Showing posts with label good old days. Show all posts
Showing posts with label good old days. Show all posts

Thursday, 28 February 2013

Make your mind up Clegg: U-Turn Cam costs too much: Shrinking hotel: The “good” old days: Asbo Martin pram: and Mutant tadpoles.


Maximum lack of warm, minimum skywater, moderate atmospheric movement and less solar stuff than you could shake a bottle of suntan lotion at, at the Castle this morn, even later than usual I had to see my General Medic-blood pressure test and a nice blood test form, which meant going up to the Aldershot ‘Elf Centre, paying to park the Honda and sitting in the dungeon until my lucky ticket number came up.
 

And I am going to have to ban anonymous comments because I just don’t have the time sort them out, I have enough spam to take on Tesco in the meat dept.
 

 

According to the Independent the deputy Prime Monster admitted that allegations of sexual harassment were a factor in the peer's decision to quit as the party's chief executive.
Which means that numb nuts Nick dramatically altered his explanation for Lord Rennard's surprise resignation in 2009 which had previously been blamed on ill health. His comments were rejected by the peer's friends, who said he had been warned by his doctors that he could be dead within a year unless he led a less stressful lifestyle.

 
Which seems to be a lucky break for his “Lordship”-or maybe not...

 

U-Turn Cam is set to be dropped for this year's festivities in Witney after the bill for the 2012 event – which attracted 8,000 people – hit £45,000 pounds, including £2,300 for the Prime Monster’s security, Town councillors in the Prime Minister's constituency of Witney in Oxfordshire have drawn up plans to spread out the festivities, blaming rising costs and "dangerous" crowd levels.
The PM (T), who last year joined Father Christmas to switch on the seasonal lights, is now set to be dropped from the programme, with council officers looking for cheaper alternatives.
Witney mayor Councillor Eaglestone said: "My plan is to try to spread it over three days at different venues, but not have an official switch-on, no road closure and no David Cameron because it costs us a lot of money and we had criticism from the district council because of the number of people there.

 
Not even your own constituency wants you Dave....

  

Passers-by in the Japanese capital’s Akasaka district have witnessed the Grand Prince Hotel being demolished by construction company Taisei Corporation with a rather unique method.
Engineers reinforced the top floor with steel beams and then effectively lopped it off, keeping it in place to be used as an adjustable lid that can be lowered down the building on an external support frame.
Slowly but surely, and with none of the explosions or dust normally associated with the demolition of skyscrapers, the hotel is being torn down.

 

Shame that, they could have turned it into a prison....

 


In the USA that is, apparently growth was high, taxes were lower, there was less crime, better education, more spending power, more home ownership, lots of social mobility, oodles of optimism, falling debt and popularity was at a peak.
 

Great: that is if you ignore the racism and homophobia, organised crime and even more racism.

  


The "most exclusive pram in the world" is made with the same materials as Aston Martin's luxury car interiors.
Born from collaboration between Aston Martin and pram-makers Silver Cross, the limited edition pram is "designed to perfection with every detail considered".
The high-specification product boasts a leather-trimmed handle, air-ride suspension and is emblazoned with Aston Martin's iconic wings logo.
The pram's wheels are made from aluminium alloy and based on the wheels of Aston Martin One-77 car, though the automobile equivalent will set you back a cool £1.2m.
Described by Silver Cross as a "must-have for the most fast-paced lifestyle", and with just 800 being made, there is sure to be stiff competition among people who have money to burn.
 

And at £2,000 they can keep it...

 
And finally:
 


Eyes hooked up to the tail can help blinded tadpoles see, to learn more about the relationship between the body and the brain, researchers wanted to see how capable the brain was of interpreting sensory data from abnormal "ectopic" locations from which it normally does not receive signals.
Scientists experimented with 134 tadpoles of the African clawed frog Xenopus laevis, a common lab animal. They painstakingly grafted new eyes onto places such as their torsos and tails and then surgically removed their original eyes.
These experimental tadpoles then received a vision test the researchers first refined on normal tadpoles. The tadpoles were placed in a circular arena half illuminated with red light and half with blue light, with software regularly switching what colour light the areas received. When tadpoles entered places lit by red light, they received a tiny electric zap. A motion-tracking camera kept tabs on where the tadpoles were.
Remarkably, the scientists found that six tadpoles that had eyes implanted in their tails could apparently see, choosing to remain in the safer blue-light areas.
 

Time to test on “humans” then-preferably the researchers...

 

And today’s thought:
Punched or bored-preferably punched

 

Angus

Saturday, 3 October 2009

Second post-Another Scribble


I know this should probably be on AnglishLit but the ratings are better on All and Sundry, the weather has stopped me doing things outside and this seeped into my mind.


Hope those of a certain age will find their own memories, and those not of a certain age will learn something.

The Best of Days

The smell of coal fires waft down the street
A toasted crumpet for a treat
My father’s garden trim and neat
The short mown grass beneath my feet
My mother’s cooking on the stove
The food is served up with such love


Bread and dripping one inch thick
Today enough to make you sick
But back then it was the norm
No health scares to brew a storm
School dinners each and every day
To help you through the learning fray


The trip to school through knee high snow
No health and safety then you know
The playground games and that first kiss
Some things a youngster shouldn’t miss
Three brothers to a room at night
We must have seemed an awful sight


Each had a nice warm brick
Wrapped in cloth beneath our feet
The old tin bath before the fire
And as we shared the fun grew higher
On washing day the bubbling copper
And with a washboard, a job done proper


A gathering in the living room
To hear the latest show of goons
To listen to good old Dick Barton
And watch my dad play Jews harp and spoons
To watch cartoons shown on the wall
And keep our minds replete in thrall


The Coronation which was watched
On our monochrome magic box
Muffin the Mule and the Potters Wheel
In front of TV we would kneel
Noggin the Nog and Mr Pastry
Were met with much hilarity


The fun we had, our gang of boys
Imagination more than toys
We’d come home late but without fear
No harsh words and no tears
We seemed so safe back in those times
And life it seemed was so sublime


And help my dad work on his bike
It was a Triumph or some such like
The hours he spent instructing me
Not with haste but calm you see
Imparting knowledge to his boy
Made him feel complete with joy


The things we did together
My dear old dad and me, the nice long walks,
We’d talk and talk, and fishing by the sea
The books we read together and going for a ride
With open minds and open hearts
We did them side by side

And in the garden we would work
Dad with a spade me a fork
To prepare the soil for next years crop
About the time the apples dropped
The greens, the carrots and the spuds
Were planted then among the mud


And Mum was there throughout it all
To kiss it better from a fall
A bloody knee, a skinned elbow
A kiss from Mum would make it go
A hug was better than a pill
The scent of Mum is with me still


Fresh fruit and veggies from our plot
And fresh eggs too, we had a lot
Not moneywise but in affection
At least that is my recollection
Long summer days that never end
My parents’ trust that wouldn’t bend


But now it seems those days have gone
We’ve all grown up and all moved on
Those days we had will not reappear
Those days we had I still revere
Today the days of youth are tense
And youth today it seems is spent


The world has changed and for the worst
And youth today must be coerced
To do the things that we did gladly
The world is spinning far too madly
The young today are far too adult
The reason for the world’s tumult?



Angus Dei

© Angus Dei