SevenMinutesToMidnight

If you read me regularly you'll know that 'conspiracy theories' , or the sometimes hidden truths behind the realities we're presented with are of interest to me .
I watched tonight's 'Conspiracy Files' on BBC2 , about the 7/7/05 attacks : A programme which always concludes that there's been no secret conspiracies involving security services or anyone other than the named perpetrators .
I've not studied the idea that's popular with at least a quarter of British Muslims , and a few others that the 7/7 attacks were orchestrated and committed by security services under instruction from the Blair government to demonise Muslims ,  to drum up support for killing innocent Muslims in Iraq and Afganistan , and for curtailing civil liberties here , because I've always instinctively felt those notions to be deluded ones brought about by paranoid , and in denial of the few would-be mass murderers amongst them Muslims ,  helped by Blair's lies about WMD's , and some of the odd circumstances of the 9/11/01 attacks in the U.S , some of which can't so convincingly be explained away .
To me that 'conspiracy file' seemed fairer than most , and no I do'nt believe that there are not , or have never been plots , nearly all of them mercifully intercepted , by radically Islamically inspired young males to commit indiscriminate terroristic mass-murder in Britain .
Two of the alleged four perpetrators left 'martyrdom' videos . And if they were'nt responsible , what happened to them ?
According to the programme , people who are completely innocent of involvement in the 7/7 attacks , including a survivor of them have been cowardly , anonymously attacked themselves on the internet and in letters to them .

I'm aware of a person who is said to have caused much trouble on this blog site and who undoubtedly has appeared in various guises here , and yet I believe that at least one or two other , entirely innocent people have been paranoically accused of being that person .

It's been said that the bombings of hundreds of thousands of innocent people in Islamic countries has been a very effective 'recruiting sergeant' for Al Quaeda .
Apparently so have the murders of innocents in London , New York , Madrid and elsewhere , to deluded fanatics who , no matter what , will always believe what it suits them to believe .

To gain a better understanding of Tony Blair I recommend Robert Harris's novel 'The Ghost' .

So Scotland's hero Andy Murray had to fight all the way to get the better of Stanislaw Wawrinka on Wimbledon's Centre Court tonight , and thank goodness the 'all england club' finally allowed itself to be dragged into the previous century : A retractable roof ( useful for shielding those in the royal box from the heat ) , AND artificial lighting !
Sir Sean Connery , that great lover of all things Scottish  .  .  .  from the Bahamas  .  .  . must now be delighted then .

The players have every right to question line calls , but of course the vituperatively juvenilic sections of the wimbledon crowd have to do their pathetically peurilic sneering slow hand clap thing every time any player does so .
Oh how frightfully un-english it is to question authority , the would-be sophisticated semi-neanderthals delight in saying .

I would'nt queue up , or pay a penny , or even accept an invitation to the royal box to be there : What's the point : When I can , when I choose , watch live matches in the comfort of my home , getting a drink whenever I want one . 

Not that I'd normally watch it in the daytime , but I hope that tonight's late into the evening wimbledon thriller has been the first of many .

A rare old clip here , before my time of remembering , but including two great tracks .

Just a little something by The Stranglers from 1997 , ( c ) Castle Communications plc .

I was watching Blur live from Glastonbury , but to be honest I've never liked anything by them .
I enjoyed watching Madness , earlier , they were excellent .

I just watched Bruce Springsteen from Glastonbury : Can't say it did a lot for me , but , he has far more energy than I normally have , and I doubt that many in his audience would have been disappointed , or that I would have been if there and caught up in the atmosphere .
I think someone wrote in one of todays papers that the three most important and influential figures in popular music over the last 50 years have been E/Presley , John Lennon and M/Jackson . . .
Well that's an opinion , but what about Paul McCartney , David Bowie , Diana Ross and Stevie Wonder ?
If Stevie Wonder were tragically to befall a fatal accident later today , imagine all the eulogies he'd then get !
And deservedly so . I still feel some sadness for the sudden passing of M/Jackson , undoubtedly a huge 20th and 21st Century talented popular music icon , but why is it such a great career move to die ?
To my dismay I read that Professor Guenther Von Hagens is claiming to have contracted to plastinate MJ's body following his death , placing him next to the plastinated body of his pet chimp Bubbles , at his o2 arena exhibition .
Oh , please , No ! - Sounds like a sick 'april fools' joke !

I do'nt need to look them up , I can guess that there are growing 'conspiracy theories' about the death of Michael Jackson , along the lines of either : He's not dead , it's been faked by his family and management , something to do with his not having been fit enough to perform one of his o2 arena shows , never mind 50 ,
or : He's recently converted to Islam , and it was either known or feared that he was planning to use his stint at the o2 arena to promote Islamic causes , so quasi-governmental agencies conspired to surreptitiously feed him a drug that caused his cardiac arrest .

