Category:

Thoughts.

1/8/2014

(Pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them).

I imagine most people would think of a zimmer-frame as a medical aid for the elderly and the infirmed; and, so it is - to a certain extent. However, in many respects, I would suggest that it could also be considered as an important piece of gym apparatus.

For example, in my own recent experience (see above; going to hospital and returning with a new cast), since I'm unable to put any pressure on my injured ankle, my arms are having to take almost all my weight as I hop along on my good leg with the aid of the zimmer-frame.

Although (apart from when I was at school and in the army), I have never been in a gym in my life, I can see that this exercise seems to be having three beneficial effects insofar as I am concerned. Firstly, the muscles in my good leg are being strengthened. Secondly, the same will be happening to the muscles of both arms; and finally - and quite intriguingly - the tummy which has appeared over the last couple of years seems to be decreasing. Now, when you think about it, that isn't really surprising because each individual step with a zimmer-frame has almost the same effect as a full body press-up.

So, I present to you my nomination for the best unsung body-building aid of all time....................

ZIMMER-FRAME

Thoughts

14/3/2014

I suppose it's a measure of how successful facebook and Twitter have become that I suspect this could well be the first occasion this year that I have turned to my own Blog page to make a statement. Certainly, the fact that I struggled for several minutes trying to remember how to log-in supports that theory.

Anyway, the thought which prompted this momentous occasion concerns the recently departed Trades Union leader, Bob Crow; who, like many before him - Wilson, Maxwell, Scargill, Hatton, Sheridan, Blair and Mandelson (to mention but a few) espoused the virtues of socialism but lived the life of a capitalist.

I can't see them quaking in their boots at Brewers Green; but, the single most significant factor which has turned me away from The Labour Party is the ease with which those who represent it (at all levels) abandon their working-class roots and embrace Tory principles once the feel the effects of "power".

Shame on them.

Thoughts

22/11/2013

On the 50th. anniversary of his death, I hear people speak about JFK's assassination being one of those occasions when they remember where they were when they heard the news. In so far as I'm concerned, however, it has been the only occasion when that has happened to me. I suppose the only event which came anywhere close to it, was John Lennon's death - and, even then, I can only remember where I was at that time in my life - but I remember absolutely every detail of the moment I heard the news of what had happened in Dallas.

I can only suppose that the enormity of the occasion must have had an effect on me; and, in much the same way that the abdication of King Edward V111 or the declaration of WW2 might have affected an earlier generation, it was the first really staggering news I had heard in my life at that time.

I hope I don't live to experience anything of that magnitude again.

Thoughts

7/10/2013

For reasons I have never got around to analysing, I have always had a rather short attention span; and nothing serves to support this claim better than the fact that I very rarely read a complete newspaper article. Instead, I scan the headline and the first paragraph or two and that - along with watching the TV news channels - is usually sufficient for me to get the gist of the plot.

So, having established that fact, although I have a notion of what's going on, I can't claim to have a complete grasp of the facts relating to the current shutdown on the other side of the pond. I do, however, have an interesting - and some might say - controversial contribution to offer to the debate.

Here, in the UK, it is generally thought that 'our' Welfare State is the best thing since the invention of sliced bread. So far as I'm concerned, however, it's introduction marked the first stages of this country's demise. Despite the obvious benefits those who conceived the idea had in mind, successive generations have contrived to turn it into cash-cow for the idle indigenous population and a magnet for immigrants.

Although the present government are starting to address the issue, the fact remains that there are people in this country who have never worked in the lives - and more disturbing, have no intention of doing so. Accordingly, although I don't know the full facts of the matter in the USA, I would be wary of introducing any system which encourages the unemployed to remain unemployed at a cost to the public purse.

Thoughts

13/9/2013

Although (mercifully) never affected by any really serious illnesses, I have, however, suffered from a variety of conditions which have caused a lifetime of pain of varying degrees - most of which I discovered could be eased by the appliance of heat. As a consequence, one the most pleasurable experiences I enjoy on a daily basis, is to rest my hands in a basin of hot water each morning before I wash myself and the heat seems to ease its way through the whole of my body quite blissfully.

So, the purpose of this blog is to ask whether anyone else might be prepared to disclose any other simple (and clean) pleasures they enjoy on a daily basis.

