Don't Eat! Don't Drink! Don't Smoke! Just sit there and veg out and you too can live forever

Don't Eat! Don't Drink! Don't Smoke! Just sit there and veg out and you too can live forever.

Oh, and don't forget not to breath the air or go outside, or drive a car, or ride in a bus or train.

Yes, afraid the latest word from the medical profession's cancer specialists is that eating (especially red meat) or drinking even small amounts of booze, can cause cancer.

In my 60+ years on this earth I remember warnings about the air we breathe, the water we drink, the smoked/processed lunch meats we eat, the tobacco we smoke and just about everything else we do, because they're all bad for our health which means they  would do the most natural thing to us after being born, IE to die. Heaven forbid, that means we couldn't/wouldn't live forever. Oh my. What a shame.

Speaking for myself, I certainly don't want to live forever. I've lived my life, done my work, raised my family.

Yes, I guess perhaps I have more to offer, but in all honesty, if I die yesterday, I wouldn't be bothered in the least. Would you?

As I keep telling my doctors and nurses, when all the medical-types quit drinking (and smoking) then I'll consider quitting smoking.

Terhune Orchards Farm - What a great day out

As some of you will know, I recently visited my son and family in the States (see here and here). One of the highlights was a day out at
Terhune Orchards Farm. And what a day out it was.

No glitz and glittery plastic and steel theme-park junk. Just plain old-fashioned fun. The play in and on "toys" and the maze and the trip through the history of corn were all done with great creativity, ingenuity and imagination, making them not only fun, but educational.

And then there's the food. Delicious coffee and tea, lovely cookies and wonderful fresh vegetables and herbs were all on offer from friendly and
knowledgeable staff.

Definitely a place to visit when you're in the Princeton N. J. area. Highly recommended.

H L Mencken Got it Right

Once upon a time H.L. Mencken said:

" . . . all the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man
who can most easily and adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. The
presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office
represents, more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great
and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White
House will be adorned by a downright moron."

As he did, all too often, he got this warning right on target.

Fanny Hill coming to TV? - YEP!

That all-time most popular Hide-Under-The-Bed book of teen-aged boys, John Cleland's Fanny Hill : Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure is finally coming to TV. With a screen play by that doyen of classic novels into great TV scripts, Andrew Davies, FH will hit the TV screens on BBC-Four TV with Episode 1 on Monday 22 October from 9pm-10pm and Episode 2 on Monday 29 October 9pm-10pm.

See the BBC's announcement here and see our Fanny Hill Books in the righ-hand column on our website.

Oh, and one more thing

Oh, and one more thing, positive rather than negative (see blog item from yesterday):

As those of you who have (or will now) read my commentary on Chip 'n' Pin "technology" will know, I'm not at all fond of it. Actually I see only one reason for the banks making it mandatory for us consumers to use it and that is so the banks can further distance themselves from any responsibility for the fraudulent use of our cards by vandals. 

One would think, that if the "technology" was so wonderful as the banking industry claims, the Overfed Felines of the US banking industry would be using it also. But guess what, they're not. In the US your signature is all that's needed to use your credit and debit cards.What a pleasure it was.

 

Me too negative? Of course not.

While on holiday earlier this month, visiting my son, my grand-daughter, and my son's new partner (Liz), I found to my delight that Liz is as
honestly outspoken as I like to think I am. And thank heavens for that. I determined this fact by listening to her comments about me being too
negative. I therefore decided to try to be a bit more vocal about the things I like.

So here, for your edification, is a list of some of those positives:

1. The buses are air conditioned, a blessing in the record heat experienced during the week of my visit. Especially as compared to the ovens we have over here in the UK. They have no air conditioning. UK buses have huge windows (letting in plenty of light and heat) only the top two or three inches of which open and then only about two inches. The greater part of which problem is that most of the people would rather put up with the heat and stale air and foul smells of some of the other passengers than open the windows for what little relief they might provide.
   
2. The surprising generosity of some restaurant personnel. For example, on at least two occasions, I stopped in cafes/restaurants to buy a cold drink (I don't often drink soda, but it was so hot I drank quite a bit of soda that week). But instead of selling me any, they gave me a tall, cold glass of soda.
3. Delicious and readily-available cocktails (Manhattans and Martinis are my favourites), as opposed to scant availability of cocktails in the UK.
4. The USA is the only country on the planet with no Global Warming. The genius in the White House tells us so.
5. And speaking of the genius in the White House, he provides the rest of the world with so many laughable comments, policies and fox pose, that to lose him would be a crying shame.

Unfortunately they still say, "have a nice day" to the exclusion of almost any other way of saying goodbye.

I know there were a few other positives I talked about, but I'm too jet lagged to recall them at the moment.

1. 
   
   

Thank heavens there's no such thiing as Global Warming

Thank heavens there's no such thing as Global Warming.

I've just returned from a visit to the USA. I chose October to make the trip to visit my son, his new partner and his daughter, my grand-daughter, in expectation of wonderfully cool weather. I HATE hot weather.

So what did I experience? The bloody hottest early October weather in recorded history, in the 90s (Fahrenheit) and hugely humid weather. Just my luck.

Thank heavens there's no such thing as Global Warming or it might have been 150 (Fahrenheit), I know there isn't because the supreme genius in
the White House tells us so. And he wouldn't lie, now would he? Of course he wouldn't, he's just too bloody dim to know any better.