30 June 2009
Daily Chat 30/06/09
The Spanish were expelled from Tenochtitlan on this day in 1520. Tower Bridge opened in 1894. Albert Einstein published On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies in 1905 and the crew of Soyuz 11 were killed in 1971 when their air supply escaped due to a faulty valve. Celebrating birthdays: Swedish rocker Yngwie Malmsteen, überWAG Cheryl Cole and smokin' US swimmer Michael Phelps. It is Independence Day in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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The young and rather angry, driven 80s uber-metaller Yngwie Malmsteen (actually marketed as Yngwie "J" Malmsteen presumably in case he was confused with other Yngwie Malmsteens) once rang Ritchie Blackmore's sound technician to ask him for his exact sound settings on his Marshall amps and guitars with his band Rainbow (featuring the legendary, mysterious and rather regal rock-dwarf Ronnie "James" Dio). The guitar tech told him to fuck off naturally. It made him mad enough to write this.
ReplyDeleteGrrr !!!!
The expulsion of the Spanish from Tenochtitlan was known as the "Sad Night". Depends on who you ask though, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of contentious goings-on in Central America, here is what a former guerrilla from El Salvador has to say about the situation in Honduras--- czarnykotblog.blogspot.com
I found it quite surprising and very thought-provoking.
I must confess, Bitterweed, that I enjoyed that more than I thought I would. I tend to prefer my guitar music like this.
ReplyDeleteor like this.
I have to walk tower bridge every damn day for work, swarms with tourists and nut sellers in the afternoon, and they walk so slowly, so very slowly, then they stop to take pictures. Ban them. Ban tourists everywhere.
ReplyDeleteCzarny Kot
ReplyDelete" ..they fuck you up your mam and dad..." Larkin?
You a Brit of Polish origin or a Pole with great english? Or something altogether different with a Spanish connection. Teaching in Poland? Education admin?
You don't have to answer it's not the third degree only idle curiosity. Profiles give clues and excite interest and thus prompt idle but innocent questions.
Your site looks interesting.
Your moniker was rattling around my head couldn't quite recall where and when I first came across it (didn't think it cif) and then......I think I came across a dialogue 'tween you and Olching a while back on his site??
You and Olching mates?
Regards
@ Montana
ReplyDeleteIf you could play a guitar like that - I would abandon my dogs book my ticket and throw my passport at your feet and beg you to marry me.
I think you could say - I like your choice in music.
(I will email you in due course - regrettably to decline your kind offer. I'll offer an explanation for my feeble excuse but at least you will have my email address so you can privately tell me to FO should the need arise)
Best W and Regards.
@ Jay
ReplyDeleteThat is the only justification for London - a jampot for tourists.
Them Romans knew a thing or two - we'll have londinium it'll keep the bastards out of Yorkshire.
@ Bitterweed
ReplyDeleteThat malmsteen - I liked his trousers. They might just bring Mungo to his senses. I need to dazzle the bastard.
Hope if your working it's not too grim down south.
Cheers Bro
@ Montana
ReplyDeleteIt's a definite. I have reserved a seat in the boat for you too.
Because of the time lag and my guess that you simply do not have the time to read all the dross I write on here I am safe. That means I can offer nine seats in an eight seat boat. Oh joy what wonderful joy.
You workers just amuse yourself whilst I get on with the rest of the wonderful day.
Mischief
ReplyDeletedeano30
ReplyDeleteYour mutt sounds like a riot.
Some people talk about their dogs being really clever. Not you. We get honesty. I used to adore my Jack Russel for a number of reasons, not least of which were her spontaneous moments of joyous stupidity.
Montana,
ReplyDeletemusic classy just like what you is.
Deano, im not sure there's any justification for London, its an abomination to live in.
ReplyDeleteJay
ReplyDeleteDo you live anywhere near Tower Bridge? Sympathise with what you say about tourists. My wife grew up in Tower Bridge Road and says there were hardly any until about 1985.
