Let The Sun Shine In!

Saturday 25th April. 2.35 p.m. I can't believe we're almost into May. Where have four months gone? It doesn't seem long ago since Christmas. I don't know why it's speeding by at the rate of knots. I want it to slow down.

The digital thermometer currently reads 27ºc. Just warm and a bit clammy.

I have begun writing my second play. I can't believe I have written that! It is relatively easy to write because it is loosely based on my own family and set on a farm. I wouldn't say it was autobiographical, but it has given me a sort of framework to play with. I have backgrounds to most of the main characters and it's made it easier with that framework.

I went to Lidl around 9 o'clock this morning. I needed milk as what I had was running out. I picked up everything on my list and got to one of the self-service tills. I had meant to pay with cash, as there is very little cash in my bank account, but my concentration was elsewhere, because of starting the new play, so when it came to payment, I accidentally put my card details in the machine, but it wouldn't work, not surprisingly, so a staff member had to cancel my payment on that machine and open up a manned till (I we even allowed to say 'manned' these days? Does it have to be gender neutral? Crazy world we live in, if that's true. Anyway, I had to transfer to one of the manned tills, and so I waited, and no one appeared, and the voice of the Tannoy kept saying 'opening till number 8' because I think the staff in Lidl have to do more than one job, but not just be till operatives, stack shelves, clean the store and so on. But after the wait, I was served, and it meant I could get out of the store and drive home.

Sunday 26th April. 7.10 a.m. It's another bright morning. The digital thermometer currently reads 25ºc.

I woke up as usual, and put on the GBN news, and I was shocked to find out what amounts to a possible assassination attempt on President Donald Trump. A 30-year-old man has been apprehended, and the President was escorted off the premises. It would appear that the security staff, F.B.I. or whoever they were, did an amazing job and got the suspect extremely rapidly, and he will appear in court tomorrow morning.

Regardless of what you might think of Trump, he does open himself up to be a target of some lunatic who has a grudge, for whatever reason. The things Trump comes out with can be very dangerous. The current war in Iran, the things he says, such as taking over Greenland and many other things, would possibly incite a madman to attempt assassination. He just seems to provoke this sort of action, usually by lone wolf individuals. There have been many attempts on Trump's life, I think this one is probably the third.

Having said all that, the American obsession with firearms doesn't help. You would think, by now, with all the shootings, which seem to happen every other month, that someone would have the sense to bring in legislation to control the sale of firearms, or at least have some sort of licence for their sale, or even ban them in certain instances or have an age restriction. But no, they don't do any of those ideas so the attempts on Trump continue and madmen (or women.) seem to continue to rampage across the country.

The State of Christmas Television in 2025

 It would appear, from the dreadful ratings for Christmas television, mostly on BBC 1, that the British public has turned their back on the national broadcaster. Why do you suppose? Could it be the number of scandals that have engulfed the BBC in the last few years? The scandal of Jimmy Savile? The more recent business of the editing of a speech by President Donald Trump, to make it seem as if he had something different to what he actually said? The influence of 'woke' ideology? Or is it that most households don't watch traditional, linear television, that is, television that is broadcast 'live', in a schedule, one programme after another, at a set time and day? You can watch a wide range of television on streaming services, such as Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, as well as the catch-up services which are connected to the traditional television services, such as BBC iPlayer, 5, Channel 4 , Apple TV, etc. You can binge-watch programmes, if you so desire, because all the episodes are available online, meaning you don't have to wait for the next episode to be available a week later, which was the model for television in the past, probably no more than 25-30 years ago.

In years gone by, probably in the 1960s and 1970s, when I was in my teens and early 20s, you could always rely on television to provide a wide range of programmes, across a very wide selection of genres, from children's television, classic drama adaptations, theatre adaptations, contemporary drama, light entertainment, situation comedy, arts, music and a whole range of inbetween material. On a Saturday, you could start with sport, with Grandstand, which ran in the afternoon, then something for children, Basil Brush, and dare I say 'Jim'll Fix It,' (which now has a rather unpleasant scandal attached to it, so I will leave well alone.) Doctor Who, followed later by 'The Generation Game,' which had Bruce Forsyth as presenter in it's earlier days, followed by comedy from 'The Two Ronnies' and later still, probably some form of drama to round off the evening.

