Letters from.......

Iceland 

courtesy of the wonderful prose of ......W H Auden

Isn't it true however far we've wandered into our provinces of persecution, 

where our regrets accuse, 

we keep returning back to the common faith from which we've all dissented, 

back to the hands, the feet, the faces? 

Children are always there and take the hands, even when they are most terrified. 

Those in love cannot make up their minds to go or stay. 

Artist and doctor return most often. 

Only the mad will never, never come back.

usual rules apply.... 

phone off the hook, 

Bose headphones on, 

volume up turned and eyes closed...

take it away Kathryn

you're sitting there watching a great movie that.....

.... is sucking you in with each scene, and yet you know you have to go to bed because you have to be up early ........ and then in one of those scenes, comes a great song...... movies are full of them....

This is my SoD

It's been on my iPod for a very long time.....
but I don't know why I haven't listened to it for so long.

Friday's desert Island disc.....

... it's Friday, cold, wet and pretty miserable..... this would be one of my desert Island Discs

a full 360 degrees of utter......

..... insanity....... everywhere you looked yesterday it was a mad world......

It didn't start in Woolwich but it did end there..... but's let's start at Woolwich ......

The barbaric behaviour of yesterday is incomprehensible to describe ...... walking along the pavement one minute and then the next thing ........ and the victim of whose name we are not yet told loses his life...... and for what ? Terrorism ? I don't think so ..... sure it suits our government and the law enforcers to tell us it was an act of terrorism, they want us to be scared ..... but this was a simple act of sheer murderous brutality ...... whilst the public stand there and look and video and even chat with the killers as though they are in some sort of reality TV program.....

Look at this picture and ask your self what's wrong in this photo ? .... not spotted it yet ? look carefully.... it has bothered me from the moment I saw it........

In the back ground you can see a police officer crouched over one of the now shot killers, and in the foreground a small crowd looking over the victim..... considering since murdering this man, the killers have been chatting to bystanders and in turn been shot by the Police themselves, it would seem that the victims body will have been in the road sometime by the time this photograph has been taken..... at what point did any of those bystanders not think..... out of respect they would elect to cover over his body...... at what point did it not occur to them that this man has a family, this man was a person, this man deserves better respect rather than becoming the latest twitter trend...... why did not one of these bystanders [or even the photographer of this picture] not think, out of some sort of respect for another human being..... to cover the man over, instead of leaving him there lying like you would a dog that had been run over in the street.

And what about mother-of-two Ingrid Loyau-Kennett who today is being described as incredibly brave, even to the point she went on breakfast TV to tell us how brave she was....... well do you know what ..... she was not incredibly brave ..... she was incredibly fucking stupid ...... yes thats right fucking stupid ..... a mother of two who says that she put her self in the way in case the killers wanted to harm children and it was better her than children that were harmed ..... utter fucking stupidity  ....and what about her own children...what would they be doing if she was now dead..... but why is she fucking stupid ?.....

Simple...... because for no good reason she stands there having a conversation with the killers, as though you can reason with these two lunatics and then......then......she goes on national TV and recounts virtually word for word her conversation with the murderers and what has she done..... given these fucking lunatics a voice.... she has helped spread their message to the world.....

The papers are no better..... look at today's front page of the telegraph .....

And so they show a image from the now infamous uTube/ITV clip and instead of saying ..... look at this murderous bastard.... what do they say..... they quote him and give him a voice !..... the telegraph are fucking stupid too !

So with this madness before your eyes, you think I know what I'll turn round abit..... but instead you are confronted by this man..... remember him ?

Dale fucking Cregan

Initially in his trial he denied the murder of 2 police women... then he changed his plea..... but his trial continued as he was denying murdering Mark Short and 3 months later David Short [father of Mark]... but yesterday he changed his plea and admitted the murder of both men...but his trial continues .....why ?.... well because he denies the attempted murder of Sharon Hark.... really ....

But yesterday, Dale Cregan's Barrister said in his closing speech:

In his closing speech, Mr Csoka said: "Members of the jury ... You now know for sure that he has murdered four people and that he has attempted to murder others inside the Cotton Tree pub.

"You may think after what has just happened ... 'what does it matter now?', 'what difference does it make?, 'why does Dale Cregan care?'.

But he said the standards of judging the evidence against him on the allegation of attempted murder "remain exactly the same".

He said Cregan had already given an explanation in January in prison to a psychologist and psychiatrist as to why he killed the Shorts."The threats to rape his sister, the threats against his son the threats to rape his son, threats going back years and years.