In today's Daily Mail Tom Utley wrote that though he does'nt believe that Princess Diana was murdered or that anyone other than Lee Oswald was responsible for JFK's death , or that astronauts never landed on the moon he's very inclined to believe the conspiracy theory that Lord Peter Mandelson is so desperate for there to be a 'european superstate' that he's propping up and protecting Gordon Brown until after the re-run of the Irish EU- treaty referendum , in October .
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/columnists/article-1195647/I-dont-accept-Diana-murdered-moon-landing-faked-But-theres-conspiracy-theory-I-believe-.html

For what it's worth I would'nt trust Mandelson so far as I could push him , Of course astronauts landed on the moon , and of course LHO shot JFK but there's plenty of evidence of other forces having been at work . And Princess Diana : I've read a lot about that and I'm certain that there was a plan to terminate her , and that many 'in the know'  either know or suspect that , but that , especially after the long awaited inquest verdict , they do'nt dare to publicly say so .
I suppose that Mark Chapman who shot John Lennon just could have been a pre-programmed 'manchurian candidate' assassin , though I very much doubt it , and of course the death of Elvis Presley was neither suspicious or faked , which I'm as sure as I can be applies to Michael Jackson also .

It chilled me to the bone to just hear that Michael Jackson has died of a heart attack .
Not that I've ever been a huge fan of his , but he's recorded some unsurpassably brilliant popular music , and he's certainly had his problems over the last few years has'nt he .
Whatever he may or may not have been in his private life I can't help but feel sad for him at this moment .

Nicky Campbell's R5live phone-in this morning was meant to be about swearing and sex-scenes ( not violence , or general nastiness ) on television after 9pm , but turned into another boringly predictable discussion about the acceptability of swearing , with two or three male callers droning on as if swearing is the worst thing anyone can do , and about protecting their children from hearing it on television , as if they'll never hear it anywhere else .

Part 2 of 'famous rich and homeless' on BBC1 tonight touched on the issue of whether we should try to help homeless people : Of course , why not , in terms of chatting with them when we have the spare time , and handing over any loose change we may have to spare , but there's a difference between helping someone and trying to change them .
Thank God I've never been homeless but in the past people have occasionally tried not just to help but to change me , then become fed up and lost interest when they realised I was'nt able to mould myself into their image within a week or month or two .

And it's immensely laudable to want to help someone to change if they seem to be their own worst enemy , but if they cannot and/or will not change there's nothing wrong with being friendly to and , so far as is possible , accepting them anyway .

I just watched 'Famous , Rich and Homeless' , on BBC1 ( part two tomorrow ) , in which five semi-famous people bravely lived homeless in London for ten days , albeit with someone filming them and a security guard discreetly in the background , but with only their clothes and a sleeping bag , and no money .
The comedian , or whoever he is , Hardeep Singh Koli , who donates to homelessness charities , was amusingly recognised by someone he was asking for money from ( " I know exactly who you are . . . " ) , then he made me laugh out loud by saying " I do'nt want to be beaten up or urinated on , unless it's in the privacy of my own home " ( ! )
The former alcoholic , former newspaper editor Rosie Boycott was given first eight pounds in loose change , then £40 by a young woman who felt sorry for her  , which she gave much of to an elderly 'big issue' seller .
It was'nt easy for any of them , and Marquess James , who's immensely inheritively rich from the Churchill estate but was formerly an addict , refused to sleep on the streets , and withdrew from the project altogether after four days .
Most homeless people are addicts , and became addicts after being damaged by abuse . If they were'nt addicts before becoming homeless they may have discovered that they can't cope on the streets , especially in the winter , without the warming and numbing effects of alcohol and/or  drugs .
I've spoken to homeless people on the streets of Norwich , London and Dublin .
Some are desperate addicts who will very convincingly and manipulatively lie to get money out of you if they can .
If they are hooked on heroin or crack it may not be wise to give them any more than £5 , assuming you can afford to give them anything , but so long as they're not abusive or intimidating they deserve the dignity of being listened to and spoken to .

Before that programme I watched one on C5 , with the former 'Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie , also in London , in which he seemed to conclusively prove that a late 1880's tabloid journalist who's been long suspected of having written the famous 'Dear Boss' hoax 'Jack the Ripper' letter did indeed write it , so nothing new there .

