Posted by: Scribble | 05/07/2008

Mans best friend, ‘ritually unclean’.

And so we have it, our country which is well known to be devoted to its pooches, have been told that they are viewed by the minority of Muslims living in our country, as dirty, ‘ritually’ dirty at that.  And so Tayside police’s attempts to broadcast their new ‘point of contact’ phone number, have been thoroughly ticked off for using the image of Rebel, a pup-in-training, on cards to be put up in public places and newsagents and shops.  Apparently, some newsagents and shop keepers absolutely refuse to have these cards in their windows at all and have become very angry and offended.

 Several thoughts spring to mind, the obvious that perhaps they need to be reminded of the saying, ‘when in Rome , do as the Romans do’ but also, that these Muslims are rather selective about what they get offended about.  Funny really,  I mean if you were to browse through some of the magazines that adorn top shelves of newsagents and shops run by these people, you would imagine that the content of said magazines goes against their strict attitude to women and sex.  You might also wonder why they sell alcohol since they are offended by the Western approach to drink too.  Both of which I understand and in part agree with.  There is far too much loutish behaviour on public display and far too much midrif.  We have become a nation full of badly behaved people who are actively encouraged by the media and especially TV which coludes in and promote such bad behaviour on programmes such as big brother and other ‘reality’ offerings on TV.

However, it was bad enough when Muslims started on Christmas and began to change the way we celebrate this Christian festivity by insisting we no longer have ‘Happy Christmas’ on our cards and instead go all American with the bland  ‘Season’s greetings’.  But to start on our animals is tantamount to us offering them a ham sandwich and equally offensive.  Muslims have a strange attitude to animals.  They also consider the pig unclean and yet they allow cows to walk all over the place, freely as they are seen to be sacred.  In Karachi, packs of skinny, mangy, hungry dogs roam the city, who carry Rabies and are much feared.  Maybe that accounts for this attitude and sense that dogs are ritually unclean.  Over there, that is probably the case,  though if people looked after them better there wouldn’t be so many.  But here in England, we care for our animals on the whole and there are a multitude of stories of how important a role dogs play in our lives.  Many dogs are devoted beyond reason to their owners and many others are helpful to the handicapped and sick.  They are loving and loyal companions to many.

Someone wise once said, you can judge a nation by the way they treat their animals, (I think it was Gandhi).  Quite.  Perhaps these people who seek to undermine us at every opportunity should realise that the country they are so effectively trying to change will become the one that they left behind, if they are not careful.  P.S.  Note to Chief Constable John Vine, will you please stop apologising for us and there is no need whatsoever to have an ‘investigation’ into this matter.  If the Muslims are offended, (again), they can always leave.  It’s a free country, just.

Posted by: Scribble | 03/07/2008

The ‘Petite Anglaise’ phenomenon

The extraordinary tale of blog diarist Catherine Sanderson, known as Petite Anglaise, gathered force with the publication of her book, of the same name.  What began as an online ‘slice of life’ –  Catherine’s life in Paris, has become a best selling book.  The astonishing thing is, that out of the millions of blogs that go unnoticed, this one should merit such attention.  If the truth be told, whilst Catherine writes interestingly about her life, loves, and difficulties, there are a million other people who do the same.  What appears to have been the spark that brought her diary to a wider audience was an unfair dismissal case she brought against her employers when they fired her after realising they were being written about in her blog.  She maintains that she has been careful in keeping the anonimity of this company and indeed her close family and friends.  No where does she come close to revealing anyone’s identity and so it came as a shock to her that her employer ‘let her go’.  

In some ways, it was all rather fortuitous as she has been able to expand her talent as a writer by writing full time.  She says she is going to write a novel next, being easier than a diary since she had to obtain everyone’s consent who appeared in the book, prior to publication.

Several things appeal to me about Petite’s blog and book.   She writes with an engaging style and also makes good use of the raft of material that stems from her daughter, Tadpole.  She manages to convey the essence of Tadpole so well and is good at bringing to the page, her daughters delightful characteristics and witty exclamations and conversation.  It is not always easy to recreate the amusing things that small children say but Catherine does it well.  I am often reminded of my own children when they were younger when reading about hers.  Her use of French phrases is also appealing and creates the atmosphere of being in France.  When reading of her life, one cannot help but be rather impressed at her bravery in exploring her feelings and talking about such intimate things in such a public way. 

I cannot imagine that many people would not have heard of Petite Anglaise, but if you are one of the few who have not, I fully recommend that you get straight over to her blog and also get a copy of her book.  Bon chance Petite!

I suspect I am one of very few who’s support for Andy Murray – the great British (Scottish actually) hope for Wimbledon, was somewhat diminished after watching his performance last night.  Of course he was under extreme pressure when he lost not one but the first two sets of the match against Richard Gasquet.  As I watched him become more and more animated, punching the air with his fist after every point won or more to the point, every point lost by his opponent, I started to feel uncomfortable watching this display of what was close to, behaviour ‘unbecoming’.  In fact the clenched fist thing he’s got going has become a point of unwanted focus, I can’t stop myself waiting to see if he will do it after each point.  Personally I’m not a fan of people applauding the bad luck of the other chap when his ball goes into the net and the point is won without so much as a return or any play at all.  It’s one thing winning the point, quite another celebrating someone else’s misfortune.

Last night, Andy and his gesticulations, helped to whip the crowd into a frenzy and poor old Gasquet who had remained calm and dignified was becoming rattled when in the most exciting part of the match, the tie break for the third set, he lost his nerve and lost it to Andy.  Winning the tie break threw Andy into what can only be described as manic, dementia.  He really looked unhinged as he shouted and waved that fist around and punched it in a menacing way at the crowd.  I worried he might be carted off in a straight jacket.  It was of course a match full of tense moments and several times he was taken from deuce to advantage, deuce to advantage, before winning the game but still, it was a bit much.  I was beginning to feel that Gasquet really deserved to win as he carried on, the crowd willing him to lose.  I would have switched sides, I really would, except that I wanted to see Murray play the superb Raffa Nadal which now he will, having won the match. 

Interestingly there was a program on Roger Federer over the weekend and he was talking about his own emotional state when he was younger.  He said he used to be really emotional and let his feelings show on court and then one day he decided that he was no longer going to let them get the better of him.  He then became completely the opposite, never letting any emotion out, or even in.  This had a bad effect on him and he said finally, he got his feelings balanced so that he was neither too emotional or not emotional enough.  Then he started winning. 

Andy could take a leaf out his book – the sooner the better.

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