On the Seventh day of Christmas....

....my true love gave to me.

Seven Swans a' Swimming,

On the Sixth day of Christmas....

....my true love gave to me.

Six Geese a' Laying.

On the Fifth day of Christmas....

....my true love gave to me.

Five Gold Rings,

On the Fourth day of Christmas....

....my true love gave to me.


Four Calling Birds,

On the Third day of Christmas....

....my true love gave to me.

Three French Hens,

On the Second day of Christmas....

....my true love gave to me.

Two Turtle Doves,

On the First day of Christmas....

....my true love gave to me.

A Partridge in a Pear Tree.

21st December 1988

Pan Am flight 103 detonates over Lockerbie Scotland, by means of a remote control radio bomb. All 259 aboard are killed as well as 11 on the ground struck by falling detritus. The PFLP faction of the PLO was responsible, assisted by Libyan sponsorship.

21st December 1970

President Nixon meets with prescription drug addict Elvis Presley at the White House to discuss The King's becoming a special drug enforcement agent. He presents Nixon with a pistol, and receives a special DEA badge in return.

For food?

WARNING!!!!

15th December 1967

At 5:00 PM, the Silver Bridge collapsed claiming 46 lives and injuring 9. The Christmas rush applied an extra load to the 40 year old bridge causing a cleavage fracture in one of the "eyebars". This was followed by a ductile fracture near the pin. Unable to support the weight of the entire bridge, the south side chain also snapped. The structure only took about 1 minute to completely fall into the river below. An investigation, led by John Bennett, immediately followed the collapse of the Silver Bridge. The bridge was constructed of carbon steel, which tends to crack. Many cracks were found throughout the bridge among extensive corrosion. The failure resulted from stress corrosion and corrosion fatigue, two concepts which were not known in 1927. It was also found that the flaw could not have been detected, even by today's methods, unless the bridge was taken apart and tested.In addition to the investigation, the federal government mandated the National Bridge Inspection Standards (NBIS). The new standards required periodic inspection of all the nation's bridges.

11th December 1936

After ruling for less than one year, Edward VIII becomes the first English monarch to voluntarily abdicate the throne. The eldest son of King George V, Edward ascended to the throne in January 1936. He enjoyed immense popularity with his subjects until he announced his intention to marry Wallis Warfield Simpson, an American divorcee. Many in Britain opposed the marriage, but the King refused to call off his engagement. With no compromise possible, Edward announced his abdication, saying, “I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King, as I would wish to do, without the help and support of the woman I love”. That evening, parliament passed a bill of abdication, and the next day Edward’s younger brother was proclaimed King George VI. The former king was granted the title of Duke of Windsor, and in 1937 he married Wallis Simpson in France.

Swans reflecting elephants.

Ooooops.......

.....too late!

Be warned.....

Its official!!!!

Its now officially Christmas in my house.

I was out last night Christmas shopping for all those special people in my life. I managed to get the majority of what I wanted, just a couple more bits and bobs this weekend and thats me done.....

....and Saturday, the tree will be going up...... the traditional 12 days before.

8th December 1980

Musician John Lennon is shot and killed by an obsessed fan in New York City. The British star, formerly of the rock group The Beatles, had once caused outrage when he declared that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. Love and peace were Lennon’s central themes; he found love when he married singer Yoko Ono, but peace was shattered on 8th December 1980, when he was shot outside his apartment building in New York City. He died on the way to the hospital. His assailant, Mark David Chapman, was convicted of murder and sent to jail. Bereaved fans kept vigil in front of the entrance to his home for an entire week.

3rd December 1992

Two bombs planted by the IRA explode in the centre of Manchester injuring 65 people, A telephone warning of other devices force police to evacuate the whole of the city centre causing widespread disruption.

3rd December 1979

Eleven "WHO" fans were killed at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was set up as "festival seating" meaning the entire show was first come-first serve to get as close to the stage as possible. The crowd started lining up in the cold waiting to get in. The crowd got impatient as time went on.

The band got off to a late start and had a late sound check before the doors opened. The crowd outside heard this and took it as if the show had started and they were missing the set. This resulted in the crowd pushing, shoving, and trampling others to get into the assumed on-going show. In result eleven people died and dozens were injured on various levels.

The band were not informed of the deaths until after the show.

2nd December 1942.

Italian-born American physicist Enrico Fermi demonstrates the first controlled nuclear fission reaction in an unused squash court in a basement at the University of Chicago. Two years earlier, Fermi, along with Hungarian-born physicist Leo Szilard and German-born physicist Albert Einstein, wrote to President Franklin Roosevelt warning of the danger of Nazi development of an atomic weapon. In 1942, Roosevelt approved a U.S. atomic program, the ‘Manhattan Project’, to build an atomic bomb. Fermi, who won the 1938 Nobel Prize in physics, scored one of the program’s early triumphs with his demonstration of a nuclear reaction. In July 1945, the United States successfully tested the world’s first atomic bomb, and in August two such bombs were dropped on Japan. Fermi died in 1954, and the element fermium was named in his honour one year later.

Hmmmm......

Not THAT secret then?

LMAO!

18th November 1945

Belsen Trial.

A report was made regarding the completion of the Belsen Trial the day before. Joseph Kramer and Irma Grese, the monarchs of Belsen were two of the people hanged for Nazi concentration camp crimes. Nine other concentration staff members were also hanged on the same day.

A Mass Grave at Bergen-Belsen.

18th November 1906

Born today - British engineer and inventor Sir Alec Issigonis born in Turkey. Pioneer of the the economic family motor car with his design for the Morris Minor in 1948. In 1959 designs the Mini Minor - more than 1,000,000 'Minis' are made between 1960 and 2000.

