Remembering

It was Remembrance Sunday today. Not that it made a lot of difference to mine. I observed the two minutes silence on the 11th at 11:00 like I always do. I was reminded when I watched the results show for Strictly Come Dancing tonight and three soldiers sang a sad song based on a fellow soldier’s last letter to his wife. It was very poignant.

I don’t normally watch shows like Strictly. I make no bones about it. I find them dull. Not the dancing but the fact that it has celebrities competing rather than people who actually love ballroom dancing. Not that that would get me to watch it anyway – I really dislike talent shows as well.

However, last year when John Sargent was on Strictly he captured the public’s imagination with his diabolically bad dance skills and laissez fair attitude. Sadly he left before he was voted off, saying he felt it wasn’t fair for the couples working really hard when the public only kept him on for the comic potential. I must admit to watching a couple of shows just to see him. He was very funny.

This year we have Ann Widdicombe (or ‘Widdy’ as she’s become known). She is amazingly bad. Her page on the BBC website is here, though if you’re not in the UK, I’m not sure if you’ll be able to see it. But the thing is, no matter how bad she is, she doesn’t care. She’s enjoying every minute and doing it until she’s actually voted off.

Like this week, she wore a lurid pink dress that was described by one of the judges as a toilet brush cover. And he wasn’t being unkind. It was pretty dire. She dances like me! She’s really that bad. Anyway, it’s fun to watch the results show on a Sunday and wait for the moment she is finally voted off. It hasn’t happened yet. Mirinda will be amazed to find out she’s still there.

One thing you can say about Strictly is that it’s not dull. Which the weather was today. Dull, wet, cold, miserable. It really feels like February has arrived a few months early. I did manage to take the girls for a walk around the park – we kept to the path as the grassy areas are now mud locked water meadows.

In fact, all my photos were a pretty dire today although I did manage to capture the only bit of blue sky seen in Farnham for the last few days. Here it is:

Mostly it all looked like this (which reminds me of the Yorkshire moors rather than Surrey):

Speaking of remembrance…I hadn’t heard much about old Pauline ‘chippie’ Hanson for yonks. And then I spotted this piece about her plans. Excellent, I say. Keep her in Queensland.

[2023 UPDATE: The page referred to above has gone, so I have deleted the link]