Today's child provided entertainment was from youngish Kay who this morning texted the following message:
I AINT AT SCHOOL AS THEY ARE KILLIN N RAPIN KIDS. I'M AT CEES HOUSE. LOVE Kay
A quick call found that she was indeed at her friend's house with friend's sensible mother. The school had also heard the rumour of Killin' 'n' Rapin' (as had all of the other secondary schools in the borough) and advised us not to send the girls in. They had also cancelled all lunch pass-outs and were asking parents to pick up their children at the end of the day. Further digging at the school revealed there to be a large plain clothes police presence around all of the borough's schools. What actually was going on we still don't know... the rumour continues to grow and the girls for once want to be walked to and from school which we will gladly do, whilst trying to reassure them of the falsity of some of the wilder parts of the story. But how does a rumour like this so quickly grow around seven schools in one morning? And where did start?
20041130 20:27
"Blackpool" continues to be by far the best thing on British TV at the moment. And last night the broad ranging musical numbers included this excellent little number from Mud. I don't know how many punters bought the single and gave it to their valentine as the marketing department of RAK records would have wanted us to, certainly as a poor 14 year old there was no way I was going to spend a week's pocket money on a girl. Still, it made a nice change in the days when most vinyl came in a plain white sleeve.
Also this was also the second song (after "Hey Joe") that a friend tried to teach me to play on the bass.
Finally, on the way to work this morning the shuffle play on the iPod found Mud's "The Cat Crept In".
Coincidences like this make me smile.
20041126 17:51
My work diary reliably informs me that today is the 500th anniversary of the death of Isabella of Castile. "Who?" I hear you whisper.
Well exactly. That's what I thought.
So I turned to t'internet. And, as usual, my confusion gathered pace. For, according to Wikipedia she actually didn't die until 500 years on Friday. So, a bit of a non-post really.....
....except, unexpectedly it turns out that she and her husband invented the Spanish Inquisition. And she approved Columbus's voyage that lead to the discovery of the Americas.
Good and bad then (well, the world would have been a poorer place without that Monty Python sketch).
20041124 17:56
We've been swimming with dolphins in the seas off New Zealand at both Kaikoura and Akaroa (and will probably be doing so again soon). The last time we were in Kaikoura I also noticed there was a shark diving experience. Clearly the dolphins are less than happy with us swimming with sharks as this story suggests..... a pod of dolphins saved some swimmers of NZ from the unwelcome attention of a Great White Shark.
Excellent, could I feel closer to this species?
20041124 6:33
I'm sure it can be hard to be a 14 year old teenage girl these days.
I know it's hard to be the parent of one.
20041123 20:44
..or alternatively, lovely weather for ducks.
20041121 22:01
I think I'm getting a bit blasé about these Blogmeets. It's lovely to see those I now perceive as old faces (though the longest I've known any of them in the flesh is only 8 months) and great to meet newbies. But whilst talking to a very visible one of the latter last night I recalled just how bizarre it all really is and the trepidation I felt the first time. So with this in mind I'd just like to say how glad I am that the Invisible Stranger and Mr.D plucked up enough courage to not only show up but also to come and join our raucous band in the corner. If the group continues to grow we'll be taking over a whole pub soon.
Good, maybe then we can get them to turn the music down!
Lovely to see you all, hope to do it again soon.
20041120 19:16
It's taken a few months but we've finally moved our mortgage away from our old building society to a new Offset variety where we can offset all the money we've got from 0% interest credit cards? Sound familiar?
Really?
Well, yes Witchy is talking about it all the time..... but rightly so as it can really save you a fortune people! As soon as I've finished moving all the money around we should have half of our mortgage offset in the savings accounts, which could nearly halve our monthly mortgage payments (but will actually mean we're paying off the capital faster).
And that's just the start!
20041118 20:36
One of the many things you might not expect to see when cycling around Walthamstow is a tree full of cormorants. Sadly they weren't close to enough to tell me whether they really do keep their eggs in paper bags. Oh, well, nice to see them anyway.
Next week, herds of Wildebeest roaming the Leyton Savannah.
20041113 17:55
..and disappear.
The sun only shone for a brief moment here today, just enough to light up this leaf on our vitus. It was shining like a stained glass window and visible from the kitchen window twenty feet away....
20041112 16:23
Well I said there might be more.... these ones growing on a tree.
20041109 18:14
There's not much of interest going on in Planarchy Towers today..... I hope one of those green bottles doesn't accidentally fall!
20041107 19:11
There are too many fireworks going off round here.
Far too many!
20041105 20:55
I've been passing this wreck in the space where a house should be for a while... transfixing for some reason.
20041103 20:36