The day started off a little overcast this morning but after we had Meg up and breakfasted it looked as though the weather was set to improve. Just before we did the breakfast washing up, we decided to treat ourselves to a little relaxation to see that the YouTube algorithm has got to offer us and we were given a rendition of Mozart Piano Concerto No 24 which we actually know quite well but didn’t realise it until we heard it once more. YouTube is a constant source of delight to us with the occasional irritation that you can be ten minutes into a performance and then the display ‘freezes’. This happened twice to us this morning and I generally back out of YouTube altogether and then pop back in again to see if the internet connection has reset itself which it quite often does. It makes a bit of change to the succession of depressing news from the wave of violence sweeping the UK and the wall-to-wall Olympics. So after breakfast, we decided to engage in our new ‘Monday routine’ which involves a longer walk than usual and includes the ascension of a small hillock upon which the local Anglican church is built and where the cemetery path leads into town. We took the opportunity whilst traversing the High Street to get to our local bank where we could access its ATM and then proceeded on the ‘Lemon Tree‘ cafe which is a new find for us. When we got into the (deserted) coffee bar, the grandmother of the two girls who now run the shop greeted me and said she recognised my voice from last week at this time. It turns out that we were both members of the our church’s parochial council although I have had to resign from the same. We then chatted quite a lot about our various experiences in catering where I could recount some stories from the various part-time jobs I had at the Old Swan hotel in Harrogate. Then we were a little short of time so had to make a rapid exit for home but got a telephone call from the care agency when we were half way home asking us if we could make do with one carer rather ham two in the middle of the day as their schedules had been thrown into disarray by a local road closure. But when we got home, the two care workers were already waiting for us as they had used their SatNavs to negotiate a way round the road closure. By the way, this type of event does not seem that unusual and there seems to be some kind of traffic problem for the care agency staff at least once or twice per week.
This afternoon after lunch, Meg and I thought we needed a break from the Olympics and sought out a version of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ on either YouTube or the BBC iPlayer. We had to navigate our way around clips from the film or ‘paid for’ versions on YouTube. We did start to watch an American made version on YouTube so the acting so unbelievably bad we actually wondered whether the whole thing was a parody and was designed to be laughed at rather than enjoyed. So it was relief that we found on iPlayer the Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle version which is regarded by some as the definitive and finest version ever made. The actors playing the part of both Mr and Mrs Bennett senior are also excellent in their way and added tremendously to our enjoyment. There were some wonderful lines delivered with real panache which showed off Jane Austen’s wit to the fullest. The pomposity of Mr Collins is brilliantly portrayed and one can imagine Jane Austen giggling to herself when she put the words into her character’s mouth. When I was 15, I was exposed to ‘Emma’ and although I enjoy the book now, I certainly did not then. In fact, I sometimes wonder whether Jane Austen’s work is a little too subtle for adolescents unless one has a very skilful teacher of English literature. Once when I was in a Winchester bookshop, I saw a book evidently written in the Austen style called ‘The unexpurgated Jane Austen’ and this was hilarious. The style of the dialogue mimicked Austen’s beautifully but there were some wicked lines in it. I remember the conversation between Jane Austen and her publisher in which the latter was admonishing the author by indicating that phrases in it such as ‘That ****** [obscenity] Mr Bingham’ really had to be excised before publication.
Now that the British general election is well and truly over, my attention is very much engaged with what is happening over the water. Kamala Harris is holding last interviews on Sunday to test the chemistry with her final vice president contenders as she gears up to announce her 2024 running mate in the next 48 hours. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro will meet with Harris at her Washington DC residence,The New York Times reported. Harris’s final meetings are intended to test the chemistry with the prospective veeps before heading out on the campaign trail. They all hail from states considered to be battlegrounds this November, giving them an edge in the selection process. Walz, Kelly and Shapiro have been highly visible across cable news in the past few weeks, defending Harris’s record and taking on the traditional VP role of attack dog. Walz in particular has had success by labelling Republican rival Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance as ‘weird’ in reaction to Vance’s old comments – describing Democratic politicians as childless cat ladies’ and arguing that Americans with children should have more influence at the ballot box – resurfacing. Meanwhile Senator Lindsey Graham has a clear message for former President Donald Trump: Stop targeting Vice President Kamala Harris over her race and focus on her political record instead. In a recent interview on Fox News Sunday, the South Carolina senator, who has long supported Trump, expressed concern over the former president’s ongoing attacks on Harris’ race and heritage. Graham made it clear that his issue with Harris is her ‘bad judgment, not her background.’ So, here’s what I would say to President Trump, Graham advised, as reported by Business Insider. The problem I have with Kamala Harris is not her heritage; it’s her judgment. Every day, we’re talking about her heritage and not her terrible, dangerous liberal record throughout her entire political life.’
© Mike Hart [2024]