Bedtime

As I have explained before, Bass, the dog, has Chihuahua genes. Chichuahuas’ make nests.

They go in things, under things, and then churn until it becomes comfortable to them, to their specifications. It has to be to their specifications. The Furlongs can premake a nest, but if it is not correct, it will be remade until it is. A blanket, any blanket, is a probable nest. Our beds have to be protected otherwise our bedding is re arranged without our permission so that bedtime becomes a surprise. Bass loves duvets as much as blankets.

So we bought him his own.

He likes it very much. It’s a pure white child bed duvet without a cover.

Old bedtime nest

New duvet nest

You will notice the dog is black. You don’t know that the dog ‘sheds’ about now. Black hairs shedding in clumps on a white duvet look like tarantula infestations which frighten old people.

So we ordered a duvet cover for him. Fortunately he took an instant delight in it. He made a nest as soon as I took it out of the packet. Now every bedtime looks like this…..

Inside there is a sleeping dog. A happy sleeping dog.

And I can shake the tarantulas out into the garden because they don’t stick to cotton as much as polyester fibre!

Sahara memory

The Furlongs watched Michael Palin’s Sahara last night on TV. I have a Sahara memory of my own….

I have loved every cigarette I ever smoked. But one comes to mind that was so memorable.

I was on a plane when smoking had just been banned on long haul flights but they were still using fresh air on planes. In the middle of the night, on a quiet plane, I woke to find I could smell the faint whiff of cigarette smoke. So I got up and followed it to the back of the plane where staff were sitting chatting in a curtained off section, a small staff room, smoking.

One of them offered me a cigarette and I smoked it. But that is not what made the situation magical, although I felt hugely blessed as smokers do when they have a cigarette after hours of denial. What was stunning is that we were flying very low to conserve fuel and take advantage of air currents over the Saharan desert.

Down in the dark, were not electric lights, but little fires sparkling in clusters where people were camped, or where there were small settlements. It was stunningly beautiful to my eyes.

Lonely, secret, and beautiful while everyone else was sleeping through it on the plane. I felt hugely priviledged.

And the cigarette tasted great too!

A very British movie worth watching and an American cousin

While we are all in lockdown with time on our hands, there are two very different movies we watched which are worth the trouble,

The first is a very British war film called 1917. It might not have been appreciated in countries where Britishness is lost, or not understood. It’s reserved, stiff upper lip, restrained and about a war hero no one remembers. The incidents are true.

The Furlongs enjoyed every minute. You might too.

The second is a very American war film called Midway also constructed from the memories of those who were there. And also about heros no one remembers. It’s grim, and tense and loud!

Both films don’t do “music”. 2017 is deficient of soundtrack music.

I like that!

Who wants to be side-tracked by a musical score?

See what you think…..

Narcissism

Some years ago, on a different blog to this, I wrote a lot about abusive marriage. I did that because I watched someone gradually fade into psychosis from the effects of gas lighting by their partner. Unless you know that you are being manipulated, you have no chance. Knowledge is strength.

While I have been absent as a blogger, or halfhearted as one, I have been studying. Mr Furlong and I have been studying. We have been studying narcissism.

Turns out, we live in an age of narcissism.

Our culture is producing such people by the thousands!

Evidently.

We do it by teaching our children and young folk that they are special, unique, wonderful creatures who can be anything they want to be, do anything they desire.

Narcissists make very difficult relationships that abuse other people. Somewhere, in all our lives, we have been the victim of one.

10 Signs That You’re in a Relationship with a Narcissist

Be on the lookout for these, before you get manipulated.

“That’s enough of me talking about myself; let’s hear you talk about me”

― Anonymous

“It’s not easy being superior to everyone I know.”

― Anonymous

Psychologist Stephen Johnson writes that the narcissist is someone who has “buried his true self-expression in response to early injuries and replaced it with a highly developed, compensatory false self.” This alternate persona to the real self often comes across as grandiose, “above others,” self-absorbed, and highly conceited. In our highly individualistic and externally driven society, mild to severe forms of narcissism are not only pervasive but often encouraged.

