Post 252. ANOTHER CHANGE.

JUST A FEW WORDS.

Regarding this blog. 

Once, at a charity organisation meeting no less, I

found myself sitting beside a gent who had been 

very successful in business and had handed 

on a flourishing enterprise to his sons when he

retired. 

A major factor in the perpetuation of a 

thriving business, he told me, is change: without 

change even the most secure concern will die. 

So, to offset my abject failure in the parallel blog

stakes (see post 251), I have determined to do

again what I did way back when this blog was 

The Oldies (and have considered doing a couple of

times since), change the heading for something a 

bit less Elvis Costello (below) than Watching the 

Detectives. 

"Why oh why?" you may cry aloud, if 

you are the sort of person who instinctively 

questions such trivia or routinely contacts Points 

of View. 

Well...

"Because I can" is no longer an acceptably cliche'd

response and: 

"Because I seldom watch detectives on tele now"

would be a less than honest one. 

Fact is I have only recently 

read ol' Elvis's Watching the Detectives lyrics. 

Whatever he was on at the time, good luck to 

him. It passed me by. My loss I suspect. 

But, in keeping with the need for change, from 

next month this blog will be headed Den  

Barnden: watching when the faeces hits the fan. 

That's change enough for me.

READING. 

Terry Pratchett. Finished The Fifth Elephant

which was right up to the usual Sir Tel standard. 

My money was on the right side, too. If you've 

not read it, it's well worth the trip to your local 

bookshop or library.

TELEVISION. 

Mostly we have been immersed in the sort of 

drop-off-to-sleep stuff that sedate lower middle 

class folk are expected to watch: i.e. nothing too 

foul-mouthed, violent, or hide-behind-the-sofa. 

We have been watching The Great British Bake 

Off and George Clarke's Amazing Spaces [which

can both be a bit close to the knuckle] and my 

Leader is fascinated by Say Yes To The Dress 

which, I believe, is a hive of effin' and blindin.' 

Strictly Come Dancing is back now, too. Is there 

no end to the utter depravity of it all? 

Me? I like Beck (BBC Four) a Swedish detective 

who talks in his own language and has English 

subtitles. Even at my doziest that keeps me awake.

FOOTBALL - as at Post 2(45).

What football? 

What hope now?

You bloody fool. 

THAT'S IT.

All being well, back next month as 

DEN BARNDEN: WATCHING WHEN THE 

FAECES HITS THE FAN. 

Post 251. YEAH, BRACKETS GONE.

GOT FED UP WITH 'EM.

Among other things.

Aware that Google has a plethora of New Blog styles for the entrenched old blogger to adopt, I have (believe it or not) had another abortive shot at adding a new title to run alongside Watching the Detectives. I fell at the first stile. Domains and blog addresses and all that guff totally bemuse me. I was, as I have boringly reiterated ad infinitum, a working class elementary (formerly Poor Law school) schoolboy who, following a couple of relatively untaught war years in blitzed Portsmouth (above), moved twenty miles along the coast in 1941 at precisely the right time to sit and fail the eleven plus in unblitzed Bognor Regis. So it is pointless talking New Blog or anything computer clever to me. I still think of a default as a failure to act and a domain as land owned or governed.To the distinct disapproval of certain PC acquaintances, I also think the press-ganging of the word gay to describe homosexuals was a desecration of the English language that should have been referred to the European Court of Human Rights and all who sail in her.
Anyway, I have never aspired to be a clever clogs, abhor those who think they are and, unless one who really is comes along, shall probably be stuck with this blog format until I jack it in altogether or kick the bucket. Ne'er mind, eh. 

HOME.

Two of ours, Neil and Pauline, went on holiday this week. Cornwall. 

On the way their car overheated and, expelling steam from every mechanical orifice, they pulled off onto the motorway hard shoulder to park behind a similarly stricken motor home. 

Had the owners any water they could spare? 

Sorry. No. Right out. 

They phoned their breakdown service. 

Then the man from the motor home appeared with a container of water. He had emptied his toilet cistern. (Aren't some people gems?) 

Would they like to use this? They would. 

And, with profuse thanks, they were off again. 

Eventually, an anticipated three hour journey took them eight hours. 

As if that was not enough, the following day Neil pulled out onto the A390 in front of a car indicating it was going to turn into the road he was leaving. The car came straight on. 

Thank the gods nobody was killed. The oncoming driver suffered whiplash. Pauline was physically unhurt. Neil sustained a broken finger. 

Their car was a write off: they bought an updated version of the same make at the garage where their wrecked vehicle was taken. 

What a start to a holiday. 

