Saturday, May. 27, 2017 - 23:08

1. Nice morning and I'd had a decent sleep from midnightish (had gone to bed earlier than that, a bit grumpy from neighbours playing music and tired from work, plus three pints unsober) so I had a pretty domestic type of morning whilst the energy lasted. Lisa Hannigan 'At Swim' on the stereo, which suits a certain type of day and a certain part of activity.

2. Yesterday on the way from a hot and latterly bad-tempered and uncomfortable day at work, I finished that Gregg Hurwitz 'I See You' novel (pretty good, funny and pacy, but a silly ending and at times you needed to ignore how daft some of it was, and just enjoy the ride) on my first train home. On my second, which was very crowded, I sat with a mother (towards the end of her tether and clearly needing a cigarette after several hours travelling) and her two kids. The daughter pretty irritating, all fake crying and baby voiced and attention-seeking, but she was quite young. I felt sorry for the older brother, who just wanted a bit of space and quiet and was being wound up. The mother was trying to remain calm and keep her kids calm and well-behaved (I can sympathise that parenting 'in public' is different to without an audience, and I'm not talking about corporal punishment here) but pretty trying clearly. In the end I ended up showing the kids the Bejewelled game I was playing on my phone, which kept them occupied for the final ten minutes of the journey.

3. This morning, due to a recent comment on FB by a friend, due to Chris Cornell's death, I decided I wanted to put Soundgarden 'Superunknown' on for a listen. Alas my CD copy is buried in six to eight crates in the wardrobe, and I couldn't find the tape copy in the couple of hundred tapes in the dresser (plus my laptop sound quality is so cack it'd be pointless streaming) so I ended up putting a tape of Radiohead 'The Bends' and various other fillers from exactly twenty years ago and a troubled second semester in my first year at university.

4. England face Saffrica in the second ODI (So'ton) today. Like at Leeds, AB de Villiers won the toss and put England in for a bat in overcast conditions. The tourists took an early wicket and also restricted Morgan's men with some hard fast short stuff - 43/1 after ten. Hales fell at 70/2 a little later, Root unlucky to be run out for 39 at the non-striker's end with the ball fingered back onto the stumps from a Morgan straight drive. Stability in the middle overs, and at the traditional doubling point of thirty overs, England 154/3 with plenty wickets to play with. Morgan fell for 45, positivity, Buttler wasn't playing too fluently but supported Stokes as the ginger passed a hundred but fell shortly after (like Morgan did a few days ago) before later finding a bit of form alongside Moeen, reaching 65 as 330/5 was posted.

5. In reply, a stable start from Amla and THE COCK until the former fell for 24 at 56. Some acceleration, du Plessis falling for 16... at the midway point you felt SA a bit likelier but were a couple of wickets to fall it would've been a different story. De Villiers and Dr Penis looked calm, and England missing Woakes looked unthreatening. ABdeV fell for 52 with 140 still needed, and just after a drinks break (as had happened two thirds of the way through England's innings) a big wicket fell - Quinton D-MALEHEN for two short of three figures to Moeen's spin. The fact two new-ish batters were now at the crease, perchance slower to see the ball and off-timing? They moved the game on well, the equation was that around ten an over were needed with plenty of wickets in hand and Miller completing a good fifty from forty balls. Behardien fell whilst attacking, fair enough, fifty-six needed from the final five. A couple of sixes from consecutive balls swang the game bigly, it looked like the visitors would chase it down with some ease, but Mark Wood's last over bowling took it down to the final ball - with four needed they only managed two and England won by two runs. Somewhat astonishing - never mind the batsmen, Mark Wood's ten overs for 48 (n.b. Stokes with a crocked knee managed just three overs but only conceded four an over) was key.

6. There was an event on across town today, 'cause it was breezy I could hear snatches of Eighties music for most of the afternoon/evening, though admittedly there was very little which could be recognised - mainly as the acts comprised quite a few who'd only had one or two big hits, being asked to play for an hour or so, hence quite a lot of filler on the menu. In the later part of the day, perchance the volume tuned up, perhaps the wind dropped, it was a lot more invasively noisy - they didn't have bass like that in the eighties, being able to hear it was anachronistic. Nice to hear Billy Ocean later on though - he closed with his song about monarch of the reindeer, not the one about going and getting stuffed (by a taxidermist, a cook or a penis, I was never sure).

7. I'm wondering about the nature of this General Election campaign and how it's being covered in the media. There seem some answers to be given about whether the big broadcasters etc. are Tory-biased, but I've seen plenty of bias for other parties too (and/or unfair critisism of the incumbent government where balance is concerned) so that's one thing. All I see on social media is pro-labour anti-tory stuff, a lot of which is highly biased and oft downright untrue. Setting aside my personal political feelings, what I have an issue with is the nature of the pre-election coverage in that constant polls of the vote share mean that come June 8th the vote will be far less about "Who do you want to vote for to govern the country?" and far more about "Who, considering all the contradictory, false, inflammatory information you have been bombarded with over the past few weeks, do you wish to vote for in your local area in order to best have a chance of the party you believe you don't support not being able to get enough votes to govern?". Yes, the electoral process has some flaws, but I also believe the electoral coverage process also is flawed with the strict regulations on fairness not being applied all the time in the mainstream media, and not at all in the unregulated social media. I just would like to see a General Election where people vote for the party they want to see govern, and (without evidence of gerrymandering) the most popular party in fairly defined areas wins.

8. Today in 1940 saw the Le Paradis massacre, where ninety-nine Royal Norfolk Regiment soldiers were shot after surrendering to German troops (only two of whom survived). It's also the anniversary of the Dibbles Bridge coach crash near Grassington, in North Yorkshire – the highest ever death toll in a road accident in the United Kingdom, with thirty-three killed.