Twenty - two Britons have donated one of their kidneys to unknown strangers in the UK in the last two years :     http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8114688.stm
Altruism is a fine virtue , and I'm all in favour of random , or not so random acts of kindness , but there's no way I'd volunteer for a major operation to assist someone I do'nt know , and may not even like !
Would you ?

In today's 'Mail a provocative piece by a British Muslim lady advocating the banning of the Burkha , or full-body-veil , in Britain .
Which in any case will not happen , and if some Muslim women want , of their own free will to wear it , because they believe that any man catching a glimpse of exposed skin will be overcome by lust and not responsible for his actions , then so long as it does'nt interfere with their doing their job properly I do'nt see why they should'nt .
But as Saira Khan points out , we have no way of knowing whether wearers of Burkha's are acting out of their choice , and if it's true that girls as young as four are being made to wear them to school then that should be criminalised , it's just crazy .
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1195052/Why-I-British-Muslim-woman-want-burkha-banned-streets.html

Good news : I received a cheque from healthy-pets.co.uk this morning for the cost of Leo's recent large vetinary bill , minus the £50 excess .
It only costs about £60 a year to insure him .
The vet charged £90 to come here at 11.30 pm on the 3rd of this month , and on top of that £30 for petrol , though it's only a 5 minute drive !
Leo has just 15 more days left of his pampered incarceration .

On a site such as this , where there's not a huge number of regular contributors ,  and most regulars who've been here for a while know of most others , do some bloggers gossip online amongst themselves about other bloggers ? - Probably .
It's a virtual community of living souls who on the whole are polite , friendly and supportive to each other , though of course there's always a small number of damaged , twisted egomaniacs who are more concerned with recreating disharmony that they've experienced in their lives than with being friendly and supportive .
Some reveal more about themselves more honestly than others , and of course none of us are perfect .
I always thought that it's harder to unintentionally be rude or tactless in writing than in speech , but I can't type as quickly as some can , and I always look at  , and often edit my text  before posting .
I'm not incapable of unpleasentness if sufficiently provoked , but basically I far prefer a peaceful , harmonious life , that does'nt entail acquiring enemies .
Apparently I regularly commit the sin of not correctly inserting apostrophes in some words , which I was sneeringly sarcastically reminded of after posting that I wonder how it came about that seemingly about half of the female members of this site regularly confuse lose with loose !
As I said not that it matters much , and I know that my punctuation , grammar etc. is'nt impeccable .
I've heard rumours of people on this site manifesting and conversing with themselves in multiple identities  .
Those , including myself , who tend to experience difficulties in forming relationships in the real world should bear in mind that relationships formed in this semi-real world may occasionally turn out to be as troublesome as any formed outside of it , and that , although the great majority here are decent and well-meaning , a few are damaged , and a few of those few feel impelled to cause damage here , or so I've heard .

Heavy Metal 'aint really my scene , man' , but interesting to listen to Metallica whilst watching scenes from one of my favourite films The Picture of Dorian Gray .

Impromptus op 90 D . 899 , Impromptu in G Flat , played by Alfred Brendel , ( c ) Philips Classics 1989 .

http://www.alfredbrendel.com/

Moments Of Pleasure , ( c ) EMI Records Limited , 1993 .

http://www.katebush.com/flashindex.html

Apparently Esther Rantzen , on BBC 'Question Time' accused Northern Irish people of being " addicted to hatred " . Which I must admit was my first thought when I heard of around 150 Romanian immigrants having been intimidated out of their homes by hate-fuelled mobs in Belfast .
Although the Police back up their claims of some of the Romanians , apparently of Gipsy origin , having been stealing from , otherwise begging from their Northern Irish neighbours , and there's talk of the immigrants having been allocated better housing than some of the indigenous community .
According to an article by Andrew Malone in today's 'Mail , the Tony Blair government promised us only 20,000 european immigrants but we've had 600,000 , and it's the admission into the EU of Romania in 2007 that has caused the most social problems , with  Interpol warning that some Romanian immigrants are stealing on the orders of gangsters back home .
The treatment of Romanians in Belfast recently is appalling and is condemned by most Northern Irish people , however every indigenous British person knows that mass-immigration has been forced upon us without us having any say in the matter , and , so long as there's room and resources here , and the immigrants make reasonable attempts to learn our language and respect our laws there should be no problem at all .
However the 'politically correct' dogma of inviting and indulging huge numbers of foreign immigrants then telling us that if we do'nt welcome them all with open arms no matter what we are evil racists is a blessing to nasty BNP hate-mongers , and a provocative insult to the rest of us .
None of this affects me personally , and I take people as I find them . Also I emphatically deplore all racist attacks . I'm just saying that the Blair/Brown policy of 'Let 'em all in ' was always destined to lead to societal problems in highly immigrated into areas , and few except the odious BNP dare to point that out .

