1265 Xialou Guo

Tuesday proved to be a day which should have been different so that overall there is a sense of failure. There is a new problem in that going to bed early means that I am then waking fully early and then tend to work at the desk for a few hours before feeling able to undertake physical work. That extra stone of weight from the point reached a year and a half ago' limiting my efforts and I am finding it difficult to break the cycle of imbalance between food intake and physical activity.

There were positives during the day and miniscule achievements in that I finish the kitchen and day room cleans, washed and dried the two white covers of the dilapidated settee but is so comfortable although low lying and poses difficulties when tired and getting up.

I also dusted the front room library lounge and my work room lounge. It was here that I noted a large crack in the lower panel of the door which I believe is the effect of using the central heating system more than the previous owners. I will acquire some wood filling and matching stain and paint on a visit to B and Q early this morning when I also go to investigate laminate flooring for the kitchen. I am tempted to tackled both projects, as this is work I can undertake myself where as the sudden stop of water in the bathroom sink may involve major upheaval although fixing the day room light may not. If I finish the house clean and tidy this week, I will then concentrate on arranging these.

I had planned to go to the cinema in the afternoon but first forgot, and did not check the time when Lost is shown first thing so missed the opportunity to go to the afternoon show, and then left my departure to late for the evening, although setting off, realised about half way that I was likely to miss the start, especially as I had a need for some sweeties where the need was irresistible. This goes back to the days when having the cinema pass at £9.99 a month and £12.99 to include central London, the sense of not having to pay at the time of a visit deluded one into buying the expensive sweety mix instead of getting a supply from the supermarket. So I returned home and started to read a Christmas present but then my attention turned to the bad news of Spurs beating Arsenal in the League Cup, which means that Arsenal will now direct their energies to winning the FA Cup when they meet Kevin Keegan's Newcastle on Saturday.

Yesterday I caught part of a reading of a description by a Chinese young woman of coming to Britain to learn English by a contemporary Chinese author which reminded that I needed to write to a friend in China. I tried the BBC on the internet for yesterday's programme schedule but decided to test the new BBC service where it is possible to view any TV programme of the last seven days from any of their channels with a matching radio player available, At present I have one eye on the second episode Lark Rise to Candleford and the line "God intended boy's to have father's and becomes devil's own if they do not." In fact the father is in prison on Dartmoor for manslaughter whereas the boy believes he is adventuring abroad. The truth emerges and the reactions of the people of the two villages of Lark Rise and Candleford is on of the two sub plots of the week. The other is the great Dawn French's portrayal of the woman with many infants whose husband is also away adventuring and who submits to the door to door seller of beer and is brought before magistrates when she does not pay her debt. The squire magistrate is a stern man and keen upholder of the law and good order, but he after standing for none of her charms and devices to enlist sympathy of the court saves his wrath for giver of credit without checking on the ability of the woman to pay or on the likely impact on her family, deciding against imprisonment and paying off the debt at a trickle. Why do banks and firms write off millions as a consequence of bad judgements and circumstances but always hound the individual and usually society sides with the financial institutions.

I was also able to establish that the reading was a Woman's hour serialization of the first novel written in English of the Chinese writer Xiaolu Guo and the book is called a Concise Chinese English Dictionary for young lovers, I was able to hear the interview in which she explained that she attempted to use language similar to her own understanding of English during her first three year in Britain. What interested me is that although the ability to write Chinese ahs always appeared a complex and skilled activity, it was said that the structure of the language was much simpler and more direct than English. I will try and hear the rest of the reading as I can move a portable radio around the house with me.

I then discovered that the greater part of today's programme was devoted to centenary of the birth of Simone De Beauvoir, the largely self educated philosopher and writer who was also a close friend of John Paul Sartre who developed Existentialist philosophy. It would be wrong to attempt to argue who had the greater influence of 20th century society, except for the profound words of Simone the effect that that girls are made and not born. She was both right and wrong because we are all mixtures of nature as well as of nurture and where the mixtures are always varied within a society at any pint in time but with the predominant roles culturally determined with the context of religious, political and economic factors. This is one of the issues of my major work project of the year, the impact of my childhood on the rest of my life. However before starting to write I need to be confident about the framework and that I can deal with a number of issues of confidentiality in relation to other family members. Terry Waite's book, Brian Keenan were two autobiographies following their captivity in which they were as open and direct as anyone about their feelings and coping or not, but also protected the rights and interests of their family
It is again coincidental but not that such coincidences keep happening that after writing about the European Film Academy awards yesterday and where I had only seen perhaps 20% of the films awarded over the past decade and 10% of those nominated, the 2008 Oscar nominations were announced in the afternoon, although there is a question mark over the holding of the event because of a dispute between the screen writers and the industry in the USA. For the first time in ten years I have not yet seen any of the films nominated for the best film award, although I went to see Atonement and saw another film by mistake and also missed Michael Clayton and intended to see No Country for Old men during the day. The same applies to the majority of other nominations for awards with exceptions Marion Cotillard for La Vie En Rose as best actress and Philip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Wilson's war as a supporting actor. I was more in touch with European cinema before moving my mother North, and intend to visit the Tyneside film theatre more regularly especially when it moves back to its theatre in the city which is being refurbished. There is no excuse about not seeing the mainstream Anglo American Cinema and hopefully some will be shown in theatre again. There were other developments which made the of greater significance that these notes will indicate.

