Independence Day -Resurgence (Spoilers)

I needed cheering up today , so my sister and I went to the cinema

Independence Day ( 1996) had three ingredients that made it a hit.
It had two exhilarating set pieces ( when stripper mother Jasmin ( Vivica A Fox) , her son and dog faced certain death in an fireball engulfed freeway tunnel followed a little later by the cheer rousing scene of Will Smith sucker punching an alien pilot with the audience pleasing line " Welcome to Earth!"
It also featured a much imitated rousing-to-arms Presidential Speech by Bill Pullman ( which unbelievably Nigel Farage stole today for his " victory speech!!)
Nuff said.

I, oh so wanted to enjoy Roland Emmerich's overblown remake of his seminal 1990s disaster movie, but I couldn't as he has thrown everything but the kitchen sink at the bloody thing.
We have space ships and a united world from the get go. Fighter Pilot Hiller has died ( a wise Will Smith me thinks) and his widow Jasmin ( now the head of a hospital) lives only long enough to save a new mom and her baby before she dies when the alien gigantic mother ships crashes back to earth! Add to the mix London getting flattened by most of Asia's skyscrapers which have been sucked free of gravity by the aliens, an African tribal chief with a murderous look in his eye, a mad ex president, the multicultural cast of Top Gun , and finally ( and to my true enjoyment) a school bus full of kids, a 
wide eyed dog and Jewish octogenarian  Judd Hirsch (reprising his role as Julies Levinson ) careering across the Nevada Desert chased by a 200 foot alien Queen 
The whole thing is a dreadful old mess.
Hat's off to Brent Spiner though, he did entertain me with his frantic turn as the mad as a badger scientist who spent the last two decades in a alien induced coma!
6/10

I'll leave you with novelty veg/ fruit photos

Yorkshire Pudding's post sex bananas

Gail's creation! 

Keep Calm And Do Nothing

 Long term readers of Going Gently may well remember " The Ghost Hens" .
I found myself thinking about them this morning, as bleary eyed! I sipped my coffee amid the maelstrom of political upheavals in the capital and the up and down stress of a husband coping with a particularly stressful week at work

Now, for those that don't know, the Ghost Hens were five genetically fucked up broiler hens that arrived at the Ukrainian Village as brainwashed , psychologically damaged little pullets. Designed to eat themselves fat in a matter of weeks, these sad little hens had been brought up in a massive barn of a building under artificial lights with thousands of other little fuck ups .
They had never seen the sun, never ate a blade of grass and had never had the room to scratch their own arse without getting battered by another google eyed clone.

Faced with their very own warm hen house and a miniature run, these sad little characters continued to eat themselves fat in silent desperation, but they did eventually react to their brave new world, and calmly and very slowly they started to turn their faces into the sun to live a little.
Surrounded by animal drama and chaos, The Ghost Hens always looked unflappable but their inactivity was just a useful way of coping. They were too big and too comical to run around in silly chicken circles.
They just couldn't do it.

This week as the Prof hurried from one mindset and thought and plan to another , I took a leaf out  of the Ghost Hen's book and provided an anchor of calm.
I quietly made lamb kofkas from scratch, polished shoes without moaning and listened to tales of academic intrigue with an understanding stance.
There is something useful in not reacting, especially when your other half is pushed to the limit.

Anyhow,
I remember taking the above photo very well.
It was approaching dusk on a summer's evening and the rest of the field was in constant motion.
The other hens were mooching homewards to roost, the geese were bickering over a patch of grass like they do and the hysterical runner ducks were being , well, just hysterical.
Only the Ghost hens remained still. Sitting in the evening sun until their white plumage tinged pink..........
with their fat bottoms planted into the grass like old ladies arses on comfy armchairs.

Their faces were held very high as they enjoyed the last bit of sunshine of the day.

Leave?

It's 1.30 and I've just got home. The results are comming in and it's looking like "leave" winning at the moment....
I will leave you with a cracking novelty fruit entry from jennifer
Donald Trump out of peaches!

Uncanny 

What Made My Brown Eyes Blue?