"You remember Dale Cregan saying he was not able to sleep, that he had obsessive thoughts of killing and him saying he had the best night's sleep of his life after killing David Short."A clear explanation as to what he did to the Short family."

But he said all the evidence of what happened at Ms Hark's house, did not point to attempted murder.

Mr Csoka said: "We are dealing with someone who when he sets out to kill, he kills."

[sky news]

Now I realize barristers have an obligation to represent without fear or favour, but with someone like Dale Cregan there comes a point where you are beginning to seriously question the barrister himself.....

At what point in this trial did his barrister not think to himself..... this fucker is not worth wasting an ounce of piss on, let alone defending him. Then standing up proudly and looking at the jury and saying in his closing speech.....

Members of the jury I have been defending this man throughout this trial and I have come to the conclusion he is a complete and utter callous murdering bastard and you should no have hesitation to find him guilty of any charge this court puts before you.....

At which point all 12 jurors stand up and in unison start clapping, and as they do they break out in to song, urging the judge to gather up all the rope he can find and do away with this murdering bastard......

I saw an interesting statistic yesterday on the train whilst heading back from London, it said there are only 3,200 tigers left in the world....... that's not many I thought..... and that got me thinking..... there's only 1 Dale Cregan left in the world..... and I bet we put more effort in to keeping Dale Cregan alive than we will those tigers.... there's even a chance the 3,200 tigers will be extinct before Dale Cregan..... how fucking sad is that ? 

So, saddened by the acts of Dale Cregan, we turn once more in our circle and shit what are when then faced with...... this man ......

Mark Bridger..... you read the updates on his trial of yesterday, now that his defence has commenced and some of the commentary on the cross examination and you think..... this guy is in some kind of parallel universe.... the utter shite that he has so far come out with..... is beyond belief.... and yeah yeah I know the trial has to take it's course..... but defending him ? ...... really ? should anyone really really bother..... and like the tigers...... like Dale Cregan..... will Mark Bridger become extinct anytime soon ?









So saddened by that view, we turn some more degrees in this circle of news and what now are we confronted by...... this man ..... don't know who he is ? ........

still don't know who he is ? no I didn't till yesterday, seems a lot of people didn't either....

His name is David McGreavy..... and until yesterday the press were not allowed to name him or give details of the victims of whom he murdered in 1973. The murdering bastard, murdered 3 young child and then impaled their bodies on a fence....... and the court had granted a gagging order over naming him in 2009 on the basis that...... he was making a bid to be moved to an open prison ...... and naming him would put his life at risk ....... what the fuck are we doing letting this happen.....

I fully respect that prisoners/offenders should be given the chance to rehabilitate ....but seriously this man ? who as you can see even gets day release back out on to our streets....

Who knows, perhaps in 40 years they will be debating a gagging order about this man.....

yes this murdering bastard... the one with blood on his hands ..... will we be worrying about his personal safety in 40 years time ? ... will we ? really ? more than perhaps the 3,200 tigers ? or Dale Cregan ? or Mark Bridger ? I fucking hope not.....

So once more we seek to turn away and yet yesterday is filled with more despair..... we see this....

He was being questioned by the FBI and they shot him ....... why exactly ? ...... The Boston bombing was appalling.... a murderous [and maiming act] of utter futility ..... but whilst I am not a big fan of conspiracy theories.... and this is not one.... I am intrigued why the US authority have used such fire power on the Boston Gang, without the public truely understanding what that bombing was all about.... reportedly he was about to sign a confession and then they ...... shot him ..... because they thought he was getting violent..... well then just fucking hit him really hard....but shoot him ? why was that ?

So what can we do ? well we turn once more and we end up back where we started 360 degrees of utter insanity..... back at Woolwich..... Sure we are told it was a terrorist act and we'll debate whether soldiers should wear their uniform in the street and now we'll get all patriotic ..... but was yesterdays murder really an act of terrorism ?  .... on the radio news as events unfolded yesterday, I heard the BBC reporter say.... he'd seen the video footage and the Muslim looking man had blood on his hands..... how the fuck do you look Muslim ? I am a church of england christian , do I look different to a catholic christian I wonder or different to a Buddhist ? what a bizzarre comment.....

In truth the two men in woolwich with blood on their hands.... are murdering bastards..... are they really any different to the Bulgarian man who murdered Jennifer Mills-Westley .... or even different to this.......

