Would you rather....

Supermarkets of course keep detailed statistics on what people are buying, and sometimes these statistics indicate independent social trends.  Tesco have released data showing that meat-free meals are on the increase and that - shock, horror - sprouts are now overtaking pigs in blankets as the preferred accompaniment to a  Christmas dinner.  There are vegetarians in our family (no vegans - yet) so we are a pretty broad church, food-wise, but really?  Sprouts as favourites?? 

Epipen, quick!!

Allergies in the news again, after a BBC survey found that High Street food and drink outlets were giving out misleading or incomplete information on what potential allergens their products contained.  Can't help feeling that this is rather like shooting the pianist because you don't like the tune.  If I had a potentially life-threatening allergy, I would be extremely wary of eating or drinking anything which I had not prepared myself.  I would certainly not rely on what I was told, or what I read about the ingredients in something which had been prepared by somebody else somewhere else.  In other words, I would consider it my responsibility to ensure I did not ingest anything which could harm me.  And if that meant that I could never go out for a meal -  so be it.  That would be my cross to bear.  To throw the responsibility on others in my view is wrong.  It's my problem - it's down to me to deal with it.  I think the BBC have got the wrong end of the stick.

Were you frightened?

Congratulations to NASA for safely landing their spacecraft on Mars, but given that this was an unmanned module, I feel that to describe the final moments of descent as "seven minutes of terror" was a little OTT?

Up to their eyes in...

The things people will do for money.  A French hospital advertised for donations of - there's no delicate way to say this - poo, and indicated that successful donors would be paid €50.  What it didn't say - or make clear - was that applicants would have to undergo "rigorous screening, interviewing and tests".  They have been inundated with so many people anxious to get their hands on €50 that they have had to suspend their (serious) scientific research.  The old saying "be careful what you wish for" springs to mind.

Take two

Talking the other day, the question arose as to which film has been remade the most times?  A Star Is Born was put forward as having been remade four times - 1937, 1954, 1976 and the current one.  We couldn't better that - can you?

I spy with my little eye...

Anybody else feel that, however sorry we may feel for this lad who has been imprisoned for life in the UAE and for his wife, he is the author of his own misfortune?  To go to such a secretive country with the intention of researching their security systems strikes me as a bit like putting your head in the lion's mouth.  I assume somebody must have done a "risk assessment|"  and how they could not have seen the possibility of his being suspected of spying is, frankly, incredible.  I hope diplomatic efforts will result in his release, but really - what was he thinking?

Merry...er

It's often said the Oliver Cromwell banned Christmas.  Of course, he did not (and could not) do any such thing.  What he did was to ban the celebration of Christmas.  And his spirit apparently lives on - a school in Yorkshire has cancelled Christmas celebrations on the basis that the whole thing has become too commercial and that, if the students want the ban lifted, they will have to convince their RE teacher.  Watch this space.

Any old iron?

Round my way, if you have a large item you want to get rid of, you drag it out to the edge of your lawn by the pavement, and leave it for the "tatty man" to come round in his van and take it away.  The question is - is this fly-tipping?  Many say it is, and that it creates an eyesore.  Depending on the weather, and time of year it may well be a week or two before the tatty man puts in an appearance.  The alternative is to ring up the council who, for a not inconsiderable fee, will send a refuse lorry to pick it up.  The argument that the disposal of rubbish is their responsibility, and part of what we pay our council tax for, and therefore they should provide this service for free, is, I'm afraid. met with a blank stare.  So - it's the tatty man, God bless him.

Marks & Sparks

It seems they can't do right for doing wrong.  The latest is "outrage" being expressed at a window display juxtaposing women's underwear and men's suits.  Don't quite get the argument myself, but then I'm a man....  I feel you do have to start wondering whether this is part of a deliberate attempt to "get at" M&S - whether by feminists or - more sinisterly - by commercial opposition.

Fair's fair

My recollection is that something like a billion pounds was "found" to persuade the DUP to support the Conservatives and provide them with a working majority in Parliament.  Given that they failed to support the Government the other day - can we have our money back please?

Ha ha

Q.  What lies on the bottom of the ocean and twitches?
A.  A nervous wreck

It is what I say it is.

Now there may be more to this which is not being reported but this claims to be a quote from police records - "An unknown dog has fouled outside of victim address and victim perceived this to be a racial incident".  So a dog shits outside your house and YOU decide this is racial and that you are the victim?  Like I say, there may be more to this, but it seems yet another example of the law being turned on its head and the decision as to whether or not an offence has been committed being left to the "victim" rather than the judicial system.  To paraphrase Descartes - I perceive therefore it is?

Brexit

So there's a "gang of five" seeking to pressurise the Prime Minister to amend some of the details of the Brexit deal she is trying to get through Parliament.  But the problem is - this is a deal, an agreement - and as such is two-sided.  It cannot be altered unilaterally, and as far as I am aware, the EU have said that, as far as they are concerned, it is not negotiable.  Impasse?

