at the parallel .
Vaya Con Dios , (c) BMG Ariola Belgium .

I went to Norwich today . Felt tired all the time and did'nt enjoy being there at all . I saw 'ex-partner' Julie in a shop .  Walked past and did'nt look at her properly , though I could see that , not surprisingly , she's not lost any weight , and , before anyone thinks I'm a body-shape fascist , promoting anorexia :
Not at all . J developed first high blood pressure then diabetes due to her overweightness . If I'd been in an especially good mood I  might have said hello to her . She did notice me . After all that happened I do think it's probably best that I did'nt approach her .
For several days I've been taking a homeopathic remedy that , unsolicited by me was made up for me . I do'nt really believe in it but , it's  possible that I may have generally been feeling significantly more posotive whilst taking the drops .
I sometimes wonder if I could just possibly be afflicted to some degree by  some undiagnosed 'autistic spectrum disorder' ,  though not aspergers .

In the paper today some examples of contestants puzzling answers to quiz questions , from ' Private Eye's Dumb Britain , edited by Marcus Berkmann , £4.99 ;

Dale Winton : Which bird lays its eggs in other birds nests ? Is it (a) Jackdaw , (b) Cuckoo , or (c) Magpie ?
Contestant : Well , it's not a cuckoo because that lives in a clock .

I heard , on R5live this morning Victoria Darbishire's interview with the woman who was imprisoned for 4 nights because her 14 y.o daughter refuses to go to school .
I think that's absolutely pointless and pathetic ; In such a situation the local authority should be organising counselling for the girl , to find out what the underlying issues are , and offering her some sort of home-tutoring until a school she feels ok going to can be sorted out , and if she refuses to co-operate with that then there's little that can be done .
By all accounts the girls Mother has repeatedly tried in every way she can think of to get the girl to attend the school .
The jailing of the mother sounds to me like the stupid decision of some pompous , snooty magistrate , who would never impose a custodial sentence on a middle-class mother in the same circumstances .

Harmony . 'sweet and innocent ' . Lovely .
(click twice on play to hear)

In common with surely  almost everyone else in this country I am shocked and incredulous at the conscientious , well-meaning British teacher having been charged with 'inciting hatred' and insulting Islam by letting her 6 and 7 year old pupils lovingly give a teddy bear the most popular Islamic male name , that of the Prophet  Mohammed .
Angry mobs are hanging round the police station , and the school that she taught at has had to be closed , presumably because it may be attacked .
So , is it some kind of retaliation against Britain having sided with the USA over Iraq and Afghanistan ?
Is the crazed bloodlust of incandescent baying mobs wanting to kill any non-muslim at  the slightest imagined provocation , tolerated if not tacitly encouraged by their governments something new ?
Or was it always thus ?
Did the Prophet Mohammed himself have no qualities of understanding , tolerance , forgiveness , common-sense and diplomacy ?
I rather suspect that he did possess such qualities .

I've just watched the movie 'Saw' - I can't believe that 'the guardian' gave it 5* and , not that it cost much but , another dvd to add to the pile of ones to get round to trying to sell on ebay , or to take to a 2nd hand shop if I again go to Norwich .
Last night I watched that C4 drama about a young man who'd killed a girl with another boy when they were children being released back into society with the help of a hard-drinking but decent probation officer .
That it was all going to go wrong and end miserably  was obvious from the start though I do'nt think that in such a case the press would be allowed to 'expose' such a person , and , I doubt that he'd have drowned , jumping off the pier at the end , not being weighted down .
That was very probably written by the same person as that other C4 drama a few months ago about a released paedophile getting tempted to re-offend then hanging himself , as it was very much the same formula , except that it was easier to sympathise with the young man in last nights one .
I do'nt see the point of either drama , except  of trying to 'chase ratings' by 'tackling' 'controversial' issues . I expect that whoever wrote them will next do one about a woman imprisoned for killing her baby whilst very depressed being released , everything seeming to be going well , then her being 'exposed' and 'hounded' then killing herself . OK work (for the writer I mean) if you can get it , I suppose .
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Not for the first time on Saturday I had the experience of  alarms being triggered to loudly go off when leaving one shop by a tag on something I'd bought at another shop . I waited for 30 seconds and no one approached me , presumably because the security guard had noticed the alarm going off when I entered the shop . That was at tesco's in  lowestoft - I think the alarms were triggered by a tag on a pack of dvd-r discs I'd bought at Asda .
The  shops ought to be able to refine the technology so that the alarms are triggered only by items not paid for in that store , not by ones paid for in another shop  .
Apart from that being potentially embarrassing and humiliating , as the security staff know that happens , anyone could set out to buy something with a security tag on it in one shop , keep the receipt , then steal something from another shop , then provide the item they'd paid for and its receipt if approached by security staff . Are you listening , Sir Terry Leahy ?
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Update : I just got Leo to come in , fed him and locked his cat-flap : Maybe that's unkind but I do'nt like him being out all night , and he's now happily washing himself on the floor in my room . If he really does'nt want to come in he pretends not to hear me when I call him .

