“ I don’t know anything about landmines or Princess Di, but I do know that you’d be mad to poke either of them.”
Alan Coren on News Quiz a few hours before Diana died (per Simon Hoggart in The Guardian 1st September)
And so… the remembrance service for Diana, Princess of Wales is over and so is August and the ‘silly season’.
Inevitably, the papers have been full of Royalty this week; Camilla withdrawing from the remembrance service, the popularity or otherwise of the Royal family (now below 50% acceptance by the great British public according to a YouGov poll) and Bishops entreating us to let Diana rest in peace.
I have, for many years, been quite baffled about why we have a Royal family at all in the modern era. I can’t quite see what they actually do, apart from patronising charities, launching a few ships and opening monuments and buildings. The men seem to hold implausibly high rank in the armed services and spend their time dressing up in various uniforms of regiments and other services they did not serve in. Was Prince Edward dressed up in uniform for the Falklands anniversary? I thought he bailed out of the Marines? (Anyway, he appears to be a Royal Navy Captain now. )
Fine… pretty harmless as far as it goes, but, inevitably, at some point in the future, we are going to have King Charles III – although he is likely to be King George because Charles is not a Windsor name, but a Stuart name. Thankfully, because of our constitution, the Royals do not actually ‘reign’ over us. We are quite competent to elect our own incompetent leaders and, history has shown, we are pretty good at it. Vive Le Republique?
And there I was, lunchtime at The Bollo: a decent bit of lamb with potato dauphinoise and green beans in a ‘rosemary jus’, which tasted remarkably like lamb gravy, consumed… a glass of Rioja to my right, reading the newspapers. The Guardian did not take long to read and I picked up The Times magazine to flick through.
It is important to note that the picture of the lamb fillet (right) is not the lamb fillet I ate at The Bollo. I have not taken, yet, to photographing my lunches. I reserve the right to do so in the future, of course.
Then… it may have been the ‘rosemary jus’… I had the idea of looking at adverts. “Back to School”… said one advert… “Will you choose the Clever Capsule ™ for your child?” Great architect of the universe, I thought to myself… What are the aspirant classes up to now? This was an advertisement for Eyeq ™ capsules … a naturally sourced Omega-3 & Omega-6 oils capsule targeted at children. The advert continued… ‘Scientifically tested, independently tested, naturally sourced omega-3 and omega-6, no aspartame, no hydrogenated fats, no artificial colours’. (Further information if you are tired of feeding your child junk food and have absolutely no idea yourself how to cook and need pharmaceutical-style products for your children: www.equazen.com.)
I have seen some mutant, obese, children wandering about, high on e-numbers, and asking their parents if they can have an ASBO because some of their friends have got them. Do children really need vitamin or other supplements from the age of 5?
Next advert up: I don’t drink Gin, but if I did, I don’t think I would be encouraged to do so because it is now endorsed and advertised by Gordon Ramsay…. Good grief… whatever next? … “Would you like a f******g G&T” I will now have to ask, after this latest advertising campaign.
The next advert was for a beer: “THIS BEER’S HERITAGE GOES BACK TO 1240”.
The copywriter may well have had a fair bit of it when he / she composed the advert. Who knows? But it is a bizarre advert.
I quote: “Grew up side by side with Europe. It’s hard to imagine everything that has happened in that time. Since 1240, both went through discoveries, invasions, and changes. Hundreds of years and thousands of questions. Was Beethoven really deaf? How were the Templars born? Was Da Vinci a time traveller? Questions which are asked in bars. With friends. At special times. With a beer. Which has lived for more than 750 years.”
Excellent nonsense. I am going to be buying some of this stuff. I am sure it will help me through my hour of need when I am composing posts for the blog. I’m also going to be trying out some of these questions on my drinking companions at The Bollo…. Probably, tonight.
I have just discovered, from Gary, the new general manager at The Bollo, that he is bringing this “Leffe” beer in as a replacement for Hoegarden. I shall report when the beer arrives!
A Facebook protest has forced HSBC to climb down. “Stop the great HSBC rip-off”. Students across the country had been calling for a boycott of HSBC because the bank wanted to end interest free overdrafts to new graduates. “We’re not too big to listen to the needs of customers” said HSBC.
See: Telegraph report
As it happens, I am on Face book: As Charon QC… I am always happy to have new friends, fish for my aquarium, a few flowers for my garden…and questions to read on my wall and sticky notes. Feel free to send me a fish or two. I’m not big enough to reject any fish or happy hour drinks sent over on Facebook!
Mercifully. But perhaps I speak too soon… there are no reports in the press this week about barristers faking judgments or attending weddings, or judges engaging in career threatening activities in court or elsewhere. The divorce rate has, however, gone down and John Bolch, over at Family Lore, has picked up on this. (Food parcel with cigarettes on the way, John)
Geoffrey Vos QC, Chairman of the Bar has been busy over the summer, attending to Bar Council business. Barrister blog continues weekly reports on news and blogs.
Nick Holmes over at Binary law states: “I feel no inclination to network on Facebook. Loads of business and professional people are supposedly doing so now. But what job will it get done better for me”
Geeklawyer remembers what he was doing the day Princess Diana died. For some strange reason I am not able to recall what I was doing. Lo-fi continues with her prolific output of useful research content and internet tools. Reactionary Snob, an Edinburgh Advocate, has returned to what he is really good at… ‘visceral fisking’ and has a go at Polly Toynbee – which I enjoyed.
And, hopefully, other bloggers, students, practitioners and academics, when they return from their vacations / slacking…. will return to blogging….
I am now going to meditate…. and plan my next post, this evening or on the morrow.
I was rather tickled by the cartoon showing Diana mugs to be churned out every ten years in memory of her. And, then to see Lord Al-Fayed of Harrods for a fleeting second at his private memorial to Dodi. This got Zinzin posting What about Dodi? I suspect more than a bit tongue in cheek. You know how these things get carried away with the emotion, Dodi is now remembered with his own saying, Facebook entry and the Dodi Al-Fayed Prayer…
Link
Looking forward to the food parcel. Most grateful. Don’t suppose you could slip in a bottle of that beer?
Re the Gin ads which would put me off Gordons if I were not off it already. I consider myself something of a Gin fundi, and Gordon’s is watered down cr*p (as my Grandmother said “useless in cocktails, too weak”. Tanqueray is excellent, Miller’s is very pleasant as is Bombay Sapphire. In South Africa I drink Beefeater because it is the export version which is superior to what they sell in the UK . If however you are strapped for cash, and don’t give a fig about branding Tesco’s own top-of-the-range is very good indeed. And the tonic water made by FeverTree is the business but it is an expensive indulgence so I usually stick with Schh you know who.
And I havn’t had malaria for 30 years which is an added bonus.