Uncanny likeness

I say!

In a previous post, I wrote about the uncanny likeness that many people have drawn between myself, and Henry Finch Hatton, the thirteenth Earl of Winchilsea. Here is the proof.


The thirteenth Earl of Winchilsea.


MM III in the far, far north.

Surely, we are related?

MM III

Protocol

I say!

One cannot fail to have noticed that with the news from The Oval, the cricket world is in crisis.

It has been caused by a breach of protocol.

On Sunday afternoon, the umpires went out. They were not followed by the Pakistan team, so after a short wait, the umpires went in.

After a few minutes, the umpires went out again, this time accompanied by the not-out England batsmen. Once again, they were not followed by the Pakistan team, so after a short wait, the umpires and the not-out batsmen went in.

After a few more minutes, the Pakistan team went out. However, this time, neither the umpires or the England not-out batsmen went out. So after a short time, the Pakistan team went in.

This left no-one out in the field, so play could not resume.

These things are all clearly not the correct protocol. The correct protocol is for the umpires to go out, followed by the fielding team (in this instance, Pakistan), followed in turn by the not-out batsmen.

It could hardly be clearer that that, and so it's not surprising that the game was abandoned after only three and a half days play. One has to keep to the correct protocol.

MM III

Brief quiz

I say!

Here are three quick quiz questions, which you should try to answer without recourse to Google.

1. Who was the first president of the USA to be born in the 20th Century?

2. Who wrote "From this hour I ordain myself loos'd of limits and imaginary lines"?

3. Relating to travel, what is the significance of the Lale Pastahanesi?

Answers in a Comment, please.

MM III

Too close to the sun

I say!

Interminable delays in airport lounges have given me the opportunity to complete a most wonderful book, which I highly recommend to anyone who might visit this blog.

"Too close to the sun: the life and times of Denys Finch Hatton" by Sara Wheeler. What a delightful read!

I must firstly say that the author, Sara Wheeler, is rather attractively handsome. And can she write!

Here are a few short extracts:

"They took off in radiant good weather. Around Takunga the fields rippled with high spiky leaves that looked like the tops of giant pineapples. The sisal had just poled, and a tall stick-like growth shot up from the heart of each plant. From the air the neat rows ran across the land like green corduroy"

"They were living in different mental worlds, as unhappy lovers do, coexisting like the twin beaters of a rotary whisk, spinning in time but never touching."

"The hawthorns were crimsoned with haws and the weak sun circled with a ruff of lavender cloud as beaters drove the pheasants out of Evedon Wood."

I say! Rather good, what?

The book is essentially a biography of Denys Finch Hatton. Karen Blixen wrote about her love affair with him, and she and he were portrayed respectively by Meryl Streep and Robert Redford in the Oscar winning film 'Out of Africa'.

Despite the fact that he crashed his Gypsy Moth into the Voi hills, in south east Kenya, over seventy years ago, I know from experience that, even today, if one mentions in passing 'Denys' at the dinner table of any family with roots still residing in the Ngong Hills, one will immediately be met with recognition for a gentleman who, despite never occupying any official capacity and being merely an adventurer, holds a unique place in the history of BEA and the hearts of its inhabitants.

Of course, several of those who are mentioned in Wheeler's tome were still alive and known to my dear Paw Paw, many years later.

I'm delighted to report that Finch Hatton's camp continues today the tradition of opulence.

I wish I could post a copy of the photograph of Henry Finch Hatton, the 13th Earl of Winchilsea, as featured in "too close to the sun", as it has been remarked that I bear an uncanny likelness to him.

I note in passing that Wheeler has also authored a book which might be relevant to HotBoy and Rob McJ - Terra Incognita, Travels in Antarctica.

MM III

Pitch Report

I say!

Here are some more snaps.

The following two snaps show that not too much damage was done by the Hello/OK Private Function. My unplanned residence for what was left of the night of the party was the summer house, at the top of the garden, shown in the second snap.




Of course, the main reason for my visit was not to attend the Hello/OK function, but rather to make a pitch inspection. Here is the evidence. It looks a bit green, but don't we all, in the wrong light. After it had been shaved, I passed it fit for play.


There was a slight incident when the visitors' opening batsman didn't manage to duck one of 'Lethal' Larry Longchamps' short-pitched balls:


However, I decided that this was nothing to do with the pitch. In such circumstances, one must simply show no pain.

MM III

Books

I say!

I shall return to some final snaps of Oxfordshire soon, but in the meantime I wanted to post the following two things.

Extracted from my current read "...he made his way to Canada to enlist. At the recruiting station he was asked if he was a homosexual, the evidence being that he was wearing a wristwatch. He said he was not. There were no further questions."

My, my - how strange that a wristwatch might be seen in this way. This happened in the First World War.

Now, I hope HotBoy may be reading this, as it is extracted from a review of Irvine Welsh's latest novel:

"Irvine Welsh's sixth novel is so awful that, to paraphrase James Wood, it invents its own category of awfulness...The book is a toyshop of pure MDF cutouts...The characters, situations, storyline, prose - everything is so risible in its inability to convince on even the most rudimentary levels that it appears as if Welsh has telephoned it in on a very bad line...every single premise is such a stunning model of lack of conviction that the book should become a textbook on how not to write fiction...This is a demeaning book that cants the reader's sould downwards, making it feel complicit with the writer's dishonest short-changing of his readership, telling them that this lazy, dishonest, appallingly written rubbish is the real thing while laughing all the way to the bank as a result of our gullibility."

Well - I say! I won't be buying that one.

MM III