Crapman – An Australian Hero
This piece appeared in The Times today.
It is not just sport that they take seriously in Australia. In a country beset by drought and at the mercy of its climate, the environment is high on the agenda. On a Christmas Eve visit to the impressive Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary near Melbourne, we were quickly aware that the battle is on to get Australians to use recycled toilet paper. “Wipe for wildlife” signs greeted us at every turn and at regular intervals we are wished “G’day” by a superhero figure whose cape was decorated with an unfurling toilet roll.
It was only towards the end of our visit that I discovered that our green crusader rejoiced under the name of Crapman.
The Australian sense of humour has a distinct edge.
Amazing People
There have been some amazing stories in the papers about the aftermath of the Lonon bombings, but surely there is none to compare with that of the Hyman family, who have setup the Miriam Hyman Memorial Trust in memory of Miriam, who died on the number 30 bus in Tavistock Square.
This is the statement on the front of the Trust’s website.
Miriam was one of the fifty-two people killed in the London bombings of 7/7/05. Her family and friends set up the Miriam Hyman Memorial Trust in May 2008 and equipped the Miriam Hyman Children’s Eye Care Centre within the L V Prasad Eye Institute in Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India. This is a living memorial; a place of hope, healing and rehabilitation for children who need eye care services, irrespective of the ability to pay.
The suffering that follows violent terrorism is intense, extensive, avoidable and cannot be justified in any circumstances. In addition to its work in India, the Miriam Hyman Memorial Trust is seeking to address this by promoting social cohesion and good citizenship primarily, but not exclusively, through schools.
Let’s hope they succeed in their aims.
Has the Banking System Failed Us This Christmas?
I don’t have any specific issues, but it did seem that all of my payments and transfers seemed to be taking a day or two longer than normal. But then it is some years since Christmas and New Year has fallen squarely on a Saturday and Sunday. As I’ve moved, I also had set up quite a few utility direct debits, so perhaps I was putting a bit more strain in than most.
So perhaps if they did fail us, it was more in the matter of communicating the strain the system would be under.
If I have a personal issue, it might be with Virgin Media, as I can’t find any trace of my payment to them in my bank account. But this morning, I woke up with no TV and broadband. It is now working properly, although they haven’t been able to transfer my number yet.
So I think, I’ll be on the phone again on Monday.
Tweeting My Way South
On the two trips to south London, I used my trusty Nokia 6310i to send messages to Twitter.
In both trips I got a story going; the first about how I’d borrowed the landlord’s dog from the pub next door for protection and in the second about travelling with an attack cat, who got rather agitated in Catford.
Today, I’ll be tweeting my way north, as I’m off to Coventry to see Ipswich Town play.
If you want to follow me, my Twitter ID is VagueShot.
My Virtual Twin Gets a CBE
Katherine Hamnett and myself were born within a few hours of each other on the same day, so I think of her as some form of unrelated twin.
I’ve just heard her on the radio being asked what was the best thing, she’d done so far and she replied something like “Living” Afer the three years I’ve had, I’ll raise a glass of to that.
So good luck to Katherine and everybody else for that matter as we prepare to say good-bye to 2010, one of the more forgettable years of the last hundred years.
The Embroidery is on the Wall
I said earlier, that I was going to put the three pieces of embroidery by C’s Auntie Rita on the wall. Well here they are.
The Embroidery on the Stairs
In the next few weeks, I’m going to get to the bottom of the story of the medal. Having been to the British Museum yesterday, it would appear to be made of bronze. But I can’t find anything similar on the Internet.
The Clock Gets its Seventh Wall
I said in an earlier post, that I was missing the clock.
Well, I’m not anymore, as it is now on its seventh wall.
The Brass Clock
As you can see it is a typical Kelvin and Hughes ship’s clock, that C bought for me in probably 1969 as a birthday present. She bought it in a junk shop in Liverpool and was assured that it had come from the SS Great Eastern, when it was broken up. A very unlikely story, although the ship was broken up in Liverpool and it probably had thousands of clocks. But Kelvin and Hughes did not merge until the 1940s!
It has proved very reliable over the years and except for a major repair in about 1995, it hasn’t needed any attention.
Our home has never been complete without this clock on the wall.
I Need a Bookcase
This picture shows one side of my living space.
My Living Room
I need a bookcase to go alongside the stairs, hopefully in a similar wood to the dresser. Any ideas?
The Best Christmas Card I’ve Received This Year
This was the card I got from Ken Pyne, the cartoonist.
Ken Pyne's 2010 Christmas Card
If you’d like any of Ken’s work or feel you want him to draw something special for you, then use the contact form in this blog.
London’s Forgotten Cathedral
Southwark is the third Anglican cathedral in central London and the least visited.
Southwark Cathedral with the Shard Behind
But to me, it will always have a strong place in my heart, as it is where the memorial service was held for C and all the others, including that great humanitarian Chad Varah who gave their bodies to medical science in 2007. The service was non-denominational and very moving.
Forgotten and ignored it may be to many but not to me and my family.
