Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts

Friday 29 July 2011

Booming guilty: Afghan billions: Lotta bottle: Truck Nutz: Just one Gelato: Toyota submarine: and Christmas at Harrods.

Same again at the Castle this morn-cloudy, dull, dry and tepid, the bench is painted and varnished, the garden is finally fettled, the study is still empty and I am still knackered.
 I have cut the stump of the california lilac into a seat so that any passing Gnomes can have a rest (click on the pics for a closer look).



Apparently we old fart baby boomers are the cause of all ills in dear old Blighty, and many young people in Britain are set to be in a worse economic position than their parents.
Shiv Malik, author of Jilted Generation - a book which examines the prospects for the 80s generation onwards - looks at his peers and sees further evidence of the impact a financially tight future is having on young people.
James Morris, pollster with Greenberg Quinlan Rosner and former speechwriter for Ed Miliband, says his research confirms Shiv's observation across generational lines.
Angus Hanton a baby boomer himself, reckons that there are some signs of sympathy among the baby boomer generation. He has founded a new think-tank called The Intergenerational Foundation to lobby for fairness between the generations.
He sees clear culpability on the part of his older peers.
"Let's take my own house [which] I bought 16 years ago for £160,000. It's in south-east London. It's now worth about £1.15m.
"So I've gained a million pound windfall to which I do not feel entitled, and that windfall, at the moment, is tax-free. Were I to sell [the house], there's no tax on that gain."
“It may appear very lucky for me, but the reality is when I sell, it will probably be to a younger person who'll be getting a mortgage and spending most of their working life paying off that windfall which went to me. I don't think that's fair."


So sell it and give the money away then, and let’s not forget the REAL reason for the state of the economy-greedy bankers, Piss Poor Government Policies, unrealistic valuations put on houses by Numpty estate agents, and the “I want it now” attitude of certain people who were given credit cards by institutions who knew that it was a risk but wanted the interest payments.
I do feel sorry for the “younger” generation but I am tired of the whinging and the endless “look at me I am a victim” mantra emanating from those who just want it all but don’t want to get orf their arses and spend fifty years working for it.
Boomers didn’t have it handed to them on a plate, we worked hard, saved hard and now that we are getting towards retirement “they” don’t want us to keep what we have earned.

 Grow up and get on with it.....
 


Britain has spent more than £18 billion on the war in Afghanistan and significantly underestimated the cost of the campaign in Libya.
The five-year conflict in Helmand is officially estimated to have cost about £4 billion a year, according to Ministry of Defence figures published in a Commons defence committee report.
But the panel of MPs accused the MoD of hiding the true cost of the war by refusing to disclose millions of unseen expenses.
The report added that the bombing campaign in Libya is projected at £260 million if it lasts six months – significantly higher than forecasts made by George Osborne, the Chancellor, in March.
When the first attacks on Col Gaddafi’s forces commenced four months ago, the Chancellor claimed that the cost to Britain would be “in the order of tens of millions of pounds, not hundreds of millions”.
 

My fault because I am nearly sixty..........



An unnamed 60-year-old got himself into a spot of bother when he slid a milk bottle too far up his rear-end and couldn't remove it.
Distressed at the situation he immediately presented himself to a hospital in Zhuai, China, where he told staff what had happened.
He claims he was constipated and was attempting a rather unorthodox method of stimulating his bowel. 

Wonder if it was silver or gold top?



The police chief of a small South Carolina town will ask a jury to decide if a woman broke the state's obscenity laws by driving a pickup truck with plastic testicles hanging from the back.
Bonneau Police Chief Franco Fuda ticketed Virginia Tice, 65, in early July at a local convenience store after spying the adornment dangling from her truck.
South Carolina law considers a bumper sticker, decal or device indecent when it describes, in an offensive way as determined by contemporary community standards, "sexual acts, excretory functions, or parts of the human body."
The offense carries a maximum fine of $445 but no jail time, Fuda said.
Lawmakers in some states have sought to ban the colourful plastic or rubber devices that go by brand names such as Bulls Balls and Truck Nutz.

 Load of old bollocks...



Thousands of sweet-toothed students from around the world are travelling to Italy to take up a place at a university offering a course in ice cream making.
This year, around 12,000 enrolled to study at the Gelato University hoping to become schooled in the art of making real Italian ice cream.
The university is near Bologna at the headquarters of Carpigiani, the leading global manufacturer of ice cream making machines.
As well as practical courses, students attend technical lectures to learn traditional methods of making gelato. Marketing and management are also on the curriculum.
The courses cost around £700-a-week and students - who come from as far afield as Australia and Sierra Leone - stay in a local hotel.
Those who want to open their own ice cream parlours may have to invest heavily in their dreams, but the rewards can be huge.
As well as the satisfaction of making their own delicious sweet creations, a litre of ice cream costs little to make and can be sold for a tasty profit.