1747 Sunday sun at South Shields Armadale and Wal-E

Sunday morning was glorious, sunny and warm. There was no inclination to continue with the unpacking and sorting out. The new plantings had not only survive the absence of watering for a week but looked established and beginning to flower. I enjoyed the examination and added the repainting of the walls as an important task before the next trips, possibly, I commenced some writing but my attention went to the Women’s 20 20 Final at Lords. The team has benefited from a professional support structure and the provision of national contracts. The team has two or three seasoned professionals and number of younger woman in their early twenties.

Winning the toss England elected to field and the New Zealand ladies found themselves no match and were dismissed for 85 runs. The total was reached with three overs to spare and the loss of only four wickets. It was pleasing to see some of the old men of Lords sporting their ties and some their blazer clapping enthusiastically. I am no fan of Durham’s Paul Collingwood who has not performed well for either Country or County Club over the past two years and I hope he and his team mates were watching the ladies show how to be world champions. Moreover this is no fluke as they became one champions earlier in the year. This Summer they also face the Australians and can be expected to put a better showing then the men. I meet even go to see them if they are appearing in Yorkshire. Alas the closest game is at Derby.

After the food extravaganza of the previous days it was back to cereal and coffee for breakfast and three rolls with salami and coleslaw for lunch. It was then time for the Formula ! Race at Silverstone. Although there was a hundred thousand crowd there was an air of disappointment. Lewis Hamilton continues to struggle with his car this year and had failed to make the first cut in the times trials and was therefore relegated to the last five on the grid. This was not unexpected, The real disappointment was that Jenson Button was having difficulty with his car and the tyres in particular, He could not make the first two rows of the grid and was down in sixth, the position in which he finished the race gaining only three points but still has an excellent lead over his team mate Barichello who finished in their position and gained 3 points on his team mate. The Red Bull team came first and second and therefore improved their position in relation to the World Driver’s championship with Vetell now only 2 points behind in third position.
It had been my intention to go for a walk in the afternoon as it was such a fine day but I came over tired and relaxed and then remembered that it was the final apart of the radio adaptation of the Wilkie Collins dramatic adventure story Armadale. I had heard the second part on the Sunday afternoon while travelling to Oxford after my lunchtime stop. Wilkie was a friend and collaborator with Dickens and gained an international following for his writing, 27 novels, 15 plays and one hundred other pieces of non fiction as well as short stories. His best known works are The Moonstone and The Woman in White. Twenty five film versions of the two books have been created in the UK, the USA, Russia, France, Italy and Germany.

Armadale is a convoluted tale. It si the story of two cousins who in law are in fact called Allan Armadale although this is never known to either oft hem and where the life of both becomes threatened and one dangerously so by the behaviour of a scheming adventuress Lydia Gwilt who acts as the narrator of the story in the radio adaptation and who is honest about her Machiavellian nature and her ability to use her beauty and sexual allure to bend most men to her will. That the work was published in 1866 and is therefore extraordinary because of its portrayal such a scheming and fundamentally evil woman, although she meets an appropriate untimely end..

I therefore did not set off for my walk until 4 and fund that the Durham Light Infantry Band had appeared at the Amphitheatre between 2 and 4. I walked back beach side have cut through the park. The small railway was doing good business with 25 customers at £1 a time for the double circuit around the lake. The bikers continue to take over the kiosk cafe and there was much evidence of young men in small fast cars trying to attract the attending of the pairs of young woman also out on the prowl. Some enterprising person or group has established a bicycle rickshaw type of service charging £1.50 a journey with the marketing approach of being Eco Friendly. It is not clear what this compromises because in addition to going back and forth the length of the beachside roadway open only to local authority vehicles and those using the Beach holiday chalets the two drivers were seen taking parties through the park and long Ocean Road. I decided not to linger as I wanted to watch the end of the Men’s Twenty Twenty final.

In the evening I watched a DVD of Wall-E the 2008 computer animated science fiction film about a robot left on earth to help clear up the junk left behind as humans have set off in a giant space cruisers in the hope that the earth becomes habitable again one day.

