Horizon X3

17 April

Sunday afternoon and it’s nice and sunny out there and we are remaining here at home having a nice, quiet day. Jan has started painting and I shall be working on Arathusia after I finish todays’ blog.

While Jan was at church this morning, I took the chance to watch three Horizon shows That I had recorded earlier. I have always liked these shows, even if they may be dumbed down. The first one was on the rise of the British motor bike industry. It charted how it all started, how the riders were always looked down on by everybody else. The role of the various cafes on the A406, the ‘Ton-up Boys’ and the general speed of bike use. Mods and Rockers were covered too.

Like so much of British industry, the bike manufactures collapsed. Triumph bikes were not helped by the chairman at that time. The factory in Meriden partly closed down because of a strike. Eventually both sides agreed bring in ACAS to help sort it out for them. I remember watching the news on telly at the time as the ACAS reps left from meeting the chairman, and they looked shattered. It is the only time I have heard ACAS make a statement; one of them said, ‘The man is impossible. He won’t engage or listen to others. It’s no wonder there’s a strike on here.’ It wasn’t long before the plant was closed permanently. Such a shame.

As a young boy I always wanted to be a RAF pilot. That ambition was torn away by a career advisor at school. All he wanted me to do was the be farmer; both me and mam more or less to ‘get stuffed.’ So now I had to rethink things. Then we had our second and last family holiday, that time to Paignton. There were only twelve passengers on the Black and White coach and I got to sit close to the driver and chatted away to him more less the whole way. And I was hooked! From then on I wanted to be coach driver, and even now I would love to have a go, well, if I hadn’t sent back my license that is.

The last show was on the British Board of Film Sensors, which I didn’t enjoy quite as much. BFFS has always been a contentious body of what some people claimed were miserable kill-joys. In reality though, they were damned if they did and damned if they didn’t. We all have our like and dislikes, our thoughts on decency and so on. The film Rambo 3 was released the day after the Hungerford shootings and many people panicked by it and whether the two could be linked, something which was tried when the shooter was supposed to have said he enjoyed watching the previous Rambo films. The panic increased with that one comment.

Today’s photo …

A boomslang snake, shot take at London Zoo before Parry Hotter books and films were read/watched by me.   

Today’s funny …

Did you hear about the man who wouldn't wash until he became a millionaire? He's now filthy rich.