Casualty 1909
Just saw a bit of this on BBC1. When I was at Liverpool University in the 1960’s, the set used in the second series of this program, was actually the main Liverpool hospital.
A friend, who was a medical student, took some growth from underneath a floorboard and created something in a Petrie dish, that nothing could kill!
MRSA? No! But there were some awful bugs in those days.
Wimbledon’s Roof
The new roof at Wimbledon appears to be a success. I say appears, as so far it hasn’t needed to be used and it looks like from the BBC’s weather forecast that it won’t be needed for the start of next week.
There is a good description of the roof on this web page.
Looking at the design as an engineer, it would appear to be simple, unobstructed and does what it is supposed to. I also think that the policy of the All-England Club of not disclosing the cost may work in the designer’s favour, when they repeat the design elsewhere as they surely will.
So so far so good!
Truly Great British Sportsmen
Andy Murray yesterday showed patches of brilliance to show that he might end up as one of the great British sportsmen and women, who in addition to all that talent, have that killer instinct, where they never give the opposition an even break.
How very un-British!
Tim Henman had a lot of the talent, but you know he could have an upset and never impose himself like he should have done. He would have beaten Ivanisovitch if he’d just a bit of killer instinct.
In my view there are very few, who had both talent and killer instinct.
The first I saw was David Hemery, who most will have forgotten. He turned the 400 metres hurdles in Mexico into a precession and won by an enormous margin. But he was unable to repeat it in 1972.
Seb Coe had both too and for many years he was the greatest middle-distance runner in the world. He won two Olympic gold medals and set eight world records. His 800 metre record lasted 16 years. But perhaps he greatest achievement was winning the 2012 Olympics for London. My late wife, who was a barrister, said it was the best closing speech she’d ever heard. And she’s heard many.
You have to include two jockeys, Lester Piggott and Tony McCoy. We will never see the like of them again.
I won’t include such as Steve Redgrave, good sportsman that he was, as he competed in a sport against a limited number of teams.
But the last of my list will be a surprise to many. Just as Seb Coe honed every skill in his life, so Sir Alf Ramsey honed every skill of what he did. He was a very good Spurs and England full-back in his playing days, but it was as a manager for Ipswich and England, that he showed how he was the greatest British football manager of all time. Others have done better than Sir Alf, but no-one has done it with so little talent and so loved by his players.
It was good to see that his widow has finally been given a winner’s medal for the 1966 World Cup in Sir Alf’s name. Why did she and all the others who didn’t actually play in the Final have to wait so long?
Will Murray join those greats?
Merry Widow
Kate Boydell was widowed in 1998 and founded Merry Widow as a survival guide for young widows. She has written books and the resource has grown considerably, with lots of advice, a diary and a forum.
Give it a look.
Maltodextrin
I did think about calling this post the evil of wheat maltodextrin. It was close as that is how I feel at times, especially when I’ve got the runs from something that contains this as a cheap substitute for sugar.
Here’s what Wikipedia says about it’s production.
Maltodextrin is enzymatically derived from any starch. In the US, this starch is usually corn; in Europe, it is commonly wheat. This is important for coeliacs, since the wheat-derived maltodextrin can contain traces of gluten. There have been recent reports of coeliac reaction to maltodextrin in the United States. This might be a consequence of the shift of corn to ethanol production and its replacement with wheat in the formulation.
Other authorities on gluten maintain the source does not matter because maltodextrin is such a highly processed ingredient that the protein is removed, rendering it gluten free. If wheat is used to make maltodextrin, it will appear on the label. Even so, the maltodextrin will be gluten free.
The nutritional supplement industry and the food industry frequently make claims concerning ingredients derived from common allergens (such as soy,corn and sometimes wheat, which are ubiquitous) stating that the substance in question is so highly and completely processed that none of the original material remains, however, when tested in human blood of allergic individuals these substances do elicit reactions.
As do many coeliacs, even the traces of gluten in this sugar substitute are enough to upset me, so what are the EU doing. They are making wheat maltodextrin exempt from the allergy rules on gluten.
Who dreamed that one up?
I should think it was probably due to pressure from food manufacturers as it is cheaper than sugar.
But then sugar is considered evil as it makes you fat. So does wheat maltodextrin!
I generally only eat proper demerara sugar, as I have a lovely friend who was born there!
The Anonymous Widower 