Or for that matter, are they really any different to Dale Cregan or Mark Bridger or David Mcgreavy or even perhaps Mick Philpott and the list it seems is endless and it will go on for sure.......

So as you stand and look all around you ..... you wonder how there are only 3,200 tigers left in the world and yet these murdering bastards still exist.....

No SoD today.... 

 I don't think it's a day for music..... 

it's a day to shake your head in utter despair....

 

bugger it.....

mein gott !

the Doors were effin good..... 

let's have this one too.....

a day to listen and work... 

7 minutes of some the greatest music there is...... 

it will not disappoint.

on my drive in to work I heard.....

.... Lord Satchi promote an interesting statistic...

He says that each year 10% of cancer sufferers die from the treatment rather than the illness, and based on the numbers from the ONS, he put that figure at around 15,000 people who die from the treatment each year.

I have no reason to doubt what he says.

His wife Josephine Hart died of cancer on 2nd June 2011 ........ in her first novel she wrote the opening lines:

There is an internal landscape, a geography of the soul; 

we search for its outlines all our lives. 

Those who are lucky enough to find it, 

ease like water over a stone, 

on to its fluid contours, 

and are home

[profound ...truely profound]

Ray Manzarek one of the founders of the Doors died of cancer yesterday [20th May 2013]..... I love the Doors.

It is only right that I should have a song from the Doors.... 

given the charity worker and the balernina story.... 

I choose this one

 

more rope redux.......

I posted about Mark Bridger on 30th April 2013, at the start of his trial. At the time I quoted:

After the first day of the trial, the judge reminded the jury to decide the case fairly and squarely on the evidence you hear..... that shouldn't be too difficult then.....

 After reading the latest report on the trial:

April Jones: Bridger Denies Sexual Assault

Mike McCarthy, at Mold Crown Court

The jury in the trial of Mark Bridger has been hearing transcripts of interviews he had with police after he was arrested for April's murder. When asked whether he had acted with a sexual motive, Bridger said that "this was not the case at all". When asked directly whether he had sexually assaulted the five-year-old, he replied: "I most certainly did not."

The former abattoir worker says he accidentally killed the youngster when he ran her over and accepts that he must have got rid of her body but cannot remember how due to the fact he was drunk and panicking.

When discussing possible methods of disposing of April's body, Bridger said that he would not have put her body in water because he was "scared of drowning". The court was read a statement from detention officer Stephen Carr who said that Bridger, who was once a firefighter for the London Fire Brigade, told him he would have "laid her to rest" for the body to be found and that he may have covered it with a tarpaulin sheet.

Mr Carr added: "He went on to say he could have burnt the body but with his firefighter training he informed me that burning flesh smells like pork. "He said the flesh would smell and his clothing would smell and that he would remember having set a fire."

The jury heard Bridger told an interviewing police officer he did not think he would have taken April out of his car as someone would have seen him. Bridger told police: "They would have lynched me. They would have got hold of me." But he told the police if he had been seen then it would have "proved then what I want to prove to you. That I crushed her and I gave her as much medical attention as I could." He is also alleged to have told police: "She is a human being. I wouldn't have put her in a bin. That's disgusting."

The public gallery at Mold Crown Court was cleared as indecent images taken from 47-year-old Bridger's computer were shown to the jury. The court heard that some of the images depicted children being sexually abused or tortured by adults or other children. 

When asked by detectives about them, Bridger said he had "stumbled across them". Asked why he had then saved them, he said he wanted to complain about the images to get them removed from the internet, insisting he wrote to the websites concerned. After he was shown an image of a topless girl aged between about eight and 10 years, the court heard Bridger claimed there was "nothing sexual" in the picture, adding he kept it in case his daughter asked him about her development.

Questioned about an internet search for "naked 5yr old girls" Bridger claimed not to remember typing any such term, though he said he did remember searching for "infant model" pictures. Bridger also insisted he downloaded indecent images of young children only for "research", adding: "I don't find child pornography a turn on."

At one point the interviewing officer said: "You have researched various murders of  young girls. The fact that I am talking to you about April... is that co-incidence?" Police say Bridger became "upset" when during the interview he was shown images of April found on his laptop. April disappeared while playing near her home in Machynlleth on October 1, 2012, and has never been found.

Bridger, 47, from Ceinws, Powys, denies abduction and murder, as well as perverting the course of justice.

The trial continues..... really ? ... honestly why are they bothering ?

I shouldn't think the jury are going to have a tough job.....

once should have been enough don't you think ......

