After the colloquially named 'Hurricane Bawbag' of a few years ago, it appears the Met Office have decided to get in on the act...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-34794583
In case anyone needs ideas for Xmas, here's some real bawbags:
www.bawbags.com/mens/boxers.html
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funny how sexing up the weather by dramatising it and giving it names comes at the same time the met office is in danger of losing its primary money paying contracts.
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I commented similar to SWMBO when last night the excitable BBC weather forecaster said Abigail was the "first big storm of the season" - sounding like some sort of monsoon or hurricane season to me.
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The missus let Beau the Beauceron out last night for a jimmy and said "Abigal is out there, moving the balls around (those chrome balls y'all used to see in jardin centres)"
I thought who the f is Abigal? thinking it musta bin next doors cat or something.
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Surely there must be an international system for naming hurricanes? What happens if "Abigail" moves on and devastates another country - supposing they also have thir own separate naming system?
Or does a moving hurricane attract a string of dubious aliases:
"Hurricane Abigail, also known as Hurricane Higgins, is believed to be travelling westwards under the name of Hurricane Sharon."
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>> Or does a moving hurricane attract a string of dubious aliases:
>> "Hurricane Abigail, also known as Hurricane Higgins, is believed to be travelling westwards under
>> the name of Hurricane Sharon."
Sounds like hurricane Abigail has gender assignment issues.
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Health centre starting to get a bit of a buffetting here in central Jockland - I bet there's some awesome surf oop north.
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The full list of names chosen for future selection are: Abigail, Barney, Clodagh, Desmond, Eva, Frank, Gertrude, Henry, Imogen, Jake, Katie, Lawrence, Mary, Nigel, Orla, Phil, Rhonda, Steve, Tegan, Vernon and Wendy
No ethnic storms then. :-)
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>> The full list of names chosen for future selection are: Abigail, Barney, Clodagh, Desmond,
>> Eva, Frank, Gertrude, Henry, Imogen, Jake, Katie, Lawrence, Mary, Nigel, Orla, Phil, Rhonda, Steve, Tegan,
>> Vernon and Wendy
>>
>> No ethnic storms then. :-)
>>
What happened to Queenie, Umberto, Xavier, Yves and Zena
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 12 Nov 15 at 17:39
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Not using those letters apparently due to insufficiency of names.
Seems a poor way to go being wiped out by a storm called Nigel.
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At least you'd have XTC* to help with the preparations.
*Popular music act - you know, like Vera Lynne.
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We are only making plans for Nigel :).
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Ah! A popular rock combo.
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Wonder why they chose "Abigail"? Is it because it ends in gail (gale??)
I was upset when the Yanks started giving their Hurricanes alternate male/female names - always used to be just female names. Gave me the excuse to tell pupils that they only had female names because they were violent, unpredictable, full of hot air and put a real dampener on things.
Better go, Mrs W heading this way to read what I am typing!!
Last edited by: PhilW on Thu 12 Nov 15 at 18:38
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>> Wonder why they chose "Abigail"? Is it because it ends in gail (gale??)
A lady from Lewis was interviewed on PM (BBC Radio 4's 17:00 to 18:00 evening news programme) and said her kids thought Abigal/A big gale to be word play.
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That sets a difficult precedent for naming future storms, especially as they have to alternate male and female.
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so what qualifies as a storm worth naming?
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Wind storms with the potential to affect the UK and/or Ireland. A storm has wind speeds of 10 and above on the Beaufort scale
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My name's on the list. Not for the first time, I imagine.
My son is ridiculously proud of his name having been given to a hurricane in the US a few years back too (no, he's not called Katrina, that's our next door neighbour).
One could start to get paranoid.
So there you go. You can all call me Gertrude from now on.
>> >> No ethnic storms then. :-)
Are the Irish and Welsh not ethnic any more? Clodagh, Orla, Rhonda?
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...and if Desmond isn't Irish he's probably Jamaican.
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I know a (white, English) Geordie called Desmond. Still counts as ethnic really.
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Gertrude - nows there's a deeply out of fashion name. I have always been fascinated by names and how they come in or our of fashion. Gertrude seems to have missed out on the recent vogue for Victorian girls names, a bit like Hilda. Perhaps its day is yet to come.
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Whereas "Alice" is everywhere.
Talking of which, for a spot of pub trivia thread drift, did you know that the Alice for whom Carroll wrote "Alice in Wonderland " was a different Alice from the one he wrote "Looking Glass" for? There's a thing.
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mmm yes, there is talk he was a serial abuser.
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If you take the name 'Lewis Carroll' and change some of the letters, add a couple more, and then rearrange them it spells 'Rolf Harris Paedo'
True fact.
