RIP

FROM Paris attacks- we all have our own ways of dealing with tragedy | First Dog on the Moon | Comment is free | The Guardian.

FOR AN EXTREME POLARITY VIEW TO ADJUST RE-ADDRESS OR BALANCE READ THIS

Your phone is seducing you, and you're paying the price

We all know that too much time with tech is bad for the mind, but even resisting temptation is taking its toll on us, argues Tom Chatfield in the Guardian. Those phantom messages, where you imagine your phone vibrating – that’s your body trying to tell you something. Over half of us now suffer from nomophobia – anxiety of being out of phone contact – and our willpower and attention are suffering as a result Live This Book! by Tom Chatfield is published by Penguin

also here is an excellent short audio snippet on the same subject + the audio from the above Guardian clip

pictures of walls

click here for wonderful pictures of walls

je suis charlie

graphic reaction here

Penlee Lifeboat Disaster RIP

 Penlee Lifeboat Disaster RIP

RNLB Solomon Browne, Penlee - lost with all hands along with the souls upon Irish vessel MV Union Star 19 December 1981 - RIP "The greatest act of courage that I have ever seen, and am ever likely to see, was the penultimate courage and dedication shown by the Penlee [crew] when it manoeuvred back alongside the casualty in over 60 ft breakers and rescuing four people shortly after the Penlee had been bashed on top of the casualty's hatch covers. They were truly the bravest eight men I've ever seen who were also totally dedicated to upholding the highest standards of the RNLI." (Lt Cdr Smith USN, the pilot of the rescue helicopter)

click above to see the Xmas homeless appeal (links and films) on the Backgammon site i run, and I include the link here for anyone who would like to donate..

Dennis Potter 1993 MacTaggart lecture Edinburgh

eloquent cutting concise amusing and amazing-- this is a superb speech at the International Television Festival, by a master of language and thought - as relevant today as it was then -- you will need to have a fine bottle open and have space, and be in 'receive mode' -- it is over an hour long, but not a word is wasted. His gloved clenched fist of fairness and bile whose fingers so often pointed fearlessly inwards as well as at others, is a fitting memory for fight and freedom of expression..enjoy

 

while we were in Exmouth, we spent a little time in the Strand, at the War Memorial where we noticed a beautiful inscription..


"Decades of easy peace may go their way
And time and tide will drift us far apart -
But you who shared our savage Yesterday
Will hold the highest places in our heart. "


Muriel Brine of the Devon Heritage Site kindly emailed with the complete poem and some more info..