The buildup to television was intense in those decades, and it's probably the same today. I can remember, during September, a new television 'season' being unveiled. There would be returning series, 'The Good Life', 'Fawlty Towers', 'Rising Damp' and a whole raft of sitcoms which were born during this period. 'Dad's Army' was still running and continued on well into the 1970s. Then, at Christmas, we would get Christmas specials of these shows and not, of course, forgetting the legendary 'Morecambe and Wise' show which was a huge ratings winner on Christmas Day. 

ITV had its fair share of hit shows, such as 'Upstairs, Downstairs', 'Brideshead Revisited' and classic comedies such as 'Man About The House' and 'Please Sir.' And, to compete with 'Morecambe and Wise and 'The Two Ronnies', they had shows fronted by Stanley Baxter.

What do we now have that comes even close to any of these television shows? I can think of none. I suppose we have had some big hitters, such as 'Drop The Dead Donkey', 'Father Ted' 'Last of The Summer Wine' and 'Keeping Up Appearances,' but these have been off our screens for several decades.

I admit, it's very difficult to compare television from 40-50 years ago with today's offerings. For a start, there were only 4 channels in 1992, when Channel 4 came on the scene. Today, we have endless channels on digital platforms, such as Freeview and Sky. (Other providers are available.) That is, not to mention streaming platforms, such as Disney+, Netflix, Paramount and Amazon. 

Looking at the schedules for the Christmas period, there was nothing I could honestly say grabbed my attention and have me watching. The, by now, traditional 'Strictly Come Dancing' edition. The rating for this were poor, compared with previous years. Let's be honest, I think this show has run it's course. It has also had it fair share of controversy. To run for 20 years is pretty good. All things, particularly television shows, must come to an end sooner or later.  Compared to any of the Morecambe and Wise or Two Ronnies shows, there is no comparison. To make those big Christmas shows from the 1970's you have to consider the time and energy it must have taken to produce them, let alone the cost. Then, rehearsing, set-building, and probably filming months ahead of studio filming. Today, it seems that nobody in traditional television has any imagination to produce anything, except endless game shows and reality programmes, or anything with 'celebrity' in the title.

Donald Trump's Second Inauguration

 Monday. 7.40 a.m. I have just been reading what I wrote here eight years ago regarding Donald Trump's first inauguration as American President.  Well, they had four years of Biden and he became very unsteady as a President. Frankly, he was too old and frail to have the responsibility of running the largest economy in the world. Half the time he didn't know where he was or what he was talking about. I think he must have early onset Alzheimer's and was not really fit to be President. Kamala Harris, who took over mid-way through the election campaign, wasn't really fit to be president either, so, of the two candidates, love him or loathe him, Trump was the better choice.

7.10 p.m. I have been having problems getting my Panasonic Freeview Play set-top box to connect to my wi-fi router since I moved my broadband to Vodafone fibre around a month and a half ago. On two occasions I have attempted to put the password into the box, but for some reason, it just will not work. It is a very nerve-wracking experience because the password is long and uses upper and lower case numbers and letters and you have to use the remote control. So, I gave up on the last attempt. I then looked on the internet for some answers and one response was to use a cable connection, so I found the relevant cable and then plugged it into the router, and, fortunately, it worked.

I have been reading about Trump's inauguration and the executive orders he is going to sign. He is going to do away with a lot of the 'woke' rubbish that has been in place under Biden, such as gender and similar ideology. No government employee will be allowed to work from home, which seemed to be 'normal' since the pandemic.

Wednesday. 7.20. According to the weather forecast on BBC Breakfast a few minutes ago, Storm Éowyn is about to hit the British Isles. I'm not sure if that means wind, snow or rain, but I'm sure we will know when it eventually happens.

Friday. 7.10 a.m. Storm Éowyn has struck! It's extremely windy out and I didn't stay out long when I took Alfie out a few minutes ago. 

There is a Red warding in place in Northern Ireland and Scotland due to the high winds caused by Storm Éowyn. This means that it is dangerous and could be a threat to life. In Northern Ireland, they have recorded a wind speed of 114 m.p.h.  There is therefore traffic disruption and the message going out that, unless your journey is important, not to travel. On BBC Breakfast this morning, the weather map of the British Isles has a large area of the north of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland covered in yellow which looks like some sort of balloon or rubber device, dare I say, condom. Sorry, but it does have that sort of appearance.

