I'm posting this for Adullamite, who is having to listen to football on the wireless.
Now the wireless was a great invention, and Mr Marconi was, of course, very clever, But it was the moving-picture apparatus that truly brought football into the homes of the sedentary masses.
I know Mr Adullamite has a computer, and that those things are capable of functioning as a rudimentary telephonoscope for the viewing of moving pictures. It is with this in mind that I present the splendid moving images below.
Friday, 26 July 2013
Thursday, 25 July 2013
Garden Pictures from an Old Industrial Space.
 |
| The Mended Planter |
A rocky oasis.
T
The butterflies... There were about ten, but they were shy, every time I approached, they'd flutter to another planter. They're Small Tortoiseshells, we get a lot of them, I find them in the attic in wintertime, woken, re-animated by the odd day of sun, fluttering against the windows, when they really need to sleep until the flowers are in bloom again.
My Lunch-Break corner, I watch the bees harvesting from the lavender, and the butterflies fluttering by.
Tuesday, 23 July 2013
Watch, listen, and Think.
I saw this on several sites yesterday. And I was thinking about it today. I was thinking of how horrible things are happening every day in our world. And I was thinking of the bravery evidenced by this young girl, speaking out against evil, wrong-doing, about her parents selling her, an eleven year old girl, to an adult male, not known to her.
Listen to this girl. Listen and think.
I hear my government wants to support rebellion in Syria. Why, I wonder, when so many of those rebels seem to be fundamentalists who believe it its right that a child like this be sold into marriage.
Shame on them.
Nada Al-Ahdal: Salaam Alaikum. Allah’s mercy and blessings upon you. Hello to you all. I’d like to thank Mukhtar Al-Sharafi and Amal. I’d like to thank all the journalist and you as well. It’s true that I ran away from my family. I can’t live with them anymore. Enough. I want to go live with my uncle. What about the innocence of childhood? What have the children done wrong? Why do you marry them off like that?
I managed to solve my problem, but some innocent children can’t solve theirs, and they might die, commit suicide, or do whatever comes to mind. They’re just kids. What do they know? They didn’t have time to study, or anything. It’s not our fault. I’m not the only one. It can happen to any child. There are many cases like that. Some children decide to throw themselves into the sea. They’re dead now. This is not normal for innocent children.
It’s true that I fled to my uncle, but he wasn’t home. So I called Abd Al-Jabbar to come and get me. Abd Al-Jabbar sent me a woman to travel with her back to Al-Hudaydah. When my uncle heard about it all, he came for me. I filed a complaint with the police against my mother. I told them that I am only 11 years old and she wants to marry me off.
I would have had no life, no education. Don’t they have any compassion? What kind of upbringing did they get?
[...]
I’m better off dead. I’d rather die. I’d rather live with my uncle than with these people. They threatened to kill me if I went to my uncle. What kind of people threaten their children like that? Would it make you happy to marry me off against my will? Go ahead and marry me off. I’ll kill myself, just like that. I won’t go back to live with them. I won’t.
They have killed our dreams. They have killed everything inside us. There’s nothing left. This is no upbringing. This is criminal, simply criminal.
[...]
My maternal aunt was 14 years old. She lasted one year with her husband, and she poured gasoline over herself and set herself on fire. She died. He would beat her with metal [chains]. He would get drunk. Would it make you happy to marry me off?!
[...]
My mother, my family, believe me when I say: I’m done with you. You’ve ruined my dreams.
The Yemen Post says the girl is a fantasist, and her parents did not have any plan to sell her in marriage. Her uncle says this is the second time her mother took money from a suitor living in another country, in return for betrothal to Nada, her uncle says the first time she was ten years and three months old.
That's okay, according to Islam, the prophet married a six year-old and was considerate enough to wait until she was nine years old to consummate the marriage. And if he did it, well that means it's okay.
Listen to this girl. Listen and think.
I hear my government wants to support rebellion in Syria. Why, I wonder, when so many of those rebels seem to be fundamentalists who believe it its right that a child like this be sold into marriage.
Shame on them.
Nada Al-Ahdal: Salaam Alaikum. Allah’s mercy and blessings upon you. Hello to you all. I’d like to thank Mukhtar Al-Sharafi and Amal. I’d like to thank all the journalist and you as well. It’s true that I ran away from my family. I can’t live with them anymore. Enough. I want to go live with my uncle. What about the innocence of childhood? What have the children done wrong? Why do you marry them off like that?
I managed to solve my problem, but some innocent children can’t solve theirs, and they might die, commit suicide, or do whatever comes to mind. They’re just kids. What do they know? They didn’t have time to study, or anything. It’s not our fault. I’m not the only one. It can happen to any child. There are many cases like that. Some children decide to throw themselves into the sea. They’re dead now. This is not normal for innocent children.
It’s true that I fled to my uncle, but he wasn’t home. So I called Abd Al-Jabbar to come and get me. Abd Al-Jabbar sent me a woman to travel with her back to Al-Hudaydah. When my uncle heard about it all, he came for me. I filed a complaint with the police against my mother. I told them that I am only 11 years old and she wants to marry me off.