Thoughts

30/8/2013

Apparently anxious to allow me to form my own opinions in life, my father had always seemed reluctant to offer very much advice when I was growing up. However, amongst some hurried instructions he gave me (as he drove me to catch the train which would take me to start my military service) I particularly recall being told to avoid discussing religion, politics, and sex.

Interestingly, almost sixty years later, I can claim - to some extent - to have followed his instructions to the letter; the only exception being that I've arrived at a point in life when it seems that the only relationship I have with sex is to talk about it.

Putting that aside, however, although I believe that politics and religion in some parts of the world have become intertwined to such an extent that they are almost the same thing. The fact that a significant number of conflicts throughout history have been motivated by religious factors but initiated by politicians is hard to deny.

Turning to the present, however, I'm afraid that I am going to have to disobey my father by visiting a subject which is quite definitely political. I'm referring, of course to the Syrian crisis - and, in particular, my take on the UK's position and to offer my own opinion on what caused the rather awkward position in which the government now finds itself (more later).

In order do address the situation, it is necessary to take into account the effect the Blair's government controversial decision to get involved in the Iraq invasion has had on the current position. Clearly, for example, the court of public opinion in the UK seems to be against British troops becoming involved in Syria - or, for that matter, any military action in the foreseeable future.

Understandable though that stance might seem, there is (IMHO) a far more compelling argument to justify the present government's decision to consider action against the Assad regime than there ever was to topple Saddam Hussein. For example, evidence of chemical weapons in Syria is indisputable and certainly more plausible than that provided by the 'dodgy document' upon which Mr. Blair based his decision.

Somewhat inevitably, however, (and this is where the Blair factor takes effect) consequences of the Iraq war - and, to some extent, the other conflict in which Blair decided to involve British troops, Afghanistan - have deterred the Great British public from supporting any further loss of British lives.

Now, no one would deny that the general public can be excused for being against British involvement in Syria because, in that respect, they have been consistent in their opposition. That consistency, however, cannot be said for the official Opposition in The United Kingdom - i.e. The Labour Party.

Let in never be forgotten that up until the morning of yesterday's debate when the government was sensationally defeated, the leader of the Labour party had given his assurance to the Prime Minister that he would be supporting the coalition's proposals. Predictably, however, some bright spark in the socialist camp recognised an opportunity to inflict serious damage to the Conservative party (and, in particular, Mr. Cameron) by withdrawing the aforementioned support for purely political reasons and the outcome is now history. Shame on them.

Thoughts

18/4/2013

Beauty, it has been said, is in the eye of the beholder; and has also been claimed to 'come from within'. So, since I seem to be concerned with comparisons, recently, I was intrigued to notice, during the parliamentary debate following Lady Thatcher's death, how the former show-business personality and now an MP, Glenda Jackson, had progressed from being a rather pretty young lady - through various stages - into someone rather less attractive (IMHO).............

..............Whereas, by comparison, the former MP and now show-business personality, Ann Widdecombe, had progressed from also being a rather pretty young lady - through various stages - into someone rather more attractive (IMHO).......

Thoughts

17/4/2013

On the day Dame Margaret Thatcher's funeral, I've been thinking how much I've allowed myself to be affected, in recent times (and not just by the behaviour of some) but by others who are, perhaps, slightly less ruminative than myself.

For example - having already become somewhat disenchanted by the game - an evening in the company of a fan (i.e.fanatic) affected me so much that I watch very little association football on TV, these days. What disappointed me wasn't so much the reaction of those affected, but a failure to recognise the circumstances which caused their reaction; and that has led me to make a comparison between the football fans' sentiments and those which have been witnessed today.

So, insofar as the Heysel disaster was concerned, a judicial enquiry concluded that, "blame should not rest solely with the fans, and that some culpability lay with the police and authorities." There was also some concern expressed about poor condition of the stadium's structure.

Accordingly, whilst the behaviour of some Liverpool fans was utterly deplorable, poor policing and crumbling masonry were contributory factors. Nevertheless, disgruntled Everton fans' choose to concentrate on the effect rather than the cause; and that is why I believe that a comparison can be made between the two issues.

Only the most bitter opponents of Mrs. Thatcher (as she then was) would dispute the fact that her government inherited enormous problems which needed resolving. In other words, action was required and she succeeded in reducing (according to a recent TV news item) the annual number of days lost to strikes in the UK from three hundred million to two million. However, not unlike the aforementioned football fans, her detractors choose to ignore the cause and concentrate on the effect.