Full report and the comments of friends on Nobby Barnden - Facebook. 

He's not a bad writer, either. 

Maybe one day he'll finish that book.
TELEVISION.

Nothing changes much. 

We still have photogenic young presenters showing picky publicity seekers how much they could buy, abroad or in the sticks, for the million quid they obtained when they sold their single bedroom flat in London. 

Maybe one in fifty ends up buying something: just don't hold your breath. 

I see these programmes as the property equivalent of daytime cookery and antiques shows; cheaply made rubbish for the elderly and retired. 

The Wright Stuff. Ol' Matthew's morning chat show still attracts enough regular and gotta-spare-week celebrities to adorn the panel alongside the customary line-up of book-pluggers and Channel 5 reality show unknowns. 

He still cuts off any phone-in who disagrees with him, unexpectedly transforms into Anne Diamond or Richard Madely whenever the fishing line beckons, and takes every opportunity to bitch about the BBC. 

Na-a-ah. Nothing changes much.

I may even be back at the end of the month.

2 (50) !ndex 5. Posts 2(01) - 2(49)

Abduraimov, Behzod: (49) 
Alan, Ray and Lord Charles: (41) Alexander, Sasha: (13) Alibhai-Brown, Yasmin: (2)(5)(12)(16)(17)(19)(33) Allsopp, Kirsty:(13) Alsop, Marin: (49) 
Andrews, Chris (15) Appleton, Alistair(13) Appleton, Anonymous John: (5)(7) Appleton, Sheila: (7) Argerich, Martha: (49) Armstrong, Neil: (27) Ashman, Kevin: (7) Askey, Arthur: (43) Attenborough, Richard: (11) Ayres, Pam: (22) Bacall, Lauren: (11) Baker, Hylda: (43) Baker, Simon: (4)(6) Baksi, Arun: (47) Baksi, Bettina: (47) Baksi, John and Ana: (47) Bald-Headed-Barber: (27) Barclay,Linwood (35) Barenboim, Daniel: (49) Barnden, Jac: (2)(26)(38)Barnden, Lilian (my mother)(40) Barnden,Maureen:(2)(7)(14)(18)(22)(24)(26)(27)(28)(31)(34)(42)(44)(45)(47)(48) Barnden, Neil: (2)(7)(8)(18)(26)(29) Barnden, Pauline: (2)(7)(9)(29)(48) Barnden, Roz: (2)(6)(12)(22)(29)(30)(37)(46) Barnden, William (my father): (24)Beatles, The: (26)(30) Beaton, M.C. (23)(27)Berezovsky, Boris: (16) Bevin, Ernie: (39) Blair, Tony:(6)(39)(40) Blethyn, Brenda: (6)(23) Bliss, Julian: (16)Bodnia, Kim: (2) Bolton, Michael: (41) Bowie, David:(38) Boyd-Kerr, Maxie: (14) Boyd-Kerr, Raff: (14) Boyd-Kerr, Ruby: (14) Blake, William: (48) Brian (Bro.): (20)(21) Brown, Gordon: (6)(13)(40) Brown, Sgt:(10) Brydon, Rob: (25) Bugg, Jake: (41) Bull, Dr.David: (16) Bullmore, Amelia:(15) Burghley, Lord: (10) Burrell, Ian:(33) Bush, George: (6) 
