Tag Archives: blog

quotes

Monthly Quotes

And so, once again,we come to this month’s collection of recently encountereed quotes.

If you want to know who rules over you, look at who you are not allowed to criticize.
[George Orwell]

Not everyone can stand the strain of gazing down too long into the personal crater, with its scene of Hieronymus Bosch activities taking place in the depths.
[Anthony Powell]

The rise of this blusterous man bewilders the educated among us, conjoins opposing politicians, agonizes our international allies, threatens minorities, spits on the disabled, and touches the hearts of those who just don’t know any better. Let’s stop propounding how mad this all is, and instead, do something.
[Liselotte Hübner, Germany, 1929]

Thou with strange adultery
Doest in each breast a brothel keep;
Awake, all men do lust for thee,
And some enjoy thee when they sleep.
[Abraham Cowley; The Innocent III]

Now all my days are trances
And all my nightly dreams
Are where thy grey eye glances,
And where thy footstep gleams –
In what ethereal dances
By what eternal streams.
[Edgar Allan Poe; To One in Paradise]

A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition.
[Rudyard Kipling]

Just two naked apes who have decided to keep each other company for the (geologically speaking) blink of an eye on a tiny spinning planet on the outer arm of a nondescript galaxy in a vast, and basically pointless, universe. Now that we’ve identified that, we may as well just enjoy ourselves.
[https://substack.com/home/post/p-175517959]

It’s better to look at someone you can’t sleep with, than to sleep with someone you can’t even look at.
[Chinese proverb]

No Buddhist, No Christian, No Hindu, No Muslim …
Deeply spiritual people have no religion.
They belong to no temple, mosque, or church.
Their only religion is the goodness of the heart.
[unknown]

An expert is a person who has found out by his own painful experience all the mistakes that one can make in a very narrow field.
[Niels Bohr, Physicist (1885-1962)]

My land is bare of chattering folk;
The clouds are low along the ridges,
and sweet’s the air with curly smoke
from all my burning bridges.
[Dorothy Parker]

A mature person is one who does not think only in absolutes, who is able to be objective even when deeply stirred emotional1y.
[Eleanor Roosevelt]

Systems fail when people with ability don’t have authority and people with authority don’t have ability.
[Amit Kalantri]

history, memes

October Quiz Answers

Here are the answers to this month’s six quiz questions. If in doubt, all should be able to be easily verified online.

Classical & Ancient World

  1. What is the name of the home of the Greek Gods? Olympus
  2. Which body of the water was called mare nostrum by the Romans? Mediterranean
  3. Ask and Embla are the Norse equivalent to the Christian what? Adam and Eve
  4. What was the name of the Egyptian God of the Sun? Ra
  5. In Roman mythology, who is the goddess of the sewers? Cloacina
  6. Which word derives from the Latin for “sand” and originally denoted part of a Roman amphitheatre that was covered with sand to soak up the blood from combat? Arena

Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2024.

books, memes, quotes

This Month’s Poem

On The Ning Nang Nong
Spike Milligan

On the Ning Nang Nong
Where the cows go Bong!
and the monkeys all say BOO!
There’s a Nong Nang Ning
Where the trees go Ping!
And the tea pots jibber jabber joo.
On the Nong Ning Nang
All the mice go Clang
And you just can’t catch ’em when they do!
So its Ning Nang Nong
Cows go Bong!
Nong Nang Ning
Trees go ping
Nong Ning Nang
The mice go Clang
What a noisy place to belong
is the Ning Nang Ning Nang Nong!!

Find this poem online at All Poetry

amusements, memes

Ten Things

This year our Ten Things column each month is alternating between composers and artists a century at a time from pre-1500 to 20th century. As always, there’s no guarantee you will have heard of them all!

Ten Artists Born in 19th Century

  1. Amadeo Modigliani
    Amadeo Modigliani; Reclining Nude
  2. Piet Mondrian
  3. Jacob Epstein
  4. George Braque
  5. Constantin Brâncusi
  6. Henry Moore
  7. Paul Klee
  8. Paul Nash
  9. Henri Matisse
  10. Auguste Rodin
history, memes

October Quiz Questions

Each month we’re posing six pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month. As always, they’re designed to be difficult, but it is unlikely everyone will know all the answers – so have a bit of fun.

Classical & Ancient World

  1. What is the name of the home of the Greek Gods?
  2. Which body of the water was called mare nostrum by the Romans?
  3. Ask and Embla are the Norse equivalent to the Christian what?
  4. What was the name of the Egyptian God of the Sun?
  5. In Roman mythology, who is the goddess of the sewers?
  6. Which word derives from the Latin for “sand” and originally denoted part of a Roman amphitheatre that was covered with sand to soak up the blood from combat?

