Thursday 28 October 2010

Balls and the Time Traveller's Grandma

Yes, two balls.
Now that the weather is getting somewhat more autumnal rather than Indian summerish, I am able to wear the dog-walking jacket. This is a coat of many pockets, all of them full of useful items such as scooby snacks, poopie sacks and balls.

Whisky has yet to master the art of ball catching. Well, at least, he catches it and brings it back, but never gives it up. Therefore twice the number of balls are needed, one for him to hold in his gob and one to chase after and herd along. I realised after a while, that this was not dissimilar to the pastime known as Curling. Perhaps it's in the air here. He sort of jumps and skips as the ball rolls to rest, sometimes nosing along the ground, willing it to move here or there - although whether dogs have will or not is a whole other debate, and not for here. Well, at least not for now.

There was a great post on Womanist Musings today, by a feminist Muslim woman, on gender segregation at prayer and beyond. Very interesting article.

Then there are two articles that Austen has sent me today. The first defies belief, and in fact, so does the second, but in a different way.

In Hungary, a midwife has been arrested and faces up to five years in gaol, for delivering babies, at the choice of the mother, in the mother's home. There is an interesting statistical comparison at the end. In most European countries, women have that choice, but few take up the option. In Holland however, 33% are home births.
Outrageous that a government should think it has the right to dictate this.

The other article is about a film-maker from Belfast who has discovered evidence of time travel in a Charlie Chaplin film made in 1928. I would certainly agree that the clip is fascinating. I would also agree with most of the commentators who say the man is very boring and most probably just out to publicise his films - in which endeavour he is successful, because here am I doing just that for him.
Mmmm, time travel, that would be my first thought when watching this.
Or not.

What really occurred to me was that computer programmers put Easter Eggs in Microsoft Office, so why wouldn't their muckers the digital re-masterers do likewise in films?
The woman looks remarkably like Margaret Rutherford playing Miss Marple, and although in 1960 there were no mobile phones either, in 2010, we have wonderful digital manipulation programmes.
So I'm opting not so much for the time travel theory and more for the digital enhancement one.
Of course, if I'm wrong, I may already have found out.

4 comments:

Gail said...

Not that long ago, midwifery was not legal in Canada - found an article from 1986 proposing the legalization of midwifery and establishment of some sort of accreditation board.

That's now happened and I'm happy, although I am getting the idea after talking to a couple of English doctors and nurses that the midwives in England are a bit more science-based while the many midwives I've met in Canada seem strongly attached to the woo. I've been recommended unproven homeopathic remedies (in fact, all well-done studies show homeopathy is no more effective than placebo) and dodgy alternative solutions. Luckily, my main midwife (who caught my daughter) is more into the science side of things. Her partner, not so much...
Best theory I've read about time travelling granny is it's an old school hearing aid.

Schneewittchen said...

Seriously, 1986? Good grief!

Also, interesting to hear about the different types of midwives here. It never even occurred to me. The midwives in Britain are just part of the NHS, midwifery being something that all nurses have to do as part of their training, and some choose to specialise in it, that branch of nursing is sort of elite. They work as a team with the GP and Health visitor to provide care during pregnancy, birth and during the immediate post-natal period.

Yes, hearing aid occurred to me too.

Anonymous said...

But why would she talk to it? You don't talk to your hearing aid.

She's saying 'beam me back' and she looks so big because she is wearing her portable time travel kit under a coat.

De-bunkers will be ignored.

Schneewittchen said...

Don't be ridiculous! Portable time travel kits are virtually undetectable. Sheesh.