h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

… was a hit for The Mamas and the Papas.

I prefer Velvet Underground’s Sunday Morning. Lou Reed is the greatest novelist never to have written a novel.

It’s gone grey outside. It was a nice sunny day but a haar has come in during the last half-hour or so. Sue did the shopping today and is now sitting doing her books for the shop. I got her to proof read an essay for me – I have to hand it in on Tuesday. In my normal way I wrote twice the required length and then had to lose half of what I’d written. I never enjoy this process. Sue checked it for typos etc. She wasn’t happy with the word ‘condonation’, but it is a statutory word and I was using it in a statutory context so in it stayed.

A welcome fruit of Sue’s shopping trip today was the 1.5 litre bottle of generic supermarket blended whisky (Glen Ochhootsmon) she brought home with her. I get one every 6 or 7 weeks, and ration myself to an optic measure each night. I once said to Peet that I had always liked all of the optics in Steptoe and Son and wanted one myself, for my bookshelf. “Hang on”, he said, “I’ve got a spare you can have”. Neat.

My preferred whisky of choice would be a peaty islands malt, by the way – Laphroaig or Talisker: something reminiscent of an embrocation – a shoulder rub or catarrh medication. Yum.

Another thing I remember from Steptoe and Son was how ‘arold would collect the empty spirits bottles from pubs and drain all of the dregs into one bottle, which went up in the optics. I haven’t sunk quite that far yet, but from Laphroaig to Glen Ochhootsmon is a bit of a drop.

Sue actually took a long lie this morning, her first in… years.

I’m about to settle down to the papers (apparently Tamsin Greig is in The Observer), then The Archers at 7pm. Uni. resumes tomorrow, with exams in five weeks. Then a nice long well-earned break. My problem is that I drive myself too hard. Now, where’s that irony smiley?

Douglas

PS. Oh yes, I had a story:

Sue was coming up the hill to our flat after her shopping trip. There was a white van blocking her way. The motor was running and the doors were open, with a child (3 years, approximately) rattling about inside. The couple in charge of the van had to shut the doors to let Sue by. This had the effect of locking the child inside. The keys were in the ignition and the motor running. The male partner (parent?) had to smash a window with a broom handle inside. 30 minutes later we looked out of our window. The van was still there with the motor running, the doors open and a child inside…

what is a "haar"? It's the Afrikaans for "hair" too. oh hang on, I've just found it in the dictionary. "A cold sea fog on the east coast of England or Scotland." Brr.. it's drizzling here and grey. I've put the heating on.

Richard

As we are partly up a hill the view from our window encompasses the whole of Bridge of Don; Tesco Danestone to Uni Sports Centre, with one row houses on the lower side of the street. When we moved here it was mostly fields but now at night the whole vista is lit with streeet lights and car headlamps. In the darkness we can watch the buses, dustcarts and emergency vehicle wend thought the maze. The Don river is in the valley and the haar comes from the sea and blanks out all the lights and we are left with our opposite houses then a grey blanket.

Great view of celebratory fireworks and very very occasionaly a good lightning storm.

Noo Yawk it ain't, but it does us

Sue

Very evocative. Bon courage for the rest of the week...