The pure evil of these two inhuman bastards......

Daniel Pelka

A country decends into further bloodshed......

It's been a long time coming but it now seems that Egypt is closer than ever to a civil war. How the populist democracy chant of the western media roared on  the Arab spring.... thinking that we the readers......all supported the roaring..... simply because it was done in the name of Democracy.

Sometimes, there is an arrogance about democratic nations who insist that all nations should be democratic.

I first visited Egypt some 30 or more years ago, and traveling through the Suez canal, on a supertanker barely able to make it through, with out scraping the sides ......[the super tankers sides not mine]......... I was 17 years old, and until I was 16 years old I have never been abroad, never had a passport. I don't recall there ever being an immigration desk at Mablethorpe, so in my house a passport was a luxury item.

But at 17 years old, here I was in the land of the Pharaohs fascinated by some of the place names, the heat, the sand [and therefore the dust] and by the shear exuberance of the local tradesmen.  I brought a leather hold hall, which to this day I still use, the quality of which I have yet to find since.

And so fast forward some 29 years it is late 2009, and as a middle aged 17yr old, I find my self back in Egypt for the first time since the trip through the Suez. This time I was looking at the burnt out wreck of a large expanse of warehouse, it's contents a mere smouldering wreck. But the warehouse could have been anywhere quite frankly, but it was in Egypt, a country that lured me back to be  fascinated once more.

The sand was still the same, the heat certainly was, the tradesmen just as exuberant. However, now instead of leather bags, I am buying exotic middle eastern jewellery for two late teens girls. They've seen my leather hold hall, they prefer jewellery.

During this trip, I was treated to a visit to the pyramids, a ride on a camel [obligatory it seems] and a guided tour around the key exhibits in the Cairo museum. I was even treated to a late night laser show at the pyramids.....sounds tacky ?.... actually no. Something quite different it turned out.

But seeing the latest headlines

..........you are left wondering how a state like Egypt can so rapidly descend into this madding violence. The news source for this report is not important, nor whether the photos are propagandist, but when you look at the content of the photo's, the sheer madness of a people who brought us the pyramids is quite disturbing.

Of course what is happening in Egypt today isn't new or unique and it sure as hell is not about who is right and who is wrong........ but when I look at that leather bag I brought 30 years ago it doesn't remind me of bloodshed or madness.

In my life on this planet for 50.5 years there have been endless bloody disputes and conflicts and as each one is seemingly solved another one springs up.

I recently commented on someone else's blog my support about the re-introduction of the death penalty in certain cases of murder and in reply someone chastened me as to my inhumanity.

Thinking about it is absurd to suggest that those of us who call for the death penalty for the likes of Ian Huntley, Dale Cregan, Mark Bridger and the rest..... are somehow inhuman and debase the human spirit. You only have to look around you each day to see that the human spirit is already debased.

For sure there is a huge swage of the human race who are good, honest, moral, non violent people, but as a race...... erm .... erm.... we have the capability of extreme violence, all in the name of our human rights..... killing another human being because he doesn't support your political stance ?

Is there ever a time it is acceptable to kill good, honest, moral, non violent people ?

There may be reasons why one nation or one group within a nation set out on a path of violence and death on another nation/group {delete as appropriate} and the reasons for doing so are never that straight forward.

For me as a child it started out very simple, the cowboys were the goodies, and the red indians were the baddies, the Allies were the goodies and the Germans were the baddies [they bombed our chip shop], the soldiers were the goodies and the aliens from outer space were the baddies, the cops were the goodies and the robbers were the baddies and so on and so forth..... but as a 50.5 yr old teenage boy you realise it is never that simple.

Remember the good old days of the Miss World contest.... Eric Morley - so Miss Bolivia what do you want to achieve as Miss World ? ...... Miss Boliva [all tanned and in gorgeous swim suit and pink satin sash...] flutters her eyelashes and smiles at the camera and says...... world peace...... oh how we fluttered our eyelashes and smiled back at the TV......

We are you now Miss Boliva when we need you most ?

Others can carve out 
their space
in tombs and pyramids.
Our time cannot be trapped
in cages.
Nor hope, nor laughter.
We let the moment rise
like birds and planes and angels
to the sky.
Eternity is this.
Your breath on the window pane,
living walls with shining eyes.
The surprise of spires,
uncompromising verticals. Knowing
we have been spared
to lift our faces up
for one more day,
into one more sunrise. 

