Wisdom Of The Ages

The irritating thing about kids is the way they keep busily being themselves when you want them to be someone else. Also part of their charm, of course.

For Free

Forgot to mention the other day that it turned out the Rugby was actually available free, buckshee & gratis on Astro and I could have watched England vs the All Blacks live had I known. However, I was ultra busy at that point on Saturday so it was a good thing I didn't know as I avoided a major quandary. Watched a replay of the game late in the evening and marvelled at just how good England were. I mean, they made the brilliant All Blacks look almost ordinary. Astounding.

Managed to watch most of Wales vs South Africa live the next day. Dour but fascinatingly so. Peter reckons Wales would have made more worrying opponents in the final simply because they're Wales. He's very sanguine about us beating the Springboks and I readily (hopefully) bow to his definitely superior wisdom.

Will be in Melaka for the final next weekend and am figuring out if there's a way to try and make sure I can watch the final. Problem is I'm not at all sure anyone else there will be in the slightest bit interested.

A Bit Tricky

Reviewing our time in KL just now, I felt more than a little pleased with myself for getting all the necessary done. Then I looked at what lies ahead, and ended up feeling more than a little sorry for myself at the full range of what's necessary before I reach next weekend.

The trick is to live in the moment and forget about the self. Wish I could master it.

Vulnerability

Just back from visiting Hamza & Sharifah & family. My brother-in-law sustained a very nasty head injury last Monday after slipping on a wet floor in his masjid and falling backwards. A scan showed some bleeding on the brain, fortunately relatively minor, but enough to require close care for the next three months. Initially we thought we'd be visiting him in hospital but he was given a reasonably clean bill of health and allowed home - but is not allowed to drive and such and is being forced to rest.

It was good to see him looking like his usual self, but it wasn't difficult to notice signs of frailty now and again. He impressed on me more than once the need for guys of our age to take care, clearly still taken aback by how close he'd come to a very bad place indeed. Excellent advice, of course, for those of any age, but, let's face it, especially ours.

Something Missed

Was discussing with Peter some four weeks ago whether it would be worth shelling out for the World Cup Rugby package on Starhub. Decided not to on the grounds I was going to be so busy I'd struggle to watch most of the games. For some reason I also didn't fancy England's chances whereas Peter was distinctly hopeful - and sensibly went for the package. I've been regretting my decision ever since, though, oddly enough, not today, even though victory over the brilliant All Blacks is particularly sweet. The reason is simple, even with the game available for viewing in our usual Far Place, I'd have had to come over here and miss it anyway.

As it is I'll keep reading the reports on the game over and over until I can catch up with a recording somewhere. Looking forward to seeing Brian John Chirnside on Tuesday - but not to rub it in.  Like most NZ citizens he's incredibly sporting. Actually I'll be genuinely commiserating with him. On that note, it was fascinating to read the BTL comments on the game in two or three of the reports I've looked at. All sounded genuinely appreciative of both teams in today's game, and of the nations in the competition generally. Nice!

All Accounted For

We travelled up to KL this afternoon, setting off after I got back from Prayers and arriving on the hill around 9.00, which is not bad going for a Friday. The traffic in the city here was ferociously busy and typically crazy, so we were happy to touch down without incident. It's a bit unusual for us to travel up at this time of year. I've got a long weekend, with a holiday on Monday for Deepavali, but I'd rather have stayed where I was and got on with marking and bits & pieces. Of course, I'll be able to do plenty of that here, but the time spent on the road, and the nervous energy used up, might really have been better spent getting on with the usual.

The problem is that my time is so much accounted for in the weeks ahead that this will be the only chance I get to spend time in Maison KL before the end of the year and there're a few things I need to accomplish here before we say goodbye to 2019. So I'll be making an early start tomorrow so that none of the weekend is wasted. Quite how my time got to be so valuable I can't figure out, but that's the way it is for now. Nice to have a purpose, I suppose.

Transformational

Was feeling a wee bit run down in the middle of day and took a bit of a break, thinking it would be a good scheme to see if anyone had recently uploaded anything in live performance by His Bobness on youtube. Fortunately they had and I enjoyed 4 or so minutes of musical paradise. Went back about my business completely recharged.

True Royalty

Very good Long Read in the Grauniad on-line today about the wondrous Sir David Attenborough. If Britain must have a King why not elect him to the position, say I.

Part of the strength of Patrick Barkham's highly informative article is the way it tempers a measured but real adulation with an intelligent critical sense - and it's clear, by the way, that Sir David is more than capable of recognising the truth of the best of that criticism. Barkham's tracing of the development of our hero into the eco-campaigner of today is astutely sympathetic. And I must say, it's this version of the Great Man that is, possibly, the most inspirational of all. As I pointed out to Noi just now, it's going to be difficult to leave the air-conditioning pointlessly running when someone says to you, But David Attenborough isn't going to be at all happy about that.

Splendid Ignorance

Still not sure why John seemed so upset about Prince Harry the other day. Saw a short article related to the P and his wife complaining about the coverage they are getting in the British tabloids but nothing in it was the kind of thing to upset a brother-in-law, no matter how irascible he might be. I imagine it was something in one of the tabloids in question that must have set him off - John, that is, not the Royal in question.

But it all got me wondering as to why anyone would bother to get upset about what gets said in the press about them, or on various social media platforms for that matter. I suppose such things count if one feels it important to make a good impression in such places, especially if job-related, and I suppose being a Royal is a form of employment. But I reckon a sensible approach to the whole media circus is to just ignore it. After all, it's not really 'there' unless one acknowledges it, and the kind of friends who might acknowledge it, and one might lose due to iffy coverage, are the ones worth losing.

Anyway, that's my plan for when the scandalous stuff about me finally gets out there. (Not that I can think of anything terribly scandalous for now, which, sadly, makes me sound pretty boring all round.)

Much To Complain About

Just phoned John, hoping for the best, fearing the worst. More of the latter than the former, I'm afraid. Maureen is blind in one eye at present due to a lens going out of position. It doesn't sound too much like she's in a fit state to have this put right. John at least had some energy, railing about just about everybody and everything, especially the National Health Service. He proudly announced that he's never voted for anybody in his life.
 
Also it seems he's not happy with Prince Harry and his missus for some reason. Not quite sure what it was, but seems related to South Africa. I can't remember him targeting the Royals before, but the fierce republican within me quite enjoyed that bit of the rant.