Peter Rhodes on a trip to Dorset, late-night tweets and Brits who are not proud to be English
There's still life - and pride - in old GB yet.
YES, it's yet another holiday. This time we are breaking the mould. After visiting Beer in Devon every year since 1974, and occasionally getting accused of being in a rut, Mrs Rhodes and I are enjoying a few days in Dorset. See? We know how to ring the changes. I have not seen Corfe Castle since 1961. They still haven't finished it.
AND after our dynamic, daring and mould-breaking holiday in Dorset? We're off to Devon next week. Beer, since you ask.
THE aftermath from Bishop Curry's sermon at the Royal Wedding rumbles on . A reader takes me to task for being underwhelmed and encourages me to obey the bit about loving everybody, including my neighbours and my enemies. It has always struck me, even in my chapelgoing days, that love was rather a powerful and extreme emotion to lavish upon all and sundry. If you love your enemy what are you supposed to feel for your parents, your spouse or your children? I love my nearest and dearest. I respect, tolerate, admire or dislike the rest of humanity, depending entirely on how they behave.
HAVE you ever thought what a happier world this would be if we were all tucked up in bed at 10pm? The recent crop of deeply defamatory tweets and texts horrifying America were mostly sent in the wee small hours and have been blamed variously on medication or tiredness. No surprises there. Most of the vitriolic messages that plonk into my in-box are sent after midnight and sometimes carry tell-tale hints of being booze- or medicine-related. Nothing brings out the fearless critic in Joe Public quite like four pints of lager and a nasal spray.
I WROTE about my surprise at finding "zombie knives" on open sale on Google News pages referring to the Croydon knife attack. I left it 24 hours - plenty of time to take down such adverts - and looked again. This time, the two genuine zombie knives were joined by an advert for a £2.79 "Blood-Stained Screamer Knife." It turns out to be an accessory toy for Halloween. So that's all right, then.
A YOUGOV survey of 20,000 people found that youngsters are less likely to feel proud of being English than older people. I'm surprised because today's over-60s grew up in an age when Englishness was barely mentioned. Back then, we were all British. Then Scottish nationalism kicked off and the reaction south of the border was a sort of Englishness that goes with tattoos, football and owning unpleasant dogs. Being British was always wiser, kinder and more inclusive than being English and there is life - and pride - in old GB yet.
YES, I know I promised I was going to tell you about The Most Embarrassing Incident in My Entire Life which happened just down the road in Swanage 57 years ago and is still branded in my memory. Unfortunately, I seem to have run out of sp