tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67967257391735684932024-03-13T02:20:00.483+00:00Sniffy's Righting:The Thoughts & Ramblings of a Growing ManSniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.comBlogger179125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-11738874567859867282015-04-08T22:51:00.000+01:002015-04-08T22:51:10.727+01:00Brilliant video from the Green Party<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PPgS7p40ERg/0.jpg" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PPgS7p40ERg?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />
If you don't know who to vote for yet, watch this.<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/caroline-lucas-reveals-10-things-no-one-tells-you-before-you-first-enter-parliament-10149138.html" target="_blank">Caroline Lucas reveals 10 things no one tells you before you first enter Parliament:</a></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Ever needed a reason to change the way Parliament works? It seems to be stuck in the Middle Ages while wearing Armani suits. Read an eye-opening account of what it means to 'take part' in Parliament. Would YOU really want our Government to conduct itself in this way? <i>I</i> don't.</span>Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-16241287040957846922015-04-06T20:58:00.000+01:002015-04-06T20:58:15.464+01:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MrMWv07i6yg/0.jpg" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MrMWv07i6yg?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />
I want to know what the person I am voting for said; not what the other person might have said. I'm tired of election campaigns being about what the other party <i>aren't</i> doing rather than what the party I want to vote for IS going to do. It seems the Green Party are the only ones for that. The Green Party are the only ones who allow ALL their members to input into policies. <a href="http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/" target="_blank">Take a look</a>. Surely that's what Democracy is about. With Tories and Labour (among others) we're really under an elected dictatorship. That's not what I want for our future and our children.Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-8282474988704656142015-03-22T20:13:00.002+00:002015-03-22T20:23:21.072+00:00Gypsy in my blood<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JczqlluvusU/VQ8j7COIbeI/AAAAAAAABZI/nQCe5XvlcPk/s1600/romany-gypsy-flag-3758-p.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JczqlluvusU/VQ8j7COIbeI/AAAAAAAABZI/nQCe5XvlcPk/s1600/romany-gypsy-flag-3758-p.gif" height="192" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Romany flag</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I've been researching my family tree again to try and find out more about my Gypsy heritage. We heard after my mother's death that her real father was a fairground worker and the man my grandmother subsequently married was not my maternal grandfather.<br />
<br />
My Brother and sister-in-law had a child who died soon after birth. He had <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc1050267/?log$=activity" target="_blank">Fraser Syndrome</a>, which is extremely rare and the genes usually occur in Romany Gypsys or when 2 people who are related and have the same gene defect have a child together. As my brother and sister-in-law were not related, this seems to support the story about my maternal grandmother's affair.<br />
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There are other complications; I have found a record on <a href="https://familysearch.org/" target="_blank">Family Search.org</a> that indicates my grandmother married a man in 1929, about two weeks before my mother was born and that she married again in 1931 - to the man who would father my mother's siblings. I cannot find any other record of the original marriage.<br />
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Part of the story we heard about my grandmother was that she was jilted at the altar. Was that in 1929 and the marriage didn't actually go ahead, or is it that they married and he left shortly after?<br />
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In looking into Gypsy/Romany culture I have been struck by the continuing discrimination against them, even today. There's a wonderful video on Vimeo about 3 Gypsys; one who works as a political leader in Germany trying to change the discrimination against Gypsys by the state (yes, it continues even after everything that happened in the Second World War), one who works as an unpaid teacher in Romania, and a traditional storyteller in Hungary. There is no documentary, just film following these individuals lives and providing insight into their culture, traditions and their daily realities.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="375" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/28197954" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://vimeo.com/28197954">BEHIND THE MUSIC</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/lassofilm">Remmelt Lukkien</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
<br />Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-28597351006284276422015-01-09T23:14:00.001+00:002015-01-09T23:14:34.944+00:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CZBAAgc1sg8/VLBgzE13SPI/AAAAAAAABYU/8Bx68ptgtJg/s1600/Je-suis-Charlie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CZBAAgc1sg8/VLBgzE13SPI/AAAAAAAABYU/8Bx68ptgtJg/s1600/Je-suis-Charlie.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-57030880206622032602014-05-30T23:47:00.001+01:002014-05-30T23:47:10.894+01:00A Phenomenal Woman<span style="font-size: large;">“Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">But when I start to tell them,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">They think I'm telling lies.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I say,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It's in the reach of my arms</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The span of my hips,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The stride of my step,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The curl of my lips.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I'm a woman</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Phenomenally.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Phenomenal woman,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">That's me.” </span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: large;">― Maya Angelou</span></div>
Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-11982951391735968222014-05-19T22:35:00.001+01:002014-05-19T22:36:25.511+01:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18428067-a-constellation-of-vital-phenomena" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="A Constellation of Vital Phenomena" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1387147737m/18428067.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18428067-a-constellation-of-vital-phenomena">A Constellation of Vital Phenomena</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5989255.Anthony_Marra">Anthony Marra</a><br />