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What happens if you play Rolf Harris's version of Stairway to Heaven backwards?
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Dodgson's activities were not very unusual at the time, but would see him in deep waters today.
He would, for example, go on holiday (he was unmarried and therefore alone), and walk the promenade and beaches looking for little girls, ideally of six or seven. When he found them, he would chat with them (and their mothers, always it was above board in that sense) and made notes about them and their names. He carried little games and toys to amuse them with at all times.
Then he would ask the mothers if the girls could come to tea with him entirely unaccompanied. If, as often the case, there were multiple sisters, he would ask they come individually so as one would not be outshone by another.
Which practices everyone agreed to, and often were flattered the famous author was taking an interest.
There's even a letter where he asked a mother if she thought her daughter was kissable, as she was nearly thirteen and that was the age he was no longer prepared to kiss them at.
To our eyes that's all a nightmare - in his time there was never a hint of scandal, talk or anything else about this well known behaviour, although to be fair, a small chunk of his diary did disappear after his death. In later years not one of the girls involved ever expressed any concern or worries about this, and as adult relayed happy memories - it was all above board and entirely normal for them. He was just, in his time, a kind old gentleman who liked the company of children and wrote some nice stories.
It's quite hard not to judge him by today's standards of course - either he was a vile old man who "got away with it" only because of the times he lived in, or possibly we live in a more unpleasant and cynical age, and he really was just a nice eccentric academic who loved kids. Small female ones ideally of course.
Mind you, that Kilvert. He had a BIG problem with little girls.
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Naming storms, hurricanes etc by name (until quite recently these were always female names) helps the public to become more involved.
My daughter lives in the Caribbean and the mention of hurricanes such as Ivan and Katrina immediately revives memories of the particular year, the damage they did and how long it took to recover from their effects on the communities.
But of course such areas have their own annual hurricane season and even websites to track their passage.
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>> But of course such areas have their own annual hurricane season and even websites to
>> track their passage.
And storms worth remembering and getting involved with. These are barely worth a mention. Its a huge publicity stunt.
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Bet you're still glad at the moment though that you don't live up in Scotland..:-)
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>> Bet you're still glad at the moment though that you don't live up in Scotland..:-)
They'll all be whining, claiming its the worse storm since Noah and if it had been in London it would have had more press exposure.
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I've got my eye on Storm Abigail, named after my youngest descendant. In reality her temperament is sunny and cheerful though. She's damn nearly as cute as that George Osborne.
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Osborne appears quite sinister to me. "Something of the night" is the expression, I think. Just looks like the kind of bloke who wouldn't give a stuff for anyone less fortunate. Judgemental and prejudiced I know, but there we go.
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>> Osborne appears quite sinister to me. "Something of the night" is the expression,
DONT SAY THAT! Brompy will be on claiming you are being anti semetic.
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>> "Something of the night" is the expression, I think.
No, that was the other guy, the one with fangs who was an actual vampire.
Of course George Osborne isn't nearly as cute as my granddaughter Abigail, or as well-meaning of course. But he does have this naive fifth-former eager-to-please look, however misleading it may be.
The Prime Minister by contrast is a slightly sadistic head boy through and through. I suppose these people are needed to keep the machinery of State clanking along.
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>> I
>> suppose these people are needed to keep the machinery of State clanking along.
Why? Other types have managed. Even (horror) non-Etonians.
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Indeed Alanović.
I refer you to my many posts on JC (no, not Clarkson, the other one). Serious cat and leader of the Loyal Opposition.
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Chap I knew when I lived up on Bodmin Moor was sentenced to two years for being a paedo, which he wasn't.
I felt quite privileged to be allowed into his inner sanctum to view his vast collection of Victorian photos and artwork of pre-pubescent children. Here is some of his work, which most people would undoubtedly class as paedophilia,
but they quite clearly do not know the man, or his work.
www.pigtailsinpaint.com/category/artists-by-name/ovenden-graham/
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You know what Dog - I'm not clicking on that. :)
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>> You know what Dog - I'm not clicking on that. :)
I did. 'Paedo' or not, Ovenden was a voyeur. And like many artists, with a permanent itch to provoke. A peculiar cat, a modernist descendant of Lewis Carroll in a way.
I liked the images, with their artful artlessness. But then I'm a reasonably sane old geezer with eight female descendants, so they don't get me excited.
