amusements, memes

Unblogged April

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Hereinafter follows the usual summary of the last month’s doings not otherwise reported upon.

Mon 1 OK so it’s April Fools’ Day. I must admit I never really saw the amusement, although over the years the media have pulled a few good stunts – who remembers the Spaghetti Tree? The origins are unclear, and the first British reference to “Fooles holy day” appears to be by John Aubrey in 1686. April Fools’ Day is not to be confused with the medieval Feast of Fools, celebrated by clergy across Europe on 1 January.
Tue 2 The place is awash with roadworks. Our nearest major road is hobbled, north and south, by ongoing works associated with HS2. And the alternative north-south route from/to the A40 Westway is also closed this week for resurfacing work. This latter has a diversion, which takes you at least 2 miles out of your way, and which this morning also had two sets of roadworks, one with temporary lights. Coming north from the A40 there is no decent alternative; going south is little better. Oh and from next month there will be 6 months of roadworks on the A40 itself, at one of London’s busiest roundabout/underpass junctions. Just to pile on the agony even more, not far away the major road at Old Oak Common (major HS2 station site) is about to be closed for four years, with no sensible alternative route! Why can the planers never manage to join the dots?
Wed 3 I chaired a really good meeting of GP’s patient group at lunchtime. Some interesting background from our Practice Manager on a recent development (later postponed) and some good ideas for futures. But blimey weren’t the minutes hard to write even though I tackled them almost immediately afterwards.
Thu 4 Dear God! What a day. Spent the whole day, apart from taking the supermarket delivery, doing stuff for the patient group: meeting minutes, monthly news bulletin, meeting prep for next week. It was never ending, and I just cannot clear the other miscellaneous stuff off my desk. It’s completely knackering.
Fri 5 My brain is frazzled to a cinder. Working on literary society stuff all day – mostly membership renewals and getting the member DB tidied up for the move to the new website etc. It is Saturday, isn’t it?!
Sat 6 Fuck! To put too fine a point on it. I’ve got this f’ing cold again; I think that’s 3 times in 8 weeks or so. Felt miserable all day and doing things at about half speed, at best. But here are some daffodils to cheer things up! Pale yellow daffodils with orange trumpets
Sun 7 Boy Cat certainly had the right idea for a Sunday occupation. An almost all white cat lying with all 4 feet in the airFollowed by fresh cod for tea, and another good snooze.
Mon 8 Why the the Americans get a total solar eclipse and we get nothing. How do they deserve it more than we do. It’s a conspiracy I tell you. I shall never see a total solar eclipse, and I’m pissed off about it.
Tue 9 Cloudy, dull, rain, sunshine, wind … I think the only things the weather didn’t throw at us today was thunder & lightning and snow. Everyone is getting really hacked off with the rain and the wind. “With hey, ho, the wind and the rain … For the rain it raineth every day. With a hey, and a ho, and a hey-nonny-no.”
Wed 10 Phew! That was a bit of a fight: taking all three cats to the vet for check-ups and their annual injections. Each cat has to go in its own carrier; sharing is not permitted. N had much the worst of trying to catch and imprison them. Luckily we had our friendly local London cabbie to take us, so there is plenty of room on the floor of the cab for 3 cat baskets. We were early to the vet’s, and they were running late, so we had to sit around for nearly an hour waiting. But at least all three got a clean bill of health except that Boy Cat has to have some dental work done, which will hurt the credit card even more than today’s little outing.
Thu 11 I don’t believe it! Not only has it been dry today, but it’s been considerably warmer too. Cloudy and dull most of the day, although this evening there is at least a bit of blue sky. It was even warm enough to have some windows open and get some fresh air in the house. It also made life a lot easier and more pleasant for the window cleaner this morning.
Fri 12 Well what a surprise: a sunny, warm and dry day. And there’s still a little daylight at 20:00 BST (so 19:00 GMT).
Sat 13 As befits a lovely warm, sunny Spring day, we have our first rose in bloom – one of the pink ramblers.
Sun 14 As usual on Sunday afternoon, I unloaded this week’s captures from the trail camera. I got a good shot of one of our foxes (we have at least three visiting regularly) in morning daylight. The fox is standing about 5m from the house and 3m from the camera. It’s not a brilliant shot due to camera resolution. I’ve no idea what it was watching on next door’s roof!Red fox standing looking intently upwards at something
Mon 15 Full marks for the doctors today. I’ve got this filthy cold for the 4th time in 8-10 weeks; the same sinus/cold. Sent a request to GP, explaining this was how I was 30+ years ago before a sinus op, and the only fix to stop the cycle was antibiotics. The doctor didn’t even call me, but just sent a prescription over to the pharmacy, who walked round the corner with it for me. Now that’s what I call service.
Tue 16 Back on Sunday I actually took a few photos in the garden. This one’s called “Lions on the Savannah”.three dandelions amongst the green grass
Wed 17 We’re getting there. Spent the day working on the new literary society website etc. including helping the developer start switching our email accounts and doing a chunk of testing and small updates. Hard work!