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My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/883341835">5 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
<br />
A delicately and masterfully crafted book. Unbelievable that this is Anthony Marra's first novel. His writing hooked me in from the beginning and immersed me in his character's lives effortlessly. The attention to life's details is extraordinary and the reality he creates leaps from the page in a picture more vivid than I have read for some time. He manages to convey much with very few words. Not a sentence is wasted and it shows throughout the entire book.<br />
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I felt I had been through an emotional wringer by the time I finished reading and I'm glad I took the journey. The story is at once heartbreaking and uplifting and I defy you not to cry at the closing lines.<br />
<br />
Why it didn't win the National Book Award I'll never know. Anthony Marra deserves to win prizes for his writing. He has far to go and I, for one, will be keeping track of him to see what wonders he comes up with next.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/10084463-christopher">View all my reviews</a>Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-17469092218315168102014-05-19T19:20:00.001+01:002014-05-19T19:20:03.870+01:00The Shock of the Fall<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16120760-the-shock-of-the-fall" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="The Shock of the Fall" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1356034436m/16120760.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16120760-the-shock-of-the-fall">The Shock of the Fall</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6569002.Nathan_Filer">Nathan Filer</a><br />
<br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/941641522">5 of 5 stars</a><br />
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<br />
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16120760.The_Shock_of_the_Fall" title="The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer">The Shock of the Fall</a><br />
<br />
Nathan writes with a keen sense of observation, that make a person, a situation, an emotion, real. He manages to focus on the tiny details, both internal and external, that often seem inconsequential but become an important part of the experiencing of the character. At the beginning of the story our protagonist ends up on the ground with a girl he has just met, falling on top of her while reaching out to comfort her. He describes her turning her head and one of her hairs trailing across his lips and tongue. It is that kind of simplicity that puts flesh on the bones of the people in the story.<br />
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The writing is both delicate and substantial; putting things very simply at times, yet very powerfully. His sensitivity in describing mental illness shines through and, by the time I was most of the way through the book, I felt I had some understanding of what the central character was experiencing.<br />
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This felt like a story written from the heart. The author used to be a mental health nurse and manages to put across some very poignant points about the treatment of people with mental illness. He describes the hospital ward office and all the mugs, clocks, mouse mats, and pens that are adorned with the names of the medication the patients hate. Drug reps may have a job to do but it implies an insensitivity on the part of hospital staff that they allow the clinical aspect to creep insidiously into the treatment place. Patients have enough to remind them of their illness without emblazoning the day-to-day and the ordinary with more reminders.<br />
<br />
I started this book mid-morning and couldn't put it down. I had to stop to do other things otherwise I might have read it all in one go. As it is I picked it up the following day and finished it in one more sitting - in tears by the end.<br />
<br />
Goodreads:<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/10084463-christopher">View all my reviews</a>Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-88358487834306870112014-05-10T00:44:00.004+01:002014-05-10T00:58:02.776+01:00Dicewords app for iPhone, iPad and iPod<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eercGC-_Pus/U21m8kRCXZI/AAAAAAAABWM/q3ofKVeXWD0/s1600/dicewords.png" height="200" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dicewords</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">If you love word games, this is for you. <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/dicewords/id762908890?mt=8" target="_blank"><b>Dicewords</b></a>.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">9 alphabetic dice, over 10 million word combinations... </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Often unpredictable and always great fun, this compelling word game can be played by 1 to 8 players at all skill levels. Includes excellent Dicewords-based puzzle too.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Stephen has taken about a year to make this. It is the first app involving a game he has produced and it's now finally live on the app store. It took a lot of learning on his part. Well done.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">You can see more of Stephen's work on his website - <a href="http://blacktablet.co.uk/" target="_blank">Black Tablet</a>.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/dicewords/id762908890?mt=8" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" target="_blank"><b>Dicewords</b></a> is p<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">roduced in collaboration with Graham Lipscomb, of <a href="http://www.grahams-games.co.uk/index.html" target="_blank">Graham's Games</a>.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-41475430076716296532014-05-10T00:09:00.002+01:002014-05-10T00:09:49.788+01:00Wild Mushrooms<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GkoXKAabE0w/U21f7PeMtsI/AAAAAAAABV8/WY-BNBpop6I/s1600/wild+mushrooms.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GkoXKAabE0w/U21f7PeMtsI/AAAAAAAABV8/WY-BNBpop6I/s1600/wild+mushrooms.JPG" height="149" width="200" /></a></div>
Not a sign you see every day.<br />
<br />
We were in Brighton yesterday and this was propped in the door of a shop.<br />
<br />
