Yesterday was an interesting kind of day. Thursday is my shopping day and the carer called around at the appointed time and I prepared to go shopping. But upon my return, about an hour and a quarter later, I discovered that Meg had had a period of acute anxiety whilst I was away shopping and the carer had quite a difficult time with her. Having said that, I think that the carer had coped with Meg very well and had read her a couple of stories and done other things to divert her. But when I got home, Meg was still in rather an agitated condition but very gradually calmed down. After the shopping had been slowly unpacked, it was time to think about lunch and I scoured the freezer to see what could be rustled up as I wanted to save the mackerel I already had out of the freezer until tomorrow. I discovered something with no label but once it had been cooked in the microwave, I discovered that it was actually a 'Boeuf à la Bourguignonne' portion I had saved from the last time that I had cooked it as a special meal for Meg's cousins when I last entertained them.
The news media has been absolutely saturated today with the news of the untimely death of Liam Payne, who shot to fame in the band One Direction, who died at a hotel in Argentina after falling from a third-floor balcony. Payne, 31, was posting on social media only hours before his death. Alcohol and medicines such as clonazepam were found in his room. The hotel authorities in Argentina have revealed an audio, possibly to avoid any accusations of blame, that he had been high on a cocktail of drink and drugs and was trashing his hotel bedroom. He fell to his death from a third floor balcony and when the news broke late on Wednesday evening, all kinds of interviews were interrupted with a news flash about the singer's death. But at the risk of sounding very curmudgeonly, this was a young man of whom I had never heard, part of a band of which I had never heard and the music of which to my untrained ear sounded nothing out of the ordinary. There was masses of footage, played over and over again of female teenage fans lighting candles outside the hotel where he had perished but the amount of media attention devoted to it seemed to me to be massively disproportionate. This afternoon after we had lunched, I treated Meg and myself to something that I spotted in last night's TV schedules. As the renowned actress Maggie Smith died very recently, I was not surprised when the BBC broadcast some of her most memorable performances, One of these is the almost completely true story of 'The Lady in the Van' which is the story of a derelict old lady who parks her van, which is also her home, first outside and then on the drive of Alan Bennett the playwright, who was living in Camden Town. This was endured for the best part of fifteen years all in all and part of the denouement of the film is that the old lady thought that she had been responsible for the death of a motor cyclist years before and was, in effect, on the run from the police. Maggie Smith as absolutely magnificent in the portrayal of the old lady and the film was both poignant and comic at the same time. After Meg's carers had called in the afternoon, we treated ourselves to a rendition of Mozart Piano Concerto No 23. This has always been a particular favourite of mine since a 10" LP was bought for me by my music teacher in about 1960 and I played it endless times. The second movement is incredibly sad and one can almost the tears through the notes. By contrast, the third movement is joyous in the extreme and one can imagine that the metaphorical cheque had arrived in that morning's post. This was a performance in which the pianist actually conducts the orchestra from the piano which is almost certainly what Mozart himself would have done. This was followed by another Mozart piano concerto (probably 21) and was just as enjoyable.
The political news has been dominated by the assassination (or as the Israelis say, elimination) of the Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar. I learned today that every single leader of Hamas has been assassinated by the Israelis and they are naturally jubilant. I saw an announcement made to bathers on a seaside resort on the Israel coast and there was universal celebration. The important question is whether this brings a ceasefire any closer or not. Netanyahu is saying that the war must continue until Hamas (and Hezbollah) are completely eliminated but I am not sure you can eliminate an ideology. Killing your opponents may be very satisfying to one's electorate and the military but I cannot see how it advances the course of peace as resentments and recriminations must build up in the generations ahead. Meanwhile domestic politics is intrigued by two stories that are running. One is concerned with the forthcoming budget and whether Rachel Reeves may be able to pull 'rabbits out of a hat' There is some evidence that the electorate are being softened up for big tax rises with talk of a £40 billion black hole but on the other hand, there may be some plans afoot to sweeten the pill somewhat. The other interesting story concerns the backwoodsmen of the current Tory Party. A Tory MP has suggested Kemi Badenoch won't have time to be an effective leader of the opposition because she's a mum of young children. Sir Christopher Chope told ITV Meridian's 'The Last Word' she is 'preoccupied with her children. You cannot spend all your time with your family at the same time as being leader of the opposition' he added. One can only imagine the derision about the voicing of such attitudes and naturally the Labour party and others are piling in gleefully to denounce such remarks - and, of course, Tories are put into a position where they either have to defend their colleague or effectively to disown him or to distance themselves from such remarks. Incidentally, similar remarks were never made about Margaret Thatcher when she had young children, as I am sure that many will now point out but, of course, Margaret Thatcher could afford to employ a full-time nanny, so that is all right then.
© Mike Hart [2024]