The first flowers are appearing on our honesty, which I grew from seed last year. I love this plant. It's simple and easy to grow and the seed pods are so interesting. You can really tell from this photo that it's a relative of broccoli, with those dark ruffled leaves and flower buds in a bunch.
We're having a final (I hope) cold snap here. The temperatures on Friday are supposed to drop to 29º F (-1º C) and there's even snow in the forecast, so I'm going to have to cover or bring in some plants. I thought I was done with this for the year. We are not amused, as Queen Victoria supposedly said. About a week ago, when everything was looking so spring-like and lovely, I even considered moving all the dahlias from the shed into the garden -- thank goodness I didn't.
On Sunday we changed our clocks to British Summer Time, so now it's lighter longer into the evening. Apparently the weather gods didn't get the memo.
Did anybody watch the Oscars this year? I barely knew they were happening, to be honest, and I'd only seen a handful of the nominated movies so I didn't pay much attention. I'd never even heard of the winner, which is apparently on Apple+. I've already cancelled our Apple+ subscription and I'm not about to sign back up just for one movie.
The big news, of course, was Will Smith's bizarre smackdown of Chris Rock -- I watched the clip and while it's impolite to refer to someone's medical condition in a joking way, I didn't think what Rock said was all that terrible, and certainly not worthy of such a strange display of pique.
In other entertainment news, I've been listening to the podcast "The Trojan Horse Affair," from the show Serial, and it has been riveting. I'm on the last episode now. It has to do with a mysterious, anonymous letter that surfaced several years ago asserting that fundamentalist Muslims were trying to take over the Birmingham school system here in England. Even though the letter was quickly determined to be a hoax, it derailed the careers of several Muslim school administrators and wound up being a subject of national discussion -- and fuel for anti-Muslim sentiment all over the country. The producers of the podcast try to determine the letter's origins, which seem surprisingly pedestrian, and to unpack why it was taken so seriously at the highest levels of government. It's fascinating.
Finally, for a couple of weeks now there's been a gigantic pet carrier sitting on the street around the corner from our house. This thing could have held a Great Dane or maybe even a good-sized bear, it was so big:
Well, OK, maybe not a bear, but it's as big as a shopping cart!
Anyway, it had a sign on it saying "FREE" and no one was taking it. So I tried to post it to Freecycle, but the moderators rejected my post. Apparently there's a rule that says you can't post curbside finds unless you take them home yourself and then post them -- otherwise there's a chance multiple people will show up and fight over (!) the free stuff. Well, I wasn't about to schlep that gigantic pet carrier home, and anyway I noticed yesterday afternoon that it has disappeared (along with the shopping cart) so who knows how that story ended.
I *loved* The Trojan Horse Affair - I expect the journalism/journalist rookie/veteran elements were an extra facet of interest for you, as well as the excellent storytelling?
ReplyDeleteI am possibly the only person in the universe who didn't find the OG Serial terribly captivating at all, nor the subsequent ones, but I binged this one very quickly indeed!
Definitely the journalism aspects of the story, and the ways the podcasters chose to cover it, were as interesting for me as the controversy itself.
DeleteI had no idea Honesty was a relative of broccoli. We change our clocks this coming weekend, we go backwards an hour.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a somewhat distant relative, but it's a Brassica just like cabbage, mustard, brussels sprouts and many other vegetables.
DeleteI’ve read that bears are very common pets, at least around Birmingham. (Psst... Pass it on.)
ReplyDeleteHa! I don't think this cage is meant to contain THOSE kinds of bears.
Delete(Although you never know...to each his own!)
DeleteI was very impressed with Chris Rock on how he handled himself. I really didn’t have a high opinion of him before the smack.
ReplyDeleteHe did show admirable restraint although I think he was mostly in shock!
DeleteDo I detect some residual grumpiness from the loss of an hour's sleep last weekend? What is happening with daylight saving in the US is interesting. I am for the same here.
ReplyDeleteVia Twitter, the Oscars incident was edited out here, but there were links to see it on Japanese tv channel. The futility of editing out such things was proved as it was on every news service by the evening.
The podcast sounds interesting. Birmingham had a deserved bad reputation for sex abuse of minors.
The pet carrier is interesting. Given the size of the pet who would fill it, how could it be carried? May as well put your Husky in a wheelbarrow.
Do I seem grumpy? More so than usual?
DeleteYeah, I don't think the "carrier" is really for physical carrying. More like shipping!
I love honestly, the plant, too, and replant every year in a container from the seed pods, which decorate my house. I have to grow it in a container because the chipmunks chew it otherwise. They can't reach it in the container.