[Imtiaz Dharker]

Wild ? He was absolutely livid.....

........ seeing this story aaaaaagain I wonder why is it this same crappy story gets repeated time after time....the same image of a bloke out for a walk in a bear suit happens to get photographed by some walker out randomly taking photographs, and these photographs are always somewhat grainy and blurred.

You have to ask you self ....why bother...  no one seriously believes this sh1t any more do they ? No more than the Loch Ness Monster if you ask me.

We now live in an electronic world that makes it easy for anyone to fake it, a shallow world of the insecure clinging to the untruth in the hope that it might make the impossible more believable.

Of course the newspapers, which ever chooses to run the particular story, are happy to write about the sh1t fed to them, because quite frankly if they challenged every story, every aspect, they'd have nothing to report.

But seeing this latest report on big - foot, you just cannot get out of your head the Mel Smith being interviewed with the Gorilla routine. Seeing his demise last week you forget just what a funny bloke he gave out to be. Even all those years ago you can still laugh today at the stupidity of the humour..... There is nothing really new in the mind of people, so now claiming to have taken a photo of the real big foot, you may as well just go through the archives and cut a paste a photo from there.

So my thoughts of Mel Smith are captured by this sketch [very two Ronnies I know] but still very well delivered non the less.

what's in a name.....

.... and so now the banality of our news reporters, has gone into to over drive..... speculating as to the name of the baby, born of our Duchess of Cambridge....

But spare a thought..... it's a good job the Americans aren't put in charge of naming the baby....

I recently received a report at work..... authored by an American, named non other than .....

Rand E Riggle Jnr  ! ...... meaning out there, is also a Rand E Riggle Snr as well !

Watching  embarrassing bodies on channel 4 and I saw there was a Nurse Joy Tickle on there..... and so to take this a stage further, I noted that a Rand E Riggle once married a Cassie Winkle.....

Imagine the birth scene at that hospital...... Rand E Riggle and Cassie C Winkle being looked after by Joy Tickle ! You have no chance of announcing that wonderful occasion on Twitter or the Internet as David [I'm a Wanker] Cameron would have you stripped of your mouse and dongle .......

ooooher matron !

As our next-next-next king to be 

has become a boy in waiting

I bow to thee with today's SoD

I suppose it beats......

.... getting a horse from Mikey D's

Riding along on a push bike honey.....

..... congratulations must go to Chris Froome...

He was the clear favourite for the Tour De France, he had a fantastic ride in 2012, leading Bradly Wiggins to victory, but 2013 is his year.

There is the last procession left, riding into Paris for the formal conclusion, but barring major heart failure or the like, Chris Froome will be the second Englishman to win the TdF. Although, just like Bradley Wiggins, neither he or Bradley Wiggins were born in England, but hey who cares..... they are English and winners !

My best liked photo from the tour must be this one.......

The guy who took this picture was in the right place at the right time.....

As for the remaining riders who did not win the TdF, they should still be congratulated for their achievements. At times averaging more that 30 mph over the whole of a particular stage of the race. 

At times riding over 50 mph down hill and managing not to fall off, and when they do fall off, often getting straight back on the bike.... one bloke fell off his bike and broke his collar bone.... he got back on his bike and carried on riding.....later in the same stage....he then fell off again..... he didn't get back on the bike this time..... good choice I think.

So here is my SoD for Chris Froome...... 

Winner of the Tour De France 2013

You can say what you want......

.... remembering my body embrace with Sharleen on Jools Holland .... ok not so much body embrace as standing next to me..... I was again reminded on another of her fab tunes.... so this is my desert island SoD.....

oh sharleen ....oh sharleen

you can say what you want.....

but I feel the same about you too x

and oh Lisa, oh Lisa........
 of course I will be your husband,
how could you think otherwise ? x

I think all this sun on my desert Island has
affected my brain and turned me
into a serial bigamist,


because oh Camille , oh Camille if you don't
want to live on Mars
come and live with me on
my desert Island....
at least I won't need to take my
protein pills or put my helmet on x

Perhaps I'm not a ridiculous person after all.......

... I really must watch less Russell Howard's Good news...... trouble is, now I've been introduced to Dave, I can damn near watch Russell's GN wall to wall..... my wife say's..... oooh not again... I worry about you.... you are a ridiculous person......