Cor...net.



Numpty Wojciech Lapinski took a short cut to dodge traffic on a family day trip - and ended up out of his depth.
Lapinski, 35 - from Gdansk, Poland - didn't realise the tunnel had been flooded by a broken sewer and came to a halt in his Toyota in three feet of water.
Fire-fighters and police rescued the driver and his 86-year-old mum Izabella from the stranded car.
But she said: "It did put a bit of a dampener on the day."

 Another re-call for Toyota?

 And finally:


It is a tradition for Harrods to start their Christmas festivities early, but this year is the earliest in their entire history. At 8 am, 28th July, Harrods opened their Christmas range to the public.
Harrods stressed the need for the early launch, saying that there is an increasing demand from international shoppers for Christmas products.
“The peak for international shoppers begins at the start of July so we tried to cater to this early demand where possible," said a spokesman.
Part of the Christmas range includes exclusive ‘12 ice-creams of Christmas’ collection.
Flavours include Mince Pie, Christmas Pudding with Brandy Butter, and the rather peculiar Brussels Sprout. The flavours were chosen after a survey about what foods makes people feel the most ‘Christmassy’.
The ice-cream will be available to sample from this weekend.

This years’ theme is ‘A Crystal Christmas inspired by Swarovski,’ so customers can expect a glittering exhibition.
There are over 250,000 decorations alone, and prices in the store range from £1.95 for a tree decoration, to £2,999 for a life-sized Santa Claus ornament.
And for the first time there will be an ice-rink on the roof.


Fuck off........its July for what’s his/her name's sake.....


 

And today’s thought: Computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and perhaps only weigh 1 1/2 tons." - Popular Mechanics, 1949
 

Angus

Thursday 24 December 2009

Christmas-again!






Been down to Tesco already-6am pissistantly raining, place was heaving, trolleys stacked to the gills, what they are going to do with all that food in two days dumbfounds me.

Anyway no news today, and this is the last post for a few days, so I have a selection of “choice” videos for your amusement-or not.





First up:



You never know what you have until you lose it-dedicated to a certain “lady” not a Bloghound or a commenter I hasten to add.







The wrong present.







Do not watch this if you are offended by bad language-a mate of mine made this-dedicated to Ned Kelly








And finally:





I couldn’t make up my mind about which Christmas song to feature so here is a medley.







Many thanks to all visitors, commenter’s, and blog friends, have a first class Crimbo, and a spectacular New Year.





Angus


Monday 22 December 2008

CHRISTMAS




This is the fourth Crimbo I will spend on my own; I’m not looking for sympathy, or invites.
“We” really used to enjoy the festive season, no thought of the homeless or the poor, or the old, or the lonely.
Since “Mrs Angus” passed, my outlook has changed, I look on Christmas as something to get past, and over with, but I do think about the above more. Christmas to me now is a time of reflection and pondering, a time to look at the past year and add the good and the bad bits to either side of the “scales of life”.
The past three have come down heavily on” the Bad side, this year I think they may well be balanced, I have discovered the joy of Blogging, made quite a few “online” friends, and learned a lot.
I have tried to change a bit, to be less “abrasive” and more considerate in my writing, some of you may have noticed.
But deep down the “old” Angus is the one which will win, I don’t “think” too much when I write (and it shows), I call it my auto-pilot, and when I do think I get bogged down for words and unsure of the direction to take in my mindless wanderings.
I don’t tend to go into too much detail, because I find it boring to read pages and pages of stats, or quotes, and I like to think that others do as well.
So I like to “Tease” readers with a small amount of facts and then supply a link, so that they can find out for themselves what the hell I am rambling on about, because you learn much more from finding out for yourself.
I enjoy making comments on articles, and try to make people smile because then they will remember me and revisit the blog (shameless self-advertising), but that is what I do.
I love writing for NHS Exposed, the “team” are great and really supportive, and I enjoy letting loose the “Dogs of War” on the Powers That Be.
I will spend this year at home in my dark, cold garret, and will have Crimbo dinner with my Neighbours, who are the best you could have. After dinner I will stretch out on the couch and watch the TV, with my cat on my lap (there's nothing nicer than stroking a pussy in your lap), and probably fall asleep, not much different to anyone else really.
Next year I will carry on, I will continue to write and comment on things that I feel need to be brought to the attention, of others. And I think that the abrasive, gobby, patronising arrogant “Angus” will re-emerge, I hope so because I really like him.



I haven't quite got ot the point where I enjoy Christmas again yet, but you never know.

As to Crimbo-I hope you have a wonderful time, over eat, don't drink too much, and enjoy, because life can be far too short, and you don’t get a second chance.

This is my last post for a few days but,I shall be back on the 27th.

Thank you for reading the blog, and putting up with my ramblings. And I also hope that next year will be peaceful, prosperous and kind to you.
Angus