When I was a child, I proudly remember telling a classmate that I had a mad Scottish Judge as an ancestor. I thought it made me more interesting.
Now, I am sure that my parents told me that this was true but I have no way of verifying the fact given that most of the " Gray" clan have died away.
Strange too that my brother's son ( another Jon Gray) is the last in our line of " Grays" .
It's a good job that my cousin Russ Gray also had two strapping sons to carry the name forward.....poofs like me don't usually have children to do the job.
Anyway where are we going with all this?
I've been thinking about " stock" this morning.....specifically about my own "stock".
I know that on my father's side there is Scottish, Liverpudlian and perhaps some European Gypsy lineage which perhaps explains my love of Scotch Eggs and my aversion to caravan holidays.
My mother's side was Liverpudlian too, with a hefty dollop of poor Irish and Bristol Quaker thrown in for good measure.
Like I said in a previous post, I've always liked the movie Friendly Persuasion and can do wonders  in the kitchen with a humble potato!
Anyhow, I do envy people like Crystal Gayle in a Who Do You Think You Are  kind of way. She was awarded The Cherokee Medal of honour in Tahlequah in celebration of her Indian ancestry and her lovely hair.
It must be wonderful to be able to wear your very history in your looks so to speak.

So where are you from?
I'd be interested in knowing.

More Silly Veg

Mr and Mr Mathews entered this penguin ( ?) tonight

Into the flower show

They asked if they could enter an entry in the photo class and put something  in  

The Home designed greetings card class too

I have to tell you all please enter ANY class of the show! 

Just google The Trelawnyd Flower Show on google for details

And let me know xxx

Letterboxes With Vaginismus

I hate PVC letterboxes. I hate them with a passion.
All morning I have been delivering Flower Show Schedules and Flower Show Committee letters to the majority of the 200 houses in the village, most of which seem to have new PVC doors, and my hands are sore with the effort it takes jamming an envelope through a bristle lined letterbox which is designed to keep anything and everything on the outside of the home rather on the inside.
My heart goes out to the postman. Faced with these plastic gin traps, I'd rather cope with picking up my giro every two weeks rather than earn a salary from the Royal Mail.
Anyhow , in the great scheme of things, I suppose, whinging about a "tight box " isn't the most important, so I shall finish my coffee and will get stuck in with gardening.

I'm drinking my coffee at the kitchen table. Mary is sat opposite, on the Prof's chair watching my every move. She slept with us last night because something scared her in the kitchen at 2 am and she barked the house down.
I wondered just why I was so tired today.

Anyhow I shall leave you with the Prof's latest Twitter comment.

Update

" Who is doing what?" I ventured

The subject was sandwich filling for the Flower Show catering

" I 'll do cheese and pickle" said Pat the Animal helper

" I'm doing ham !" Trendy Carol said ( she was wearing a very nice floral top with matching pumps btw) 

" Tuna!" Sailor John sang out

" I'll do egg" Irene offered.

Meirion and Daphne offered to make fruit cake which confused me slightly and Ann added to the general din by suggesting her and Terry do ham also but with mustard in little pots! 

The bunfight which is the Flower Show Meeting was in full swing.

Auntie Glad sat quietly in her arm chair next to the aga.

She couldn't hear the debate but delighted in the fact it was going on. 

She was dressed neatly in a peach frock with white trim.

She looked bright and happy but had forgotten my surname for the first time since I've known her.

Ann beat her to the steaming kettle when it was time for tea, and helped with frail hands when the large teapot needed pouring .

But again, in her 97 th year, Auntie Gladys enjoyed her umpteenth Flower Show meeting in her spotlessly clean kitchen of the oldest house in the village.

Cro's French Cabbage

Joyce's Zombie Melon

Keep your entries comming! 

jgsheffield@hotmail.com

Gayle from Arizona's tropical parnsnip!

Jungle Drums

I have to strim the field today, the recent wet and warm weather has made it look like a jungle. It's a massive horrible job and I was just getting ready when there came a tap, tap tap on the kitchen window. The window facing the lane.
It was Pat, the animal helper, I thought it was about the Flower Show Meeting which takes place at Auntie Glad's tonight.
In actual fact Pat wanted me to check on Auntie Gladys. She had heard that she had " fainted" in church on Sunday and had spent an overlong and fruitless time in A& E before being sent home and was now a little worried after seeing Gladys herself at Bingo last night at the Memorial Hall where she had seemed very slightly confused.
I had a sense that the village ranks have been marshalled to close somewhat, especially given the fact that Gladys' family are away on holiday.
So before I start work, I am now off to see Gladys now, I am sure I won't be the only one.
I hope things are ok.