Answers will be posted in 2 weeks time.

history

October 1925

1 Comment

Our look at some of the significant happenings 100 years ago this month.

2. In London, John Logie Baird successfully transmits the first television pictures with a greyscale image.Early TV picture

3. Born. Gore Vidal, writer and public intellectual, in West Point, New York (d.2012)

5. The Locarno Conference began in Locarno, Switzerland between several European powers to negotiate a security pact.

13. Born. Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, in Grantham, Lincolnshire, England (d.2013)

13. The Locarno conference ended with several agreements in place. German Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann gave a closing speech in which he said the conference spelled a new era in European relationships, while French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand said it marked the beginning of a new epoch of cooperation and friendship.

16. Born. Angela Lansbury, actress and singer, in Regent’s Park, London (d.2022)

23. Born. Johnny Carson, American comedian and television host (d.2005)

24. Born. Luciano Berio, Italian composer (d.2003)

29. Born. Robert Hardy, actor, in Cheltenham, England (d.2017)

personal, ramblings

Unblogged September

1 Comment

Being some things noted in this last month which I’ve not otherwise written about.

Monday 1
Blimey, what a day! It started on dodgy ground, with too much to squeeze in, and went down hill all the way from there.
Follow-up call from GP first thing: Can I come in today? No. Forced an arrangement which much better suits me as I don’t think this is urgent. Downside is I have to go get some blood tests on Wednesday morning.
Then to the optician. We both got away without needing new glasses – result! However the optician spots something in N’s eye(s) that she doesn’t like and insists on her going today to the eye hospital in central London. It takes N ages to get a cab, by which time I’ve had my eye test so I cadge a lift home. Home at 14:00 having gone out at 11:00!
Along the way I forgot to stop and consign the post to a postbox, and drop into the doctors for some sample tubes.
I would have gone with N except we’re due a supermarket delivery between 16:00-17:00. This turns up, unannounced, at 14:35! Gah!
I then forgot all about this evening’s reading group Zoom call.
N finally got home at something well past 21:00 having been buggered around by the cab company!

Tuesday 2
A very unexciting day, which was good after yesterday, and was spent regrouping. A quick dash out first thing to the post and doctors – before the rain arrived. Then, apart from falling asleep for an hour mid-afternoon, spent the rest of the day catching up on admin and paperwork, which should have been done yesterday. Most of the day from mid-morning was punctuated by heavy rain showers – which is good because we really need it.

Wednesday 3
Cometh today the gardener, which was just as well as overnight the metal arch over the path outside the back door has fallen apart (in the wind), and of course taken the honeysuckle and rambler rose with it. We shouldn’t complain as it came from my parents 20 or more years ago, and was not new then, so it’s done well. The rose (which hitherto has not been prolific but which we don’t want to lose) has been propped up, but I suspect we’ll lose one good stem. The honeysuckle has been cut off at about 3 feet for now, and will doubtless come again from the bottom. The upshot was to order a new metal arch. Well it’s only money! And all of a piece with the rest of the week.

Friday 5
Result (I hope)! I discovered I can get this autumn’s Covid booster. The rules say it’s available only to those over 75, but when you read the small print it is anyone who is 75 or over on 31 January 2026. So I creep in by about 2 weeks. I’ve been able to book my Covid and flu jabs for early October, so we’ll see what happens.

Monday 8
8 September 1979 was a gloriously warm and sunny Saturday, so N and I walked the 400m to church to get married.

Tuesday 9
What is happening today? There’s been a lot of helicopter traffic around. We always see a few choppers as we’re close to Northolt airfield, which stables a few including London’s Air Ambulance. But today there’s been much more traffic than usual, including, at about 17:00, three Chinooks in line heading towards Northolt. We normally only see them (and then normally only singly) if there’s some big military event, or a visiting someone who needs extra security. And blimey, they’re huge noisy beasts.

Saturday 13
We seem to have made a habit of of having king prawn salad on a Friday or Saturday evening. And so it came to pass this evening. But who knew cats like prawns? We always keep them two or three prawns, which are divided out between whichever helpers appear when we’re eating. This evening we had all three cats, within two feet of each other, sitting there saying “I do like prawns. Please Mum, are there more?” It’s a good job we always buy plenty of prawns as they probably got through the best part of two large prawns each; and that was after cleaning their bowls of their weekly treat of fresh cooked cod.

