I know he's a comedian because he had those words after his name. Personally I have never seen his act or know anything about him. But of course when that happens I always go out of my way to find out details.
So Mr Widdicombe is a 38-year-old comedian who comes from Devon and has appeared in numerous comedy programmes and quizzes that somehow have passed me by. He was born in London and grew up in Devon and is not related to Anne Widdicombe. Interestingly he grew up in a village that bears his name Widecombe In The Moor.
Mr Widdicombe insists it is ok to be nostalgic, it is ok to talk about the past and ok to think about times when the world was a simpler place.
We are of course in pre-Christmas book mode. Yesterday they had Peter Schmeichel and Jimmy Carr (somebody I am warming to a bit) on and today they also had speed skater Elise Christie. They all have one thing in common. They are promoting autobiographies aimed at the Christmas market.
Of course I use the word autobiography carefully because, as I've said before, I'm very suspicious that these people actually sit down at a computer and physically type in the words that become a sentence and then a paragraph and then a page and then a chapter and then a book.
And they are all looking for a slightly different angle, something that attracts the Christmas market. Some sound better than others but as a friend said recently "we all have a story to tell, we all have an autobiography inside us."
So tomorrow I will start mine. It will be called "Something of a Boring Life" and will drone on for 300 pages about very little. You will be enchanted by my trips to the supermarket, laugh out loud at the day I slipped over on the ice and cry when you hear about the sadness in my life like the day I came third on The Weakest Link.
Talking about books. It's time to go back to the library and that got me thinking about nostalgia (and Josh Widdecombe says that's ok) and how libraries have changed from places where it was virtually forbidden to make a noise to places where any number of things now take place. Libraries are now part of the community which they serve and I can't say that was the situation back in the 1960s when they were stern and at times difficult places to be, policed by 20 stone border guards masquerading as library assistants. Remember those signs that said "SILENCE".
Do you remember how you would take a book back and they would give you your library cards? Little brown envelope type things with your name and address on them. I think you could have four books at any one time. You chose your books, took them to a counter where the border guard would take out the slip of paper inside, pop it in your library card which would then be placed in an index tray. You would then have your book stamped with the date of return and quietly shuffle your way out of the door whilst ensuring that you didn't talk to anyone you were with.
When COVID hit we were allowed to have a virtual limitless supply of books and now when we take them out and return them we just scan in a library card and then put the books into a machine and hey presto job done. It's just like magic.
Over the past 18 months, I have to say I have missed being able to go into the library, grab a seat and read the day's newspaper or just read books. Before COVID we had what was called Open Libraries which meant we could even get access when the library wasn't manned (sorry staffed). How things have changed. Now I'm vice-chair of the Friends of Hethersett Library Group which promotes public events in the library.
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Facebook was unavailable for six hours yesterday. Now we have huge apologies for the trauma that this caused millions of people. What kind of world are we living in where something not being available for a short amount of time can cause such meltdown?
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Do you remember the days when there were millions unemployed and hundreds of applicants for virtually every job?
I remember when I was chair of governors of a Hethersett school we had over 50 applications for one teaching post. It was virtually impossible to whittle that down to a final six for interview.
Now everything seems to have turned turtle and there are a shortage of workers and so many jobs available. House building is threatened because of a lack of skilled workers to fill positions. Maybe that will give developers the time to reflect on what they are doing and plan infrastructure and facilities before building homes and not the other way round. Somehow I can't see that happening however.
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Yesterday we had the monthly coffee morning for the Hethersett Dementia Support Group. One of our members had suffered a fall a couple of weeks ago. Some interesting comments were made which got me thinking. If you are in your 20s or 30s and go to the doctors after a fall, you will be asked:
"So how did you get those injuries" asks the Doc.
"I fell over," comes the reply.
The doctor assessed this situation and decides that either the person was drunk or tripped accidentally over something.
With a much more elderly person the conversation will be very different.
"Have you been falling often" or "how many falls have you had in the past six months" or "have you found yourself regularly losing your balance"? All these questions will be posed by the doctor.
Young people fall over, elderly people have falls!
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A huge thank you to everyone who made donations to our two chosen charities in lieu of presents for Anne's 70th birthday. We raised £496.25 for Alzheimer's Society. We are still working out the amount donated for MacMillan Cancer but it should be a combined figure of well over £830 for the two charities.
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Yesterday evening we went to Hethersett Hall Care Home for an exhibition of artwork by what have become known as the Hardcore Four. This is something I have featured in my blog and e-magazine a few days ago. I will post some more photographs of the artwork in tomorrow's blog.