I wonder how many Wild Mushroom workshops there are nationally?Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-77795268570110262112014-04-11T21:00:00.003+01:002014-04-11T21:00:56.842+01:00pope Francis takes on evil which some priests had committed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_wbc5__rE14/U0hJraSCLLI/AAAAAAAABVs/Dy0L65WbVoY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-04-11+at+20.57.36.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_wbc5__rE14/U0hJraSCLLI/AAAAAAAABVs/Dy0L65WbVoY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-04-11+at+20.57.36.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The poor ole pope taking on evil</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So, pope Francis has asked for forgiveness for the "evil" damage to children caused by sexual abusers in the clergy.<br />
<br />
Hah!!! Baloney.<br />
<br />
Does this include the clergy and the vatican who have moved these evil abusers around the world to remove them from the places and the people they have harmed? The people who have moved the abusers in an attempt to hush up abuse by an institution that is supposed to protect people? The clergy and the Vatican who have persistently, it seems, tried to ignore the problem and to deal with it in the most heinous way possible to those who have been abused?<br />
<br />
I have written before about the right of the catholic church (no capitals on purpose here - it shouldn't be a proper noun) to speak about anything to do with abuse when it seems to me to be the most abusive Western religion going.<br />
<br />
If anyone's going to Hell (capital letter on purpose - it <i>is</i> a proper noun after all) it should be the perpetrators of such crimes. Instead it leaves the victims in Hell and rewards the perpetrators.<br />
<br />
Consider a 55 year old woman married to a divorced man. Not much wrong with that you might think.<br />
<br />
That 55 year old woman had a letter from the pope excommunicating her from the catholic church <i>because</i> she was married to a divorced man.<br />
<br />
That 55 year old woman is Irish and a devout catholic. She has had it instilled into her since birth.<br />
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She wishes, secretly, that her husband will die before she does so that she can be accepted back into the catholic church and go to heaven when she dies. She loves her husband dearly and knows it is a completely unreasonable thing to think and feel. The way she thinks about it causes her immense feelings of guilt because of her love for her husband. But because it is so ingrained in her she cannot help thinking this way.<br />
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I think the Moonies did <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainwashing" target="_blank">something similar</a> and it's called Brainwashing (capital letter on purpose). Who is more Christian? I'll leave you to decide.<br />
<br />Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-236255457935701392014-02-02T13:09:00.000+00:002014-02-02T13:09:28.776+00:00St. Peter's Maldon without the Holm Oak<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yF0eUIbEm8I/Uu5AgAkTHvI/AAAAAAAABVE/7hCti0_beqo/s1600/before.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yF0eUIbEm8I/Uu5AgAkTHvI/AAAAAAAABVE/7hCti0_beqo/s1600/before.JPG" height="320" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w1f4aVtxlfw/Uu5AleEbqvI/AAAAAAAABVM/MZAIHoMyd3A/s1600/after.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w1f4aVtxlfw/Uu5AleEbqvI/AAAAAAAABVM/MZAIHoMyd3A/s1600/after.JPG" height="320" width="271" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Maldon may have lost a beautiful tree but a view of St. Peter's has been opened up that won't have been seen for over 100 years.Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-18940598853464050252014-01-11T17:22:00.000+00:002014-01-11T17:22:13.261+00:00150 Year Old Holm Oak Cut Down in Maldon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Er4AKNp7T2g/UtF6p3qOoeI/AAAAAAAABU0/0N-6KL8kxTk/s1600/photo+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Er4AKNp7T2g/UtF6p3qOoeI/AAAAAAAABU0/0N-6KL8kxTk/s1600/photo+1.JPG" height="200" width="181" /></a></div>
They're cutting down the old holm oak in St. Peter's churchyard, Maldon. The base of the trunk has a fungal infection that has weakened it and it is in danger of falling down.<br />
<br />
It has stood in front of the Thomas Plume library for about 150 years and has become an imposing presence in the town.<br />
<br />
It provided a lot of shade in the summer and the bench under it is a popular place to sit. It's also an enormous amount of greenery spreading, as it did, out over the road and towering about 80 feet above the town.<br />
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Without it there will be a huge gap and I'm sure it will be missed by a lot of people - I know I will.<br />
<br />
Today, there were pockets of people standing around in the High Street watching the operations as they start to take the tree down. It will be an impressive piece of work and I'm sure will attract bystanders, but I also think there will be people watching because it feels like the end of an era. There will be a lot of emotional people in the town.Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-86415272412208103252014-01-11T10:57:00.000+00:002014-01-11T11:03:48.131+00:00A Very Modern Car<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WPRgLCqQlDE/UtEfNSSQL0I/AAAAAAAABUc/L9Fr4apYhFQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-11+at+10.36.47.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WPRgLCqQlDE/UtEfNSSQL0I/AAAAAAAABUc/L9Fr4apYhFQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-11+at+10.36.47.png" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
I bought a little car a while ago, a Peugeot 206. It's very nippy and compact and I love it. It's blue-silver, even though the registration documents say it's silver.<br />
<br />
I like to be a little different.<br />
<br />
It has some automatic devices and settings, which are quite handy as well; the lights come on automatically when it gets dark enough to have them on. I like that bit. The fog lights don't come on automatically when it gets foggy though, something that would be quite handy as I always forget where the fog light switch is and then have to scrabble around dangerously - in the fog - looking for the switch.<br />
<br />
When these automatic devices are active, a sign lights up on my dashboard to tell me. I like that bit too. It feels modern.<br />
<br />
One day a sign lit up that got me rather nervous and led me to believe the car had belonged to someone fervently religious, perhaps a Catholic.<br />
<br />
'Automatic Whipping Active', it said.<br />
<br />
I didn't know how to turn this one off, which was worrying for a while. Mind you, I didn't know how to turn off the other settings either but they were handy ones that I liked having set to ON. I like to be a bit different, but not this different.<br />
<br />
