2008 — 18 December: Thursday
If I tell you that the islands in the background of tonight's picture are Herm and Sark, you should be able to deduce our approximate location in August 1987. (Mind you, if I'm lying, or mistaken, what chance do you have?) That was the holiday during which I bought a useful1 book, in the hope that it would help me deal with the IBM manager I was enjoying at the time.
Christa and David on Guernsey, August 1987
I figure if I have an early night I should wake up in time to tackle the next crockpot prep before it's too late to start cooking it for tomorrow evening. Well, it's almost a plan. Trouble is, Roger Daltrey is being featured in a late interview on 6Music at the moment. Oh well, g'night.
On with the show...
It's 08:49 so that part of the plan almost worked. Yawn. Now, as the dulcet tones of Jenni Murray kick off, the pot is crocking, the cuppa has been drunk, Melvyn Bragg's discussion on Time made a worthy accompaniment to the more mundane business of dicing and slicing veggies, and (when my appetite has recovered) I shall tackle breakfast and then consider the rest of the day — which is so far dry but cloudy. I hear the distant tinkle of cash tills...
Good heavens! A touch of sunshine. Better get dressed.
Confession is good for the soul
The molehole "Page not found" (Error 404) message includes a haiku that I've now tracked down (in so far as trusting anything on this Interweb malarkey is concerned) to a January 1998 competition entry submitted to Salon by one Cass Whittington. Thank you, Snopes.
I was sent a copy of the email mentioned on Snopes by my friend Carol back in August 2001, by which time it had already been circulating for nearly three years. And I went to Snopes on the basis of a piece here on gullibility and the spreading of "Rumors" (sic).
Oh dear...
While looking into a firmware upgrade for one of my DVD players I found a nice-looking toy. Recall my comment here under "Booty".
Meanwhile, as I lunch and listen to Felix Dennis and his plans2 for the Forest of Dennis, my whizzy desktop search tool "Copernic" helpfully points out that I've mentioned him eight times in the diary already. Not bad for the chap labelled in 1971 "very much less intelligent"3 by one of (IMHO) the few less than totally charming British judges to preside in recent times here in the Benighted Kingdom.
And now?
Well, it's 18:46 or so. While I wait for the crockpot to do its final bit of thermal thing, time to report that I'm recently back from a round trip into Southampton followed by a cheeky cuppa and mince pie over with Roger and Eileen. So a cousinly present has been sorted out (and will be tried out this evening, I suspect) and a book has been added to the incoming pile. As I've already admitted, I have what may strike some people as an odd fascination with what goes on in the corridors of power. I was also number 12,609 to sign the online Downing Street petition against a Trident replacement (and got an insane email back), so this was a no-brainer. Click the pic for a synopsis:
Peter Carrington's assistant private secretary explains the genesis [of the codename Chevaline] when the Americans abandoned their Antelope programme:
I rang up the London Zoo and I said, "I can't tell you why I want to ask you this question, but this is the Ministry of Defence... Can you imagine an animal that is like a large antelope? Do you have any on your list?" And they said, "There is this South African creature called a Chevaline", and I thought that sounded rather good.
Sounds just like Bernard speaking, in an episode of "Yes, Minister", don't you agree? But if that was funny, I don't really think this is. Defence Secretary John Nott persuaded "a somewhat reluctant Margaret Thatcher" to agree to a more substantial Cabinet discussion on Trident D5, and this occurred in January 1982:
The briefing was worthwhile. My colleagues were fascinated; but the Chancellor had come down from a good lunch and slept during the briefing.
"Howe" could that be?!