Good seats at the theatre or cinema, or even at a popular local sporting event: they're worth paying a bit extra for, aren't they.
The last thing you want is to be "pillared", as they call it, or "pillocked" as Lois and I say. Go on, admit it!
Like this poor guy at a recent game at the Blackpool football stadium...
when you feel you've been "pillocked".....
...or when you feel you've been "hatted" - and at a recent
Oscars ceremony, to make it worse!
It's hard to keep calm in these situations isn't it, but most people just put up with it and hope for a better seat next time. But predictably not so with famously irascible local newspaper owner "fat cat" Herman T. Zweibel, who, after being annoyingly "hatted" during a pantomime matinée at the Swan Theatre in Worcester, was moved to pen this extraordinarily hard-hitting editorial in Onion News.
And Lois and I are thinking of Herman this morning, because Lois has asked me to drive her to Tewkesbury today to take part in her church's two Sunday Morning Meetings, and "getting one of the good seats", or more accurately "getting one of the good tables" is crucial to our satisfaction, we find.
Lois has hearing problems - she has an appointment for a hearing test at the local Specsavers on Monday - so she likes to be close to the platform, because a lot of the young preachers nowadays have a tendency to mumble. And as for me, I feel the cold, so I like to get a table near a radiator for preference.
To get a good table we leave specially early for the drive to Tewkesbury, but we're thwarted (again!) by the main road from Hanley into Upton being closed due to flooding, so have to retrace our route back to Hanley Swan and drive into Upton "the back way". Damn! I checked Google Maps at 6 am, and all seemed to be well, but it pays to keep checking, doesn't it - the situation in that area, right by the mighty River Severn, can change with little warning. And we wonder how the Warner's Supermarket there can long-term possibly survive the constant threat of temporary closures due to flooding- will it "go under" at some point (literally and commercially haha) ???
flashback to last month - our "go-to" supermarket at
Upon-on-Severn, Warner's, with one of its sadly repetitive warning messages
Because of our forced diversion on the way to Upton, we find, when we get to the village hall where the meetings are held, that all the "good tables" are taken or partially taken by the time we arrive, 10 minutes late.
Luckily we can manage to squeeze ourselves on to a little table near the back, sharing it with Ursula, the wife of this week's visiting preacher, Brother Tim from Redditch, who's giving a talk on the Old Testament's minor prophets for the weekly Bible Hour.
the first of today's 2 meetings: the Bible Hour. Brother Tim
gives his talk on the minor prophets under the watchful
eye of today's president, Brother John (right)
There are loads of Hebrew minor prophets - like, a billion, maybe more, even! And these guys were doing their work over a couple of centuries at the very least. This week's visiting preacher Brother Tim is a self-assured, relaxed young preacher from Redditch, with stacks of confidence in his message.
Tim gives lots of historical details also to explain the background to all these prophets and their writings. It turns out,however, that they're all pretty much consistent in their teaching, and I could summarise their writings as (1) try not to commit any sins, (2) but if you do so, it's important to repent, otherwise something bad will happen to you or to your country but (3) if you repent, you'll be rewarded either in your lifetime or maybe at some point afterwards.
the lunch break between today's two meetings: Chief Elder Andy
on the platform and also showing on the zoom screen behind him.
Lois (left) is making us two hot coffees to warm us up a bit.
there are 2 dogs present today (ringed) - both of the small but
cute variety, which is nice! Awwwwwww, bless !!!!!!
And crucially, unluckily for me, we're sitting - like - literally a billion miles from the nearest radiator, maybe further. And it's really really cold in the hall, the coldest I've ever known it. Later Chief Elder Andy tells us that when he arrived at the Village Hall, first thing, to open up, he found that the guy from the Parish Council that's supposed to drop by and put the heating on, must have forgotten. What madness !!!!
Andy switched it on himself when he arrived, but it has hardly made much progress in warming up the hall, even by the time that Lois and I arrive. And even the young people are keeping their coats on today, which is a clue. And as for me, it's the first time I've ever been so cold that I've kept my gloves on during both of the two meetings, as well as my coat and scarf.
flashback to February 4th, and the Sunday that
was, at the time, the coldest I've ever known in the Village Hall.
Today's temperature has busted that record, that's for sure!
What madness (again) !!!!
15:00 Luckily Lois and I can warm up in bed when we get home to Malvern, and after our daughter Sarah and her 10-year-old twins have gone home to Alcester after spending the night here. We turn the electric underblanket up to "max" and enjoy ourselves, which is nice!
21:00 And our pre-bedtime viewing tonight is Thursday's last ever episode in the US period-drama series "Julia" on Sky Atlantic. Because it's on a pay channel we've only ever seen one episode, until I grudgingly agreed recently to pay for a low-price subscription to Now TV, which includes the non-sport Sky channels.
Somebody at Radio Times really really likes this series, because it's always being showcased on their "blurb" pages, so Lois and I were tempted to try it out the other week, although I didn't quite get what the show was supposed to be doing, "Is it a comedy, I wondered?". Luckily, Lois, who's more perceptive than me about the nuances of dramas, most of which nuances sadly go clean over my head, was able to "fill me in" afterwards, which was nice.
The series "Julia" has been all about the real-life story of Julia Child, who is credited with bringing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" (1961), and with pioneering US TV cooking shows with her ground-breaking series "The French Chef" (1962).
In this final episode Julia's TV station, WGBH Boston, which was known apparently for its anti-Establishment bias and potentially "subversive" status, gets raided by a team of FBI agents headed by a suitably-named Frank Bludger. The Radio Times blurb (above) promises that Julia and her colleagues will somehow thwart them - something Lois, who has an anti-Establishment bias herself, is enthusiastically looking forward to seeing.
FBI agent Bludger, or "the goon" as the TV station staff call him,
begins his questioning of personnel
But how much does the Radio Times blurb-writer know about US history? I don't know that much myself, but I don't think that McCarthyism lasted until the 1960's, did it? I suppose the spirit of McCarthyism did, in certain quarters, so maybe that's okay. I think I should be told perhaps!
Luckily Julia, who before becoming a cookery expert, worked for the US Government intelligence agency the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) during World War II, is able to brief her colleagues on the best way to thwart the FBI team, by numerous tactics, including side-tracking them onto irrelevant issues and up blind alleys - that kind of thing.
And just for any of YOU,, in case you ever get challenged on YOUR right to protest, I've compiled this handy list of rules about how to survive a questioning session.
Rule no. 1: say "I know nothing!"
Rule no. 4: blame the nearest Canadian.
nudge nudge wink wink haha!!!
And what about our own, our very own, Sarah Lancashire, English actress from Oldham, playing the part of Julia with, to my ears, a pitch-perfect version of a certain sort of American accent, with her mild-mannered husband, her old OSS colleague Paul, played by David Hyde-Pierce - Niles in Frasier.
Fascinating stuff, isn't it !!!!! [I don't think you've shown that beyond any reasonable doubt! - Ed]
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzz!!!!!
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