Was this a setting for the lazy self-flagellator; have a machine do it for you rather than DIY? I would guess, having never tried it, that self-flagellation would be dangerous while driving and would rank along with mobile phone usage and steering with your knees while driving with your hands behind your head - something you could be filmed doing and then find yourself posted to YouTube. How embarrassing would that be? I wondered how many points someone would get on their licence if they were stopped for flagellating themselves while driving.<br />
<br />
The device never activated itself and I didn't find myself being flagellated. I could only guess it would do it if I did something that deserved penitence.<br />
<br />
I pointed it out to a friend one day.<br />
<br />
"You silly bugger," he said, in the way old friends can call me a silly bugger. "It says, 'Automatic Wiping Active.'"<br />
<br />
Now I'm worried about my seating position.Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-38376878222880801112014-01-09T22:43:00.000+00:002014-01-09T22:43:02.011+00:00Knitting Jumpers From The Wool That's Pulled Over Our Eyes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cAXf9pX-RD0/Us8j_sejQxI/AAAAAAAABUE/mNWCOXrz2-Y/s1600/Who+you+kidding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cAXf9pX-RD0/Us8j_sejQxI/AAAAAAAABUE/mNWCOXrz2-Y/s1600/Who+you+kidding.jpg" height="211" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, Sir Margaret Thatcher's government wanted to <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25549596" target="_blank">shut down more coal pits</a> than they said they did. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, key advisors would deny any cover-up claims and they always have done.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Quite right, it's what they get paid for isn't it?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/901.htm" target="_blank">The information</a> released by the <a href="http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/" target="_blank">National Archives</a> after 30 years shows much that would have been shouted down as 'conspiracy theories' even while the national populace knew its truth ... we always seem to know the truth even when we're told we don't.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The government will always try to pull the wool over our eyes in a futile attempt to cover up what is later revealed to be just that - a cover-up.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm surprised there hasn't been the uprising my mother thought there should be back in 1983. "It's time this country had a revolution," she said. And she wasn't a revolutionary type, my mother, but she knew injustice when she saw it and she was only 5'3".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We vote our governments in to dish injustice out to us, don't we? We always do. It's what democracy is for. And then, because we can't face the stupidity of what we've done, we wave our hands and say, "Oh, they always do it. The next government will be better." Really?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our governments are usually full of the most unrepresentative people; MPs with privileged educations and more than one home. How is that representative of the people? When was the last time you felt that our PM downwards had any idea of what life is like for us mere mortals? Exactly. They are removed from us and seem to think they can do what they like - and usually do.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That Bliar chap a few years ago cried 'justice' while authorising and encouraging bombing the hell out of Iraq. 'We have good cause,' he said, while we cried "Bliar." So, who was right? We haven't even had to wait 30 years to find out what we all knew all along. Try as he might he couldn't pull the wool over our eyes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The frustration is, we didn't seem to be able to actually <i>do</i> much about it at the time.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were too busy knitting wooly jumpers with all that wool.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> All our protests were treated in much the same way as Sir Margaret sanctioned in the 80s - oppress the buggers and beat them down.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh, and while we're at it, did you know she and her government were all for <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23518590" target="_blank">flooding Kent and Essex</a> to save London when the building of the Thames barrier was delayed due to a strike? Playing God as well, were we Sir Margaret? <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_ethnic_liveries" target="_blank">That moment</a> with the tailplane of a model of a British Airways 747 obviously went to her head.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While not condoning violence I think there was a great lesson to be learnt from the fate of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolae_Ceau%C5%9Fescu" target="_blank">Mr. and Mrs. Ceausescu</a>. Go too far and your own people will bay for your blood ... and one day they might just get it.</span>Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-90762969237988729662014-01-08T22:01:00.002+00:002014-01-08T22:21:22.540+00:00Are Mobile Phones Irritating Social Exclusion Devices?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NYD0LOAHwvg/Us3KTYVvvII/AAAAAAAABT0/WloAChb9QWs/s1600/mobile+phone+bore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NYD0LOAHwvg/Us3KTYVvvII/AAAAAAAABT0/WloAChb9QWs/s1600/mobile+phone+bore.jpg" height="204" width="320" /></a></div>
Have you noticed the people who seem to have nothing better to do than stand around, or wander aimlessly through your local streets or supermarket, nattering on their mobile phones?<br />
<br />
They are the people who have their phone glued to their ears for hours at a time, and are obviously talking to someone on the other end of the phone who equally seems to have little else to do other than talk to someone on the other end of the phone for hours at a time.<br />
<br />
The young lady next to me on Witham station, judging by the strange (and worrying) colour of her skin, was probably talking to a young lady with equally strange coloured skin sitting behind the desk of her local tanning parlour and who also had little else to do, except study her nails and discuss skin colour with the young woman on Witham railway station.<br />
<br />
Am I being unfair in laying most of this behaviour on women? A quick head count while waiting for my train revealed four women on two platforms with their mobile phones glued to their ears apparently talking to the same person, unless by some strange magic they managed to hang up unseen and dial another number. By this I don't mean all four women were talking to the same person in a conference call - at least I presume they weren't. What I meant was, the person on the other end was the same person throughout the time I saw them on the phone -- Oh, You know what I mean.<br />
