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The Cull of 57

I have 57 blog posts in draft form. Many of them months old. The earliest was "Jazz stuff" in July 2020. Just a title. I'm good at titles; less so on sustainable content.

Time to start a cull. "Jazz stuff" has run its course. Gone. 56 to go.

"Another brick in the Wall" - shortly after "Jazz stuff". Again a title only. Gone. Heaven knows what I had in mind.

"Useful names" - some content about a footballer's children's names. August 2020. Gone.

"Confusing names" - about a female character called Michael in a Star Trek episode. No longer culturally acceptable. Don't tell on me. Gone.

"Riffs" - most of my posts are riffs, so no longer necessary. Gone.

"Excuse me? - maybe about some modern language idioms. Gone.

"Heroes and cheats" - about footballers such as Terry Butcher (hero) and as yet unnamed cheats (maybe most footballers). Would lose half my audience. Gone.

Finally - for the moment - two which I plan to revisit:

"A new pope, two popes and odd popes" - about two excellent TV series.

"Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch" - the miniature railway; contains a nice picture.

50 left. More in due course. I'm currently busy reading Dickens, Dickens (Claire Tomalin) and Dickens (Thomas Keneally).

Platform 9

It has been claimed that Boudica is buried beneath platform 9 of King's Cross Station. Some say 8, others 10, JK Rowling probably 9¾. According to londonist.com "This idea began with John Bagford and a dead elephant. The elephant was discovered near a flint axe head in a gravel pit at the top of Gray’s Inn Road. In 1715, Bagford published a suggestion that the elephant has been brought over by the Romans, and that the flint was a spearhead of a British warrior who fought them." Whatever.

Anyway, I was introduced to Boudica - Boadicea as we knew her then - as a child hooked on I-Spy books. I guess they are called i-spy now. Away on our summer holidays? Get out I-Spy At The Seaside. A day at the zoo? I-Spy At The Zoo: Birds And Reptiles. Outside our house? I-Spy In The Street.

A trip to the smoke? I-Spy The Sights Of London. And there on the Embankment (and on page 15) is the glorious statue of Boudica/Boadicea and her daughters.

In the first century AD, Boudica led an uprising against the Romans. She was the queen of the Iceni, a Brittonic tribe from East Anglia (the trains from Cambridge come into King's Cross on platform 10 BTW) and they joined with the Celtic Britons and others to attempt to throw off the yoke of the invaders. According to Mr Wiki:

An estimated 70,000–80,000 Romans and Britons were killed in the three cities by those following Boudica, many by torture. Suetonius, meanwhile, regrouped his forces, possibly in the West Midlands; despite being heavily outnumbered, he decisively defeated the Britons. The crisis caused Nero to consider withdrawing all Roman forces from Britain, but Suetonius's victory over Boudica confirmed Roman control of the province. Boudica then either killed herself to avoid capture (according to Tacitus) or died of illness (according to Cassius Dio).

Don't mention the torture, or that statue may not have long ..............

The Lights are On

You'll remember the collapse of my electricity supplier, Utility Point. I am supposedly in the semi-automated process of transferring back to the regulator-selected supplier of last resort, EDF. Which possibly stands for Electricitique de la France, it being French-owned. After an initial flurry of emails from the two companies, silence. Or, as we say in France

I have no idea who is receiving my monthly direct debit and no idea, at the moment, where my electricity comes from. I have ceased to care, as long as The Lights Are On.

According to the BBC "Two more firms collapsed on Wednesday, but EDF's Philippe Commaret said it was already working on moving customers from failed company Utility Point." Yep that's me, we got in first. "Mr Commaret said the issue of whether Ofgem can force larger energy firms to step into that role is 'the big question at the moment across the industry'".

Why does life have to be so complicated? If you were starting a country from scratch (which I frequently do in computer games), you'd set up an electricity company to supply the needs of all your citizens and businesses. A company for gas. One for water. And so on. These utilities are too important to be subject to 'the market'. I understand the theory that promoting competition is the best way to keep prices low for consumers but not if it's at the expense of supply interruptions.