Ambulance staff are being offered overtime pay to partake in the annual Gay Pride March in Brighton , this year .
Surely life is easier for gay and lesbian people in Britain now than at any time in our history .
Most lesbians prefer to be discreet , but why gay men wanting to ostentaciously march through our streets have to indulged by taxpayers I do'nt know .
There should be no shame whatever in being gay or lesbian . But taxpayers are'nt expected to fund heterosexual-pride marches .
Men kissing , men holding hands , men dressed as women : Sorry , but we've seen it all before , and it's harmless but just such a bore .

I feel that the 'dark cloud' that's been hanging over me for the last couple of weeks may be partially lifting , and I want to express my sincerest gratitude to blog friends who've been sending healing thoughts to myself , my Mum and our cat , who was asleep on my lap earlier without trying to jump off or scratch me at all , and who did'nt make a fuss about returning to his cage , on vets orders , for another 20 ( nearly 19 ) days , and the pet insurers now have the claim form .

At our house , Thornybank , in Kings Langley in the 70's , while I was a pupil at the Rudolf Steiner School up the road , we separately had three boarders there , all connected with the school .
First there was Rassol Nan Nabat from Tehran , who I was pretty much indifferent to .
Then there was my classmate Djivan Souren , who moved out , as I recall , because he found my Dad intolerable , although he was regularly stealing £5 notes from my Dad , who wanted the school , rather than himself , to deal with that , when he discovered it , and I did'nt know anything about it at the time .
Then there was Keith Harris - Not the one associated with Orville - who was a student teacher at the school .
He and my future class teacher and others would drink at local pubs some evenings . I think that my Mum wished that he could've been more of a friend to me , but I did'nt ask or expect anything , and as I recall we got on alright .
I do recall his having consolitarily said that I was 'good' in the school Shakespeare play that I was abusively forced to appear in , for about four performances , in which , though I had only a small , and edited part : The Scottish Captain Jamie in Henry the 4th pt 2 ,  when he and I and everyone who was there knew what a ridiculous shambling wreck I was in the stupid f---ing thing !
( I think now that Djivan was after , not before , K/Harris . ) 

There was once a possibility of  GIRL , Holly Roberts , boarding at our home , but not surprisingly the idea was vetoed by whoever . I've always longed for closeness with girls / women .

I am vetoeing Radio5live at the moment , as all they've been on about all day has been Formula 1 motor racing , which I have precisely zero interest in !

Leo ( cat ) is being so good , not complaining much about his vet-ordered incarceration in the comfy large cage for another 20 days , and last night I wrote and nearly delivered a short letter to my two-faced resenters down the road , then thought better of it .
For the last two mornings of my sleeping down here , on a mattress next to Leo's cage , the 94 year old lady  , who lives next door to my protagonists , has phoned and left messages at 4 and 4-45 am . I do'nt blame her , she gets confused about the time . She has visits from 'carers' four times a day , and most people think she's better off in her own home .
Why the hell are the Daily Mail now going on and on about wheelie-bins , six pages today . . I know they're not exactly objects of beauty , but what with the recession , crime , potentially very serious instability in various parts of our world , and issues relating to the environment , our over-populated planet and so much more , surely they could find something better to be campaigning against .
Some people ridiculed their campaign , a few months ago , re. supermarket carrier bags , but when they find their way into rivers and the sea they can do serious harm to aquatic life .
Wheelie bins however , what's the damn problem , or maybe it's me who just does'nt get it .

The opening titles and Paul McCartney & Wings theme from Roger Moore's debut as James Bond in 1973 , Live and Let die , which I remember seeing at a cinema with my Mum and my Grandma . The film seems a bit dated now , and subsequent ones had a bigger budget , but one of the very best 'Bond theme songs .

What's this I hear about all or most UK radio stations becoming digital only by 2015 ?
At least one or two people , including the Scottish Priest through whom I ended up visiting The Gambia think I'm 'right wing' , but I always have sympathy for no-hopers/can't copers - After all I'm one of them !
If I had to choose between radio or tv then the television would have to go .
Why force everyone , whether rich , poor or in between to chuck away their analogue radios and purchase more expensive digital ones , with , speaking from my experience , worse sound quality . And in this region , on the English mainland , not the outer hebrides , there is precisely no digital radio reception .

As for the idea of forcing the BBC to allocate some licence payers money to itv to fund its local news coverage : How ridiculous . The principal virtue of the BBC is supposed to be that it does not feature advertising , and providing local news is part of its remit .
How absurd to suggest that license payers money should have to fund two competing local news services .
Why should itv have to provide something that the publicly funded BBC already does better .

