Jeremy Kyle

In a recent court case this programme was described by the judge as bear baiting and public humiliation. One of the down sides of being retired is that you are exposed to the risk of watching daytime television. I stumbled on the Jeremy Kyle programme this morning - and I have to say the judge is spot on. The host is arrogant, ignorant, angry and aggressive. He's supposed to be helping this people and getting them to solve their problems but he's just concerned about audience reaction - and he achieves this by provoking the participants and goading them into violence. My regret is that he doesn't get hit more often. This might induce both ITV1 and Mr Kyle to exit from our screens. Of course Jennifer Saunders is now playing a Kyleseque presenter in a comedy drama on BBC2 - one of the few good things to come out of this excuse for entertainment.

Thought I was going deaf!

So I was increasing the volume on the TV and radio and then I started missing parts of people's conversations. Then last Sunday whilst I was performing a ceremony I began to sound as though I was stuck in an echo chamber, and when I was eating food it sounded to me like hearing a road drill! Yesterday, I was so deaf that I booked an appointment to have my ears syringed! After removing a whole container of wax I suddenly felt a pop and I could hear what the nurse was saying! How much better now. I must do this much more often in future I think!

Reading Group

On my books blog (click on my complete profile, scroll down and click on books) there is an item about one of the reading groups I attend.
I designed a flyer to recruit new members recently. The picture above is the Beckton Globe, one of the libraries in Newham. This reading group meets at Plaistow Library.

Kennet School Thatcham

This week marked the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of Kennet School in Thatcham. I taught at the school in the 1970s for about six years. There was a reunion there last Tuesday. Both the school and the town (little more than a village in 1973) had changed almost out of all recognition. The motto had changed for the school from 'Courtesy Costs Nothing' to the one above - perhaps reflecting changes in education of which I know virtually nothing - or maybe a reflection of changes in society. I still have problems with with Year 10, Year 11 business. When and why did it change from 5th form, 3rd form? Two of the six houses have been abolished - including the ones dedicated to the patron saints of England and Scotland. A vast new building has gone up, mainly paid for out of money provided by the developers of a housing estate nearby. Ironically it was this very housing estate that flooded so disastrously in the recent bad weather. On the other hand the staff gathering - mainly if not exclusively composed of teachers I worked with - showed that people don't change a great deal. The weather was glorious, the pub lunch at the Spotted Dog in Cold Ash was pleasant, and it served to confirm that I was right to leave teaching more than twenty years ago!