Daily Archives: April 3, 2026

Good Friday Mat

 

“This is another of the often ignored ‘small’ Guinness films from the early and mid-50’s that rarely get the attention they deserve. While it had a brief revival last fall at Britain’s National Film Theatre, it doesn’t seem to show up that often in Guinness retrospectives.

A number of elements in this gently comic film that are worthy of notice: Sir Alec’s performance is deft, subtle and delightfully wry whether he is playing the sleuth or spouting philosophy to the villain Flambeau.

An added treat is a cast that includes Peter Finch, who won an Oscar for Network, Joan Greenwood, who was Lady Balleston in Tom Jones and Bernard Lee who portrayed M in the James Bond series. Guinness, Greenwood and Cecil Parker (The Bishop) also appeared together in the Ealing Studio comedy, The Man in the White Suit.

Another interesting aspect is that a large part of the film was shot on location in Paris and rural France, apparently a rarity for the British films of that era.

Finally a bit of trivia: After his portrayal of Father Brown, Guinness converted to Catholicism.”

……

Another bit of trivia … yesterday was Alec Guinness’s birthday.

Friday [11 to 15]

(1145) Nearing the end of elevenses, folks. (1145)

 

15. Thems were the days


14. Safe passage


13. Moo corner


12. Lord Toby’s site this morning

Nike is sliding towards disaster as its stock slumps to its lowest level in a decade and sales are forecast to continue to decline following a woke rebrand that sent customers looking elsewhere. The Mail has the story.

Nike’s stock has slumped to its lowest level in more than a decade after the sportswear giant warned sales will keep falling through 2026. 

Shares hit an 11-year low on April 1st, capping a brutal stretch that has seen the company lose around 75% of its value since shares peaked in 2021. 

It is now worth under $68 billion – a third of the value of TJ Maxx. 

The latest sell-off was triggered by a bleak outlook, with Nike forecasting sales will slump 4% this quarter – a staggering $500 million fall in the value of shoes, tracksuits and t-shirts. 

The brand is being hit by a triple whammy: backlash to its more ‘woke’ image shift, a failed retreat from major retail partners in favor of direct-to-consumer selling, and a deepening slump in China. 

11. Why am I half expecting Graham Chapman?

Try these

 

  1. Which ship’s name was derived from Burns’ poem Tam o’ Shanter?
  2. Name a famous structure close to the Garden of Gethsemane.
  3. What’s the consensus on today’s name for where Jesus was buried?
  4. Name of the upper arm’s bone on a human.
  5. Whose beard did who singe, in whose reign?
  6. Line between the numerator and denominator?
  7. Write any quadratic equation … correctly.

……

More than one correct answer in many cases at 0606 Sat morn:

  1. Cutty Sark
  2. Temple, Al Asqa, Western Wall etc. … many
  3. Holy Sepulchre but IYE’s too
  4. Humerus
  5. Phillip etc., see comments
  6. Vinculum
  7. (𝑥+2)(𝑥+3) =  𝑥2+5𝑥+6

Friday [6 to 10]

(1012) Chaps and chapesses, Steve and now Penseivat, plus Andy, have got this thread moving under the Last Supper final Thursday post. Can we keep the treatises on things Christian there, under that post … until Sunday coming, at which point we could continue from Sunday post? I’d ordinarily not ask but it would be nice for blogreaders and Xers to have it in one place at a time. Ta. AFAP of course. (1056)

 

10. Blanche


9. Our own poor and huddled … Moo corner


8. Tulsi


7. I’ve also been running this blurb on X

“Over the 20s, I’ve slowly failed to delete various truisms and memes from the pic library. They’re just sitting there, thought I might run one here every so often.”

Then posting one of the pics from my library, for example:


6. Just posted this on X, mentioning “our chap”

10-4

 

I actually had a short Scouser video on KP nuts which would have been good but guess what … the prat or YT had it “embedding disabled”. Ho hum … this below was available, strong US accent, drowned out by “music” as usual … at least at first. He seemed to wake up after a minute and just let the presentation fill the senses.

Good Friday [2 to 5]

(0843) Dark clouds out there, damp and soggy. Have a good Friday. (0913)

 

5. On the net zero (criminal) madness


4. Steve at 1341

  • Pam Bondi Pleaded with Trump Not To Fire Her During Meeting and Allegedly Tipped Off Eric Swalwell About FBI’s Push to Release Salacious Fang Fang Files
  • Nigerian Christian Massacre Continues into Holy Week
  • BioNTech Shuts Down Its Biggest mRNA Plant in Asia – Because Nobody Wants the Jab Anymore
  • UAE arrests dozens of IRGC-linked money changers
  • Trump admin to investigate euthanasia death of rape victim in Spain
  • Much, much more.

