Commentating

 

Commentating

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

It may seem an obvious remark to make, but there is a difference between radio and television commentators. Radio commentators have to paint a picture for their listeners, while on television the pictures speak for themselves.

Watching cricket can be enhanced by watching the game and listening to the commentary on the radio and maybe the same is true of rugby, football or any other sport. I don’t know how difficult it is to switch between the two media but I’m convinced that the man we were listening to yesterday during the England versus Wales match had made the transition from radio to television. Maybe it was temporary – I hope so.

He didn’t really say much about the game but seemed captivated by other things. We lost count of the number of times he described someone’s hair – greying locks, hair slicked back, ginger hair and neat beard, bald!

Then he described one player who obviously, to his mind, anyway, ‘wore a shirt a size smaller that clung to every sinew’ in addition to his ‘very tight shorts’. A substitute came on and his shirt ‘looked like a washing powder advertisement’ – that was pointed out twice.

It was very entertaining, for all the wrong reasons!

Ireland and Italy are playing at present and it looks as though Italy is being trounced. I do hope they manage to get some points on the board. There are still 30 minutes to play so there is a chance. I have a tendency to support the underdog.

Today’s commentators are good and the referee is definitely in charge of the game, which is good for players, coaches, managers and crowd.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The days of tobacco companies being associated with sport are long gone, thank goodness!

*Late edit; Ireland 36-Italy 0 😞

Desperately seeking . . .

Desperately seeking . . .

Yesterday I was desperately seeking inspiration. I tried two different prompts and wrote some very indifferent verse, even more indifferent than usual, that is. I gave up in the end, fed up. I was beginning to wonder if my brain was shrinking but actually I was tired and today is a better day so I turned to the photographs Barry took recently in Simons Wood.

I have been going to Simons Wood regularly in recent months because the ponds in Crowthorne Forest have been polluted by a heating oil spillage from Broadmoor Hospital. This is not the first time this has happened but on the last occasion, several years ago, we had Dalmatians who enjoyed the water but could be dissuaded from going in the ponds. This is not possible with the Labradors we now have. They make a bee-line for any body of water and will swim just for the sheer pleasure of the experience. I really wanted to have some photos of Roxy in the water when she first started swimming but I can’t cope with four/five dogs, the ball flinger, four (!) balls and a camera. She swam vertically! As Bethan said, ‘She looks as though she doesn’t want to get her hair wet.’

Jenna, one of the four balls in her mouth.

Left to right: Jenna, Lolly, Gus, Bertie, Roxy playing at being a hearth rug. The human is me.

My Master Photographer does not yet trust his new knee sufficiently to walk as far as the lake and his old knee, soon to be replaced, will not allow him to stand for extended periods. That makes him sound a poor old crock but he isn’t; it’s just that his knees got knackered through too many sports injuries. His left leg is now straight and soon his right leg will be too. The odd thing is that he lists to the right because that leg is shorter for the moment.

 Simons Wood is lovely – a mix of evergreens and broad-leaved trees with decades of leaf mould underfoot combine to produce a beautiful, calming environment. There are many different paths to take but the one the dogs like most is the one leading to the lake.

Lolly is staying with us at the moment as Bethan and Robert and Charlie are in Puglia in Italy. She is very good but I’m sure she misses her family. She heard Bethan’s voice yesterday when she called to see if Lolly was behaving herself and her ears pricked up excitedly. The compensation for her is having the company of our dogs, particularly Roxy. She and Roxy play together constantly and are exhausted by evening. When Lolly goes home next week she will probably sleep flat out for a couple of days.

Isambard, the dog whisperer

Lolly has not yet learnt that the cats have not been provided for her entertainment. She watches them closely and leaps on them when they move suddenly. Our Ocicats are tolerant – Isambard, the dog whisperer, makes every attempt to befriend Lolly and is gradually persuading her to accept his advances but Susannah’s Somalis take a very different attitude. They’re small and feisty with sharp claws and teeth. Lolly will learn eventually, hopefully not the hard way. J

This is how the cats expect dogs to behave (Jellicoe, back, Isambard fore.) Bertie is their favourite dog.

Bertie and Herschel

Herschel (fore) and Solomon. 

Solomon

 I am linking to Saturday’s Critters, hosted by eileeninmd and Camera Critters

April 21st

On this day . . .
In Italy this date is known as the Birthday of Rome because the Roman Empire was founded by Romulus and Remus in 753 BC.
Henry VII died in 1509 and was succeeded by his son, Henry VIII.
In 1789 John Adam was sworn in as the first US Vice President.
Charlotte Brontё was born in 1816 in Thornton, Yorkshire.
Noah Webster published the first American dictionary in 1828.
Texas won independence from Mexico in 1836 at the Battle of San Jacinto.
Mark Twain died in 1910 in Redding, Connecticut.
HM Queen Elizabeth II was born in 1926.
In 1944 French women were enfranchised.
In 1961, at a war crimes trial in Jerusalem, Adolf Eichmann admitted his part in the Holocaust but claimed to be a small cog in the Nazi machine and not directly responsible for the murder of any Jews.
In 1966, Emperor Haile Selassie, His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, and Elect of God, visited Jamaica. The day is now celebrated at Grounation Day.
John W Young, USN commander of Apollo 16, became the ninth man to walk on the Moon in 1972.
In 1983 one pound coins went into circulation to replace paper pound notes in England and Wales.
Approximately 100,000 students gathered in Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 1989 to commemorate the reform leader Hu Yaobang. He supported economic and political reforms but was forced by hardliners to resign as a leader of the People's Republic of China.

Latest threat levels or How to offend everyone in one short posting!

Barry recently received the following email:-


Latest threat levels
The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats and have raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies all but ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorised from "Tiresome" to a "Bloody Nuisance." The last time the English issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588 when threatened by the Spanish Armada.

The Scots raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Dirty Bastards" They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide". The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralysing the country's military capability.  It's not only the French who are on a heightened level of alert.

Italy has increased its alert level from "Shout loudly and excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."
The Germans also increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbour" and "Blitzkrieg".

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual, and the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Americans meanwhile and as usual are carrying out pre-emptive strikes, on all of their allies, just in case.

And in the southern hemisphere –

New Zealand has also raised its security levels - from "baa" to "BAA!". Due to continuing defence cutbacks (the air-force being a squadron of spotty teenagers flying paper aeroplanes and the navy some toy boats in the Prime Minister's bath), New Zealand only has one more level of escalation,  which is "I hope Australia will come and rescue us".


Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be right, mate". Three more escalation levels remain:  "Crikey!', "I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend" and "The barbie is cancelled". So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.