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Saturday 19 May 2018

Today I am mostly ... having a rest from writing and trying to avoid watching the TV

Be warned ... the following blog entry might appear to be rather whinging in content and express views that some people of a certain disposition (or dispositions) might find offensive ... or even boring!

Within about ten minutes of waking up this morning I realised that I didn't have any work to do on my latest book. The draft text has gone off to my proof readers, I have already selected the photograph I want to use on the book's cover, and the book's blurb is ready. I am not yet in the mood to start my next writing project (it will be about the members of the Hertfordshire Masters' Lodge who served during the First World War) and I just want to spend the day doing very little. Unfortunately for me this has happened on the day of a royal wedding and the Football Association Cup Final, which means that chilling out in front of the TV is going to be a bit of a problem.

Before I get accused by my wife and others of being a GOM (Grumpy Old Man), I would like to state that I have nothing against either Prince Harry or Meghan Markle, both of whom I am sure are nice young people, and I wish them a happy married life. I am glad that I live in a constitutional monarchy rather than an elected one (I have yet to see a republic where the President is not an elected monarch ... some of whom have been 'elected' by a very small electorate indeed!) and I think that the majority of the Royal Family perform useful roles and help to boost the country's tourist trade enormously.

What does annoy me about today's royal wedding is the media hype and coverage that we have had to endure over the past few months, and particularly the last few days. It will culminate in what looks like blanket TV coverage on all the major channels, starting at around 9.00am and continuing for most of the morning and afternoon ... and followed by edited highlights this evening. I may well watch the actual ceremony, and possibly the procession to and from St George's Chapel, but do I really need to listen to all the 'talking heads' and interviews with people who are going to be in Windsor etc.?

Once the wedding is over, the TV coverage seems to be switching over to the next great 'event' of the day ... the FA Cup Final. I used to follow football, but once big money got involved in the 'sport', I lost interest. Everything seemed to become a version of Moneybags United vs. Bigwallet City, where success appeared to be due to how much a team could spend 'buying' the 'best' players from around the world rather than nurturing local talent. The players and managers became 'celebrities' whose every action and opinion (or lack of opinion) was deemed worth of media coverage, and whose employment and importance seemed transitory at best.

Luckily I do have a few DVDs and the Talking Pictures Channel I could watch (the Talking Pictures Channel is owned by the British Film Institute and features lots of old black and white films from my youth and even earlier), and my wife has already intimated that there are several programmes on the Drama Channel she would like to see, so things might not be so bad after all ... and if I cannot chill out that way, there is always the possibility of fighting a wargame.

Things are already looking better ...

26 comments:

  1. Well, my wife wants to go and look at dresses for our summer cruise, I'm expecting my ride-on mower to come back from a service and I've got a load of strange 15mm spider-things to finish painting formy 6mm SF army... meanwhile Royal Wedding things are forming a background babble but I didn't get an invite so...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rob Young,

      It sounds like you have plenty to do. I only wish that I'd timed things a bit better so that I had a full day of writing ahead of me!

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  2. I know where you are coming from , when I "go off on one" my wife points silently to my tea mug which has 'Grumpy Old Man' emblazoned on it

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Good Soldier Svjek,

      I think that I have been a GOM for most of my adult life ... and see nothing wrong in being one. More power to the Grumpy Old Men!

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  3. Bah! Humbug...
    This bloody wedding has ruined my birthday celebrations...:-{

    Have relaxing time...

    All the best. Aly

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    Replies
    1. Alastair Morrison (Aly),

      I hope that you have an enjoyable birthday ... and manage to avoid the other celebrations!

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  4. I've just turned the TV on to catch a news program but there is nothing on except the royal wedding. I have turned the TV off.

    We have texted our daughter offering to take her and our grandson down to the borders where the other grandparents are in their holiday caravan.

    No reply yet.

    Failing that I will potter around the back garden until the heat disperses and then paint a few figures.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jim Duncan,

      Glad to read that you are well enough to contemplate a trip out or - failing that - doing some gardening and painting.

      I've decided to use the time to have a small sort out of some of detritus I have accumulated in my toy/warganes room since Christmas.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
    2. I managed a 3 hour drive north last weekend, a 4 day wedding in the highlands and a 3 hour drive home so I'm pretty well OK.

