Turning The Other Cheek

Last night, after a relaxed evening in the company of my beloved and the goggle-box, sleep was extremely hard to come by. Amongst our viewing was “Who Do You Think You Are” (BBC1), in which Jeremy Paxman was persuaded to explore his family tree and, coming from his quite privileged background, was visibly moved to discover the hardships endured by his great-great grandparents. Come my attempt to sleep, my thoughts turned first to the hardships experienced by my parents but, swiftly moved on to remembering other people who had been important to me.

In an attempt to focus down my mind, I settled on remembering one especially important person. Don S had settled down in rural Lincolnshire after working on a farm with fellow ‘conchies’ during WW2. In 1966, on the verge of a mental breakdown, I’d fled the hecticity of London life for a few weeks rest with my parents who had recently moved to Lincolnshire. To say I was living on my nerves would be an understatement, it was rather a case that they were feeding on me.

Don, a Quaker, also attended a small village chapel where my father was minister and, shortly after this prodigal son of the manse returned home, he called around to have a chat with me. My response was to pick up a broom handle to threaten him with and, yell and tell him to “f*** off”.

A couple of days later found me, fuelled by a few sedatives (all I really wanted was to rest!) and copious amounts of alcohol, wandering around the village putting my fist and feet through windows, including those of the pub and the manse. Somehow the police stumbled across me and, being the lithe sort of guy I was in those days, I managed to perform amazing feats of escapology from the strait jacket they applied as they prepared to have me sectioned and transported to the psychiatric hospital.

After a few days, when I became sufficiently compliant to be trusted to wander the locked ward rather than my ‘private’ cell, I was surprised that Don came to visit me during his lunch hour. These visits became a fairly regular event and, eventually, the staff allowed me to go on evening visits to the Theatre in Lincoln along with with Don and his wife. When I was eventually allowed to have weekends at home, Don was once again there for me and introduced me to the local Film Society where I made my first social contacts in Lincolnshire.

Here was a man who really believed in turning the other cheek!  

Mixed Blessings

It was good, this morning, to find that my friend The Oxcliffe Fox was sufficiently recuperated to have done a posting; by the miracles of technology it’s possible to be concerned for a friend’s “well-being” in situations where previously one would have been oblivious to any ailments that had befallen them. It certainly is a mixed blessing!

Talking of mixed blessings, the last few days have seen an amazingly sluggish performance on msn spaces, so much so that, by the time one gets into the ‘edit’ programme one has had plenty of opportunity to forget the purpose of the visit.

A further blessing is your ability to visit this space and discover that “I compliment you on your good taste and/or curiosity”.

Progressive Politics, Populist Voices Forums-viewtopic-Shouldering a Burden, Building a Bridge, Blogging a Convention

Somehow stumbled upon this posting over a month after it first appeared - an interesting post on "the cost of discipleship".
Progressive Politics, Populist Voices Forums-viewtopic-Shouldering a Burden, Building a Bridge, Blogging a Convention

Truth is harmful to international relations - Bush's proposal to bomb al-Jazeera

“David Keogh, a Cabinet Office employee, is charged with leaking information damaging to international relations to Leo O'Connor, researcher to Tony Clarke, former MP for Northampton South. The two are due to appear in court today for committal hearings.”

And I thought it was already common knowledge that Bush showed signs of being a moronic megalomaniac; so how does further evidence damage international relations?

MediaGuardian.co.uk Media Labour MPs leaked Bush's proposal to bomb al-Jazeera

Sluggishly Alert!

The day is still quite young and, despite a familiar erratic sleep pattern, I feel reasonably alert; what an unusual conjunction of events this is! I was already up, and surfing the blogosphere, at a time when most recent days would have found my location to be in the heart of  Zzzzzz …zzz ..land. It’s the kind of shock to the system that I’m just about able to cope with. Perhaps I may even make so bold as to venture forth for a brief brisk walk, although that thought makes me start to wonder whether I’m really as alert as previously assumed!

I’ve just pinched myself and, I’m definitely not dreaming but, already the thought processes are falling back into their traditional sluggish mode. Who knows, once the caffeine and nicotine hits home, I may even have something to say.

Meantime, I wish you all good day!

Summer Daze

As it has been yet another cold grey day, just thought I'd remind myself of bright summer days beside the garden pond.

The Bulldog Manifesto

Entertaining posting on Hugo Chavez can be found here!

The Bulldog Manifesto

t r u t h o u t - Hugh Thompson, Hero at My Lai, Dead at 62

It's always good to remember Heroes!

t r u t h o u t - Hugh Thompson, Hero at My Lai, Dead at 62

Seven Things sans Tag

Thanks for tagging me Martyn. Here’s my attempt at ‘7 Things’: The 7 books and movies were difficult to narrow down and would maybe read differently another day – the whole thing proved an interesting exercise in categorized spontaneity!

7 Things to do before I die:
Change my underpants
Enjoy myself
Visit Paris
Witness the successful prosecution of Bush and Blair for War Crimes
Learn the art of forgiveness
Retain my integrity
Give thanks for my life

7 Things I cannot do:
Swim
Drive A Car
Drink as much as I used to
Socialize for a prolonged period
Fall out of love with my wife
Understand the cult of celebrity
Understand the attraction of Sport

7 Things that attract me to blogging:
To share my thoughts
To share my diary - mundane as it may be
Allows room for creativity even when I haven’t the stamina to do other writing or painting
Keeps my friends in touch with me
Immediacy
Enables me to vent my frustrations
Provides me with a regular discipline

7 Things I say most often:
What a load of crap
James Blunt’s a real …. (varied expletives)
I adore you
I’ll just go and have another ciggy
Fancy a drop of wine
I feel knackered
This is the day the Lord has made … let us rejoice and be glad in it!

7 Books I love:
The Outsider – Camus
Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge – Rilke
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists – Tressell
The Brothers Karamazov – Dostoevsky
The Crucified God – Moltmann
Hugh Johnson’s Wine Companion
Joseph (aka ‘Friends and Lovers) – Maurice Capitanchik

7 Movies or TV Series I watch or would watch over and over again:
American Beauty
Shawshank Redemption
High Society
Coupling (TV Series)
Spaced (TV Series)
A Thing Called Love (TV serialised drama)
Jazz On A Summers Day

7 Bloggers who I’d like to have a go at this:
Here’s where I break with tradition – I can’t stand imposing even a hint of pressure. I’ll say the next seven bloggers who read this and fancy having a go – I’m much too lazy to delegate!
Let me know (leave a comment) if you’re prepared to have a go!

Adding Some Spice to a Grey Day

A day of idleness, one in which I even allowed my beloved to pop a frozen pizza into the oven, in lieu of a ‘proper’ meal. Heterocon has already recorded my vague entry into the day and, even as the day progressed, little has changed. My one piece of ‘work’, at the beginning of the evening, was to prepare a Mexican tinged minced beef and peppers casserole ready for our Sunday lunch. A preliminary tasting suggests a tongue tingling sharpness to the dish but, that will be tamed a little by the greens it will be served with.

Sudden sharp pains in both knees decided to make their presence felt as I returned from the kitchen but, otherwise, the days keynote has been a general relatively pain-free mind fog and, I have submitted to its demand of idleness.