Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

A big fire went off at London Zoo overnight, with 10 appliances (fire engines in plain speak) in attendance.

Zoo Staff reported that "an aardvark is unaccounted for". Which kinda made me laugh & feel sad at the same time. That's not a turn of phrase one sees very often.

So if you happen upon one of these wandering down Camden High Street, trying to look innocent, you'll know where it came from. Be careful though, they are very dangerous, particularly if you happen to be an ant.

Embarrassing that the BBC made such of a big story of this immediately after reporting 180+ people dead in the Philippines storm.

Bad day for the Philippines - 35 people died at a fire in a Shopping Centre near Manila, too.

You are right, of course. But, in the UK, a story about a poor little Aardvark & 4 meerkats dying in a fire at London Zoo probably gets more clicks than several hundred dying a horrible death somewhere in Asia.

[tikay]

Anyway, lets cheer ourselves up by watching this.

I enjoy it more each time I watch it.

 

[Chompy]

Another random photo.

Is that Chompy, in the green top? Probably not, think Chomps carries more timber.

Oh my. I had to double check this. Pose looks correct but arms a giveaway. Too Popeye-ish and not fluffy enough.

[Simon Galloway]

He has plenty of chips too.

[tikay]

Make sure you don't miss the Queen's Speech this afternoon, it's at 3pm.

It's what makes Christmas special.

Click to see full-size image.

[tikay]

https://www.inbrief.co.uk/sports-law/uk-fishing-rights/

You'll love riparian law, tikay. Hours of fun. More fun than fishing, some might say.

https://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/news2014/new-legislation-affects-which-fish-you-may-keep-in-england

You were correct. I had to look it up first though - I'd never heard of such a thing. Even the term "Riparian" was new to me.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riparian_water_rights

Click to see full-size image.

[RED-DOG]

https://www.inbrief.co.uk/sports-law/uk-fishing-rights/

You'll love riparian law, tikay. Hours of fun. More fun than fishing, some might say.

https://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/news2014/new-legislation-affects-which-fish-you-may-keep-in-england

You were correct. I had to look it up first though - I'd never heard of such a thing. Even the term "Riparian" was new to me.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riparian_water_rights

Click to see full-size image.

Assuming we're looking upstream, I own the land on the left of the  picture. A public footpath runs through my riparian righty bit,  which further complicates matters.

[tikay]

We love Her Maj.



Top 10 programmes on Christmas Day

1.The Queen - 7.6m (BBC One, ITV and Sky News)

2.Mrs Brown's Boys - 6.8m (BBC One)

3.Strictly Come Dancing - 6.5m (BBC One)

4.Call the Midwife - 6.3m (BBC One)

5.EastEnders - 6.3m (BBC One)

6.Doctor Who - 5.7m (BBC One)

7.Coronation Street - 4.8m (ITV) rising to 5.1m when ITV+1 is included

8.BBC Teatime News - 4.2m (BBC One)

9.The Highway Rat - 4.0m (BBC One)

10.Cinderella - 3.6m (BBC One)

[arbboy]

We love Her Maj.



Top 10 programmes on Christmas Day

1.The Queen - 7.6m (BBC One, ITV and Sky News)

2.Mrs Brown's Boys - 6.8m (BBC One)

3.Strictly Come Dancing - 6.5m (BBC One)

4.Call the Midwife - 6.3m (BBC One)

5.EastEnders - 6.3m (BBC One)

6.Doctor Who - 5.7m (BBC One)

7.Coronation Street - 4.8m (ITV) rising to 5.1m when ITV+1 is included

8.BBC Teatime News - 4.2m (BBC One)

9.The Highway Rat - 4.0m (BBC One)

10.Cinderella - 3.6m (BBC One)

It was a lovely Queen's speech yesterday with a twist of humour from Her Maj.   You used to be able to bet on top viewed xmas day TV show years ago.  Not sure if you can nowadays?  Don't think the queen's speech was ever considered a runner.  Amazing it 'won' the event yesterday viewing figures wise.  Shows how bad TV has become nowadays.

[tikay]

^^^

To be fair, those ratings will probably change when the "Mobile" ((Sky Go etc) numbers get added in.

It's a dead time of day, too, with not much "opposition" on at that time.

Even so, impressive numbers, & it shows the level of support for the Royals from the general population. Quite right too.   

[tikay]

It's a very odd thing really. If you peruse Social Media, you could get the impression that, as a Nation, we despise & resent the Royals. We clearly don't, of course. 

I wonder if it suggests that the hardcore social media users are not a fair cross section of the population?

It just seems easier on Twitter & the like to make clever digs at high profile people.

I don't believe that's the case - generally - in the USA, where they lionise their famous & successful people. 

[kukushkin88]

Hope you had a lovely Christmas? As somebody who holds the opposite view on the Royals, I'm interested to know. What is it that you like about them? They seem like nice people but there must be more to it than that?

[MANTIS01]

The royals are part of our DNA as British people, so it's more about what they represent, rather than who they are as individuals. People who hate the royals are silly devils, it's like saying you hate the Tower of London or Windsor Castle or you hate thousands of years of history that made us who we are. Look at Elizabeth I, what an inspiration, ruled the most powerful country in the world as a single woman for almost 50yrs. Do we hate that she defeated the Spanish Armada when they tried to invade us? Do we hate that she evoked such passion in men that they would die for her fighting for their country? We could all be eating tapas and putting things off until tomorrow if it wasn't for the royals.

As for the current incumbent, well she's been on the throne for over 60yrs, another strong inspirational woman, always put the country first, no sex or drugs scandals to speak of like every other tom, dick and harry out there. What is there to hate? She's just an easy target for liberal types and angry men with beards. When she's gone there will be a stunned silence, a void, and it will be felt across the land, a destabilising feeling of loss and change. That's because the royalty are woven into the fabric of our very being. To hate the royals is to hate ourselves and only the most miserable do that.

God save the mofo Queen.

[kukushkin88]

Lots of people are ashamed about the British empire, quite reasonably so. It's was just using earlier development in our society to inflict mass murder and suffering. The world moves on, so should we. Nothing to be proud of there.

Ancient History is a bit different but it's weird to be proud of that, none of us have anything to do with it, other than being born nearby.

[MANTIS01]

Lots of people are ashamed about the British empire, quite reasonably so. It's was just using earlier development in our society to inflict mass murder and suffering. The world moves on, so should we. Nothing to be proud of there.

Ancient History is a bit different but it's weird to be proud of that, none of us have anything to do with it, other than being born nearby.

Hey bro, any country worth it's salt had an empire. Think the Romans bowled about other lands handing out bunches of flowers and helping folk mow the lawn? Italy doesn't get half the shit we do for their historical murdering and plundering. If Britain wasn't top dog some other country would've been and they would've done the same thing. Fact is we were top dog and I think it's pretty cool a tiny nation like us was in fact boss of the world.

Oh and don't forget Henry VIII who broke Italian rule in this country. Without him we would've been wearing tan shoes with no socks and wazzing about everywhere on mopeds.