August 2009 – Page 2 – For the fainthearted . . .

Feeling sorry for bullies

There was a scene in the supermarket – a man in his 60s accompanied by his son in his 30s had been checking out a trolley filled with shopping. Their polo shirts and shorts suggested they were holiday makers, as did the packs of barbecue meat they were buying. The older man had a pugnacious manner and spoke aggressively to the check out operator. The French was rapid and hard to follow. He repeated his words and placed a lettuce from his trolley back on the check out belt. The …

Searching for the perfect latrine

The weekend edition of the “Financial Times” cost €3.30 at the campsite shop. The usual Saturday features appear in the international version, including Tyler Brulé’s column “The Fast Lane”. The weekly celebration of extravagant and self-indulgent living this week focuses upon searching for the perfect hotel in Manhattan. Brulé’s ten criteria for the perfect hotel include the gym being on the roof instead of the basement and there being a coffee barista in the lobby. There must be a significant number of people for whom such matters are important, or …

East Coast Thoughts

Five posts from this blog were recycled to provide five ‘thoughts for the day’ for the Sundays during August for East Coast Radio – this is the fourth.

Troublesome things have no place in children’s thoughts; if stories have to be retold in a way that makes them happy, then that is no problem for a young imagination. I was in my thirties before I remembered that there is nothing that cannot be re-imagined in a different way.

Reading Hans Christian Andersen stories when my son was three, I remembered …

Rules of history

If someone from Bordeaux is a Bordelais, and someone from Cognac is a Cognacais and someone from Lyon is a Lyonnais, and someone from Marseilles is a Marseillais, then why is someone from Nice a Nicois, and someone from Paris a Parisien? Maybe there is a rule about these things, though if there is, it’s hard to fathom. If someone from Manchester is a Mancunian, then is someone from Chester a Cunian? If not, why not? Rules seem to be made by people who make them, without regard for consistency.…

The Common Market embraces William Webb Ellis

Item: A trip to San Sebastian to visit the city and attend a rugby match

Stock take:

Spanish vocabulary: Three phrases, “Buenos tardes”, “Dos cervezas, por favor”, “Gracias”

Basque vocabulary: Zero

Tickets: Three for for the upper east stand at the Stade Anoeta (capacity 32,000 and home of Spanish soccer club Real Sociedad)

Preparation: Being able to hum La Pena Baiona, anthem of Aviron Bayonnais rugby club

Special equipment: two rugby jerseys, one in the pale blue and white of Bayonne with club crest and the sponsor’s name, Afflelou, across …

Avoiding the books

There was a bad joke that did the rounds soon after his election about George W. Bush going to a library. “I’ll have a big mac and a large fries,” he says.

“Mr President”, says the librarian, aghast, “this is a library”.

“I’m very sorry,” he says. Then he whispers, “I’ll have a big mac and large fries”.

The joke always seemed to say more about what people thought of libraries than it did about the incumbent of the White House. Libraries were stern and forbidding places.

The library at …