DECEMBER 2001
The Stav Hawking Club opened its official hunting season today. Bronwen was
fitted out with new jesses and a tail bell, and we were off to the woods at
noon. Unusual for her she didn't catch anything, though she had an incredibly
long slip at a rabbit which just managed to go to ground. I fed her up, and
Marcus then flew Tiny, the world's smallest Harris Hawk. He hunted actively,
but no quarry presented itself, so, as it was getting dark, he was fed up, and
we all went home. All in all, an enjoyable day.
FOG. For 3 days in a row now. Can't see more than 10 yards ahead, and impossible
to hear the hawks' bells. Impossible to fly. Last season was ruined by foot-and-mouth;
will the weather be our bane this year? It will improve, though, I'm sure.
As of this moment it looks that the war in Afganistan is more or less over
for the time being, the Taliban is finished, the al-Qa'ida routed, but where
is bin Laden? Has the fox outwitted the hounds?
Speaking of foxes last Sunday saw a big march of country people marching on
the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh to protest against Lord Watson's "Hunting
with Hounds" bill which is meant to pound in the last nail in the coffin
of the countryside in Scotland, leaving New Labour free to implement their cherished
plan of developing it all into themeparks. This will be helped by a bill going
through Parliement at the moment, where local people or authorities will no
longer have any say about anything being buildt in their locality, whether it
is a nucluar powerplant (Blair is evidently quite keen on those),
a new motorway or anything the Government feels we should accept with gratitude.
And still some deluded souls thinks it is all about saving the cute little foxes.
There is a new chapter in the saga of the famous London Dome. An American
leisure company is supposed to take it over for rock conserts and sporting events.
How much will they pay for it? Nothing actually. The agreement seems to be that
they will pay something in the year 2005, if they are making a profit. In the
meantime the Government will be responsible for the upkeep of the Dome to the
tune of at least 2 million pounds a year. This of course has been hailed by
the spinmeisters as a great commercial coup.
Arthur (the eagle owl) is cracking up. I fed him half a hare this morning
which he managed to finish off fairly quickly, but then he evidently forgot
that he had eaten it. When I was taking him in for the night he was sitting
on the ground guarding an imaginary hare. When I lifted him up he thought I
had nicked it, and become very vocal. He is still complaining as I write this.
"W.L.Duckworth once exuberantly exclaimed that if Neanderthal man entered
a bar in modern dress the majority would not notice him. One marvels at the
sort of person Duckworth drank with."
- R. Miller
It is now appearently possible to inject a tiny microship into a person so
his or her whereabouts can be monitored down to a square yard at all times.
It was developed to be able to trail people with a high risk of being kidnapped,
but rumour has it that the Government has invested a considerable sum in the
company. Somehow I don't believe fear of kidnapping is their main concern.
The number one imperative of any institution, be it the Taliban, the Church
or the Government is preservation of self. Approach them with your eyes wide
open and your fists ready to come up in defence.
Daughter Aki came down from Edinburgh for Yule on a flying visit (travelling
by the Flying Scotchman). She only stayed for 24 hours, as there are still restrictions
in place regarding moving livestock. Still, we could all have our Yule dinner
together and "Julenissen" (the Yule gnome) came with presents for
all. Hopefully she can bring the sheep and the horse next year, and stay all
the 14 days that we usually celebrate Yule.
MPs are entitled to be odd, but some of them abuse the privilege.
Unnamed House of Commons official
Walked up to have a look at the Boxing Day Meet of the local hunt today. They
fielded 12 and a 1/2 couple of hounds and more than 30 riders. Half the town
must have been there to cheer them on their way. Even the one local anti was
as usual very civil. The hounds seemed very fit, even if foot and mouth had
made it difficult to exercise them properly. It doesn't bear thinking about
what will happen to them if Labour manages to bypass the Lords and ban hunting.
The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed‹and hence clamorous to be led to safety‹by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
-H.L. Mencken
Education is what we get at home - what we get at school is training.
The firework is lighting up the sky signalling the end of year 2001 and the
beginning of 2002. Whether the new year will prove to be better than the old
is a moot point, though the signs are not good, but anyway let me wish all my
faithful readers (there have been 3 who have admitted that they actually read
this stuff) that has stayed with me through this last 12 months all the best
in the New Year.
Note from Webmaster:
Just to make Ivar feel a bit better there have been over 30 hits last month on the view for November.