WE'RE WATCHING YOU AND HE WATCHES THE SKY AT NIGHT

For my transatlantic cousins, Sir Patrick Moore is the presenter of a programme called The Sky at Night. This BBC programme has been running for 50 years and Patrick is now 84. He has presented all but one of the programmes during this time. Sir Patrick is eccentric and a loveable character. We need eccentrics like him in the world – they enrich life for sure. His latest claims are that television has been ruined by women. He was a great fan of Doctor Who, but argues that too has been ruined by female producers. His suggestion is that there should be two BBC channels – one for men made by men, and one for women made by women. Politically incorrect? Sure he is yes; but who cares? I, for one, don’t, and anyone who does needs to get their priorities right. He started out as an amateur astronomer and became a leader in the field of making the subject popular. He is a national treasure and long may he live.



Well I guess it’s dragon day again next Tuesday. People who have had leukaemia longer than me probably take each check up in their stride. This is only my second appointment, and the dragon that’s been sleeping for a while has woken. In fact, he woke up early – 2 weeks ago, when the routine blood test from the G.P. showed a rise in my white count by 2,000. Probably not significant, but this is still new to me, even though I was a biomedical scientist. It’s ironic really. I chose not to specialise in Haematology, and here I am with both CLL AND an inherited clotting problem.

We in the UK are the most watched people in the world. There are more CCTV cameras per head of population than anywhere else. Orwell’s 1984? Maybe, especially now loudspeakers are now being linked to the cameras. Some people complain about invasion of privacy – I say they are a good thing with the yob culture that now exists amongst certain groups of young people – binge drinking, behaviour intimidating other citizens, fights. Two young thugs were caught on CCTV attacking and kicking an innocent man standing at a bus stop. One stamped on his head after they had knocked him to the ground. The person monitoring the scene had the police and ambulance there in minutes – the sub-human attackers were arrested and the guy was rushed to hospital. CCTV evil? A necessary evil given the way certain elements of British society are heading. What would I do with them? Forget ASBO’s, (Anti Social Behaviour Orders), forget “it’s their environment” and all that crap. Shoot the bastards – put them, and us, out of their misery. They’re worse than mothers with pushchairs, and that’s saying something coming from me.

See ya