is Thai too and speaks very little English and we had some misunderstanding when I said I had cooled off with water on my wrists on arrival, in the bathroom, and she thought I wanted her to pour water on my wrists.  We sorted that out!   The massage room was quite cool.   

Every Thai massage starts off with the washing of the feet which is an old ritual about having clean feet and not taking dirt into the house.  

The Thais are very particular about outdoor shoes being left in the hallway by the door as soon as you enter the property.  (I have once arrived at the door when some removal men also arrived to pick up a bed and they were required to remove their shoes much to their surprise as  burly men ready to haul the bed to their truck and go they weren't allowed to do anything until they had removed their shoes).  My feet are always clean incidentally.  

Yesterday in view of the hot weather she washed my feet in cold water.  The washing also goes up to the knees. 

I indicated that I wanted her massage to pay special attention to my legs, calf muscles, quads and thighs.  She would have done this anyway but sometimes the emphasis can be put on upper body rather than lower body and I wanted lower body emphasis after all the walking in Azerbaijan and the lack of movement since I got home and have been ill. 

When she had finished I walked slowly back to the station but definitely felt better than when I had walked from the station on arrival.  

I do not seem to cope so well with heat as I did when I was younger and I put this down to hormonal changes since I got older. 

In the evening I had salad for tea and watched further homicides in Philadelphia which I am watching each evening on Discovery+.  I enjoy seeing the detective work that is put into the solving of each case, often years after the actual murder. 

 I watched the highlights of the day's Tour Stage  on Channel 5 which is on for an hour but I am now timing my watching time to 45 minutes, knowing to avoid the first 15 minutes of talk and adverts.  Yesterday was a fine day for Pogacar and a masterclass in cycling in the mountains.  I admire him greatly. 

For Meike, the second book I picked up at the Charity Shop this week is Three Apples Fell From The Sky by Narine Abgaryan.  It is described as an international bestseller and a heartwarming book of love intertwined with history and ancient beliefs. 

Stage 6 result and looking ahead to Stage 7 tomorrow

 Stage 6 and Pogacar demolished his rivals in the mountains.   Tonight he is back in the Yellow Jersey.  He went out solo on the Tourmalet mountain at 40 km from the finish and the gap just got bigger and bigger.  Vingegaard couldn't match it and fell back.  It was a ride of Pogacar's best in the mountains.  

So Pogacar came in first, with Vingegaard second 2' 38" behind him.   Del Toro third, Evenepoel fourth, and the boy Seisax 5th.  Pidcock came in 15th, 8' 18" behind Pogacar and Adam Yates 17th, 8' 21" behind Pogacar.    The yellow jersey holder Traeen had a nasty crash on the descent and got patched up and carried on losing 20 minutes and the yellow jersey.  Vingegaard not happy, Traeen not happy, Evenepoel not happy I think with his team mate Del Toro and everyone asking what can we do to catch Pogacar.  

This is the GC tonight. 

1. Pogacar 21h 11' 57"

2. Vingegaard  21h 14' 39"   + 2' 42"

3  Del Toro  21 15 24  +3.27

4. Evenepoel 21 15 27  +3.30

5. Ayuso  21 15 31  + 3.34

6.  Seixas  21 15 52  + 3.55

7.  Lipowitz   21 15 57  +4.00

8.  Martinez  21 16 18  +4.21

9.  Skjelmose 21 16 54   +4.57

10.  Vacek  21 19 07    +7.10

Goodbye Pyrenees and hello Stage 7 tomorrow,  a sprinters stage.Hagetmau to Bordeaux  175km, flat, sprinters hotspot, Bordeaux. Predictions for the stage winner put Philipsen top and Kooji to watch. 

Today's activities

 Today I have my first massage in two months.  Yesterday I re-commenced my daily exercises, in full.  Things are looking better.  I last exercised using the exercises for seniors routine before I went on holiday on 8th May.  Perhaps I should say I ceased the routine on the day of my holiday. I will now engage on a daily basis.  I felt the sluggishness of some muscles that needed to be stirred into life. 

I heard from Mark in Sheffield yesterday, the man I met on the tour of Azerbaijan.  I think we will be staying in touch with each other.  It is nice to have made a friend on the tour and to have things in common.  I will see how it goes; friendships made on holidays ofter peter out after a year or so although one lady I met in Macedonia continued to email me for 15 years until she passed away earlier this year.  Her daughter found my contact details on her mother's computer and emailed me the news. 

I am thinking of a train tour next year if I am well enough.  This will be starting on Eurostar from St Pancras and heading across to Brussels and Cologne and onwards to Denmark and Sweden.  The other alternative, there are two train tours that I am interested in, is a tour of Germany going to Dresden and then heading northwards.  This one also starts from St. Pancras.   But next summer is a long way off at the moment and I am aware that my health needs to be good to undertake another holilday. 

I am looking forward to going out today and will get an early train and will go to the café to write for a while before my appointment.    So far my 'live train times'  information tells me that the trains are running on time. 