....but last night watching an episode from 2011, I am beginning to think that perhaps I am not a ridiculous person after all.....

....what in gawd's name is this all about !?!

and this is the actual video from Russell Howards Gn

giddy up...neddy

Now of course, I recognise each to his own , and what floats your boat and all that....but honestly is this what we were put on this earth for ? ....... honestly ? .......... truely ?

I see my self as a person difficult to shock, and I wouldn't say this had shock factor, more a case of WTF factor 50, but in my inbox this morning I found that Amazon are stalking me....

A few posts back I mentioned looking up a book about a man's vision as he stared at his own immediate pending mortality.... seems Amazon really are stalking me, because they sent me more books to look at ......... 

Who know's maybe I should read them after all............ but I bet not one of them says that when they reflected back on their lives, their one true regret was not donning the bridle and harness ! One thing is for sure that of all the regrets I may have [and there are a few] it won't be because I didn't giddy up.....

Today's SoD was an easy choice...... this band now gets a bit maligned for being too big for their own fame, but I did see them live before they were famous..... but I remember the first time I heard their seminal album the Joshua Tree..... when that first came out, CD's were still merely cross dressers, MP3's were still just a bunch of Military Policemen and vinyl not leather was the order of the day.

I still have my vinyl copy of the Joshua Tree and have been known to spin that version rather than my now nearly upto date cross dressing version. But that album, oh my word [that man Brian Eno again ] those songs are just sublime, every one of them, and despite being a qtr of century old, they still never age.......

but for today's offering 

it comes from a later album

......giddy up Bono !

A SoD from a band......

 as a counter to a heat wave.....

we all looked this young once, even the great Ian McNabb

Life's a beach......

...... given our [my] pre-occupation with the weather, what a glorious weekend to enjoy the weather.....

But soon as we get great weather like this.... do we rush off to the beach ? ..... sure do !
seems like all 53.01 million inhabitants of England headed down to Brighton Beach.......

No much room for ya deck chair, blanket and picnic box there then.....

As much as the beach is fab, I think if I'd have got there 

and seen it that busy

 I'd have found a little less
busier beach elsewhere perhaps...

This calls for a SoD......

I've always been partial to a bit of ole

Rodders....mainly his earlier stuff

but here's a gentle little one 

off his latest album

very apt.....

pass me the sun cream Rodders !

Not so much of a Friday SoD desert island disc.....as a .....

SJoD...desert island disc

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

No one wants to die. Even people who wanna go to heaven don't wanna die to get there.

Steve Jobs - Stanford University - 2005

And then there was non.....

.... and so MoL find themselves sans ship, as the forward section of the Mv MoL Comfort finally burns out and then sinks.......

The boy stood on the burning deck......

and the estimated cost of this calamity ?
put at a mild US$400M
we're gunna need a bigger claim form it seems
and oh looks like we'll have to
 dust off the Hague Visby convention....

This calls for a SoD double header.....
2 great songs from roughly the same era

I know it might seem churlish and pedantic to say so but.........

What shit reporting by the BBC......aaaaaaagain

This is not.......

I repeat for effect.....

NOT

a shopping trolley.....being ridden at 44mph.

This is a go-kart with a shopping trolley cage attached being ridden at 44pmh

Next time you go down to your local Tesco, look at the wheels on the shopping trolley.....any shopping trolley..... do they have go-kart wheels ? .....do they have a solid chassis ?...... do they have an engine fitted ? do they have batteries fitted ? no......

In which case it is not a shopping trolley.... even the builder of the said go-kart-cum-trolley acknowledged in the article that it......had undergone much modification.

So Mr BBC reporter who ever you are, next time the headline should read.....

Much modified Shopping trolley with go-kart wheels, ridden at 44mph in Devon man's 'record'

as he's enjoying bit of renaissance

this is my SoD

Even less comfort.....redux....

.... and so the sea saga rumbles on....

first MoL had 1 ship, then 2 ships, then 1 ship......

now it seems they might soon have non.....

the pointy bit is alight

The funny thing is, one of the containers I am interested in, 

which fell into the sea, 

was loaded with condoms..... 

so now with the fire....

surely there is only one SoD for it..

My Friday.... DiD~SoD......

...... on my desert island the sun is shinning and this is my SoD......

The Staves

See what I mean about......

...cancer being shit

you can't really beat it

you tell your self you can

but.....

This blog will not .... I repeat for effect.... will not.... save your life....

