Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Irritations
Must need a proper infusion of Newky, having been unusually irritated in two ways over the last couple of days.
Firstly, walking around Epsom Common, aroused to anger by the flattening of yet another chunk of the common at the altar of some eco-management fad or other. Composed stiff letter to the Epsom & Ewell Countryside Management Team (copied to our Lib Dem councillor, perhaps to our MP (the former television journalist, now the shadow Home Secretary. Does his partner watch porn any more?)) as I stomp through the devastation. Now while my annoyance is genuine, and related to similar concerns in my own garden and elsewhere, the devastation has been going on for years. So why does it still make me so angry? Why on this particular day? Am I just going to have to stop using the common, hitherto regarded as an attractive amenity? Hav'n't yet gotten around to writing to the Management Team. But I think I ought to; nothing is likely to come of it, but at least I will have registered my vote, not just whined unheard on the margins.
Secondly, watching an episode of 'Lewis'. Oxford snobbery flavoured detective tosh, as advertised on the timetable. But strangely annoyed by the handling of the main sub-plot, whereby the said Lewis finds himself up close and personal with the chap who had (fatally) run down his wife some years previously. The behaviour of Lewis and his side-kick was not believable. The behaviour of the cuddly lady superindent - the sort of person who would think that hugging courses were a good idea (although entirely unnecessary in her own case) - was not believable. Lewis being allowed anywhere near the chap was not believable. Why did it bother me so much that this bit of human drama was so stupidly enacted? Detective tosh is just that, so why should I be surprised or bothered? Perhaps detective tosh doesn't usually contain people at all, so this bad effort jarred.
And strangely moved while turning the pages of Beevor on Berlin again. I was reminded of the huge slaughter of the last days of the war; such waste after so much waste had gone before. The Germans had lost the war but would not knock Hitler on the head and surrender. They just went fighting, somehow more or less holding it together untill the very end. At huge cost. And the Russians were just as bad. They were terrified that the Americans might get there first and were detirmined to have their flag on the Reichstag for May Day or something. So they crashed in at full speed, seemingly without any regard for the very heavy cost. Doing things like sending infantry straight over minefields as it would take longer to have the mines cleared by engineers. It would all have been so much cheaper if they had taken their time. So, taking the two sides together, there must have been several hundred thousands excess deaths, for what? One can see in detail why it was so, but I was saddened by the folly of it all.
Folly on a smaller scale in the form of a cyclist on Lavendar Hill. I had nearly crossed the road to get into the (as it turned out) just shutting charity hospice shop, when I was nearly run down by a chap all done up in cycling gear on what I presume was a posh cycle. A bit dazed, it dawned on me that he had been cycling, next to the kerb, but on the wrong side of the road. I had been looking, as taught, the other way at that point and completely missed him. He did not stop, shout or ring his bell. So quite apart from being a dangerous prat and bringing honest cyclists into disrepute, he had rather poor reactions. Not as if it was dark or as if I was moving either fast or erratically. There not being a policeman to hand, had to settle for agreeing with a passer-by what a prat the cyclist was.
Lastly, afficionados of the surveillance state will be interested to hear that a helicopter (ground to air searchlight not deployed) circled the 'Jolly Gardners' in Black Prince Road three times last night before heading off east at 2242. Now were those bright young Germans who have taken over the Jolly G's been up to something, have their customers been up to something or was the helicopter simply waiting for a landing slot on the top of Canary Wharf?
Firstly, walking around Epsom Common, aroused to anger by the flattening of yet another chunk of the common at the altar of some eco-management fad or other. Composed stiff letter to the Epsom & Ewell Countryside Management Team (copied to our Lib Dem councillor, perhaps to our MP (the former television journalist, now the shadow Home Secretary. Does his partner watch porn any more?)) as I stomp through the devastation. Now while my annoyance is genuine, and related to similar concerns in my own garden and elsewhere, the devastation has been going on for years. So why does it still make me so angry? Why on this particular day? Am I just going to have to stop using the common, hitherto regarded as an attractive amenity? Hav'n't yet gotten around to writing to the Management Team. But I think I ought to; nothing is likely to come of it, but at least I will have registered my vote, not just whined unheard on the margins.
Secondly, watching an episode of 'Lewis'. Oxford snobbery flavoured detective tosh, as advertised on the timetable. But strangely annoyed by the handling of the main sub-plot, whereby the said Lewis finds himself up close and personal with the chap who had (fatally) run down his wife some years previously. The behaviour of Lewis and his side-kick was not believable. The behaviour of the cuddly lady superindent - the sort of person who would think that hugging courses were a good idea (although entirely unnecessary in her own case) - was not believable. Lewis being allowed anywhere near the chap was not believable. Why did it bother me so much that this bit of human drama was so stupidly enacted? Detective tosh is just that, so why should I be surprised or bothered? Perhaps detective tosh doesn't usually contain people at all, so this bad effort jarred.
And strangely moved while turning the pages of Beevor on Berlin again. I was reminded of the huge slaughter of the last days of the war; such waste after so much waste had gone before. The Germans had lost the war but would not knock Hitler on the head and surrender. They just went fighting, somehow more or less holding it together untill the very end. At huge cost. And the Russians were just as bad. They were terrified that the Americans might get there first and were detirmined to have their flag on the Reichstag for May Day or something. So they crashed in at full speed, seemingly without any regard for the very heavy cost. Doing things like sending infantry straight over minefields as it would take longer to have the mines cleared by engineers. It would all have been so much cheaper if they had taken their time. So, taking the two sides together, there must have been several hundred thousands excess deaths, for what? One can see in detail why it was so, but I was saddened by the folly of it all.
Folly on a smaller scale in the form of a cyclist on Lavendar Hill. I had nearly crossed the road to get into the (as it turned out) just shutting charity hospice shop, when I was nearly run down by a chap all done up in cycling gear on what I presume was a posh cycle. A bit dazed, it dawned on me that he had been cycling, next to the kerb, but on the wrong side of the road. I had been looking, as taught, the other way at that point and completely missed him. He did not stop, shout or ring his bell. So quite apart from being a dangerous prat and bringing honest cyclists into disrepute, he had rather poor reactions. Not as if it was dark or as if I was moving either fast or erratically. There not being a policeman to hand, had to settle for agreeing with a passer-by what a prat the cyclist was.
Lastly, afficionados of the surveillance state will be interested to hear that a helicopter (ground to air searchlight not deployed) circled the 'Jolly Gardners' in Black Prince Road three times last night before heading off east at 2242. Now were those bright young Germans who have taken over the Jolly G's been up to something, have their customers been up to something or was the helicopter simply waiting for a landing slot on the top of Canary Wharf?
# posted by Jim @ 1:14 AM 
