WHO IS THIS GUY CALLED ARIEL?

By ariel70 - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Journal

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

LET'S GIVE A WARM WELCOME TO A NEW BLOGGER, LES LEGOVER!!!

And now; a little light relief... Welcome to Blogit, Les. I called on you today, but unfortunately you weren’t at home. That rather intimidating lady neighbour of yours was, though: you know the one I mean; Big Mama Ballcrusher, I think she said her name was. What a strange occupation, I thought! Was she employed in some local factory, or was she self-employed? We have various balls about the place, and I did wonder if I ought to offer them to her for this crushing process of hers. I enquired... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, January 29, 2007

THE LIVES AND LABOUR OF THE LONDON POOR : 1850 TO 1870

It’s barely possible to express British currency of the period 1850 to 1870 in modern values, and I think that it’s more helpful to cite average earnings, and what they might purchase. At the foot of each of these posts you’ll find a little menu, which would have been about all that the very poor could afford – if they were lucky. Recycling. We feel so virtuous, as we trot – or more likely drive – down to our local garbage dump with our redundant household artefacts. Even if we’ve driven there... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, January 26, 2007

THE LIVES AND LABOUR OF THE LONDON POOR : 1850 TO 1870 PART FOUR

Comments on the last part of this series have raised some interesting points. Several have alleged, far too unduly pessimistically, that things for some people haven’t changed a lot since the 1870s. Well, for people in the Third World that may be partially true ( only partially true, for reasons that I shall cite in a future post. ) But for us who live in the West, that just ain’t nowhere near the truth. However degraded we may see our environment to be, or to have become, none of us live in... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

THE LIVES AND LABOUR OF THE LONDON POOR : 1850s TO 1870s

MUDLARKS On the very bottom rung of the hierarchy of poverty were the “ Mudlarks ”: a gruesomely inappropriate nickname, for their work was far from being a lark. Its working conditions were so unspeakably foul, and its rewards so meagre that it was pursued exclusively by old people and young children of both sexes; some as young as five or six years of age. In other words, those who through the extremes of age, and/or infirmity, were incapable of pursuing any strenuous physical work; especially... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

THE LONDON POOR OF THE 1850s TO 1870s PART TWO

I thank you all for you comments on the first part of this series, and other pieces of mine; some of the comments long and detailed, and raising interesting points. ( And no, Bel1965, I’m not a retired history professor, just an amateur historian with a deep love of my chosen subject and an eternally questing mind. ) I trust that you’ll forgive my not replying to your, but I really do have much to do, and I can only usually log on to Blogit quite late in the evening. But I’m sure you all know... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

SO YOU RECKON YOU'VE GOT A TOUGH LIFE, HUH?

Can’t find a decent job? Living on state benefits ( Welfare )? Having a hard time making ends meet? Feel hard done by, ‘cos nobody care about your plight? Well, I hate to sound callous, but that’s just tough! It’s tough ‘cos one can bet the farm that for sheer poverty and want; for society’s disregard of your welfare, you’re having it a damned sight better than anyone that you’ll read about in this series of posts about the 19 th century London poor. Actually, reading about the sheer grind of... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

RECOLLECTIONS OF A PAST WAR ; AND A TRENCHANT COMMENT ON A PRESENT ONE

In June 1944, when it became clear beyond peradventure that the Nazis were slaughtering Jews and others in their millions in the remote areas of Russia, Poland and East Europe, Winston Churchill addressed the House of Commons on this mass annihilation. In his speech, he said “ … we are in the presence of a crime without a name …” This crime is of course what we now refer to as genocide. There are some things that no child should be permitted to witness, and numerous images from World War Two... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, January 20, 2007

REVELATIONS OF SOME TRULY APPALLING BEHAVIOUR WITHIN MON BLOGUE!

One has finally got to grips with the appalling goings-on in the highly respectable Mon Blogue library, and is now sufficiently composed to attempt to impart to our readers the true horror of it. But before one attempts this task, one must have a large glass of some fortifying liquor. The grisly saga evolved in the following fashion: one had reluctantly agreed to the installation in the Mon Blogue library of a number of these new-fangled communication devices – computers. Initially, they proved... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

A MOST DISTRESSING INCIDENT WITHIN THE PURLIEUS OF MON BLOGUE!

Yesterday had been a particularly busy day, and hardly had one begun to relax with a glass of Madeira and a slice of Lady Ariela’s excellent seed cake than the silence was broken by the bells of the Mon Blogue Convent for Discalced Carmelite nuns sounding the tocsin. As this is only sounded in dire emergencies, such as world war; alien invasion; a nation-wide outbreak of the Quivering Pox; Death of the Firstborn, or some other cataclysm ( or, as it might be, a cataclasm ) something serious was... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

HELP NEEDED! DESPERATELY

I've inadvertently hidded a folder in Microsoft Word, containing masses of files, and I can't find it to open it. Don't you just hate it when you do silly things like that? Can anyone please email me,or leave a comment on my blog to tell me how to restore this damned thing to its place on my desktop? You'll probably get a mention in my will; will earn my undying gratitude, and a place among the Elect in Heaven. Can't guarantee you a place at the right hand of the Father, but I'll put in a good... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, January 15, 2007

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SOME OF THE DELIGHTS AVAILABLE WITHIN MON BLOGUE

How To Behave In My Blog. When one opens one’s stately home to the public, one is entitled to expect a reasonable standard of behaviour from visitors. Similarly, one is entitled to expect seemly conduct from visitors to one’s blog, or Mon Blogue, as I prefer to call it. ( Yes, I am aware that the term Mon Blogue, being in a foreign language, should rightly be italicised, but it is so tedious to keep changing fonts, isn’t it? ) And languages don’t come more foreign than French, one always feels.... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

MORE ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THESE LURKERS!And a proposition for modern times.

