The Shape of Things To Come
BBC London has just reported live from a party in Canning Town. Some may think that the royal wedding is a waste of space, but not the East End.
Roll on the Olympics!
A Bearded Archbishop
Was this the first royal marriage with a bearded archbishop?
I don’t think my mother-in-law would have liked that sort of thing?
Relief
I can’t remember much about my own wedding to C. I can remember my old Scout Master from years before appearing before the service and congratulating me, as he had been something to do with the previous one at the church. You used to queue up in those days.
I can also remember rushing back to the pub afterwards for the reception and C being desperate for a drink. Eunice, the barmaid, I’d worked with in the pub for a couple of years, knew that C didn’t want anything alcoholic, but a long glass of water,. It came with ,lots of ice too!
In some ways a few hours later we were all relieved it was all over. And there hadn’t been any hitches or upsets.
I suspect that is the feeling going round the Palace and the centre of London now!
Let’s hope the calm to what some doom mongers predicted is a good omen for the future. And not just for William and Kate, but for us all!
Dogs Will Be Dogs
Apparently, one of the sniffer dogs went amok and ate a photographer’s sandwiches.
Rangers Get Off Lightly
Rangers have been given a suspended fine and some fairly weak sanctions, after they were accused of sectarian chanting in the matches against PSV Eindhoven. This is the report from the Guardian. But Rangers are unrepentant and blaming others for their problems.
But Martin Bain, the Rangers chief executive, still aimed his fire towards the Football Against Racism in Europe group (Fare), which he feels was heavily influential in this affair after it provided evidence to Uefa. Bain said: “We have had serious concerns about the integrity of the evidence compiled by the Fare organisation and that remains the case.
“We are also of the opinion that Fare has been influenced by people who make it their business to damage our club in any way they can. We are committed to the eradication of sectarianism and believe it would have been more constructive for Fare to work with our club rather than against it. Instead, they submitted evidence to Uefa with a clear objective in mind and have shown a complete lack of transparency or accountability when asked for clarification on various aspects of that evidence.”
English football had its problems in the past, and it was only cured by draconian action by the authorities, in both the UK and Europe.
Someone has got to take the lead to stop the sectarian songs, the drinking and the violence. Without strong action, nothing will get any better.
Weddings And Rain
When C and I got married in 1968, it was a summer of terrible weather. We had the only fine Saturday in about three months, with lots of sunshine. One of C’s friends got married the next weekend and their much more expensive wedding was a complete washout.
So I was rather pleased this morning, that they’ve just announced that come what may, the happy couple will return from the Abbey in an open carriage.
After all, a little bit of rain won’t hurt them!
The Great Storm
I’m posting this because of the horrendous storms in the United States. It actually comes from my old blog, which I no longer update.
On the 16th October 1987, we experienced one of the worst storms in the UK. Contrary to popular belief, it was not a hurricane, but it caused more damage than any storm for 300 years.
At the time we lived at Debach, north of Ipswich and we were without electricity for nearly two weeks. Luckily we cooked on a gas AGA and surprisingly the phones kept going.
It is also the time, when I had the narrowest escape of my life.
I’ve always got up early in the morning to work, as it is the best time, when you don’t get interrupted by phone calls or family. But that morning although I was up, I wasn’t in the office as luckily there was no power. At about six-thirty the chimney blew over, came through the roof and went right through where I normally sat.
We’d also turned out two horses in the field that night for the first time. One was an old racehorse, who’d been confined to his box for two years with leg problems and the other was a newly-weaned foal.
They had no problems, as instinct kept them to the safe place in the middle of the field, with their backsides to the wind.
So does the Internet help?
Hopefully the warnings and the weather forecasts would be better. But I suspect that the chaos might actually be worse, as many people would be unable to connect and would be suffering from severe withdrawal symptoms.
Police Caught in a Brothel
According to tonight’s Standard, some police have been caught in a brothel, when they were supposed to be carrying out security patrols in Downing Street.
What would DI Jack Regan of The Sweeney have said? Something like “You’re Nicked!”
The Royal Family was Well-Advised
The Queen as we all know finds that nearly all her travels or events are accompanied by extreme weather. But as least her family seems to have been well-advised in their choice of date for the Royal Wedding. The forecast is showing a grey morning with perhaps a shower, but it all clears up for the ceremoney and the ceremonials afterwards.
You can also argue, that their choice of date has been good for the Americans. It seems most of them are over here and have thus missed some of the worst and most dangerous storms in living memory in the Southern States.
My Views on the Royal Wedding
I have been accused of not being in favour of the Royal Wedding. I have put up the occasional post, but not many.
Admittedly, I did send this message to a radio station that asked what you were doing instead of the Royal Wedding.
I’m going to IKEA and then to Waitrose tomorrow.
Don’t get me wrong, as I had forty years of marriage to a wonderful woman, so I wish the happy couple all the best. But then I do that to everybody, who gets married.
The Anonymous Widower 