Butler, Philip: (46) Byrne Gabriel:(7) Callaghan, James: (32) Calleja,Joseph (25) Cameron, David: (40)(45) Capaldi, Peter:(35) Carson. Frank: (43) Caveizel, Jim: (4)Chamberlain,Neville:(36) Christie, Agatha: (2) Churchill, Winston:(13)(22)(48) Clarke, George: (16) Clarkson, Jeremy:(6)(20) Collins, Nick: (6)(29) Colman, Olivia: (2)(4)(19)Connolly, Billy: (14) Conrad, Joseph: (49) Considine,Paddy: (12) Cooper, Jilly: (47) Cooper, Tommy: (43) Cowan, Jerome: (7) Coward, Noel: (18) Cox, Jo: (44) Crawford, Michael: (41) Cricket, Jimmy: (43) Cripps,Sir Stafford: (18) Crispin, Edmund: (13)(15)(16)Crooks, Richard: (41) Crosby, Bing: (41) Cumberbatch,Benedict: (2) Curry, Edwina: (39) Curtis, Richard: (16)Dan the man: (5) Danson, Ted: (9) Dausgaard Thomas: (49) Davis, Warwick: (47) Dayer, Ellis: (29)(37)(38) Delaney, Dana: (13)(16) Diana, Princess: (39) Dickson, Paul: (37) Dillow, Ian: (30)(38)(42)(49) Dillow,Jean: (42) Dinklage, Peter: (15) Disraeli, Benjamin:(36) Dobson, Anita: (28) Dodd, Ken: (43) Douglas,Barry: (41) Doyle, Arthur Conan: (2) Donat, Robert: (3) Donna (SMH): (28) Dormer, Richard: (19) Douglas,hamster: (7) (8) Dudgeon, Neil: (37) Duff, Oliver: (2) Durante, Jimmy: (41) Eccleston, Christopher: (19)(25) Eden, Anthony: (22) Ellis, grandson: (see Dayer).Emerson, Michael: (4) English, Arthur: (17)(43) Evans, Chris: (47) Falco, Edie: (35)Farage, Nigel: (6)Farndon, Zoe: (7) Fay, Kelvin: (7)(15) Fay, Peter: (15) Felton, Tom: (20)(21) Ferguson, Sarah: (25) Ferrier, Kathleen: (41) Fields, Gracie: (20) Flanagan and Allen: (20) Formby, George: (20) Fowler, Daphne: (7) Fox, Laurence: (14) Freeman, Martin: (2)(23) Front, Rebecca: (14) Galbraith, Robert: (3)(11) Gambon, Michael: (19) Gergiev, Valery (49) Gibson, Sian: (25) Gigli, Beniamino: (41) Giuntoli, David: (35) Glen, Iain: (7) Goode, Richard: (16) Gove, Michael: (45) Grabol, Sophie: (19) Grayson, Larry: (43) Grecian, Alex: (3)(7) Green, Sally: (15)(16) Guilfoyle, Paul: (9)(15) Guitary, George: (41) Hall, Lee: (16) Hamilton, Andy: (14) Hammond, Dame Joan: (41) Handley, Tommy: (43) Hannah, buddy (see Woods). Hansen, Alan: (9) Hare, David: (4) Harmon, Angie: (13) Harmon, Mark: (4) Harold, (Bro.): (20)(21)(22)(49) Harrison, Bill: (48) Harrison, Kath: (48) Hatfield, Stefano: (2)(33) Hawes Keeley: (4) Hayward, Sir Richard: (31) Heath, Ted: (30)(32) Hebdo, Charlie: (18) Helin, Sofia: (2) Henshall, Douglas: (4) Hodgson, Roy: (28)(45) Holder, Noddy: (23)(26) Hollander, Tom: (2)(4) Hollies, The: (41) Horne, Kenneth: (43) Horton, Rima: (25) Howerd, Frankie: (43) Hudson, Jules: (13)Hughes, Chris: (7) Hurley, Graham: (2) Hurst, Lee: (19) Ingle, Red:(41)Jagger, Mick: (27) James, Jimmy: (43) James,