<br />
Men do spend inordinate amounts of time on the phone and upset and bore a lot of bystanders in the process but it is women, and young girls, who seem to have it down to an art form.<br />
<br />
To be fair, on my way home from London, an older man sat in the same carriage as me and spent most of a 45 minute journey holding the tiny microphone attached to the lead of his headphones close to his mouth while he spoke in a louder than usual voice to it about completely mundane and frankly boring stuff. What the person on the other end was doing was beyond me - painting the next masterpiece in oils perhaps? They can't have been listening to such drivel, surely?<br />
<br />
While I'm on a roll (because that's what I feel this is), what became of bluetooth headsets? All these women and boring middle-aged men taking up the airwaves with copious amounts of nothing are either wearing headphones or holding the phone to their ears. Bluetooth headsets seem to be reserved for men over a certain age. They are the ones, often taxi drivers or overweight 50-somethings, that look like they've had a cyborg part grafted to the side of their heads. That little device in their ear says, "Look at me. I'm modern and technical and down with the crowd. And I'm so popular I have to wear this device so I can speak to my minions while I'm doing other stuff." Mind you, the little device in their ear is only speaking to them. To the rest of us they look like middle-aged tossers.<br />
<br />
Mobile phones seem to have extended the capability of gossip in women, and inane boring chat in men, to something beyond the personal, beyond human interaction. Now you can say, "Oooh, you'll never guess what?" wherever you are and whenever you are. You don't have to wait until you see someone. Not only that but you can include a carriage full of passengers in your conversation by talking inappropriately loudly to the irritation of everyone else around you (not that you'll realise this - you'll be so engrossed in your own selfish thoughts and behaviour). The woman who sat in front of us on the way to London discussed her family very loudly for about 20 minutes, explaining to her friend afterwards, who she had largely ignored for most of the journey, "That was my dad. I have to shout, he lives in Spain." I kid you not.<br />
<br />
Still, if silence is your thing, you can negotiate the countless youngsters wandering around with their arms and hands extended in front of them with thumbs that can outperform our nearest primate relatives and who may well evolve into a species that looks like they're holding something even when they're not ... thumbs bouncing up and down on invisible keys. They are so absorbed in the little screens in front of them, they even have to download apps to <a href="http://ramblingsofagrowingman.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/texting-and-walking-as-irresponsible.html" target="_blank">replace their attention and eyesight</a>.<br />
<br />
I'm quite happy to revise my thinking about this subject if you can give me reasonable cause to do so. In the meantime I'm happy to rant and to grow into one of the grumpy old men I so admired on TV some years ago. You might not agree with me but I know I'm right.<br />
<br />
Besides, this is my blog and I can write what I like.<br />
<br />
Happy New Year and Bah, humbug.Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-26262278211857834572013-12-10T22:45:00.002+00:002014-01-12T18:40:01.287+00:00Hamba kahle Madiba<h3>
</h3>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JcLAiqKSBUQ/UqeYhcBDEvI/AAAAAAAABTk/n39nXDXcU3Q/s1600/3778171875.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JcLAiqKSBUQ/UqeYhcBDEvI/AAAAAAAABTk/n39nXDXcU3Q/s200/3778171875.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; font-weight: normal;">“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”</span></blockquote>
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<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela</i></span></span></div>
<br />Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-72834619542342694312013-11-02T20:25:00.000+00:002013-11-02T20:26:03.078+00:00Unite? the Union<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wkKzX5RRnSU/UnVcNSXi3iI/AAAAAAAABTI/Iu0-hoA46Z0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-11-02+at+20.09.18.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="126" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wkKzX5RRnSU/UnVcNSXi3iI/AAAAAAAABTI/Iu0-hoA46Z0/s200/Screen+Shot+2013-11-02+at+20.09.18.png" width="200" /></a></div>
As a member of Unite the Union, I was somewhat appalled at Len McClusky's response to David Cameron's comments about the use of Leveraging in the Commons the other day.<br />
<br />
I am no fan of David Cameron and I don't actually care what he said; it was Mr. McClusky's response that appalled me. Rather than justify whatever action the union had taken, he seemed to do what so many people of few eloquent words do - he batted the focus back to the Cameron man.<br />
<br />
Leverage - you can read about it on the Unite website <a href="http://www.unitetheunion.org/growing-our-union/organising-toolbox/leverage/" target="_blank">here</a> - is:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">a process whereby the Union commits resources and time to making all interested parties aware of the treatment received by Unite members at the hands of an employer. Those interested parties may include shareholders of the employer; competitors of the employer; communities within which the employer operates; customers of the employer and the market place of the employer."</span></blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">So far, so good. I don't disagree with that. I would go one further and say that <u>anyone</u> receiving unfair treatment at the hands of employers, shareholders, customers and the market place deserves some form of compensation; whether financial or not. There should be policies and processes in place in any company worth its salt whereby employees have some recourse action they can take, whether they belong to a union or not.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">The Unite website continues:</span></span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">"</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">We will ask those who object to the behaviour of an immoral employer to conduct in lawful protest against the actions of the employer. Where Unite members are involved in such lawful protest the union will use its best endeavours to ensure such members are aware of their rights of lawful protest."