Thu 18 So the magpies are still using the nest they built in the top of the silver birch tree. I’ve seen one going into it several times today. It’s not obviously been carrying beaks-full of food, but it could be feeding chicks.
Fri 19 Getting more and more despondent about N’s health. Hospital are not acting with any urgency while her health is just deteriorating. Hospital called at 17:30 this afternoon; she now has to have an appointment with an anaesthetist in a week’s time before they’ll confirm a date of the procedure she needs which is pencilled in for a week later. That then has to heal before it can be used for treatment. That’s going to be much too late and probably past the point of no return.
Sat 20 It’s that time of year, when this week I’ve had an absolute deluge of financial and other important paperwork. Like today arrived the renewal for the house insurance. But it beats me why they have to email 11 (yes, one short of a dozen) separate documents one of which is 50+ pages and another 20+. Then when you renew (online!) they send another three documents which only duplicate the ones you’ve already had. It’s no wonder the premium has gone up almost £80 (or 17%); they’re clearly overpaying people to write by the yard.
Sun 21 Oh dear! It’s many years since I’ve consumed a whole bottle of wine at a sitting. But I managed it tonight with a pretty strong bottle of my favourite Tavel Rosé – and it did slip down easily. Everything that’s going on is enough to drive you to drink! (Actually I’m typing better after the wine!)
Mon 22 Amazing! Today I picked the first six ripe Hot Lemon chillies from the one odd plant I overwintered from last year. And there are at least another eight well on the way; but currently no further flowers. This is amazingly early.six ripe yellow chillies on a black cloth
Tue 23 I avoided going to the hospital with N this morning. I wanted to keep an arm-wrench on the consultant, but I didn’t need to as he decided that N needs treatment urgently. So there will hopefully be several more appointments & procedures over the coming days. Really worrying to have got to this stage quite so suddenly; I feel sick in the stomach. And it’s always when you’re under stress from other things too.
Wed 24 N off to the hospital this morning – at their request – as not feeling good. She was well looked after and there all day, but sent home late afternoon. She now knows what constitutes a real emergency. It has also finally got her appointments sorted out, including a procedure on Monday morning.
Thu 25 Everything just gets worse and very stressful. Having to watch N’s condition like a hawk. And trying to get to implementing the new literary society website over the weekend. And of course everything is conspiring against it. Not a happy bunny today. Beer is definitely needed.
Fri 26 Although N is not in an especially good place, and has a very depressed appetite, we’ve had interesting sandwich combinations last night and tonight. Last night was brie and (warm) asparagus, which worked remarkably well. This evening I had hot bacon and asparagus between bread with some HP sauce; again this worked surprisingly well for a combination one wouldn’t normally even consider palatable. If nothing else the English asparagus season is so short one needs to make the most of it.
Sat 27 Our oak tree is coming nicely into leaf. But if you walk down the garden there is a veritable carpet of small twigs with clusters of young oak leaves on the lawn. Yep, it’s the squirrels again! They clearly like nibbling the fresh oak buds and/or flowers, and in the process are dropping the remains. Obviously they don’t realise that the more oak tree they destroy now, the fewer acorns they’ll have come the autumn.
Sun 28 A day of watching paint dry, at least metaphorically. The literary society’s new website due to go live today. But of course a delayed start as the developers have to update another part of their platform first. So nothing started until after 17:00 and is still not complete as I write about 19:30. Nothing I can do except twiddle my fingers until it’s done. And true to form with most of these things it’ll doubtless run on until pushing midnight! How many times have I been here over the years?
Mon 29 At this moment, 19:20, I have no idea what is happening. Sent N off to the hospital at crack of sparrow fart this morning for the plumbing procedure to facilitate dialysis. She managed to ring me at lunchtime to say it had been done, but no further news. At 17:30 she texted to say she was starting a 2 hour dialysis session. I’ve no idea if they’re keeping her overnight, or if I’m going to have to race off to the hospital to collect her in the dark. It doesn’t help that she can’t get much of a phone signal in the hospital. So I await instructions.
At least yesterday’s website migration went OK and completed just before 21:00; barring the inevitable few silly things, of course.
Tue 30 Well 10 minutes after writing yesterday N rang to say the hospital were sending her home. Brief discussion ensued and concluded she was OK to get a cab herself, rather than me going to collect her – especially as it would likely be an hour before I got to her. In the event she arrived home in about an hour, pretty exhausted. This evening she has gone off to a nearer hospital for her first real dialysis session, which will now happen 3 times a week. While none of it is good, thankfully she now has the treatment she needs – and should probably have had 3 months ago. Fingers crossed that she’ll start seeing some improvement over the coming weeks.

