Wednesday, 12 October 2011

2150 A busy week as Parliament returns

I am still chasing my tail because of the quantity of interesting TV, reading and writing there is at present. When I commenced writing on Saturday I had decided to allocate that day for my writing a piece on the Le Carré book the Honourable Schoolboy and no more. However once commenced I wanted to communicate not just the facts of the plot but something of the character and flavour of the writing and I needed to reread many parts and also split the writing into two long pieces. By the conclusion I had come to understand not just the particular book but the trilogy and the brilliance of Le Carré’s writing and plot construction. In fact part of me wants to get back to rereading Smiley’s people and I have. I am yet to take the plunge and purchase the BBC audio series of serials and plays of the eight Le Carré works which feature George Smiley. I still await the arrival of the Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy DVD and have not pressed because it will further add to my growing list of tasks to be undertaken.

The current TV writing programme includes the two episodes of Downton Abbey together with programme on Windsor Castle; three possibly four or five episodes of Brixham the fish Town and the last two episodes of whom do you think you are? I have completed the first two parter opening of the new Merlin season, the middle 3 of Tremé and the film set in what became the New Orleans Jazz quarter after the whorehouses were closed Pretty Baby.

But and it is a big but, I should be continuing to report and understand the latest developments in the phone hacking scandal where there is now a plethora of overlapping inquiries with the truth perhaps carefully buried under all the information to save the skin of the Prime Minister. I am not saying that his skin should not be saved in the particular circumstances or that of his Chancellor despite my political allegiance which I have always been able to stand outside off and view as critically as others as well as defend and support the respective positions thus is the true nature of democratic and irrational politics alongside the rational.

And then there are the riots where I also suspect the truth may become buried to give the London’s new Chief a good start unless he indicates that more robust open criticism of actions and colleagues is required. I have now obtained all but one of the first of the Home Affairs quizzes of the police and although it was wise to wait for the new chief to have his say together with that of the American, the amount of material to be covered from these two matters is gigantic as it includes the opening of the Leveson site and the first commencement of papers and where the minutes of one discussion double lined and difficult to reproduce without considerable work comes to over 100 pages.

I have just spent close two hours valuably listening to Ian Hislop, Alan Rushbridge, Nick Davies and Clare Smallbrook talk with the House of Lord Communications Committee on the subject of Investigative Journalism in the future and which merits further thought and writing. And to add tot his I discovered an earlier session this week in which the same committee started off by discussing the same subject with representatives of the Reuters organisation followed by P.M.Q‘s this week. Help

I missed going for a swim on Saturday and then Monday forgetting that the place is closed for repair work until Friday and which has confirmed the decision to leave with the cancellation of the standing order earlier to day which means I have until November 2nd before the subscription ends. I will then decide if to try the present pool in South Shields which has adult sessions on three mornings a week at 8 for an hour. Much will depend how soon the weather deteriorates with minus 20 temperatures forecast and prolonged snow.

The new car insurance papers arrived yesterday and I phoned yesterday to check that the breakdown insurance papers will be sent shortly so the combination of the two has resulted in a saving from the proposed increases of over £200. Ensuring that the AA do not also charge is proving more of a problem than it should as there is no obvious way to cancel online, clever but anti consumer friendly methinks.

There has been much disappointing and at times disastrous sport over the past week which I am now inclined to only summarise given everything else that is happening or I want to do.

On Friday evening England played he small footballing nation of Montenegro and with the game won Wayne Rooney disgraced himself and was sent off in a disgraceful act of lost self control. I once argued that Mr Beckham should never play again for the national side and regretted saying so when he became the saviour of the World Cup run and was a major ambassador for the World Cup bid, so I had been better not says the same for Wayne. It shows what too much money and being treated like a superman achieves to an ordinary lad without a good education. Of course those with a good education also foul up and I know can express emotional rubbish with the best of them, but the present madness of football wages should be stopped.

The preliminaries have almost be completed with Germany winning their section the most convincingly 30 points to the closest at 17; Spain with 24 points and current world and European champions followed on 24 points Italy with 26 in their section and Greece also gained 24 points. Russia with 23 were narrow with 21 following, that is Eire and the Netherlands and France also had 21 and Demark 19 with England qualifying in a smaller section with 18 points and playing two games fewer so could have achieved 24 points in reality. This means 9 are through with a complicated system determining who now plays in the next round for the remaining places. Good luck Eire.

On Saturday England demonstrated how lucky they have been to reach the quarter finals of the Rugby Union World Cup when they were out played by France and despite a rally in the second half against an only so so French side they were well beaten and demonstrated that Scotland would have put up a better performance. Wales on the other hand have been playing brilliantly and have reached the semi finals playing France this weekend and who I expect they will beat and reach the Final. In the other half Australia beat South Africa and New Zealand where the games are being played beat Argentina and at present winner is likely to come from this pair with the odds in favour of the All Blacks because they re on home ground and after the earthquake there is international sympathy.