3. Just another reminder of that programme


2. DAD at 1341

a) An assessment from French intelligence has warned that the upcoming generation of teenagers represents an increased threat of Islamic terrorism compared to their predecessors.

b) Two researchers from Cevipof see the violence that accompanied the installation of some new mayors as markers of a growing polarization of society, to which social media contributes. 

c) Après cinq mois de travaux « indispensables », les Catacombes de Paris, ce « lieu unique au monde », rouvre le 8 avril 2026, avec une scénographie repensée pour attirer un nouveau public. (JH: There ya go.)

d) France puts Freemason lodge ‘mafia’ on trial over murders and hit squads

e) (Plus sackings and Chas3’s failure to do his job with an Easter message.)

Good Friday [1]

(0547) A good sleep, still too dark to check conditions out there. In this post below is a rationale, an approach to steering the good ship Unherdables along its wide river as it navigates the Easter, Triduum and Resurrection Day Straits, carrying its motley crew in relative safety through well dredged channels down the centre of the straits. (0724)

 

That opener above fancifully imagines that we sailed around a rocky promontory in 2024, guided by a beacon, a lighthouse:


… and put in for repairs near this tavern complex behind the lighthouse, by a safe harbour for now, an occasional haven for some, a bit more for others, esp. those now of a certain age after our travels:


Back from the lighthouse and tavern proper, with its outhouses, cabins, stables, tavern, chapel and carpark are the river and track, dotted along the way up into the hills with unsociable curmudgeons in huts:


… and on houseboats:


River regulations of the land demand all craft keep moving … they can drop passengers off but not permanently moor along the way.

It’s a creaky, flawed analogy, allegory if you like, and it applies to crew, staff and passengers alike. We are so disparate in backgrounds that the creaky ole landlord, doubling as a riverboat skipper, provides as many side havens as possible (you see them in the navbar) but one enforced rule aboard is civility towards other passengers.

If that sounds wishy-washy, it’s actually the opposite. Anathema are any trying to climb aboard who are known troublemakers, those mindlessly duped by Woke narrative, or trolls of the globopsycho occupiers of our land … even those of our faith, the heritage of the land who have gone down denominational byways and start insisting the rest do it exactly as they do.

The central and overriding rule is to not constantly incommode others onboard, on pain of being thrown overboard … no caterwauling nor carrying on with insufferable alien rituals … except at auspicious points along the river, such as its Easter Straits … later, there are its cricket and baseball fields, other taverns etc. etc.

From the very start of the ocean voyage which after the alien attack off the rocky promontory necessitated that the good ship put into harbour, all aboard staying awhile by the tavern, thence the riverboat trip, the landlord demanded that even the underpinning faith of the land, which of course was fine in itself, one which men, women and children had died for in the past, was not to be pushed and pushed ad nauseam, fanatically. By all means come along to a tavern discussion and put your views but keep it civil.

At certain points along the river though, e.g. the Easter Straits … wwweeeeeellllll, those onboard are obviously going to hear and see its trappings, e.g. the three day triduum commemoration … and so what? If those aboard can’t tolerate that part of the journey, then alight, go hunting in the forest or whatever until we’re through the Easter Straits.

About the only exception to this … and yes we are consistently for our own western native culture … is to start insisting on “equal time” for other primitive, alien cultures over ours … you want that, then alight and make your way back to your own lands to wallow in those, just don’t lay them on us. You knew what this land was where we found harbour … so respect that land please. Thus spake the landlord, himself in thrall to his own Lord.

The Easter/Resurrection Triduum

Our Steve has kindly supplied, under the post here, a simple statement of faith which I’ll be using elsewhere as we go along, e.g. on X, in parts.

It’s as far as we’re going in public … if you want more denominationally refined detail, then alight at the next landing and make your way up the track to your denomination’s property, we’ll collect you again on the boat’s return journey to the harbour.

……

Actually, back to RL for a mo 🤔 that did happen to my gal and me on a riverboat trip in Russia … we were going from our town to St Peterburg (alliterating the Russian) and part of that journey crossed a lake and at the end of that lake was an island called Valaam, which was not unlike an Orthodox monastery … all very interesting.

Loreto Island, Lake Iseo, Italy

The most respectful passengers were possibly the Japanese … just a few, not in hordes. The only hordes were Russians themselves.