You will be pleased/sorry/relieved to hear that Jeremy Clarkson is still away (cross out which ever words you feel necessary). This week his space in The Sunday Times is taken over for the second week running by someone called Stephen Bleach (have just read up about him - he has worked at The Sunday Times for years but must have kept a low profile).
I read him in his entirety (don't always with Sunday 'articles' because some irritate/bore/plainly annoy/ me.) He would I hope be pleased to know that at the end of his article he had almost pushed me up to the top of the imaginary ladder of my feelings. Mostly I hover around the middle, occasionally I fall off the bottom but only very occasionally do I rise to the top - let's face it most News is Doom and Gloom.
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A complete aside from what I want to say but what do you feel about the Spanish chap kissing the footballer ON THE LIPS and hugging her when the team stepped up to be congratulated after becoming world champions? I am very pro womens' lib but I do feel this was such a jubilant occasion and it all seemed so spontaneous that I can't help feeling what a pity to spoil it by bringing up something which could have easily have been said in private. I feel we are in danger of protesting too much. I would love to hear what you think.
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He took several things which he cited as being so much better and when I had read them and agreed with him I really did metaphorically climb up a lot of steps.
We all moan about kids having their noses stuck to their phones texting their friends. He said at least it was helping their reading skills.
He said 100 years ago life expectancy here was 50 - now it is 80. Can't complain at that - I hopefully add to statistics that eventually that 80 will rise to 90.
He spoke of housing and how it had improved. A bathroom is now essential. Nearly everyone has an inside lav. My parents never did until the last six weeks of her life when my father reluctantly agreed to move into an old persons' bungalow (they were the village's oldest residents and were offered the vacant bungalow). It had a bathroom - the first time in her life when she had actually had one. This was the early 1970.s.
And did you know in passing that the murder rate in England and Wales is only a little more than half what it was as recently as 20 years ago.
I made a resolution as I put the paper down. I am for a time not going to read about Putin and Russia, about Trump and his "crimes", about the fact that there now has to be another by-election because another so called top politician has resigned. I really think papers should start printing all the good news in a different coloured print so that we don't have to search for it. Then we would all be climbing that ladder (as it is an imaginary one we don't have to say we can't because of arthritic knees) and we could all feel a jolly lot better. Let's face it most of the doom and gloom is about stuff we have no control over - let's spend that saved time in looking at the blue sky, the white clouds, the lovely trees which will soon be turning into their Autumn Sunday best, the children out playing with their Unicorn balloons (up here they are definitely the IN thing.)
See you tomorrow.
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30 comments:
I’d be happy kissing anyone at the moment
I suppose they could always turn off the internet, and all those hand held phones would suddenly become useless. Usual me with tongue in cheek. As for news, both good and bad, i think we have to brace ourselves to read it. Not for the rogues of course, here I am thinking of Trump and Putin. But in the end news pays people's salaries, and we do have choice. Just loved Marina Hyde on Nadine Dorries this morning.
As for the kissing FIFA president, not the wisest of moves but a silly reaction from the rest of society.
What excellent advice! No more reading bad news!
hugs
Donna
I find I now feel much better if I only watch the news a couple of times a week. We weren't meant to know about all the horror going on all around the world. Most of it we can do nothing about. I quite enjoy the local news but can do without the national. I feel sorry for the decent people of America who must think 'what on earth .....'.
Yes, there are definintely optimistic and pessimistic ways of recording the news for posterity. The whole 'kissing on the lips' debate could simply have been solved with a heartfelt apology and admitting that he was caught up in the excitement of the day.
My son, who works for the Police says crime figures, both small scale crimes and larger ones, are actually at an all time low, it's just that everything from everywhere in the country and the world is reported on with 'click bait' style headlines. After all it's the headlines that sell papers and that make folk want to stay watching the news.
Comments are going into spam, Weave. Please pull mine out - I liked it!
In respect of the infamous Spanish kiss, if it had been as portrayed it would indeed have been distaseful, but I got the impression that as he pulled away from the girl that she was grinning and also patted him on the side, she didn't look annoyed.
As for you not looking at certain aspects of the news Pat, you've gone back on that promise several times before.
John - loads of xxx comng your way. Sorry mine won't do!
A pop-up on my email page last Tuesday was "Warning! Britain to be battered by Thunder this week!" How stupid do 'they' think we are? Battered by thunder???? I wondered if maybe I should retreat into the nearest nuclear bunker . . . .
A quick kiss in the joy of the moment does no harm. Why do some people take this out of proportion? Color coding the newspaper for good news and bad news is hilarious and has some merit.
I love Jeremy Clarkson; he is a bull in a china shop but oh so eloquent with it. Do you remember when he and A A Gill bounced off each other? What joy! Until Gill snuffed it.
