Lockdown day #37

Today is the 50th Anniversary of the creation of Earth Day - designed to focus attention on protecting the Earth's resources.  Sometimes I feel we forget that we don't own the planet, we are just the current custodians of it.  There are signs, however, that this COVID-19 outbreak is starting to make the planet healthier - many cities which had a smog problem, now have more people in lockdown, less cars on the roads, and the air is better to breath.  I do hope when the time comes to come out of lockdown, that we live in harmony more with our planet, rather than trying to extract what we can from it for a quick 'buck'.

I stayed in much of the day, only going out briefly to get some essential supplies from Asda.  I managed to get some eggs, and there are signs that the supermarket shelves are less empty than they were before the lockdown started.  Perhaps the message that panic buying doesn't help anyone is getting through?

I read an e-book about coaches - Twelve Royal Tigers - described as the complete story of the coachbuilders Beccols & Bellhouse Hartwell and how Blue Cars became an important part of the tale.  It was very interesting.

I also read the first chapter of a book for a Study Group to be held on Thursday mornings.  Decision Making and Spiritual Discernment 

The only other thing I have done today is look back over Christmasses past - perhaps one day I will write my autobiography.  Watch this space ....

Lockdown day #36

So first I received a text message "reminding" me that the gas service engineer would come on 20th April.  Then yesterday the gas service engineer came along and looked at the boiler ... and TODAY I finally received the letter from the Housing Association that the gas service engineer would be coming ... perhaps tenants need to have telepathic powers these days!

I saw a weird short film called "Patrice" - about a black guy from Tunisia living in Germany.

On Facebook I was directed by a friend to a list of Disney films - and invited to add the film grossing the most at the box-office in the year that I was born.  For me this is "The Sword in the Stone" - an animated feature about the young King Arthur.  I hadn't realised it was released in 1963, but I have to say it is one of my top favourites for Disney films.

I sought out my DVD and watched the film again - I can see why it is in my all-time favourites list.

I did some work on my stamps ... which is very relaxing ... and took an evening stroll round the park.

But before I close today can I just say "Happy Birthday" to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II - 94 today.

Lockdown day #35

It is strange how the most mundane things have become an "event".  This morning I got some bin bags of rubbish to the dustmen ... it got me out of the flat, so that was something (and it cleared some clutter ... which is also good).

Opening my e-mails I read Dr Mark Pack's "Liberal Democrat Newsline".  I have to admit I would normally just scan this, but today I took an inordinate amount of time reading each article in it.  There was an interesting article on how normally liberals would be up in arms at the loss of civil liberties and free movement, but these unusual circumstances have seen instead criticism of the government for not imposing lockdown earlier.

On Facebook my friend James Baillie had published his original song "Hair Still Grows Fast (and it's in my eyes)" - very witty and fun to watch.

I am continuing to read downloadable books to do with buses and transport and this morning I read the Prestige Series book on "Bedwas and Machen", a small bus operator located near to Caerphilly in South Wales.

Later in the day, whilst browsing on Facebook, I happened across the opening clip of the film "55 Days at Peking", the clip where all the legations are raising their flags and playing their national anthems.  It had never occurred to me before, but the first anthem in the film was the Russian anthem - "God Save the Tzar!".  

I then searched on YouTube and found a lovely rendition by the Mikhailovsky Theatre Orchestra and Choir, performed at the State Hermitage in St Petersburg on 6 March 2013. I also loved that some of the audience stood for the royalist anthem of Russia - could there still be royalists in Russia today?

Having had a taster of the film, I went and watched the film on YouTube.  It is surprisingly relevant to today ... there is a line in the film, a quote of Napoleon "let China sleep for when she awakes the world will tremble" ... 

The other "event" today was I had another living person inside my flat - for it was the time of the annual boiler check ... and so the boiler man cometh - I couldn't really see him for all the PPE he was wearing.    In the evening I took some exercise in the local cemetery - lovely and sunny still (and quite warm at 6pm) but the wind was cold and brisk.  

Lockdown day #34

So quite a short night's sleep last night.  I woke up firstly around 4am with a noise, sounded like a book dropping, unsure of the cause.  The alarm then woke me at 6.30am, and I drifted back to sleep, only to awake around 10am.

I tuned into Zoom (perhaps I zoomed in?) and "attended" Sunday morning worship.  It was good to seem some other members of my meeting and listen to the ministry.

I also "attended" a bus rally.  Billed as the "Great Virtual Bus Rally" which took place on a facebook group called "Preserved and Classic Buses UK Group".  The group has over 5,000 members and the rally consisted of a number of them posting pictures taken at bus rallies in happier times.

I took some exercise in the local cemetery and looked at some of the names on the graves ....  I only saw two others - and we exercised good social distancing.

One of the things I am determined to do during this lockdown is to have a proper meal every Sunday - I may eat less healthily through the week, but not on Sundays.  Today I had pork loin, carrots, sweetcorn and mashed potatoes.  It was really lovely.