ReplyDeleteI have little interest in the Oscars but did watch once when the son of a friend was up for an award which he won. About two am our time. I told her it's good he won,after staying up that long out of loyalty!
We grow ours in pots as well. I put some in the ground a couple of years ago and they didn't do that well -- and they don't seem to re-seed naturally for us, either. I harvest the seeds and then deliberately plant them in new pots.
DeleteMaybe the shopping trolley and the giant pet carrier ran away together, got married and are now living happily in a cottage in The Cotswolds. It would make a great children's story Steve. Why not write it?
ReplyDeleteAs for the incident at The Oscars, if Dave asks you what exactly occurred you could act it out. He would be Chris Rock and you would be Will Smith. Olga would be Jada Pinkett Smith observing the violent swipe.
You are clearly the one with the imagination to write that book!
DeleteMaybe someone used the trolley to cart away the carrier (note that the use of the verb cart is a Canadian pun because we call them shopping carts, not trolleys)(is it a pun if you have to explain it??)
ReplyDeleteWe had snow last night after a couple of weeks of mild-ish weather where all but the largest snowbanks had disappeared. But March snow never stays long, so it's okay.
In case you missed my reply to your reply to my comment yesterday, Station Eleven was published in 2014. The author had three novels prior to that and one since (The Glass Hotel, publ. in 2020). Station Eleven was made into a TV mini-series, and plans are underway to do the same for The Glass Hotel.
Thanks for the book info! I had no idea it was that old. I'm really liking it -- in fact I'm almost done!
DeleteI would have needed the shopping cart to get the carrier home!!
ReplyDeleteAnd all of our pets could have slept comfortably inside.
That's probably why that cart is there! It's interesting that both items disappeared at the same time -- I think maybe someone did exactly as you suggested.
DeleteYou absolutely COULD get a young bear in that carrier. "Carrier" really doesn't seem to pertain to that thing. How in the world would you carry it? Animal shipping container might be more accurate.
ReplyDeleteWeird that you're getting another frost. Things will probably be fine though.
Yeah, you're right -- it's definitely more of a shipping container! We had big ones for our boxers when we brought them to England but they weren't THAT big.
DeleteI felt bad that "the slap" eclipsed what were some good moments at the Oscars. Not that I watched - ha! But the deaf man winning an award was special, and Lady Gaga & Liza Minnelli was apparently special too.
ReplyDeleteI haven't yet seen the Liza Minelli moment. I'll have to look it up on YouTube.
DeleteLovely flowers! You always know so many details about each little plant you grow. Don't worry about them in the cold weather - it is nature! They will do what they are supposed to do...
ReplyDeleteFor the plants that naturally grow here, that's true! But we have some plants that are exotic and nature never meant for them to live this far north -- so those need some protection. :)
DeleteIt'll be good when the cold weather passes through and spring really comes and stays. The flowers will be so happy and breathe a fragrant sigh of relief.
ReplyDeleteI watched the Oscar Slap incident. I thought Will Smith was being a jerk. I'm glad he apologized.
I thought we were already to that point re. spring, but I guess not!
DeleteYour honesty is beautiful. I wonder how big the dog was that might have lived in that large carrier. Hmmm. Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.
ReplyDeleteI'm seriously guessing a Great Dane, or maybe a Bernese mountain dog or a Saint Bernard.
DeleteYes, I watched the Oscars and I saw that slap. It just seemed so childish but then our politics have gotten childish so it was almost normal. I watched the movie "Trumbo" last night about the blacklisted writers of the 50's & 60's. That was another era when certain government elements went too far and turned neighbors against neighbors. In the end, I went to bed a bit depressed thinking our society doesn't seem to learn anything.
ReplyDeleteI had the same thought -- that it seemed a reflection of our confrontational era. Everyone just needs to calm down and not be so offended all he time!
DeleteLove the idea of a carrier for a bear, safety from Millicent Clyde. Of course you would grow "honesty" cause that is how you roll. I wounder if there is a "polite" plant?
ReplyDeleteHmmmm...let's hybridize something and make one!
DeleteNow THAT is a pet carrier! Lizzie's is just like it but cat-sized. I'm glad you showed the shopping cart with it for scale. I'd have never believed it!
ReplyDeleteMy theory is that anyone nominated who goes to the Oscars (or Emmys or anything else like that) should be prepared to be "roasted" in one way or another, whether by the hosts or someone like Chris Rock presenting. Will should have taken that one to the parking lot instead of the stage.
