WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Tizer]

`Dozens of dogs in Newcastle don Christmas jumpers for walk' LINK

[Stanley]

I wouldn't have been surprised at a power outage yesterday.... But we seem to have dodged the bullet.
As for dogs in jumpers Peter.... I wonder if anyone considered what was best for the dogs? Most breeds are well insulated and any addition of insulation damages their ability to monitor and adjust their own temperature.

[Wendyf]

A good friend of mine has been having a generally rough time on board the cruise ship Maud 'enjoying' the Norwegian fjords and Northern Lights. The ship has now lost its ability to navigate in stormy seas off Denmark. Luckily all passengers and crew are safe though she reports being a bit bruised and battered.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... sXQuIUnXgw

[Big Kev]

A good friend of mine has been having a generally rough time on board the cruise ship Maud 'enjoying' the Norwegian fjords and Northern Lights. The ship has now lost its ability to navigate in stormy seas off Denmark. Luckily all passengers and crew are safe though she reports being a bit bruised and battered.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... sXQuIUnXgw

Oh! That's scary stuff.

[Stanley]

I agree, it wouldn't do for me!

[Stanley]

See THIS CNN report on the Maud.
The civilian vessel was stable with engines running; however, the navigation systems and radar remained down “due to water in the systems on the bridge,” the JRCC spokesperson said earlier on Friday. “It can manoeuvre via emergency systems, and it has two civilian support vessels close by from the company Esvagt,” they added. The ship’s route was changed after safety checks and technical assessments, HX said, and passengers will now disembark in Bremerhaven, Germany. “Our team have arranged onward travel back home for guests onboard,” the HX spokesperson said.
All seems to be well.

[Wendyf]

The last report from my friend was that they were heading for Bremerhaven accompanied by tugs. She was looking forward to a comfy hotel bed and a proper sleep. I hope that's where she is now!

[Tizer]

I'm really, really glad I wasn't on that ship - I get seasick in calm weather!

BBC's `Week in pictures: 16-22 December 2023' LINK
The volcano picture is marvellous. The one of the `reveller celebrates the Winter Solstice at Stonehenge' made me smile - I wonder if his hand is holding a chip off one of the silica blocks?

[Wendyf]

They were still on the Maud 30 minutes ago, the harbour pilot had just landed on the ship via helicopter.

[Tizer]

An unusual birthday present for this lady!...
`Alabama mother with rare double womb gives birth to two babies in two days' LINK

[Tripps]

Indulge me here, and ignore if it's of no interest.

I was googling yesterday for something quite unrelated, and was most surprised to come across in the search results, something that I had written anonymously three years ago for posting on another website. I asked for it to be anonymous, as I had no wish to renew any friendship with other pupils. I needn't have worried.

Here is the piece Random memories if anyone is interested. I quite enjoyed reading it again, and wouldn't change much of it..

The site I was seeking was Paulmalpas.com which gave great detail of the scandal that was St Bede's College in Whalley Range, Manchester, and which I mentioned in the piece. I think that a fair summary is that the 'baddies' won. Mike Harding the folk singer, is a former pupil and he seems to be still interestd in the situation.

.

[Stanley]

I heard that report Peter and had the same thoughts. I'm glad the doctors were able to agree that two babies out of one belly could be counted as twins!
David, I read your piece and really enjoyed it. I can remember the narrow escape I had with Roman Catholicism, my mother took me to the Roman Catholic Primary school near us and tried to get me in. It never happened thank god and the influences I had as a child were Wycliffe Sunday School (Strict non-Conformist.) and Hope Memorial (CofE).
I remember sitting the 11 plus, three separate examinations Manchester Grammar, Stockport Grammar and William Hulme's Grammar School. I scraped into Stockport Grammar and had no psychotic masters thank god!
We had different experiences but many of the things you mention strike chords. I went to SGS in 1947 and at first it was a long tram ride from Heaton Moor to Davenport until I found I like riding a bike better.....
Good stuff and thanks for posting it!
What grabbed me in Barlick yesterday was a nice visit from Susan and Mick. They leave me alone now until Boxing Day which is how I like it!

[Tripps]

Good stuff and thanks for posting it!

Thanks for the response. I was quite pleased with it. File under - things you had forgotten you had forgot.

You can still do the MGS entrance exam. They put it online these days. MGS Exams

[Tizer]

My experience at school was OK except that I would have passed more O Levels and been able to stay on for A Levels if it hadn't been for the antics of some of the teachers. I had a good maths teacher for the first 2 years then an awful one for the remaining time. He was weird, a bit like an adult version of a baby, seemed to live in a different world from the rest of us and couldn't cope with anyone who didn't understand something the first time around. One winter I kept my scarf on in class (I've always been sensitive to the cold and claim it was due to having a South African mother!) and he came up behind me quietly and tied the scarf tightly round my neck. I couldn't breathe and couldn't undo the scarf. I started to turn a funny colour and the teacher began to panic but it took the boy next to me to get the scarf off in time.