Fun weekend - Part 2.

Even the Boris and Molly enjoyed the weekend.....

Fun weekend!!!!

Well I got back late Sunday afternoon, the weekend was so much fun, for each stage of the weekend we positioned our Foden 6x6 Recovery Vehicle in the position we thought would get the best photos, and most opportunity to assist shall we say the less competent drivers...... and we werent dissappointed.

The banter of course was all in good humour, especially when we had to rescue our Dutch friends on two occasions in a matter of 100 meters, they nearly made it a 3rd, but just managed to keep going.

Julian Beever - Pavement Picasso 8

This.....

...and this.....

...will be my home for the weekend.

I will be on standby this weekend for a motor rally that is on, just in case anyone gets stuck in the mud, or God forbid, has an accident.

My camera will be at the ready all weekend.

11th November 1940

Flying from HMS Illustrious, British aircraft attack the Italian fleet at Taranto. Codenamed Operation Judgment, the attack on Taranto was designed to cripple the Italian fleet and permit the re-supply of British forces in North Africa. Led by Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham and Vice Admiral Lumley Lyster, the British task force located the bulk of the Italian fleet in port at Taranto. Launching 21 Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers on the night of November 11, the British caught the Italians by surprise. In the attack, the planes managed to sink one battleship and heavily damage two more, halving the Italian battleship fleet. A heavy cruiser was also damaged. Following the battle, the Italians withdrew their remaining ships to safer anchorages. The raid was heavily studied by the Japanese during their planning for the attack on Pearl Harbor.

11th November 1918

At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the Great War ends. Germany, bereft of manpower, supplies and food, signs an armistice agreement with the Allies. The war left 9 million soldiers dead and 21 million wounded, with Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, France and Great Britain each losing nearly a million or more lives. In addition, some 6 million civilians died from disease, starvation, or exposure. The First World War led to the fall of the imperial dynasties of Russia, Germany, Turkey and Austria-Hungary, and spurred the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. In 1919, the Treaty of Versailles officially ended the conflict, but its punitive terms destabilized Europe and laid the groundwork for the Second World War.

11th Hour, 11th Day, 11th Month.

At the going down of the sun, we shall remember them.

Todays music....

I Vow To Thee My Country.

I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,

Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love:

The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,

That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;

The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,

The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.

I heard my country calling, away across the sea,

Across the waste of waters she calls and calls to me.

Her sword is girded at her side, her helmet on her head,

And round her feet are lying the dying and the dead.

I hear the noise of battle, the thunder of her guns,

I haste to thee my mother, a son among thy sons.

And there's another country, I've heard of long ago,

Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;

We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;

Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;

And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,

And her ways are ways of gentleness and all her paths are peace.

This weekend....

Todays song....

7th November 1980

Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen

(March 24, 1930 – November 7, 1980)

McQueen died at the age of 50 in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, following an operation to remove or reduce a metastatic tumor in his stomach. He had been diagnosed with mesothelioma (a type of cancer associated with asbestos exposure) in December 1979, and had traveled to Playas de Rosarito, Baja California in July 1980 for unconventional treatment after U.S. doctors advised him that they could do nothing to prolong his life. Controversy arose over McQueen's Mexican trip, because McQueen sought a very non-traditional treatment that used coffee enemas, frequent shampoos, injection of live cells from cows and sheep, massage, and laetrile, a supposedly "natural" anti-cancer drug available in Mexico but not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. McQueen was treated by William Donald Kelley, whose only medical license had been (until it was revoked in 1976) for orthodontistry. Kelley's methods (both medical and promotional) created a sensation in both the traditional and tabloid press when it became known that McQueen was a patient. Despite metastasis of the cancer to much of McQueen's body, Kelley publicly announced that McQueen would be completely cured and return to normal life. However, McQueen's condition worsened and a "huge" tumor developed in his stomach. In late October, 1980, McQueen flew to Ciudad Juarez to have the five-pound abdominal tumor removed, despite the warnings of his U.S. doctors that the tumor was inoperable and that his heart would not withstand the surgery. McQueen died of cardiac arrest one day after the operation. Shortly before his death, McQueen had given a medical interview in which he blamed his condition on asbestos exposure. While McQueen felt that asbestos used in movie soundstage insulation and race-drivers' protective suits and helmets could have been involved, he believed his illness was a direct result of massive exposure while removing asbestos lagging from pipes aboard a troop ship during his time in the Marines.
McQueen was cremated, and his ashes spread in the Pacific Ocean.
Posthumously, McQueen remains one of the most popular stars, and his estate limits the licensing of his image to avoid the commercial oversaturation experienced by some other deceased celebrities. McQueen's personality and trademark rights are managed by Corbis Corporation. In 1999, McQueen was posthumously inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame.

7th November 1940

Four months after its completion, strong winds gusting to 35 MPH break the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington State, U.S.A. spectacularly causing the bridge to fall to the bottom of Puget Sound .

Julian Beever - Pavement Picasso 7

Remember, remember......

...the 5th of November. Gunpowder, Treason and Plot.

Guy Fawkes Night commemorates a foiled attempt by Guy Fawkes and a group of English Catholics to blow-up the Houses of Parliament in 1605, in protest against King James I. Roman Catholic Guy Fawkes and several of his co-conspirators are arrested in London when guards discover them planting 30 barrels of gunpowder in a cellar underneath the Houses of Parliament.

All are later executed for treason.

Each year on November 5th, effigies of Guy Fawkes are burnt on bonfires throughout England, and fireworks are set-off to celebrate the failure of this plot.