And breathe!

a single pink rose against a bright skyOur first pink rambler rose of the year, taken earlier in the month

It’s been a hard month, but hopefully we’re ending it in a better (if not ideal) place than we started. Please can we now have a quiet, warm and sunny May!
history, links, medical, science, sexuality

Monthly Links

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Somehow we’ve almost got to the end of April, which means it’s time for our regular round up of links to items you may have missed. As well as the usual motley collection, we seem to have a lot of science-y stuff this month, so let’s get stuck in!

Science, Technology, Natural World

crab

It is interesting the way that Nature keeps evolving the same patterns independently. As an example, crabs have evolved five separate times.

Talking of the unexpected, researchers have used decades-old tins of salmon to track the health of the ocean’s fish stocks. [££££]

And on the subject of tracking … scientists in the UK have developed a trap which is an early warning system for Asian hornets.

And we keep the chain going … wasp researchers have agreed that the media is biased against wasps. Well who would have guessed!?

And now for something completely different … medical researchers continue to try to make sense of death and near death experiences. [LONG READ]

So why is it that some people always get lost, but others don’t? [LONG READ]

Researchers are using ancient records of previous total solar eclipses to help measure history.

I bet you didn’t know that billions of years ago the moon turned inside out, well sort-of. I certainly didn’t.

It’s well established that Stonehenge is aligned with the sun, but is it also aligned with the moon? Archaeologists and astronomers are about to use a rare lunar event to find out.

And still on space, NASA scientists have seemingly done the impossible and managed to bring the Voyager 1 probe back to its senses. Two, slightly different, looks in the Guardian and on Live Science.

Artists impression of Voyager 1

Health, Medicine

An epidemiologist highlights that kids don’t need to get diseases to be healthy.

Here a medical health researcher looks at the UK’s failure in 2020 to “act fast and isolate” against Covid.

And staying on pandemics, the consensus amongst scientists is that the next pandemic will be caused by a flu virus.

