2009 — 27 July: Monday
And another week has slipped by. It seems to have warmed up, too, despite the intermittent rain. Oh, well. Tonight's picture is from the mid-1990s and captures a shared joke while niece #2 (and her aunt from High Wycombe) were here. Like I've said, there was laughter a'plenty hereabouts over many, many years:
Later today? Hovercraft ahoy, methinks. Solent here we come (at least, after a spot of food shopping). Let's hope Bro manages to avoid getting his shiny hire car rear-ended this time...
G'night at 00:07 as I finish scanning the DVD artwork for "Yes, Minister". (First shown over 29 years ago — how can that possibly be?)
Remind me not to visit the Maldives. Remind me (also) not to tune into conservative talk shows. Or watch any films directed by Stephen Murray. Or listen to Stephen Meyer. Or visit Brazil. (More on this.)
What an amazing species. Thank you, Butterflies and Wheels, for your weekly burst of pithy stuff.
Rain? It's mid-summer!
Back to the morning cuppa made for me by Bro skylark. But it's raining and rather grey out there. Good job hovercraft don't fly around up in the clouds. It's 08:50 but I don't feel particularly compelled to get up and at 'em just yet. Just been feeding the iMac many megabytes of updated goodness (I hope). If the number of times iTunes has been refreshed is any sign of its intrinsic quality it must be one superb set of bits by now.
Are you Shaw this is a joke? Must be time for breakfast. Then the shops. It's just been pointed out to me that last Friday's car incident proves there's at least one driver in Chandler's Ford worse at parking than I am. Hah! Very funny, Michael. But can you trust your1 chosen news source?
Not impressed...
... by the frankly amateurish "HoverShow 50" display. Nor by the pounding rubbish (dis)courtesy of "Heart FM" that was loud enough to drown the sound of all but the noisiest of craft. And even less by the chicken burger and can of Coke. How very drearily we Brits celebrate engineering achievement on occasion. The heavy downpour coming back from Gosport on the M27 reminded me of the almost monsoon-like rain I last experienced in Florida 25 years ago almost to the day as we drove down into Tampa (and saw two waterspouts out in the bay, too). Wonder if my co-pilot on that occasion (young Mr Meech) recalls the scene?
Oh well. A quick pit stop (as Bro calls it) and we shall toddle down into town — if the rain that has now caught up with us goes away. It's 14:36 and counting. There should be a rainbow out there now if the sun is any clue.
Catching up
Now it's 18:20, the town has been toddled, the fresh batch of plums stewed, another cuppa both made and drunk, final instructions for Edge swapping received (again), a fresh batch of mugs bleached in the ongoing struggle against tannin stains, and Bro is sitting quietly downstairs fiddling with his newest set of minitools, awaiting his evening meal (poor sap!) and (though he denies it) quite probably contemplating the premature construction of the model plane kit he bought from the Hobby Store I took him to before then leading him though my normal book, music, and video route. Poor lad. I'd better go and feed him.
Meanwhile, Amazon told me about a new item I should buy, but that led me in turn to this — which I mentioned here — though it's not out2 yet. I am something3 of a Crumb completeist; the man is an off-the-wall genius and Terry Zwigoff's film portrait of him ("Crumb" — what else?) is a must-see. I look forward to this latest work very much. Perhaps I should buy two copies and pop one round next door to help steer them gently away from the Koran?
This is a new Lao Tzu quote to me:
Thirty spokes share the wheel's hub, but it is the hole in the center that provides its usefulness.