Neighbour

 

Teenage magazine cover in March 1982

The hard-working city of Sheffield in Yorkshire is not like The Holywood Hills you know. It's not even like Chelsea or West Hampstead down in London. Here, famous celebrities are very thin on the ground. Most Sheffielders are like me - unheralded nobodies who do not appear in magazines, films or TV shows. We are the shadow people.

However, a few famous people do live here and one of them is the musician, singer and record producer - Phil Oakey. He gained fame with a band called The Human League at the start of the 1980s. They had a massive worldwide hit with a song that Phil had written himself - "Don't You Want Me?" As a reminder, listen to the YouTube video at the bottom of this blogpost.

Nowadays, he still lives in Sheffield just a stone's throw from this keyboard -  and I mean that quite literally. I just looked out of the window between the houses across the street and behind them is the large pre-war house called "Orchardlea" which Phil Oakey made his home over thirty years ago. I snapped a picture of it today...

Phil Oakey celebrated his seventieth birthday last month. Still making music and occasionally touring with his band, he looks very different from the televisual fashionista of 1982 with that eyeliner and trademark lopsided hairstyle. Now he just looks like a regular bloke. He sometimes goes shopping in our local "Co-op" without shoppers or staff realising who he is but I have spotted him there a few times. 

Funny how he has never asked for my autograph - nor for a selfie with him. I expect he just wants to respect my personal space as they say.

Epstein

Extracts from The Unexpurgated Files that 
I recently discovered on The Dark Web...

Entry in Epstein's Journal - Little Saint Jeff  April 17th 2000

Great party last night. I had flown in a planeload of ripe Victoria's Secret models on Tuesday. This morning by the pool DJT had three girls round his sunbed. They were massaging him and feeding him grapes. He looked like The Emperor of Rome. Me and him we are on the same wavelength when it comes to young girls. As DJT often says, "Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything." It's like his mantra man.

e-mail dated  25th June 2000

Thanks for the invite to Merry Mar-a-Lago buddy. Will there be fresh meat on the menu? You know I dig lamb better than sheep and chickens better than old hens. We came from the same pod you old dog but I don't want any of your leftovers like last time I visited Donlandia. What was her name? Cherry or Sherry? Anyway, who cares about their names?
Your "Loving" bro,
Jeffie

US Virgin Islands Police Service Transcript (Extract) from an interview with Ms Celestine Barbosa (CB) - former member of the housekeeping team on Little St James Island - May 2001

OFFICER So you say the guy who grabbed you was American. Can you describe him?

CB He was orange and fat and smelt so bad.

OFFICER Where did he grab you?

CB It's too embarrassing to say ma'am.

OFFICER You mean your genital area?

CB  Err. Yes.

OFFICER Do you remember anything else about him?

CB Well. He kept boasting. Same as the other times he came to the island.

OFFICER What kind of things?

CB He said he had a big IQ score. Bigger than anybody ever before. And he won a medal in Vietnam. Medal of Honor I think. Said he single-handedly destroyed a Vietcong gun emplacement. I was just trying to vacuum his suite when he grabbed me. I had a job to do.

OFFICER You further say that he pushed you back on the bed. Did he say anything at the time?

CB He said that it would only take a minute or two.

OFFICER How did you react?

CB I pushed him off and yelled at him, "I am a respectable woman with children to feed! I am going to tell Mr Epstein on you you fat pig!" Then I ran out of the room.

⦿

I came across other salacious, incriminatory  material on The Dark Web but this is a wholesome family blog and so I hesitate to publish some of the other stuff I discovered in "The Epstein Files". Now I understand why the current US administration are doing everything in their power to keep the lid on this thing.

Quiztime

The creation of this particular quiz is down to a hefty nudge delivered by Frances from Harpenden, England. There's no theme this week.  Like the business of living, stardom or romance, it's just pot luck. As usual, answers will be given in the comments section. Good pot luck! (You'll need it!)

⦿

1. Which character from Shakespeare do you think this is? (I am referring to the fellow on the left).

2. Name that year.  Zimbabwe officially became independent.  The second "Star Wars" film - "The Empire Strikes Back" was released in cinemas. Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter in the US Presidential election and John Lennon was assassinated in New York.

