Is It The Right Maple Leaf?

There’s a bit of a row going on in Canada over whether their new plastic banknotes have the right maple leaf.  It’s reported here on the BBC.

I have no opinion about the maple leaf as I’m no biologist, but is that lady on the note supposed to be the Queen?

I’ve never seen a plastic banknote, although I’ve always thought they should work. Checking with Wikipedia, they are more common than you think according to this article.

A Gentle Joke About The Queen

You don’t hear many repeatable jokes about the Royal Family and especially the Queen.  But this video contains a good one from Daniel Day Lewis at the Golden Globes. He is probably one of the last you’d think would make such a joke, given some of the things he’s said in the past.

The Queen Buys Pictures Of Herself

It has been revealed that the Queen has bought a set of prints of herself by Andy Warhol and they will be displayed at Windsor Castle. It’s reported here on the BBC.

There is no comment from Her Majesty, but I suspect she’d have vetoed buying them in May, if she didn’t like them.

An Equestrian Double

I took these pictures yesterday outside St. George’s Hall in Liverpool.

The view of the hall would be better, if they didn’t use it as a car park!

I wonder if there is another pair of equestrian statues in the world of a royal husband and wife, where each is treated equally. I don’t think there’s another statue of a lady in such a prominent place, where the lady is riding side-saddle. Certainly, there isn’t in the UK. But there is one of Queen Elizabeth on Burmese in Regina, Saskatchewan. But then Burmese was born in that Canadian province.

I also went over St. George’s Hall for the first time.  It is rather a creepy and forbidding place in the cells under the courts, which are no longer used, but the whole is a marvel of Victorian architecture. As it is right in front of the station, it is an ideal place to spend an hour or so before cstching a train.  Especially, as it is a free attraction.

Arise Sir Bradley

If after his exploits this year in the Tour of France (It’s the Anglo-Saxon’s now!) and then his untouchable performance in the Olympic time-trial yesterday, where he made a world-class field look like amateurs, he must be odds-on to be knighted in the near future. The web certainly thinks so.

Would he be the first Sir Bradley?

Searching the Internet only finds an anti-gay evangelical Christian web-site, a US wrestler called Sir Bradley Charles and a Sir Bradley Avenue in Sacramento, California.  In my book only the last one has any credence.  So who was it named after?

So I think he would be the first Sir Bradley!

There of course a lot of sites saying he should be knighted.

For different reasons, such as his part in bringing the Olympics to London, it can’t be long before Her Majesty corrects the mistake the Greeks made over David Beckham, by adding a knighthood to his name.

The Queen Does It In One Take

According to this piece in Her Majesty’s Daily Telegraph, The Queen played herself all in one take.

According to Nicholas Brown, the BBC’s director of Drama Production, she gave a flawless performance. “She got it in one take. That’s what she does, and she does it very well. She is a professional.

The piece also indicates that the corgis were the Queen’s too! Fox News in the United States had the headline Corgis Win The Opening Ceremony. If the latter is true, they must be the first dogs to win a Gold Medal at the Olympics.

I would think that if your corgi is expecting a litter of puppies, you won’t have any difficulty finding good homes for them!

What Happened When The Torch Relay Went Into Windsor Castle To Meet The Queen

It rained of course. And heavily too. this was taken from the BBC’s text commentary.

 Gina is then taken to meet the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. After curtseying she says: “It’s English weather isn’t it. You can’t do anything about it.”

To which the Queen, dressed wisely in a camel overcoat, responds: “No nothing.” She then breaks into a wide smile and later enquires of the torch: “What keeps it going?”

The Duke of Edinburgh then seemed to test the weight of the torch before asking Gina, “Are you going to take it home?”

So it seems the Queen may be fed up with the weather too!

Aren’t we all?

The Queen Meets President Hollande Today

according to The Times, the Queen will meet President Hollande today for thirty minutes. They will meet without interpreters and it is expected that they will talk in French. Has there ever been a French queen, who spoke fluent English?

Later President Hollande will have a working lunch with David Cameron.

Note that Hollande’s name is always flagged up by the default spell check.

Between a Rock And A Hard Place

Over this winter I have severely dehydrated myself, due to the bad design of this house. I regularly have lukewarm baths to try to get more water back into my body. My GP’s colleague thinks this is a good idea.  I’ve also had air-conditioning fitted, so that my house is usually at about 25 °C with upwards of 40% humidity. I also drink quite a bit to try to raise the moisture levels in my body.

However my cardiologist says that I must not drink more than 1.5 litres a day. I don’t think I do!

But my skin is still as dry as a bone and I itch like crazy. The guy who cuts my hair, says my scalp is very dry and I scratch everywhere like mad. Especially, the backs of my legs, my back, my scalp and my throat.

The problem did clear up last year, but only when we got some sun.  Fat chance of that this year.  Why did the Queen have to have a ruddy jubilee to guarantee bad weather this summer?

Has anybody any serious ideas, other than moving to Australia?

Hayley Turner Rides for the Queen

Hayley Turner is riding Momentary for the Queen in the Ribblesdale Stakes today.

Hayley is a coeliac and now is the best lady jockey in the UK. Many will say the best lady jockey ever to ride in the UK.