Now that the chilly winter evenings and nights are here , Leo has suddenly taken to being out literally from dusk 'til  dawn , then sleeping all day .
So we hardly see him , except asleep . He's over 1 yr old now so has just become more independently cat-like I suppose . He must be eating a lot of mice or something as , unusually , he could'nt be bothered even with his 'felix as good as it looks' this morning . He was 'neutered' at six months so presumably he is'nt stalking female cats all evening and night .

So 86% of surveyed Britons disagree with women being sent to prison for non-violent offences .
I'm sure I would'nt like to send anyone to prison other than the nastiest , most violent , psychopathic , dangerous individuals . However theft , fraud and dangerous driving are wrong , and harmful to society too , and , if someone commits the same crime over and over again  there has to be an ultimate sanction that tells them that society will not tolerate it .
Of course there's a big problem with illegal , addictive drugs and a need for addicts to be offered effective treatment to come off  them so long as they co-operate .
As for saying that no woman who has school-age children should be imprisoned , that's like saying have children then you can get away with anything .
Every case is different and one does'nt like to think of any vulnerable person being banged up if there's any appropiate alternative .
But  some women are tougher than some men , and  it does'nt make sense to let anyone get away with theft or whatever ad-infinitum .

Re. the controversy as to whether BNP leader Griffin and the holocaust-denying , hitler-admiring David Irving should be allowed a platform at tonights Oxford Union Debabte : Yes I think they should because they'll be opposed by other speakers at least as articulate and persuasive as themselves , and 'freedom of speech' is a very good topic for intelligent debate .
I think it's daft that David Irving was imprisoned , In Austria , for having stated that the nazi 'holocaust' is a lie . There is manifold documentary evidence that of course it happened .
Trying to ban  certain individuals from speaking in public at all is likely to enhance their image with a touch of 'glamorous' mystique in the minds of some .
What rightly is a serious criminal offence is deliberately seeking to stir up hatred or incite violence or terrorism through angry rhetoric peppered with outright lies or gross distortions .
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Going some way back into the archives of this 'blog yesterday I felt slightly embarrassed by the amount of words I'd written about the McCann's ; I still do'nt think they were involved but I'm really becoming quite sick of the same old rumour , gossip and speculation about the case being regurgitated in the press day in , day out . Until when or if there really is any significant new development , or until when the official suspects lose that status enabling  them to speak fully and frankly in interviews , I think we've all had quite enough of the same old stuff week after week leading nowhere . 

In yesterday's 'Mail , some examples from 'Must Try Harder ! The very worst howlers by schoolchildren' , by Norman McGreevy , published by Constable at £5.99 ...
From children' s schoolwork :

I've just , for the 2nd time watched 'House of 9' : Not sure if it was ever shown in cinemas : Nine people are snatched and dumped in a house  for the entertainment of an anonymous man who's watching them and who promises $5M to the only survivor , giving them all an incentive to  kill one another .
It appears to be set in London and yet one character is a U.S cop with a gun , and the only well- known actor is Dennis Hopper , as an Irish Catholic Priest , who's the least convincing character in it .
All the men want to get the gun because 'guns = power' . Everyone in it wants the 5M prize .
It's 'low budget' but surprisingly gripping and quite good .
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We've had Leo - cat since December 5th last year , when he was 7 weeks old , and for the first few weeks we thought he was female  .
The lady who we got him from lives not far away , though I do'nt know her exact address . Would'nt it be fascinating / lovely if Leo could again , maybe even  regularly meet his Mother - Would they recognise each other ? - Surely they would (?) . . .

I watch it about once a year , and each time notice new things in it .
I'm old enough to remember that in the 70's , when it was first shown in UK cinemas  its reputation  was such that for a while some criminals tried to excuse their wrongdoings by claiming to have become 'possessed by the devil' whilst watching it .
I can think of enough good reasons to reject Catholicism , and yet I must confess to a strange fascination , almost an attraction to its enigmatic rituals and mystique .
It's easy to parody The Exorcist but it remains a classy cinematic achievement that never loses its power to  to unsettle and to shock .

