a few years old now, but one of the funniest things on tv
Men of Harlech (Zulu)
An ideal dvd for a Wednesday night!
......and who said that the Welsh have no balls!!!
For Kim
The Power Of The Dog
by Rudyard Kipling
There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.
Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie--
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart for a dog to tear.
When the fourteen years which Nature permits
Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,
And the vet's unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
Then you will find--it's your own affair--
But...you've given your heart for a dog to tear.
When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!);
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone--wherever it goes--for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart for the dog to tear.
We've sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we've kept 'em, the more do we grieve:
For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-time loan is as bad as a long--
So why in Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?
by Rudyard Kipling
There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.
Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie--
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart for a dog to tear.
When the fourteen years which Nature permits
Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,
And the vet's unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
Then you will find--it's your own affair--
But...you've given your heart for a dog to tear.
When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!);
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone--wherever it goes--for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart for the dog to tear.
We've sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we've kept 'em, the more do we grieve:
For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-time loan is as bad as a long--
So why in Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?
The Object of a pig's affection
Gladys is the quietest of my pigs, she is usually shy, and nervous of me, even though both pigs have been with us for just over a year now, and will just about allow me to touch her ear occasionally.
Today,she had the devil in her for some strange reason, and time after time, I caught her biting at the wire fencing of her enclosure, squealing and grunting at me as I cleared the remaining herb beds.
Finally I ambled down to the pig pen and sat down to see what was all the fuss about, and as if she had a personality transplant, she galloped over and started to rub herself on my knee in a fit of flirtatious sluttery!
I tickled her behind the ears and her seduction behaviour intensified as she concentrated upon my wellies, which she started to bite and suck on!
I had never seen Gladys like this before, so I had to put this uncharacteristic show of affection and playfulness down to a sudden rush of hormones.
I had to smile......to myself......
Chris and a pig called Gladys are the only two individuals that actually find me attractive!
Oh be still my beating heart!
Bette Davis - All About Eve...or Margo?
it's an old saying....but they DON'T make them like this anymore..........
All About Eve
The turkey pack cornered a single runner duck in the netting of their enclosure this afternoon and very almost pecked her to death.
I was out, albeit briefly, delivering eggs, so it was by sheer luck I got back before they had basically decapitated her.
Turkeys when they attack another bird, seem to do so, by concentrating on the back of their victim's neck, and like poor Gloria, the duck had a huge bloody wound behind her head.
I released the duck ( a pretty brown girl) and treated her with the trusty antibacterial spray, bless her, she was lucky to escape.
Anyhow, enough of the killer turkeys!
As I was preparing supper this evening, I found that my fav film of all time was showing on TCM.
All About Eve (1950), is a cracker of a movie.
To me, it is not just a bitingly funny and wry look at the vagaries of Broadway (and indeed Hollywood) but the movie ,does in fact celebrate those life long friendships we all have experience of.
Despite some of the artificiality of the narrative, All about Eve, captures the real ;love em and loath em connection between two couples quite perfectly. Mainly through the experiences of the two women in the quartet we see Margo ( Bette Davis) being a queeny nightmare of contradictions, yelling and screaming one minute, self obsessed and doubtful the next, where as Karen (Celeste Holm ) remains warm hearted and mentally the stronger of the two.
Yet through adversity (the scheming of understudy ), their on screen friendship remains strong and totally believable in the relaxed and natural ease of the acting (mind it was reported that Davis and Holm actually did not like each other!)....
as a study of deep real friendship, All about Eve, can't, I think, be bettered
I guess I noticed the friendship sub text of All About Eve, as I am very aware that I have neglected some old friends in Sheffield. It has been far far too long since my last visit and I am counting the days off when I can get over, which may be at the end of the month (money permitting) but certainly will be be in April when Nuala and I have planned a joint visit!
Having nearly a hundred animals to care for is a difficult juggling act to be able to sort out a day and night "off", but it isn't (of course) impossible. I just need to get my arse into gear and do it.... so Mike,Bev, Jane and of course Jonney, I hope to see you all pretty soon
x
I was out, albeit briefly, delivering eggs, so it was by sheer luck I got back before they had basically decapitated her.
Turkeys when they attack another bird, seem to do so, by concentrating on the back of their victim's neck, and like poor Gloria, the duck had a huge bloody wound behind her head.
I released the duck ( a pretty brown girl) and treated her with the trusty antibacterial spray, bless her, she was lucky to escape.
Anyhow, enough of the killer turkeys!
As I was preparing supper this evening, I found that my fav film of all time was showing on TCM.
All About Eve (1950), is a cracker of a movie.To me, it is not just a bitingly funny and wry look at the vagaries of Broadway (and indeed Hollywood) but the movie ,does in fact celebrate those life long friendships we all have experience of.
Despite some of the artificiality of the narrative, All about Eve, captures the real ;love em and loath em connection between two couples quite perfectly. Mainly through the experiences of the two women in the quartet we see Margo ( Bette Davis) being a queeny nightmare of contradictions, yelling and screaming one minute, self obsessed and doubtful the next, where as Karen (Celeste Holm ) remains warm hearted and mentally the stronger of the two.
Yet through adversity (the scheming of understudy ), their on screen friendship remains strong and totally believable in the relaxed and natural ease of the acting (mind it was reported that Davis and Holm actually did not like each other!)....
as a study of deep real friendship, All about Eve, can't, I think, be bettered
I guess I noticed the friendship sub text of All About Eve, as I am very aware that I have neglected some old friends in Sheffield. It has been far far too long since my last visit and I am counting the days off when I can get over, which may be at the end of the month (money permitting) but certainly will be be in April when Nuala and I have planned a joint visit!
Having nearly a hundred animals to care for is a difficult juggling act to be able to sort out a day and night "off", but it isn't (of course) impossible. I just need to get my arse into gear and do it.... so Mike,Bev, Jane and of course Jonney, I hope to see you all pretty soon
x
At Last, Cloud Watching
It has been a long time since it has been warm enough for a little cloud watching. At five pm this afternoon, the cold wind dropped and the sun came out, so I took the scotties outside to play before I locked up the turkeys and ducks and fed the pigs.
"Cloud watching" is an occasional guilty pleasure of mine, and is one that I have not "practiced" since the autumn.(see last blog)
Cloud Watching is always camouflaged from questioning eyes by having the scotties jumping all over me when I lie down! To anyone passing, the whole thing would just look like a middle aged guy playing with his dogs.....only I would know that the ulterior motive would be a moment of pure , if not a little odd looking, relaxation!
Today the scotties wandered off, just at the point I had "seen" the White Cliffs of Dover in a particularly long cloud as it passed by, and Albert took over with a playful jump onto my head. He stayed with me for the longest time, so I fished the camera out of my pocket and took our photo to remember the moment.
Now neighbour Mandy was watching me from her garden, and amid some slightly confused hilarity she asked:
.
"What ARE you doing?" ..after all I am sure she was not quite used to seeing a middle aged man lying flat in a field with a cat on his head
"Watching clouds" I called back...........
She didn't ask for a further explanation.........
I guess she knows me very well.......................
hey ho
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