3.  Which European car company uses this insignia?

4. Who is the youngest of the four Kardashian siblings? Kourtney, Knloe, Kim or Rob?

5. What was the title of Pink Floyd's first album?

a) "Atom Heart Mother" b) "Ummagumma" 

c) "The Piper at The Gates of Dawn" d)  "A Momentary Lapse of Reason"

6. Born in 1959, who is this famous British film actress?

(Clue: She lives near blogger Steve Reed in West London)

7. Of which South American country is this an outline?

8. What breed of dog was the TV and film star - "Lassie"?

a) rough collie b) bearded collie c) border collie d) scotch collie

9. What does this Latin phrase mean?

10. Science-related, may I introduce you to... 

...Dmitri Mendeleev. What did he create in 1869 that is still widely used all over the world?

⦿

That's all folks. How did you do?

Cousins

In the autumn of 2023, our youngest grandchildren - Zachary and Margot were born just nine days apart. They were due on the same date but these so-called "due dates" never seem to work out do they?

Today, Shirley and I had the pleasure of looking after both of them together for several hours. Ian had come up from London to attend the funeral of  the mother of one of his best friends. She was only sixty three. Meantime, our daughter, Frances, was down in London to attend a reunion of former work colleagues and to visit her friend Kira who recently gave birth to a second baby girl.

For us, it was a double whammy. Two two year old grandchildren for the price of one.

Physically, they are pretty different. Zach is a slender, copper-haired livewire who can play endlessly with little toy cars and diggers - whereas Margot is a sturdy blue-eyed cherub who, without encouragement, has shown an affection for dolls. Perhaps it is a nascent maternal urge. When it comes to physical development charts for two year olds, she is most definitely in the very top percentile. She is a couple of inches taller than Zach and much heavier too.

With Zach living down in London, the two little cousins have not met up very often so today was quite special. At the top of this blogpost, you can see them sitting on my computer chair watching yet another YouTube version of "The Wheels on the Bus". They also enjoyed versions of "Old Macdonald had a Farm" and "Incy Wincy Spider".

Later, Shirley had the two of them on her lap in her easy chair in the dining room. They are enjoying a book together. Grandma is probably their favourite human and it is a role that she thoroughly enjoys...

Crash!

To the right of our garden by the privet hedge there grew a spindly staghorn sumac tree. I think that it had self-seeded there. A strange tree really with large pinnately compound leaves that turned bright red or orange in the autumn. And in the summer it produced big furry dark red seed pods  - the velvety texture of which might remind anyone of stags' antlers.

Anyway, I digress. About eight years ago this little tree effectively died . No buds, no new leaves. I decided to use it as a bird feeding station on which we could hang seed or suet ball containers. A few of the outermost branches were sawn off.

Then one day, I had the bright idea of painting the dead tree white with some leftover masonry paint. Forty minutes later it was done. 

Over the next six years I repainted the tree twice. It was an odd sight really but it seemed popular with various bird species as they came to feast on the bird food that was hanging there like regulars at a branch (!)  of McDonalds.

Then on Monday of this week, Shirley was working by our little greenhouse when suddenly she heard a crash. It was a still afternoon but the staghorn sumac tree had chosen that particular moment to keel over.

The next day I went out to inspect the scene, expecting to have to saw the upper part of the tree from its trunk.However, there was no need for that. I was easily able to yank the tree from the ground. The base was pretty rotten. I left it in the middle of our lawn - like a strange avant garde sculpture or something. 

Then on Wednesday I noticed that the early birds - mostly magpies and crows had removed much of the white paint from the thickest part of the trunk. They had really had a go at it - probably seeking wood feeding insects and larvae. They might have cleaned up after themselves!

In other exciting Yorkshire Pudding news... Today I gathered up five wheelbarrow loads of fallen leaves. Then I put them in a big builders' sack which I covered over and I will leave them there to rot down into nutritious leaf mould which will be "cooked" in about a year's time.

Finally, this interesting "Big Boy" sign was spotted somewhere in America, but I don't know where...

Face

 

I saw this woman's face on the BBC News website today and I can't fully explain why but it took me aback. There was an involuntary intake of breath. Please do not imagine that I once knew her because I didn't.

It crossed my mind that I could have created a blogpost in which visitors were challenged to offer ideas about the woman. What has been her life story and what, if anything, does she do for a living? However, I decided against that. I will give you the solution soon.

To me there's sadness there, weariness and worry. In its relaxed state that surely does not look like a happy face. Perhaps she has known grief or maybe her hidden state of health is signalled by her demeanour. I guess that some might see a certain toughness in that face, a hard-nosed resistance to frivolity and nonsense. Don't mess with me!

The art of deducing someone's character from their facial appearance is known as physiognomy. I guess that we are all amateur physiognomists. Habitually, we try to read faces. They might be the faces of friends or family members or they might be strangers' faces. Maybe some are better at reading faces than others.