Just can't get no Love .. Peaceful Dub by Sly and Robbie ... I love this ...

It's a year since I moved here , and since I last saw 'ex partner' Julie , in Norwich city centre , the day before I moved . I'm not sure if she noticed me . She was walking along the other side of the road as if deep in thought , then tapped on the shoulder by her acquaintance 'Scottish George' : She politely / embarassedly laughed and breifly spoke with him .
I continued walking on and that was probably the last time I'll ever see the woman who I shared my life and bed with for over ten years , until March '05 .

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) : Introduction and Allegro for harp , flute , clarinet and string quartet . Nicanor Zabaleta : Harp . Recorded about 40 years ago . (c) deutsche grammophon

Re. the case of Anthony Joseph , who killed another passenger   on a London bus , having been found gulilty of Manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility due to schizophrenia :
Within hours of being  released  from prison Mr. Joseph was throwing chips at other passengers on the top deck of the bus , most of whom moved downstairs . When Richard Whelan got up to speak to Joseph re. his girlfriend not appreciating being pelted with chips Joseph stabbed him seven times , then disembarked from the bus smiling and looking very pleased with himself .
I admit that , as with the case of the pregnant young lady due to have her baby removed by  Social Services that I mentioned here yesterday of course I do'nt have all the evidence at hand however my thoughts are these :
Schizophrenia can be a profoundly disabling and isolating illness , often able to be at least partly controlled by psychiatric drugs , and the vast majority of sufferers are (a)  no danger to anyone except maybe to themselves , and (b) not delusional all the time .
All have their own personalities like anyone else , and their illness does not define their whole being . So a few sufferers may be nasty , dangerous thugs who enjoy practising violence as much as may be a few people who  also happen to be colour-blind or dyslexic for example .
I do'nt really care whether sadistic , amoral thugs are in prison or in secure hospitals , so long as they are in no position to be a danger to the rest of us .
I'm sure that paranoid schizophrenia can provide entirely  legitimate , appropiate grounds for mitigation of murder , if the sufferer feels driven to kill by inner voices or to protect themselves from  imagined  plots  against them  though in this awful case it very much seems like he was throwing chips at people simply because he wanted to stab the first person to complain .

I was shocked to read this morning of 22 year old expectant Mother Fran Lyon having been told by UK Social Services that after her baby girl is born she can have 15 minutes Maximum with her  daughter before 'The SS' take the baby away .
Because Miss Lyon had some psychiatric treatment in her teens , during which she on occasions harmed herself , never anyone else - she is judged by Social Workers to be likely to harm her baby to gain attention for herself .
She has moved to another  local authority area where her new MP ,  John Hemming , has taken up her case . He said : " What could be more traumatic than for a mother to have her baby taken away at birth ? It's monstrous . That in itself can cause mental health problems which are then used by social services against the mother as a reason not to return the baby . It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy . There has been a massive increase in younger babies being taken into care before there is even any evidence of harm . "
I used to think of UK Social Workers as all well-meaning leftie-liberal  guardian reading CND supporters .
If only that were so . They are institutionally ultra-authoritarian nazi-fascists . Except where it comes to drug-addicted , alcoholic , do'nt have a clue , could'nt care less  shouting , swearing , smoking parents , who are usually  allowed to keep their children .
What disgusting , deeply damaging and hurtful discrimination against and stupid misunderstanding of anyone who's ever been treated for mental distress .

Are You Ready For Love
(click twice on play to hear)

The last but one time that I visited my former local pub another regular there tried to start an argument or worse with me . I stayed very calm  .
I got the blame though I'd said or done nothing unreasonable to anyone , and the landlord tried to excuse the other blokes unprovoked antagonism by saying he thought there's something in Stella Artois (which my provocateur was inebriated on) that tends to make its imbibers  agressive . In that case why have it there .
A Belgian lady in the same pub once remarked to me that in her opinion it's the least pleasant tasting of all belgian beers .
There certainly seems to be something in it that gives me headaches even if I 'water it down' with weaker lagers .
Stella Artois used to be advertised in the UK  as a quality 'reassuringly expensive' drink , though in recent years it seems to have become the favoured 'lad and ladette' drink .
At 5.2% it's stronger than average , though as I've said before I think that if someone wants to disinhibit their agressiveness then enough of any alcoholic drink will do the job , and , once when I was on holiday  I was , in the evenings  , drinking 6.2% Lowenbrau which never made me confrontational .
I do'nt think I still have it but there was an article in the 'Mail a few days ago saying that 'Stella' is nicknamed 'wife beater' ,  which gave anecdotal evidence of  it apparently being to blame for much rowdy and violent behaviour , and of pubs having substituted it for other continental beers reportedly having become much calmer environments .

