Hillview Road Party 2014

     Hillview Road has been holding parties twice a year since the Jubilee street party. This year about forty people turned up from Hillview Road and Hillview Close. Our Xmas party with a cost of £25 had been cancelled due to lack of support but when the price dropped to £5 for a cheese and wine party the interest magically multiplied. Several tables of enthusiasts gathered in the Guide Hut.
   
    The food consisted of several types of cheese including Brie, Camembert and blue cheese, with bread and biscuits, green olives stuffed with red pepper on sticks, and black grapes. Each table bought red or white wine. Once couple who could not drink wine brought their own elderflower drink, which costs about £2 a bottle from Sainsbury's. The dessert course included mini chocolate eclairs.
   A quiz on London Underground Station names kept us entertained. We were asked for £1 for one raffle ticket, £5 for a strip of six. I won first choice of prizes and chose a teach yourself Spanish course. I think every table won something. Other prizes included bottles of wine, chocolates, a picture frame, fancy boxes of toiletries tied with ribbon, and a book on cooking. 
   As it was Burns' Night, at the request of our Scotsman Loudon, we ended with Old Lang Syne.
For more information about Hatch End, our area has a website.
Below are photos of residents such as Alice and Loudon, Chris, Aubrey and Edna, Sandi, Lucia, Trevor, and more. If you know the names, please tell me. When I have time I can search on the electoral register.

Angela Lansbury is the author of twenty books including: Quick Quotations; Wedding Speeches; Dating Online; How To Get Out Of The Mess You're In; Poetry Pets and Pests.

Watching British Birds In Gardens & Parks

Today I did the RSPB bird watch from 9.30 am to 10.30 am and I saw one male blackbird, one Coal tit, 2 magpies, 1 robin and 1 wood pigeon. I filled in the form they had posted me and informed them
that during the past year I had seen a hedgehog, grey squirrels, a toad which I thought (wandered in from neighbour's pond) but no frogs - a toad looks like a frog but less elegant and decidedly ugly, a sort of frog monster. The form did not allow me to mention the woodpecker I don't often see but hear constantly. It sounds like it is trying to chip away at my conservatory, probably only looking for insects among fallen leaves, but makes a dreadful racket.  We also see foxes regularly. They live in a neighbour's garden and run across our garden, sit on the path, or run across the road at night, not to mention make a dreadful noise. The first time I nearly called the police, then went to see and found two foxes, either fighting or making love, hard to tell, and I did not want to interrupt them and ask.
Bird observation has been an interesting exercise. I discovered I can see a nest in a tree two gardens away with two magpies flying to it regularly.
   I had previously seen what I though were a pair of blue tits on an apple tree. Today I deduced the distinctive black head meant it was a coal tit, at least today's singleton was. Then I aw the Great tit has the same colour black head and yellow breast. But on looking carefully - remember all those quizzes you did as a child comparing two similar pictures - now you know it would be more useful to compare birds. The Great tit seems to have a black line vertically down its middle. So I ticked the box for Coal tit. Then I tried to load up my answers to the website. I keep getting told server has dropped the connection, try later. I thought it was the router but apparently it's just the site I'm trying to reach, may be overloaded today because it is the great bird watch weekend. So I may have to post off my results. I can colour photocopy the leaflet. I took the precaution of getting the postal version in case I had a problem with the computer. I had not anticipated their server dropping the connection. I thought only that I might have a problem. Either way, it was a good decision.
   I'll do it again next year. If you read this before the weekend is up, you can still do your own survey, if you can get through to the site to download the form. Or just note down the birds for an hour, if you can identify them. Maybe take a photo with your mobile phone and identify them from websites later.
The birds they want you to count are
   Blackbirds, male (black with yellow beak, Female blackbird (browny with darker beak), Blue tit, Male chaffinch, Female Chaffinch, Coal tit, Collared dove (looks like a wood pigeon but has a ring of contrasting colour around the neck), Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Tit, Greenfinch, House sparrow, Female House sparrow, Long-tailed tit, Magpie, Robin, Starling, Woodpigeon.
   I wanted to identify tiny birds I saw at the tops of trees and in neighbouring gardens and flying overhead. I realised it would have been helpful to have a pair of binoculars. The cheapest on the RSPB website shop is £27.50 plus any postage and packing you have to pay.
RSPB
rspb.or.uk/birdwatch
   To fill in the form on site they ask you to use the code BE06.
If you download the form you can post it by free post
Freepost RSTS-ZZCC-KJXU, The RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, Halifax Road, Melksham SN12 6YY.
   You have to get the posted form to them by Feb 14. Results will be broadcast in March, they say.
Hurray for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

Shot dead for texting? Does it matter who was in the wrong?

If you pick a fight with a stranger you may come off worst. If somebody asks you to stop doing something, you apologise.
   Is it ever worth getting into a row? Clearly not. An elderly person with a hearing aid finds small sounds magnified. Their problems is not your problem. But if you escalate a fight it could be a bigger problem for both of you.
   It doesn't matter who is right and who is wrong. Apologise and move seats.
   I'm reminded of the rhyme, 'He was right, dead right as he drove along, but he's just as dead as if he were wrong." 

Babies crying in Michelin Restaurants?

