67. I still remember...

AND THEY'RE STILL AT WAR.

"You were right," I told the cat Shadow."Football is only an
excuse for more and more war."
He looked surprisingly less than triumphant.
He said: "Saw that business in Rome, did you? No decent cat
would behave like that. We try to look all tough and territorial
but only a psychopathic cat fights for nothing."
I sighed.
"The Italian police certainly didn't seem to need much of
an excuse," I said. "You get the feeling that they were just
waiting to baton-charge a crowd of unarmed foreign
football fans. That they've been waiting for it all year."
"They probably have," he said. "It's an us and them thing
with most police forces. Besides, nobody is going to arrest
the police for assault, are they, no matter how violent. So
they use the excuse to let off steam and practise all the
crowd control thuggery they've been taught during the year."
"Anyway, Manchester United lost," I said as an afterthought.
"Oh, I'm not crowing," he reflected gently. "I may not be
fond of the boot-kicking Scot and his Red Devils but I don't
wish violence on them or their supporters. No, with any luck
Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo will score a load of
goals when Roma goes to Old Trafford next Tuesday."
I eyed him in total perplexity:
"Thought you weren't interested in soccer anymore?"
"Oh, I'm not," he said. "I shan't watch it."
"You'll be out beating the bounds then," I said.
He sensed the disbelief in my voice and headed for
the cat flap.
I went the other way.
I still remember the last time he did that...

IT'S A BIT QUIET.

My Leader is in Oxford so it's a bit quiet around here.
Don't ask, just guess that it has everything to do
with looking after cats and you won't be far wrong.
Anyway, she will be back at the weekend.
I shall drive down to meet her off the 4 p.m
boat, BT and Wightlink permitting.
The French have a train which travels at over three
hundred miles an hour. ("Mind your coffee, Henri!")
We have an Oh Mister Porter set-up that goes into line
maintenance melt down every bank holiday.
So Maureen will be back at the helm on Saturday evening, BT
and our generally dependable ferry service permitting.
Why am I telling you this?
I don't know.
Like I said, it's a bit quiet around here.

T.H.WHITE AGAIN.

I have just finished reading the second book in
T.H.White's Arthurian saga The Once And Future King.
The Witch in the Wood is an equally compelling but
altogether different book from The Sword in the Stone.
Much of The Witch in the Wood is taken up with the
origin and effects of war.
Mr. White's philosophy was sound and humane.
His book should be compulsory reading once a year
for Tony Blair.
And once a year it should be read to George Bush