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This is from my esteemed Plymouth friend. I reckon he's summed it up quite well:
"I think that when you consider how all these cases involving historical sexual abuse have suddenly come to light, you have to conclude that there has been a fundamental and welcome shift in attitude as to what is and what isn't acceptable across all strata of society. So whilst I think that Ovenden was in the past able pass of his dark obsession with painting children as art, he's being naïve to expect that it could suddenly become respectable and important now. With his talent he could surely have focuses on any number of different subjects?? I can't agree with the post claiming that he's been persecuted by the authorities and comparing them to Nazis, to me it's about protecting children from predatory attitudes and allowing them to get on with the business of growing up in safety".
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What I do find alarming is that a judge with no claim to artistic knowledge is able to order the destruction of items regarded for many decades as art; some of these items were bought at Sotheby's! How different is this from the IS destruction of temples in the Middle East?
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Or Barney the ever-such-a-nice 7 year old golden Lab I often meet on my walks. My 9 month old Pointer is all over him so it's just as well Barney is quite placid or he'd give my nipper a nip.
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>>What I do find alarming is that a judge with no claim to artistic knowledge is able to order the destruction of items regarded for many decades as art; some of these items were bought at Sotheby's! How different is this from the IS destruction of temples in the Middle East?
A reply from my esteemed Plymouth friend:
"I can't see the connection between the destruction of Queen Zenobia's temples and few dodgy old paintings previously sold by Sotherby's? Who also handled the sale of vast quantities of ivory in their time btw. As I sed in my first reply, attitudes have thankfully changed and the Judge, imo, is right to reinforce the message that child exploitation, in all it's forms, is no longer acceptable. Of course we haven't seen the pictures in question, but given the facts of Ovenden's conviction we can guess at their content.
Ask the guy if he has children of his own and how he would feel if he were to learn that pictures of them were being handed around?"
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>>Of course we haven't seen the pictures in question, but given the facts of Ovenden's conviction we can guess at their content.
I put "ovenden pictures" into google - initially I thought they were just a bit dodgy but there are some frontal nudes.
The stuff has no place in Art History and is probably illegal to display.
Last edited by: Lygonos on Tue 17 Nov 15 at 02:08
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>> I put "ovenden pictures" into google - initially I thought they were just a bit
>> dodgy but there are some frontal nudes.
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>> The stuff has no place in Art History and is probably illegal to display.
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I looked at the link. The pictures left me uncomfortable. I think he is suspect and the pictures should not be for open display.
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>>
>> I looked at the link. The pictures left me uncomfortable. I think he is suspect
>> and the pictures should not be for open display.
>>
So you now have indecent images of children on your computer? A bit imprudent, surely, or were you just carrying out research, as they say?
Expect a visit shortly from some of your former colleagues :)
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>> So you now have indecent images of children on your computer? A bit imprudent, surely,
>> or were you just carrying out research, as they say?
>>
>> Expect a visit shortly from some of your former colleagues :)
>>
:-)
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So esteemed that he cannot even spell Sotheby's. There must be *something* weirder than forwarding forum posts by email to a third party, but I cannot imagine what...
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>> There must be *something* weirder than forwarding
>> forum posts by email to a third party, but I cannot imagine what...
Posting here for opinions on stuff outside. Posting outside for opinions on stuff aired in here.
Difference?
No more weird than asking a friend for an opinion on something discussed in the pub last night.
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"He's probably an ex teacher then, that's their usual response.
As Laurie used to retort; "Lord Byron couldn't spell and he was considered to be a literary genius!"
Sent from my [his] iPhone
:o}
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...if my experience of many Leeds pubs is typical, they probably thought they'd found the way to the toilets!
:-(
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They must be out there for a smoke.
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Back to the original subject and away from kiddie porn disguised as art*
Storm Barney is it? Well frankly I think its ruddy pathetic. When storms get named I expect them to be severe and memorable, something worth waxing lyrical about. What we have now is every lousy useless pathetic breath of wind and sprinkle of rain being bigged up and given a name.
Bah Humbug pfffttttttt
* there is a place for risqué art, even extreme lewd out and out porn can be done artfully. Not children tho, not ever. Artistic Expression has no place or validity when expressing children in a sexual manner.
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 17 Nov 15 at 13:17
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Wind getting up quite well in Northampton. Currently sat in waiting area at Citroen dealers while 'lingo has sticking top sus bearing replaced. Forecourt flags and those on building site opposite are pretty much straight out and moving vigorously.
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I've been out with Barney, Cody and Beau too. Bit windy but nothing unusual for this part of Briton. Oh, hang on ... I've just seen a few leaves blow down!!
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Whatever you do, don't take a selfie during Storm Barney.
tinyurl.com/ng34ct2 - www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 17 Nov 15 at 14:01
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"When storms get named I expect them to be severe and memorable, something worth waxing lyrical about. What we have now is every lousy useless pathetic breath of wind and sprinkle of rain being bigged up and given a name. "
Give it a chance - Barney ain't here yet!