He should have just laughed it off like any mature person. I'm guessing Jada may be very sensitive about her condition, and he knows that.
DeleteThat reminds me that I need a new carrier for my pet although my 9 pound cat doesn't require one that large. I didn't watch the Oscars but have seen the slap several times and can't quite figure it out. Over the top. I also didn't think the "joke" was that awful. I much preferred the "Sound of Metal" to "CODA" which I found disappointing. Perhaps my expectations were too high.
ReplyDeleteOver the top is right! I honestly have no desire to even see "CODA." I think I'm just tired of trying to keep up!
DeleteHow on earth would you ever be able to lift that pet box with whatever pet inside?
ReplyDeleteI started listening to the Trojan Horse podcast and after the first episode read this here:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/20/the-trojan-horse-affair-how-serial-podcast-got-it-so-wrong?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
and haven't really got around listening to the rest since.
Yes, I read that story too. If you Google "Reaction to Trojan Horse Affair" there are articles about both that column and the podcasters' reaction to it. It's all interesting reading. I think part of what the podcasters criticize in the failures of British politicians and media to address these events well stems from British law and the much meatier libel laws in this country. (Did that sentence make sense? LOL)
DeleteI wish the Oscars would do away with the "comedians" who are there to make fun of people. Ricky Gervais is equally terrible. Chris Rock has been mocking Jada since 2016 or so. Enough already.
ReplyDeleteIt's just part of the show. As Jeanie said above, I think anyone who attends -- particularly if they're up for a prominent award -- needs to be prepared for a bit of roasting. I guess it would have been more appropriate for Chris Rock to roast Will Smith himself, though, as opposed to his wife.
DeleteHi Steve, Dave and Miss Olga. I've been keeping up with you Olga. Steve that was low class what Will did to Chris Rock.Jada is bringing most of this ridicule on herself. If you know you look crazy with that bald head, they have wig shops. She wore a wig when she was on the nutty professor and looked beautiful. Life can throw you lemons but catch them and have a glass of lemonade. I've been doing chemo twice a year since 2017, lost my beautiful head of hair but I stopped worrying about it and went wig shopping. I've never left my home with a bald head. I didn't want to wear a wig but I wanted hair and this is the only way for me to have some, so be it. I think Jada's bald head is a sympathy call for exposing her affair with this young rapper guy. Why didn't will slap him. He probably would have met a glock.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from you as always, Angelicastar! Olga is glad you're keeping up with her! I think Jada should just roll with it as a fashion choice. Baldness looks amazing on some people and she's one of them! But yes, she could always get a hairpiece if she's sensitive about it.
DeleteThis photo on here is one of the last ones I took in 2016. I have more and look at them like this is the hair I once had.(lol)
ReplyDeleteLukas has a carrier almost that big...He likes to stand up rather than be crouched. Had no idea a broccoli cousin could be so pretty.
ReplyDeleteLukas could swing on jungle vines in a carrier that size!
DeleteI'm glad someone took the pet carrier. We have one that size and they're not cheap!
ReplyDeleteI knew nothing about the slapping incident until the following evening when I saw it on the news. I, too, was a little surprised that "joke" set Smith off like it did. I believe some women can carry off the "bald look" quite well and Jada looks great to me.
I think we paid about $100 apiece for our pet carriers when we flew our boxers to London -- and that was almost eleven years ago. I agree about Jada -- I think she looks great bald, and it can be a good look for some people!
DeleteWill smith should lose his Oscar
ReplyDeleteI think that would be a pretty drastic response. His behavior was bad and I think he was wrong, but I wouldn't take away his award.
DeleteI think that the strangest part of the controversy is hearing supposedly liberated women talking about how beautiful it was to see Will Smith standing up for 'his' woman. What kind of Neanderthal nonsense is THAT??? To me, a simple 'listen, my wife has a medical condition that has resulted in hair loss' would have been far more effective in shutting Rock down. Losing his Oscar? Roman Polanski and Harvey Weinstein didn't lose theirs.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why Smith didn't just let the joke pass. Rock didn't say anything THAT bad. If anything it seemed weirdly complimentary. And you're right about Polanski and Weinstein -- that puts things in perspective, doesn't it?
DeleteWill Smith laughed at Chris Rock's joke. Then his attitude changed, I guess, when he saw his wife roll her eyes. Who knows what went through his mind? I don't know how Chris Rock managed to continue. I remember the streaker at the Oscars. I remember Sacheen Little Feather accepting Marlon Brando's second Academy Award. Some other strange things have happened, but the slap/punch is the strangest yet.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie