Povey Prattle

Sub-marines

I’ve read a couple of autobiographies/memoirs in recent months in which the author has had his (yes they are both males) life transformed as a result of discovering the public library. One was Jack Marshall’s memoir  “From Baghdad to Brooklyn- Growing up in a Jewish-Arabic family in Midcentury America”  Marshall grew up in Brooklyn, NY. He is the son of Jewish parents whose linguistic heritage was Arabic. (His mother was from Aleppo, Syria, his father from Baghdad, Iraq.) Marshall discovered a world beyond his circumspect background when he discovered the Brooklyn library. The other was “Learning to die in Miami. The confessions of a refugee boy” by Carlos Eire.  Carlos was one of the 14,000 “Peter Pan” children from Cuba who were airlifted to the United States between 1960 and 1962   (see  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Peter_Pan Cut off from his family, culture and heritage Carlos was more or less left adrift in the Greater Miami area. ...

In about 1962 I became the proud owner of a Lambretta scooter.  Dad and I went down to a vendor of pre-owned scooters whose business was on Warwick Rd in the Easton part of Bristol. The owner of the business had some sort of connection with the Plymouth Brethren -  so that (allegedly) made him more reliable. The scooter was useful for my work -  I used it to travel the ten or so miles from my home to the Westminster Bank in Chipping Sodbury, Glos where I was a very junior clerk. I was the last person in the world to have been allowed such a machine as I do not have a mechanical cell in my body.  In those days there were no electric starters for scooters -  and the kick starting could be a pain.  My Lambretta had a two stroke engine, using a mixture of petrol and oil. Soon after I bought the scooter my Gospel Quartette friend Eric Pavey and I set out for a trip from Bristol to Coventry.  I yet had a “leaner’s licence” but Eric could be my passenger ...

Look carefully

These are glorious insults from an era before the English language got boiled down to 4-letter words. A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease." "That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "whether I embrace your policies or your mistress." "He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill "I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." - Clarence Darrow "He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway). "Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." - Moses Hadas "I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain "He has no enemies, but is inte...

This is not one of my cats.  But  it is a genuine photo' of "Tootsie" who lives with Paul (a Facebook friend) up in Massachusetts. Tootsie is sitting on the back of a couch as she looks out of a window. =========================================================== I like this cartoon!