Licenced today: public transport on the Isle of Arran. I recall that the schemtatic map of the bus route, attached to the pole, was a model of simplicity: just a figure of eight. Most buses hug the contours of the coastline. If you stay on the bus for a couple of hours you will arrive back where you started...
So Prince Andrew has reached a settlement, for an undisclosed sum, in the civil sex claim filed by Virginia Giuffre, saying that he has agreed to make a “substantial donation” to Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights. He praised Giuffre’s bravery, and accepted that she “suffered as an established victim of abuse”, while expressing no remorse. “I remember her well”, said Andrew, nostalgically. “She gave me an incredible blowjob at every time of asking - whether it was in Epstein's New York town-house, Ghislaine's London flat or on Paedo Island - and for that I will always be grateful. I’m sorry, I’ve said too much”.
Licenced today: a long street of terraced houses in Crickhowell, Wales…
Every day there are new recipes printed in the Guardian. Sometimes they whet my appetite, sometimes not. I don’t think I’ll be trying today’s offering - chickpea, chard and bread soup - while there are still a couple of stale crumpets in the bread-bin.
Licenced today: a guesthouse in the village of Far Sawrey, Cumbria…
According to an article on the Guardian website, a man has been stoned to death, and his body hung from a tree, after he was accused of burning a copy of the Quran inside a mosque. While the details of this tragic incident are sketchy, it comforms to a depressingly predictable pattern, in a country where blasphemy is still a capital crime. To be accused of blasphemy is to be convicted… not by a court of law, but by a mob of self-righteous citizenry who assume the right to be prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner. As the article acknowledges, “blasphemy accusations have often been used to intimidate religious minorities and settle personal scores”.
The template for mob rule is firmly established in both the Bible and Quran. In a list of crimes which demand the death penalty (including adultery, homosexual acts and working on the sabbath), no legal mechanism is specified, to decide whether an accused person is innocent or guilty. The assumption is that the “men of the town” will interpret biblical and quaranic injunctions according to their own beliefs, and take the law into their own hands. Pakistani judges - and others - who have spoken out against the repressive blasphemy laws are routinely murdered. Among the populace in general the call is for the laws to be strengthened, not weakened. This is just one of the many reasons why Islam badly needs its own reformation (and why the implementation of sharia law, in any part of the UK, must be resisted)…
The top pic is of the market square in Beverley, with the corn exchange at the back and outdoor seating where cars used to park. After a couple of hours taking pix, I called in at Nellie’s, on Hengate: one of the great unimproved boozers (bottom pic). The good news: it’s very atmospheric - or, some might say, gloomy - being lit by gas-mantle. There’s an open fire in every room, and there are plenty of rooms. The beer is very cheap. The bad news: it’s a Sam Smith pub, which means no swearing. And the beer, though cheap, is piss poor. Still a great pub, though…
Something new today. I bought a huge fruit bowl decorated with hand-painted flowers: £2.99 from a charity shop in Pocklington. Every day I make delicious smoothies, with my fancy ‘Magic Bullet’ smoothie-maker, so there’s fruit all over the place (and now I know where to find it). Maybe some fruit-scented room deodorant would complete the illusion that the Old Sunday School is a proper home, not just a squalid man-cave.
There was always fruit in a bowl on the sideboard when I was growing up, though, beyond an apple a day (“to keep the doctor away”) we kids weren’t really encouraged to eat it. Mum often preferred to hide fruit - rather than, say, buy some more - which is why anyone venturing to clean behind the fridge might discover a bag of Florida oranges that had turned a luminous green, or some bananas reduced to a brown mush.
A graceful dismouth in Pocklington today...
Since the Aussies retained the Ashes two games ago, there was nothing to play for, during the last two one-day internationals, except pride (and the opportunity to nail down a place in the team for the forthcoming World Cup in New Zealand). So God only knows why England, having won the toss and decided to bat, treated yesterday’s game like a net session, scoring at little over two runs an over. That’s not enough to win any game, least of all against a very good Australian side. With the England women looking like they didn’t even want to compete, the result was never in doubt, which made a 50-over game a rather dull watch (it certainly didn’t keep me awake).
Nevertheless, according to the Women’s Sport Trust, women’s sport has bucked the trend of declining TV viewing hours and amassed a total audience of almost 32.9 million people last year, with football and cricket the biggest beneficiaries. The figures show that there really is an appetite for women’s sport, and that’s very good news. I just hope the England team don’t get caught up with all the hype. They came off second-best to the Aussies in every aspect of the game: batting, bowling, fielding and catching. More practice needed, I reckon, and a more dynamic approach to the game.
Licenced today: the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the River Avon in Stratford-upon-Avon…
