Mint Sauce.

When I was a wee sprog, like most small children, I was given simple jobs to do.

On Sundays, if Father was going walking/climbing, I was given the job of putting 'dubbin' on his boots. I loved it.

Sunday lunchtimes also involved small jobs. If we were eating Beef, it was my job to mix the Mustard. If we were eating Lamb, it was me who made the Mint Sauce.

The Mint grew in a large patch at the bottom of the garden. I would go down, pick some Nettles or Bracken, and return triumphantly to present it to my Mother, before revealing the actual Mint from behind my back. I continued doing this hilariously funny game for years.

I loved chopping the mint, using a large rounded knife to perform a rocking movement over the Mint to chop it as finely as possible. Then it was just a matter of adding the Vinegar and some Sugar, before filling our glass Mint Sauce Boat.

We ate Roast Lamb last night, hence the sauce. Delicious.

WOOPS !

Jeremy Clarkson (who is always right) informed us yesterday (The Sunday Times) that the funniest thing in the world is watching someone fall over. In fact, in his Sunday Times article he even mentioned this particular video.

I don't think I've ever just fallen over as such, but I do remember bumping into a lamp post by not paying attention to what I was doing. I can remember the event as if it was yesterday; and I was only about 6.

This man above deserved everything he got; plus the continued humiliation of having become a YouTube sensation !

Do watch the whole video; it's worth it. But be prepared for some rather fruity language !!!

 

Mother nature

This must be the most beautiful, and uplifting, time of year.

Forget January 1st, this is when the year really starts, with fresh leaves appearing on the trees, and birds singing their little hearts out.

As I walk around, I can feel my lungs being anointed by the healing elixir of fresh air, and I feel rejuvenated.

Of course, I do enjoy the warmth of Summer, the sadness of Autumn, and the crisp morning air of Winter, but what stirs the blood the most is now; Spring.

With Billy in Tow, for our early morning walks, I feel really glad to be alive, and I'm sure Billy does too.

I'm not a tree-hugger, like our current King, but I do love trees and treat them with respect. These old Elms in the churchyard are magnificent. I don't know how they managed to avoid the Dutch Elm Disease that killed so many throughout the country, but they are thriving.

What wonderful weather we're having. It's perfect.

 

Aston 'Family Man' Barrett.

There seems to be nothing but bad news at the moment.

News often arrives Chez Magnon quite slowly; I have only just heard that Aston 'family man' Barrett had died. In fact he died back in February of 2024, but no-one told me.

Here he is in my garden in Brighton, enjoying a 'puff' in the sunshine with my friend, the writer, John Masouri.

Since hearing of his death I also came across this record 'Aston is the Man' by The Melbourne Ska Orchestra. It's not one of their better songs, but it is in honour of the great man.

Aston was a member, and the unofficial manager, of Bob Marley's Wailers. He also found the time to have 41 children; 23 girls, and 18 boys. Not bad going, eh ?

So, a belated 'Farewell' Aston. Your music influenced several generations, and continues to do so.

The voice and music of Bob Marley and The Wailers will live forever.

 

How to save £659,995,000

 

It has just been announced that we will give France another £660 Million over the next three years to continue with their highly successful 'anti migrant policies'. Government supporters must be jubilant.

We have now given France over £1.3 Billion to help stop the continuous influx. It was Rishi Sunak who first gave them £500 Million back in 2023, since when 84,000 illegal immigrants (that we know of) have managed to paddle across The Channel. 

I don't want anyone to get upset, but I'm going to suggest something quite radical.

Rather than spend all our hundreds of £Millions on something that WE ALL KNOW won't work, why not send one of our 'all immigrants welcome' Ministers to Australia to see how their government's 'Operation Sovereign Borders' policy works (above). A round ticket, and a 2 day stay in Oz, would cost about £5,000 so we could make a saving of £659,995,000; which I'm sure would make Rachel from Accounts very happy.

Australia has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to illegal immigration; and it works !

Can't the UK do the same ? It's only those 20 miles between Calais and Dover that need to be patrolled !

It's not exactly the Straits of Hormuz.

Mo Farah; eat your heart out !

They play chess better than humans, they build better cars, they answer any question I care to pose, and now they are beating us at running Marathons.

When all Robots are Solar Powered, there will be very little for humans to do other than replace all agricultural land and woodland with solar panels and windmills, start pointless wars, and attempt to occupy other planets that wouldn't normally sustain human life.

The more our boffins create 'replacement humans', the more we become redundant. And when Robots become capable of reproducing themselves, we might as well give-up, and become their slaves.

The one thing that amused me the most in this video of Robot Racing (above), was watching the human runners all taking photos with their phones (0.43 secs). It's almost like saying "What's the point of US running, if THEY can do it faster, and without breaking-out into a sweat".

Robots can now mow our lawns, clean our pools, sweep our carpets, do our shopping, cook our meals, drive our cars, and even trade in shares and commodities for us. And I can guarantee that there are boffins everywhere who are, at this very minute, trying to make humans even more redundant.

Humans are in peril; we are no longer needed, other than to be looked-after by Robots. Otherwise they wouldn't know what to do with themselves; nor would we.

Inter-Robot wars maybe ?

 

Two Sets of Rules

Firstly I wish to say that I have absolutely nothing against Asian women running, but I'm not too sure about their racism.

What I did question when I saw about this on the TV News was, would it be allowed to have an exclusively English Women Run ? The obvious answer is No, it wouldn't.

I do remember reading about the National Black Police Association, and thinking the same thing. Would a National White Police Association be allowed ? Of course not. White Policemen would NOT be allowed to start an organisation that rejected prospective members on account of their skin colour, or ethnicity; and rightly so!

In these times when integration is so important, should we really allow Asian groups to separate themselves (by race) from non-Asians ? What do they have against running alongside English women anyway ?

What are they frightened of ? Come on you Asians; white English folks aren't so bad !