Christmas Day was warm and sunny and as usual we all ate far too much, especially as Helen had made a real Christmas pudding and, as we hadn’t tasted one of those for quite a while, I suppose we could be forgiven our over-indulgence. I remember all the Christmas puddings of my childhood that contained sixpenny pieces to be discovered, wiped clean and kept. By three o’clock I felt like a python or boa constrictor and was nodding off in my chair. Douglas’s rice pudding with pina colada ice cream centre was a hoot as he had it in a Victorian pottery jelly mould and had kept it in the freezer overnight which meant it was rock solid and virtually impossible to remove. When eventually it was it was now virtually impossible to spoon but, I am informed, it tasted okay. Didn’t try any myself as I was stuffed with Helen’s pudding but it was certainly a hysterical talking point.
An Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani hosted a lavish house-warming for his new 27-storey residence, believed to be the world's most expensive home. About 80 people attended the party and one guest described the house as "the Taj Mahal of the 21st Century". She described "what has got to be the biggest, glitziest ballroom in India - the Palace of Versailles is a poor cousin. There is a lot of marble; there is a lot of mother of pearl. There are areas and gardens and lotus pools and an absolutely beautiful Krishna temple. There is art, there's sculpture, there is a huge bar, there is a swimming pool.” She said the house was built to the personal taste of Mr Ambani, and that people should not "grudge him his indulgencies. He generates a great amount of employment for those very poor and contributes to the economy," she added.
The house, which has a temple on the ground floor and a library on the top, was designed she said according to Vaastu principles, an Indian tradition similar to Chinese feng shui.
Looking at a photograph I would describe it as without doubt an eyesore and the ugliest home ever built. Reports suggest the residence is worth more than $1bn (£630m).The skyscraper in Mumbai (Bombay), which overlooks sprawling slums, is said to have a cinema, swimming pools and a helicopter pad, and is named "Antilia" after a mythical Atlantic island. Local newspapers said the house would require 600 members of staff to maintain it, and the first electricity bill, for September is costing Mr Ambani 7m rupees (£98,000).The house has sparked some controversy, with anti-poverty campaigners underlining the contrast between the luxury of the house and the plight of those who live in Mumbai's slums, which house about half of the city's 18 million people. Ambani is one of the world’s richest men, with an estimated fortune of £17bn.
Krishna certainly favours some. I wonder if he’s happy; if not at least he’s happy in comfort.

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Roya was the cutest little dog of a rare Norwegian breed. She was the pet of our friends Joe and Bryn. They were out walkies in their little village of Kufi when they saw her gobble up something in the road and it was gone before they could stop her. Minutes later she was frothing at the mouth and going into heavy spasm and shortly afterwards she died. It makes one so so so very angry. There is little if any respect for animals in Greece and although it is against the law people will still put down poison, ignoring the fact that the animal might be someone’s much loved pet, because that is an alien concept to them. The strange thing in this particular case is the fact that the poisonous bait, a cheese pie evidently, was lying in the middle of the road with children playing around. Normally (if that’s the right word) it is placed where children can’t get at it; on top of a high wall or beneath a municipal rubbish bin for example, but the day will surely come when a child will get to it. The villagers probably know who the culprit is but are maintaining a strict silence. So it is not a very happy Christmas for Joe and Bryn and we know how they must be feeling having lost two animals ourselves, a dog and a cat, to poison. Cats, being natural roamers and spending so much time out of one’s control are in the most danger.

Continuing the discussion regarding the young killers in Trafalgar Square, it was noted that the attack took place in front of “horrified onlookers.” Another question I have to ask then is, how would I have reacted if I had been there at the time? Would I have intervened or would I not? And was there no one in the crowd of horrified onlookers who could have stopped, or attempted to stop, it? Members of the public are usually exhorted not to intervene but still one wonders. There was the case fairly recently when they did intervene resulting in the apprehension of a jewel thief. And continuing to think about sentencing I read that in the US a mother and grandmother have each been sentenced to nine years for attempting to steal an old lady’s purse in a supermarket. NINE YEARS!
NINE YEARS? It beggars belief. A life is valued at two years, a purse at nine. One can only shake one’s head in wonder at this crazy world. That sentence is barbaric to say the least.

