Ian Bell : My hero.

A Day In The Sun

In ancient Egypt's fifth dynasty the sun, in the form of the god Ra, was widely worshipped. Ra became a state deity and all manner of solar temples, pyramids and obelisks were built in his honour. In Aztec mythology Tonatiuh was the sun god. Up to twenty thousand people per year were sacrificed in his name. The Greeks, Romans, Saxons, Norsemen and Germanic tribes all had a day of the sun and it is from those languages that our own Sunday comes. In the early nineteenth century, Turner painted the astonishing Sun Rising Through Vapour. In 1930 DH Lawrence was inspired to write, "I am part of the sun as my eye is part of me".

On the 27th of July, 2009, the sun came out in York and a substantial proportion of its population, including myself, were inspired to go and stand in the Post Office. I don't know which emotion I feel more strongly, shame or despair.

Freak Cycle.

Like most cities, York has a Freecycle scheme - a great way of cutting down waste and one I heartily applaud. It's an online list of items that members want to give away, and also items that members would like. No money must change hands for the items. It's a handy way to stop things getting thrown away unnecessarily. I subscribe to the Freecycle Digest too. I get a few emails a day with an updated list. It is split into three categories: Taken, Offered and Wanted. Here are some of the items from the past week. I have not made any of these up, only the comments in italics are mine.

Offered: Christmas wreath - Have you cancelled Christmas in your house?

Offered: Broken paving

Offered: Clothes hangers

Wanted: Dishwasher - There's nothing like ambition, I shall be requesting an Aston Martin soon.

Offered: Ja Ja Binks rucksack - Alternatively, stick a sign on your child's back that says "kick me".

Wanted: Round door handle

Offered: Blackout curtains - Put that bloody light out, don't you know there's a war on!

Wanted: All things Egyptian - I'm not sure that we have the space in York.

Wanted: Non-working Nokia 6500 slide - Why specify non-working? Can't you break one?

Offered: Candia long life milk (out of date) - Hmm, tempting.

Wanted: Caravan

Offered: Fire extinguisher, Minimax model 4a (1962) - One for the collectors out there.

Offered: Mens medium beige striped pyjama bottoms

Wanted: Blacksmith's anvil - Strangely, this was not requested by a Wile E. Coyote.

Offered: Arrid XX Womens spray on deodorant (only used twice)

Offered: Rubber fancy dress Roman tie-on armour breastplate - Just what I needed.

Wanted: Sega Megadrive and Sonic The Hedgehog game - Could anyone be more specific?

Wanted: UPVC opening window, 26"wide x 30" tall - Apparently they can.

Taken: Matchboxes

Feel a bit less mad now? Good, me too.

A Random Discovery

My friend Brad found this interesting suggestion on a packet of Sun-Maid raisins:

"Why not try tossing over your favourite breakfast cereal?"

A Lomographic Slideshow.

Graffiti, part one.

Someone has written this on a wall near my house. I assume that they're trying to cock a snook at the forces of law and order. I don't think they've thought it through properly. Wouldn't the police rather enjoy that? Wouldn't that cause there to be more of them?

The word police is a little indistinct though, perhaps it says "Fuck The Polite"? Surely "Make love to the polite" would a more appropriate term.

It could say "Fuck The Pohu". My exhaustive research has revealed that Pohu are a Shanghai based hydraulics company. If it refers to them, it's in the wrong place and needs to be moved approximately 6000 miles to the right.

Come on graffitists of York. A little more thought and a little less ambiguity please.

Walter Cronkite

It's sad to hear about the death of Walter Cronkite, the legendary news anchor. His broadcasts were professional, knowledgeable and authoritative, yet the essential decency and humanity of the man shone through. I studied a lot of his broadcasts at university, his treatment of the many momentous events in the turbulent period during which he anchored CBS news was exceptional. When you watch a history programme looking at the Kennedy assassination, the 1968 Democratic convention or the Vietnam war, you inevitably see footage of Cronkite - rather than other contemporary news anchors - such was his pre-eminence.

This information from the BBC website seems superfluous,

"In 1972, he was deemed by a poll of the US public to be, "the most trusted man in America", beating presidents, members of congress and other journalists."

"...beating presidents.."! Nixon was President in 1972. Who couldn't beat Nixon in a most trusted man contest? Show me that man!