I must say though that I do seem storm Nigel as a kind of limp-wristed affair petering out in the Western Approaches
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>there is a place for risqué art, even extreme lewd out and out porn can be done artfully. Not
>children tho, not ever.
Absolutely.
>Artistic Expression has no place or validity when expressing children in a sexual manner.
I think it has validity. It's not a validity I like or encourage. And I know that you mean it should be destroyed and I agree with you. But I'm not sure you can say that artistic expression has no validity.
However, you are missing the point. Pictures of naked children are not necessarily sexual. Everybody knows the famous image from Vietnam.
And then you get into the whole debate as to: if the artist thought it sexual but the viewer didn't, then is it?
Take Eric Gill, a dodgy bloke if ever there were one. But that doesn't mean he wasn't one of the greatest designers of the first half of the twentieth century. Ever used Gill Sans?
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>> Take Eric Gill, a dodgy bloke if ever there were one.
Yes, his name crossed my mind too. A connection of Herself's family back then, and left stories, myth and the odd artwork...
Artists are odd characters, obsessively concerned with physical and psychic accuracy. They have always shocked prudes, but usually because they are accurate, not because they are 'salacious'. Prudes can't tell the difference because they are themselves salacious.
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>The odd artwork
Like sculpture on the outside of: Broadcasting House - the BBC building; the outside of Guildford Cathedral; the Underground offices at 55 Broadway; the Stations in Westminster Cathedral.
Pretty obvious public artwork all that!
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There's a marvellously sensuous Eric Gill bas-relief in one of the houses here, representing a couple of girls (but I haven't looked at it for some time). It's on a huge bit of slate, very fine-grained slate (or perhaps some other slate-coloured stone), that must weigh a good ton or two. Valuable no doubt, but hard to steal with any measure of discretion.
:o}
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Was in Eastbourne last night and was absolutely drenched on the way to a restaurant by storm Clodagh. Seemed to follow me home this afternoon and conditions on the A11 were appalling with very high winds and torrential rain.
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Drove east along M9 around 9am, rain was very heavy with significant standing water, drove back west 30 minutes later and it was lashing down with the most standing water I've ever seen on that road, and minor rivers running along the central reservation.
Didn't stop a couple of heroes fleeing past at 85+mph (I was travelling around 45-55mph most of the way due to having to ford small lakes every ¼ mile or so - at least they had their rear fog lamps on so that makes them immune to the laws of physics..
2 hours later I was once again heading east into Edinburgh and went past 3 separate RTCs - only one of which appeared to involve 2 vehicles, the others looked like classic run-out-of-skill episodes of losing control and bouncing off the central barrier and into the hard shoulder.
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A friend of Mrs ON aquaplaned off into the scenery and wrote her car off a few days ago.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sun 29 Nov 15 at 22:14
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Been as dry as a bone here. Nice forestry walk earlier. The only effect here was the wind. Police have now taken to closing Britannia Bridge now, obviously a policy put into place after the Valentine's day storm where an idiot lorry driver drove his truck on to the bridge contrary to multiple signs and it blew it over shutting it completely for 8 hours. It was grid-lock in Menai Bridge and I had to walk in to collect a package from Waitrose. I noticed one truck in the queue carrying a distinctive load. When I was driving back later I saw that he had gone through a road closure and was in discussion with the Police.
I know that 90% of truck drivers are great, but these idiots give truckers a bad name. It's ridiculous that roads are closed because of these people. No doubt I'll get a broadside from Pat over this but not all truckers are the perfect knights of the road and this grid-lock was totally their fault - end of.
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There have been problems with high sided vehicles on the Forth Road Bridge in high winds since the police stopped enforcing the restrictions. It seems that many drivers can't read the many overhead gantries.
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No broadside from me RP, I'm entirely with you on this one.
If you were to ask them why they do it you would be told pressure from employers/booking times/loss of wages etc.
It's none of those, it's a decision they make at the time and more often than not, one they want to brag about on Facebook later.
Very professional....:(
Pat
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Pretty windy here as storm Desmond passes through.Weather seems to have got wilder since they started naming the isobars.
Look grim up North. Anyone got flooding problems in their area?
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Los in north west Wales. Not left the house today....dogs run out to pee then run back. It's bad.
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>> Pretty windy here as storm Desmond passes through.Weather seems to have got wilder since they
>> started naming the isobars.
>>
>> Look grim up North. Anyone got flooding problems in their area?
I was in the fens this morning, if anyone needs reminding there is naff all there to stop the wind, it was windy with a capital F!