The entire population become satisfied with their life on the cruisers not realising that the plan of to clean up earth had filed and that they are destined to spend their future on board and do so for generation after generation for 700 years until the 22nd millennium is approaching. Wall E as the last robot is able to regenerate himself with spare parts he collects through his work as well as creating an Aladdin’s cave of reminders of past human life including a solar powered TV playing video’s of musicals. From which he learns about the relationships between human being and hankers for not being alone.

Periodically a space cruiser lands back on or near earth and sends out a probe to test for sign s that human life can be sustained and in this instance the probe is essentially a feminine creation and when Wall E rescues her from a dust storm into the truck he uses as shelter and store and shows her the plant he has found. She Stores this to take back but the impact deactivated her which distresses Wall-E, When the probe ship returns to collect her Wall clings to the vessel which returns to the Flagship liner. Wall E gets upset when he thinks she is being hurt rather than repaired and he also rescue the plant when it is take by the robot computer which directs everything had reminds of Hal in 1001 who is programme to act in a way eventually destructive to the humans in preventing them from returning to earth. His defence is however well intentioned because they having become obese from and endless and continuous life of being moves around automatically without walking and an artificial food diet which had weakened their bone structure. Fortunately their captain has grit, of the character kind not that which has overrun earth and together with Wall E and Eve, Eva the Robot is defeated and the plant is used to stimulate everyone into abandoning their life style and beginning the process of adapting to earth with a breathable atmosphere in which they can grow plants and farm.

It is therefore a film designed add tot he education of young people about the need for a healthy life style and to protect the natural resources of the planet. However I think it is a difficult film for young people to understand and enjoy. It a sound effects masterpiece as well as visual studio creation.

1714 Immigration issues and memories

I am listening more and more to radio. On Monday as I returned home from an over night stop at the Pontefract services area at the former junction between the AIM and the M62, I slowed down to listen to Andrew Marr’s Start of the week discussion with authors who have written books about immigration.

I grew up in a refugee family from the threat of Nazi Germany to Gibraltar and pressure from the Catholic Church and although my care mother then lived in a small town in England for over sixty years as did my birth mother until entering residential care for the last five years of her life, they always felt Gibraltar was their homeland.

In Monday’s programme one argument presented is that immigration has not posed as great a problem in the United States as it is now doing in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and in parts of Western Europe because of two major policy decisions. The first has been the requirement to learn, understand and sign up to the terms and conditions of citizenship before it is granted with the consequence that successive waves of immigrants while retaining their cultural and separate religious identity nevertheless regard themselves foremost as USA citizens. One can think of the Irish, the Italians, the Russians, the Germans in this respect, but it is not something which can be taken too far in terms of the position of the native Americans, the black and Hispanic Americans until very recently although the election of President Obama may change their position as well.

The point was also made that the way substantial waves had become part of the society meant that no groups had overwhelmed and changed the core culture of being an American whereas in Britain especially there are vast numbers of long established citizens who feel overwhelmed and threatened by the waves of incomers from the West Indies, the Indian Sub continent and over the past decade from central Europe. One significant reason given for difference is that the USA has not only been clear about who has been welcomed and when, but also policed its borders with vigour and clarity, although again there is the reality behind the generalization as it has been less vigorous in sending back those needed and prepared to undertake be exploited for their seasonal labour or provision of servant status labour.

The second issue which interested me was the argument that policing borders with vigour only prevented a growing problem from immediately getting worse and helped to avoid immediate cultural clashes. There was a world wide priority to focus on raising the economic conditions, the political, educational, cultural and basic human rights of people in the countries which are their homelands so that the need to move would be removed for the majority, a need which was often one of desperation to survive, yet also knowing that many would not survive the journey or be accepted if they made it to their choice of place for salvation.

There is no evidence of any willingness to take the economic and political decisions to bring this about and therefore the emphasis will be on containment and limiting the adverse consequences of previous political policies and decision which dealt with the immediate difficulties and put off the those requiring more fundamental changes in priorities and attitudes.

I arrived home, unpacked and prepared for my longer trip and longer absence the following day. All the plants were watered and moved to an open sky environment. I then discovered that there was play in the one day game at Riverside in which Durham was meeting Sussex and decided to visit although is was too cold to watch in the open air, and skies threatened more of the rain which had greeted my morning.

I was lucky because I found space for a chair at a window in the Member’s Lounge. Durham had won the toss and elected to bat which someone who took the next seat with his partner considered to be a major mistake and with hindsight his view prevailed. The problem is that within the league Durham had the lowest run rate which becomes a factor if a divide has to be made if more than two teams top the points table. Unfortunately no one was able to sustain a partnership and were all out for 192 with 10 balls left to play Captain Smith struggled to reach 65 and six of the Sussex bowlers achieved wickets. It looked as if Sussex would have little difficulty in reaching the required runs and this they did with opener Joyce 102 not out at the end, Gatting 48 and Wright 28 the only two wickets to fall and Sussex gained the two points with seven overs in hand. It did not omen well for the week ahead. Not that I witnessed the end for as soon as the outcome was evident to me I made by way home and tackled the preparations for the long day of driving ahead.