What an old whinger I seem to be becoming . My last word for the time being on the oddities down the road , bearing in mind their having been getting their knickers in such a twist about my having been away for a week in January , is that I have given them things : Several unwanted books , and a few cd's and cassette tapes that I thought they might appreciate . And a virtually new condition microwave oven , soon after they moved here : The one I'd had in my flat , because their kitchen was being refurbished or something .
He once gave me an up to date film-guide book , then about a month later asked for it back .

Number 5 in G minor : I just love the energy , rhythm and sense of movement , and the romantic lyricism of the middle section : Vladimir Ashkenazy , ( c ) Decca , ( p ) 1976 .

As for Mrs and Mr Coldheart down the road feeling so venemous about my having spent a disappointing , sometimes utterly miserable week in West Africa in January , though they could easily afford a holiday if they wanted one , a year or so ago they gave their son £20,000 for an analogue mixing deck on ebay , for the insufferable pretencious garbage-excuse for music that he and his mate self-indulgently churn out  , and for 1000 cd's of it to be produced , which no one is masochistic enough to be able to bear listening to .
And they've bought houses for him , though he can only bear to be with them for about four days a year , and that's absolutely fine , no concern of mine or anyone elses whatsoever .
But why they've been feeling so inscensed about my trip five months ago God only knows , but I know for sure that they must have felt resentful of me for ages , two-facedly inviting me to visit .
It's frustrating that the pet insurance people have'nt received the claim form that I left with the vets to send them . I may have to get another form to take to the vets then collect when they've filled in their part of it , which would be no problem whatever if I could drive . Which my late Dad never in any way encouraged me , or my Mum to learn to .
I know I'm not old but I keep not quite feeling confident enough to commit myself to learning .
I'm sorry that I'm falling behind in reading and responding to friends posts here . Normal service will be resumed .

The Damned , who I have a ticket to see last night in London , but I've not mastered the art of time travel yet , at Glastonbury in 2003 .

Still finding myself somewhat annoyed and somewhat annoyingly preoccupied with the couple down the road , as is my Mum , and especially since she reminded me of when , about 20 months ago , she knocked on their door to breifly thank them for something and to give them a plant , they were about to go out , and he just said " GO " .
I would'nt say there's never any mitigating circumstances for unprovoked rudeness , but I would say that , amongst supposed friends , there's never any excuse for not apologising later , which needless to say he never did .

There has to be 'Zero Tolerance' for some things , but 'zero tolerance' for less serious things leads to petty and absurd abuses of power , like the policemen in Ayr , Scotland , who ordered a disabled man afflicted with arthiritis to pay a £60 penalty because he accidentally dropped a £10 note outside a charity shop he'd just bought a t-shirt at , because there's a 'zero tolerance policy' on littering .
Or like the prat who's the 'manager' of the place that my 'ex' and I sometimes went to : In 2005 , five months after she left me I suddenly realised how they'd been colluding with her re. her avoiding me , I was on my way out while I uttered a sentence which included one swearing word , and he heroically typed and posted me a threatening letter about 'zero tolerance' , which charmingly arrived the next day : my birthday .

Dear Leo cat is sleeping a lot , and complaining only for a few minutes each day about his unfortunately enforced comfortable incarceration , on vets orders , for another 4 weeks or so .

BLT ( Baroness Lady Thatcher ) , 83 , fell and broke her arm . She went on as PM for too long , gradually becoming more out of touch . The Poll Tax was an unfair shambles , she gave the impression of thinking that unemployment was 'a price worth paying' , in return for what I'm not sure , and she seemed to think that the police were above reproach , no matter what .
But she was passionately loyal to her beloved Britain , she defended British Citizens in the Falkland Islands , and refused to be emotionally blackmailed by psychopathic IRA terrorists and hunger strikers . Nearly everyone in Scotland and Wales hates her , though she still has some loyal admirers in England . Then there's  those who stubbornly remain deludedly convinced that she was an evil , fascist , anti-British dictator , who is better off dead .
It does'nt suit their self-deceptive hatefulness to acknowledge that to condemn anyone as sub-human scum who is better off dead is the beginning of the fascism they affect to so despise .
I would argue that Tony Blair did far more harm when he was Prime Minister , yet he is'nt reviled as she is .
During BLT's premiership her loyal lieutenant Willie Whitelaw as Home Secretary gleefully introduced a 'Short Sharp Shock' regime for young male offenders : Lots of being shouted at whilst being made to undergo tough physical exercises , the short-lived populist scheme was criticised for turning out leaner , fitter and angrier young offenders .

