Friday, December 30, 2011
Veggie alert!
A long time ago the BBC used to make episodic childrens' dramas which we used to watch on Sunday afternoons. Each drama got 6 pops at the 1700-1800 slot as I recall, and rather good they usually were too. Nice rounding off to Sunday afternoon. One such drama was a dramatisation of the borrower books, of which I probably made some use as a child, and featuring one Ian Holm, who gave the proceedings that extra touch of class. So we tuned into the festal version featuring one Jeeves with great expectations, to be greatly disappointed. The adaptor, or possibly adaptress, had seen fit to introduce far too many novelties & gadgets and the ageing Jeeves was not able to pull off the tricky trick of portraying an unpleasant person in a pleasant way.
However, some good did come of it all. At several points we have a couple of small people - say the size of small rats - in a glass bell jar in a laboratory being inspected by a couple of large people. Large people to whom the small people are specimens to be inspected, poked around and eventually dissected, this last despite the fact that they are sentient, quite possibly with souls, albeit rather small ones. But a sight which suddenly made me rather guilty about killing animals, be it in the interests of science or of filling the belly, my belief being that mammals certainly and birds quite possibly are certainly conscious, if not quite sentient, beings.
But I did manage to keep the guilt at bay. I continued, and continue, to snuffle down the triple smoked gammon. Of the nine uncooked pounds, including bone, we are probably now down to three. (Of the 10kg of brussels sprouts, we are probably now down to 6kg. Starting to turn a bit yellow around the edges).
Another device for keeping the guilt at bay was a serious swing around London on a succession of three Bullingdons. This included a circumnavigation of Hyde Park. A visit to two of the more important metropolitan junctions, Marble Arch and Hyde Park Corner, both quite challenging on two wheels. And, most important, I made it to the West Pole, that is to say the westernmost stand of the Bullingdons, aka Kensington Olympia. Two poles down, two to go, the North Pole and the East Pole. Should bag at least one of them next week.
Took in Holland Park on the way, having got no further than the tube station on Bayswater Road in recent years. Very smart area it was too with plenty of German cars and other foreigners about the place. Not surprised to read in yesterday's Guardian that it is the most expensive residential area in the land, although I am not quite sure how you would measure such a thing. So smart that there was not a shop or boozer in sight. I guess they just send the maid down to Kensington High Street with a jug.
The good news is that while last week I thought that while fun, the Bullingdons were a bit of a drain on the London taxpayer, this week I think that they might be quite a pull for tax paying tourists. One of the many attractions of London Town for foreigns borne down by excess of euroangstitis, a couple of whom I came across at Warwick Road, Olympia, a few hundred yards east of the West Pole. They were very keen, particularly on the little white key that I was flourishing.
The bad news was that on one of the legs I came close to breaking the 30 minutes barrier and on another I actually did break it. An extra 100p to pay.
However, some good did come of it all. At several points we have a couple of small people - say the size of small rats - in a glass bell jar in a laboratory being inspected by a couple of large people. Large people to whom the small people are specimens to be inspected, poked around and eventually dissected, this last despite the fact that they are sentient, quite possibly with souls, albeit rather small ones. But a sight which suddenly made me rather guilty about killing animals, be it in the interests of science or of filling the belly, my belief being that mammals certainly and birds quite possibly are certainly conscious, if not quite sentient, beings.
But I did manage to keep the guilt at bay. I continued, and continue, to snuffle down the triple smoked gammon. Of the nine uncooked pounds, including bone, we are probably now down to three. (Of the 10kg of brussels sprouts, we are probably now down to 6kg. Starting to turn a bit yellow around the edges).
Another device for keeping the guilt at bay was a serious swing around London on a succession of three Bullingdons. This included a circumnavigation of Hyde Park. A visit to two of the more important metropolitan junctions, Marble Arch and Hyde Park Corner, both quite challenging on two wheels. And, most important, I made it to the West Pole, that is to say the westernmost stand of the Bullingdons, aka Kensington Olympia. Two poles down, two to go, the North Pole and the East Pole. Should bag at least one of them next week.
Took in Holland Park on the way, having got no further than the tube station on Bayswater Road in recent years. Very smart area it was too with plenty of German cars and other foreigners about the place. Not surprised to read in yesterday's Guardian that it is the most expensive residential area in the land, although I am not quite sure how you would measure such a thing. So smart that there was not a shop or boozer in sight. I guess they just send the maid down to Kensington High Street with a jug.
The good news is that while last week I thought that while fun, the Bullingdons were a bit of a drain on the London taxpayer, this week I think that they might be quite a pull for tax paying tourists. One of the many attractions of London Town for foreigns borne down by excess of euroangstitis, a couple of whom I came across at Warwick Road, Olympia, a few hundred yards east of the West Pole. They were very keen, particularly on the little white key that I was flourishing.
The bad news was that on one of the legs I came close to breaking the 30 minutes barrier and on another I actually did break it. An extra 100p to pay.
# posted by Jim @ 1:51 AM 