9.35 a.m. It's bright and sunny, but the wind is still blowing a gale.

The workmen doing the work in the community garden have got several layers of what looks to me like gravel or stone on some of the paths. There is a yellow JCB roadroller standing on the path, no doubt to be used to flatten the paths before the final layer goes down, probably tarmac. I suppose it has to be smooth if people are to drive their scooters along the paths.

Saturday. 8.10 a.m. Thank goodness it's a good deal calmer this morning. Having watched BBC Breakfast this morning, there has been a great deal of damage done to buildings across the country, most in Northern Ireland and Scotland, both of which seem to have been hit the hardest by Storm Éowyn. In Northern Ireland the speed of the storm was recorded at 104 m.p.h. in some places.

New Lockdown Restrictions???

 (Tuesday) Not actually sure which day of the week it was. Just goes to show the effect being in lockdown has.

There's the possibility of the measures the government has put in place to slow the virus's transmission might be strengthened. Matt Hancock,  Secretary of State for Health has said it may be necessary for face covering to be required by law when we're outside. But this is crazy, because, surely, viruses are dispersed in the open air. Obviously you need to wear one in enclosed spaces, in supermarkets, for example, but not outside. I don't see the point. I'm not really convinced that they make a lot of difference. As for me, breathing in my own hot breath is unpleasant over a long period. I was in Aldi the other day and I had to wait in a queue at the checkout and I was feeling quite uncomfortable. I think I was liable to pass out, not something I want to do in public. It's just not pleasant. Also, because I wear glasses, they steam up. Also, they make speaking really difficult.

I have been into Sainsbury's to collect the Bisoprolol which was ready for collection from Lloyd's Pharmacy. It's a good time to go grocery shopping because there were very few other shoppers in there. I got a few items which were running out, but I shall do a full shop tomorrow after I get paid.

I'm watching something rather special on the BBC iPlayer (it's also broadcast on BBC1.) It's called 'Staged' and has David Tennant and Michael Sheen in it. They are stuck in lockdown (very current.) and attempting to rehearse a play 'Six Characters In Search of an Author,' by Pirendello. It's what you might call 'meta' meaning it is self referential. These brilliant actors play versions of themselves and at times appear as if they're chatting via something like Zoom. It's very funny (but I warn you because the language can be quite strong. Quite a lot of swear words used, but having worked myself with actors, I know some of them can be a bit raw with their language.) But it's very good and well worth watching. I'm watching the first run of episodes and will eventually get to the second run soon. It's such a simple idea and I only wish I'd had the idea. I have mentioned 'Car Share' on my blog and that's a simple idea and something else I enjoy. It just goes to show that you can create a piece of drama in the most basic of manners and still be quite dramatic or funny.

(Wednesday) I've been back to Sainsbury's to do a proper shop. Enough food for several weeks so I shouldn't have to go out again shopping for a while, except probably to get milk.

It's quite mild this morning, although there was a fog over the city centre as we approached Oldbrook Green.

Later. I'm watching, via YouTube, the American Senate debating the Impeachment of Donald Trump. Last Wednesday there was an assault on the Capitol by a mob of  Trump supporters, attempting to disrupt the legislative process to allow the transition of Donald Trumps presidency to Joe Biden. Absolutely horrifying shots of rioters breaking into the building, the  home of U.S. democracy. Trump  did nothing to condemn the rioters. In fact, he seemed to positively encourage the disruption. He will be the only U.S President to be impeached twice. He will be leaving the White House on 20th January, when Biden is inaugurated as President. The motion of the House is that Trump attempted to an 'Incitement of Insurrection.' As a result of all this, Trump has had his Twitter and Facebook accounts suspended and possibly banned for goodness know how long, possibly permanently. The concern now is that, as America awaits the 20th January Inauguration Day, there is likely to be far more riots and disruption caused by Trump supporters. All this because Trump kept on saying that there was 'election fraud,'and that the Election was 'stolen.'when clearly there was no such thing. More than ever it's clear that the man is delusional and positively dangerous.

So, now Donald Trump is the first U.S. President to be impeached twice. Not a particularly brilliant legacy as he leaves the White House, but he has been whipping up unrest and deserves to be dealt with in this way.