Read here

And explore Sam Vaknin, a real live Narcissist, whose material is fascinating.

We all know Jack Schitt

The news is going from bad to worse. Boris is misbehaving. He’s CLOSING pubs!!!! Trump is misbehaving. He got BETTER!!. Biden is misbehaving. He LIES! Masks are useless they say, or not, we don’t know. Students, robbed of their right to happiness are revolting. They are getting drunk and dancing in the street rebelliously. Some say they DESERVE to be joyful, they are young after all. Others say they are selfish. The Government is useless, evidently. The council is useless too. The NHS is useless, where once it was the jewel in our crown. People are going insane, or committing suicide. Everyone has lost control because there is too much control. The scientist know all, or they know Jack Schitt, depending on your view.

Or

The Coronavirus is a hoax. The world is being taken over by Bill Gates who is going to microchip us all and make us his slaves. Or perform a massive cull. 5G is addling our brains. We have become sheep in the face of a massive worldwide attempt to assert control on the people, to remove our freedoms, to enslave us. David Icke and his band of merry protestors know the truth. They are protesting maskless and hugging one and all.

It doesn’t matter what you actually believe, this Covid thing is exposing a nasty flaw in the character of humans.

The flaw is that, in truth, we all know Jack Schitt and recognise his whole family in ourselves, but we won’t admit it!

Two movies, good and useless

As usual, Mr Furlong and I are movie spotting.

On Prime, if you have it, is a little gem called ‘The Baker’. It has the funniest sex scene in it I’ve ever seen. And a delightfully British plot. The end result is a feeling of satisfaction at having been entertained and laughed. Fun, goofy and clever, it’s worth the time you spend watching it.

On the other hand, what not to watch is the new ‘Agatha and the Midnight Murders’ on channel 5.

Don’t waste your time.

It is dreary, cheaply made, and bears nothing to resemble any kind of good whodunnit. Agatha herself would have been ashamed. It has a laboured feeling about it, as if it’s trying, but let me tell you, its very trying! Avoid. Then you won’t be disappointed.

Other tips on filling your time whilst shielding/self isolation, is to entertain yourself by simply surfing YouTube. Mr Furlong and I listen to a lot of music there. It makes us feel good.

Hows this for clever? A new slant on a classical piece.,…

Mystery Road series

Mr Furlong and I have been bingeing.

We have watched the two series of Mystery Road.

It’s real. It’s dusty. It’s grubby. It’s slow. Its people are imperfect. There is no Hollywood in it, no violoporn, no porn, no glamour, no artifice.

It concerns murder, but not in the Agatha Christie way. The viewer has to work to track down the murderer.

It concerns relationships, but not in the Hollywood psychological way. The viewer has to work to see the difference between the thinking of the Aborigines and the Europeans in it, the difference between men and woman, old and young, rich and poor, honest and dishonest, right and wrong.

In the script are pearls of thinking. Yet there is no attempt to ‘educate’ you on how to think. The photography is stunning. The pace is slow. It touches on all the issues of our times, but subtly.

There is no glamour, no eyecandy, the plot in its convolutions, not served up on a plate. Nothing goes quite perfectly, not even the endings.

Yet it’s wholely satisfactory.

It’s worth the time spent warching it.

Mystery_Road

The dog’s birthday

Can you believe the efficiency of the Internet?

‘They’ knew before I did. ‘They’ sent my dog emails wishing him Happy Birthday, and adverts of lovely doggie toys, doggie treats and doggie gifts he’d possibly like to buy.

Bass’s birthday was yesterday. In good pagan tradition, I wished him ‘happy’ birthday to dispel gouls and gools that might be haunting him. He seemed pleased enough with that.

Considering how many emails he got, and how many giftie things he was exhoted to buy from ‘them’, I’m bloody glad he’s never learned to read!