The history teacher was an ex-army Major who in every lesson gave a stack of roneo'd notes to be shared out among the pupils. We had to copy them word for word into our exercise books then hand in the roneo copies at the end of the lesson. He sat at the front reading a book and never spoke to us unless we misbehaved. Then the board duster would get thrown or a hard slap around the head.

I loved geography and always got high marks but the teacher (who seemed far too old to be in position) threw me out permanently when my homework book disappeared. We always had to put our homework book on a pile on his desk at the end of the lesson. One day he demanded to know why I hadn't handed in my book. I protested that I had and when we couldn't agree he told me to leave and not come back. I swear to this day that I'd handed it in. I'd usually come first in all the geography tests and I suspect one of the other pupils spitefully removed my book from the pile.

Otherwise, the school was OK!

[Tripps]

Otherwise, the school was OK!

I think we are on the same page here. I wonder how they would have done with a modern no notice Ofsted inspection.

Special measures I'd guess.

[Big Kev]

I have just been to Sainsbury's for some eggs and was in and out within 10 minutes

[Stanley]

We were promised a reasonable Xmas Day by the forecasters but I see they lied, wind and heavy rain just for a change.....
However, see THIS report.
Christmas Day is expected to be the hottest in years after Christmas Eve was recorded as the warmest since 1997, according to the Met Office. The weather agency said parts of the UK are expected to hit 14C.
So we may be wet but it will not be freezing!

[Wendyf]

My friend and her husband finally arrived home late last night after their nightmare experience on the cruise ship Maud. They didn't get a night in a comfy hotel but were taken by coach from Bremerhaven to Frankfurt yesterday morning for a flight to Heathrow. Coach again to Tilbury, where they had left the car, then a drive back to Sandwich in Kent where they live. I thought some of you might enjoy reading her brief post on Facebook this morning.

[attachment=0]snapshot_www.facebook.com_1703499176716~2.png[/attachment]

[Stanley]

Glad she's home Wendy. Tell her I admire her turn of phrase....

[Tizer]

If this is what one Recycling Centre receives then imagine how many over the whole UK. Mind you, it's in Cambridge and Tripps might tell us the locals there update their sit-on bouncy toys at an above average rate!
`Inflatable toys rescued and displayed at Milton tip' LINK

[PanBiker]

The foot deep flood across the road into Skipton just before entering the outskirts after Niffany. I noticed that Heslaker Lane into Carleton was still open but not for long I reckon. The river was just shy of the top of the arches on the Aire bridge, about 6"to spare! All the fields are sodden although the flood mentioned earlier is just mismanagement of the gulleys which used to be taken care of by a lengths man at one time. I was dropping Sally off at the train station, she is meeting Ruby today off the Birmingham train. They will get lunch in Leeds before the train back to Skipton. I'll see if they have got round to clearing the drains on Broughton Road when I pick them up. I noticed on the way back that there was a wagon with two blokes working on the A59 sections that were holding water at the sides. I would have though they would have prioritised the one on the outskirts as it's just after a blind bend.

[PanBiker]

I was right about Heslaker Lane. Police car across the junction to stop stupid folk ignoring the flood sign which is now in operation. Pretty obvious before you got there as all the fields are flooded both sides of the road. River Aire is now fully over it's banks, from Niffany it's as bad as I have seen it, no green fields visible between there and Carleton the vast majority are flooded. The flood on Broughton Road had bated a bit and the crown of the road was just visible which was encouraging most folk to traverse it straddling the central white lines, not particularly good on a blind bend to oncoming traffic. A couple of fire engines were about probably on pumping duties. Ruby is at ours now until the New Year.

[Wendyf]

Pleased you got them back OK Ian.

[Stanley]

No fun being out on a flood day Ian, glad you got home. It was a very wet day but on top of that it was so gloomy!
I was in bed at 18:00. I don't recommend it to everyone but it suited me last night after my fight with the computer.... I slept like a log.

[Tripps]

Whilst researching other matters today - I came across this The Caucasian Chalk Circle

That sort of thing was once upon a time on the BBC, but no more. Is that a loss?. Perhaps.
No more Mother Courage, Waiting for Godot, Restoration Comedy etc.

It contained the line

The play was written in 1944 while Brecht was living in the United States. It was translated into English by Brecht's friend and admirer Eric Bentley and its world premiere was a student production at Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota,