No I will start with a pleasant walk around the University of East Anglia's Broad with granddog Reggie. Reggie loves other dogs. He doesn't care what make they are, how old they are or anything like that. He just wants to make friends with them.
So consequently it was a pretty slow perambulation around the Broad with numerous stops. Reggie is a very friendly soul who will shortly be one year old. He loves people and loves playing and is cheeky and gentle. But when he came across a hidden figure at the UEA he started barking which is something he never does with real human beings.
He was actually barking at a piece entitled Man of Stones by Laurence Edwards which is concerned with our relationships to the natural environment apparently.
It was one of the university's sculptures that set him off. You will find it amongst my photos taken on the walk. There's a new sculpture at the UEA which takes some fathoming. From a distance it looks like a load of very old and very large tins. It's more interesting when you get close to it, but I still have the obvious question "what ever is it?"
A website tells us that "The sculpture park at the UEA helps families to connect with others in a safe and socially distanced way."
This heap of tin structure which turns out to be steel is entitled Goodwood Steps and is by Anthony Caro. It was made in 2006 and is on loan to the Uni. Here is what the web has to say about it: "Caro's monumental sculpture echoes Denys Lasdun's stepped Ziggurats. At 33 metres in length, it is the meeting point between art and architecture." So now you know.
I hope nobody tries to connect with the large figure on top of one of the blocks that looks as if it is about to throw itself off the roof. This is one of three figures by Anthony Gormley that are casts of his own body. According to the website they are "thought provoking and uncanny, offering spectacle and surprise." It's difficult to tell whether they are thought provoking as they are so high up. The figures are on loan from Gormley whose most famous piece of art is the Angel of the North. I wonder if he'll ever uproot that and bring it to the UEA for a while?
You might detect a few tongue in cheek comments on the sculptures at the UEA. My comments when a new one appears is usually something along the lines of "what the hell is that?" Still I suppose you pays your money and takes your choice, although in this instance there's no charge to see the sculptures. You might want to take a very large ladder or cherry picker to get up close and personal to Anthony Gormley though.
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Ok back to Boris' flat in Number 10. Did you see photographs of it on the television? He had the flat redecorated when he became PM (currently the subject of some controversy about who paid for the alterations). Whenever there's a new PM they get so much public money to redecorate the flat. I really think there should be a public vote to choose the furnishings (another tongue in cheek remark).
Under David Cameron it was all quite classy and subdued. Theresa May added a bit of sparkle and it looked good. Boris has shown that he has no taste by adding strident and heavy red to everything - curtains, carpets, wallpaper etc. The only good thing is that the decor is going to change every few years. Sir Keir Starmer, Liz Truss or whoever else will be the next incumbent at Number 10 will be looking at it now and saying "My first job will be to replace that abomination." Although in the case of Starmer, at least it's red!
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Some adverts amuse me. My favourite of all time was the football team that had just been trounced. They make their way back to the dressing room and somebody throws the goalkeeper a can of beer which he promptly drops.
There's one at the moment advertising Gordon's non alcoholic gin. If it's non alcoholic isn't it easier to just drink tonic water or orange juice?
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Something else that makes me laugh is the level of crassness achieved at times by our local television stations. They try to be champions of the people but often it just becomes laughable. A couple of days ago, Look East was doing a feature surrounding the pressure being put on GP surgeries. The camera panned to a doctor examining a lady and we were told "Here's Megan having her sore throat checked." You don't get news much bigger than that. Apparently Megan survived and is alive and well and living in retirement in Suffolk (my words and not those of the programme).
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Had an excellent chat today with our Sky engineer who supplied a new Q Box to ensure our TV now works again. He caught sight of my poster of David Bowie albums. We then had a lengthy conversation about Bowie - one of the most fascinating men ever to hold a microphone. One thing led to another and we ended up talking about Motorhead, Slipknot, Black Sabbath and much more. He has recommended a number of music documentaries to watch.
Later in the day I was quite shocked to hear from an Amazon van driver about the amount of abuse and threats he has been subjected to recently. He told us it was nice to come out to Hethersett as his round is usually in Norwich where he has met with considerable aggression. Also a number of Amazon drivers have been robbed. Whatever are we coming to?
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There's another trend at the moment that I heard about whilst listening to Radio Five Live. Apparently youngsters are running onto football pitches at the end of matches to try to get hold of players' shirts which are then being sold on ebay.
If I was a professional footballer I would ignore all those kids with badly made signs which they hold up. "I'm your greatest fan can I have your shirt." I would give my shirt to the quiet little boy or girl standing without a sign who I know would value the present. Or am I just being too cynical?
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I got up early enough yesterday to see England's Jonny Bairstow score his century for England - the first so far by an England batsman in this Ashes series. The look on his face of sheer joy and his celebrations said it all - sheer relief and pride in playing for England. Some of the other England players could take a leaf out of his book.
It's very poignant whenever Jonny scores runs. In many ways he is the heart and soul of England and he does everything in memory of his dad David Bairstow who also played cricket for England but tragically killed himself on January 5th, 1998, at the age of 46. So Jonny's century came pretty much on the 24th anniversary of his dad's death. You could see the emotion as Jonny looked up to the heavens. You just knew what was going through his mind.
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I hope you enjoy some of the photos taken during our walk at the UEA.