Nonetheless, everybody makes mistakes when reading faces. Grinning expressions may hide inner pain and serious faces might mask comedians. 

Long ago, before we came to this house, I was a regular at "The Closed Shop" public house in Commonside, Sheffield. The landlady was a mature, no-nonsense woman called Sylvia. By chance, late one Friday evening I overheard her talking to another customer about me and to paraphrase what she said, it went something like this...

"I know he comes across as serious - like he's looking right through you but once you get to know him he's okay. Quite funny at times."

And then I continued to sing "The Wild Rover" to the regulars... or was it "On Ilkley Moor" - I can't rightly remember. It was a little pub in which we formed a community. There was Shirley, Colin and Lorraine, Tony who now lives in Beverley,  Roger, The Young Ones, Rowena and Alan and Kirk and others I can hardly remember.

Anyway, getting back to the face, I will not say the woman's name but she is a secondary schoolteacher working with ASN pupils (Additional Support Needs). Now you might better understand how pressure of work has subtly impacted upon her face - probably over many years.

If she had been a singer on a cruise ship or a ballet dancer or a gardener or even a beautician, I doubt that her face would have become like the one we see in the photograph. Essentially, she is not an unattractive woman and she is blessed with good bone structure but in my view the job has obviously taken its toll. She almost looks suicidal - in need of professional counselling, retirement or a long beach holiday.

Fuss

Over there - across The Atlantic Ocean - the rapidly ageing President of the USA  has his own social media channel that he named "Truth Social". Quite an ironic title in my opinion as the "truths" that he tweets out night after night in the manner of a ranting teenager only reflect his "truth" - not any kind of fair-minded or balanced truth coolly based upon proper evidence.

He derides respected TV channels such as CNN and MSNBC, preferring to align himself with the right wing Murdoch-controlled tabloid channel called "Fox News" in which Trump can apparently do no wrong and all Democrats are woke liberals. He has also targeted America's best newspapers.

And then there are the now legendary Epstein Papers that undoubtedly contain painful truths. Trump and his oddball team have used every trick in the book to delay, block and hide those particular truths.

Being what several learned psychiatrists have described as a "malignant narcissist", Trump does not take kindly to any one or any organisation that tells a different truth from his own. He barks them down with playground declarations of "Fake News!" and "Fake Media!" and he misuses the judicial system to pressure media organisations for revenge or compensation.

Here in Great Britain, there is currently a lot of fuss and media noise about how  Trump's January 6th 2021 speech was edited for a BBC "Panorama" documentary called "Trump: A Second Chance?" aired a year ago - several days before the US presidential election. If you didn't know - you might think that somebody had died or that some terrible wrong had been wrought upon the present occupant of The White House. Such has been the fuss.

Even in Russia and China, leaders' speeches need to be selectively edited by TV News channels. It would be unrealistic to broadcast the entire thing. And on January 6th 2021 while seeking to belligerently dispute a fair  and democratic election result, Trump's rabble-rousing speech was fifty eight minutes long! For the purposes of the documentary, the makers just wished to give a flavour of what Trump had actually said.

With hindsight, I would say that it was unfortunate that the programme makers did not flag up that the two small segments of Trump's infamous speech that they had stitched together were, in reality, delivered over fifty minutes apart. It was a small mistake. However, the documentary as a whole was intelligent and pretty well-balanced. There was no sensationalism. It was in character with healthy BBC reportage.

All my life I have known the BBC like a brilliant friend - always there for me, reliable and true. It is a jewel in Great Britain's crown - a wonderful media organisation that has paved the way for other broadcasters in countless respects. Its simple mission is to "inform, educate and entertain" and as a recipient of BBC TV and radio programmes for seventy years, I can confirm that that is what it has always given me.

Of course, any broadcasting organisation will be imperfect when it comes to political reporting - simply because that service is delivered by human beings. Absolute objective neutrality is impossible. To be frank, I have always thought that, if anything, the BBC is biased towards conservatism, London and the educated middle classes so in the fuss about "Trump: A Second Chance?" I have been quite gobsmacked that several right wing voices have implied that the BBC is some sort of woke, leftist entity. I just cannot see that at all.

Trump's vindictiveness has become infamous and I suspect that the BBC will have to cough up a lot of money to appease the litigious old fellow. As I pay my TV licence fee every year, I very much resent the prospect that a tiny portion of my fee will now end up in Trump's bulging bank account. Even a penny will be too much.

God Bless The BBC!