So let's begin with a bit of humour. Yesterday I mentioned what I consider to be nonsense journalism. Emotive headlines that when you click on the stories lead to pieces with absolutely no substance.
These turn up on my computer every day and, as I said yesterday, often feature Carol Vorderman and Amanda Holden. Now you have to add Liz Hurley to that list. Yesterday's nonsense journalism included the following:
"Amanda Holden shows off her toned physique in figure-hugging outfit."
"Elizabeth Hurley sends her fans into overdrive with stunning bikini post" (If you have ever been sent into overdrive you will probably appreciate how painful it is)
"Don't! Louise Minchin snaps at Dan Walker on BBC Breakfast." (she didn't).
"Michelle Keegan wows in little black dress of dreams on night out with her mum."
"Geri Horner wows in white for celebrations with husband Christian Horner."
and my favourite
"Stacey Solomon shows off leggings after sitting in poo."
* * *
My extensive feature on former music pr guru Chris Poole, who now lives in Hethersett, was given a two page spread in the Eastern Daily Press and Norwich Evening News newspapers.
I still get a huge kick out of seeing my stories in print and unearthing something new. There's a copy of the EDP cutting with this blog
* * *
I am currently reading the first volume of Michael Palin's diaries covering the Monty Python years 1969-1979.
I loved Monty Python. It was ground-breaking and just plain ridiculous. I was at Grammar School in the early years of Python and I remember it was a must see each week and the following day we went into school using the phrases from the programme:
"This parrot is dead, it is a deceased parrot it is a Polly gone"
Just thinking of Michael Palin in the sketch about the Spanish Inquisition makes me laugh. The comfy chair and the immortal line "nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition". I know if you are a younger person reading this you will be saying "what's funny about that". I guess you had to be there and had to live through it.
Python was zany, irreverent and just plain potty. A few weeks ago I re-watched the Life of Brian. "He's not the Messiah he's a very naughty boy."
I saw the Python team live in Norwich Theatre Royal in the early 1970s. John Cleese walked on stage with a model parrot strapped to his shoulder (so everyone knew what was coming). It was about two minutes before the audience stopped clapping, laughing and cheering. That was the effect Messrs Jones, Cleese, Palin, Idle and the rest had on us.
Palin's diaries have lots in them about Southwold in Suffolk - one of our favourite places in the entire Universe. It has a big place in his heart. His parents retired to Reydon which is next to Southwold and it was in Southwold that he met his future wife. I wonder if Mr Palin still visits the seaside resort that was once the home of Eric Blair who is better known as George Orwell taking his surname from the Suffolk river.
Southwold itself is mainly holiday lets and second homes. It has a large shopping area but a few years ago a local resident told us that the permanent population is under 1,000 which means that in the winter the town is virtually deserted.
My You Tube channel has a couple of galleries of photographs of Southwold if anyone is interested in seeing what an idyllic place it is. One of the galleries is at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGQKR8YftW4
* * *
I found yesterday morning a touch surreal and I'm not sure why. Firstly I popped over to the Memorial Playing Field in Hethersett to speak to the chair of Hethersett Athletic Football Club about vandalism that is stopping the club from moving forward. This will be another article for the local press.
It was an interesting chat as Neal is one of only three chairmen in the history of the club - I have the honour of having been the first.
Then I took a photograph of parish councillor Leslie Dale with a new plaque that is being placed on a commemorative tree in the field.
Then it was onto Woodcote Sheltered Housing complex to meet up with old friend Richard Headicar for another potential newspaper article. Richard is fighting on behalf of residents over increases in their TV licence payments. Richard is claiming that the licensing authorities and the BBC have acted in an underhand way and that residents had a very low payment with preserved rights. Richard is always up for a good social campaign.
I find writing about the village in which I live easy and hard. How can it be both I ask you say?
Well it's easy because I know lots of people, know what they are interested and involved in and with and I know where to go when I need a comment.
And it's hard because I often find myself in the middle of two sides of an argument between people I know and like and where I can see both sides of an argument. This happened recently with the story about the sale of the church hall which I have covered in a previous blog and in press articles.
* * *
Yesterday I went back to the gym for the first time in over a year. I have been putting it off. Always feel better when I've been but don't particularly look forward to going. I find working out rather boring.
But I did a light session (three miles on the bike and half a mile running - well I did say it was a start). The gym is at Park Farm Hotel and we walked there and back which puts another mile on the exercise.
Mind you I thought I had the wrong place when I walked into the men's changing rooms. The place has been completely renovated and modernised during lockdown and it looked and felt very different. For a moment I thought I had walked into the women's changing room by mistake. That is until I saw an appendage that definitely didn't belong to a woman!!!
* * *
Finally yesterday I was ruminating on distance. What is infinity? Is it finite? If it's finite how can it be infinity?
How many Galaxies are there? Well the estimate is there are more than two trillion galaxies. This whole question of time and distance is unfathomable to me but also intriguing. It's something I am going to get more into and, of course, I will write more about this when I can work out how a human telescope can capture photographs of a galaxy trillions of miles from earth.
When I was a young boy I was convinced that there was no other life anywhere. Our planet was special and unique. Those were my arguments. Now I'm almost certain that there will be intelligent life of some sort out there. There must be. There just must be.
The question that follows is : If there is life elsewhere why haven't we been contacted? The answer is probably for the same reason that we haven't contacted them.
Anyway enough for today. I finish with a few photographs taken in South Norfolk a couple of days ago. Some of them are of the Lizard - an area in Wymondham. Unfortunately the boardwalk is rotting and becoming dangerous and something needs to be done before it becomes a real hazard.