BAN BABIES?
Babies should be banned. You save up for a birthday or wedding anniversary. Whether it's lunch or dinner doesn't matter. It's still a meal at an expensive restaurant. It should be a treat. You want to concentrate on your food and flavours, not be distracted. What if a drunk started singing loudly next to your baby? What if the restaurant plays music at full blast so you can't her to talk? I want a romantic meal to listen to my beloved.
   What about the cost? You pay for a babysitter. To get away from the stress at home. Then you have your expensive romantic evening ruined by a baby crying.
THE BABY
   Baby - is it eating? Is it paying?
Does the baby know or care? It can't eat the food. Nor enjoy the experience.
   Many restaurants when fully booked ban customers who are not eating. I find this annoying if you are a large group with just one person not eating, at a time when tables are empty. But a baby is also a customer who is not eating.
FAMILY MEALS
   If you want a family meal with child size cheap portions you go to McDonalds or fast food. If baby is a nuisance you soon leave and the place is already noisy. You can move upstairs or down to leave in peace those who've already been disturbed for five minutes.
   When you are on holiday sometimes you can't get a babysitter. You should apologise in advance to the restaurant and adjacent diners. (Somebody on the staff might have time to amuse the baby. It might be distracted by the smiling people at the next table, rather than crying for attention when it's being ignored.
   If you say in advance you have a baby, ask to be seated near the front or back exit. Maybe near a ladies toilet. The moment the baby gets restless and so much as snuffles or whimpers, you take it out to the toilet or the car or the reception lobby or a distant corner far away from diners. There you can soothe it, calm it, fed it, breastfed it, bottle fed it, sung it lullabies or simply waited for it to fall asleep.
   Also not fair on baby to be kept awake by bright lights and chatter. It should be sleeping in calm and darkness. Maybe if top restaurants find this a recurring problem, they can have quiet and noisy corners. Put the baby in the noisy corner with the loud music. Or in a soundproof corner or behind a barrier or screen, even a separate room.

For & Against Recording Public Events, the Good & The Gory

Wars, natural disasters and horrific crimes are recorded by passers-by.
Later members of the public say, 'It's disgusting that somebody filmed this.'
If events were not recorded often nobody would believe what happened. Nobody could identify either the victims or the attackers. I'm all for recording everything, road accidents, peaceful scenes, people walking down the high street. That's how many crimes have been solved and dangers removed.
(Yes, I'm a writer and photographer and that's my personality type. I'm also the person who phones the police if I see an accident without assuming somebody else must have done so.)

What are the arguments against recording? It gives attention to attention seekers.
Does it encourage copycat crime?

You could argue that seeing bad events upsets the readers/viewers or makes them bored and immune to gore. Is it too depressing? Or do we need to know the worst in order to protect ourselves?
Maybe we should we only publish good news stories about health and entertainment.
Why do people read the news? On the other hand we read to know the worst so that we can protect ourselves. 

Who clicks on red and green arrows?

People often wonder and ask, why would anybody click on the red arrow after a comment?
First, it could be a mistake.
   Second, it could be a child or low intelligence person who is simply clicking on arrows or even a dog clicking all over the page, or a back pocket mis-call on a phone left on in somebody's pocket. Or it could be a troll, somebody who likes to disagree with others just to provoke emotion, excitement, reaction, attention, to feel important.
   Sometimes a comment is so badly worded that you hardly know which half of the remark you are agreeing with. For example, a comment such as, 'The burglar should not have been in the house - but he did not deserve to die.' You might be racing down 200 comments clicking and start to read the comment and click on red or green to agree or disagree with the first half, before seeing the second half, or vice versa.

   An article in a newspaper, about a news event, not a chat column. Maybe after a features article it would be reasonable to give your emotional reaction. People want to read your reaction same 'gosh - how awful, I'm depressed, so sorry'. Others think the place for that's a Facebook condolence page, not a newspaper.

   Serious articles such as health reports attract useful comments by medical people. Murder appeals attract comment suggesting clues and motives. Stories of suicides attract useful comments on where to go for help such as the Samaritans in the UK and the US equivalent. I understand why judgemental types might red arrow people who clog up the comments pages with up to 450 repetitions of 'so sorry' until the newspaper moderators shut down the site because it takes too long to read and moderate, readers get bored, and useful comments and debates are pushed out by attention seekers describing their emotional reactions. Add News. Add emotional comments only if you need to balance for and against an opinion, not to fill up space in a NEWS paper.  

Handcuffed person shoots himself in police car! No video! Solution.

At first glance it seems obvious that it is not possible to shoot yourself with your hands handcuffed behind your back.
The police vehicle with no video running looks like a cover-up.
I read all the forum comments and read the one directing you to a video showing how to get out of handcuffs.
Yes, that's possible.
One way, to bring handcuffs under your legs.
Another is to use wristband or watch buckle as a pointer to poke in the lock.
A person who is out planning to commit a crime or carrying a gun or with a history of being arrested may already have thought out a worst case scenario escape plan.
Why would the arrested person shoot themselves in the face?
Lots of desperate people commit suicide after a crime. Why? Maybe to avoid facing the consequences. (Arrest. Prison.) Or because they are highly emotional with mood swings. Or don't think of the long-term effects. Or are bad loses. To deprive the cops/victims the satisfaction of winning. Or by accident - gun goes off. They are trigger happy. Shot bystanders. Hunters shoot friends, family, themselves, bystanders. Even the trained police have been known to shoot themselves in the foot or head.
So far, we have arguments for both sides.
The indisputable fact in the case I read was that the police vehicle video was not running.
What lesson can be learned by independent outsiders. What can be demanded and changed by all three interested parties (cops, robbers and independent outsides)?
To have the video running.
How can we ensure that?
Let's look at what's done already.
In planes you have a black box running all the time. Can't be switched off.
Seatbelt reminds. Either bleep all the time the car runs without seat belts done up to remind driver who is willing to comply but simply forgot.
Or a verbal reminder.
That's it - my thought for the day on a problem and a solution. Adios.