Ding Dong The Merry Oh

I don't know about you but ever since I heard yesterday's momentous news I haven't been able to get that tune out of my head. Never before in my life have I felt the death of another human being a cause for celebration, joy or ding dong the merry oh but somehow the song seems appropriate as, like the Wicked Witch, Bin Laden's demise is one that will be celebrated throughout the western world and beyond. It seems that I'm not alone as you will already find on YouTube numerous adaptations of the classic from the Wizard Of Oz adapted to fit the circumstances. It's inappropriate and in bad taste but it sums up exactly how I felt. And however much people think that he will easily be replaced soon, you don't get that many mass murderers in a century. For example, think Hitler, Stalin, Saddam Hussein, Pol Pot - none of those was replaced by another murderous leader and I honestly believe that the death of Bin Laden will bring a period of reconciliation perhaps after an initial flurry of warmongering.

This was the biggest news event in the tweeting age and it was fascinating to see it unfold via Twitter which I'm pretty sure was the first place that the news broke. Soon there were plenty of jokes and photo shopped pictures in questionable taste, a sanctimonious quote attributed to Martin Luther King that criticised the celebration of a death (later found to be made up to the embarrassment of the sanctimonious tweeters who spread it ) and, (in my opinion, the ones that said all we need to know about the vacuous nature of this social media I love so much) the views of Jedward who continued their inane observations on their hair, hats and orange juice totally oblivious to what was going on around them.

It's been a good week for TV drama with two of our most cherished actors, Brenda Bleythn and Jim Broadbent going head to head against each other in ITV's Vera and BBC's Exile. I thought that Blethyn was great in Vera playing the title role of a chief superintendent detective who looks like a bag lady. But Marion and I both lost interest in the drama as the plot was both ludicrous and farcical and by the denouement we really couldn't care less whodunnit. On the other hand, Broadbent's Alzheimer stricken ex journalist is another masterful performance but with a plot that seems both plausible and real. We've only seen one of the three episodes to date but we're looking forward to the rest. We weren't alone in our views on these shows as The Guardian critic came to a similar conclusion (but obviously expressed it far more eloquently than me).

We had a visit from our interior designer today (I know that sounds so pretentious - sorry). A couple of years ago we had a loft conversion which necessitated a change to the layout of the hall landing and stairs which had to be fully redecorated. Using no less than 26 rolls of Osborne & Little wallpaper, this was the biggest and most expensive decorating job of our lives and the total cost was not far short of a five figure sum. To our dismay, white patches like this started to crop up about six months after the job was finished. It was initially confined to one area which the designer arranged to be redecorated but now the problem is spreading all over the place with new patches a weekly occurrence. The designer is sure that it is not the paper as he has used it many times and Osborne (part of the Chancellor's business interests) are sure it is not faulty (although in their favour they have said that they will replace it). It seems that it could be one of or a combination of a number of things - paper, lining paper, paste, plaster or filler and he's arranging for a scientific test to be carried out to ascertain the cause. He has agreed for the whole job to be redone which is reassuring but it's a big upheaval and not something to look forward to.


Instead of ending with the bleedin obvious today - a version of the Wicked Witch song, here's something a little different. We put a deposit on a pram for the grandchild (who is due in ten weeks) today. I wonder if he or she will have skills like this.