P.D. (11) Jansen, Janine: (16) Jason, David(23) Jenkin, Guy: (14) Jess, granddaughter (see White) Johnson, Amy: (20) Johnson, Boris: (40)(45) Johnson, Lynn: (10) Jones, Aled: (13) Jones, Owen:(2) Jones, Suranne: (13) Jones, Rhodri: (2) Jones,Toby: (49)Jupp, Miles: (8) Kang, Tim: (4) Kay, Peter:(25)(43) Kelly, Dr. David: (40) Kelner, Simon: (2)(33)Kennedy, J.F. (26) Kennedy, Nigel: (25)(41) Kent, James: (2) Kill, Lorna: (14)(15) King, Ashya: (11)(12)King, Brett: (12) King Edward VIII (20) King, Naghmeh: (12) Kingston, Alex: (14) Kitchen, Michael: (18) Kuusisto, Pekka: (49) Laine, Frankie: (30) Lancashire, Sarah: (7) 
Lang,Maria (12) Lawson, Denis:(11) Lennon, John: (30) Lennox, Annie: (41) 
Leverton, Sarah-Jayne: (4) Lincoln, Andrew: (35)

Longbottom, Neville:(3) Lovegood, Luna:(3) Lowe, David (6) Lympany, Dame Moura: (41) Lyndhurst,Nicholas: (11) Macintire, Ben: (27)(28)(29) Major,John: (39) Mann; Michael, Rachel and Steve: (38) Malcolm X: (27) Mandelson, Peter: (39) Marsh, Ngaio:(11) Martin, Dean: (41) Martino, Al: (41) Maugham, Somerset: (38) Maxie (see Boyd-Kerr).May, Theresa:(45) McCallum, David: (18) McCartney, Paul: (30)McCloud, Kevin: (13) McKenzie, Julia: (2) McKinnon,Gary: (14) McLachlan, Craig: (16) Mercurio, Jed: (4) Merman, Ethel: (41) Minghella, Anthony: (25) Mowlam, Mo: (39) Monroe, Marilyn: (26) Montero, Gabriela: (49) Morecombe, Eric: (43) Morpurgo, Michael: (16) Morris, Chester: (7) Morris, Aubrey: (27) Morris, Wolfe: (27) Mountbatten, Lord: (32)Murphy, Cillian: (16) Murray, Andy: (46) Mussolini, Benito:(4) Nettles, John: (37) Newman, G.F. (4) Newton. A.F.H. (10) Nighy, Bill: (4) Nilsson, Harry: (41) Norman, Matthew: (33) Norton, Graham: (32) Novotni, Tuva: (13) Nurmi. Paavo: (10) Nurse, Denise: (13) O'Donnell, Alison: (4) Outhwaite, Tamzin: (11) Owens, Jessie: (10) Paisley, Ian: (13) Parker, Robert B. (7) Platt, Ken: (43) Plomley, Roy:(41) Powell, Sandy: (43) Pratchett, Terry: (7)(11)(13)(15(16)(19)(20)(23)(26)(27)(28)(29)(35)(37)(48)(49) Preziosi, Alessandro: (4) Prince Philip:(7) Putin, Vladimir: (4) Queen Elizabeth II (7)(20) Rankin, Ian: (2)(37) Ratner, Gerald: (32) Redgrave, Vanessa:(2) Rickman, Alan (25)(38) Robertson, Steven: (4) Robeson, Paul: (41) Rowling, J.K. (3)(19)(32)(48) Russell, Christine: (24) Russell, Christopher: (24) Salmond, Alex: (12) Selleck, Tom: (4) Sewell, Brian: (18) Shadow, the cat: (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(9)(11)(14)(16)(18)(26)(28)(29)(31)(38)(45)(46)(47) Sharp, Lesley: (13) Shearsmith, Reece: (14) Shinwell, Manny: (39) Smart, Callum: (41) Smith, Andreas Whittam: (2) Smith, Maggie: (32) Snow, Dan: (28) Soward, Maureen: (5)(20) (Soward, Pat: (5)(20) Spall, Timothy: (4) Speer, Hugo: (19) Spencer, Phil: (13) Spielberg, Steven: (16) Stafford, Jo: (41) Steel, Mark: (2) Steph, reporter: (7) Stott, Ken: (2) Streisand, Barbra: (41) Sutcliffe, Tom: (2) Tanel, HD (18) Tauber, Richard: (41) Taylor, Robert: (4) Tennant, David: (19) Thatcher, Margaret: (13)(20)(32)(33)(34)(39) Thorne, Jack: (48) Tomkinson, Stephen: (20) Toogood, Willis: (22) True-May, Brian: (32) Tucci, Stanley: (19) Tunney, Robin: (4)(6) Turner, J.M.W. (48) Twiggy: (27) Urry, Marg: (48) Urry, Mike: (48) Van Dyke, Dick: (18) Vogt, Lars: (41) Wainwright, Sally: (7) Waite, Ralph: (3) Walker-Smith, Derek: (26) Walsh, John: (14) Walters, Julie: (21) Warren, Marc: (23) Warrington, Don: (14) Waterman, Dennis: (11) Wayne, John: (4) Weeks, Honeysuckle: (18) Whately, Kevin: (10)(14) White, Jessica Daisy Patricia (granddaughter) (6)(13) Whistler, James: (48) Whitfield, David: (41) Who, The: (41) Williams, John: (41) Williams, Kenneth (43) Williams, Robin: (11) Wilson, Harold: (6)(32) Wilton, Penelope: (49) Wise, Ernie: (43) Wogan, Terry: (38) Wood, Victoria: (17)Wooderson, Sydney: (10) Woods, Hannah: (34) Wright, Matthew: (16) Yes: (41) Young, Kirsty: (41) Zingaretti, Luca: (10)

N.B. INDEXES: 
(1) Post 131(2) Post 151(3) Post 175
(4) Post 200 (b)

2 (49) TIME FOR ANOTHER INDEX.

FOR THE REGULARS 
Water colours.

The threat - made in my last post - that I may paint again, brought a deluge of response. 

(Thank you, Ian.) 

I pointed out that I have not put brush to paper for all of ten years.The above picture of Honfleur, which I painted twenty odd years ago, may explain why.

My Leader likes it. 

She has always been my nicest critic. 

BLOG INDEX 5.

Because it's time. 

If you are one of that much appreciated clan of

buddies who follow these ramblings every month, you may read this before being greeted with another blog index. 

