Yesterday I was listening to a Podcast whilst driving home from an appointment in Reading. It's a radio 4 show called 'Chain Reaction' - a brilliant show. Person A interviews Person B on one episode, then Person B interviews person C the following week. Person C interviews person D... etc etc - you get the idea.
Anyway - a very random topic came up about the late great George Formby. Who would have thought that dear old George was a political thinker ahead of his time...
In 1946 Beryl and George toured South Africa shortly before formal racial apartheid was introduced, where they refused to play racially-segregated venues. According to Formby's biographer, when George was cheered by a black audience after embracing a small black girl who had presented his wife with a box of chocolates. National Party leader Daniel François Malan (who later introduced apartheid) phoned to complain; Beryl replied "Why don't you piss off you horrible little man?".
And something else comes to mind when I think of the stars of yesteryear... whatever happened to the old black & white films that used to be on TV on Saturday afternoons? A whole generation is missing out!
Pete and I spent most of the day with our friend Charlotte (and her dog Louie). We walked south along the canal near Ware in Hertfordshire for a few miles to a pub called the 'Fish and Eels'. The service was awful, but the beer tasted just fine!
There were plenty of people about enjoying the bank holiday and when we got back to Charlotte's, we had a lovely lunch. A great way to spend a day.
Here are a few pictures from the day...
Pete and I spent Friday evening watching a very interesting French film called 'Little White Lies'. It was mainly set in Cap Ferret near Bordeaux where we went last October. An interesting film about money, selfishness and love. A strange mix you may agree, but worth a look.
Yesterday we ventured into the local town and brought a few things in the shops before returning to make fresh juice (a mix of apples, carrots, grapefruit, peppers and plums!). We then went to the see Hitchin Town play Circencester in a lower league football game. Hitchin won 6-2 in a pulsating game that was non-stop action and despite the initial baulking at the £9 entrance fee, we both agreed it was worth the money in the end. The weather started with heavy rain, then blue skies, then more rain, more rain and then ended with a brilliant rainbow. Crazy summer weather!
On the way back we stopped for a quick beer before getting back and cooking roast chicken and roast potatoes, followed by a selection of cheeses. A wonderfully cheap and satisfying meal. What a friend we have in cheeses.
Today I drove us to Cambridge. We had a coffee and then a walk around the shops. There were some very fit guys free running - I wish I could do that and also have the pecs and abs that they had too.
I had a voucher for some free photo printing after buying a new camera last month. I have to say that the Jessops system is atrocious to use. I was tempted to leave the shop after pressing the so-called-touch-screen over and over again and getting nowhere. After some time, we got there and I now have a selection of photos that I don't quite know what to do with! Actually, a couple may become Christmas presents.
We had intended going out this evening - let's see how we feel after dinner.
Bank holiday tomorrow!
The best jokes from the Edinburgh Fringe have been announced (you can see the 2010 best of here)
Top ten best jokes:
1. Nick Helm – “I needed a password eight characters long so I picked Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.”
2. Tim Vine – “Crime in multi-storey car parks. That is wrong on so many different levels.”
3. Hannibal Buress – “People say ‘I'm taking it one day at a time.’ You know what? So is everybody. That's how time works.”
4. Tim Key – “Drive Thru McDonalds was more expensive than I thought ... once you've hired the car ...”
5. Matt Kirshen – “I was playing chess with my friend and he said, 'Let's make this interesting'. So we stopped playing chess.”
6. Sarah Millican – “My mother told me, you don’t have to put anything in your mouth you don’t want to. Then she made me eat broccoli, which felt like double standards.”
7. Alan Sharp – “I was in a band which we called The Prevention, because we hoped people would say we were better than The Cure.”
8. Mark Watson – “Someone asked me recently – what would I rather give up, food or sex. Neither! I’m not falling for that one again, wife.”
9. Andrew Lawrence – “I admire these phone hackers. I think they have a lot of patience. I can’t even be bothered to check my OWN voicemails.”
10. DeAnne Smith – “My friend died doing what he loved ... Heroin.”
And a selection of the worst (though I think some are still great!):
1. Tim Vine – “Uncle Ben has died. No more Mr Rice Guy.”
2. Josh Howie – I've got nothing against the Chinese. Don't get me Wong.
3. Andrew Bird – “My wife’s eating for two. She’s not pregnant, just schizophrenic.”
It's less than a year to the London Olympics (we have tickets for 4 events!) and I thought it would be a fine idea to highlight a few of our sporting hero's who are hoping to be part of Team GB next summer. And of course, they will all be male, fit and cute!
Let's start with 22 year old Louis Smith, gymnast who specialises in the Pommel Horse. I have seen him interviewed a couple of times and he seems a dedicated and grounded guy.
Yesterday I unexpectedly bumped into an ex-colleague (Samantha) who is married to another ex-colleague (Adam). Adam and I used to take the piss out of each other all the time as we are both quite short. I had a quick chat with Sam and the person I was with said to me afterwards: "Wow, I wish I had good looking women randomly coming up to me saying hello!"
So I added that comment to her Facebook page and here are the follow up statements...
Samantha: Aww that's a lovely compliment. Did he see my baby bump? Good to see you after so long!!
Stephen: I dont think he was that observant - I told him lovely ladies are always saying "hello", but of course they are wasting their time with me!
Adam: Stop flirting with my wife.
Stephen: You can flirt with my boyfriend if you are jealous.
Adam: Can I pat his head like i used to you?? ;-)
Stephen: If you can reach :-p
Samantha: :D
A mystery... or am I going mad?
When I was at my Mum and Dad's last weekend, I put my grey sweatshirt on (that I bought in Los Angeles) just before Pete and I walked to the pub. However, at the last minute I decided it was too warm and left it behind.
The weird thing is, next day we couldn't find the sweatshirt. And it's still missing!
Could there be a Poltergeist in deepest Kent stealing clothing?
I yoinked this image from a national newspaper last week. Sadly, it sounds like the UK in 2011. However, when you compare with other countries I have visited and even the UK of generations passed, has it really changed that much? In the 1950's for example, the murder rate was higher, crime in general was higher and poverty was worse - so are we really in such a bad state?
For further discussion...
I had a leap in reader numbers on my blog at the weekend, all due to the phrase I commented on in May - "Zac Efron naked". It appears that, after a little investigation, the two words "zac efron's" were trending on Twitter on Saturday due to an image that had been posted somewhere. The unedited version of a photoshopped image (see polite version below) is all over the web and it's an expert job. I have few doubts that it's a fake... he's bigger than that (in my mind anyway)!
Some clever people have been using Photoshop to embarrass the stupid, selfish, deluded looters. Not sure if it will work, but it made me laugh and we need to laugh after an awful week in the UK...
