Topo Returns

The name Topo Gigio is suddenly back in the news. "Who? " I hear you ask.

Topo Gigio  was the main character in a childrens' tv puppet show that I used to watch back in the 1960s . Apparently he's Italian, although I didn't know that at the time , I guess he must have been dubbed for us English fans.

I used to have a toyTopo Gigio  about 6 inches tall, and whilst that must have been despatched to the great toy box in the sky long long ago, the name has always stuck in the back of my mind (to the extent that I actually asked for a bottle of it once when shopping for a bottle of wine, only to receive blank looks from the woman in the off licence).

Suddenly, after about 40 years he's in the news. Why?

On Tuesday Carlos Tevez scored for Manchester City against his old team and City's great rivals Manchester United. His "celebration" was to run to a spot in front of the United bench and stand stock still, hands cupped behind his ears.

No doubt warned, after the event, of the dim view that the FA takes of anything that they consider to "bring the game into disrepute" he came up with the first excuse he could think of - namely that his celebration was in fact in honour of Topo Gigio.

Whilst Tevez is working wonders for my Fantasy Football team at the moment,  I know which one I would sooner have sat on my toy shelf as a child.

Fog Blog

For no other reason than to check to see how mobile blogging works on my new phone. A foggy scene on the way to work this morning.
EDIT from PC:
1) I works, easily and virtually instantly
2) It adds annoying adverts at the end of the blog, which I can (have) remove later.
3) Nokia 5800 has a crap camera

No Title Required

(Shamelessly "borrowed" from Steve Green's Daily Referendum Blog)

Why Can't Girls Throw ?

It's a known fact, white men can't dance, girls can't throw*.

During a walk in the snow yesterday with  Mrs Wurzel, she suggested that a good photo would be one of her throwing a snowball straight at the camera. "Ok", I thought, "We'll see".

I got her nicely lined up in a ready to throw pose and told her to aim straight at the camera. "Won't I damage it ?" she asked. It was a risk I was prepared to take.

Through the viewfinder I saw the snowball leave her hand, sail upwards and out of shot , with no idea where it landed. "No, aim AT the camera" I told her.

The following 5 minutes reminded me of the never-ending loop programmes we wrote at school back in the mid 70s. (We thought that such a programme would eventually blow-up the computer - disappointingly it never did)

10 Me: Aim camera

20 Mrs W : Throw snowball

30 Me: Say "Aim at camera"

40 Goto 10

There was one "mishap" when one snowball I never saw first nor last hit me fair and square in the - in cricket parlance - box region. Curiously, and I am not making any accusations here, that one seemed to have more force behind it than the others.

Eventually, I managed to end up with the shot below,probably more by luck than judgement. I use it as an example to justify the story, not because of any artistic merit. Not quite the dramatic shot I hoped for, but if I stood there any longer I'd have started to freeze.

* with apologies to Tessa Anderson and Fatima Whitbread

Not Snow Much As Promised

Following on from previous post, as usual, the severe weather suddenly diverted before it reached here.  Having said that it is still the most snow we've had for years and it doesn't show much signs of thawing i the near future.

Tuesday evening I had to go out aound the time the bulk of the snow hit. The main roundabout near us became grid-locked and I decided to turn round and go home. A good decision as it turned out because half a mile further on and I'd have been in the middle of THIS .

Eventually we got about 10cms, nowhere near the "up to 40cms" we were warned of. Apart from the few hours of blizzard, driving is pretty easy as long as you're  a) sensible and b) can reach the well cleared main roads without encountering any icy hills on the way. All the local schools(including the one where Mrs Wurzel works, she's already tearing her hair out through boredom) have remained closed for 3 days. Why? In my school-days the school only closed if the boilers packed up - if it snowed you just got out your gloves and wellies and got on with it. What lesson does it teach kids today ?- at the first sign of adversity, give up.

Plenty more snow forecast for Saturday and Sunday - we shall see.  I might get out to play in it yet.

Snow ! (?)

Here, just outside Southampton, we often watch the weather reports of snow around the country in total incomprehension as yet again not a single snow-flake dares venture within several miles of home.. So it's with mixed feelings of excitement and trepidation to see the Met Office warning for our area this evening.

 Flash warnings of severe or extreme weather

These are issued when the Met Office has 80% or greater confidence that severe weather is expected in the next few hour

London & South East England:
Hampshire
Oxfordshire
Southampton
W Berkshire
Very Heavy Snowfall

2000 Tue 5 1100 Wed 6

There is a high risk of an extreme weather event affecting parts of Southern England this evening and overnight. A period of exceptionally heavy snowfall is expected with accumulations of 15-30 cm and perhaps in excess of 40 cm. This is expected to cause widespread disruption to the transport network and could lead to problems with power supplies.

The public are advised to take extreme care and refer to the Highways Agency for further advice on traffic disruption on motorways and trunk roads.

Issued at: 1135 Tue 5 Jan

It's goning to be interesting pulling back the curtains tomorrow morning !