Below the Waves
Below the Waves‘We all live in a yellow submarine’ – and I bet as this is being read the tune is coming to the fore loud and clear. It was a song recorded by the Beatles in 1966 along with ‘Eleanor Rigby’ a double ‘A’ side single and included in their ‘Revolver’ album, of that time. It was written as a children’s song by Paul McCartney and John Lennon although it was Ringo Starr who sang the vocal.
It is an interesting melody that also won the ‘Ivor Novello Award’ for the highest certified sales by a British songwriter going on to inspire the animated film of the same name in 1968.
Although there have been discussions about what inspired the writing of the song in the first instance, some say it was the result of taking drugs, however I still can’t find what inspired a Swedish firm to actually produce a Yellow Submarine.
Their version has a 150 square metres of floor space which can be used for a variety of reasons including weddings, I would think it is a bit difficult to escape a party and pop outside for some air.
It is battery powered and can stay submerged at 150 feet for twenty-four hours and is built for entertainment, I understand there are no ‘emergency exits’ although it does have a top deck for sunbathing which I guess can only be used before it submerges.
The Furness
Sometimes in this modern world, where there are very few secrets, those involved in running the social media outlets spread personal information around like confetti, which often causes hilarious situations, especially when the new, or the reasonably new clashes with the old.
Cornwall is one of many pleasurable and historical parts of the British Isles, there are many with equal charms, but in its midst is the ‘Star Inn’. It first came into being over two hundred years ago and recently the owner, Mark Graham and his wife, formed the ancient public house into a limited company, naming it ‘The Star Inn at Vogue’.
This set the hairs prickling on the back of the necks of many people in Lower Manhattan, New York, where, since 1892 a famous publication came into being. The owners of the international Vogue Fashion Magazine, especially the proprietor, one Condé Nast, thought that people could be confused and the names could be confused, so he or they instructed lawyers to send a threatening letter to The Star Inn to cease and desist their use of the name, or legal action would be taken.
We are told that Mark Graham thought it was very funny arguing that it should be the other way round and they should be suing the magazine for the use of the name as the village of Vogue is a hamlet and part of the Parish, St Day in Cornwall which came into existence pre 1700, and has the meaning of ‘Blowing House or Furnace’
We understand that New York has sent an apology.
It and Them
The meaning of he or she is constantly in the news so much so a seventeen-year-old professional footballer this week has decided to come out and announced he is ‘gay’. Whoopee for him!
For some time, we lived in Bath, Somerset, where in Gay Street there was a wonderful Italian Restaurant, that was when the Italians cooked real food and before, to my mind we got lazy with the development of the pizza. Bath, was developed by the Romans and there is plenty of proof of their elaborations still in existence today, although the area was probably lived in prior to their arrival, because of the natural spring waters.
During the Georgian period it became a very fashionable spa town and most of the development, as seen today, came into being during that period. Sitting in Gay Street, eating the Italian’s wonderful spread of ‘Rognone,’ lambs livers cooked in red wine, I could not help pondering if the name of the street had anything to do with the behaviour of the people of that time?
An interesting thought, although doubtful, as being openly of that persuasion, preferring people of the same sex, was a serious offence and could include incarceration – a thought just crossed my mind, if a man favoured men to women and was put in prison for it, did they put him in a man’s jail?
The complication of the human mind makes us all very different with our own thoughts and desires so why should it be a surprise when a seventeen-year-old, who has hardly enjoyed any of life’s experiences, says he is coming out, it is hardly anything to do with the rest of us.
Since the Middle Ages, to recent times, if anyone had an attraction to anyone of the sex they were bestowed with, they were frequently punished for their situation, even sentenced to death. In the Western World all that has changed and everyone is now equal under the law. Which leads me to ask, what further privileges, other than those lawfully prescribed, was ‘Stonewall’, the representative of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, seeking?
And whilst I have full sympathy for a person who is finding it difficult to identify with themselves, I do not understand how the guidelines issued for officers by The Norfolk Constabulary distinguishes with thirty-seven, yes 37, different transgender identities. Taking it even further, should an officer have a problem he is then referred to the ‘gender bread person’ diagram, which includes a series of sliding scales that relate to gender identity, sexual orientation, expression and biological sex. Seriously it is not possible to make that up even though, factually, there are still only men and women. Take care.
www.facebook.com/percy chattey My book ‘Blitz & Pieces’ describing the horror of World War ll is now updated and available in hardback cover.