Bitterweed,
ReplyDeleteSee you removed a quote you made about cats. Why?
Cat lovers are not muslims you know, you wont get a visit from a little old lady wearing a gelignite jock strap.
Anon.
ReplyDeleteRather too early for me to be contemplating that end of a lady I'm afraid.
@Deano
ReplyDeleteI'm British born and bred but I have been living in Poland for about 5 years now teaching English. I've got a Polish mortgage, getting married and everything so you could say that I have 'gone native' in a way.
The Spanish connection is only because I did a degree in Hispanic Studies and lived in Bilbao for a year. I really should be enjoying the Latin lifestyle in Barcelona or Buenos Aires but then again I never really planned anything that has happend in my life, so i'll just carry on and see what happens.
I couldn't call Olching a mate as I have never met him and don't know his name but we do know each other from CiF as I believe he used to live in Poland and knows his stuff when it comes to this part of the world.
Thanks for your interest. I set up a blog back in November just to see how you actually do it (i'm no whizz-kid) but I abandoned it almost immediately. After going round a few blogs the last couple of days I had the idea of setting up a new one. I'm going to concentrate on translations, so if anyone wants to know what Spanish, South American, Polish and Catalan writers think about things but don't have time to learn the language then give it a look. I make no promises, mind you. Blogging can be hard work...
I had a Jack Russell once, it wasn't even remotely intelligent and quite frankly joyous stupidity was the best we ever saw....pure evil was the worst with something in between the rest of the time.
ReplyDeleteHe was absolutely gorgeous though....
@ stoaty
ReplyDelete"....music classy just....."
am I to understand that you detect a scent from across the pond?
Anon,
ReplyDeleteI'm by no means good at this blogging lark having only recently got a computor, to be honest it's as much as I could do to learn apostophes from Lynn Truss. I actually thought that 'anonymous' was a particular person, only now do I realise that it could be anyone. This time it would appear to be you.
@ Czarny Kot
ReplyDeleteThank god for that - if you had planned everything in your life I would never have read you again.
Thanks for the background notes sounds interesting.
Hope the wedding is fun. My family have had two weddings in recent years both brill. My daughter in Manchester to an an Irish guy (they still speak of my fathers speech to this day - only speech I ever gave that went well) and my Son in Fiji to a Fijian/Yorkshire lass a couple of years ago.
Oh what wonderful fun we all had on both occasions.
Still my youngest son (coming up 30 in July) to go so yet another to look forward to one day.
stabryte
ReplyDeleteI dont live near tower bridge but have to cross it twice a day to get from London bridge station to work, really annoying bridge to cross i find, the road junctions are a nightmare one end and in the afternoon the tourists turn it into an obstacle course. Then when the bridge gets raised for a boat the fun really starts, 10 minutes standing in a gawping crowd while a solitary boat glides through.
@ Doohnibor
ReplyDeleteEver seen a Jack Russell take on a nest of rats? They are brilliant at it their - breeding has a lot to do with it.
And as for a Russell and a stoat - don't even take me there.
Best dogs in my humble view are "Heinz 57's" they take the best from all sorts of this and that chancers from their past.
If Darwin was right it follows that they should be the best kind of dogs - why then is my Mungo the nutter he is.
Certainly cross breeds have far fewer health problems. Could be cos they ain't worked out how to assess the mental health of dogs!
Regards
Deano30,
ReplyDeleteHad to sneak that in there didn't you?
Here's an odd one over at the Guardian, don't know if you've seen this
ReplyDeletehttp://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/isabella_mackie/profile.html
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/isabella_rusbridger/
And they both happen to be the same person?
Mendoza
A certain Mr Rusbridgers daughter
@ stoaty
ReplyDeleteI knew you were fast our kid
Regards
"Cat lovers are not muslims you know, you wont get a visit from a little old lady wearing a gelignite jock strap."
ReplyDeleteYou made me titter there stoaty...
