Last night and this morning have not run particularly smoothly. Last night Meg was awake all of the evening and although I tried to get an earlier night I was kept awake until about 1.00 in the morning. Then Meg awoke me at about 5.00am so I finished off with only four hours of sleep and consequently have felt like ‘death warmed up’ during most of the day. There was a large band of rain sweeping up the country but, fortunately, at the time that we came to make our journey down the hill to Waitrose, the band of rain had largely passed over just leaving gloomy clouds in its wake. In the store, we were pleased to meet up with two of our friends and we had our normal pleasant chat. To he musical nonagenarian chorister friend, we related the following story with some relish. Late yesterday afternoon, Meg and I found a programme on Beethoven celebrating the life of the great composer. Now most depictions of Beethoven show him with rather scowling features and certainly not a tranquil face at rest. The programme that we saw yesterday revealed the reason why. After he had achieved a degree of fame, it was decided that a bust of Beethoven be made (to be displayed somewhere in Vienna I wonder?) This procedure involved applying a kind of thick plastic wax or paste in some depth to the whole of Beethoven’s face and in order to breathe two large straws were inserted through the wax into his nostrils. Beethoven found this procedure particularly unpleasant (as I suspect we all might) and when the wax was removed and ultimately converted into a mould for a bust of the great man, he is depicted with a huge scowl, or rather a grimace. So the images that we have of Beethoven displaying a scowling or tempestuous air about him might ultimately all derive from the face mask. Another little nugget that came from one of the musicologists contributing to the programme was that after failed attempt to make a lasting liaison with the opposite sex, in which Beethoven was always unsuccessful, his music seemed to make a great leap forward. So the musicologists thanked all of the various women, usually of aristocratic lineage and beyond Beethoven’s league, for the fact that they had all turned him down (usually citing his ugliness and strange habits) and had thus helped Beethoven to write even more masterpieces.
After we had got Meg home, we had our late morning call complete with a third young care assistant who was shadowing as part of her training, and then we prepared for these care workers to depart and for the ‘sit’ call to commence. The carer allocated to the ‘sit’ call who we have known from some weeks back came along and we discussed some medications that I might be able to buy to induce some sleep in Meg this evening, given that the doctors are loathe to prescribe any sleeping aids whatsoever. So when I went out on the road this morning, I went into our local herbalist to find something that the carers have recommended based upon their clients and/or relatives so I purchased a bottle of something which may or may not help. All of these sleep supplements are a fantastic price but I suspect that they trade upon the fact that once deprived of sleep for some time one becomes almost desperate. Whether these preparations will work in conjunction with Meg’s other medications, I cannot tell and it may be that they are a complete waste of money but I feel that I have to make the effort because I cannot continue indefinitely only getting four hours of sleep a night and with the medical profession unwilling to help.
Gareth Southgate has resigned this afternoon and I suspect that whilst there may be some regrets, much of the footballing public will feel it is time for a new broom. What is ironic that some of the more avid followers of football are making the point that the individual talents of the squad seem quite manifest but often they fail to be displayed as soon as they pull on an England shirt. The point has been made by more than one commentator, that the players seem to manifest good performances for their individual clubs but these are often only brought to fruition in an England team when they are brought on as a substitute with ten minutes to go. Personally, I feel that we need to develop a more aggressive, penetrative style of football that runs at and takes on the opposition. The worst thing that I witnessed in the current England was the sight of three England players passing the ball laterally to each other in their own third of the pitch. So in the words of the old fashioned expression, perhaps it is a case of ‘Nothing venture, nothing gain’
Tomorrow is the day of the King’s speech in Parliament. The King’s Speech is a speech written by the government and delivered by the Monarch at the State Opening of Parliament. It marks the beginning of a new parliamentary year, or session, and is an opportunity for the government to set out its legislative agenda for the coming month. Tomorrow might be particularly interesting for us to observe which bits of legislation will receive a degree of priority and which will be sidelined. I foresee at least one defeat for the new Labour government. When they have the opportunity, the SNP has announced plans to table an amendment to the King’s Speech calling for the government to scrap the two-child benefit cap. There are so many of the new Labour MP’s who agree with the SNP that this is one of the best ways to alleviate child poverty that I foresee either a massive rebellion or a Labour retreat. Rather than risk a revolt at the very start of a new Parliament, the new Labour government must be able to find a way to prioritise this item of spending rather than resorting to the formula of lifting the benefit cap ‘when conditions allow’.
© Mike Hart [2024]