WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Bruff]

As a little treat I have been catching up with all the Inspector Morse episodes on one of the ITV channels.

I have just watched one from Series 5 on the death of a raffish artist and it featured a little cameo from Alan Starkey, late of Barnoldswick. He was Rowlands, a forensics man. You see him pop up in cameos now and again in these 80s/90s dramas. I think he was a Returning Officer in A Very British Coup.

Richard Broughton

[Stanley]

Maz, tell him I am envious! But I have enough sense to know that that could be a bit too much to go for. It's quite amazing what a difference losing over a stone has made to my general health, and this from a bloke who has been shouting about nutrition for years. Walking in particular is a revelation. I thought my knees were bad but in truth it was nothing more than putting too much stress on them. I've just been listening to a news item on World Service extolling the benefits of not sitting at your desk all day but standing up frequently.... It's coming to something isn't it when having a stand up meeting is seen as a life saver!
Richard, Morse was one of the finest series ever made (and Lewis as well.....) Problem is I have seen them so many times that they have lost something. So nice when I come across an episode that isn't fresh in my mind. I remember the one about the artist but didn't recognise Starkey. I remember him living in that tiny cottage on King Street....



This was in 1986 and it was up for sale. I have an idea Alan was selling at that time. He was of course next to the house that the police sergeant told me (much to my surprise!) was a brothel!
THIS caught my attention, the sinking of the cruise ship on the Yangtze River. Latest reports coming through suggest that the death toll is far higher. The captain has survived and he says that it was some sort of extraordinary weather event that flipped this large ship over. A high proportion of the passengers were pensioners.....
Then there is THIS, an enormous award in Canada against the tobacco companies.....

[Stanley]

FIFA and Sepp Blatter fill the news following the surprise announcement that, after all the bluster of the last two days, he is to step down in about six months. There is much speculation of course but I favour Greg Dike's assessment. He knows Blatter and says that he doesn't think he has done it out of the kindness of his heart, it's more likely to be pressure from the revelations, perhaps a smoking gun pointing directly at Blatter. He also said that what is needed now is a chief executive untainted by anything that has gone before with free rein to clean the system up. I was also struck by a what a professor said who has studied the subject for years. He said we make a mistake if we expect large organisations to always act ethically. I like that assessment and compare it to what we see in the financial sector. In other words, ethical behaviour can't be left to good basic instincts but imposed by tight regulation and strong sanctions. Will the FSA please take note!
The body of a little girl has been found in Mansfield.... No details as yet but it looks like an all too familiar tragic story. Such a waste...... (LINK)

[Stanley]

Quite amazing what a grip the FIFA affair has on news coverage. Two things are evident, the FBI has successfully flushed the whistleblowers out of the woodwork with promises of plea bargains no doubt and world football is more important in terms of news than all the other problems that face us.....

[PanBiker]

Back in the saddle today, revisiting a circuit from our Coast to Coast training last year. Went down to Bracewell then over to Horton then Paythorne, Wigglesworth, Bolton by Bowland, Gisburn, back to Horton, I had a bit of a rest on Pop Harry's seat and then back up through Bracewell into Barlick. Just shy of 22 miles with 945 ft of climbs, 26 mph max and an average of 9.5 mph overall. Lovely day for it. Still burning 1320 calories from the ride so I can more or less eat what I want today.

[Stanley]

Reminds me of the days when I was a lad and at weekends we used to set off into Derbyshire for the day.... God knows how many calories we burned off, funny thing is that in those days it never entered our minds, we just went out and did it and when we got back ate until we were full! Happy days and I'm sure the effects are with me still. The nurse at Burnley General commented on how good my legs are as the fitted me with the anti-DVT stockings before my eye op. I was quite chuffed!

