How to annoy my daughter

My daughter has had her first mock exam. I am not sure if she is going to survive the week. Today, before her exam, a friend tried to de-stress her by smuggling in two snails into the refectory and having a snail race on her table. Some of the snail trail got onto her notes which she promptly binned.

In the exam, her friend sat next to her and tried to get her to help. On the other side, a fellow student needed a pen, she lent it to them and they spent the exam deconstructing her pen and then clicking joints (which my daughter hates).

Apparently I am meant to be sympathetic on hearing this and not burst into laughter. 

They call me Arsenal, I start on top and finish 2nd!

Yesterday I missed the game but watched the highlights today. I would say that our win against Newcastle was a game of the goalkeepers from watching the best bits. It is great that we won. I have to admit I thought that we would lose. We just have to hope that City lose two games and we win all of ours. But that is not going to happen.

Yesterday we missed the weekend pub quiz as we went to the same pub, but for a birthday bash which was quite nice.  I still get twitchy in public spaces, but my anxiety is starting to improve.  

My son has started to revise for his mock exams, but they are not starting tomorrow like those of my daughter.  She has not worked as much as she wanted this weekend and I hope that she does not get too stressed about that.  Anyway, here is wishing her the best for tomorrow!

Ghosting

 As a film , it was okay. It was not terrible but was not brilliant either. We watched with Nick and Lyndsay and Nick after the coronation. It will have to be compared to True Lies (1994), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) and Knight and Day (2010), and is just as silly and unbelievable at times. I am biased as I liked True Lies better than this, but I would rate it as being better than Knight and Day. It did have bits that were funny, had action scenes, but while I would not say that the film deserves to be ignored, if you are bored, it is worth watching , at the very least to see Ana de Armas in her dress in the final meeting. 

When the best bit is a dress and the presence of an actor or two that you seen elsewhere, that says that other films are worth watching over this one. 

Long Live The King

 Long live the king! Two friends and their son came over to watch the Coronation with us, but while my wife and prepared a feast for us, I felt guilty that we had not put up anything to celebrate the day.

My son was not interested in the event at all, he did not watch it and instead went into town to meet a friend. Later we bonded watching Greys Anatomy and even going on a drive together. His views is that the Monarchy should be judged on its past. He is aware that I am in favour of it, and while I do not like the way the Monarchy did not defend Meghan from racist double standards from aspects of the media, I do admire the views of King Charles on how the deportation of asylum seekers is appalling, as well as his views on climate change and sustainable farming. 

My daughter did watch it as well with us before going out with a friend at the end to Fingringhoe by bus and needing a lift once they got lost in the rain. She also would end the Monarchy though she disagrees with me that the alternative would be President Farage. Her commitment to democracy when it has given us Brexit and thirteen years of Conservative mis-rule is admirable for a post that in essence is a figurehead at present, but could usher in the Far Right if made democratic.

Penny Mordaunt, Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Privy Council was very impressive though she was called an air hostess by on or two watching it. Overall it was an event that the nation could take pride in.

I do understand that not everyone did so, and I think that this is one of the few occasions where the right for peaceful protest should not take place in earshot of the once in a lifetime event (for our new Monarch) when so many people who wish him well want to be able to see the even themselves. Comments by those who should know better that people should emigrate if they do not like the event are stupid and fail to reflect that one of the strengths of our nation is the ability to question authority. 

Voting with voter ID

 I voted yesterday. Fortunately, I carry by photo ID in my wallet as I might have forgotten otherwise.  I did try to see if my Labour Party ID would be accepted, but it is not photographic, so it was not. 

Apparently, some who knew better had forgotten theirs, but they had the time and means to go back and collect it before returning to vote.  That is not the case with all.  I voted before I went to work and would not have had the time to vote if I had not done so, or the time to collect by voter ID as I had to get into work by a certain time.  Others had issues with voting which they were not able to overcome.

While the Conservatives point out that Voter ID is in use in Europe, carrying forms of ID is the norm in many European nations, whereas this is not the case in the UK. The idea of compulsory ID cards was discussed in the past, but has been rejected due to concerns over civil liberties. 

Conservatives have mentioned that this is in use in Northern Ireland, but the electorate there wanted this due to a perception that electoral fraud was taking place.  In Northern Ireland, the tongue-in-cheek slogan "Vote early, vote often" has underlined the fact that unscrupulous individuals were always on the lookout for opportunities to cheat. Allegations existed that both sides engaged in this, but one was more prolific than the other and people would turn up to vote to find that someone had stolen their vote! When challenged about this taking place on the mainland, Conservatives have not been able to cite such examples taking place on as significant a scale.

Another thing that is mentioned by Conservative supporters is that we need ID to collect packages from the post office. But the many forms of ID used in such examples are not acceptable to vote. I have collected parcels with my bank card on many an occasion but am not allowed to vote using the same proof, and photographic ID is not needed to open a bank account. 

I suspect many who did not vote in these elections will find out the hard way that voter ID will be needed in the next General Election and we know that those who are more likely to vote Conservative are more likely to have acceptable ID.

Rosie Holt: The Woman’s Hour

My wife and I have gone out a bit this bank holiday weekend. On Friday we went to a comedy show at The Mercury Theatre, on Saturday we went to see Rosie Holt and last night we went to a quiz night at a local pub. 

My son has been out with his friends, and while a trip to the visiting fair was being considered, he and his friends stayed in town instead. 

My daughter has had her first paycheque as she is now working part time where I work. She joked that her views on taxation are now to change and she is going to vote Conservative when she gets the chance. At least I think she was joking. Anyway, she now has enough money to buy her friends decent birthday presents. Not that shopping is on her mind as she has been enjoying the sun by revising in the garden.

I had my annual appraisal and one of my goals was to beat my walking target from last year, which has meant that I have been trying to walk more since then and have been using the weekend to do so. Yesterday my daughter and I walked about with Leia in a new area for the three of us.

Going back to the comedy, Kate McGann started us off on Friday, introducing Jamie D’Souza and then Michael Odewale. My wife had picked seats at the front and while all the front row were asked questions by Kate McGann, it was in a nice way which still got a few laughs. That was a good night and set the bar for Saturday.

On Saturday we went to visit a friend in Ipswich before the comedy show. The town was buzzing as Ipswich had just won promotion back to the old second division. I liked the show more than my wife, but we both did enjoy it. I was surprised to find that I have been blocked on Twitter by Sooz Kempner, for what I do not know. But both were great and the show is worth watching if you are interested in politics and like Rosie Holt.

Now to look up holidays for later this month…

Artificial intelligence

 There has been debate about how artificial intelligence may replace us recently in the media. People who are concerned about this forget that at present, computers need us for energy generation. Even with renewable power, we are still needed to maintain and replace power supplies as well as work on the energy infrastructure.

 What we have to be concerned about is not killer robots, but the control of social media by such creations. We have seen the power of social media with Brexit and the election of Trump. Any form of AI can influence us using that, and that may mean setting one group of us against another.