I will not be back until tonight and will do a catch up on Stage 6 of the Tour when I get home.  

Result Stage 5 of The Tour

 The Lannemezan to Pau stage was the flat, sprinter 158,3 km stage 5.    

The stage winner was O. Kooji.  Dutch on his Tour debut.   Great ride and he went out on his own slipping out of the chaotic run in,  followed by Kanter, Melier,  Artz, Philipsen, Girmay, Pedersen, Fretin, Turgis, Waernenskojld.  All sprinters and names that I don't know apart from Pedersen and Philipsen.   I used to know the sprinters but times move on and riders retire who we used to know here.   Pedersen Green Jersey. 

The GC are hanging back which is safer now and it is good if they all agree.  Leave the sprinters to it.   And chaotic it was indeed and narrow streets and speed humps  so best out of their way.  Vingegaard and Pogacar home safely.  

The GC tonight is the same as last night:  

1. Traeen 16h 32' 07"   Yellow Jersey

2. Quinn  16h 32' 35"   +28

3. Vacek  16h 32' 57"  + 3' 50"

4. Pogacar  16h 40' +   7'.53"

5. Vingegaard 16h 40' + 7.53"

6, Debryne 16h 40/ 13'   + 8' 6"

7. Evenepoel 16h 40' 23"  +8.16"

8. Del Toro 16h 40' 24"  +8.17"

9. Ayuso  16h 40' 27"  + 8.20"

10.  Seixas 16h 40' 48" + 8.41" 

Stage 6 tomorrow is Pau to Gavarnie-Gedre, Mountain  185.6 km  

A challenging mountain stage in the Pyrenees. Will Pogacar and Vingegaard  go all out on the Tourmalet?  The highest road pass in the Pyrenees and often featured in the Tour.  Pogarcar is favourite tonight. 

Tomorrow awaits the mountain climbers. 

Hypocrites the lot of them

Starmer the hypocrite.  This makes me laugh and the public will see Starmer for just what HE is.   Farage has got them all rattled.  Just let him get on with his by-election, he's paying for it and let it all go away.  The Standards Committee can do their bit, investigate, which they should have speeded up on it anyway, and see what they come up with.  Leave it to Farage and Clacton and the Standards Committee.  So much hot air when Starmer and the Labour Party just fixed up by-election to elect the next British PM in a place called Makerfield irrespective of the voters of Britain and what they might want, and no General Election.  

No More World Cup For Me

To anybody who is reading here now, and I know there are not many people, numbers are low, but I am finished with the World Cup coverage and for me, I am finished with the World Cup.

Firstly the England Mexico was NOT the greatest game ever and it was luck that was on England's side that gave them the victory.  It would be a lot more honest for the pundits to admit this, it would do more for the game to be honest.   Yes, Bellingham came up trumps with the compassion and zest that I am always going on about, Gordon had a spectacular game and did his job like a solid, dependable worker, Kane was a great captain and he was composed on the penalty, but luck was on England's side and if this is what is supposed to be the greatest game ever seen and this is supposed to be great football then you can keep your 21st century football.  I watched the highlights.  I thought this looks good.  I'll watch the whole match.   I engaged IPlayer and I sat through the entire 90 minutes on Monday.  All put together the highlights paled and I was left unimpressed and I actually felt sorry for Mexico who were clearly the better side. 

Secondly, seeing the double standards of refereeing rob Egypt last night, well that is it for me.  Play is brought back for a foul on an Argentinian in mid field  before the Egypt (first) second goal so the goal is disallowed.  This is on appeal from Argentinian players to look at a possible foul in midfield before the goal so VAR was engaged.  Goal disallowed.  Fast forward to the Argentinian winning goal in injury time and it is clear that Salah was fouled in the Argentinian penalty area.  The ball is rushed to the other end and Argentina score.  Egypt players point out the foul on Salah and appeal.   VAR was not even checked.  

Talk about double standards.   Did the French referee only want Messi and Argentina to win?   

Egypt were robbed.    

Stage 4 all change

The Carcassonne stage was won by Mads Pederson and it was a race for the breakaway group.  It was expected to be thus.  Very hot and the group of 34 were in the breakaway 145 kms from home.    So the race was a long one of the breakaway and the rest followed 3 minutes behind who let the gap get bigger and bigger.   Foix breakaway victories are a habit.   

 The stage changed the GC and we have a new race leader, the yellow jersey is out on loan for a few days!    The placings tonight are :

1. Traeen  13h 02' 46"

2. Quinn  13 03 14   +28

3. Vacek  13 03 36  + 3.50

4. Pogacar 13 10 39 + 7.53

5. Vingegaard 13 10 39 +7.53

6. Debruyne 13 10 52  + 8.06

7. Evenepoel  13.11.02  +8.16

8.  Del Toro 13.11.03 + 8.17

9. Ayuso  13.11.06  + 8.20 

10. Seixas  13.11.27  +8.41

Stage 5 is flat and is Lannemezan to Pau 158.3 km .    A sprinters day. 

I didn't watch it today and can only give information from the highlights tonight.