      Delete
    3. Jim Duncan,

      That is quite some outing! I trust it went well and you had a very enjoyable time.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  5. Wife back from shops, mower hasn't arrived yet, swarms finished and on my blog, more swarms just arrived in todays post...

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    Replies
    1. Rob Young,

      Just taking a break from working in my toy/wargaming room ... and THE wedding is on the TV in our living room. I don't think that I will be stopping long.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  6. Bob, couldn't agree more! So I'm working on proofreading your book, which is far more entertaining.

    In any case, THE wedding of the season was that of Sheldon Cooper and Amy Farrah Fowler in Thursday's episode of the Big Bang Theory on Channel 4!

    Best wishes,
    Arthur

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    Replies
    1. Arthur Harman (Arthur),

      Thanks for spending your Saturday proof reading my book. I hope that you don't find too many mistakes!

      I've only recently 'discovered' BIG BANG THEORY, and I'm trying to watch as many of the back episodes as possible without annoying my wife, who cannot stand the programmes.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  7. I'm not sure why anyone would watch a wedding when there's cycle racing on the TV...AND the sun's shining! Enjoy your wedding-free day Bob.

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    1. Maudlin Jack Tar,

      Unfortunately I haven't managed to miss it entirely as my wife had it on the TV over lunch. Now I've finished eating, I'm back off to my toy/wargames room for the rest of the afternoon.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  8. I'm not watching the wedding, but only because I have other things I want to do.

    But I can't join in with what appears to have become the public sport of knocking it, as I just see two happy people with a high public profile, bringing a smile to daily proceedings, which is a welcome change against our nation's increasingly glum outlook on everything and the propensity to moan and be self centred and rude.

    Surprisingly, this is changing attitude is not something that can be blamed on and directed at the 'youth'! - it is us (presumably the role models!) and something has gone wrong somewhere.

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    1. Norm,

      I'm not knocking the wedding (I hope the couple have a great day and enjoy a long and fruitful married life) but the media hype. Some of it has been a bit OTT and I find that intensely annoying.

      You are right that it is nice for the population to have something pleasant to talk about for a change ... and the break from Brexit is more than a little welcome. You are also right that attitudes in general in the UK are rather gloomy at present, and the break from that is to be welcomed as well.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  9. Re above, just want to say it is not a slap at anyone here, it is an observation of our society in general (UK) from media coverage to how people look and behave on the street and how they drive ... I go to the baths several times a week and it is even there !!!!!

    We used to be a nation that had a sit-com on every night, we seem to have lost the capacity for fun.

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    1. Norm,

      I didn't think that you were directing your comments at anyone in particular but at the world in general.

      Our society has become far too self-centred, self-obsessed, and generally uncaring whilst at the same time publicly professing the exact opposite. Rudeness, aggression, and the desire to blame other people for ones own misfortunes (and hopefully gain some financial compensation as well in the process) is seemingly all-pervasive.

      Can this be reversed? I do hope so.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  10. "I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book." Groucho Marx.

    Pretty much sums up my view of TV.

    Although like you I do wish the Royal couple every happiness.

    Cheers,

    Pete.

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    1. Pete.,

      That's one Groucho Marx quote that I haven't heard before ... and it's one that I will certain use myself at some point.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  11. I managed to avoid most of the event by taking the dogs for a long walk and just had to endure the end of the ceremony (my views on the royalty tend more to involve bloody revolutions and guillotines!!).

    I had to watch the 2nd half of the football as my wife wanted to watch it. The evening was redeemed with a game of Twilight Struggle with my son who has been black from uni for the weekend. Sadly the result is looking as though it'll follow the usual pattern and he'll wipe the floor with me :)

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    1. Alastair,

      I managed to miss most of the TV coverage, although I did catch some of the excellent music.

      Hard luck about the football. I've only just heard the result ... but as I do not support either team, I don't particularly care which side won.

      At least you managed to take part in a game with your son. I hope that you enjoyed your game, even if you were not the victor.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  12. I'm not much of a TV person anyway, I'm quite happy for silence to reign in our house. But even the wife who likes the TV on "just for background noise" turned the TV off yesterday. Instead we spend the day clearing out a walk in cupboard and giving it a lick of paint. Much more enjoyable.... and that's coming from someone who hates DIY!!

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    1. Lee Hadley,

      One of my proof readers managed to read the text of my next book during yesterday's celebrations and I tidied up my toy/wargames room ... so it seems to have been a productive day for a lot of us!

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete

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