</span></blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Again, all well and good. However, I would question here how moral a protest is outside an interested party's home when his family may be home. Are their wives, husbands and children, as involved in the "</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><i>treatment received by Unite members at the hands of an employer</i>" as their spouses and fathers are? Probably not. </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Consider how bewildering it would be if a group of protestors turned up on your driveway clutching an inflatable rat and waving banners and began chanting about the actions of your spouse or father, or mother.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">I don't care how many "</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><i>landmark victories have been </i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><i>secured</i>" using Leverage. It smacks of the Animal Liberation Front and childish protest.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Len McClusky's response to the Cameron man did not explain or justify any behaviour, as far as I was concerned. Rather than tell Union members that their actions were outside the process, and that they misunderstand the process, he seemed almost to condone it. I'm sure that any union member, armed with knowledge and understanding of a situation, could ensure that those responsible for unfair treatment of an employee were exposed in a way that did not cause distress to their family.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">If </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #282828; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">“<i>Leverage is about the democratic right of the Union to ensure that immoral employers cannot hide behind veils of secrecy</i>” </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #282828; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">I'm sure there are plenty of ways of lifting the veil to reveal the face behind it so that it can be seen by many, and so that the lifter of the veil fades into the background leaving the revealed on show. Wouldn't this be a more intelligent use of time and resources?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Are the interests of members really being represented by the union or is it the interests of a select few?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Antagonistic actions are not part of my vocabulary and I don't expect them to be part of the vocabulary of an organisation that is supposed to represent me.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Now, I need to consider whether (or when) I tear up my own union card.</span></span>Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-25373764666784637042013-10-26T23:24:00.001+01:002013-10-26T23:24:03.224+01:00Learn Calligraphy - Beautiful Writing<a href="http://www.learncalligraphy.co.uk/index.html#.UmxA2UtVBi8.blogger">Learn Calligraphy - Beautiful Writing</a><br />
Ever want to learn about Calligraphy?Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-83609455413497292172013-09-24T20:57:00.000+01:002013-09-24T22:31:40.715+01:00Thames Sailing Barge 'British Empire' Update<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VUzOJPfty-Y/UkHckvgzCrI/AAAAAAAABSM/hYwz-4Zu_LY/s1600/colchester-hythe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="245" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VUzOJPfty-Y/UkHckvgzCrI/AAAAAAAABSM/hYwz-4Zu_LY/s320/colchester-hythe.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Colchester Hythe c1900 with a Stackie in the foreground</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I previously wrote about the Thames Sailing Barge, <i><a href="http://ramblingsofagrowingman.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/thames-barge-british-empire.html" target="_blank">British Empire</a></i> and the rapid decline of a once handsome and rugged workhorse.<br />
<br />
The article was picked up by <a href="http://sailingbarges.wordpress.com/category/sb-british-empire/" target="_blank">The Barge Blog</a>, who kindly included a link to my story and it seemed to generate some interest.<br />
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I recently came across some information about Thames Barges on my local history website, <a href="http://www.churchside1.plus.com/Goldhanger-past/" target="_blank">Goldhanger Past</a>. There was a link to Mersea Island Museum where there is more information and a couple of photographs of the <i>British Empire</i>. The photos are copyrighted so I've only included links to them here.<br />
<br />
One of the photos shows <a href="http://www.merseamuseum.org.uk/mmphoto.php?pid=PA1_RG1_AB05_RON257&hit=2&tot=2&typ=cat&wds=british%20empire&syn=all&dup=N" target="_blank"><i>British Empire</i> loading straw at Colchester Hythe</a>. Another shows <a href="http://www.merseamuseum.org.uk/mmphoto.php?pid=BF03_002_003_002&hit=9&tot=118&typ=cat&syn=all&cat=215" target="_blank"><i>British Empire</i> being towed down Colchester River</a> in a convoy of Stackies (the term used to describe a barge laden with a stack of straw). I know I included this piece of information in my previous post but I took the liberty of repeating it here. I hope I haven't broken any copyrights by including it.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
BRITISH EMPIRE was built 1899 by Stone Bros., Brightlingsea Bros at Brightlingsea for Henry Howe of Colchester and in her earlier years was employed in taking hay to London. Official No. 109616. She was Colchester based throughout her working life and an engine was installed in 1951. She continued in trade until about 1955 when she sank loaded off Brightlingsea, her skipper at the time was Ray Green. She was raised and sold to Brown the Chelmsford timber merchant for use as a lighter in Heybridge Basin when the register was closed 3 Feb 1955. She was sold and rerigged 1978, but has finished up as a hulk at Battlesbridge.</blockquote>
Some of the comments on The Barge Blog proved interesting too.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I looked on board the British Empire in 1991/92 when she was still afloat alongside the mill and though leaky, she was still complete and quite smart to look at. It’s really sad to see how she has become in such a relatively short time"</blockquote>
The following comment I found interesting. Was there more than one attempt to have her restored, or was this the same one I was involved in?<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I well remember British Empire as a timber lighter for Brown’s at Heybridge Basin as I used to climb all over all of the barges there when “Dillbery” Clarke was not around. When the lock was enlarged in 1964 Brown’s fleet were sold off but she remained in the Basin for another two years or so eventually going to Conyer where she was partially rigged out and seen out under sail a few times. In late 1979 a new steel mast and spreet were made up for her and fitted in 1980. She lay for a while at pin mill fully rigged and eventually finished up in Brightlingsea where she was to become a sailing school but finished up with a writ on her.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
