In the early days of broadcasting, BTV (before television), the BBC newsreaders were made to dress formally: i.e. dinner suits for men and evening gowns for women newscasters.
Not that anybody, other than BBC staff, could actually see them reading the news. It was just the stuffy old rules that were applied by the BBC management then.
Now the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction. Smart casual, to coin a phrase, has been approved in many areas of broadcasting. Presenters can wear old jeans and trainers, no neckties required and various other dress modes are OK today.
Some presenters just look scruffy; I can't say I am in favour of some of these 'informal' styles but it does not bother me too much. I don't watch too much tv anyway.
However, what's this to do with 'Bare Bosom' I hear you scream. Tell us, show us, come clean!
The Booby Link
Very well then, just go to the link above. Prepare to be shocked beyond recall.
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
Saturday, 23 January 2010
A Short Fishy Tale
I've got a couple of goldfish. I keep them in a goldfish bowl.
They've been called "One" and "Two" - though I cannot tell them apart.
I called them this because (wait for it): if one dies I've still got two.
OK, groan as much as you like.
They've been called "One" and "Two" - though I cannot tell them apart.
I called them this because (wait for it): if one dies I've still got two.
OK, groan as much as you like.
Sunday, 17 January 2010
Do You Keep a Diary?
Hello again. Been feeling a tad lethargic lately. Must be the weather; the grey skies. the S.A.D. effect perhaps, (Seasonal Affective Disorder). I've heard that mid-January is when we have a surge in suicides. Don't know how true this is; not something I've ever investigated - just heard it mentioned a couple of times on radio.
I shall be 75 on Tuesday 19th January and have outlived my father, mother and two of my younger brothers. I'm the eldest of five boys, all born twixt 19 Jan 1935 and 6 June 1945, so I guess I've been lucky thus far. Had some close calls over the years, what with Herr Hitler's Luftwaffe bombing Croydon for five scary years and various other events. Falling off a roof at age 12 and breaking my right wrist instead of my neck is an example.
We remember so many happenings in our lives but also forget much. Would a diary be worth reading had we kept one from an early age?
The answer is probably a resounding yes!
Blogging is a 'sort of' diary. Many millions now write a blog which, almost by definition (web log) is a diary. But it's a newish thing. Neither is a blog a personal diary (usually, that is). I am now reading a superbly engrossing book entitled 'Our Hidden Lives', which is a collection of personal diaries kept by 'ordinary' people during the post-war period in Great Britain. I find it fascinating and quite engrossing.
The award winning writer Simon Garfield has woven the diaries of five ordinary people, confronting the uncertain years following WW2 into a wonderful and evocative patchwork. (That sentence is an extract from the 'blurb' of this book).
The 5 diarists are Maggie Joy Blunt, a modern young woman who is bored out of her mind in a metal company in Slough.
George Taylor, a curmudgeonly accountant from Sheffield who gets annoyed when woken by fireworks celebrating the end of the war.
Edie Rutherford, Sheffield housewife and Socialist, who is always arging with her hairdresser.
B. Charles, a gay antiques dealer in Edinburgh and a horrific snob.
And finally Herbert Brush, London pensioner, active for his age, forever creosoting his garden fence and author of ambitious but appalling poetry.
None of these people knew each other and their diary entries are beautifully brought together to make a great book.
I kept a couple of notebook diaries for about 5 years. Not that I religiously made an entry every day, but never more that a gap of a week between entries. I have not kept a diary since 1983, but wonder if I should have done.
Perhaps I stopped because I sometimes wrote entries when I was in a dark mood, the 'black dog' mood that afflicted Winston Churchill to name but one such sufferer. Reading some entries now is quite a reminder of how 'low' I felt at times.
I recall that a well-known actress (whose name escapes me right now) once said: "Keep a diary, and one day it might keep you". That is a truism for many diarists - Pepys being the most well known, along with many politicians of course!
I love reading diaries of all sorts of people. I think they are fascinating. One of my favourites was the late Kenneth Williams, a comic actor and raconteur. His diaries were honest and so very sad as well. He took his own life a few years ago, pills and a bottle of spirits. His final entry: "What's the bloody point?" - meaning the point of his life. And what about the wonderful writings of Ann Frank? Such a lovely young girl, recording her days in hiding in Holland before being dragged off to a concentration camp where she died so cruelly young.
I wonder if YOU keep a diary?
I shall be 75 on Tuesday 19th January and have outlived my father, mother and two of my younger brothers. I'm the eldest of five boys, all born twixt 19 Jan 1935 and 6 June 1945, so I guess I've been lucky thus far. Had some close calls over the years, what with Herr Hitler's Luftwaffe bombing Croydon for five scary years and various other events. Falling off a roof at age 12 and breaking my right wrist instead of my neck is an example.
We remember so many happenings in our lives but also forget much. Would a diary be worth reading had we kept one from an early age?