Over the previous weekend I had decided not to wear my wearable suit on the journey but packed along with a shirt selection in a Priority Club suit or dress cover for a major dry cleaning firm and decided to continue this approach for the long trip, adding more shirts and a second pair of trousers.

I also changed from my usual black shirt and trousers for casual and work day wear to brown cricketing outfit for the country county or countryside visit, comprising brown socks and sandals as I no longer have a pair of wearable brown shoes, brown trousers, a soft brown jacket and a red shirt with a white and a cream shirt also packed and my green over-jacket together with the usual black jacket which combines an inner and outer jacket and where the sleeves can be removed from the outer and which is also reversible.

Because the car park is a fifty yard walk from the motel I decided to try and concentrate the luggage to two trips and which involved leaving the cool bag and the bag with tins, jars and containers, together with my hats, large umbrellas and spare shoes in the vehicle overnight. I had a computer in each bag and also divided my cricket books, one other book, DVD’s, radio and camera between two bags with a pull handle and wheels together with the balance of clothing and bag of toiletries. There was also my haversack where for the journey I placed by booking material and other information, notebooks, pens, decaffeinated tea bags and other last minute decisions to take with me.

I then wanted to write and stayed up until one but had a good night deciding against setting the alarm clock. I was naturally awake and feeling refreshed around 7 and ready for departure just after nine making two checks of the house.

On the final check I asked the house to look after itself while I was away and apologised for my recent lack of care, promising to do better on my return.

I was not hungry and decided against coffee before departing, but called at Lydl for a pint of milk on the way as the Azda car park was full only to find they had no single pints and there was a long queue at the checkout so I put back the pack of ham and crossed the road over to the Post office store where they had a pint of half skimmed and then at the butchers for two slices freshly cut ham. The journey was only a few miles underway when the decision was taken to pull in at the Washington service area for a croissant and coffee, having a bought a supply on my return from the match the previous day.

This kept me going for the next 150 miles which meant I could stop at my favourite service area on either the A19 A 1 route or the AIM M1 route South. There are only five rows of cars with a large hedge between the first two and the other three and by placing the car facing forward on the outer row there is a very pleasant vista of a gently grassy bank, shrubs and topped with trees. My only moan is that the free wireless link is only available inside at a table having paid out for a drink as a minimum. I did not have the time or inclination. One more stop was made at Toddington for fuel and to drink water. The roads were full of lorries and other vehicles but there were no hold ups and I cannot remember when I last travelled from the MI M25 link to the start of the M23 to Brighton without encountering a slow slow, even slower slow journey, I was able to average sixty to seventy miles throughout the 360 miles of the trip.

The previous evening I caught the last few minutes of 24 and wished I hadn’t but the cause was a good one, a new episode of Lost as there is an explanation of some recent events and connections and which appear to offer a solution to the overall series.

I continue not to rule out the possibility that human beings can travel in time back and forward. My main interest is whether memory is transferred along with physical characteristics. I must find out what research has been undertaken.

1095 People of Significance

I have not published writing for several days because of a moment of inspiration which I put into immediate practice and which could fundamentally change the rest of my life. I have just completed toileting after going to bed with the dawn and rising four hours later, undertaking an important task and then toileting, listening to Radio Five Live where there were three subjects under discussion, one of great significance which overshadowed what I had been doing and feeling, while the other two were frothy and funny but with serious and interesting aspects, primarily because of the calibre of the public involvement.

At the age of 24 and eighteen months after qualification, one of two nurses on a makeshift hospital ship attached to the Falklands force was advised to make ready to receive fifty casualties with burns from the Sir Galahad Troopship when on June 8th 48 men died, most from the Welsh Guards and where a service was being held at St Mary's Church Swansea attended by 25 members of the South Atlantic Medal Association. The former nurse described the task which she and the other nurse faced at that time and subsequently. She explained that she had been advised by on board psychiatrists how to help the injured cope with their situations and also the likely impact on herself and her colleagues. This was remarkable and moving but did not indicate the story she was to unfold.

She continued to nurse the wounded during the campaign. She told one young man who feared his injuries would affect his marriage planned for two months later, but who was able to walk down the aisle his facial injuries having cleared and subsequently leaving no scars, and she told of others where the physical and emotional scars remained.

She dealt with her experience by getting on with her life as a nurse in the navy and then with the army and where for the past 18 years she has served, often on different tours with her husband of eighteen years. He is now on his second tour in Iraq and she is within days of qualifying as a doctor. What courage, what sense of dedication, what remarkable people? How insignificant becomes my needs and interests?