She was sold very cheaply and was taken to Battlesbridge on the way there getting ashore and breaking a leeboard. She never got under way again and lay there looking sadder and sadder and finally became tidal. Some years later a former crew member of mine tried to set up a trust to restore her back to sailing condition and many tons of mud was removed from inside her, it was found at this point due to the berth that she was hogged around 18″ and they were unable to refloat her due to damage to her bottom. The trust fizzled out and poor old British Empire was left to sink further into the mud."</blockquote>
... and sadly:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"One of the shopkeepers told me a few years ago a lorry turned up without permission and grabbed what scrap they could causing extensive damage. Luckily they'd (<i>presumably the shopkeeper</i>) hidden a few bits away which now form a kind of sculpture by the cafe."</blockquote>
So, the sun continues to set on the <i>British Empire</i> and night draws rapidly in. I wonder how long it will be before she becomes so much a part of the river that you won't be able to tell she was ever there?<br />
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<br />Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-21505055871661645012013-09-23T22:52:00.000+01:002013-09-24T06:39:02.558+01:00The Foundations? of Beauty<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_kO7QCjC1Hg/UkC3TDZr3KI/AAAAAAAABR8/feZqeYRovzI/s1600/omg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="141" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_kO7QCjC1Hg/UkC3TDZr3KI/AAAAAAAABR8/feZqeYRovzI/s200/omg.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who needs the beauty treatment here?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Judging by the number of 'beauty' parlours up and down Maldon High Street and, no doubt, elsewhere in the land, it seems that beauty no longer comes from within; it can be laid on thickly and expensively with as much handiwork and labour as a plasterer working on the Sistine Chapel. Almost everything can be extended, coloured, bleached or hidden these days, and the person underneath concealed to the point of being unrecognisable.<br />
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All this beauty comes at a price - not only from the pocket. Skin problems, mouldy nails under the talons, loss of hair from bad colouring and bleaching fluids, sensitive and discoloured teeth, recoiling partners and passers-by, and mistaken identity.<br />
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When you can have your teeth whitened and your skin darkened as much as you like there has to come a point where one or the other may disappear completely. You may be easily seen at night when you grin but you're still only going to look as though you've been tangoed by day.<br />
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It seems that real beauty; compassion, kindness, calm, appeal, are not enough. In an attempt to appear beautiful, all I see is a hideous cloning of young girls on the High Street. We've all been through the adolescent years of individuality, which largely meant looking and acting the same, but we are now surrounded by a growing herd of taut skin, bleached hair, plastic talons and gastric bands of something Hammer House of Horror would have been proud.<br />
<br />Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-58326879575446566522013-09-22T18:07:00.000+01:002013-09-22T18:07:06.180+01:00Why do we do that?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Isn't it funny how people scrunch themselves up in the rain, as though screwing up their faces and hunching their heads down into their shoulders will somehow keep them drier?Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-5289931922215743442013-09-14T16:37:00.000+01:002013-09-22T17:55:53.579+01:00National Heritage Open Day in Goldhanger<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IlRMq_Pan2A/Uj8fd_uFFyI/AAAAAAAABRg/jdS3wueQhg8/s1600/panorama-from-church-tower-lge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="90" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IlRMq_Pan2A/Uj8fd_uFFyI/AAAAAAAABRg/jdS3wueQhg8/s400/panorama-from-church-tower-lge.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
A tour of Goldhanger today as part of National Heritage Open Day.<br />
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Our guide was David Newman, who also runs the comprehensive <a href="http://www.churchside1.plus.com/Goldhanger-past/" target="_blank">Goldhanger Past</a> website.<br />
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Although I've lived in Goldhanger about 18 years it was still a fascinating tour and I learnt things I didn't know. Over the years I've read bits of the Goldhanger Past website but it has been added to so much there is always something new on it.<br />
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Living in the Coastguard Cottages gives me a strong link to a thread of history in this village. I like that feeling of connection to people who have been here before. It's a tenuous connection as the lives of Goldhanger residents 50 years ago, 100 years ago, would have been very different from mine. The village was far more isolated than it is now and would have been almost self-sufficient because of the isolation.<br />
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There was a time when the sea wall would not have held back the tide completely and the land to the bottom of Fish Street and beyond would have flooded at high tides. Because of the lie of the land, this meant that a direct route to Maldon - the nearest market town - was not possible and a detour would have to be made via Little Totham. This added some miles to a journey and increased the isolation. Considering the number of creeks reaching inland along the estuary, a large number of villages in these parts would have been more isolated than they are now.<br />
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Isolation also meant that nefarious activities could take place and often go unnoticed. While it may have been quite lawless in these parts there are records stretching back centuries detailing court appearances and convictions. Goldhanger has long been known for illegal activity, such as: endeavouring to steal and convey away somebody's daughter; felony; dice playing; not attending church on Sundays, and smuggling - a thriving activity in its time. Various ale-houses were notorious for rowdy behaviour and the owner of one even set up and built the Wesleyan Chapel in Head Street!<br />