With , I believe , far worse levels of violent crime going on now ( though by all means correct me if you know differently ) , the general perception is that penalties are far too undeterrantly soft . A caller on Nicky Campbell's R5live phone-in yesterday ( friday ) morning who works in a prison or young offenders place related that about 30 - 40 thousand pounds was spent on the production of  a 'music video' featuring some inmates of the institution , justified by  'it's not nice for them to be locked up' .
In the itv programme about Holloway womens prison many of the inmates did'nt want to leave , and deliberately got themselves sent back there .

Since about 10-40 pm last wednesday evening it's been a challenging week .
A few minutes after my Mum returned home Leo cat came in , in some pain and distress .
We called the vet out , took Leo in the next day , and collected him last friday .
As , most unfortunately , neither my Mum ( who I've lived here with for two and a half years now ) or I drive , at short notice , because Leo hated being at the vetinary surgery we needed to get him home ( the vets are about 10 minutes drive away ) , and to get a large pet cage to keep him in , as somehow a ligament in his back leg had become badly damaged , and for it to heal he needs to rest for 4 - 5 weeks .
The lovely kind gentleman next door was happy to take me to collect Leo .
My Mum , who adores the cat as much as I do asked her 'friends' down the road if they could possibly , at short notice , take her to Lowestoft to collect a large pet cage from Argos .
He refused ; and his  wife would have casually had the cat put to sleep , as she did to her cat in Ireland before she moved back to England , and it seems they have a huge bee in their bonnets about my having gone to Africa for a week in January : When my Mum spoke to them a couple of days later she said that since I spent " all that money " on going there ,  surely I could have afforded a taxi .
Yes I could  , and so could my Mum , who  phoned a friend , a lady who's about the same age as her who's involved with the Cats Protection League , and she and her husband were happy to drop everything to take my Mum to collect the cage , and they refused payment , so she gave them a donation to the CPL .
I went to The Gambia in January because an ex blog-friend of mine encouraged me to after I expressed an interest in it .
I booked the trip about 5 months in advance , and during the month or so before I went I was wondering if I'd made a mistake .
I went , thinking I had a good friend there and hoping that all would be well .
My friend had been not at all well , with 'flu' : Not a good situation in a third world country .
I had a problem with a Gambian friend of his , and he became very annoyed after I calmly told him of it .
The problem was partly my fault , for 'going with the flow' too much on my second evening there , and for not entirely thinking rationally , having gone from chilly , wintry England to hot Africa .
I need my sleep , and , after not having had enough sleep , on my third afternoon there , I raised my voice in response to his anger with me , and our friendship was severed .
I enjoyed some of my holiday there , despite being depressed and homesick for over half of it , and despite my not being wealthy I was very generous to a Gambian lady and her family who I met there .
The odd couple down the road have always told me I'm welcome to call in to see them , which I've done no more than about once a month , and never for very long .
I do'nt understand why they resent me for having been away for a week in January , but resent it they do : They've resentfully referred to it three or four times to my Mum .
If we really like someone we're pleased for their good fortune , and sad about their misfortunes .
And it's not as if they could'nt afford a holiday if they wanted one .
Anyway , although I do'nt need to 'beat myself up' about having let Leo out a few times , when he jumped around a little , he needs to be kept from leaping upwards at least until a month from yesterday .
I know that my problems seem miniscule compared to some people's .
As I've said there's no point in sharing our home and our life with another mammal without our doing our best for it .
I'm sleeping down here every night , so Leo's not alone .
He should be fine in about a month from now , and he's coping with the situation so much better than I was !  When I saw the vet yesterday morning he said that cats are very adaptable .
Neither my Mum or I at all expect anyone to drop everything and drive us anywhere , at short notice , or at all .
And , yes , though we're not rich we're lucky that we could afford taxi's .
Most decent people , if they could'nt or would'nt help would politely apologise and give a real or made up reason as to why they could'nt help .
He was so cold , and so off-hand with my Mum , despite their otherwise always being so friendly and welcoming to her .
They have no true friends because they do'nt understand what true friendship is .
My Mum has several good friends ; It's their loss far more than hers .
I have no intention of ever being on friendly terms with them again .
Twenty or less years ago I'd probably have written them an unfriendly note , but not now .
And , I know this is all  trivial compared to some people's problems , but , my space , and thanks so much for reading if you've got this far .
Martin .

From 1976 , I'm a Song Sing Me , by that Great American singer , songwriter and pianist Neil Sedaka , ( c ) Polygram Records Ltd .

