Don’t you just hate it when somebody pedantic wants to fuss up on the difference between ale and beer? Technically, they are correct in the sense that ale does not have alcohol-free versions. I do not give an arse on the fine minutiae between the words. I just hate nonalcoholic beer. So there!

So, talking of the golden substance known as craft ale, my local pub now has Leffe Blonde on tap. This is a richly delicious 6.6 % ABV craft ale that I suppose is more of a lager than a beer. The difference is in the fermentation process. At least, it gives the punter a further choice.

Last night I watched all my current quiz shows on the telly; Only Connect, Univesity Challenge, and Mastermind plus Counterpoint on the radio. I find it's a great way to stimulate the old brain cells. I then read a while before falling asleep. I was already in bed by then.

I was expecting the weather to be more mercurial according to the forecast, but it stayed quite pleasant on the whole. Go figure.

So, all I did was stayed at home doing some online mystery shops and walking down to the local convenience store and back.

Still, at least I managed to get some other reading done, book-wise that is.

Just hope Saturday is as lovely.

Well, so far the weekend has been a damp squib. Rained in the morning and a musty misty dank afternoon.
Most of the day has been spent either listening to BBC Radio 3, playing some CDs and reading books and articles and any combination of them. I did watch a strange Scandinavian film called "Venus" via Prime as well.

Beyond that, I have been going methodically through old classic Doctor Who series via Britbix. I have done all the available ones right up to the Peter Davidson incarnation. The one which they had to use some animation due to a TV employee strike was Shada written by the one and only Douglas Adams of Hitchhikers fame. It meant that only some of the recorded broadcast was available and due to the strike the rest of the filming got scrapped. However, the script was intact so they used some animation to fill in the gaps.

This video explains it all -



Douglas Adams' legendary half-finished Doctor Who adventure, Shada was never completed but what actually happened? Ahead of the abandoned classic being brought to life as a brand-new animation, we explain why Shada was never originally completed.

So I watched this version on Britbox and it turned out to be very good with all that Adams wit brought to Hitchhikers Guide.

Lunch was chilli beef with pilau rice. Washed down with a Guinness porter.

There seems to be a pattern to the weather of late in which we have variable mornings with more settled afternoons. Today was no exception and this I did a smidgen of sunbathing during the afternoon. There was a couple of magpies in the garden which I hope might be a good sign in improving finances. Well, we can hope.

I was finding a problem with a sticky key on my laptop. I used a dust blower and a fine brush and resolved the problem. It made me think of all the buttons that we press in our daily lives. Of course there is a niche literature on the pleasure, panic and the politics of pushing buttons. The touch of a finger can summon a taxi, turn on a TV, call for an elevator or 'like' a Facebook post - yes that dreaded like button! But are buttons simply neutral and natural mechanisms which ease our daily lives? Or in an Orwellian sense, who controls the button and who is the controlee?
This touchy subject was discussed in today's Thinking Allowed on BBC Radio 4 in which the buttonization of culture is deconstructed.

If you want to find out more then I recommend Rachel Plotnic's "Power Button - A History of Pleasure, Panic, and The Politics of Pushing" (MIT Press, 2018)



Now what have I done with that hi-fi remote control?

Did not wake till 9.30 this morning. Had another overnight binge watch. Up to Spooks season nine now.

First thing I did was to have my shower and then go online at FB to wish my sister-in-law a happy birthday. She is 68 today and married to the axeman and his guitars coming42. I suppose it is strange having birthdays during this lockdown.

This morning is much brighter than yesterday and hence could well be warmer by the afternoon. I guess I will out in the sun when it feels warm enough to do so. For now I am catching up with some reading.

Ugh! What a miserable rain-soaked day. Apart from going out in it to get some provisions and posting off something, I am definitely staying at home today. And so it has been. I have listened to the Michael Torke CD again and followed by Astor Piazzolla's last live album, "Luna".



So, I hope tomorrow will be a dryer day.
Meanwhile,a day of music and reading.

Lovely sunny Monday so far.
74 degrees F or roughly 23 C but the forecast is for rain tomorrow.
Possible thunderstorms for the next few days too.
A day off, so making the most of the sunbathing in the garden here at Waterstone Place.
Reading a book as well which I hope to finish soon.

Well, it looks like I have managed to get today off as I have just moved around some visits. I am still doing the round robin train journey tomorrow, but all the other work-related visits are now moved to the Thursday, Friday, and Monday.

So, what shall I do today? Read of course, and pop into town to get some food items and perhaps sell a few books down at Past Sentence.

A room without books is like________.

Cicero said it was like a body without a soul. I say, A room without books is like a sail without wind, a cat without a purr, sun without heat and a cup without coffee.


Now it's your turn - how would you finish that statement?

I did some sunbathing in the afternoon finshing off another book. Had cheese on toast for dinner, as i am a littel skint at the moment till next pay day on the 10th. All my visits have been moved to the 10th onwards.

That is why i have managed to read so much recently.So in fact,i have now read 54 books this year.

In fact ,one of my FB friends whom i play Words and Quiz against reads four books a week! Jennifer Preston is a lawyer in Aussie, aged 61,and i still beat her on the Quiz.

Right now,i am listening to the slow core groove of Low.