Hogwarts at sunset?
I could have told her myself that the Nice Lady Decorator had an iron deficiency. You should see the creases in my clothes. That should get me the first slap of the day.
A gruelling day yesterday, up and down the motorway and around the biggest car park in the world, the M25, represented a very busy day for me. However business was done, another soon to be successful music enterprise was launched and I even think I may have a couple of new customers for Currencies Direct.
On the return to Arundel at dusk I was struck by just how Spooky Arundel Castle looked just after sunset so I took this photo.
Arundel Castle, aka Hogwarts at sunset in winter
The spat goes on with the Reverend Jeff, aided and abetted by contributor Howzatt who concludes, wrongly, that the Reverend had held his own. In fact that is exactly how I remember him, so at least this time he is not holding anyone else’s, but I digress. As cricketers the world over will be aware, the exclamation “how’s that” is an appeal to the umpire for a batsman to be given out. Cricketers the world over also know that DRS (Direct Referral System – effectively a review of the umpire’s decision when a mistaken decision is suspected) was introduced into international cricket because of the number of poor decisions made by umpires. I am afraid that the analogy holds true for Howzaat’s interpretation of the war of words. Perhaps he is also an avid reader of the Daily Mail?
Another teetotal day yesterday, the second of an unprecedented planned 3 in succession, a feat not managed for some years, was successfully negotiated, so just one more day to go and then, in celebration of this will power, we shall head into Arundel on Thursday night with old pal John Otway, with whom I expect to down a few pints whilst we plan his guerilla warfare for and on the Cannes Film Festival in May. Of course, it may not come to that but just in case Otway The Movie is not selected for the festival and market itself, we have to have contingency plans in place. So what better way to discuss this than during a pub crawl in the village.
I love it when I am funny (which is a trait sadly lacking in Benny Hill and the Carry On team). Sprog 1 has a wreck if a car which, before the rust and mud took over was called a Citroen Saxo Mischief. As a result he has named the car Mischief and recently the driver’s door became jammed so the only way has to get into it is via the passenger door. I suggested that this might be construed as a good thing. When he asked why I told him it was now going to be more difficult for him to get into mischief. He did not laugh. Maybe he is a Benny Hill fan.
Last night then was spent in front if the TV enjoying some episodes of Mrs Brown’s Boys and Miranda and thoroughly enjoyable they were too. Tonight looks like being a re-run as the temperance bites deeply into my soul but with my fast reducing waistline and newly toned muscles rippling beneath my shirt (at least I think it was they that were rippling) the training for the skiing trip is going well. Of course once the fitness part is taken care of, the training for the drinking and eating will need to be attended to and I am looking forward to that part of the training a great deal more.
Chris France
@Valbonne_News
Chris France's Blog 
Is that it ?!! Why do you keep bringing up ‘Carry On’ ? As far as I know Benny Hill was never in any of the fairly dubious ‘Carry On’ movies. Are you sure you are not thinking of the wrong person here ? Are you by chance mixing up Benny Hill and Benny( now he was a chump) from ‘Crossroads’? After all you did have the two names coupled together in your mind in the original blog. I can even remember you doing Fred Scuttle impersonations in our long gone youth !! Anyway you need only close your eyes to imagine the ever broadening smug look spreading across my handsome visage and the arms rising ever higher in gleeful triumph !! It’s been fun !!
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Steady the Buffs, Chris – or perhaps that should be ‘rebuffs’ !
I’m sorry, but I have to take a certain exception to your rather snide insinuations, (a) about the newspaper I may or may not read and (b) about cricket umpiring !
I’ll deal with the latter first : you’re nearly right, DRS (which stands for Decision Review System) was indeed introduced into first class cricket, which point enfeebles your analogy as being quite irrelevant to your village-level match ! Though your guess is quite correct that I am indeed a qualified cricket umpire, I am bound further to say that I could not and would not umpire any contest so totally and utterly subjective as your astonishing spat of a couple of days ago ! I entered the fray merely to offer my complete agreement with everything that the Reverend Jeff had said. But the mere fact of our agreement doesn’t make our opinions any more correct, nor your opinion any more wrong. Your tastes are your tastes, Chris, suspect though your judgment may have since proven to be !
Turning to newspapers, I suppose your special interest in what paper people read lies in your belief that it says a lot about their political, their intellectual and possibly even their class values. Personally, I don’t of necessity subscribe to this, although I grant you it can and may indicate something, but only when carefully related to and corroborated by other far more objective notions in evidence about them.
However, I should say that the depths of depravity to which British journalism has sunk in the last couple of decades, has given me cause actively to shun all British newspapers for more than the past fifteen years now.
I wonder what you feel that says about me…
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Always like the dandy myself…
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