[Stanley]

The fact that many of our regular members are missing.... On holiday? Getting worried about David Whipp, or is he too busy in the political shenanigans in Nelson?
I was listening to a lady on R4 who has had a leg amputated. She was talking about the false signals that her brain reported from the missing leg. She said that she sometimes got pain in the missing leg including cramp in the foot she hasn't got. However, she said she'd found out that if the had a phantom itch in the leg, she scratched the good leg in the same place and then made scratching movements where the itch would have been in the missing one. She said that her brain was satisfied and the itch goes away. How strange......

[Tripps]

"The fact that many of our regular members are missing..."

Me too - I think we've lost David Whipp, which is a shame. Still he's a busy man, and there' s a lot of competition websitewise for peoples' time. This site is becoming a bit like a private members club - which of course it isn't. It is rapidly becoming 'one guy' almost literally. Keeps me amused, and informed though.

[Marilyn]

We often find that things go quiet on here as your Summer rolls in. Guess more people spend time outside, enjoying the sunshine.
Being hunched indoors at a computer isn't as much fun as sitting in a garden getting a warm breeze up your shorts.

[Stanley]

I doubt if we've lost David, I have little doubt he's busy somewhere..... We've just had Bands on the Square which was a big effort and the Liberals and Labour have taken control of Pendle Council from the Tories.
You're right Maz. There are two sides to OG, the regular contributors and the people accessing the site as a resource. We don't have many active members and one of them Tiz is on holiday in Cornwall at the moment. Summer is as you say, a time when many are out and about. On the old site there was a facility where we could see the number of confirmed page views by guests and it would surprise me if that was any less now. The raw numbers on the topics would seem to confirm that and sections like the LTP get many hits. I don't think there is any cause for concern Maz. I see we are posting at the same time now.... You're up as early as me!

[Marilyn]

Just about to have a spot of lunch at this end actually! Nearing 12.30...
But yes, you are up early again. Did you wet the bed?

[Stanley]

Certainly not Maz. The habit of a lifetime, unusual I grant you but it suits me....

[chinatyke]

I noticed Thomo seems to be missing as well. Hope all is OK with him.

[Cathy]

Don't worry Stanley 'All is well with OG". It does seem to be a bit quiet at the moment but that is the flow with OG at least a couple of times every year. Most members will report in soon and tell us what they have been up to (ooh la la).

[Stanley]

China, Thomo decided he'd had enough of us and took his bat home.
Cathy, I've just had mail from David. It's as I thought, he is up to his ears at the moment but he assures me he will be back as soon as things slacken off....

[plaques]

Liberals and Labour have taken control of Pendle Council from the Tories.

Don't know much about the recent political shenanigans but the makeup is as below.
The political make up of the Council is now as follows:

19 Conservative
18 Labour
11 Liberal Democrats
1 BNP

[Stanley]

I should have made it clearer, Labour and LibDem have taken over the leadership and the executive. I am informed by a reliable source that the Tories were very surprised, they hadn't realised it was happening.
Funny how some things stick in your mind. I'm sure we all have examples of this, something that happened or was heard many years ago. I was listening to the latest reports of migrants rescued in the Mediterranean and remembered hearing a discussion years ago between a group of 'futurologists'. They all agreed that a major problem in the future would be the migration of whole communities across the world to escape some perceived problem at home. I think that much as I distrust these general predictions, they were right!

[chinatyke]

China, Thomo decided he'd had enough of us and took his bat home.

Sorry to hear that. He made valuable contributions with good, interesting and knowledgeable posts.

Don't know his reason but we can all have different views without getting upset about it.

Update: I've followed it back and have now seen his post in the Politics thread which I don't normally read because I don't take much interest in politics. I still stand by my comment that we can hold different views without getting upset, so I hope Peter comes back.

[Stanley]

I agree China and there is always room for a different view. Politics is very important over here especially at the moment when we have a Tory government that is convinced that their economic miracle is working but completely ignores the basic fact that so many people are in dire poverty and facing even further reductions in state aid. I don't know how it's being reported over there with you but it doesn't look healthy here as many see their incomes going backwards in what is on the whole a low wage economy. It's all relative of course and I am sure that China has its problems as well but it's human nature to concentrate on your own patch.