Lurkers. Part two. The ‘ naked lurk ‘ or ‘ shivering lurk ’ was an exclusively inclement weather activity, usually performed single-handed, for if a companion could not shiver sufficiently convincingly, its effect was lost. The lurker would go into the streets ‘ shallow ’, that is to say shirtless or otherwise half-naked, and … well shiver, until he made enough money for a bed and a meal. Or more likely a good drink. One of the most successful, albeit short-lived, lurks was ‘ the Spanish lurk ’,... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

BY GAD, SIR, THEY WERE AN INGENIOUS GROUP OF MEN! Well, and women too #1

Who were? Why, the Lurkers, of course! After much discussion ( not with me of course; nor with anyone that I either know, or would care to associate with ) as to whose statue should grace the formerly vacant plinth in Trafalgar Square, the decision has been made. One can view it on this link … http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4247000.stm For me, there could only have been one candidate for this form of semi-immortality: he being one of the London poor of the mid 1800s. Not just any old... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, January 12, 2007

CHAOS MYSTERY SHOCK HORROR SENSATION AT MON BLOGUE!!!

MON BLOGUE IS HAUNTED! One resorts to the somewhat amateurish capital letters above, to impress upon the regular readers of Mon Blogue the gravity of the situation; for sad to say Mon Blogue has been plagued of late by mysterious visitations of these … these beings. One refers to them as such, for clearly these phantoms, Pishogues, Cornish Piskies, malebolges or whatever they are, are not human as you and I. ( Assuming of course that you are actually human, and not some other life form, in which... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

THERE ARE NONE SO BLIND AS THOSE WHO WON'T SEE : NONE SO DEAF AS THOSE WHO

WON'T HEAR! If you haven’t been reading Nautikos’s ‘ The Islamist Tsunami ’, his series of posts on the threat posed to the western democracies – indeed even to moderate Muslim countries – by militant Islam, then shame on you! It should be required reading for everyone, especially schoolchildren, who will reap the bitter whirlwind that we sow by our supine and complacent indifference to the threat of this 21 st century Church Militant. It is they who we shall have disarmed by our failure to... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, January 6, 2007

HORNACHERO! PART TWO. THE LONG FORGOTTEN EPISODE IN HISTORY

By the end of that summer of 1625, the mayor of Plymouth calculated that the Hornacheros had destroyed 1,000 fishing skiffs, and had carried of into slavery a similar number of people. They had also slipped unopposed up the Thames, and carried off numerous citizens of London. The impunity with which the Sallee Rovers preyed upon England was due in large measure to the indifference of the government of Charles 1, and their utter impotence in the face of this threat. Contemporary letters, journals... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, January 5, 2007

A BIT OF HISTORY THAT I BET HARDLY ANYONE IN HERE HAS EVER HEARD OF

In a recent post, I remarked upon the folly, and the unacceptability of suppressing historical events for current politically correct considerations – or more accurately, ephemeral fads and fashions – which is what political correctness will undoubtedly prove ultimately to be. When the scales fall from our eyes that is, and we begin to view the world and its history through prescription lenses rather than bits of rose-tinted glass. I bet you right now that hardly any of you who read this piece... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, January 3, 2007

THE WAY THAT WE PERVERT HISTORY, AND A LITTLE-KNOWN PART OF HISTORY

I’m a teeny bit tired right now, clearing up after our party today. This one was mainly for a dozen of our Spanish neighbours, but we did have a few British sort-of-Spanish speakers. Well, I guess a sort of Espanglese is a more apt description. Still, like they say, just shout and wave your arms about, and you’ll be understood. As my old Pater used to say: “ Never speak to them in their own lingo, my boy. It just encourages them to go on failing to learn English! ” Only one more party to put on,... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, December 31, 2006

HAPPY NEW YEAR(S) TO EVERYBODY!! YIPEEE!! And a little drop of Spanish life

I post this early, 'cos we're off out to a party soon. May 2007 be happy, prosperous and filled with friendsip and love for you all. While I was listing the various nationalities present at our lunchtime get together the other day, I omitted to mention our Irish friends, their stunningly beautiful daughter – who is a stewardess with Emirate Airlines – and her two children. Clare was formerly married to an Iranian, and the two Irish/Iranian children share her striking beauty. I also forgot to... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, December 29, 2006

OMG!! THIS MAD, MAD, MAD SPANISH SOCIAL WHIRL! Too much for old dudes!

I am just about on my knees! Lady Ariela and I have either given, or gone to, a party almost every day since mid-December. We’ve had twenty, mixed Spanish and English, friends at our house today for lunchtime drinks and …well, we started off saying “ Let’s not do a lavish spread, okay? Just some light nibbles and drinks, right?” “ Right. Good idea. Save a lot of work, won’t it? ” Yeah, right. A few nibbles. A few mince pies? Sure? How about a few nice Cornish pasties, eh? Make the English feel... Sign in to see full entry.

About this Blog

Fiction, poetry, articles and a whole lot of other Ariel's stuff ; musings and ponderings ; they're all here, and i hope you'll find something here that you like. But I have a deeper purpose in mind. See, reading the papers and watching TV, it's so easy to think that the whole world's motivated by racial and religious hatreds of various kinds. Well most of us aren't, are we? We ordinary people are moved by love and compassion for our fellow humans ; and respect and tolerance for their differences. It's true that all that it takes for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing, so we who are motivated by love have a duty speak out against the evils of the world ; not to be ashamed of our histories, nor embarrassed about being and saying clearly what we are and what we believe. If we don't learn to love each other, we'll perish. Although I am an atheist, my guiding principle is, and always has been, Christ's adjuration to " Love thy neighbour as thyself"

People

Blogs

Links

Headlines (What is this?)