The answer is probably a resounding yes!
Blogging is a 'sort of' diary. Many millions now write a blog which, almost by definition (web log) is a diary. But it's a newish thing. Neither is a blog a personal diary (usually, that is). I am now reading a superbly engrossing book entitled 'Our Hidden Lives', which is a collection of personal diaries kept by 'ordinary' people during the post-war period in Great Britain. I find it fascinating and quite engrossing.
The award winning writer Simon Garfield has woven the diaries of five ordinary people, confronting the uncertain years following WW2 into a wonderful and evocative patchwork. (That sentence is an extract from the 'blurb' of this book).
The 5 diarists are Maggie Joy Blunt, a modern young woman who is bored out of her mind in a metal company in Slough.
George Taylor, a curmudgeonly accountant from Sheffield who gets annoyed when woken by fireworks celebrating the end of the war.
Edie Rutherford, Sheffield housewife and Socialist, who is always arging with her hairdresser.
B. Charles, a gay antiques dealer in Edinburgh and a horrific snob.
And finally Herbert Brush, London pensioner, active for his age, forever creosoting his garden fence and author of ambitious but appalling poetry.
None of these people knew each other and their diary entries are beautifully brought together to make a great book.
I kept a couple of notebook diaries for about 5 years. Not that I religiously made an entry every day, but never more that a gap of a week between entries. I have not kept a diary since 1983, but wonder if I should have done.
Perhaps I stopped because I sometimes wrote entries when I was in a dark mood, the 'black dog' mood that afflicted Winston Churchill to name but one such sufferer. Reading some entries now is quite a reminder of how 'low' I felt at times.
I recall that a well-known actress (whose name escapes me right now) once said: "Keep a diary, and one day it might keep you". That is a truism for many diarists - Pepys being the most well known, along with many politicians of course!
I love reading diaries of all sorts of people. I think they are fascinating. One of my favourites was the late Kenneth Williams, a comic actor and raconteur. His diaries were honest and so very sad as well. He took his own life a few years ago, pills and a bottle of spirits. His final entry: "What's the bloody point?" - meaning the point of his life. And what about the wonderful writings of Ann Frank? Such a lovely young girl, recording her days in hiding in Holland before being dragged off to a concentration camp where she died so cruelly young.
I wonder if YOU keep a diary?
Thursday, 7 January 2010
Digging an Escape Tunnel
We had some respite last night; the forecast 20cm of snow missed us out! I don't know if we shall be so lucky again today/tonight but it's looking fairly good right now.
Just a short glimpse of yours truly digging into the snow that has blocked my garage doors. Camera operator: my OH.
Yesterday evening one of the farm lads drove a tractor through our small roads, ploughing a path wide enough for a car to slide through. This is a great help to the eleven cottage dwellers here in Mellerstain Village. With luck we shall venture into town tomorrow.
Just a short glimpse of yours truly digging into the snow that has blocked my garage doors. Camera operator: my OH.
Yesterday evening one of the farm lads drove a tractor through our small roads, ploughing a path wide enough for a car to slide through. This is a great help to the eleven cottage dwellers here in Mellerstain Village. With luck we shall venture into town tomorrow.
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
EssEnOhDubya Spells ? What ? Guess!!
Wednesday 6th January 2010 - and it does not get any better weatherwise.
14 inches deep now, and the forecast is that this wintry spell could last for over a week. Shades of 1947 are turning into firm reality. This will be a terrible time for many isolated, old and infirm people in the UK.
Apparently, according to a met., expert, there is a large area of high pressure centered over the UK. This is somehow blocking the normal and mild Gulf stream and allowing the Siberian freezing weather to take over. I thought the Russians would be at the bottom of this! Gas supplies are said to be running low, only seven days left! How accurate is this I wonder? Not that we have gas central heating but millions have.
I am going to send a strongly worded email of complaint to whomsoever is concerned with this freeze up. It's simply not GOOD ENOUGH!
14 inches deep now, and the forecast is that this wintry spell could last for over a week. Shades of 1947 are turning into firm reality. This will be a terrible time for many isolated, old and infirm people in the UK.
Apparently, according to a met., expert, there is a large area of high pressure centered over the UK. This is somehow blocking the normal and mild Gulf stream and allowing the Siberian freezing weather to take over. I thought the Russians would be at the bottom of this! Gas supplies are said to be running low, only seven days left! How accurate is this I wonder? Not that we have gas central heating but millions have.
I am going to send a strongly worded email of complaint to whomsoever is concerned with this freeze up. It's simply not GOOD ENOUGH!
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Friday, 1 January 2010
First Day of Twenty-Ten - Still Snowing!
Just a short picture show of New Year's Day, 2010, in the Scottish Borders.
Wishing you all the Best New Year EVER!
Wishing you all the Best New Year EVER!
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