Part of Quentin Letts’ Christmas wish list in The Mail.
“Better language in the theatre, particularly on the London stage. The effing and blinding has reached wearisomely high levels. The more they use coarse words, the less dramatic effect those words have.” What did I say in a previous Blog? I’m so glad someone agrees with me.
“Confirmation that the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony will include Morris dancing, Gilbert sand Sullivan and a performance by Sir Patrick Moore on his xylophone” Well at least we agree on the Morris dancing.

And still on games, the Greeks are wailing that if they don’t get the Mediterranean Games next year they will lose face. With the state of the economy and remembering the Olympics I’m surprised they’re even thinking of it.

And before I wish everyone season’s greetings, a joke: Three MPs were asked what they wanted for Christmas. The Labour man said ‘Justice for the poor.’ The Lib Dem asked for ‘World peace’. The conservative said, ‘How kind, a box of Milk Tray please.’
Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

It is always so very sad when one has to have a much loved pet put down but two days ago it had to happen and, alas, our miracle cat Rousell is no more. Watching her wasting away was just as distressing as having to put an end to it and it all seemed to happen so fast. One day she was a bonny bouncing little cat and suddenly she could no longer eat, a cortisone injection and force feeding her on special invalid food couldn’t help. In a few days she was skin and bone and wobbling about on rickety legs when she had the energy to move at all though she still, just the day before her death, went outside to sit in the sun. We will miss her funny ways, rolling on the carpet or out in the courtyard wanted her back scratched or her tummy rubbed, nestling in the crook of my arm and purring away as I sat at the table reading. We called her our miracle cast because by rights she shouldn’t have even been alive, having suffered such a traumatic accident as a tiny kitten. As it is she was only nine and should have had a good few years ahead of her. She was called Roussell because at our friends Russell and Margaret’s son’s wedding she was under our table scrounging away, Douglas picked her up, fell in love, and was given permission to take her. We could hardly call her Russell so as the other cats were Bridget and Hortense, she became Frenchified as Roussell. On Tuesday when Chris and Douglas took her to Michael he said he felt she wouldn’t have lasted the day anyway.
So our menagerie of eight has been reduced to three; cats Keppel and Betty, Roussell’s kittens, and dog Merrill. She is getting on a bit now and suffering from rheumatism so I think she might be the next one to go. We have buried so many animals in the past thirteen years, dogs and cats; the bottom of the garden is a regular pet’s cemetery.
While on the subject of death I read in a letter to The Athens News that in Greece you have by law to have a priest at a funeral though, at dinner the other evening, this was hotly disputed. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was true, the church being so much a part of Greek life, but what if you are Jewish or Muslim? Maybe you have one of your own persuasion instead.
As this has been all about Roussell, I still find it hard to believe she has gone, I don’t feel I want to add anything more today.

Two titbits of information about the Olympic Games sent to me in an e-mail by our friend Ian Dean.
“The charity orchestra I run has a bid in to record all 209 national anthems! A quote from the tender that you might enjoy: 'Bidders who are interested in this opportunity should understand the gravitas and honour which the Orchestra will acquire in relation to these Games.' Somehow one is supposed to achieve this gravitas with only 30 musicians.
The second amusement is that on calling the Olympics offices I was informed they have a 'no names' policy. So you aren't allowed to know who is in charge of what, or who it is you are talking to on the phone. Very Orwellian!”
He wanted to put this as a comment on my Blog but was informed that only “team members” can make a comment. I’ve had this before from others so what on earth is a team member? Maybe if there is a team member among my readers he/she will make a comment and inform me. I’ve often wondered why for a long time I’ve received no comments.
Douglas, the computer whiz kid, read this and has put matters to right. Evidently now anyone can make a comment. I really do not have a clue as far as modern technology is concerned as I think I’ve probably said before. I wouldn’t know an Ipod from a Blackberry (is it a Blackberry or some other kind of berry?) and, quite frankly I find the amount of information and more particularly the amount of trash one can find on the internet rather disturbing. I’m not sure we’re wired up to take in so much information. Of course the internet is wonderful for research but take a look at some of the home videos on Yahoo and tell me they’re not a complete waste.
Further to my remarks about sentencing for murder when writing about the two Müllers; in 2003 a forty five year old man named Richard Thomas convicted of manslaughter for stabbing a taxi driver 28 times was sentenced to two years in prison, that’s 26 days for each stabbing. That is manslaughter? Give me a break, that is quite simply murder and a two year sentence is laughable, pitiful. According to the court that’s all a man’s life was worth?
Now seven years later his daughter Ruby is in court after she and her boy friend in a homophobic attack kicked a man to death in Trafalgar Square. Evidently he was seen to be holding hands with his friend and so with cries of ‘fucking faggot’ the two of them literally set out to attack him resulting in his death as they stomped on him on the ground, kicking him time and time again, before running away laughing. Later she made ‘funny’ remarks about it on Facebook ha ha! At the age of fifteen she was given a conviction for carrying a knife and assaulting a bus driver, and in 2007 she assaulted an Asian man spitting at him and then kicking him. And now she has killed.
What kind of punishment do you think she deserves now? Will the court give her more than a slap on the wrist and tell her not to be such a naughty girl in future? I await the verdict with interest.

