Author Archives: James Higham

Saturday [6 to 10]

(0550) Morning all. (0603)

 

10. Moosh corner


9. Dirty deeds done in the dark of night


8. The Banter Ban


7. It’s more than mad … it’s sick


6. DAD at 1272

a) Having been defeated in the Senate, Yaël Braun-Pivet, President of the National Assembly, is not waiting for the end of the Senate debate to falsely announce that she is supported by the French people.

b) Iraq: Baghdad asks Macron to repatriate its citizens imprisoned for belonging to the Islamic State.

c) Melenchon is EVIL; he is going for the Isl@mic vote.

d) What is it with NANTES? Something in tha air, the water….? Nantes (44): The LFI candidate [a Mate of Melenchon] for mayor will remove the statue of Louis XVI if she wins….

e) The French Government has a budget. Once again it survived a no-confidence vote, spared by the Socialist Party’s decision not to bring it down.

Saturday [1 to 5]

(0313) First sleep done. Second hopefully on the way. (0343)

 

5. Anniversary not far away


4. Wheels within wheels


3. Steve at 1272

  • New MRC Study Shows Media Bias Against Trump Has Hit New High – More Than 9/10 at Times
  • Record Freeze is Predicted in 40 (US) States
  • Half of Germans Say Migration Is the “Country’s Biggest Problem,” Majority See Economic Decline and Free Speech Under Threat
  • Nurse Who Posted Disturbing “Wish” For Upcoming Birth of Karoline Leavitt’s Baby Has Been Fired (JH: Please see Steve’s two clips at UHC-WP … access from navbar)
  • A Stuttering Jack Smith Says He Can’t Remember Who Swore Him In as Special Counsel
  • President Trump Announces a Large Fleet of US Warships Is Moving Towards Iran – Threatens Iran on Hanging Protesters
  • A Day Of Two Fronts: High-Stakes Diplomacy Overshadowed By Russian Military Advances
  • Why the Black Death is so important to the pandemic industry
  • End of life, senators oppose all forms of assisted dying
  • America Officially Withdraws from the World Health Organization
  • Much more.

2. Lord T corner

a. At OoL, Grandpa wrote about smoking. M’lud added:


b. He also saw this in passing:


1. Just posted these on X and Gab

Donald Trump, in insulting the ordinary British person and armed forces men and women, rather than Starmer and Marxist henchmen, crossed a crass red line. He needs to apologise … not to starmer but to the ordinary Brit whom starmer hates.


Someone is appallingly advising DJT.

Friday [21 till close of play]

(1658) Almost evening, all, hope you have a good weekend.

 

26. What a foolish man Trump has become

After breaking his word to Iranians (mass slaughter resulting), he attacks patriotic Brits plus soldiers etc. instead of Starmer and the left who deserve it. Then we get to Bondi. Why is he trying to lose his base?

@realDonaldTrump


25. There might just be mobile phones soon if we’re lucky


24. Kill switches


23. Crowborough


22. Steve at 1272

  • John Case: Tina Peters Has Filed An Assault Complaint Against Her Assailant With The Colorado Department Of Corrections
  • Aaron Reitz: What We See More Broadly In The Islamic World Is Anti-Civilizational Forces At Play. Anywhere You See A Muslim Majority Country, You See Chaos, Crime, Oppression, Disease, Economic Stagnation
  • Rep. John Gillette: Jihadists Have A Plan, A 100 Year Plan To Take Over The Country By Infiltrating All Of Our Systems. We’ve Got To Put A Stop To It
  • Lynn Davenport: The Parallel System We Set Up To Flee The Government Schools Is The Charter School Model And That Has Lined The Pockets Of The Islamic Schools As Well As Possible CCP Ties With Other Charter Schools 

21. An interesting one

… not sure how far it gets us.

Friday [16 to 20]

(1259) Afternoon all … just behave yourselves, all right? (1321)

 

20. Diet and exercise


19. Moosh corner

(Yes, can quite see the point of shipping Little Johnny off to Ceylon if he’s been a bit naughty. I know there was only a certain length of time I could be tolerated for in one go.)


18. Today’s Daily Sceptic (blogrolls for link)


17. Attack of the Krazed Killer Karens

Now, you saw that item via Steve at UHC-WP about the Karen who wanted Karoline L’s baby to die … she’s head of a home healthcare company. Right, here’s another one.

Trouble is, one can’t initially tell, from a photo, just how criminally insane they are, though these days, the type of occupation they’re head honchos of should be a bit of a giveaway.


Sane? I’d suggest that there are actually warning signs:


There ya go.

16. That’s telling him, Viktor

Fri Mat

 

“This film, based on a stage play by Edgar Wallace, is one of those traditional British murder mysteries set in an enormous aristocratic mansion with all kinds of supercilious people, suspicious servants, stupid detectives, and maidens in distress.

But it is by no means as corny as it sounds. The film is dominated by the powerful presence of Helen Haye, an actress with the cutting edge of a diamond blade, who lashes everyone in sight with her reproving tongue. She is Lady Lebanon, the matriarch of the establishment, and don’t you forget it!

Her friend is Dr. Amersham, played by Felix Aylmer, and he even outdoes her in supercilious arrogance. What a pair! Between them, they so dominate the screen that there is barely space for the other players to make their presences known much of the time.

The maiden in distress (the one who is ‘frightened’) is played by Penelope Dudley-Ward (1914-1982, sometimes credited only as Penelope Ward), who only appeared in 12 films between 1935 and 1944, retiring after that.

From 1948 to 1976, she was married to Sir Carol Reed, and during the time that I knew him towards the end of his life, I met her, though I only ever exchanged a few polite words with her, as she never joined me and Carol for our chats over gin and tonic in their vast living room with the enormously high ceiling in their splendid house in Kings Road. (They had removed the floor above that room so that the room was two storeys high rather than one.)

Alas, I retain little impression of her, so must make do with what I see in these old movies instead. Now they are all gone, even Tracy Reed, Lady Reed’s daughter, who died in 2012. Sic transit gloria mundi, I suppose.

Helen Haye is so outstanding in this film. However, the truly inspired performance in this film is by Marius Goring as the young Lord Lebanon, Helen Haye’s son. He really outdoes himself in this one. (He had already appeared with Helen Haye the year before – The Spy in Black (1939).

The reason why the Lebanon family are called Lebanon in this story is that they ‘go back a thousand years’ and were active in the Middle East at that time as crusaders. Helen Haye is determined to ‘continue the line’ and keeps urging her bachelor son, who is obsessed with composing music, to marry Penelope Dudley-Ward, which he, unlike Carol Reed in real life, is strangely loathe to do.

George King does an excellent job of directing this tale, which could easily have been creaky, but does not creak. King never rose to be one of the famous British directors, despite directing 54 titles, retiring in 1949. Many or most of his films are unavailable and no one alive has seen them, which makes it rather difficult to evaluate his contribution to the cinema.

Certainly this film has countless twists and turns and surprises and never drags. Considering that it started out framed by a proscenium (as a stage play), King got it moving and avoided the claustrophobic feeling we often get from stage plays adapted for the screen. When watching this, be careful not to become ‘a frightened lady’!”