Changing tack somewhat … a top OB/GYN looks at the basics of menstrual blood and explodes more than a few myths.

And another myth exploded … it seems that time-restricted eating is linked to a 91% (ie. almost double) higher risk of cardiovascular death.

Lastly in this section: you’ve heard of dyslexia, but do you know about dyscalculia? [££££]

Sexuality

The somewhat outspoken sex researcher, Dr Kate Lister, asserts that all straight men should try pegging once.

Meanwhile sex educator Dr Emily Nagoski talks to the BBC about sex and orgasm myths.

And coincidentally two women talk in the Guardian about their experiences of their unexpectedly open marriages. First Cassie Werber; and secondly New Yorker Molly Roden Winter. [BOTH ARE LONG READS]

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

IanVisits reckons that according to an inoperative law we have the date of Easter all wrong.

UK Supreme Court building

Politicians in the UK fulminate about foreign courts having sway over our law, when in fact there are more foreign courts on UK soil pontificating on affairs elsewhere in the world.

Now what have I been saying for years? … Using phonics to teach children to read doesn’t work.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

Imaginary fashion art by Rose Wong

Here’s a blog post on the interesting work of New York artist Rose Wong.

Meanwhile Ian Dunt eulogises the word cunt.

Early medieval England saw a boom in the minting of silver coins, but until now no-one really knew why.

Mermaid Street & the Mermaid Inn, Rye

Mediaeval Mythbusting goes on the trail of the tales behind our more ancient pubs, including one of my favourites, The Mermaid in Rye. [LONG READ]

And Going Medieval discourses on obscenity, ancient and modern. [LONG READ]

London

London once had dozens of iconic green huts which were cabman’s shelters. Now there are only 13 and the final one has just got heritage protection.

Green London Cabman's Shelter

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

So here’s another look at the culture and usefulness of pubic hair.

And finally … Another of my favourite places in Dungeness, on which stands Prospect Cottage, the late Derek Jarman’s seaside home. It is sometimes open to the public, but the Guardian has some interior photographs.

Prospect Cottage, Dungeness

quotes

Monthly Quotes

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And so, once more, we arrive at this month’s collection of quotes.

If workers are more insecure, that’s very “healthy” for the society, because if workers are insecure, they won’t ask for wages, they won’t go on strike, they won’t call for benefits; they’ll serve the masters gladly and passively. And that’s optimal for corporations’ economic health.
[Noam Chomsky]

I have nothing against football. It just seems very wasteful losing two hours of my life to watch 22 millionaires on TV chasing a bag full of wind in their underwear.
[Guy Martin]

The ethos of naturism is not about renouncing the comforts and advances of modern life. Instead, it challenges us to rethink our relationship with our own bodies and those of others within the context of these advancements. It posits that one can embrace technology, culture, and societal progress while also advocating for a more natural and less inhibited experience of human existence … [N]aturism promotes a lifestyle where equality prevails. In a naturist setting, the social hierarchies and status symbols that often divide us in clothed society … lose their significance. Without these markers, individuals interact as equals, fostering an environment where respect for the individual is paramount, and judgments based on appearance are minimized.
[Nancy M; https://justnaturism.com/understanding-the-difference-between-naturism-and-primitive-living/]

In science it often happens that scientists say, “You know that’s a really good argument; my position is mistaken”, and then they actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn’t happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.
[Carl Sagan]

The human body is the best work of art … Naturism is not about sex. Naturists vary in their sexual orientation similar to the general population. Naturism does not mean they are all asexual but despite what people think, a gathering of naked people doesn’t make for a sexually charged environment.
[Dr Vian Aziz, https://twitter.com/VIANAZIZFRCOGUK/status/1771956625139441911]

Full nakedness! All joys are due to thee,
As souls unbodied, bodies unclothed must be,
To taste whole joys.
[John Donne, To His Mistress Going to Bed, 1572-1631]

