Update 34
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Following my MRI scan on the 24th, Monday was the day for a face to face meeting with Neurologist Dr Mark Silva. He explained that the tumour has grown since the initial scans back in May. It’s gone from a 40mm diameter to one of 52mm, plus there are signs of tissue death and some bleeding so in spite of my apparent lack of symptom alterations, inside my skull, real change is underway.
One thing that has been clarified by public reaction to at least our last three premierships, is that overall, we the people couldn’t care less about the lack of honesty embraced by Johnson and Truss in particular. If we also consider the standards of behaviour set by Pritti Patel, Dominic Raab, Suella Braverman and Nadim Zahawi, we are justified in concluding that the public’s lack of concern has granted our politicians enough leeway to dispense with almost all of the standards that previously applied in public life.
We were lied to about the potential benefits of Brexit, specifically we were lied to about the need for a border in the Irish Sea, and we were lied to about the cards we allegedly held in any EU negotiations. The list does in fact run into dozens more examples. If you really want to depress yourself, I can recommend a book entitled ‘The Little Black Book of Lying Boris Johnson’. Perhaps the government’s biggest lie remains that our vaccine rollout was only possible because we left the EU. At the time, the Head of the MRHA made it very clear that under EU law we had been able to roll out whichever vaccine, whenever we wished - just as did several other EU countries including Hungary. We should not be tempted to believe lies just because they’re uttered by government ministers.
Last Sunday, Tony Blackburn celebrated his 80th birthday and I was honoured to make a contribution to a special Radio Two programme. Tony and I started working together in 1967 and as Chairman of the Classic Gold Network, almost my last act before I retired, was to appoint Tony as the host of that network’s Breakfast Show. Our association had lasted half a century. You can hear my contribution which closed the programme here.
In 1968 Tony Blackburn and I were given a tour of EMI’s vinyl pressing plant in Hayes Middlesex
We finished our second viewing of all 154 episodes of ‘The West Wing’ on Monday and last night moved our affections to ‘Our Friends in the North’ a clever 9-part BBC series from the 90s. As I noted in an earlier update, it was based on the scandals around Councillor T Dan Smith and the architect John Poulson, both of whom went to jail for their corrupt activities. I recall my own father’s conflicts with Poulson when we lived in Pontefract where Poulson’s business was then based. My mother always blamed that man for Dad’s premature death and from my recollections, she may well have been correct.
You might remember that I sent my iPad Pro away to a company claiming they could replace its damaged charge port? I’ve been told that they’re seeking the part but it will have to come from China which could take weeks - watch this space for any news of progress. Apple wanted £868 to make the repair, Gamer Tech Repairs suggested £69.99. As for the true cost ? Who knows …..
We enjoyed another of our Tivoli Treats on Tuesday when over lunchtime we watched ‘The Fabelmans’ - Stephen Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical story of his seduction by the art of film making. It is another long movie; 2 hours and 31 minutes, but it doesn’t drag and the actor who for most of the screen time plays the young Spielberg (Gabriel Labelle) is superb. His progression from a Kodak amateur movie camera through an always impressive semi pro Bolex to the loan of an Arriflex 16mm is convincing. Whatever the reality, Spielberg’s phenomenal body of work is testimony to the learning process he embraced and the passion he discovered in those early years.
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