Hogfather

For all you Terry Pratchett fans out there......

It seems that Hogfather has been turned into a film. It'll be shown on Sky at Christmas

Holidays

In a fit of boredom yesterday I took my paperback copy of England's 1000 Best Parish Churches yesterday (the one that sits in the car) and ticked off all the churches I have visited. The idea being that I could then see where i need to go to give the list a boost.

Given I can discount Greater London I was left with the following destinations.

North Devon & Somerset. Nice area. I specifically need to go South of Bristol and North of Wells which is ok by me as I'd like to visit Tyntesfield.

The midlands. Notts, Northants, Leicesershire, Staffordshire, Shropshire and Warwickshire. I want to go to Northants as it has some lovely houses (and villages) as well as churches I haven't visited. I just wish the houses didn't ALL have the same restrictive opening hours!! But trips to Staff/Shrops and Northants/Leics look likely.

South/West Yorkshire - shudder it has to be done but the area around Sheffield and Doncaster is not the same as the North Yorks Moors. Might get put off for a year.

Durham - I have driven through it and indeed stopped to look around Durham cathedral but somewhere else I ought to go to.

Still I reckon trips to Staffs/Shrops, Northants/Leics, and Devon North Somerset are on the cards for the next year.

I need to do Cornwall but that will have to wait. Comments like why didn't you this year come to mind.

Going back to London not only are there some churches I need there are some lovely buildings. Syon, Kensington Palace, Chiswick, Ham and Osterley are all places I'd like to visit. One day...............

The State Opening of Parliament

I got to watch the State Opening of Parliament today.

Its a strange event. The Crown is delivered separately by the Master of the Queens Closet (or some other implausible title), the chap from the BBC made big play of how important it was that it was transferred to the right cushion.

We got to watch lots of soldiers wander around in strange costumes from the 16th century.

Then black rod marches to the commons who slam the door in his face. He raps the door 3 times they let him. He tells them the Queen commands their presence in the House of peers and off they trapse. Tony and Dave having a nice chin wag. Oh and Dennis Skinner asked if "Helen Mirren was doing the gig".

I do wonder what those overseas think of it. I appreciate that many of the jobs once had real purpose but now they are purely ceremonial. It does seem a bit anachronistic to see Beefeaters wandering around.

Then again there is alot that is anachronistic about our democracy. 26 Bishops can sit in the House of Lords, they are CofE Bishops I might add. God forbid any nasty catholics get to sit there (there are good historical reasons for this). You also get the Law Lords. Then again they aren't there by donating money to political parties so you could argue they are better than all the cronies.

Watching DVD's

well I've had enough of day time TV so for the past two days I've been watching Battlestar Galactica Series 1.

The basic premise is the same as the "classic" series of the eighties. The Cylons destroy the 12 Colonies and a rag tag armada of civilian craft led by the lone surviving Battlestar (the Galactica) search for the mythical 13th colony.... Earth.

Annoyingly I haven't seen the mini-series which sets the scene and shows the colonies destruction.

A big difference to the original is that some Cylons have evolved and look and feel like us. Our friend maybe a Cylon.

Is it Science Fiction? well it has a space setting but like most SF it reflects the times it was made. Its dark and edgy. Lots of dark pyschology. Lots of origina characters are there if different. Balthar for example is not quite the dark traitor of the first series. He has a female cylon some how infecting his mind like a virus. And may I say this Cylon is ever so HOT!!!

Enjoyable? Watchable? Well I want to get hold of the mini-series and the series 2. I don't think its as good as Babylon 5 but its a damn sight better than 99% of most TV SF.

in out shake it all about.

So the alarm goes off and I can't decide if the rash was better.

Still off to work. answer emails etc. My head of department questioned whether I should be in, "I feel fine" but she was nice enough to say I've lost weight - woo hoo.

Anyway phone doctors up about rash and was told had to see Triage Nurse. At 11 saw Nurse who said "oh my word I haven't got a clue". She stuck me in a side room (in case I was "infectious") and made an immediate appointment.

The doctor says it looks like an allergic reaction and has changed my drug. Oh I'm signed off til Wednesday. I've had 7 days off and in my previous 24 years had 6.5 days off.