If you just looked in on the off-chance, or left it a

bit late, you may have been slightly surprised to

come across the list of names at Post 2(50).

No worries: after you've looked your name up

you'll probably get here anyway. Why another 

index? I figured it was time for it. 

TELEVISION. 

Perhaps you watched...

The Secret Agent.

Toby Jones (above) was the agent in a series 

based on Joseph Conrad's 1907 novel.

Clearly the undercover crowd were as 

incompetent then as they are now. Sad. Very sad.

Brief Encounters. 

Penelope Wilton headed the believable cast in a

series that was more undergarment than

undercover and none the worse for that. 

We enjoyed it.

The Edinburgh Tattoo. Will have brought joy again to the heart of any old squaddie who watched it.
I did and I know brother Harold will have. 

We'll talk about it, as we do every year, with a smile in our voices.

Which brings me to: 

The BBC Proms 2016. 

Many of my favourites this year: Rachmaninov's

3rd Piano Concerto was a resounding success for

Uzbekistan pianist Behzod Abduraimov and the

Munich Philharmonic under the toothpick baton

of Valery Gergiev who conducts as though he has

just washed his hands and cannot find a towel.

Grieg’s Piano Concerto, played by Venezuelan

pianist Gabriela Montero with the São Paulo

Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop

(love her), lifted the spirits as did the West-Eastern

Divan Orchestra (doesn't it always?) conducted by

maestro Daniel Barenboim, with his old friend

Martha Argerich playing Liszt's Piano Concerto

No.1 followed by Schubert's Rondo in A major (in piano duet with the conductor). 

All of these plus a wonderfully cheeky interpretation of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto

given by charismatic Finnish virtuoso Pekka Kuusisto, a name I had not encountered before but will be sure not to miss next time around. The BBC Scottish Symphony under Thomas Dausgaard was clearly enchanted by him and the entire Proms audience sang along to his unique Finnish encore. Absolute magic. 

READING. 

Terry Pratchett. In Carpe Jugulum we have a modernistic family of empire-building vampires vs the witches of Lancre led by Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg. If you've read any Discworld I know which side your money will be on.

Currently I am reading Sir Tel's The Fifth Elephant and am about half way through it. Sir Sam Vimes and Lady Sybil are venturing into Werewolf territory. Guess whose side my money's on.

 More sometime after the Index 5. 

2 (48) BACK AGAIN.

NOT QUITE THE SAME DAY. 

But close. 

I nearly gave up on this post for no other reason than ennui. Trouble with that is, it spreads. It becomes Churchill's black dog. It concludes with yet another dither over whether to modify the aged format of the current blog, close it and somehow conjure up a replacement, or pack it in entirely and have another go at painting. 

As usual my Leader gently leads me back to sanity. "You can't give up writing, you'd be lost without it," she says. "But you ought to go back to painting, too." I haven't put brush to paper for all of a decade. So perhaps, with no expectation of producing a masterpiece, I will. 

Sadly, when it comes to watercolour I am no William Blake, J.M.W. Turner, James Whistler or, by today's standards, Pauline Barnden, our daughter-in-law, who paints fascinating seascapes (example below). 

I have no imagination for anything like that. 
But maybe I'll have another go sometime, if only to see whether arthritis has had any effect on my brushwork. Won't be holding my breath.

READING. 

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by Jack Thorne (pictured).

Even if the touts were not asking ridiculous prices for tickets (blame the Americans again) I don't think we could afford the all round cost of a trip to see this much vaunted two-part play at the Palace Theatre. So we ordered the recently published Special Rehearsal Edition Script which I have now read. 

Yeah. One or two uncertainties, but I like it. If I ever win the lottery I'll take Mo and the entire family to see it. Well, you never know your luck.

Terry Pratchett: The Last Continent. Think Discworld may have no place for any sort of  Australia? No worries. Find this one on the bookshelves and laugh your billabong off. 

HOME. 

Visitors. We seldom see folk from the mainland here nowadays so it has been our pleasure, in successive weeks, to welcome friends Kath and Bill Harrison (from Pitlochry in Scotland) and in-laws Marg and Mike Urry (from Alverstoke in Hampshire). 

Just a day together with each couple, but a most enjoyable day on both occasions. 

I have known the Grimsby, Lincolnshire, ex-policeman and cricketer, Bill, for 64 years. 

He and his wife, Kath, are high on my list of favourite people. 

Marg is Mo's oldest remaining sister. I have always liked her and her husband, Mike, even if he is a Thatcherite Tory. 

Can't wait to see them all again. Not many people share that distinction. 

What? 

Oh, you do if you've just read this.

All the best.