TAKE A GAMBLE ON THE GAY BALLS

Sunday in the highlands of Scotland, and it is not too cold.   Yesterday was so cold and yet beautiful to look out on as all grass and trees were covered in thick white frost.   In the post came a postcard from striver-granddaughter, Laura, who at this time during her back-packing year is working on a farm, a few hundred miles north of Sydney.   She works in above 100 degrees Fahrenheit conditions picking fruit and such like work.   Anyhow it was how this New Year greeting was addressed.   To Margaret and Gerald.   Our second name was almost too small to be on the postcard.   But then she has called our house “The Gambles”.    It made me laugh.   Take a gamble and visit “The Gambles”.   It does say “The Gables” on the front wall.   However perhaps the sun has affected her memory - and we loved her communication just the same.   If you read this Laura, you are a star, and we will love seeing you and Lauren in June.   Keep on Keeping on!

Not that this was the first time we have had a strange version of our house name.   Some typist once sent us a brown envelope with information enclosed, and she had addressed the package to “The Gay Balls”.   Images of ladies in ball gowns sweeping round a ballroom in the arms of handsomely–dressed men occurred to me.   Or if you like you could think of the new connotation of ‘gay’, the mind boggles.   I suppose it must have been down to my pronunciation of the ‘gables’ over the ‘phone’ that was at fault.   Oh well! I think everything is my fault anyway.   It’s due to my strict education I tell myself.

But I don’t think I am at fault for any of the following:

a)     The coalition government in the United Kingdom are introducing a form of poll tax    in April this year.   This will inform poorer people who do not pay local council tax due to their circumstances that they will now have to pay something, perhaps 20%.   And it seems that it is almost certain that they won’t be able to pay this.   Even unemployed people will have to pay when they have never paid before, even though they can hardly make ends meet.   I got this story from George Eaton’s column in the New Statesman.  I quote here from the article in this week’s magazine “The parallels with the greatest policy misjudgement by any modern Conservative government are so striking that one is inclined to conclude that the coalition has a death wish,”   He goes on to say that “this regressive levy is likely to be met with mass non-payment.”

b)     It seems that Silvio Berlosconi is trying to regain power in Italy by promising a relaxation of austerity.   Let’s hope that the Italians don’t give in to his wild behaviour, in spite of their financial distress.

c)     I read that the architect Kenneth Powell referred to the Shard as a 'behemoth'.  The Shard is the new tall building - the tallest in Europe - on the south bank of the Thames by London Bridge designed by Renzo Piano. It opens on the 1st of February and you can see round on the 68^th, 69^th and 72^nd floors - but beware, it's expensive.  'Behemoth’ is a puzzling word.  A medieval word meaning “a great monster”.   The building has its critics as it just seemed to appear among 19^th century streets.

d)     A quote from “The Observer” magazine today talking about the attempt of scientists in Eindhoven University in Holland to make artificial steaks and hamburgers.   There’s energy behind the projects because of the certainty that 9 billion human beings cannot possibly go on eating food (at the present rate), especially meat produced in the traditional way.   The planet can’t take it.”   It’s is a good interesting article, if a bit scary.

Last of all a joke:   A woman journalist heard a story about this Jewish man who has been going to the Wailing Wall in Jersualem for forty years.   Each day he prayed for an hour.   He never failed to turn up to pray.   The journalist decided to get the story and arrived one day to visit this religious man.   “Who do you pray for each day?” she asked.   The old man replied, “I pray for my wife, for my family, and for my health.   Also I pray the Christians, the Jews, and the Moslems will agree with one another and find peace together.”   Said the journalist:   “How do you feel about doing this for so long?”   He replied, “I feel as if I am talking to a wall.”