I would have had no life, no education. Don’t they have any compassion? What kind of upbringing did they get?
[...]
I’m better off dead. I’d rather die. I’d rather live with my uncle than with these people. They threatened to kill me if I went to my uncle. What kind of people threaten their children like that? Would it make you happy to marry me off against my will? Go ahead and marry me off. I’ll kill myself, just like that. I won’t go back to live with them. I won’t.
They have killed our dreams. They have killed everything inside us. There’s nothing left. This is no upbringing. This is criminal, simply criminal.
[...]
My maternal aunt was 14 years old. She lasted one year with her husband, and she poured gasoline over herself and set herself on fire. She died. He would beat her with metal [chains]. He would get drunk. Would it make you happy to marry me off?!
[...]
My mother, my family, believe me when I say: I’m done with you. You’ve ruined my dreams.
The Yemen Post says the girl is a fantasist, and her parents did not have any plan to sell her in marriage. Her uncle says this is the second time her mother took money from a suitor living in another country, in return for betrothal to Nada, her uncle says the first time she was ten years and three months old.
That's okay, according to Islam, the prophet married a six year-old and was considerate enough to wait until she was nine years old to consummate the marriage. And if he did it, well that means it's okay.
Saturday, 20 July 2013
This is One For Dave Who No Longer Mows Grass, But Runs a Lot.
Hey Dave! Here in good old Britannia, we love a good mower.
Our grass grows quickly after the rain, so we need....
Our grass grows quickly after the rain, so we need....
Sunday, 14 July 2013
Stupid Drivers.
I built these planters about four years ago. This one, in particular, keeps getting bashed, and this week someone really whacked it.
Not exactly invisible, with a silver-birch tree rising to about 8' above the gravel. I'd like to whack the person who did this about the head with a length of 4X2.
I've put it back together with several big steel bolts through the corners, tougher than the original coach-screws. But what I'd really like to do is to stick big steel tyre-ripper spikes in the ends. The company chairman says no. Can I put a microswitch in, that sets off a loud screaming?
Rolling Electric!
On friday, I had a drive in a Renault Twizy.
A French-built electric... car? well, car seems a bit of an exaggeration, it's more like a four-wheeled electric scooter, classed, legally here, due to its low weight as a "Quadricycle".
Renault make several electric vehicles, a van, the electric Kangoo, a small car, the Zoe, and a midsize called the Fluence.
But then there's this little strange thing, called the Twizy. It's designed as an urban commuter, short distance, not fast. Range? About fifty miles. Top speed? Fifty miles per hour. It can carry two people, one passenger, behind the driver, preferably not too big a passenger. The 'doors' are an optional extra. more cosmetic than actual, there are no side windows, and, other than the passenger seat, no storage. So, if you're on a mission to the supermarket, don't overfill the trolley (cart).
One of our onsite companies sells solar panels and related items, and we recently fitted an electric vehicle charging point in our carpark.
They're taking various electric vehicles out to county shows and, while this was on site, I was offered a test drive. I'm a gearhead, am I going to say no?
Obviously, I couldn't film my test drive, so here's my co-worker, and a fearful passenger.
As you can imagine, people tend to stop and stare, because most of us have never seen a gadget like this out in the real world.
Don't think of it as a car, because it's not. Practical? Not yet, I'd say.More range, and a bit more luggage room. Here in britain we get rain, sleet, snow, and inclement weather. As an alternative to walking, it's pretty good, but as an alternative to a weather-sealed car, with heater, radio, etc? Not so much.
A French-built electric... car? well, car seems a bit of an exaggeration, it's more like a four-wheeled electric scooter, classed, legally here, due to its low weight as a "Quadricycle".
Renault make several electric vehicles, a van, the electric Kangoo, a small car, the Zoe, and a midsize called the Fluence.
But then there's this little strange thing, called the Twizy. It's designed as an urban commuter, short distance, not fast. Range? About fifty miles. Top speed? Fifty miles per hour. It can carry two people, one passenger, behind the driver, preferably not too big a passenger. The 'doors' are an optional extra. more cosmetic than actual, there are no side windows, and, other than the passenger seat, no storage. So, if you're on a mission to the supermarket, don't overfill the trolley (cart).
One of our onsite companies sells solar panels and related items, and we recently fitted an electric vehicle charging point in our carpark.
They're taking various electric vehicles out to county shows and, while this was on site, I was offered a test drive. I'm a gearhead, am I going to say no?
Obviously, I couldn't film my test drive, so here's my co-worker, and a fearful passenger.
As you can imagine, people tend to stop and stare, because most of us have never seen a gadget like this out in the real world.
Don't think of it as a car, because it's not. Practical? Not yet, I'd say.More range, and a bit more luggage room. Here in britain we get rain, sleet, snow, and inclement weather. As an alternative to walking, it's pretty good, but as an alternative to a weather-sealed car, with heater, radio, etc? Not so much.
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