" The failings and errors by Essex police are monumental "... says it all really

At what point did someone not think...... you know what, this bloke has got bit of a track record... the clues were in the fact he murdered a previous girl friend and from there, there was a systematic and planned end for Maria Stubbings ....

But this is not the first case of it's type nor the last... so I think there is enough evidence to read the clues for any future cases..... surely ?

Stripping can get quite messy.....

...ach erm.... I mean strimming..... strimming can get quite messy.....

A cautionary tale if you please.......

When it comes to strimming the under growth, take my advice and check for land mines first..... when I say land mines, I don't mean land mines as in IED's but land mines as in, what has been left behind after a hearty meal unloaded by a .......fox/cat/rabbit/badger/dog/other creature {delete as appropriate}

There I was, strimming with gusto when suddenly .....what's that smell I wondered..... quite why I had to wonder is beyond me...... sh1t smells like sh1t what ever creature exuded it.....

The thing about strimmers is they act like a food blender on the undergrowth, but for some strange reason the designers of strimmers have them so the now blended under growth heads in the direction of the user.... that user being me..... who was covered head to foot in not just blended under growth, but the animal waste that came with it..... I was wearing protective head gear, with gauze face mask, so I at least managed to sieve most of it before I got a face full.....

But take my advice..... 

when strimming, do a thorough search first..... 

because with all that manure being spread 

it may not just be 

a garden that's bursting into life !

smart creatures......redux....

...and proof, if proof were needed, that some men* really are not that smart......

you read this and think .....what in god's name was/is he on ?  

he clearly was not listening to the Lumineers

if only they had been on his iPod instead,

then things would have had
a proper happy ending......

what a bizarre story.....

*[postscript ~ This story has played on my mind over the weekend....... I cannot think of a more insane sexual behaviour by a man on a female, who is complete stranger to him .... other than perhaps rape.... then it got me thinking....was this man's behaviour ultimately any different to a rapist ? ..... now I realise that under section 1 of the sexual offences act 2003, a specific thing{s} has to happen strictly for an offence of rape to occur, but what this man did was a sexual violation of the woman train passenger, sure it didn't go as far as rape, simply because one legal constituent was missing, but to be honest I don't think he is much less of a sexual risk to women than a rapist.

Strangely enough, other than the link above, I can find no other source for this story.... not sure why the main stream press missed this one ? It's a story that shows there are some mad men out there and as a father of two daughters in young adult hood [them not me] it leaves you wondering when will women truely ever feel safe from the sexual predatory behaviour of men ? ]

man thinks he is the smartest......

creature on the planet......

 I think this photograph proves otherwise.......

the best that man can come up with...
it seems to be a wanksy....

need more proof ?

I think this does it....

don't you ?

I can't sing for toffee but......

... last night I was on Later with Jools Holland .....

I sang a duet with the oooooh sooooo divine and alluring Sharleen Spiteri..... alas she was on the stage [floor more than stage] and I was relegated to the audience..... but when the show was over, we snuggled up and she had her photo taken with me.... and oooooh my gosh...... for the 2 hour drive home....... her scent flooded my olfactory organ...... she smelt good..... seriously she smelt fab, I mean truely fab....so apart from her singing I shall now always remember her pong.....

They said dress in dark clothing .... oh my..... I can go dressed as a Ninja I thought ... but then again perhaps not.... it's not Russell Howard's Good News... this is the home of great music....

Later with Jools has introduced me to some fantastic music, and last night was no different, we had Queens of the Stone Age, Peace, Katmen, Robert Plant and Patsy Griffin....oh gosh Sharleen...oh how I swooned..... and then there was Lulu...nooooo not that Lulu, the new Lulu...but Lulu [the new one] if you are reading this, and after last night you might be....put some more clothes on me duck ...... otherwise you'll catch your death of cold.... it is very windy outside..... for the observant male viewers of Later with Jools, you will note her loverly bottom seems to be eating her shorts...... 

So my brush with the music biz was very enjoyable indeed....  the only trouble with going to the live recording is that you miss it on the TV....... hey oh I shall be glued to my set on friday..... not that you will see me.... dressed in dark clothes like a ninja, means that those watching the TV version get a better view of the oooooh so divine Sharleen rather than me.... you've seen Sharleen and if you saw me I know which you'd prefer to see.....

So here she is ...
my SoD
Mwah

and here is last night's recording....

over here sharleen...over here....

jesus christ....they are not fooking.....

.... heroes ..... I have been a fan of football since a very young boy and whilst it is true I enjoyed playing more than watching.... I do wonder at the sanity of some comments in footballing circles....

