I'm the man!: Part 2

Last year, I posted a scorecard which showed my incoming nine score from the Cromwell Course at The Park (the course where I have my membership). Those of you who follow this blog religiously have probably noticed that there hasn't been a scorecard recently. But this morning, after a rather shoddy outgoing nine, I again found myself in the zone. I have included the card.

When I looked back in the blog to find my first card I realised that it was from 30 October. Today is 30 April. I guess I'm allowed one good nine every six months.

From the writings of Lewis Carroll

The Walrus and Carpenter

Our church hopes to host a film series next spring at our local independent cinema in Bath. So, we are members. Our memberships were up for renewal so after we were issued this year's membership cards we decided to take in a Friday double feature. (Yes, it is our day off!) We watched The Painted Veil and then headed upstairs to watch The Lives of Others which won this year's Academy Award for best foreign language film. I recommend both highly, although my guess is that both films are probably not shown in mega cinemas or if they are they probably had a limited release.

Afterwards, we went to The Walrus and Carpenter, a Bath institution. This unique little restaurant, even though it has a 'pubish' name is located near the Royal Theatre and specialises in vegetarian food, although they do have fabulous burgers for carnivores. Maurene had the Seafood Bake and I had a burger covered with the unique combination of applesauce and Colman's grain mustard. Yum! It was a nice way to spend a Friday. The website for The Walrus and Carpenter is: http://www.thewallybath.co.uk/ . If you click on menu you can not only see their rather unique fare, but see the actual table at which we dined. Now that's exciting!

Ron's Bath Walking Tour: Part 7
I take you on a quick visit of The Circus and The Royal Crescent -two of Bath's architectural gems.

I'm dancin'

My take on Virginia Tech

I try to stay away from too much political commentary on this blog. But, as usual, the gun control debate is raging again, and is getting extensive coverage here in the UK. I simply want to say that I believe heightened security measures can become oppressive and lead to a poorer quality of life. So, as long as American continues to have a lax policy on guns (especially hand guns) then they should expect events like those that have happened in the 24 hours. I personally would not want security measures put in place which restrict my freedom of movement, cause me undo delay in going about my day to day tasks, or hampered others from living their lives. This is especially important on university campuses, where such freedom is one of the ways we learn to live away from the family structures of our childhood.

Rest in peace, Kurt. . .

"Do unto others what you would have them do unto you." A lot of people think Jesus said that, because it is so much the sort of thing Jesus liked to say. But it was actually said by Confucius, a Chinese philosopher, five hundred years before there was that greatest and most humane of human beings, named Jesus Christ.

The Chinese also gave us, via Marco Polo, pasta and the formula for gunpowder. The Chinese were so dumb they only used gunpowder for fireworks. And everybody was so dumb back then that nobody in either hemisphere even knew that there was another one.

We've sure come a long way since then. Sometimes I wish we hadn't. I hate H-bombs and the Jerry Springer Show.

But back to people like Confucius and Jesus and my son the doctor, Mark, each of whom have said in their own way how we could behave more humanely and maybe make the world a less painful place. One of my favorite humans is Eugene Debs, from Terre Haute in my native state of Indiana.

Get a load of this. Eugene Debs, who died back in 1926, when I was not yet four, ran five times as the Socialist Party candidate for president, winning 900,000 votes, almost 6 percent of the popular vote, in 1912, if you can imagine such a ballot. He had this to say while campaigning:

As long as there is a lower class, I am in it.

As long as there is a criminal element, I'm of it.

As long as there is a soul in prison, I am not free.

Doesn't anything socialistic make you want to throw up? Like great public schools, or health insurance for all?

When you get out of bed each morning, with the roosters crowing, wouldn't you like to say. "As long as there is a lower class, I am in it. As long as there is a criminal element, I'm of it. As long as there is a soul in prison, I am not free."

How about Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes?

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.

And so on.

Not exactly planks in a Republican platform. Not exactly George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, or Donald Rumsfeld stuff.

For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes. But often with tears in their eyes, they demand the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course that's Moses, not Jesus. I haven't heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere.

"Blessed are the merciful" in a courtroom? "Blessed are the peacemakers" in the Pentagon? Give me a break!

from a man without a country by Kurt Vonnegut

Thanks, Kurt!

The Bath Quilt

Maurene contemplates becoming a Councillour

The Banqueting Hall set up for a concert

Ron and Maurene with The Right Worshipful Mayor of Bath

We visit the Mayor of Bath

The Mayor Bath, Cllr. Carol Paradise, invited Maurene and I to her parlour for afternoon tea and a chance to see some of historical items that are kept in the Guildhall. We had a lovely visit and she spent over an hour telling us not only about Bath but about her family and her interesting life. She is the 779th Mayor of Bath, and since each Mayor serves a one-year term you can tell they have been around for a while. The first woman Mayor was appointed in 1950, so women in that position are still in the ground-breaking mode.

The chain around her neck is valued at £90K ($180 USD) but her consort (her daughter) and the Master of Ceremonies each wear chains that are only valued at £45K. It was interesting to note that the Master of Ceremonies chain has only been around since 1777. Rumour has it that, Beau Nash, the most famous Master of Ceremonies sold off an earlier one to pay a gambling debt.

The two maces that always accompany the Mayor on her trips around the city are valued at £1mil ($2million USD). She explained that they were clubs that were used to ward off enemies of the Bishop. A picture of the sword and mace bearers can be seen in an earlier blog.

She was quite friendly and very down to earth. The photographs are some of the sites within the Guildhall.

By the way, if you are thinking about a jewelry heist, all of the items are delivered to the police station every evening. She was quick to inform us of that. I don't think she trusted us.

Up, up and away. . .

The arrival of spring brings with it the resumption of hot air balloons over the city of Bath. The primary launch point is at Victoria Park which is about a half mile from our house. On Monday I saw 9 balloons in the early evening whilst I was playing golf. This evening we had three fly over our house. I was barbecuing and heard them before I saw them. The photos aren't the best, it is a bit cloudy today. Hopefully sometime this summer I'll catch several at once.

Photographs from Henrietta Park.
I took these today and decided to set them to music. Just fooling around with Windows Movie Maker.

Ron's Bath Walking Tour: Part 6

Another child of the 60s

Rolling Stones wildman Keith Richards claims he snorted his own father's ashes during a drugs binge.
Richards made the extraordinary admission in an interview with NME magazine.
"The strangest thing I've tried to snort? My father. I snorted my father," he said.
"He was cremated and I couldn't resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow. My dad wouldn't have cared. It went down pretty well, and I'm still alive."

We still have Bonnie's ashes. . .very tempting.