Personal

Sorry about yesterday.  The fact is that I had a really bad night on Thursday, with the result that I spent most of yesterday zonked out and dozing, so nothing got done.  These things happen. and as I get older, they tend to happen more frequently.  Such is life.

Nothing to report.

It's been a non-day today - hopefully back tomorrow.

Get out!

Did you know that you will be refused entry to Harrods in London, if you are wearing a uniform?  Not sure why, but they have a long-standing dress code which forbids entry to, inter alia, anyone not dressed in civilian clothes.

Here I stand

I think I would like to live in Monaco - nice place. clean and tidy, pleasant climate,  But the idea that in order to fulfill my dream, all I have to do is somehow get there, and once there, plonk myself down on the nearest piece of ground and then say to the authorities - well, here I am, it's now down to you to look after me - is obviously mad.  And yet, wherever your sympathies lie, isn't this exactly what these various migrants are trying to do?  Whether it's those trying to cross the Med to get to Europe, or this "caravan" coming up through South America to try and reach the USA, the idea seems to be that all they have to do is get "there" and then they get some sort of "squatters' rights".  And if "there" doesn't want them.....?  I'm no supporter of Trump, but at least he's made America's position clear and perhaps Europe should consider following suit?

Hard cheese!

I've mentioned halloumi before and, maybe because of the likes of me, it has become very popular.  But therein lies a problem.  It's only made in Cyprus, and the island is now finding difficulty in keeping up with demand.  The danger for consumers is of course that the market may become flooded with imitations.  So make sure that if you buy any, it has really come from Cyprus.

Ghostly display

It seems crass to be talking about "prizes" for remembrance displays, but I beg you to look at the Slimbridge display - you can see it on Facebook - where figures made out of chicken wire - and therefore see-through - have been placed in the graveyard near the headstones of those who fell.  Brought tears to my eyes and I image at dusk it must be particularly powerful. 

We will remember them

Start again?

More and more calls for a second referendum on Brexit.  But where does this lead?  Do the losers of such a vote then demand a third referendum, and then a fourth....?  And more to the point, does this set a precedent for the future - every time we get a divisive issue, will there be calls for a "people's vote"?  That's not the way our constitution works - nor should it.  We had a referendum - perhaps unwisely - but we had it, and are now stuck with the result.  Or are we? - to my recollection, it was made clear it was not a binding vote, so I suppose we could ignore it, and pretend it never happened?

What will they all do now?

So The Big Bang Theory is coming to an end?  Help!  One of the few programmes I have watched since the beginning and I shall miss it.  Only consolation is that we here watching in the UK are well behind the USA, so for us, it won't finish just yet.

Wisdom of the ages.

In the ancient Persian empire. men used to debate ideas twice - once sober and once drunk.  The idea had to meet with approval in both states in order to be considered sound.

Well I never!

Well, you learn something every day.  I was watching the test match the other day when I heard the commentator say "...now that we no longer have runners..." and I thought WHAT??!!  But it's a fact - the authorities banned the use of runners in international matches back in 2011.  The suggestion was that the rule which allowed this was being misused, and batsmen who were merely tired, or suffering from cramp, were being allowed runners, when the rule was meant to cover batsmen who were physically unable to run for whatever reason.  The alternative is for such a batsmen to "retire hurt" and to resume their inning later, if they are able.

Remember, remember...

St Peter's School in York almost certainly had their fireworks last night, and maybe a bonfire, but for sure did not burn a guy. Why?  Because Guy Fawkes went to school there, and it would be extremely bad form to burn an effigy of a former pupil.  It sometimes comes as a bit of a surprise to realise that Guy Fawkes was a real person with a normal history - he preferred to be called "Guido" but this was just an affectation - he was English through and through.

The true story

Were the writers of  Saving Private Ryan aware of the real-life story of Wilfred Smith?  He was the youngest of six brothers who all fought in the First World War.  One by one, the other brothers were killed in action.  This came to the attention of Queen Mary - wife of George V - who was so appalled at the thought of what the parents had gone through, that she more or less demanded that Wilfred should be discharged and returned home.  And so it was.  He lived a reasonably long life and died in 1968.

Bullseye!

Who should appear on the new £50 note?  Got to be Stephen Hawking, surely?

Unfair?

Perhaps I've missed something, but why is Luton Airport getting all this stick about the disabled man who was videoed dragging himself across the floor because his wheelchair had gone missing and the airport could not provide any "acceptable " alternative.  Surely the fault lay with the airline - whichever it was - which mislaid his wheelchair, not with the airport who did their best to deal with a situation not of their making. 

Do the maths

I'm a bloke so the thought of getting a deal on M & S beauty products has no attraction, but for those of you of the opposite gender, consider this - if you spend £35 in the shop - or online - this qualifies you to be able to buy the store's beauty advent calendar for a further £35.  So you've spent £70 yes?  The calendar includes a gift from their beauty range for each of the days up until Christmas.  And the value of these gifts if you were to buy them individually? £280!  Get in there, girls!

Changing of the guard

So that's it - Hallowe'en is over, and it's all aboard for Christmas...