I've just read this article in today's D/Mail which exposes more of the murky truth about Simon Cowell's tv talent shows :
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1191680/Britains-Got-Victims-As-Simon-Cowell-talent-ends-finalists-claim-cynically-exploited.html
I'm especially struck by the claims of BGT deliberately getting vulnerable people to cry on television , to arouse the sympathy vote , because the more people who vote , the more money the programmes make .
I think I can state now with some certaintly that Ten year old Hollie Steel's 'breaking down' during the last semi-final , then being given another chance was pre-arranged and cleverly faked .
What shabby programmes , behind the scenes , BGT and X-Factor are .

It amuses me that the anti-Brown Labour-rebels are referred to as 'Blairites' . . . 
As if the mad maniacal puppeteer Blair is manically laughing as he pulls the strings , gleefully rejoicing in the downfall of his successor , who he never thought up to the job and delighting in being proved right . . .

Thank God I'll be seeing the vet in the morning , less so that he or she can fill in their part of the insurance claim , more because I really need to know whether I should be hating myself for having let my cat out of his large cage a few times , and if his having jumped onto chairs could have aggravated his injury , though it does'nt appear to have . And I really need to know for approximately how long this situation is likely to continue .
Leo is taking it all remarkably well most of the time , apart from a few understandable grumpy moments .

W.O.L.D by Harry Chapin , ( p ) 1973 WEA International Inc .
Taken from the Warner Music Album 'Anthology of Harry Chapin' .

Very American , and easy to make fun of but a minor Classic of its kind and of its time , and a song I'll always associate with the late Capital Radio DJ Roger Scott .

A sad conversation with a lady whose husband was on the Air France plane that crashed in the sea the other day , on Stephen Nolan's R5live programme just now .
And some moving eyewitness accounts from D-Day veterans in the first hour .
We do'nt need to keep on  , hour after hour hearing about the ongoing , slow-motion-implosion of Gordon Brown's prime-ministership that he coveted for so long  , and as much as I respect and honour all those who made heroic sacrifices to save this planet from Nazism in WW2 , it was shameful of some D-Day veterans to boo him during the rememberance event in France today .
Apparently because he did'nt personally ensure that The Queen was invited .
The wrong time , the wrong place , and blame Sarkozy , not Brown , for that . If HM wanted Brown to ensure her invitation she'd have asked him to , and I'm sure her attendance at Epsom for The Derby today was no hardship for her whatsoever .
And so Lord Mandelson was critical of Gordon Brown's character : Err , like Lord Mandy is a paragon of perfection himself ?
I'd love to know what exactly Mandelson's brilliant talents are .
A natural instinct for presentation of party politics , perhaps .
Whatever , he's been a member of the notoriously shadowy and sinister 'Bilderburg Group' for some time .

Had a call from the vet's this morning : We could collect Leo , but , as he's torn a ligament , so mus'nt jump about , we had to buy a large pet cage from Argos .
So my Mum got a lift there , and I got a lift to the vets .
He was frantic to get out of his pet carrier when I got him back , He was distressed at the vets and distressed when he got home as I could'nt let him out until my Mum got back with the large cage , which was'nt so long .
There's room in the cage for litter tray + food and water and for him to sleep , but he's a very active cat , and I think the plan is for him to be kept in it for a month .
I've let him out , with the door of this room shut , and was shadowing him all the time to make sure he did'nt jump up anywhere , which he did'nt try to .
He was purring and washing himself , and now he's asleep on the floor .
He does'nt seem in pain at all , though he's been given pain relief , and I have tablets to give him + a liquid painkiller to mix with his food .
He has a good appetite too , and seems fine now though I guess I must follow the vets advice , and keep him in the cage when I can't be with him , which he's not going to like a lot . He'll be back to the vets for an appt on tuesday , and I hope it'll heal sooner than they think .
£447 to the vets , though he is insured , and I'll get the vet to write in the claim form on tuesday .
The 'high and mighty' vegetarians in this road refused to help because they think that keeping him in the cage is cruel and that he should be 'put to sleep' .
They did'nt say exactly that , but it's what they meant .
I hope I do'nt 'bump into' them anytime soon .
At least there's no problem with his bladder , which the vet initially thought .

Brain Damage / Eclipse : The last few minutes of Pink Floyd's Classic 1973 album The Dark Side of The Moon , synched to more of The Wizard of Oz .
Bizarre .

Time : The Dark Side of the Moon set to The Wizard of Oz ( 1939 ) . Interesting .

I just , on the spur of the moment decided to go out and vote .
I voted for UKIP : Local , and was going to vote for them in the Euro poll too , then spontaneously decided to vote for something called 'Animals First' .