Goodness only knows I’m no prude and I don’t believe in censorship unless it is self censorship and that seems to have gone out the window. I am talking about good taste and bad taste and the latter seems to predominate in our modern world - anything goes. We have a prince who thinks it’s a hoot to dress up in a Nazi uniform. What would Cole Porter* think if he could see and hear what is presented on the stage, on television in advertising and in film these days and the question I do have to ask is, is it really necessary or are we just intent on dumbing down as far as we can go. Ever since Kenneth Tynan used the f-word on television for the first time, ground-breaking moment huh? It has been and is so over-used you wonder why people even bother to use it any more.
There has to be something to be said for the old Lord Chamberlain’s office though he did tend to be a wee bit too pernickety at times.
What does one make of an ice-cream manufacturer whose idea of advertising is to use a pregnant woman lapping up an ice cream cone? Nothing wrong with that. No reason why pregnant women shouldn’t lap up ice creams. The difference here though was that the woman was a nun and the hoardings, if the company hadn’t been persuaded to remove them, would have been directly on the route old Popey took to Westminster Cathedral and he couldn’t fail to see them. Insensitive might one say? Or what?
Spanish politicians have criticized a video by the Young Socialists in Catalonia in which a woman simulates an orgasm while casting her vote. Both Socialist and opposition politicians have attacked the campaign video. In the video the young woman gets increasingly excited as she votes for the Socialist Party in this month's regional elections in Catalonia. It concludes with the phrase, "Voting is a pleasure", after she puts her voting slip in the ballot box. The leader of the conservative opposition Popular Party of Catalonia, Alicia Sanchez-Camacho, said the video was an "attack on the dignity of women". The health minister who is a Socialist called on all parties to show respect for women and to act responsibly. The Socialist equality minister said of the video: "If it was true, electoral participation would go up greatly, but I think we are dealing with a misleading advert. But the Socialist Party of Catalonia 's leader, Jose Montilla, who is standing for re-election, said, "If it encourages people to vote, it's a good thing".
The leader of the Green coalition in Catalonia, Joan Herrera, said it would be "very difficult to reach orgasm voting for any of the candidates, myself included". A nice sense of humour.
The latest outrage is a pub in Wales that advertised a cocktail called ‘Suicide Bomber.’ They said they didn’t mean to cause offence or upset anyone. My my my, there’s sensitivity look you.
*‘In olden days a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking now heaven knows, anything goes.’