I'm glad people here appreciate the true value of Jack Russels.
My aunt who lives in Perth, Australia goes to the greyhound racing every now and then for a Friday night out.
She says occasionally, for a bit of fun, they have a Jack Russel race. Ten or twelve of them start, and they're off like lightning when the gates go up.
For about half a minute.
They then quite often say "f@ck the rabbit" and have a huge scrap instead.
Heh.
Ours had a violent hatred of a specific pair of my husbands shoes, I used to really enjoy watching him go for them, particularly when he was wearing them at the time.....
ReplyDeleteDoohnibor
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff ;-)
Mendoza
Well just fancy that eh ?!
Doohnibor
ReplyDeleteI was just going to comment on a Jack's memory if you ever try to kick one. It may be your husband was not aware of this and mistakenly (foolishly) tried to hush said dog away with side of foot.
Of folly - pure folly. Take a foot to a Jack and it will remember the time, place, day of week, and the weather. But above all the shoes!
Man makes a mistake with a lady's Jack - there is only one answer burn the shoes else.
Wow warm up here but I have a little breeze in Yorks you guys down south will have uncomfortable journeys home if you have to use public transport.
BW
ReplyDeleteI think I've seen a video of that Aussie pastime your aunt enjoys - it's out there somewhere but I don't know where. Stoats no weasel after all.
Could be deano30, but I've a feeling he was just a nasty little bastard. His irrational hatreds extended to brushes of any description, larger (ie all) dogs and, for a spell (and don't think I'm not very ashamed of him for this) most ethnic minorities. That in particular made walks in the park very difficult.
ReplyDeleteMine hated catsm pheasants, loved catching and eating rabits and had a Hitlerian, pathological hatred of rats - and, by proxy dogs smaller than herself. She would try and waste them if they came near her.
ReplyDeleteShe also hated mopeds and skateboards and would completely terrorise the little tearways on their monkey bikes who got up on the heath. Hilarious seeing their reactions to her tearing accross the field after them.
Doohnibor
I dare you to post that last comment on CiF. Go on !
The dog of choice in Medway is the Staffie. It goes well with the owner's reinforced baseball cap. (We have a lively club culture round here)
ReplyDeleteI will if they put up a relevant thread. And with the quality of the threads on CiF at present, we're probably talking within a few days.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I debated with myself the wisdom of admitting that I once had a psycho dog with inexplicably racist tendencies, but anyone who has ever had a Jack Russell will probably recognise that you have no control over their passions....
Its a worrying for me generally that by admitting Mr Pickle's tendencies I could be accused of racism by default.....Hopefully that's exclusive to CiF though....
Doohnibor
ReplyDeleteWho knows there is always lots of speculation about dogs.
But most breeds have been created for specific skills and bred to the point of absurdity.
Jacks really have: no fear and no sense of relative size. The speed at which they operate leads one to believe that they have no time to think thus don't need much of a brain. They will have go at a dog much larger than themselves without so much as a first let alone a second thought.
The ethnic minorities ? a scent and an association pleasant or unpleasant will set them going without a doubt. That's a neutral comment. Some dogs have noses so sensitive they can smell human cancers!
I think that if you introduced a Jack to an elephant or rhino the same questions who would go through the Jack's mind.
One - where is it's throat. Two - which is the back of it's neck. Three - how do I get my teeth into it such that I can swing it around and break it's spinal cord.
Truth is a Jack is a working dog - and at its trade there is non better. It kills like greased fucking lightning.
If you ever see someone who thinks that Jacks and small children mix. You see someone who is gifted in his/her handling of dogs or someone who has been ill advised.
Enough of this idle chat about dogs.
My final comment on dogs is that both I and annetan42 think there are far too many Staffies around at the moment.
That's a dog which also wants approaching with caution. Not a dog that naturally seeks a fight but one they get into fighting they never stop and are always a potential danger. I see one coming I always take my dogs the other way. It's not the staffie I fear it's the madness and ignorance of the owners that is the concern.