Too much is made of that kiss. Not quite Rodin, is it? Sometimes, in a moment of exuberance and joy (as in this case) one may fling arms around even a stranger; indeed plant a brief kiss (the latter not my thing but forgivable). Please give the guy a break I'd say to Hermoso. It was hardly an assault. And, yes, if I were Louis Rubiales I'd dig my heels in too. As is, Fifa, in their "wisdom", have suspended him. Storms in teacups come to mind.
Pat, as an aside (and forgive me as it's not meant to be snide) maybe we should send John a collective kiss as he seems in need - or, at a minimum, one of us (as long as it's not me) sacrifices themselves. Some names come to mind. Oh the fun of it.
News. I don't watch news, neither do I listen to them. I read them. Saves time and headspace not listening to endless ramblings. By necessity, written journalism has to keep it (relatively) short and to the point. And I do believe it's almost a civil duty to do keep an eye on what's going on, be it in our immediate neighbourhood, the nation or the wider world. Otherwise, how would we have the slightest chance to make a difference? Voices need to be heard. That's what I love about comment sections of online newspapers. I rarely comment but oh do I love reading what people actually think on any subject. It's incredibly instructive, broadens the mind - if only because (unlike in certain quarters of blogland) you get the whole spectrum of opinions rather than just an echo chamber.
Wishing you a sun tinged Sunday afternoon, Pat,
U
Brilliant post, Pat, and I so agree about having the good news in a different color print!
Yes, too often too much is made about something spontaneous or really a bit insignificant so people surely need to consider what's worth making a fuss over.
Be good to you!
Hugs!
Rambler - thunder can 'batter' all it likes - it is quite harmless Thanks Ursula -sun tinged is about it - blue sky one minute giant black cloud the next.
Ursula don’t discuss me on other’s blogs
I totally agree with the last paragraph of your blog. Our news has become a catalogue of doom and gloom, bringing many of us down in spirit with feelings of guilt at our lack of ability to do anything to make any improvements.
As for the 'football' kiss; I think it was a totally spontaneous reaction to the excitement of the occasion and it has been blown out of all proportion. I feel sorry for the manager(?) in question and do not think he should be punished in any way. Dare I say - feminism gone crazy.
A bit of silly sensetivity John, reminds me of a blogging friend of yours.
Lol Derek
I was being sensitive that woman drives me to distraction
I agree, we need to keep our spirits up. I have a journal beside my bed in which I've written the things which give me pleasure. I rarely write in it now because it is filled with good things but I do read it often and it always lifts my spirits.
We listen to news on the radio, but not daily. We have enough on our own plates to worry about, and often the news isn't really news at all, but a lot of gossip, talking heads discussing what-if scenarios, etc.
As for the kiss--i have not seen video of it, so can't say if it has been overblown, but I would have been angry if someone kissed me without me expecting or inviting it.
This is such an upbeat post and has raised my spirits.
Perhaps it would cheer us all up to see Gareth Southgate kiss Harry Kane on the lips if it meant we had won the world cup.
Good points here. Why do we always have to hear about the scumbags? I have often said , I would not like to be a kid at this time. Thee are some advantages but there are challenges. The time for face to face contact is limited and they have to experience lots of it.
AMEN!
What a wonderful idea! I may copy it :)
In a moment of total jubilation a football manager congratulates his player with a little kiss. Personally I would have been shocked had he ignored them.
I did have an idea when lying in bed this morning, that I would never listen to The News ever again. I wonder how long I'd last.
Cro - my feelings exactly. As Derek reminds me - I have said it before - many times - but then the feeling wears off.
Tasker - very clever - gave me my laugh of the day! (I am sure you didn't intend it to be funny - but couldn't help laughing it was so clever. I am a feminist by the way.)
As usual thanks to you all. A sensitive issue and our thoughts on it are mixed.
I think I am an outlier here.
I don’t think the matter should have been addressed privately. From what little I have read, the kiss was not welcomed. The recipient said that she felt she was “the victim of aggression”. The entire coaching staff, other than the manager, have resigned in support.
Let’s see how it plays out. You don’t grab someone’s head and kiss them even if it is in a moment of “total jubilation.”
Hermosillo said “I feel the need to report this incident because I believe no person, in any work, sports or social setting should be a victim of these types of non-consensual behaviours. I felt vulnerable and a victim of impulsive-driven, sexist, out-of-place act, without any consent on my part … Quite simply, I was not respected."
About sums it up for me.
You are not an outlier or if you are so am I.
I agree with your comments. Amazing that nobody takes seriously what Hermosillo said - she was there. Sorry to say that not listening to what women say or worse putting one's own interpretation at the forefront of this incident shows how difficult it is for women to be heard.
The kiss? Totally out of order. I'm with Traveller.
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