Get this, according to weownit.org.uk:

1. Scotland

Scottish Water was never privatised, it’s publicly owned and is the most trusted utility in the UK, delivering cleaner rivers, lower bills and more investment per head.

2. Ireland

Mail, rail, buses and water are all publicly owned in the republic of Ireland.

3. Switzerland

The railway in Switzerland is publicly owned - and it’s been named the best train company in Europe. 

4. Denmark

Denmark has the highest proportion of wind power in the world. Its transmission grid (like our National Grid) is fully publicly owned and most wind farms are cooperatively or community owned. 

5. The Netherlands

In the Netherlands, water, electricity and gas networks are all publicly owned - and it's illegal to privatise any of them.

6. Slovakia

Slovakia’s publicly owned railway provides free rail transport for children, students and pensioners.😇

7. Germany

The city of Munich in Germany is developing 100% municipal and 100% renewable energy by 2025 - they got tired of waiting for the private providers so they’re doing it directly.

In Germany too, 88% of all trips on local public transport (bus, tram and local trains) are provided by publicly-owned operators.

8. Greece

The Greek government is installing free wifi in 3000 public spaces including public squares, pedestrian zones, playgrounds, municipal libraries and museums.

9. France

The post office in France (La Poste) is publicly owned. Its services include banking, insurance, driving tests, fresh food delivery and home visits for older people.

10... and France again!

Water is also publicly owned in hundreds of French cities! One of these is Paris, where L’Eau de Paris (the publicly owned company) has cut bills and introduced still and sparkling water fountains throughout the city.

Now there's a thing; I'll be asking my local councillor for sparkling water fountains in St Austell.

And while we're on it, why do we give our utility supply to foreign owners? Especially the perfidious French. Get this:

• Malaysian company YTL Corporation Berhad owns all of Wessex Water
• Cheung Kong Group, a multinational registered in the Cayman Islands run by family of Li Ka Shing (Hong Kong’s richest person) owns 80% of Northumbrian Water
• Between Germany’s Deutsche Asset Management and US private equity company Corsair Capital, they own half of Yorkshire Water
• MTR, a Hong Kong company, holds a 30 per cent stake in South Western Railway, and has been awarded the London Crossrail franchise.

Since you ask, my French electricity is still on. And someone is taking my money.

The Exploding Chocolate Brownie

It's a while since I wrote a blog post. Although only six days. Now that I have returned to pre-lockdown life (it honestly took me a while to remember my routine) I am enjoying aspects of Cornish life such as outdoor cafés. While it's still dry and sunny, which I guess won't be for much longer.

I've mentioned before the new Covent Garden of the South West, aka Charlestown Harbour. I've introduced you to the coffee stall of No. 1 Cubs and now I have discovered their pièce de résistance, the exploding chocolate brownie. I have no idea why 'exploding' but I can tell you it is

The. Most. Delicious. Chocolate. Brownie. Ever.

So a daily visit to the stall is (a) the reason for having little blogging time and (b) very bad for my waistline. But hey, life's short. Probably shorter the more exploding brownies you eat. 

Words of the Week

monopolylogues - a word used by comedian Charles Matthews in 1828 to describe his one-man shows in which he played multiple parts. According to Claire Tomalin, the young Charles Dickens saw his performances at Drury Lane.

blamestorming - whose fault is it? Think the (actually any) Opposition.

sassigassity -  made up word by Dickens meaning 'audacity with attitude'. Think Angela Raynor.

carcolepsy - the tendency to fall asleep as soon as the car starts moving. Not in the vocabulary of young children.

destinesia - you get to where you intended to go but forgot why you went there. Think Boris Johnson.

screwgled - can't remember what you wanted to Google? Think the LibDems.

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.” [Through the Looking Glass]