Simply really - Is this dog capable of red mist? Leave well alone.
Having said all dogs need caution and understanding - the one that savaged the women so much that she had to a face transplant was if I recall it correctly - a Labrador!
Best W - I don't think we have spoken much before.
colinthestoat
ReplyDeleteMedway eh ? Is it a bit Luton-on-Sea ?
Ah the Medway towns Stoaty - anywhere near Borstal?
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely possible to breed racism into dogs: mate of mine out in South America had a Brazilian Fila, they're like a cross between a bull mastiff and a great Dane, and they're on the banned breeds list for the UK. This one was soppy as anything, well trained, and happy for me to play with her small puppies, despite only knowing me for a few hours. All great, except that my friend's black friends couldn't even come in the house, otherwise she'd go mental, nothing to do with the way she was raised (from a puppy, by my friend, trying to get the racism out of her) it was genetic.
ReplyDeleteDeano30,
ReplyDeleteVery near.
Bitterweed,
We actually have a Luton of our own. That's what it is called.
BW - Jacks are brill at rabbiting. Up here they are used with nets. You put the dog down the hole or let it start digging to get into the burrow after all the adjacent holes have been covered by nets.
ReplyDeleteThe rabbits sense the Jack - they bolt. Straight into the entanglement of the nets. You have to be quick - grab by back legs sharp chop behind the neck. And quickly on to the next rabbit before it escapes the net.
If you know what you are doing and are good with dogs you can earn a living with Jack. Rabbit meat anyone.
BB Give us a recipe please?
Dinner for two or three or many more is easy with a Jack. (But one of those eating must be the Jack - short change the Jack and it will remember you.)
Now I really must stop going on about dogs - it gets tedious.
Lets talk about hunting with a stoat?
I do of course jest my dear friend.
Dot - they had something down in SA to attack the local guys.
ReplyDeleteI once had a happy liaison some 40 years ago on a boat on the river by Borstal.
ReplyDeleteHow they say - she was a fine very very fine lady.
Anon,
ReplyDeleteFilthy swine. This is a doggie thread.
I think if PhilHall calls by today you might find a disagreement about that stoaty.
ReplyDeleteFine place for dogging Borstal is.
ReplyDeleteI didn't breed it!
ReplyDeleteHe was just a nasty little bastard, very aggressive, we had to give him to a farm in the end...
Jacks are popular with farmers - lots of rats and lots of rabbits. He may well have been very happy there.
ReplyDeleteI hope so, he could be unbelievably vicious but he was one cute looking dog.
ReplyDeleteI would never get another Jack Russell for a domestic pet, in fact he's put me off getting another dog altogether, which is a great shame as my children would really love one.
Anon thinks it's a dogging thread
ReplyDeleteGentlemen...A dogging thread? Where's the layby? - so I can pass silently by. Not a suitable occupation at my time of life.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the joys of dog ownership, if ever I get the chance again I'd get a Patterdale terrier. Fabulous temperaments, affectionate and loyal, except in the presence of rats and rabbits which they're obssessed with. they are also beautiful.
anything happening on cif today? not had a look yet - you guys are more interesting...might have a wander over.
@ Doohniboor
ReplyDeleteI would never put myself forward as a dog expert but some pointers I've picked up over the years are:
Dogs and children are something potentially very special and it can be so very rewarding and character building for the kids. They learn amongst other things that it is not always a case of "me" first. They learn important things about organisation - a dog has to have water available (always). They have other needs too but golden rule one - where is the water?
But dogs and kids are a potential mine field too. Dogs like to predict human behaviour then they are comfortable - very small children can be unpredictable in movements sudden dashes etc.
Parents golden rule 1 never ever leave a small child (toddler) and a dog alone together. You always need to be there or remove the dog.
The reason for that is that with a dog that is not completely instinct driven ( A Jack is and is thus unsuitable around kids) you can develop the inherent pack mentality provided you are a strong willed person. This is the key to solving all dog people problems.