I can't take day time TV luckily Tesco had the first series of Battlestar Galactica (doesn't include mini-series but stuff it) so excuse me.....

Back to Work

Well I think I am back tomorrow. Still lost voice so lots of communications by email. I have a rash now but I think its due to the drugs so unless its worse tomorrow morning....

I don't think I could take another week of daytime telly.

Is there a Spielberg Western on BBC2?

One of the "joys" of being off work is day time TV. I have at least managed to avoid the trashy programs like Trisha.

There seem to be loads of shows where members of the public try and sell there antiques. One such is Cash in the Attic. The idea is that an "expert" goes around your house finding stuff you can take to auction to raise the money you NEED for that special purchase.

On Monday an elderly Mother was raising money to send her daughter and best friend to a Health and Beauty Spa. She needed to raise a £1000 ooh the tension!! Well there was none, for a start the Mother and Daughter often visited the Spa so they obviously had a bob or two. The daughter was that type of woman who thinks she is twenty years younger, undeniably "good looking" for her age but dressed like she was 25 not 50. The fact that they easiy "found" £2500 stuff just went to show they were well off. Struck me as an exercise is self grandisement.

David "perma tan" Dickinson has a new show where members of the public there goods to experts who make them an offer or they can go for Auction. I did chuckly at the expert who offered £25 for two Moorcroft vases "well they've got some damage" which subsequently went for a lot more. Should have stuck to Bargain Hunt Dave.

There is the odd good film and program and its not really any worse than the rubbish fed to us at night.

The other thing is for some reason I think BBC 2 have a Spielberg Western on tonight. I mention it because if the BBC do yet ANOTHER advert for it I'm writing a disgusted of Tonbridge Wells!!

The Poppy

John Snow, presenter of Channel 4 news, is refusing to wear a Poppy on air.

Mr Snow says he wears a poppy off-air but refused to wear any symbols on on-air.

The day before a Christian lobby group urged people people to exchange the traditional red remembrance poppy for the "more Christian" white poppy.

Firstly I've never seen a white poppy and anyway red was selected as that is what found on flanders field.

On the wearing of a Poppy? Well I seldom do. I rarely wear a suit jacket (I wear a collar and tie to work but a casual jacket) for a start. I haven't bought one this year but if there is a box in the office on Monday I'll throw some change in but I still doubt I'll wear one it'll sit on the desk.

Its not disrespect its personal choice. Remember in your own way.

Interest Rates

Well my god the Bank of England have raised interest rates to a massive 5%!!!!

I bet you are all gnashing your teeth over this huge amount.

Now it makes me laugh because when I took the mortgage out on my flat back in 1986 I started off paying 11%! I bet that would get a few people windy. I remember the day Norman Lamont went mad and interest rates hit 15%.

I remember the day when the Investment Bank I worked for gave us a package when they'd pay us anything above 8%. I was in heaven as I was promoted that day.

In all the years I had a mortgage I never paid less than 7%. My father in all the year he had a mortgage never paid less than about 9%.

I do wonder what would happen if we ever had a return to high inflation and high interest rates.

Of course nowadays you can stick your money in a savings account and get 5% which for a basic rate tax payer is a 4% return given inflation is "officially 2.5% you are getting a real return on your money. In the past we got high rates BUT we never got more than inflation.

So folks don't panic 5% is nothing. It can get much much worse.

What you find out

As I write this I am listening to the Radio. They happened to mention how West Virginia became split from Virginia (North West Virginia refused to secede and so split from the rest of the State during the American Civil War).

Anyway it had lots of info on the state and so I thought I do a search on my home county and then town.

On my home town I discovered that Old Harlow used to be simply Harlow. The new town was started in 1947 and is an amalgam of "Old Harlow" and the villages of Great Parndon, Latton, Little Parndon and Netteswell. My gran for instance always addressed cards with Great Pardon in the address line.

Anyway i started looking at Election results and the Harlow Constituency only goes back to the Feb 1974 election and I wondered what happened before. Well apparently we were lumped with Epping (in 1974 Epping Forest and Harlow were created as separate constituencies).

Now the MP in 1974 was a fellow called Stan Newens. So what happened before?

Imagine my horror to discover that in 1970 Newens lost the Epping Seat (he had been MP since 64) and that for 4 years my MP was .... Norman Tebbit.