where to start? Well drawing two blogs together. Today Steve Reed goes to Nottingham too listen to Owen Jones talking about his new book. I always feel very motherly about Jones, he is so articulate and bright but he does tend to squirm around on his seat when in full flow. In fact he has 'ants in his pants' as the saying goes. Ants are something Jabblog has been talking about. The saying, probably coming from America is early 20th century - 1930/1940 and of course came from really having ants in one's pants - I suppose from sitting on the grass.
I would love to see a green woodpecker once more on the lawn jabbing the grass furiously to make the ants appear from the ant's nest.
It reminds me of Tom when he was about four years old. He had decided to make a 'tent' on a slope in the garden. He worked busily away and finishing went and sat inside his abode. Only two minutes later to come fleeing out chased by an angry queen bee. He had built his safe place on top of a bumblebee's nest hole.
I had my eyes tested on Monday, I now need glasses for distance, computer and reading, four pairs with my sunglasses. Opticians have really moved forward with their equipment. I was taken through my examination by a sweet Asian girl, sadly the young all look too young to be doing adult jobs;)
I am listening to A.S.Byatt - The Virgin in the Garden at the moment. The story is set in 1953, the year of the Coronation of the late Queen. On reading whether anyone had criticised it. Well they had. Basically because of its cleverness and clever references to Shakespeare, etc. I have never been enamoured by Shakespeare so will I be able to hear the book to the end as some say they never finished it. It is all very 'loves lost dream', fumbling at suspenders but never going further. A group of young people who live in that quiet, very English way, so many people want to go back to. It is the time of D.H. Laurence's book - Lady Chatterley's Lover. Which eventually broke the barrier of being able to be read by the public and which probably launched the 1960s.
Not to worry, but cyber attacks on fridges and freezers in French Supermarkets here? are slightly scary.
Edit. Professor Tim Wilson, someone I listen to' it is about the terrible tragic death of the young man who got killed by a tiger. Trump that morally degenerate man is totally despicable in making fun of this tragedy. The tiger will live.
The whole idea of fridges and freezers being connected to the internet is bizarre. I suppose it makes sense for big companies to use white goods that can be controlled remotely, but I can't understand why individuals would want them. Does anyone really need to control the temperature of their freezer while they are at work? Then there is the problem of upgrades. Some channels on our smart tv stopped working after a couple of years and we had to buy a tv stick to be able to access i-player etc. I wouldn't want to have to replace white goods after a couple of years because the tech was obsolete. What a mad world we live in!
ReplyDeleteExactly Tracy smart machines are scary. Though this was somewhat different because it hit the supermarkets in France. They say this is where we are vulnerable in the supply of food. It will panic people if food supplies are disrupted. Presumably computer gates will be put up to stop it but it must lead to more questioning of AI's role in our lives.
DeleteSomeone told me in 1999 that in the year 2,000 all fridges and washing machines would stop working because they had built in programmes that would stop them. Nothing happened then but seems 26 years later it's happening!
ReplyDeleteIt was always so Sue the disaster theories, still going strong today of course. The internet needs policing in some form or another. It is turning into a Pandora's box of nasty things.
DeleteYou know, I find myself watching Ukraine's attacks on Russian Data Centers and thinking what a vulnerability they are. Take one out and the cyber damage seems to be very wide ranging. Maybe it will slow down my country's mad rush to put them everywhere.
ReplyDeleteApparently Debby the computer techies in America could pull our internet off as well, so we are just as vulnerable. Though I did see one piece of news that Finland had stopped the building of one data centre because almost 800 acres of trees had been cut already for the building and land.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised that you need 4 pairs of glasses? My lens have different levels for different viewing - lowest level for reading, middle for computers and upper for distance. They took some getting used to as I would be looking out at the wrong level but I adjusted. There are even lens that will turn darker in the sun but I don't have those.
ReplyDeleteI have tried the light and dark ones Ellen they seem to want time to catch up when you go from one extreme to the other. I think I prefer a singular large lens for each though. Just need to remember to change the glasses.
ReplyDeleteGlasses make people look so adult and serious. I smile when I see my children and grandchildren wearing glasses.
ReplyDeleteThere is also vanity to overcome as well. Lucien wanting to swim in the lake in Vevey had to forego his contact lenses and wear glasses which did not make him happy.
DeleteI heard about Trump and his tiger posts. Disgusting.
ReplyDeleteI didn't notice Owen squirming around in his seat, but maybe I was just happy he was shifting occasionally so I could see him past that darn camera! (See my post from yesterday if this makes no sense to you. :) )
I truly cannot understand why Trump has not been sacked out of his job. As for Jones, yes I did read your blog yesterday, perhaps he doesn't move around so much in public. He just has a very excitable nature when holding forth on his website.
DeleteI believe the man killed by the tiger had mental health issues, not high on drugs as was initially suggested somewhere. It was sad end for him.
ReplyDeleteHe was schizophrenic apparently Andrew. He had entered a world of his own making/
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