The key to a happy relationship with any dog is that the dog sees you or your partner as the leader of its pack. The dog must never see itself as leader of the pack - ever if you are to have them with kids.
If you have this relationship (and it is easier to develop in mongrels) when a child does something unexpected the dog will not attack it - instead it will immediately look to the pack leader to see what is to be done. Because you stay calm it stays calm.
With the leader of the pack present a small child can poke some docile dogs in the eye pull its ears and all will be well but if you go out the room and the child does it again it may well be bitten. I would never let child abuse the dog like that but I have seen it done.
So golden rule two get the child to respect the dog and ensure it never sees it as a toy and you are in with a good chance of developing a good relationship.
The aim is always to get the dog to see that the child is more important in the pack hierarchy than he the dog is - do that and dogs and kids have much happiness and much valuable learning together. Lots of dogs want to learn from kids - and kids when they twig how it works can get dogs to things that some adults can't.
Without a doubt if my kids have children and want a dog I will encourage it but I will advise - "you go to dog handling lessons when you get the dog and you take some advice from a dog person before you get a dog". ( Not always a breeder with dogs to sell - poor bet) People down the local dog rescue are good for advice. RSCPCA brill.
Final golden rule - don't have a dog if you are not prepared to think through why it isn't just for Christmas.
I know you didn't need telling that but dog lovers always feel duty bound to say it. Because there is a lot of cruelty (some unintentional) out there.
I hope that one day you and yours get the dog that will fit in with you and make you dog fans for life.
There are lots of other very attractive dogs that are not Jacks that could fit the bill.
I'm still working on BeutifulBurnout with the same end in mind. I hope she too reads the above advice and if she is still thinking of a dog for the lad - (So much more fun than a rat BB)
Deano.
Anon was taking the piss.
ReplyDeleteBut the liaison in Borstal was nice.
ReplyDeleteStoaty ferreted me out quick as a flash up above - but I think I sneaked in another in he missed.
ReplyDeleteHe may have had some gaffer breathing down his neck so I won't claim a * just yet. Although I might just be on for a ** by the end of the day because I think I got away with a beauty. But we shall have to wait and see.
Hunting with a stoat?
ReplyDeleteGaffer? at my time of life?
So many questions so little time.
Didn't think that would survive - A fine nose If I may respectfully say so but could be others.
ReplyDeleteAnon
ReplyDeleteAh yes, I missed your post, so mine looked different to how it was meant... sorry old chap/ess
I like dogs, my cat doesn't. I adore cats I think its their independance that attracts me.
ReplyDeleteEver heard the saying 'Dogs have masters cats have staff'.
Mine is a rehome with hyperthyroidism she is very shy of strangers and is very good at hiding.
But she will come and sit beside me and tap my arm with her paw for a smooth.
She is called Mrs Tiggywinkle (Tiggy for short) a lot of my cats have had Beatrix Potter names. started when daughter was small.
I had one cat who had a wonderful friendship with a guinea pig, who was there first. (important to introduce the herbivore first less chance of it being eaten!). They used to sleep in front of the fire together!
JayReilly said...
ReplyDelete"I have to walk tower bridge every damn day for work, swarms with tourists and nut sellers in the afternoon, and they walk so slowly, so very slowly, then they stop to take pictures. Ban them. Ban tourists everywhere."
Ahhhh! Thank god it's not just me being evil! I try my best to be kind to tourists, but why do they have to walk four abreast blocking the whole pavement at a snail's pace during the rush hour?
Why can't they read bus maps, and have to stop the No 11 every day to ask if it goes to Oxford Circus, and spend 5 minutes discussing it with the polite but secretly exasperated driver, while the bus load of commuters seethes with rage?
Why do they step off a packed underground train then stop dead still, blocking the exit for the gzillions of people that want to get off too?
Why do they stop at the bottom of an escalator to look at their tube maps?
