Page 14 w The year to come.
I have just read on the internet that the bastion of British newspapers “The Times” have named Nigel Farage…the leader of UKIP as their Briton of the year. Any regular reader of my ramblings can only guess at the level that my personal incredulity meter reached on reading the news. After a nice cup of
tea and a sit down in a dark room
I started to think rationally about what the rise of UKIP in England and the SNP in Scotland could mean for the future of Britain. The forthcoming general election of 2015 is set to change the face of British politics. The outcome is anyone’s guess… who will lead Britain after the election or even after a hung parliament and yet another election is the burning question of the start of 2015. As I tap on the keyboard I see that several of the major British bookies are taking bets on both Nigel Farage and Alex Salmond being members of the next British cabinet. What all this will mean for the actual political colour of the country is too difficult to call at this juncture… however it seems that the days of two party politics may be well and truly over… come on the Greens.
Surgical top of the pops. Fascinated to hear that many surgeons in Britain have music playing whilst they are cutting, sawing, snipping, and stitching a merry way over and through our precious bodies. The reason they say is because they believe that “music has pain relieving properties”. My experience is somewhat different… some years ago an operation on one of my knees was accompanied by both music and
The Top
A View From
Welcome to my monthly column “A view from the top”. Hopefully you will find my rambling readable maybe even enjoyable. You may agree or you may disagree with my views, I care not. These are my views long held and forged over a life time of work, travel and experience. Now that’s over let’s have a look at what is really winding me up.
QF Focus Magazine
by a strategically placed television screen that would enable me to view the said surgical procedure whilst I listened to music via headphones. This was due to the fact that the surgeon had said that an epidural would be used as the anaesthetic and I would be awake during the procedure. Sorry to say that after the first cut I waved my arms and suggested to the theatre sister that perhaps my watching was not such a good idea. The sister then
provided a set of eye pads to help calm my not so heroic state of mind. The music was some help due to the fact that it masked the noise of the drilling and sucking that my knee was subjected too. What would your choice be if you were of a surgical bent? Staying alive by the Bee Gees…Smooth operator by Sade perhaps… certainly not…another one bites the dust by Queen. To finish of course would have to be …wake me up before you go go by Wham. Whatever next!
The science of smells. As promised I have been working on the science of smells over the Christmas break. Research has been moving along at a pace. As winter draws on I have been in the lab (my kitchen) testing different food combinations in the appliance of smelly science. One memorable menu consisted of Cauliflower and sweet corn soup followed by a pair of tasty kippers… the combination was a good three days of wind generation coupled with three days of nasty looks from all and sundry. Not to be deterred and in the interest of science my next menu consisted of a bag of dry roast peanuts (don’t you just love them) followed once again by a fine pair of kippers. The result was an increase in the waft level of about fifty percent. Needless to say I have had enough of the science of smells… my advice… it’s the kippers.
The Darwin awards. Had a good laugh when the Darwin awards were announced just before Christmas. These awards are awarded yearly and in most cases posthumously to “people who lose their lives via stupid events”. The year’s top award went to the
terrorist
who opened his own letter bomb after it had
been returned to him because not enough postage had been paid on the letter. Of course to return the letter, the sender’s address had to be placed on to the letter. These awards are said to work on the principle of the “male idiot theory”. This theory is about the hypothesis that “alcohol makes men feel bulletproof”. The awards gave an example of the three men who played a variation of Russian roulette alternatively taking shots of strong alcohol and then stamping on an unexploded Cambodian land mine… the mine eventually exploded demolishing the bar and killing all three men. The reason for the name “Darwin awards” is to point out the fact that as each foolish person kills himself the resultant gene pool should become purer. Note the word should.
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