Peace and Love©

Welcome back, Old Friend.

The surreal aspect of life has been on holiday recently, presumably because the Silly Season¹ just closing has more than made up for it.

The last gasp of the silly season is probably provided by that loveable old loony, Ringo Starr. Ringo has announced that he will no longer sign memorabilia and all fan mail will be dumped after 20 October as he is far too busy².

"Nothing will be signed after the 20th of October. If that is the date on the envelope, it's gonna be tossed.
"I'm warning you with peace and love I have too much to do," the 68-year-old drummer said.

The heat has clearly got to the poor old sod. Of course, it may be one of his little jokes, after all, how many ‘Peace and Loves’ does anyone need in a recorded statement?

Closer to home, and fuller evidence that the oddness of London is gearing up for a vintage season, I have to report that I travelled into the office this morning in a Tube carriage containing both Robert Mugabe and Charles Manson. The former was very dapper in a bespoke navy pinstripe tree-piece with pocket handkerchief. He kept himself very much to himself as is becoming of a foreign dictator travelling on the London Underground. Charles Manson, looking suitably unkempt and minus his trademark swastika tattoo (again, presumably because he was off duty), was sitting quietly reading a magazine about Confucianism. A change of direction for the old madman, then?

Oh well, real life intrudes and I have to go and do some work.

Peace and Love, Man. Peace and Love^{© Ringo Starr 2008}.

¹That part of the year when news is generally perceived to be in short supply; traditionally in the UK from late July to mid October, particularly August and early September when people are on their holidays and Parliament is in Recess, with relatively little happening on the political front.(Bank collapse notwithstanding).

²As Wogan pointed out on the radio this morning, all thinking people know that Ringo hasn’t been busy for years. While this isn’t strictly true, he’s hardly the draw he was even ten years after his old band (the name escapes me) split.

Peace and Love©

Welcome back, Old Friend.

The surreal aspect of life has been on holiday recently, presumably because the Silly Season¹ just closing has more than made up for it.

The last gasp of the silly season is probably provided by that loveable old loony, Ringo Starr. Ringo has announced that he will no longer sign memorabilia and all fan mail will be dumped after 20 October as he is far too busy².

"Nothing will be signed after the 20th of October. If that is the date on the envelope, it's gonna be tossed.
"I'm warning you with peace and love I have too much to do," the 68-year-old drummer said.

The heat has clearly got to the poor old sod. Of course, it may be one of his little jokes, after all, how many ‘Peace and Loves’ does anyone need in a recorded statement?

Closer to home, and fuller evidence that the oddness of London is gearing up for a vintage season, I have to report that I travelled into the office this morning in a Tube carriage containing both Robert Mugabe and Charles Manson. The former was very dapper in a bespoke navy pinstripe tree-piece with pocket handkerchief. He kept himself very much to himself as is becoming of a foreign dictator travelling on the London Underground. Charles Manson, looking suitably unkempt and minus his trademark swastika tattoo (again, presumably because he was off duty), was sitting quietly reading a magazine about Confucianism. A change of direction for the old madman, then?

Oh well, real life intrudes and I have to go and do some work.

Peace and Love, Man. Peace and Love^{© Ringo Starr 2008}.

¹That part of the year when news is generally perceived to be in short supply; traditionally in the UK from late July to mid October, particularly August and early September when people are on their holidays and Parliament is in Recess, with relatively little happening on the political front.(Bank collapse notwithstanding).

²As Wogan pointed out on the radio this morning, all thinking people know that Ringo hasn’t been busy for years. While this isn’t strictly true, he’s hardly the draw he was even ten years after his old band (the name escapes me) split.

The Finance Markets

The Times Online has published an explanation of how the financial markets work that we can all understand:

How markets work
“The chief of a Native American tribe was asked in the autumn if the winter was going to be cold or mild. Being a 21st-century chief he had no idea, but said that it was going to be cold and told the people in his village to collect wood.
A few days later he rang the National Weather Service.
“Yes, it is going to be cold,” they told him, so he went back to his people and told them to collect more wood.
A week later he called again.
“Is it going be a cold winter?” he asked.
“Yes, very cold.”
So he went back and told his people to collect every bit of wood they could.
Two weeks later he called again. “Yes,” he was told, “it is going to be one of the coldest winters ever.”
“How can you be so sure?” the chief asked.
The weatherman replied: “The Native Americans are collecting wood like crazy.”

See: nothing to worry about. They all know what they’re doing.

The Finance Markets

The Times Online has published an explanation of how the financial markets work that we can all understand:

How markets work
“The chief of a Native American tribe was asked in the autumn if the winter was going to be cold or mild. Being a 21st-century chief he had no idea, but said that it was going to be cold and told the people in his village to collect wood.
A few days later he rang the National Weather Service.
“Yes, it is going to be cold,” they told him, so he went back to his people and told them to collect more wood.
A week later he called again.
“Is it going be a cold winter?” he asked.
“Yes, very cold.”
So he went back and told his people to collect every bit of wood they could.
Two weeks later he called again. “Yes,” he was told, “it is going to be one of the coldest winters ever.”
“How can you be so sure?” the chief asked.
The weatherman replied: “The Native Americans are collecting wood like crazy.”

See: nothing to worry about. They all know what they’re doing.

Think it through, Guys...

I'd love to see evidence that this is a real photograph of workmen cleaning up after installing bollards outside the Royal Hospital in Belfast to stop cars parking there. If it is a real picture, I wonder how long it took for the workmen to realise what they had done?



Maybe our Norn Iron correspondent can help here?

Think it through, Guys...

I'd love to see evidence that this is a real photograph of workmen cleaning up after installing bollards outside the Royal Hospital in Belfast to stop cars parking there. If it is a real picture, I wonder how long it took for the workmen to realise what they had done?



Maybe our Norn Iron correspondent can help here?