I could go on. In fact I usually do. But I think this is enough of a rant for one evening...
Deano
ReplyDeleteRe dogs vs a rat - we are still pondering the point, because emo child still thinks he wants a rat. But nothing will be done until after the hols as we are off to france in august. I will see what transpires.
I still want a dog though... hubby is allergic to puddy tats so that is out of the question.
Annetan42
ReplyDeleteThe great thing about cats is that they are mad but not stupid.
We have a 14 year old who once had bladder trouble so we got her a litter tray for night time. She wont go anywhere else now and we even have to put it in the garden during the day.
It's why I still have to buy the Graun on Saturday, plenty of stuff to put under the tray during the week.
I'd just like Jay and BB to know that, when I was doing the tourist thing in London, I was always very mindful of NOT doing any of those things. Last thing I wanted was to annoy the locals. On more than one occasion, I found myself on the completely wrong bus going to the completely wrong place because of my reluctance to annoy anyone with stupid questions. Ended up having a lot of fun in the process and some pleasant strolls through some non-touristy areas.
ReplyDeleteThinking back on early days in London -- sometime I'll tell you about the night I spent in King's Cross wearing a mini-skirt and heels and getting strange looks from the coppers.
ReplyDeleteAwww Montana
ReplyDeleteI didn't mean you! In fact, I was just being a grumpy cow in general...
The Kings Cross story sounds like a good laugh though...
BB - If one day you do get a dog remember it takes several months to complete the anti rabies treatment and to get a passport for said dog if you want to take it to France with you.
ReplyDeleteSo thinking ahead to 2010 holidays you've got lots of time to prepare.
Good advice in rural France with a UK dog is don't let it off the lead when you are out walking - no matter what your practice in the UK and no matter how well trained the dog is..
French and Spanish landowners leave strongly poisoned bait all over the place to kill vermin. Several UK dogs a year are made very ill and often die from the practice when they come across what looks to them like a tasty bit of chicken or meat.
Very strong poisons are used. You cant buy them in the UK so we don't have the problem.
Fingers crossed that get the right solution (dog) for your family - dog's homes will almost certainly not only advise you but will also let you take a dog on a trial basis.
If it doesn't work out they will be more than happy to take the dog back and try to re home him/her again. They don't want the dog placed were it would be unhappy or not wanted.
Don't feel guilty about taking a dog back that doesn't quite work out.
Same whether from the dogs home or from a reputable breeder. You will probably be allowed another try at least.
Good news here - Mungo seems to have got through the worst of his midsummer madness and is back to his nutty but more obedient self. He's a great dog really.
Best W.
Kings Cross area after dark used to be a bit questionable - didn't it? Asks non London Deano
ReplyDeleteCats are not the innocents that some think - Not only do they eat hedgehogs as reported last night but before my very eyes I have seen a cat consume a baby rabbit almost it's own size.
It started eating at one ear - and an hour or so later there was nothing and I mean nothing but the intestine and the bob tail left.
Not the best of topics perhaps.
Montana if you did not see my comment to you last night about your recent posting on 'schooling' I repeat here I thought it very good and I agreed with your point of view completely. It really was a point well made.
I've never understood the point of adverts for top-of-the-range LED HD tellies on the telly. I still have a 20 year old square lump of a telly so how the hell can I appreciate what they are trying to show me in their advert?
ReplyDeleteMakes no sense. No sense at all.
I am going to lie awake worrying about that now...
Deano -- thank you. That comment did get a few recommends, for as far down in the thread as it was, so at least someone agrees with us!
ReplyDeleteBB -- they want you to go to the store & check one out!
Deano,
ReplyDeleteI think your cat was merely a scavenger and picked up a road kill. Badgers are the only animals we have here that can kill hedgehogs. Their claws are longer than the spines.
No disrespect to your cat, of course.
I've just fed some cats out the front and when I looked Dave had moved in while the cats, three of 'em had politely backed off.