2009 — 3 June: Wednesday
Again, somewhat after midnight it's finally pleasantly cooler. With cool music on BBC Radio 3's "Late Junction" too. I've just finished watching an intriguing little "indie" movie written and directed by the woman who also starred in it — Marianna Palka. Another talent to keep an eye on.
OK, time for tonight's photo of Christa, taken an amazing 26 months ago on 1st April 2007 after our day trip down to Lepe country park. Big Bro was about to leave niece #1 with us for another day while he headed back to the smoke and thence (I assume) to those islands in the Antipodes that he calls "home":
Christa, Michelle and Big Bro in April 2007
I must say, they all look happy enough, don't they? Maybe I was pulling a face? (More likely telling a joke.) Well, it's time (00:42) for some sleep ahead of a Rhinefield walk and a pub lunch later today. Let's hope the pollen count remains moderate, although all these healthy country walks do seem to have been helpful in desensitising me somewhat. (What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, after all.)
G'night.
Shiny and bright
And that's the guests on "Midweek" as well as the weather. Breakfast is under way and, although sunny, it does indeed seem to be a little cooler. Hey, a new (to me) "fact" about paradise:
... this understanding of the critical role of forgiveness in forming durable human societies intrudes too into Islam, in the poetry of Hafiz, Rumi and Omar Khayyam, winos to a man. It is a sign of the extremism of Islam, in the versions that seem so threatening today, that it emphasises the Koranic interdiction of wine, and forgets that the rivers of paradise, according to the Holy Book, are actually made of the stuff.
And there's me thinking it was all milk, honey, and some fairly low integer number of perpetual virgins. The cup that cheers...
Mr ERNIE cheers too, to the tune of my third £25 bond in three months. Better, as they say, than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick. And, just for once, I've actually bought a book ahead of it becoming BBC Radio 4's "Book of the week", which is currently the one by Claire Harman, the cover of which has been made to look battered and stained.1
Going cheep
Back from Rhinefield and the pub lunch to news of the demise of Radio Birdsong though there's now a website replacement, and news of a missed parcel drop. Off I go again! Haven't even made another cuppa. But have had time to note the departure of Hazel Blears. What jolly japes.
Hell's teeth bite
Laconic enough? Snippet and source:
The nuclear weapons industry, like any other large industrial enterprise, is subject to the normal range of accidents from vehicle wrecks to falls from a height. These accidents are by far the most common that happen. There is one class of accident that is unique to the nuclear industry: criticality accidents, where an amount of fissile material accidentally comes together into a supercritical amount. There is a sudden release of energy and deadly radiation.
More here.
Return of the blues
A year ago, almost to the day, I was in Minstead, camera in hand, catching this attractive little fella...
... today, it was Mike's turn. He managed to catch a couple of cousins (or, knowing what insects can get up to, maybe a great-great-great grandson or two):
They are very difficult subjects until grounded.
There's a mirror-image of my house on this little estate. Their barbecue smoke was getting in my eyes. When I dug out my bottle of "Optrex" I discovered it was supposed to have been used by November 2000 — pretty much a record, even for me. Still, it worked almost as well as shutting my window! I think neighbours are the greatest invention since the advent of fences.