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"Weather seems to have got wilder since they started naming the isobars."
I'd had exactly the same thought - maybe we shoulda shurrup!
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Pretty grim here in upper Ribblesdale. No trains running on Settle - Carlisle line. A65 closed and all traffic diverted through Settle town centre. Minor roads blocked due to flooding and local pub full of people staying overnight who cannot get out of Settle. Local supermarket almost deserted at 17:30. Still blowing a gale and horizontal rain, but wind & rain easing overnight with the potential for a dry Sunday. I'm walking over Ingleborough tomorrow, conditions allowing.
I've never seen the Ribble running so high... It was a little scary walking over the footbridge in the dark with the river roaring only a few feet underneath.
Bad floods in Kendal, Appleby and the Lake District has/is taking a hammering.
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I have a friend in Kendal...been posting some really scary looking photos....his bike is high and dry though.
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I've never seen the Ribble running so high...
I came across this site which Might be useful for anyone living near a river. Gives information on current water levels and historic information and normal levels for 2,400 sites through the country.
www.gaugemap.co.uk
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Lots of flooding in the North due to the weather and rivers overflowing.The Rhine can cause the same problem when it runs into the River Maas.To much water from the mountans where the Rhine starts.
The only way to deal with flooding is to divert the excess water before it hits towns and villages.Either flood spare land and build extra reservoirs.
Devastating for people to clean up the mess which can take months.The Estuary Humber is the headache for our area.Storm, spring tide and a water surge can happen any time.We got away with it by a few inches two years ago due to the tidal barrier stopping the Humber overflowing into the river Hull.I'm no expert far from it just interested in the subject due to the country I was born in is below sea level.
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What surprises me is that people whose homes have been previously flooded seem to take little effort to flood proof their homes as far as they can. I was watching TV tonight and someone who had been flooded repeatedly was showing a camera crew round their house.
Fitted carpets, wooden skirting boards, electric sockets 12 inches above the floor etc.
Wouldn't it be a good idea to have tiled flooring and move the electrics. It wouldn't stop the flooding but it would sure make clearing up a lot easier and cheaper.
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>> Wouldn't it be a good idea to have tiled flooring and move the electrics. It
>> wouldn't stop the flooding but it would sure make clearing up a lot easier and
>> cheaper.
Surprised the insurance companies haven't insisted on it. Haven't seen any sealed flood screens on doors, I bet they dont have flood flaps on the drains either.
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If it was the same report as I saw they had tiled the ground floor, didn't expect it to go up to the first floor though and they said they were uninsurable against flood-risk since the last flood.
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Fortunately we live on a slope so aren't at risk of flooding.
Some early owls were hooting a while back but they have fallen silent.
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>> Fortunately we live on a slope so aren't at risk of flooding.
Somebody near my parents when the lived on the edge of The Dales had that idea. The flash flood came in through the front door and exited via the french widow at the back........
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>>The flash flood came in through the front door and exited via the french widow at the back........
S'what happened to my neighb a couple of years ago. She's bin here 40 years so knew the flow/path of floodwater orf the moor, but A Farmer had done some rerouting up top - NOT a very good idea.
Parts of her cottidge (v/olde) are stiil damp to this dia.
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Yesterday turned out quite nice in the end, unless you were one of those poor unfortunate souls with a flooded property. Some of our walking group didn't make it...two were trapped in Kendal, and a further two in Lindale, near Grange over Mud. Given the conditions, and delayed start, I was nominated walk leader and can honestly say I saw water in places I have never seen before. Thrice we had to divert because of flooded paths which even in the wettest winter are normally dry, but once we hit high limestone country things were fine.
And for anyone travelling the A65 between Skipton & M6/Lake District I recommend the Game Cock at Austwick. Never had a bad meal there.
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You seen the pics of Malham Cove LL?
Facebook friend from school-days who still lives in God's own County shared them - remarkable.
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Yorkshire Evening Post tha knows
tinyurl.com/pgxwkqe
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Yes Brompton, saw the pics in my local pub in Gigg last night. Friends live in both Malham & Kirkby Malham so will get the latest tonight when I have a few beers in Settle. Impressive waterfall, as were othes I saw yesterday morning which don't normally exist!
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Re Game Cock at Austwick in YDales. Only three letting bedrooms, but £25 B & B seems a bargain, £35 single occupancy. Lovely village, stunning walking country, 10 min drive Settle- Carlisle railway. Only downside, for me, are Thwaites beers, although the Wainwright is palatable. Archetypal Dales pub, roaring fire, papers, good banter.
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UK's first officially named storm - Zero
