Category Archives: Uncategorized

Free The Nipple

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I just read an article by Clementine Ford headed ‘Why are so many men outraged by a Free The Nipple picnic?’  Two young women – Zoe Buckley Lennox and Amanda Haworth – organised a topless  picnic in a Brisbane Park, invited other women via Facebook, and got  big crowd.

The purpose was to promote the idea that women’s bodies exist for more than the sexual gratification of men, and the owners of nipples should be free to display them if they choose to, irrespective of gender. In the voice-over to a video clip (from which the picture below is a still) Jan Bowman points out that girls as young as 6 are told to cover their nipples, even though there is no visible difference between them and a 6-year-old boy’s nipples.  Thus little girls grow up believing that there is something indecent about their bodies.

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Apparently a lot of men were outraged, expressing ‘sexist aggression’ and ‘rampant misogyny’. I don’t understand this.  I don’t know any man who would vote against women exposing as much of their bodies as they wish to.

Please tell me… If you’re a man, do you object to seeing women’s nipples, or any other body parts that are generally covered for the sake of modesty?  If you’re a woman, do you want to have the freedom to expose more of your body than existing social norms allow?

Being 70

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Three days ago, at about 0400 GMT, I reached the biblically significant age of 70. I went to the post office to collect the last few days of incoming mail and found, in addition to a card from an old student chum, a letter from the State Government of South Australia.  I tore it open excitedly, expecting it to be a request to help with re-strategising the state economy following the end of the mining investment boom.  But it was my Seniors Card and a booklet telling me about the discounts I could get with it.

Oh well, what’s next? Aha!  A letter from the Commonwealth Government of Australia.  I can guess what that’s about.  Prince Philip has sent back his knighthood – would I like it?  I tore that open even more excitedly, to find an invitation to take part in the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program.

Vacancies at the Midland Bank

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The other day I came across this advertisement in a British newspaper, dated 1960.

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I think it’s an interesting capsule of social history. Single ladies could apply for permanent employment, with pension rights and the promise of a gratuity on marriage.  Married ladies were restricted to temporary employment, but at the same rates of pay.

You may, like me, be intrigued by the bank’s address. Poultry is still a road in the commercial heart of London.  It runs for 100 metres between Cheapside and Cornhill, immediately to the south-west of the Bank of England and close to Grocers’ Hall Court, Old Jewry and Ironmonger Lane.  It was where chickens were sold 500 years ago.

I love places that retain their history in their names – and in their monuments (see my earlier post ‘Cecil Rhodes and Other Reminders’). There was a call to change the name of Liverpool’s Penny Lane, made famous by The Beatles, because it was named after the slave-trader James Penny.  I’m glad to say that the good Councillors decided against a change.

Christmas Wrapping

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We all remember fondly the rituals of Christmas in our youth. I remember one such ritual with especial fondness.  High in a cupboard in the entrance hall was a wide, flat cardboard box in which a suit had been delivered to my father.  The tailor’s name – Hector Powe, – was on the box’s lid.  Inside was the household collection of Christmas wrapping paper.

I had my favourite sheets, as I suppose did the other members of the family. They were like old friends and I took great care not to damage them with sticky tape or excessive creasing.  They were never cut, of course, so the sizes of gifts and wrappings had to be carefully matched.  I don’t remember new wrapping paper ever being bought.

The tailor’s box and its contents have gone – a casualty of my mother’s downsizing to a flat. But in the bottom drawer of a filing cabinet I keep a smaller box with a wide enough assortment of wrappings for my present needs.  Every year some sheets are lost from the collection, to be replaced by new ones from which I have meticulously peeled as such of the sticky tape as I can.  Small blemishes are covered up by ‘From/To’ cards, stick-on reindeer and the like.

My Christmasses would not be quite the same without this.

Spectre

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Mrs SG and I have seen all the Bond films, and we really think ‘Spectre‘ may be the worst.  The song is certainly the worst – an instantly forgettable tune and unintelligible lyrics.  I couldn’t even make out the recurring line ‘The writing’s on the wall‘ until I saw the title on the screen.

I am not only disappointed, I am indignant and resentful.  James Bond is no longer private property, he is part of the global cultural heritage.  Therefore every film must conform to a certain template.  The makers of ‘Spectre’ have misunderstood this requirement.  They have simply mined the archives for a dozen old Bond film clichés and hung them on the flimsiest of plots, like damp sheets on a clothes line.

And in doing this they have managed to brush away almost all the self-mocking humour that we have known and loved for 50 years.  I say ‘almost all’ because there’s a nice bit in the inevitable overlong car chase where he tries to shoot the Maserati behind and finds that the gun’s not loaded.  Even the sex lacks the true Bond’s playfulness with sadistic undertones.

I say this having been telling people for years that Daniel Craig is the best Bond ever.  I don’t know whether to blame the script, the direction, the casting, over-anxious box-ticking, or Daniel’s Craig’s falling out of love with the part.  Something’s not right and I really, really hope it gets fixed before the next one.

WD-40

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I don’t know the source. The following text was emailed to me by a fellow Hash House Harrier, probably after wandering the internet like a lost soul in the Hampton Court maze.  The idiom and spelling are American but this product, WD-40, is sold globally so I think this will be helpful to many.

The product began from a search for a rust preventative solvent and degreaser to protect missile parts.  WD-40 was created in 1953 by three technicians at the San Diego Rocket Chemical Company.  Its name comes from the project that was to find a ‘water displacement’ compound.  They were successful with the fortieth formulation, thus WD-40.

