IN THE NEWS.
The Gurkhas. What a furore about whether or not Gurkhas should become permanent residents here.
The little blokes have fought in countless wars on our side and I'd rather they were for us than against.
So what is all the fuss about?
Are the Powers-That-Be worried lest, a generation or two on, Gurkha soldiers living here will become civilians uninterested in going to war? Do they think martial Nepalese may that quickly transform into pacifist Brits?
Would it matter if they did?
Joanna Lumley's Joan of Arc presence on their behalf has served to further her iconic status, remind us again that she is a consummate actress (many times during her M.P. belittling campaign she gave us her Margaret Thatcher browbeating the boys audition piece) and has provided a tasty hors d'oeuvre to the prize scandal of the week...
MPs Expenses. "What I did was within the rules" will surely go down as the poorest excuse for mishandling public money that has ever been trotted out by elected representatives to a suddenly aware electorate.
The fact that they and their benighted advisers compiled dodgy rules to legalize their actions screams of sharp practice.
If you or I had been discovered doing anything of the kind, whatever our employment, we would have been taken to court, fined and sacked.
So far as their reaction to being caught with their hands in the till is concerned, the apologies of party leaders have been more acceptable than the defiant bluster of the jumped up little Speaker of the House, but only just!
We are surrounded by acquisitive scoundrels and, as usual, the honourable few (that's very few) will suffer for their rascally associates.
Football. Surprisingly, when it comes to the honourable, a football manager has just shown the way.
Steve Coppell, faced with the realization that his Reading side, beaten by Burnley, would not gain the promotion he sought, has resigned.
Somebody badly needs him.
Pompey? The Saints? The House of Commons?
TELEVISION.
Kirstie's Home-Made Home (C4). This little series was a gem. Kirstie Allsopp ('er who's always after knockin' down walls on Location Location) showed MPs how to make money out of second home renovations without bending any rules.
You just film the whole bang shoot and flog it to commercial television.
It was a five parter which finished last night and if she decides she can make a few quid more by bringing it out on DVD we will buy it.
Newsnight Review (BBC 2). I was well pleased to see the quiet assassin Tom Paulin, accompanied by Anthony Horowitz and Natalie Haynes, doing battle with popular culture again last Friday: Martha Kearney chaired impeccably.
When I looked on the website later it became apparent that Dr. Paulin was not everyone's favourite academic that night.
A "beam me up" bunch of Trekkies was ray gunning for him.
Well, he has survived bigger and better spaced-out showers than them.
Mr Horowitz was not their most popular author, either; they regarded him as a mere writer of children's fiction, presumably unable to comprehend the mind blowing complexity of pointed ears and daring to boldly go where no man has gone before.
This to the man who wrote Foyle's War, one episode of which was worth any ten roller coaster sets of tumbling Enterprise crew members.
Ah well, to each his own.
Inspector George Gently (BBC 1). At the risk of spoiling it for someone, the crimes took something of a back seat in Gently in the Night when our hero challenged his assistant, Sergeant Bacchus, to step into the boxing ring with him for charity.
Young John was full of youthful confidence, but the outcome of the bout probably rested on one word dropped at the time of the challenge.
Suggesting that his superior officer was getting on a bit for fisticuffs, the young man said: "I know you did a bit of boxing in the army..."
and received the timely correction: "For the army."
Nice touch, that.
Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra (BBC2). A combination of Peter and The Wolf, The Young Person's Guide and (never mind The Buzzcocks) some glorious music hall zaniness.
We recorded it.
We shall keep it.
BOOKS.
Bryan Forbes. I have started reading The Endless Game (published, together with A Song At Twilight, by Arrow in 1998) and am reminded that over the years Bryan Forbes has proven to be a very smart all rounder.
Not only did he act, write scripts and direct films, but he turned out a number of very decent thrillers.
And he married Nanette Newman.
Who says you can't have it all?
Kathy Reichs. Following my comments about Death Du Jour, I have acquired (courtesy of my Leader) two more Dr. Temperence Brennan stories Grave Secrets and Break No Bones.
I'll just have to speed up my reading.
Well, at my age...
FILMS.
The Bridges of Madison County. Directed by and starring Clint Eastwood and co-starring Meryl Streep.
I did not see this 1995 film when it was first released; would never have done so had it not been shown on television earlier this year and, even then, have kept it languishing on the recorder for a few months.
Need not have feared.
Mushiness is not on the cards: not with Eastwood directing.
Meryl Streep, using one of her foreign American/American foreign accents, plays an Italian war bride, Francesca Johnson, who has an affair with much travelled photographer Robert Kincaid.
I watched it last night and rather enjoyed it.
Have always liked Meryl Streep, whatever her accent, and Clint Eastwood is totally reliable.
Nice change to see him packing a camera instead of a .44 Magnum, too.
The Night Listener. By coincidence this was screened on television a short time after I wrote about Armistead Maupin's novel in my last post.
It was directed by Patrick Stettner, starred Robin Williams and Toni Collette and sadly, even with Maupin as one of the screenwriters, lacked the suspense and surprise of the book.
No fault of the actors.
Some authors, Maupin and Mary Wesley among them, are just difficult to adapt to the screen.
A FINAL WORD ON THEM.
Trouble is, we could do worse!
I have heard it said already. "Next election we'll vote them all out!"
People are seething and their mood might well be reflected at the polls.
But before we all go off half-cocked I hope common sense will kick in.
We have seen what happens here when riot police are given free rein.
Do we want a reproduction of 1933 Germany?
A National Socialist British Workers' Party, by whatever name and under whatever leadership, would be a disaster.
I think we'd be better off just kicking this lots' arses and sticking to the status quo.
Trouble is, we really could do worse!
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