The 'returning officers' ( or whatever they're called ) reckon the turnout has been pretty good .
Probably because there are a lot of elderly and middle class folk here ( I am neither ) .

Breaking News : The sideburned , waistcoated , 1970's detective lookalike James Purnell has quit the Cabinet and called on Brown to resign .

And now an unconfirmed rumour of David Milleband quitting tomorrow .

I keep expecting my cat to come in then remembering he's still at the vetinary surgery . I so hope he'll be well enough to come home tomorrow , as is likely .

It's so lovely to be able to share ones home and ones life with animal friends / companions . Then so worrying when they're ill .
Leo ( cat ) came in last night soon after my Mum got home , was walking a bit stiffly , then moaning in distress a lot .
We called the vet , who came and gave him painkilling and anti-inflammatory injections .
When I took him in this morning the vet thought his bladder seemed very full and that he may have a blocked urethra . Which left untreated is fatal .
I left him there , and the vet phoned early this evening to say that are ' over the moon ' that he does'nt have that , that he may have a minor fracture or torn muscle or something , they'll keep him in tonight , and all being well he can come home tomorrow .
Apart from a few wobbly moments I'm being positive . I miss him but as he's usually out a lot anyway it does'nt feel unduly strange that he's not here for a while .
Meanwhile all the sunshines's gone and that all too familiar east-coast-cool-wind is back , making it feel much more like March or October than June .

Have the 'Telegraph's revelations damaged the Conservatives more than Labour ?
It's difficult to feel anything other than contemptuous of arrogant , pompous old tory toffs who think we all owe them the maintenance of their moats , or the cost of their decorative duck houses and that if we object it's only because we're jealous . 
The difference is that Labour are in power and there have been outrageous revelations about the dishonest if not fraudulent conduct not just of ordinairy MP's but of sitting Cabinet Ministers .

The Sun's shrewd and experienced judge of political matters Trevor Kavanagh has predicted that Gordon Brown will " effectively " be no longer Prime Minister by the end of next week .

He does'nt know the local or European election results yet , no one does , though it's fair to assume they will not be very favourable to Labour  .
The Lib-Dems may do moderately well , but the anti-three main parties votes will be split between the Greens , The UK Independence Party and the BNP , so I can't see any of those three achieving any spectacular successes , and least of all the BNP we hope , who nearly everyone hates .
They rant on and on and on about Blacks , Muslims , Paki's , Turks , Poles etc : They are vile thugs who would , if they ever had the chance  , rule by violence , intimidation and fear .

It's not racist to have legitimate concerns about immigration , and the UKIP policy on immigration would be tougher than that of the three main parties yet they are not fascists or thugs .

Lord Peter Mandelson says that the last thing the tories want is an election . Nonsense , of course they want one , but are unlikely to get one before this autumn at the earliest .
Gordon Brown will hang on for another year if he's allowed to , and if the 'Telegraph's expenses revelations contribute to his being toppled they will have helped Labour , as , though I do have some sympathy for Brown , ever since he changed his mind about a general election that he'd have won in the autumn of 2007 he's appeared dithering and out of his depth .

It'll be interesting to hear what Hazel Blears and other Labour MP's may say about Gordon Brown between the polls closing tomorrow evening and his imminent reshuffle , before the european election results on Sunday .

From the dvd of their Slane Castle , Dublin , concert on 1st September 2001 , Kite , from the album All That You Can't Leave Behind , which Bono dedicated to his Dad , whose funeral was eight days earlier .
( c ) U2.com

My last words ( I think ) on BGT 2009 are that I suspect that ten year old Hollie Steel's apparent distress on friday evening was a clever ploy to win her the sympathy vote , thus getting her into the final .
I do'nt like to see anyone in distress least of all a child , but I did'nt actually see any tears .
Maybe I'm too cynical .
And for goodness sake send poor Susan Boyle back home to be reunited with her beloved cat !

I'm alone here , except for my cat when he deigns to grace me with his company . My Mum is away with friends for a couple of days .

Last night I had a repeat of a seemingly never ending exasperating dream that I've had before , that I was living back in Norwich and went to find an Asda , not where there is one , and found it but kept endlessly going round in circles , in and out of it , getting nowhere , and unable to get or even to know what I wanted .

My Mum just phoned : Half an hour away from Glastonbury , where they're going , the rented car broke down . They were waiting for over three hours for someone to turn up to fix it , and they've just abandoned the car and got a taxi .
I do'nt mention my Mum that much here ; I do'nt want to seem a middle-aged 'mummys boy' , and I love her very much but I did struggle on alone for 20 months after being left by ex-partner who I was with for 10 and a half years before moving here .