I have also read a book ... a virtual book online from MDS Publications - today's was "Eastern National & Thamesway Fleet Record Vol 2: The Badgerline Years 1990-1996" ... it was interesting!

Lockdown day #33

The birds woke me up again with a sweet song, and with discordant honks from the geese.  I decided, however, to have a lie in, and did not get up until after 10 ... what decadence!

After having my breakfast, and wishing birthday wishes to my friend Richard, I watched a few films.  There seems to have been a theme today (it is not St Sebastian's day, that was 20 January), but hey ho!

The first film, set in Toronto in Canada, was called "Sebastian".  Alex and Sebastian meet one fateful evening and it's love at first sight. However, Alex has a boyfriend and Sebastian is only visiting Toronto for one week until he has to return home to Argentina. To complicate matters further, Alex's boyfriend is Sebastian's cousin. Sebastian chronicles their week-long romance as both men learn to accept each other's differences, overcome their pasts, and let love into their hearts. As the week comes to an and Sebastian's time in Toronto comes to a close, can the two of them take a chance on love or will they lose each other forever?  It was a lovely film - and a lovely ending.

The second film I have seen before, and it is a delight.  "Belle et Sébastien" is set high up in the Alps and far away from the fighting of the Second World War, a small, peaceful village is home to a young boy named Sébastien. Sébastien is an orphan and life on the mountains is dangerous for a young boy. But he soon meets Belle, a wild dog who has a heart of gold. Sébastien tames Belle and they form an unshakable friendship. However, Belle and Sébastien's peaceful mountain village is soon under threat. Their village is close to the border of Switzerland, and the Germans occupy the area to prevent Jews from escaping. It’s up to young Sébastien and his trusty friend to foil the Germans' plans.

I have seen the Derek Jarman film “Sebastiane”, the only film I ever seen entirely in Latin (and no desire to see it again), but came across a very weird Czech film called “Utrpení sv.Šebestiána” (The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian) … interposing modern images with the tale from Roman times.     I am not sure if a Czech film is more approachable than a Latin film …

After having a quick visit to the shops for essentials (I got cheese .... hallelujah!) ... I had a nice conversation with a friend, and settled down for the evening continuing the Sebastian theme.  Helping me to do this was the "Air" by Johann Sebastian Bach from the 3rd orchestral suite (D minor; BWV 1068), 2nd movement.  A really lovely piece of music.

Lockdown day #32

Woke 6-ish with the birds making a racket outside of my window ... still they seem to be having a good time.   The day was nice and bright.

I went to an art gallery - the David Kordansky Gallery (well online - the gallery itself is in New York) ... and looked at an exhibition on Tom of Finland - apparently he was born in 1920. 

It was a good exhibition.  I had a book of his work once, but I don't know what happened to it.  Incidentally, the Finnish post office issued some postage stamps in 2014 showing his work, which I do have in my collection. 

Later, I watched a dance online written by my friend Zsofia - called Flowers of Ildikó (apparently Ildikó is a girl's name in Hungary).  It is certainly different, and looks fun.  When the dancers form that tight circle with their hands in the air they are meant to shout out "Ildikó".

As the day was still sunny, I went for a walk with a friend (socially distancing as we are meant to do) to Moston Vale.  That was lovely.  Afterwards he gave me some home-made soup and apple crumble for me to heat up in the microwave for my tea.  A very nice thing to do.

When I got home I rang round some of my friends, and had some nice conversations, and in the evening watched a trashy movie on Amazon Prime - they have some good stuff, and some dreadful stuff too.  

Lockdown Day #31

Perhaps I should go back to my blog - perhaps that will keep me sane.

Today was a lovely hot day.  I work up around 7.30am and lay in for a couple of hours.  After having breakfast (toast and coffee) I took my reading book and a deck chair and went to the local cemetery.  There is a little meadow area between the graves finishing and the back fence, and I sat there in the sun, reading my book. In hindsight I should have taken some water, as it was quite warm - but very pleasant feeling the sun of my legs.  I could hear the birds singing, and the occasional woodpecker.

The book I finished off today was Douglas Reeman's Torpedo Run, the story of a Royal Navy MTB group serving in the Black Sea during the second world war.

Today is the 274th anniversary of the Battle of Culloden.  I visited Culloden Battlefield during my Scottish holiday in 2016.  It is a bleak moor, and very eerie.  I went in, perhaps, the wrong end - most visitors arrive at the visitor centre and then explore the battlefield - I arrived at the back gate and explored the battlefield before the visitor centre.  I think that is probably better.

After speaking to Jackie today I watched on the ITV Hub the mini-series "Quiz" about the Army Major who cheated his way to winning "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" ... I got to see all three episodes in one evening.

I also got a lovely postcard from my friend Alan ... from one end of Manchester to the other.  I have some really lovely friends; it certainly gave me something to smile about.

I ended the day with some online training from a Meetup group - Grindr and the Gay Culture.  The things we do during lockdown!