Tuesday 16
Make up your bloody minds! Tooth op tomorrow and I was originally given an 11:30 arrival time. Then a few days ago they decided to change it and get all the surgeon’s list in for 07:00, so no food after 02:00! This afternoon it was changed back to 11:30; much more civilised. Apparently the surgeon’s secretary told the hospital they weren’t having patients sitting around all day to no purpose; so some of us were moved back to a sensible time. I must say I was rather relieved, and welcomed the elbow room. And this is private healthcare too!

Wednesday 17
After a few days of panic, the surgery to remove the remains of my molar was easy – apart from still spending too many hours sitting around the hospital and feeling apprehensive (as below).Everyone eventually found their correct hymn sheets and agreed I was having sedation and local anaesthetic, which was brilliant. The sedation turned out to be only like having downed a full bottle of wine!
I was in and out of theatre in 45 minutes – arrive at theatre at 14:20; in Recovery by 15:05; home before 18:15. Yes it’s a bit painful, but I have strong painkillers if I need them.
Along the way the senior theatre nurse spotted my infected elbow (which I’ve had for years). I was robustly told off and ordered to go to my GP.

Thursday 18
I slept well and tooth much better than anticipated. Yes, some pain, but controllable with ibuprofen. Gradually getting back to food: soup and softer things; will likely be almost back to normal tomorrow. Spent the afternoon with friends as, somewhat ridiculously, I was supposed to have a babysitter for 24 hours (and N was at hospital herself) – probably wise as I do still feel somewhat disconnected.

Friday 19
Definitely improving. Eating pretty much normally, although being careful. Almost don’t need painkillers. But still dozy in the head, so nothing accomplished except a request to GPs to look at the elbow.
I was sent home from hospital with antibiotics (because elbow), opioid painkillers (which contain paracetamol and thus conflict with the antibiotics), and some laxative (because opioid painkillers). What a complete waste; I’m taking the antibiotics but not the opioid painkillers and hence not the laxative – so these last two will just end up being taken to the pharmacy and destroyed.

Saturday 20
Blimey; it’s blowing a gale out there this evening. Mind there is a yellow weather warning out, so we can’t say we’re surprised.

Sunday 21
This evening I rescued a small fruit fly from N’s wine. Obviously it was wet and doused in alcohol. Will it survive? Of course it will. It sat on my paper napkin for quite a few minutes. Firstly running around, possibly to clean the feet and get the body working. Then, which I’ve noticed before, it used its front feet to clean its face; and back feet to clean its wings; rinse and repeat many times. After maybe 5 minutes, poof, it was gone. Clearly all systems restored. I continue to be amazed at the delicateness of these creatures; fine thread-like red-brown legs; tiny black heads; black & yellow striped abdomens; delicate transparent wings. At first sight you think they’re just black; but they aren’t. And how you can make something that small, which works, defeats my brain. They’re amazing little creatures.

Monday 22
Today we picked the apples from our two small (planted in large containers) trees. Although they’re not yet fully ripe, many were getting eaten (snails, ants, etc.) so we needed to cut our losses. A huge number from one of the trees (Falstaff), although many are small and will have to be used for chutney or the like. Not so many from the other tree (Pinova), but they are large.
I’m still feeling pretty washed out after the tooth op, which I guess is the body needing to recover from the stress and shock. So taking things gently.

Tuesday 23
It is wonderful to be able to eat fresh, tasty, organic apples – even if they are still slightly tart, which I don’t mind (I have been known to eat Bramleys as a dessert apple!).

Thursday 25
This morning my annual diabetes check-up with the nurse at the doctors. I spent almost 40 minutes with her; we covered a lot of ground, and not just diabetes. Overall she is very happy with me and trusts my numbers on blood pressure, weight etc. No blood tests as key ones were done a few months ago; but she suggested we do them again in December (before Christmas). Moreover she likes the way I track some things and took a couple of my charts away to use with other patients!

Friday 26
Tooth now pretty much back to normal. Just a slight niggle remaining so I’ve not needed any painkillers for at least 48 hours. Still having to be careful with the toothbrush, and not chewing on that side.

Sunday 28
After all this time it does feel slightly odd to be going out socialising. We had a very pleasant lunch today with friends who looked after me 10 days ago – so the treat was on me. They took us to their local tapas restaurant. Surprisingly for Sunday lunchtime it was not packed, with just two other tables occupied, one of four people (as we were too) and the other with a party of, I think, seven. Plenty of plates of tapas shared: salads, whitebait, sardines, sausage, chicken, patatas bravas …; followed by the obligatory churros with chocolate sauce. And it was good; nothing much more needed today; and the healthy eating option satisfied for the week – maybe!

Tuesday 30
I’ll leave you this month with a fairly rubbish photo of Tilly Cat in repose this afternoon amongst the miscellaneous garbage in the study.