Povey Prattle

I think that it was about 100 years ago that my sister-in-law Wendy decided to earn some “pin money” by delivering telephone directories. Well, maybe it was more like 20 years ago, but I happened to be on holiday in England at that time, and I spent some time with Wendy and my brother Martyn lugging those books and delivering them to every home in a local neighbourhood. It was not an easy task. I was reminded of this when earlier I saw the photo’ which I have posted below. “Point well taken”. Indeed, who uses a ‘phone directory these days? “We” get all this information from the internet, not from a book! Fewer and fewer of us have land lines, thus we have little use for a ’phone book. As a case in point - I have a “Skype” internet ‘phone (VOIP), and a mobile ‘phone - but no land line. All well and good, but I have a concern. I ask “what if cyber-terrorists were able to disable the internet, voip, and mobile ‘phone systems?” Would we then regret our lack of old fashion...

White House wannebe Mike Huckabee (R) recently asserted that President Obama grew up in Kenya and that he (Obama) had undoubtedly been greatly influenced by the anti-colonialist Mau Mau movement. When it was pointed out to Huckabee (a former Baptist Minister) that this was not the case, he claimed that he had mis-spoken and had intended to say Indonesia. Our President hardly "grew up" in Indonesia.  He lived there for between four and five years at ages 5 -10. (Even with his correction, Huckabee did not acknowledge that the Mau Mau was never in Indonesia, and thus could not have influenced young Obama). For an excellet historical background, please read the Salon article, (link below  PLEASE READ THE STORY). I do not believe that Huckabee's words were a gaffe.  I think that they are part of a right wing trend to paint our President as somehow "un-American" -  and therefore even "anti-American". Their "case" would go something l...

At least two of the potential Republican candidates in the 2012 American Presidential election are liars. (At least two). Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi is one such fibber and obfuscator. He asserted a couple of day ago that the Obama administration would not be happy until gas (petrol) prices in the U.S.A. reached $9 per gallon, so that the public would be “forced” to buy energy efficient auto’s. This assertion is a bit of Republican “creative fantasy”, designed to scare voters. The “at the pump” price of gas/petrol is determined by a number of factors such as: (a) the decisions of producer Nations as to how much oil to pump at any given time, (b) the mystical and un-scientific “futures market” which projects future supply and demand, (did you see how prices rose at the mere threat of an interruption in supplies from Libya), (c) decisions made by refiners, distributors and retailers of gas/petrol, (d) the choices which consumers make about how much gas/petrol th...

My Azalea Canada Geese are not often seen here. Right outside my back door today Gorgeous Pelican  -  right outside my back door yesterday afternoon.

Some 55-60 years ago a new born baby girl was abandoned in my home city of Bristol. U.K. She was left, on a very stormy night, near Bristol’s chief railway station - “Bristol Temple Meads” Hence the local press [the “Bristol Evening Post“, or the “Bristol Evening World” (now defunct), or the “Western Daily Press”], gave this abandoned babe a name. One or more of these newspapers called her “Gale Temple”. I wonder what happened to this wee child. Did “Gale Temple” go on to have a wonderful life? Or has she been forgotten to history? I also wonder why I remembered this story all these years later. Did I remember it correctly? Or has the miasma of memory deceived me?

Wayne Farrell, a son of St. Boniface Church on Siesta Key, Sarasota, FL was yesterday ordained Deacon in our Cathedral Church in St. Petersburg (Florida not Russia!). I’d planned to attend this evening ordination but at about 3:30 p.m. I “crashed” - feeling physically and mentally exhausted. So I stayed at home, and took myself to bed, sleeping from 8:00 p.m. last evening until 5:00 a.m. today. All refreshed, I was ready for a pleasant interlude this morning. My former parishioners from St. James’s, Cambridge, Tom and Susan Harris stopped by with their daughter Kristin Nerich and her husband James Nerich, together with Morgan and Gwen - the little grandchildren of Tom and Susan. (Morgan and Gwen are Kristin and James’s daughters). It was a wonderful "reunion"  visit. 1.Susan Harris was the trusty Treasurer at St. James’s. 2. I officiated at the wedding of James and Kristin. 3.I baptized Morgan. The Harris/Nerich clan were en route from Orlando FL (Disney and all t...

When wine drinking began to be  popular in the United States ( during the 1960's) [up until then Americans mostly drank beer or hard liquors], there were many  wine descriptions which were entirely pretentious. Humourist James Thurber created the following spoof of those "over the top" descriptions: ** "It's a naive domestic Burgundy without any breeding, but I think you'll be amused by its presumption." ** (Quoted from "Manhattan '45, by Jan Morris  (John Hopkins University Press 1986)