Or visit to the Viral Premiership in the Great Northern Poorhouse. By Richard Carlile - Manchester Libraries, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3780583 To All Government supporters Now that your government has decided not to feed hungry children in the midst of a pandemic and to underfund those worst effected by your own policies, it must be time … Continue reading Feedthefew Massacre
Category: social history
Jessie Donaldson, Annie Besant, Rebecca, Bessie Smith, and all that jazz.
Rebecca Riots "Better remain silent, better not even think, if you are not prepared to act". So wrote Annie Besant, who was born in London in 1847. Radical sentiments for a radical woman. She might have had Jessie Donaldson in mind. Jesse was born in Bristol in 1799 and later moved to Swansea where she … Continue reading Jessie Donaldson, Annie Besant, Rebecca, Bessie Smith, and all that jazz.
Someday my plinth will come…
Or welcome to my Hall of Shame I have often casually wondered about statues in an uninterested kind of way. Ever since I was a kid, I was subjected to a forest of the bloody things. There seemed to be one on almost every street corner in central London; the parks and public spaces were … Continue reading Someday my plinth will come…
Measure for Measure – or not quite?
contains no added corona. This all started because my wife made an off the cuff remark about teaspoons getting smaller. Not the spoons that sit around in saucers, nor even the silver jobs that sit in the mouths of the over-privileged, but rather the items that the cooks among us use to measure materials repeatedly … Continue reading Measure for Measure – or not quite?
Language is just a virus – and there is a new wave of “Emics” on the way!
Laurie Anderson once spoke about language being a virus from outer space, but I don't think even she was fluent in Covid. Big Science, and let's face it, these days Epidemiology is THE Big Science, is revelling in its new found spotlight. You have to admire the gusto with which its exponents polish up old … Continue reading Language is just a virus – and there is a new wave of “Emics” on the way!
“Be Prepared” – Clearly the UK is no Boy Scout
5000 years on All sorts of trials and tribulations have beset this gruesome race of ours, most of them caused by our own ignorance and greed. Almost every generation has had to face its Waterloo, to wage war on some dreadful disease or other, and they almost always use exactly this kind of terminology. There … Continue reading “Be Prepared” – Clearly the UK is no Boy Scout
Grow with the Flow…an almost Virus-free posting
Well, where do I start? Or more to the point, where did I start? Not quite here, because this is Clapham Junction but it is pretty close to where I grew up and even closer to where I went to school. https://visitclaphamjunction.com/about/the-junction-history The wrong side of the tracks? I think my old dad would have … Continue reading Grow with the Flow…an almost Virus-free posting
Peddling Twaddle or Taking Back Control!
Here in the UK, the expression “Take Back control!” has been widely abused by those who should, and do, know better. It has been promulgated and promoted by those who know exactly what they are doing, and they have been steadily building on their control for decades. They are using the familiar propagandist’s ploy of … Continue reading Peddling Twaddle or Taking Back Control!
Carry on Glamping – or Airbnb is the one for me!
In days of old, when nights were cold, when the internet and Airbnb hadn’t been invented, we had things like English Country Cottages to provide holiday homes for the self-catering type. So, to set the scene: When I was young, there was a distinctly snobbish pecking order in the holiday stakes. Country Cottage renters were … Continue reading Carry on Glamping – or Airbnb is the one for me!
From Camp to Costabucks.
OK, so I’m a coffee snob. I’m not an out and out loony coffee snob, but I am a coffee snob. There are very few coffee chains that I have experienced that make a decent cup of coffee. One outfit in particular, has experienced spectacular success, and has literally cornered the market, with outlets wherever … Continue reading From Camp to Costabucks.
Mickey take and more 