If you have the power to turn another planet into Earth, then you have the power to turn Earth back into Earth.
[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Common sense evolved to help us negotiate the world as we see it – comprising middle-sized objects and low velocities – and we ought not to expect it to help much beyond that domain.
[Eric Schwitzgebel, New Scientist, 23/03/2024]

We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter.
[Denis Diderot]

The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.
[Richard Dawkins]

Christianity. The popular belief that a celestial Jewish baby who is also his own father, born from a virgin mother, died for three days so that he could ascend to heaven on a cloud and then make you live forever only if you symbolically eat his flesh, drink his blood and telepathically tell him you accept him as your lord & master so he can remove an evil force from your spiritual being that is present in all humanity because an immoral woman made from a man’s rib was hoodwinked by a talking reptile possessed by an malicious angel to secretly eat forbidden fruit from a magical tree.
[unknown]

Religion. The practice of training your mind to ignore evidence, logic, and reason, while being able to believe in fairy tales based on faith alone … and being proud of it rather than ashamed!
[unknown]

Atheism is not a negation of anything. You don’t have to negate what no one can prove exists. No, atheism is a very positive affirmation of man’s ability to think for himself, to do for himself, to find answers to his own problems.
[Madalyn Murray O’Hair]

Science is not about building a body of known “facts”. It is a method for asking awkward questions and subjecting them to a reality-check, thus avoiding the human tendency to believe whatever makes us feel good.
[Terry Pratchett]

Naked is as modest as you can get! You have nothing to hide or be ashamed of.
[unknown]

amusements, memes, science, topographical

April Quiz Answers

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Here are the answers to this month’s five quiz questions. If in doubt, all should be able to be easily verified online.

Geography

  1. There is a very small (180 square miles) landlocked sovereign country between France and Spain with a population of approximately 75,000. What is the name of this country?  Andorra
  2. What is the world’s largest coral reef system?  Great Barrier Reef
  3. What is the only US state that borders just one other?  Maine
  4. What does the Beaufort scale measure?  Wind Strength
  5. On which continent is the volcano Mt Erebus?  Antarctica

Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2023.

personal, thoughts

I’m a Hypocrite

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Yes, you read that headline correctly. I’m a hypocrite. Most of us are over something.

Recently, unable to sleep, I started thinking about what it is that makes me a hypocrite. And I found two instances.

Meat. I eat meat – although I also enjoy veggie food. But mostly I eat meat, and fish. I’d struggle to be entirely veggie despite seeing it as more ethical and environmental choice. So yes, I eat flesh … but I let someone else do the dirty work of rearing and killing it for me. Because I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t emotionally bring myself to kill some other sentient creature. And physically I couldn’t manage to handle a large animal. Keeping fish, I have on a few occasions had to euthanise one of them to save it from a lingering death – and I hated it; I had to do it but with a heavy heart and feeling squeamish; and the larger the fish, the more horrible it was. So I couldn’t do it to a mammal.

I can butcher meat that’s already dead without any problems. I have no problem jointing or spatchcocking a whole turkey or chicken; or filleting fish. And when younger (about 17, in the late 1960s) when I worked in a supermarket, I was taught to bone a side of bacon. We had the bacon delivered as half a pig, ready cured and without head, trotters, entrails etc. I had no problem with this. It’s a disembodied entity.

So I wouldn’t be able to despatch a warm-blooded creature – but I’m happy to let someone else do the deed for me, and eat the results. Which is inconsistent and hypocritical.

Shaving & Hair. This case is not so horrid; just somewhat stupid. I shave the hair off my face. When I was working I used to do this every day with an electric shaver. Now I’m retired I shave maybe twice a week with a wet razor. Why do I do this? Well, really for two reasons.

First, I find more than a handful of days beard uncomfortably itchy and scratchy. I’ve never managed to grow my beard for more than about 10 days before it becomes intolerable. Except that for some years in my late-20s/early-30s I had a moustache.