[Pluggy]

I don't take much interest in politics.

Probably the only safe option living in China.....

Politics is a symptom of the human condition, the one where the truth varies with where you stand and where you stand varies with an unfathomable number of variables in your nature and nurture.

Much like religion and justice.

[Stanley]

Very true Pluggy, that's exactly the conclusion I get to but exacerbated in this country particularly by our arrogance. We always start from the assumption that British is Best and that we are in the right. Even God is on our side! This often crops up when we are 'advising' other nations what to do about their problems and perceived injustice. We forget the things we did. Cameron at the G7 is a good example at the moment.....A bit of thought and history reading might be a good idea.....
THIS STORY seems to be surfacing again as many former inmates of the home come forward and contact the Galway historian who has been researching the matter. This, and the associated revelations about the 'Magdalene Laundries' where many women had been virtually imprisoned after leaving the orphanages (LINK) has never been properly addressed but has affected thousands of lives. Another example of religion getting it badly wrong..... There is a revolution going on in Ireland at the moment since the successful vote allowing gay marriage which is the precursor of what I suspect will be an even greater revolt against the influence of the Catholic Church as the illegality of abortion comes under attack.

[Tizer]

We don't have many active members and one of them Tiz is on holiday in Cornwall at the moment....On the old site there was a facility where we could see the number of confirmed page views by guests and it would surprise me if that was any less now.

And I'm back again to pester you, after our holiday break in Cornwall. I hope to put some interesting pics on OG once I'm up to speed again.

On that comment about guests visiting the site...If I'm right, the site now has a separate members area which guests can't access and means they don't get the chance to see a lot of the posts. Is this segregation still sensible (if it still exists)?

[Stanley]

Nice to see you back Peter.... I hope you both had a good holiday! I don't know the answer to your query about what guests can view, I thought they could see all the public posts.... If not, I'm all in favour of allowing it so we encourage more to join.
Have a look at Shed Matters Tiz, I think my experiment with Beaumont's Egg might interest you and you may know what dryer could have been used....

I was on about blackleading the front room stove this morning. I got a tube of Zebrite out of the terasures and a brush. Very old fashioned but I think you'll agree it did a good job!

[Tizer]

Wikipedia says: "Today, `boiled linseed oil' refers to a combination of raw linseed oil, stand oil, and metallic dryers (catalysts to accelerate drying). In Medieval times, linseed oil was boiled with lead oxide (litharge) to give a product called boiled linseed oil. The lead oxide forms lead "soaps" (lead oxide is alkaline) which promotes hardening (polymerisation) of linseed oil by reaction with atmospheric oxygen. Heating shortens its drying time."

I've never heard of `stand oil' before but Wikipedia goes on: "Stand oil is generated by heating linseed oil near 300°C for a few days in the complete absence of air. Under these conditions, the polyunsaturated fatty esters convert to conjugated dienes, which then undergo Diels-Alder reactions, leading to crosslinking. The product, which is highly viscous, gives highly uniform coatings that "dry" to more elastic coatings than linseed oil itself. Soybean oil can be treated similarly, but converts more slowly. On the other hand, tung oil converts very quickly, being complete in minutes at 260 °C. Coatings prepared from stand oils are less prone to yellowing than are coatings derived from the parent oils."

[Stanley]

I have a feeling there is something missing from my mixture. I've seen references to 'dryers' being added to oil paint to speed up drying at the expanse of longevity and I know that the old iron founders used 'lamp black' in almost everything. The oil I used is commercial 'double boiled oil' the same grade that Peter Tatham used on chimneys and that dried.... Anyway, I'll give it time while I get on with other things... The Beaumont's Egg bit fascinates me, I've never seen any explanation of its composition. Interesting...... It raises another question, the things retired blokes do in sheds.....