orwell’s The Road to Wigan Pier:
You cannot disregard them if you accept the civilization that produced them. For this is part at least of what industrialism has done for us. Columbus sailed the Atlantic, the first steam engines tottered into motion, the British squares stood firm under the French guns at Waterloo, the one-eyed scoundrels of the nineteenth century praised God and filled their pockets; and this is where it all led —to labyrinthine slums and dark back kitchens with sickly, ageing people creeping round and round them like blackbeetles. It is a kind of duty to see and smell such places now and again, especially smell them, lest you should forget that they exist; though perhaps it is better not to stay there too long.
i signed up to goodreads after some initial reluctance. these are the books on my just read pile (i.e. i’ve nowhere left to shelve them.)
the swimming world is rocked by new swim suits. a two-time gold medalist refuses to indulge in “technological doping”. middle-ranking swimmers have started breaking world records with the new attire. i guess we understand now why the original olympics were conducted nude (gymnos in greek). so let’s hear it for nude swimming. something that’s bound to increase audiences.
what’s the effect on mortality of a recession. not much, apparently, but there is a significant change in how people die.
A 3 per cent increase in unemployment led to rises of about 4 per cent in suicide and 6 per cent in murders but a 4 per cent fall in traffic fatalities. The biggest impact was on deaths from alcohol abuse, which rose 28 per cent.
following on from zac’s mott and bailey cake, zoe had a school project to make something viking. the answer was obvious, maybe the world’s first viking village cake -