I did not watch the Japanese Grand Prix because I thought the outcome was inevitable. It was in the sense that although Vettel finished third he cannot be overtaken in the Drivers Championship such is his lead with 324 points against Button with 210 and Alonso 202, and Webber 194. There are four races left in the Calendar so even if Jensen won the four gaining 100 point and Vettel failed to score any points he would still be champion 324 to 310. However who finishes second and third is all to play for and it is good that Jenson had another win this season to confirm his position as the best British driver of the season.

Nor did I watch the Final of the Rugby League Challenge cup after the victors of Warrington, Leeds, beat the Victors of Wigan, St Helens, 32 to 16.

Nor did I watch the final of the World Club Competition in India on Sunday after Somerset were proved short again of that extra ingredient which makes champions when they lost to the Mumbai Indians 150 to 160 on the Saturday in the second semi final. The result hinged on the penultimate over of the Mumbai first innings where they scored 30 runs off Alfonso Thomas and also on the bowling of slinger Malinger who took 4 for 20 runs. The Indians were the winners on the Sunday when they crushed the Royal Challengers who had beaten New South Wales on the Friday. The Mumbai Indians made only 139 runs in their innings thus the Challengers would have fancied their chance until the wickets started to fall so they were all out for 108 in the 19th over. However I have taken to this form of cricket than I previously thought I would. England now warming up for their matches in India and Durham’s Borthwick was the star of the performance against Hyderbad by taking five wickets for 31 in the one day match resulting in then home side being out for 114 after England had made 331 for 4 with Johnny Bairstow from Yorkshire 104 from 53 balls something of a record. Cook Kieswetter and Trott all did well getting into the 70’s and only Kevin Petersen failing, yet again. Durham like Yorkshire will have mixed feelings because the implication is that the success of their men on this tour could mean central contracts and the loss of playing time for their county clubs.

My food begins to follow its new patterns with mushrooms and a tomato for breakfast plus cereal although I must try and reduce to just one item. However it does mean that I am leaving lunch until one or two pm as yesterday and then an evening meal around six. I am also switch to a salad and hot pudding at midday with the main cooked meal in the evenings following by fresh fruit. For the mid salad I am adding a quiche, prawns or smoked mackerel and yesterday I enjoyed a hot chopped up boiled with plums without custard and just a little sugar and which I can see in future interspersed with a banana and custard. For the main hot meals I am selecting from the fish, neat or chicken freezer baskets with the Tex Mex platter once a week and the whole roast chicken a fortnight followed by a chicken curry and a chicken stir fry. With using a turkey or chicken breast on the other weeks for either a curry or stir fry and also a carton of chicken wings from time to time on their own. I am drinking less Pepsi or Coke although the new Olympic tickets and other reward schemes interest.

There is time to include one film Cloak and Dagger which I have viewed before, Garry Cooper playing a scientist who is persuaded to travel to Switzerland and then behind enemy lines to Italy during World War II to prevent Germany developing atomic weapons. The film was released in 1946 as a tribute to the Office of Strategic Service and featured Lili Palmer as an Italian underground worker who assists in his mission to persuade a scientist previously known to him to escape.

Cooper is approached by a former university friend working of the OSS after a German scientist known to Copper has come to Switzerland for alleged medical treatment and wants to defect. Unfortunately she is captured when Copper makes the mistake on arrival at the airport by hiding his face from a cameraman thus alerting the Nazis to him and in the hotel he is grilled by someone posing as a drunk and then a Marta Hari fellow American. He is followed to the clinic and the German scientist is removed and killed during his attempt to rescue her.

This leads him to Italy where she was working with another individual known to Cooper but he refuses to cooperate because the Nazi’s has his daughter. When he finds out that she is dead and that someone else is sent pretending to be the daughter he agrees to leave but Cooper and Palmer has to fight their way out. Cooper and Scientist depart by plane for the USA saying he will be back at the end of the war and the film ends.

However a different ending was filmed with Cooper then landing by parachute with others in Southern Germany to discover the remains of a factory with the dead bodies of concentration camp victims who had been forced workers. He finds evidence of working on atomic weapons and the films concludes with concern that that the factory been moved to Spain or Argentina with Cooper saying that this is the Year on of the Atomic Age and God help us if we think we can keep this secret from the world. The additional ending was abandoned because public was aware that the Germans had not developed atomic weapons. The original books was developed into a 26 part adventure serial in the USA in 1950

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