The Convair Company bought it in bulk to protect their Atlas missile parts. Ken East (one of the original founders) says there is nothing in WD-40 that would hurt you.  Here’s a list of 43 other known uses:
01.  Protects silver from tarnishing.
02.  Removes road tar and grime from cars.
03.  Cleans and lubricates guitar strings.
04.  Gives floors that ‘just-waxed’ sheen without making them slippery.
05.  Keeps flies off cows.
06.  Restores and cleans chalkboards.
07.  Removes lipstick stains.
08.  Loosens stubborn zippers.
09.  Untangles jewelry chains.
10.  Removes stains from stainless steel sinks.
11.  Removes dirt and grime from the barbecue grill.
12.  Keeps ceramic/terra cotta garden pots from oxidizing.
13.  Removes tomato stains from clothing.
14.  Keeps glass shower doors free of water spots.
15.  Camouflages scratches in ceramic and marble floors.
16.  Keeps scissors working smoothly.
17.  Lubricates noisy door hinges on vehicles and doors in homes.
18.  It removes black scuff marks from the kitchen floor!  Use WD-40 for those  nasty tar and scuff marks on flooring.  It doesn’t seem to harm  the finish and you won’t have to scrub nearly as hard to get them off.   Just remember to open some windows if you have a lot of marks.
19.  Bug guts will eat away the finish on your car if not removed quickly!  Use WD-40!
20.  Gives a children’s playground gym slide a shine for a super fast slide.
21.  Lubricates gear shift and mower deck lever for ease of handling on riding mowers.
22.  Rids kids rocking chairs and swings of squeaky noises.
23.  Lubricates tracks in sticking home windows and makes them easier to open.
24.  Spraying an umbrella stem makes it easier to open and close.
25.  Restores and cleans padded leather dashboards in vehicles, as well as vinyl bumpers.
26.  Restores and cleans roof racks on vehicles.
27.  Lubricates and stops squeaks in electric fans.
28.  Lubricates wheel sprockets on tricycles, wagons, and bicycles for easy handling.
29.  Lubricates fan belts on washers and dryers and keeps them running  smoothly.
30.  Keeps rust from forming on saws and saw blades, and other tools.
31.  Removes splattered grease on stove.
32.  Keeps bathroom mirror from  fogging.
33.  Lubricates prosthetic limbs.
34.  Keeps pigeons off the balcony (they hate the smell).
35.  Removes all traces of duct  tape.
36.  Folks even spray it on their arms, hands, and knees to relieve arthritis pain.
37.  Cleans and removes love bugs from grills and bumpers, in Florida.
38.  The favorite use in the state of New York, WD-40 protects the Statue of Liberty from the elements.
39.  WD-40 attracts fish.  Spray a little on live bait or lures and you will be  catching the big one in no time.  Also, it’s a lot cheaper than the chemical attractants that are made for just that purpose.  Keep in mind though, using  some chemical laced baits or lures for fishing are not allowed in some states.
40.  Use it for fire ant bites.  It takes the sting away immediately and stops the itch.
41.  WD-40 is great for removing crayon from walls.  Spray on the mark and wipe with a clean rag.
42.  Also, if you’ve discovered that your teenage daughter has washed and dried a tube of lipstick with a load of laundry, saturate the lipstick spots with WD-40 and rewash.  Presto!  The lipstick is gone!
43.  If you sprayed WD-40 on the distributor cap, it would displace the  moisture and allow the car to start.

P.S. The basic ingredient is FISH OIL.

Homework

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Do you ever hear or read a news item, then glance at the calendar to see if it’s April Fool’s Day? That happened to me when Prince Philip’s Australian knighthood was announced.

It happened again recently when I heard about a school policy to continue setting homework but let the pupils decide whether or not to do it. After checking the calendar I decided to share the information with my readers, embellishing the news with words like ‘insane’, ‘lunacy’ and ‘mind-boggling stupidity’.  Then I thought I should do some Googling and look for arguments pro and con.  I found a site called debate.org where stakeholders – mainly schoolchildren I think – have recorded their views.  Click here to read them.

My view remains unchanged. The children who do their homework will do better in their studies and have better life outcomes.  In general they will also be the children who have well educated parents, disciplined home environments, and the advantage of living in communities where aspirations and expectations are high.  In other words, existing social differences will be reinforced and magnified.

Looking into my own heart, I know very well that I would not have got very far academically if Mr T J P Yorke, the Headmaster of my school in Crosby, had adopted this insane questionable policy.

Self-Flagellation

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I feel terribly guilty. I am hanging my head in shame and exposing myself to public humiliation.  It’s almost a year since I set up this blog and I haven’t posted anything for 5 months.

So I hereby vow that I will post at least weekly for the rest of my life, or at least while I still remember that I have a blog site.

Capital Punishment for Drug Traffickers

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People engaged in drug trafficking take risks, which include the risk of being caught in a country whose laws provide for the death penalty for what they do.  The bad guys weigh this huge risk against the huge profits they make when they don’t get caught.

Two Australian citizens have been convicted of drug trafficking and are now on Death Row in Indonesia.  The Australian Government, which is strongly opposed to the capital punishment on principle, understandably appealed to the Indonesian Government to spare their lives.  The Indonesians, equally understandably, said, “No. Sorry. This is our country, our law and our decision.”

A friendly, respectful neighbour would have accepted that answer.  One can express disagreement – dismay even – but in the end one should accept that different countries have different laws and different ways of punishing the people who break them.  Indonesians may disagree with some of Australia’s laws and practices, but they are polite enough and smart enough to keep silent.

As well as making a bonfire of its political capital and alienating its most important neighbour, the Australian Government – backed up by Sir Richard Branson and a host of other celebrities – has make me extremely stroppy.