.... it's funny how you see some comment about how this.... or...... that.... will save your life......

Take this drug, it will save your life .......

Don't shun 3D printers - they might save your life one day

5 Gadgets that will save your life

Even.... even this one.....

Joining the WI could save your life......

utter tosh......

In the words of the great Private Frazer..... we're all doomed.....doomed I tell ya.....

The truth is nothing will actually save your life, because we are all bound to die one day. Now of course, I realise that in saying such, I have not declared some great revelation as if we didn't already know it. But it started with Tamoxifen and then it led back to the world of being a Cancer Husband.

I am no chemist, I am no doctor, I am no cancer specialist..... I am just a ridiculous person.

The recent news about using Tamoxifen as a pre-cancer protection brought out the usual nonsense to make the choice for women even harder. Some headlines even talk about Tamoxifen providing a 20 year protection against Cancer......... as if it was a proven fact, a proven magic sweetie that you swallow each day and ta dah your life has been saved !

WRONG.... A BIG FAT FUCKING WRONG !

So there was my wife, a 15 month [as I write] cancer survivor, sat at the computer looking up all the symptoms of why she feels crap [but she has survived cancer you think,..... oh, not that easy I'm afraid ] .......

look she said, I have all these symptoms that make me feel crap, all known side effects of taking Tamoxifen.....  

so why don't you speak to your doctor, or your Oncologist or your cancer nurse.... tell them.... I react....

she said....why ?......  they won't do anything....  

oh so you are happy to turn to Dr Google, but not those who are treating you..... what am I supposed to do ? I am just a ridiculous person........ she looked at me..... 

I didn't know what else to say........

And that's the reality, there is nothing that will save your life, but it will sure as hell make you feel crap in the process. But the joke is, it makes those around you feel crap as well.

That's the thing about cancer... sure you win the first battle, but do you really think you will win in the end ?

But why should I be allowed to say this ? ..... I am not ill..... I am not the one with Cancer, I am not the one at risk of dying........ well guess what...... I will die and I will die one day when I least want it to happen.

I can remember some events from 30 years ago as if it were yesterday. So here I sit 50 years old and I doubt I will live to 100....... it will be pure luck to make to 90.......but who knows I might just get to 80........ but if I can remember back 30 years ago as if it were yesterday,  could my death at 80 seem like tomorrow ?

So that is what is shit about being a cancer husband..... you have to get it right all the time, you're not allowed to be negative, you're not allowed to say the wrong thing, you're not allowed to fail the test of telepathy....

But why shouldn't I be allowed to feel like this ? ...... do you have to be ill to have a view ? do you have to be ill to be pissed off about something ?

The other thing I noted about being a Cancer husband...... every bit of news, every commentary, every web link associated with cancer or those who loose their battle with cancer, and you are hooked there is no escape.

Listening to the radio the other morning, I heard this lady talk about the loss of her husband and his bravery towards the end. I should out of respect offer up their names, but I'll shan't and not because I am being disrespectful. But she spoke of the book he wrote as he faced his own death.

I looked the book up, very inspiring indeed......... the glowing reviews from people who were touched by his wisdom and how it would make them reflect and change their own lives before they got ill........ and then the web page said.... people who brought this book also brought this one..... and there it was......... another book by another brave person who also bravely faced his own death from cancer..... and yet more glowing reviews from people who were touched by his wisdom and how it would make them reflect and change their own lives before they got ill...... stop ! stop ! stoooooop ! I screamed.....

I don't want to be brave and wise about my death or anyone else's for that matter...... And that's part of the problem....... sometimes I just want to be a ridiculous person.

One of my favourite books of all time is Tuesday's with Morrie, written by Mitch Albom. I read it long long before, I thought I could ever end up as a Cancer Husband.... and oh my word what a telling book to read. I brought it at Heathrow airport, and on a flight to the West Indies I opened the first page with the plane on the runway at Heathrow, and finished it non stop with time for a film before the plane landed in Barbados.

This book says many things, not least of which Morrie Schwartz did not die of cancer, he died of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. There are many parts of Mitch Alboms writings I can quote but Morrie talks about the quote from W H Auden [a wonderful insight full poet] the comment -  

love each other or perish

I don't want to be a Cancer husband, I don't want to read about brave people, 

I just want to be a ridiculous person.

but ridiculous husband or not

 for my SoD I choose this