rockershovel

I saw a programme last night, sort of about Mars exploration. An outfit called HI SEAS have a "Mars simulation habitat" in Hawai'i and put a volunteer crew in it for a year. Yes, really. They seem to be funded at least in part by NASA

Family records often start in the late 1600s. The Roundheads destroyed many Church and Parish records between 1640-60 so before that date, research is difficult.

My good wife is off at my daughters for a few days, so I get the TV remote. Flipping round the video channels I saw "Oh What a Lovely War" ... wasn't Angela Thorne a delicate English rose in those days?

My good wife was never an enthusiastic traveller, but happy to travel as long as she didn't have to organise anything, navigate or drive (outside UK, at any rate); no camping and no sleeper trains. Her various tribulations of recent years have quite extinguished whatever flame there was and I no longer bother to suggest it. I travelled widely for work and (mostly) enjoyed it, but there were quite a few places I was happy not to return to. Top of the list, Sub Saharan Africa. I had a few enjoyable stop-overs but on the whole, nope. The North African littoral, particularly Tunisia could be good fun, but that has changed greatly in recent years. I missed out on a contract with BP in Algeria in 2010 which ended in guns and helicopters, not sorry to have missed that. I dont care for the Far East. Don't like the heat and humidity. I've heard very various things about South America. I did have a highly enjoyable stop-over in Argentina, when i was involved with Rock Hopper. My cousin did two deployments to Belize and loathed it. I did have one trip to Venezuela and it wasnt much fun. On the whole I tend to feel that I've missed that bus. I'd like to see more of the US and Canada. Japan was fascinating. I had a good time in the Caspian region. Especially Azerbaijan.

Weren't the traditional Welsh longbow made of yew?

It's probably a sign of anno Domini, but "I should give that ten minutes if I were you" is the working rule around here, these days...

A loud slap over the pate for Sir Clive Woodward, the latest to involve himself in the "6N promotion/relegation" debate. No, no, no. It's the 6 Nations.

Come to think of it, the whole story kicks off when Ford Prefect receives a message on what is basically a smartphone fitted with a rolling news feed and Uber..... Zaphod Beeblebrox is basically a social media influencer...

I seem to recall that they adopted the leaf as currency. Consequently they all became very wealthy but suffered a serious inflation problem, which they propose to rectify by burning down the forest. Sounds like the sort of thinking that would fit right in today.

Meanwhile in the "heart of stone" class, some notably idiotic dog stories around at present... Firstly, the woman who was awarded a holiday as a prize on the Ant and Dec show. She apparently runs a charity "to raise awareness of disabled pets" .... and the airline won't allow her to take hers in the cabin. She won't allow it to travel in the hold as per usual, and it doesn't have the necessary jabs to travel. She claims to be "heart broken" and "will never watch them again".... this all sounds like what my late father would refer to as "poor staff work". Secondly, a "reality TV personality" who missed a holiday because the airline wouldn't accept her passport. Moral being, don't allow your dog to chew it .. better yet, don't carry your dog in the same handbag! The Golgafrincham B Ark must be refusing bookings daily...

There are some phrases and terms which simply shouldn't exist. Today's contribution, from an article in the DT about flying with dogs; "Emotional support pit bull"......

It isn't generally understood that the British political class expected a continuation of Empire, post-WW2 and to that end, intended to preserve Sterling as an International Reserve Currency. Britain still ruled an Empire in Africa and the South Seas; the young Queen was still Head of State in places like Australia and Canada. Hence the continuation of post-Colonial wars in Africa and Asia, to protect the interests of organisations like Lever Brothers and Barings. It was a trading, maritime Empire in which it was absolutely taboo to act on behalf of industry, unless of course your name was "Brummagem Joe" Chamberlain. The working classes understood this and swarmed to emigrate. They understood that their victory was being squandered or thrown away. Then in 1956 it all came crashing down, at a place called Suez. Uncle Sam administered a sharp lesson in macro-economics. By 1962 the last colony of any consequence (Nigeria) had gone; by 1964-5 the Labour government had had its nose firmly rubbed in the electorates resistance to mass immigration and was heading for its second post-War devaluation.

I venture to disagree. They were market leaders in the 1930s and sold in large numbers, world wide into the 1960s. Bikes like the Triumph and BSA twins were state-of-the-art into the 1950s.

Nothing wrong with MZs. Try the 1970s ISDT Special, very quick. The 125 and 250 singles were well engineered and very nicely finished, although if there is a German word for "styling" there probably shouldn't be....

I'm also reminded of the quite inexcusable BSA Dandy, and the Beeza with its nicely engineered but utterly gutless side-valve single with unit construction and electric starter. Interesting that BSA and Velocette both produced new sidevalve designs with otherwise quite modern engineering. The real criticism has to be that BSA produced multiple small engine designs (and don't forget the pitiful Beagle) without getting any of them right, while Honda went directly to the Cub - which hit the ball straight into the stands. Kick start, 3 speeds, no great performance but totally reliable and what a seller....