I'm glad that the Panorama programme seemed largely sympathetic to the McCann's .
Though a little more humility re. their having left their children unattended ( in relaxed , holiday mode) may  do their public image some good ******************
I finally bought a webcam and , looking at myself on the screen as if in a mirror I at least have some remnants of good looks though I do look rather serious . Cosmetic surgery if affordable might seem a good idea though I can't seem to change my  quite withdrawn personality .
I'd love to  go on an 'adventure' somewhere abroad , but  , with  my intolerance of some food  and my shyness and my having no one to go with ... urrrrrrrgh ... [//\\ - = # ~ }

I recall one evening as a child ,  travelling on a London tube train with my Mum : A man sitting opposite us was talking to people (not us) who he did'nt know , and offering new shirts that he had in a bag  as gifts to them - They politely declined .
My Mum  , after we got off the train said that he was drunk - I'd never heard the word before and was entirely unfamiliar with the concept .
But , that's nice is'nt it : Alcohol disinhibits people from being as they really want to be , and he wanted to be friendly and generous .
A few years later , at home one evening , in my early teens I helped myself to some sherry and whatever else there was and was rolling around on the floor giggling , it felt really nice , and there were no bad after-effects whatever .
I think I've written here before about getting drunk at parties in my mid-teens , etc .
I've had very little alcoholically to drink tonight which is why I can't get to sleep which is why I'm writing here .
I was listening to Radio5live but turned it off when the 'phone - in was about what some old football bloke on some 'reality tv' thing was saying about women - Who cares ?

I said here earlier this week that I'd recommend the book I was reading , Minette Walter's 'The Devil's Feather' : It's gripping whilst set in Iraq , then gets bogged down with dreary family history details when it moves to the UK . I could guess the ending several chapters away  . Do female authors tend to concentrate more on extraneous details and do male authors tend to stick to the plot more closely ?
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I've just watched the bbc4 biography of the late , great , uniquely  talented Ella Fitzgerald .
The troubled , talented young Amy Winehouse  sadly seems to be continuing on a self-destruct mission .
At her Birmingham gig on wednesday evening , so I read she tearfully , slurringly stumbled , bumbled and mumbled her way through a shambolic performance , leading to around 100 members of her audience walking out in dismay , embarrassment and disgust .
She accused them of having been mugs to have bought tickets , threatened to set her incarcerated husband on them , then called the remaining audience members "monkey f-----s" .
I do tend to have a 'soft spot' for most  young , young-ish or whatever women but , enough is enough ...  I'll think twice before buying her next album , if she's ever in any fit state to get round to it , and , should'nt this 'freak-show' of a tour be aborted immediately , for the sake of Amy , her fans and anyone else involved ?
I wonder what Ella would have had to say about Amy ?

If you are of the gothic persuasion that is ... I loved the 'Goth'nights at my former local , before they were ruined by a juvenile gang and before the pub became a gay one ... Really nice , approachable people and I soon learnt that the above track (click twice on play to hear) - This Corrosion by Sisters of Mercy is THE goth ANTHEM .

I can understand why Barry George is likely , whatever happens at his re-trial , to have a  cloud of suspicion  hovering over him re. Jill Dando's murder: The case against him excluding the virtually worthless 'microscopic speck of gunshot residue' on his coat is very inconclusive to say the least , and yet he 'fits the profile' , was once found in the grounds of Kensington Palace when Princess Diana lived there with rope and a 'hunting knife' , and it's impossible to rule him out.
We can be sure of one thing : If he was presentable educated 'middle class' he would now be released from prison pending his second trial .
I cautiously suggest - and feel free to correct me if you know differently - that there was a stronger case against Sion Jenkins re. the murder of  his step-daughter Billie-Jo  than against Barry George having murdered Jill Dando and yet the suit-wearing  educated middle-class Sion Jenkins was released from prison before his re-trials - he was formally  declared 'not guilty' after his THIRD trial after which a THIRD jury failed to agree on a verdict ;
As many have said , if the McCann's had been a working-class couple from a council estate they'd have received a lot less sympathy re. their daughter's disappearence .
Lester Piggot , who rode winners owned by The Queen would not have been hurtfully stripped of his OBE if he'd been from a middle or upper-class background .
I once lea