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There can still be a sense of isolation here, even in the 21st century. There are no shops in the village any more and no Post Office. Shopping takes place in Maldon and if you have no car you have to rely on the few buses that come through the village. In almost 20 years of living here it has been rare that I cannot leave the village because of flooding or snow, but when it does happen I've been glad of a well-stocked freezer.<br />
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Some years ago, we had regular power cuts because of a fragile sub-station that would cut out at the merest hint of rain. This had the effect of bringing people together by candlelight to pass the time. The Chequers would continue to sell beer from hand pumps and was lit by candles and oil lamps. Since extensive work was carried out by the energy companies we get very few power cuts now. They were inconvenient if you were in the middle of cooking dinner (there is no gas in the village) but at other times forced us to abandon the modern world and go back to the more simple pastimes that our ancestors would have enjoyed.<br />
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This is a fascinating, historic, and peaceful place to live and I love it.Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-50721005156418230732013-05-25T22:56:00.003+01:002013-05-25T23:16:25.958+01:00Texting and Walking as an Irresponsible Exercise<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B8_OSq62O8s/UaEzTIjLY0I/AAAAAAAABLw/G7Wc9aOJKBU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-05-25+at+22.54.16.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B8_OSq62O8s/UaEzTIjLY0I/AAAAAAAABLw/G7Wc9aOJKBU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-05-25+at+22.54.16.png" /></a></div>
Good God!!! As if people using their phones almost constantly isn't enough - now you can download an app that will warn you of impending danger while you text and walk.<br />
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See <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22631731" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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And I thought that was what eyes were made for.<br />
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If people want to text and walk at the same time, let them break their noses and fall off cliffs if they can't be bothered to watch where they're going. Just don't bump into me on the street with your phone in your hand.<br />
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And who's going to invent something for the drivers who insist on endangering lives every day while they bury their noses in their mobile phones? The sooner we take away this time-wasting reliance on mobile phone technology the better.<br />
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Being 'connected' every waking minute of the day seems to be bringing about a disconnection with the world.Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-61280780723982663692013-01-10T22:05:00.004+00:002013-01-23T09:27:27.075+00:00New Creative Writing Blog<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zYIfVH9_2lI/UO86aC7W05I/AAAAAAAABDw/kMV48omQRK8/s1600/writingblog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="124" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zYIfVH9_2lI/UO86aC7W05I/AAAAAAAABDw/kMV48omQRK8/s200/writingblog.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
I have taken the decision to create a new blog about <a href="http://www.writingplace.co.uk/" target="_blank">Creative Writing</a>. I have found that more and more I am writing about writing and this wasn't what this blog was about in the first place.<br />
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This is my place for my reflections on life. That's why it's called the 'Ramblings of a Growing Man'. I have decided to keep it that way.<br />
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If you found this blog and started reading, you are more than welcome to come back for more. If it's Creative Writing you're after then head on over to <a href="http://www.writingplace.co.uk/" target="_blank">The Writing Place</a> and let me know what you think.<br />
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Thank you for reading.Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6796725739173568493.post-17640103577817564822013-01-01T22:29:00.000+00:002013-02-22T19:52:30.848+00:00Matt Gemmell - His Stories<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZVR6mI-xj84/UONiOoRV_SI/AAAAAAAABCE/ISwQk3ehPOM/s1600/Lucy+opens+the+wardrobe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZVR6mI-xj84/UONiOoRV_SI/AAAAAAAABCE/ISwQk3ehPOM/s200/Lucy+opens+the+wardrobe.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
I've just read a blog post by <a href="http://mattgemmell.com/" target="_blank">Matt Gemmell</a> entitled "<a href="http://mattgemmell.com/2012/12/31/stories/" target="_blank">Stories</a>". Matt is 'an iOS (iPad, iPhone and iPod touch) and Mac OS X (Cocoa) developer and user experience/interface designer, based in Edinburgh, Scotland' and not a writer in the sense of being an author of stories - at least not yet.<br />
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If you read his other posts - whether you're interested in apps and coding or not<br />
<a name='more'></a> - you'll find he's an intelligent and articulate writer. Something we should all be striving to be.<br />
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"Stories" is about a cupboard, like the cupboard you and I might have in our own home - the one you rarely go into but when you do it's as though time stood still in there and there may be something lurking in there that you don't want to find.<br />
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Matt writes elegantly and atmospherically about the cupboard in his mother's house and his journey into it to find something buried in there long ago. What he eventually pulls out is a box that contains stories he wrote as a child. Stories he wants to re-visit. Stories he wants to write again. New stories he wants to write. It is full of observation and can provide a lesson for other writers. It is also very thoughtfully put together.<br />
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He manages to write about something that, I think, all of us can identify with. The mystery of enclosed spaces and the fear and fascination of them. There is something that draws us into these spaces and yet we can be afraid of them (or the contents) at the same time. In these spaces are buried the memories and paraphernalia of childhood and history. The cupboard is his Narnia.<br />
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Read it and enjoy it as I did. I'm very interested to see what he writes in the future.<br />
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<br />Sniffy's Rightinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13175352738822918174noreply@blogger.com0