And so to the Olympic Game: the requirements and the do’s and don’ts of the IOC: if you know all this don’t bother to read any further. If you’re intrigued, okay. If not, then again, don’t bother.
According to contract London is required to provide 40000 room bookings for the entire games. These are for the IOC committee, staff and officials. The committee of course demand five star accommodation, only the very best for them. These best rooms number 1800. No accommodation is reserved for spectators of course. They would be lucky to find a hotel with vacancies within a fifty mile radius of the games.
An entire village is built for the participants at a cost of £325million. This will include a flower and gift shop and a dance cafe where the athletes can relax.
500 air-conditioned limousines are required whose drivers must wear uniforms and hats and the IOC is to have 250 miles of so-called ‘Zil Lanes’ traffic free passage. They will stretch from London to Weymouth where the sailing games are to be held.
There are evidently pages and pages about the employment of housekeepers for the athletes and these edicts are called the ‘Olympic technical manuals.’
During the games normal London life must be subordinated to the edicts of the IOC. The IOC is paranoid about what it calls ‘ambush marketing.’ That is for any product for which no enormous amount of money has been or will be paid to the IOC. Candidate cities must obtain control of all billboard advertising, city transport, airport advertising etc., for the duration of the games and one month before. Customs officers and police must ‘co-operate’ in taking action against unapproved Olympics advertising and the confiscation of non-official goods! (As though the police wouldn’t have enough to do and is this really legal?).
Spectators at the games must not wear clothing or accessories with commercial messages and no athlete or other participant can wear any clothing on which the manufacturer’s name takes up more than ten percent of the surface area or 12 square centimetres. There is even a half-hearted attempt to control the skies and ‘Brand protection teams will conduct surveillance and will attempt to confiscate any infringing ambush material both inside and outside the venue so woe betide any poor shopkeeper who is inadvertently advertising something outside his shop. Some of the teams will be accompanied by an attorney in case it is necessary to serve any court documents! And they must have a police officer within the team in case it is necessary to enforce an order. Hey hey hey! Is this petty dictatorship or what? All signs must be in both English and French.
For every ceremony the Olympic flag must be more prominent than the union flag and the Queen will have to acquiesce to the IOC’s demands for an Olympic ceremony and royal reception the day before the games officially open. It is a matter of course that IOC members are introduced to the head of state after which they will all watch ‘an artistic programme reflecting local traditions or culture.’ In the case of the United kingdom, I suggest a football match complete with hooligans, a darts match, a curry house competition, bingo, Morris dancing and teenage girls getting sloshed out of their minds and puking all over the venue. Why, oh why didn’t they let the French have it? If Paris had got it would signs be in French and English? Or just French?

Blog 222

Inflation is nothing new but is really a very strange phenomenon and I do wonder that there seems no way of controlling it. What has made me think of it is looking at the current price of theatre tickets in London. I know The Royal Opera House has always had sky-high prices but ordinary west end theatres now seem to be as exorbitant. For example the top price for ‘Dirty Dancing’ is £65. So a couple going to see this show will fork out £130 just for the tickets. God forbid they should take a taxi to the theatre and home again because if they did, even living fairly central, they could reckon to fork out another thirty to forty pounds. Drinks in the interval could add another ten at least and if they should they want to make it a real night out and have a meal that would add another eighty or even a whole lot more. So the grand total would be a minimum of £250! Four visits to the theatre and you’ve spent a thousand quid. Question – is it worth it?
And I worried that the price of my autobiography was too high.
I don’t know why England is bemoaning the loss of the world football to Russia when they have the Olympic Games to look forward to ha ha ha! I have just been reading what the International Olympic Committee requires of a host country and the mind simply boggles. It is no wonder Greece is still trying to recover six years later. England would have done much better I feel to have let Paris take on the burden because, celebration though it may be, burden it certainly is, despite worldwide television coverage and mega-millions of sponsorship and advertising. In fact the list of requirements and do’s and don’ts is so long I think I’ll leave it for now and give it a whole Blog to itself. Though even that might not be enough.
I think the storm we experienced a couple of nights ago, bad as it seemed, must have been on the periphery of the much more violent manifestation further east. At least 18 people have died in accidents caused by storms in Egypt, dozens more were injured in road accidents and when buildings collapsed after being battered by sandstorms and rain. Fierce winds, heavy rains and snow have lashed eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries for several days. The storms have sunk a ship off the Israeli coast, closed ports and disrupted shipping in the Suez Canal.rescue workers pulled the bodies of six workers out of the debris of a factory building that had collapsed in the northern city of Alexandria on Sunday. The state-owned al-Ahram newspaper said the heavy rains had damaged the structure of the factory. The paper reported that several other buildings had collapsed across Egypt, causing more deaths. The storms have ended a long drought in Lebanon, Syria and Israel and came just a week after more than 40 people died in a forest fire near Israel's northern port of Haifa.. Waves of up to 10m (33ft) battered coasts, damaging fishing boats in Lebanon. In Syria, snow blanketed the streets of the capital, Damascus, and closed roads.
And all we had to put up with was a blackout and a little bit of flooding, and freezing temperatures of course.