Sure enough Wigan's victory at the weekend against Man City in the FA cup final was worthy. When all said and done it was the FA cup......it took me till I was 35 years old to realise that I would never score the winning goal in a FA cup final, but hey I loved the dreams till then...but at the weekend when the commentator said.... and so to the Heroes of Wigan........ jesus christ they are not fooking heroes....they are merely footballers....paid a handsome wage at that....

And then last night as Manchester United completed their bus top tour of the city, one fan remarked on the departure of Alex Ferguson as manager [who for sure is one of the games greatest] the fan said...... it's like losing a member of your family...... erm ...what the fook did he just say ?...it's like what ? ......erm I don't think so.....

But there was one footballer worthy of note......

a nice touch I thought.... 

not because the fan was disabled......no it wouldn't matter what the physical status the fan had....no simply for acknowledging the young lad and giving him a memento to remember a good thing about a footballer...... a nice touch...

only one Sod for it really...

we're gunna need to step up .......

.....rope production......

Listen......... to those who want to create intelligent, well informed, articulate and lucid debate as to why we should not have hanging as a corporal punishment....

need to look only at this face and concede the argument....this is one of many compelling ones....

You can save all your, compassion for society arguments, you can save all your....society shouldn't stoop to his level arguments,.........you can save all your...... his mother was a prostitute and he had no moral compass arguments......he knew what he was doing, he knew what he did... you don't sexually violate a child then murder that child..... maybe it's society who have lost the moral compass....

There is no mercy for this man, his life was lost, when he murdered Tia Sharp in August 2012.

evidence were it ever needed.....

.... to treat with caution some of the sh!t reporting of the BBC...

but they...

are not....

exclusively guilty.....

Now it is entirely conceivable that it was real life truely true Kent Police officers who approached the young girl....

Nor would I seek to suggest that the young girl is lying.......

But did any of the reporters not stop to think that maybe....just maybe.... it was pranksters perchance?

All of the reporting re-inforces that it was Kent Police Officers and how ridiculous the Kent Police are....but at this moment in time where is the basic proof that they were actually real life, truely true, police officers who approached the girl ? No...... I think the jury is out on this one......

Of course should it turn out they were real Police officers then of course treat them with contempt and scorn....but till then..... I would suggest that you treat with caution how/what you write Mr Reporter...

I mean the police are always being impersonated.....

Cue bonus song of the day....
It is Friday after all

I love pies.......

but whooooa......

not as much as this bloke......

here's a song about....

Northern Pies

Wrong place ~ wrong time.......Hindhead Revisited ........

.... it was a beautiful sunny bank holiday weekend last.... and the internet is an interesting beast ......

In the days before the internet we learnt about the wider world through newspapers and if we elected not to read them, we missed much.....sometimes we were glad to miss them, for a reason.....

But of course with the internet it's hard to look away.

This weekend everywhere you looked, he was looking back straight at you....

Nick Millgan and his family were in the wrong place at the wrong time

A couple of weeks before and it was Bethany Jones and her friends

they too were in the wrong place at the wrong time

But gosh you see that photo of Bethany Jones, she is staring at straight at you, you see that look of optimism in her eyes....... her smiley eyes, but each time you look you know, you just know...

how harsh for her family is that ?

And then at the weekend I was clicking and was reminded of the story of Michael Molloy who lost his life last year on the A3 at Hindhead. A young man taken away for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The link for all of these stories being, is that all that they were doing was enjoying life......

Just like Bethany Jones, this photo of Micheal Molloy.....oh my gosh, he is looking at you forever...

And so the story that reminded me of Micheal Molloy, gives me my SoD..... 

If you like this style of music then spend 69p at Amazon and download it. 

It'll will be the best 69p you've spent...

On the strength of this song I think, that like Mic Christopher and Jeff Buckley before him, a talent was lost before his true potential could be achieved.......

talking of between pints 6 & 7........

...the things you see on youtube [with some thanks to Russell Howard....thanks Russell if you're reading this]....... but watching this...you think..... erm what the....

by all accounts this is in Saudi Arabia, so it's unlikely 

they came up with this idea at the bar, between pints 6 & 7....

so one can only conclude they thought of this, 

and enacted it sober......right....

There is only one song for this.........

now I know you're not reading this Jake, a superstar like you 

wouldn't have time to piss about reading this nonsense, 

but Jake.......UEA ........

fantastic.....

keep beltin em out fella