Secondly, in general I don’t like beards. Too many look scruffy, or affected. I don’t think they’re a good look. But I would never deny anyone’s right to have a beard if they wish.

But here’s the hypocrisy. What’s with the Barbie look? I can’t get the fashion for females to shave/wax their pubes. Why would you want your 20/30/40/50/++ year-old self to look pre-pubescent; who are you trying to kid? It’s not a good look, even before one thinks about the shaving rash, the ingrown hairs and the stubble. Pubic hair likely has a purpose, so why remove it? By all means tidy it up or trim it a bit, but there is no imperative to remove it. (Incidentally all this applies just as much to, for example, armpits. And yes, guys it applies to you too!) But then it’s your body, your choice.

So, no, I don’t like denuded pubes, but I prefer denuded faces. If that isn’t hypocritical, it’s at least inconsistent. But if either is what you want to do, then you have every right to. Just do it because that’s what you like or are comfortable with, not because it’s the fashion or you think society, or a partner, expects it.

Whatever you do, do it for you! And remember: those that mind don’t matter; and those that matter don’t mind.

I’m sure there are other places where I’m inconsistent or hypocritical. What about you?

medical, personal, photography

Monthly Self-Portrait, April

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So what to do for this month’s self-portrait, especially as I have this damned filthy cold back again? Oh well, lets have something some may consider TMI – although it’s nothing you couldn’t safely see in the gym changing room.

As long-time readers may remember, I’ve said on a number of occasions that I have a secondary nipple. This is apparently not that unusual – I bet some of you have too. It’s on the right side of my abdomen, a bit above the level of the navel. The corresponding place on the left side has just a slightly denser area of hair.

Anyway this is what it looks like, fairly close up. On the left is the actual vestigial nipple. On the right, a mole. (I’ve always had the mole; it’s nothing to worry about). Keep in mind that the area in the photograph is about 4cm wide.

Close-up view of a secondary nipple
Left: secondary nipple. Right: a small mole. Image 4cm wide.
[Click the image for a larger view]
photography

Buggered Britain #27

Yet again it’s been about 4½ years since we had a “Buggered Britain” post. I blame the plague, largely as it’s meant not going anywhere much, and consequently when one does the eyes and brain are out of practice looking for photographs. Somehow I have to get everything working again.

Anyway the other day, travelling along the A40 to Hammersmith Hospital, I spotted this pretty mess: a mixture of fly-tipping (or just lazy householders) and incomplete clear-up after roadworks – all of which has clearly been there, creating an eyesore, for some months.

roadside fly-tipped mess
[Click the image for a larger view]
photography, ramblings

Bits of Spring

It was actually sunny today, on and off, although quite windy. And Spring is definitely beginning to burst out all over. So I thought we’d have a few quick snapshots caught between gusts of breeze.

a single yellow celandine flower
The early celandines are still flowering; there’s a goods scattering
all across the garden (which shows how wet our garden is).
[Click the image for a larger view]
a single yellow dandelion
Of course there is also a good crop of golden dandelions
coming along for the early bees.
[Click the image for a larger view]
bright pink blossom all over our ballerina apple tree
Our columnar “ballerina” ornamental crab apple tree has been a mass
of bright pink flower for the last week.
[Click the image for a larger view]
delicate white & pink blossom on the Pinova apple tree
Meanwhile the Pinova eating apple has burst into bloom;
I’ve no great hopes of a good crop as there seem to be no pollinating
insects abroad and the compatible Falstaff tree is only just starting to flower.
[Click the image for a larger view]
how did this deconstructed bird feeder end up in the middle of the lawn?
Strangest of all, how did this deconstructed bird feeder get from
it’s hanger to the middle of the lawn?
The fox was seen on the trail camera playing with it one night,
but I can’t think a fox managed to get up and dislodge it.
[Click the image for a larger view]