Cheeky souvenirs

11C when I get up. A high of 19 forecast . Over breakfast we discuss turning on the heating but agree to postpone doing anything until September. Turning it on in August just doesn't seem right.  In England, the BBC radio bulletin informs us, 25 million people are facing a hosepipe ban. 

A rum collection of stories make up the rest of the BBC's morning news . Gianni Infantino, the man that organizes the World Cup, has issued a statement claiming allegations made against him in the weekend papers were defamatory. These allegations, as so often seems to be the case, have something to do with a secretary, misuse of funds and a hastily covered up affair. I'd have thought that was the sort of legal challenge that was a red rag to the media bull . Being quiet and letting boredom set in might have been a better strategy ? 

This is followed by a story about Italy and Spain continuing to argue over the surge of Moroccan immigrants into Ceuta.The radio says it has become a diplomatic crisis. Until last week I'd bet not one in a thousand folk could find Ceuta on a map. This week it's probably closer to one in five hundred. The final story is about Iranian demands for the US to withdraw from the Gulf and pay reparations for the damage done in the last six months fighting. This intransigent approach, the news reader rather frostily observes, makes walking away from the impasse rather difficult for the US administration. A recently fired retired US Navy admiral is interviewed. He's remarkably eloquent and uses the phrase 'petulant desperation' . The admiral speaks a lot of sense but loses his British audience when he starts going on about some candidate in Michigan and the impact of the war on the mid-terms. This is too much detail for a foreign pre-breakfast radio audience on a Monday morning.

Town looks like Carthage after it had been sacked by the Romans. The fun fair runs until Wednesday.

The souvenir shops have a new 'cheeky' line of product designed to appeal to the influx of fun seeking tourists. What home worthy of its name is complete without a coaster or mug adorned with a Scottish backside ? 

The hydrangeas outside the Classics department are in full flower. The university gardeners have put in place a Mediterranean planting scheme to conserve water and make maintenance easier.  Looking at the hydrangeas through the light sea mist I think someone must have a sense of humour.

These old Stalinist skyscrapers in Moscow are home to lots of retired military so he is a brave man to venture into such confrontational surroundings :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiMdbuFreyg

Had never thought of this :https://www.asiasentinel.com/p/ai-coming-revolutionary-effect-third-world-healthcare

Irish and Scottish are becoming more English ( in pronunciation at least ) :https://eriksinger.substack.com/p/accent-tip-3-irish-and-scottish-nurse

We used to have a flat next to the castle in Edinburgh. During Tattoo time this was the sound that echoed around at night. It was literally impossible to sleep :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhKmoKrZOjA

Copenhagen, but I thought it was Rekjavik :https://www.commonreader.co.uk/p/modernist-gothic-in-copenhagen