9. I'd like to try and get back into sketching again, having eased off somewhat in this hobby of mine due to some dissatisfaction with the sketching group I am in, due to there being fewer things left in Shrewsbury that I want to sketch (or at least - fewer which come readily to mind), and a percieved lack of improvement in the last year as compared to previous years. It's one of those things which I'm unlikely to regain enjoyment/momentum in unless I force myself to get the fuck on with it, but still. I was wondering t'other day about an organised sketching holiday, but I think I might dislike the social aspect, and also the fact the organised nature implies tuition and perchance being asked to spend (waste) time with techniques and subjets I have no interest in?

10. Apparently, English top-flight football required the away side to change their shorts in the event of a clash from 1975, till the start of the Premier League in 1992 abolished this Football League regulation. Hence my recollections of Arsenal wearing yellow shirts and white shorts away to Sunderland and Southampton back in the late eighties. I'm not wholly sure whether on balance this is a good or a bad thing - though there have been odd atrocities like the aformentioned, it's nice to see well-judged combinations such as Man United changing to black shorts away, Villa/West Ham in claret or blue shorts away, and all-blue Everton, all-red Forest etc.

11. Of course, mokomokai are the preserved heads of Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, where the faces have been decorated by tā moko tattooing. They became valuable trade items during the Musket Wars of the early 19th century. I like a bit of Sokushinbutsu self-mummification too, funny diet, entombed with a bell, damned fine shizzle. Monky.

12. This evening I read just over half of 'The Bell Jar' by Sylvia Plath. The language is oft beautiful, and certainly witty and astute. The storyline is keeping me very interested too. I am however a little put off by the sentiment hovering around it of 'this is important feminist literature'. I understand in context that there's a lot of important points being made, and many of them I agree with and am glad of the fact things have changed and opportunities are greater for women. At the same time, I am getting a sense of dislike for the central character because there is a whole mixture of annoyance with the feeling of 'I should be able to do what I want to do!' - American Dream in a sense, call for equality in another, but overall it seems childish to assume that 'fairness' equates to 'getting just what you want'.

13. Hmm.. Mia Zapata was murdered. I wonder if I should find out more about The Gits, as I did like a bit of grunge in my youth. I suppose 'did like' might be the key phrase there, I barely listen to my Hole, L7, Breeders etc. any more. Still, it's sad that she was killed by an attacker.

14. Yesterday morning it was hot, I got to the bus stop before work and was interested to see the pretty hairdresser lady facing away from me wearing a see-through black netting top under which I could see her bra strap. Alas when she turned round, the front was very panelled and embroidered and I couldn't see her breasts to any real extent, boo hiss.

15. My lunch and my dinner today, in so far as the content, was identical. Three small sausage rolls, half a packet of peppery salad, tomato sauce. Beer. A cranberry cereal bar. Coffee. A wafer biscuit. What are you talking about, actor in 'Die Hard'?

16. Chuwit Kamolvisit is a controversial Thai politician who was once the country's biggest massage parlour owner. After an arrest in 2003, he publicly claimed that he paid large bribes to many Thai police officers. He then sold some of his massage parlors, formed his own political party and unsuccessfully ran for Bangkok governor in August 2004. In 2005 he was elected for a four-year term to the Thai House of Representatives, but in 2006 the Constitutional Court removed him from parliament. In October 2008 he again ran for governor of Bangkok as an independent but was not elected. In the July 2011 general election his party won four seats in the House of Representatives. He used the pseudonym Davis Kamol on occasion.

17. The FA Cup final ended Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea. Arsenal well-known to be missing several key defenders (Mertesacker captain for his first appearance of the season). Chelsea started nervously and we had a controversial early opening goal, Sanchez racing on to a lopping deflection, Ramsay offside but stepping out the way, the Chilean scoring past Cech with three on the clock. The offside decision adjudged correctly, but it felt wrong, and there may have been a handball in the build-up. Three Gunners diving to block Costa's shot, then Ozil at the other end having a shot cleared off the line after going a bit wide, Welbeck hit the post from a corner and the ball bounced up high awkwardly for Ramsay to fail with the rebound - a good opening twenty minutes with plenty of Arse. Welbeck opted to shoot as opposed to square it, the keeper got a touch and Cahill cleared off the line again. Pedro blazed one over, it was end-to-end at times, very frantic and English. After the break Chelsea improved, and Ospina and Mertesacker, both on the return from injury, were key in denying the lads in blue. Pedro just wide. Bellarin denied by a good save. Middle of the second, a big moment and maybe a key paradigm in the future - Moses dived and the referee yellowed him, but he'd been booked ten minutes before this reducing his side to ten. Fifteen left when Diego Costa controlled well and struck awkwardly but on target, Ospina should really have turned it wide, but there was a deflection. Good response though, Ramsay counterpunching (well, stooped heading) two minutes after running onto a nicely pulled back ball by sub Giroud. Costa almost equalised once more but his shot was reaction saved by Ospina. On the break Ozil cut inside and hit the base of the post. Quite a game.

18. Gregg Allman has died, which surprised me slightly because I thought he already had, a long time ago. My bits and pieces of knowledge of that sort of thing gleaned from BBC4 music documentaries has obviously confused him with his brother who died in a motorbike accident in 1971. Who was it died in a plane crash then, which I thought was him? Ronnie van Zant from Lynyrd Skynyrd. Either him or one of Fanfarekorps Koninklijke Nederlandse Landmacht.