For my part, I believe history will look more favourably on Lady Thatcher than they ever will on Arthur Scargill; and I speak, by the way, as someone who (whilst not agreeing with them) so much admired the way he stuck to his principles that I sent a donation during his attempt to resist 'New' Labour candidates in a general election.

Thoughts

24/3/2013

Over the past twenty-five or thirty years, I've had (on average) at least one letter a year published in the UK national press; and, although I never set out to establish any records, I suspect that whatever success-rate I may have achieved was probably due to the fact that I've tended to submit short letters - thus making them useful as space-fillers rather than for any journalistic value.

Even though they may be short, I've always taken a long time to compose letters and, perhaps because of this, when my typewriter packed up a little over twenty years ago, my elder son gave me an early AppleMac Classic he was about to replace because I could use it as a word-processor - thus saving reams of discarded writing paper.

I had never used a computer. So, when I was confined to bed with a bad cold, I saw an opportunity to work out how to use it; and, although it was not planned, I started to write a story and - rather like the persperation from which I was suffering - words just poured out of me and, by the time I was fit enough to get up again, I had written over two hundred pages.

At that time, in the course of her work, my wife spent a lot of time in the company of the publisher, Andre Deutsch. Perhaps intrigued by a comparatively literate bus-driver, he offered encouragement and arranged for one of his staff to assess my writing. Sadly, the work I was doing at that time affected my ability to concentrate and I developed something akin to Writers' Block and, for several years, wrote very little; but, after retiring, I started to put a few words together again.

In the meantime, writing (as I do) for fun rather than gain, I've derived almost as much pleasure from researching a subject as actually writing about it; and, in that regard, I find it difficult to imagine how authors managed before the advent of the World Wide Web.

So, to get to the main point of this blog.

Although there is no doubt that the WWW is a wonderful invention, at quite an early stage in my own experience with it, I discovered what seems to me to be its greatest fault - and that is the ease with which individuals can portray themselves in a manner which, in many cases, is far from the truth.

One of my earliest attempts to make use of the internet was when I had the notion to track down all the chaps with whom I had shared a tent during the British nuclear tests at Christmas Island. As it happened, that course of action proved to be unsuccessful; however, I did manage to contact them all through letters to the local newspaper in the area in which they lived.

In attempting to find my tent-mates, I was introduced to internet forums: in particular, those intended for serving and former members of the armed forces and, for several months I enjoyed sharing experiences and banter with ex (mainly) - service personnel from around the world.

Unfortunately, in time, I realised that some of those using these forums could not have been who (or what) they claimed to be - something especially endemic amongst those disposed towards the military - and, although I've remained in contact with some, I don't contribute to the forums any longer; not least because a recent unpleasant hacking experience involved an individual who deceived me into believing he was a former member of a military unit with which I was attached.

Hopefully, others can learn from my misfortune.

Thoughts.

3/9/2012

On Friday, under the auspices of the redoubtable Paddy Hoey Esq., I was fortunate enough to be afforded a most thorough guided tour around the neighbourhood where I was raised after my mother and I returned from our 'evacuation' to north Wales during WW2. More of that, later, perhaps. For the time being, however, I'm intrigued by my own reaction to the experience.

Firstly, although I lived there for the best part of eight years, it became obvious to me (as Paddy drove me around) that there was significantly more to the region than I had ever appreciated; and, I've come to the conclusion that the most likely reason for this is that most of my travels as a child were confined to getting from A to B; and, quite probably, as quickly as possible. As a consequence, I missed many - if not most - of the hidden nooks and crannies which could be found beyond the walls and hedges along the side of main roads - and that's a shame.

The second thing which has struck me is that, during the bus ride back to the hotel, I saw the effects of what can only be described as wholesale demolition of hundreds and thousands of properties - both domestic and commercial - between the leafy (and more affluent) areas and those nearer to the city centre. Equally disturbing is the apparent detrimental effect these changes seem to have had on the population - and that's an even greater shame.

Some time later, perhaps, I will attempt to elaborate on these thoughts. One thing seems certain, however, and that is that the Liverpool I knew, cherished, and whose honour I have attempted to defend, may well be a thing of the past.