A Small Island Man

I'm Pro EU. No surprise to anyone who knows me. Indeed everyone who knows me is entirely sick of my ranting about this.  I just hit a page and saw a questionnaire "Should the United Kingdom rejoin the European Union?" It made me immediately back out. How can I put this as delicately as possible? Might it be better phrased "Should the UK apply to rejoin the UK" It is rather assumptive to suggest that we can rejoin based on just what we (the UK) may want. In short, whilst levelling "British Exceptionalism" as a criticism of the leave camp, "Should the United Kingdom rejoin the European Union?"  looks like "British Exceptionalism" at its best! Based on the UK's very 47-year lacklustre participation within the EU, "Should the United Kingdom rejoin the European Union?" looks rather pathetically like the ageing fat slob of an abusive husband scratching his nuts whilst sitting alone in his grimy bedsit and musing on whethe...

Brexit. Leave Means Leave. You Lost - Suck It Up Buttercup. I've been raging against the rabid Brexiteers, the clever ones in parliament and those behind them pulling the strings or the those easily fooled of low education (so often qualified with 1st class honours from the University of Life, almost always proudly sporting a poppy or a Union Jack or St George's cross on their Facebook profile). But it is Eurovision 2021 that convinces me the fight is a lost cause (not that I intend t go quietly). The UK did not do well (we English do like our understatement). Out of 4,524 Eurovision points awarded we took 0. Zero, Zilch, Nada Nil Points. I argued that whilst I did not think the UK's entry was winning material, since Eurovision has always been something of a political grandstand, nil Points surely had in part, to reflect that the rest of Europe is not seeing the UK in a favourable light post Brexit? What dismayed me more than anything, was that pro remainers so often seeme...

Eurovision 2021 Final Results Eurovision has always been political. Neighbouring and allied countries have always supported each other. Personally, I did not much like the UK entry but by no stretch would I say it was the worst. My opinion is neither important nor particularly significant beyond that I will assert that if I thought it was not the worst, then it's statistically unlikely that absolutely everyone voting thought it was the worst. Someone posted that the UK's poor Eurovision result was not at all political and entirely down to 'bland, unappealing singer, poor styling, tacky staging, meaningless lyrics, zero choreography' But these criticism have never been obstacles to songs doing well in Eurovision in the past! Nil Point from panellist and the public is down to how the UK is now perceived after the way it is behaving. UK Brexit MEPs at the opening of the EU Parliament Gunboats to Calais, AirCraft Carriers on world tour, EU persons slammed into prison-like d...

I first came to Sifnos in 2016. It was my son who came here first for the wedding of a Greek friend. After he was here for just half an hour, he called me and simply said "Dad,....I think you had better come here". The Port of Kamares And so my next holiday was for two weeks on the Greek island of Sifnos. We disembarked from the ferry onto the small port of Kamares and wheeling our wheelie cases stopped at one of the first beach-side cafes. Revithokeftedes We ordered Mythos beers, a caper salad, a greek salad and some island specialities of the rρεβυθοκεφτέδες (revithokeftedes -  fragrant deep-fried chickpea balls).  It was love at first bite! The gentle warm breeze blew across the bay as we looked out upon an iridescent landscape of a sapphire and emerald sea, sparkling sands, golden mountains and an Aegean azurite sky. The scents, the colours, the tastes, the warmth of the sun and the warmth of the welcome was in the most literal sense, overwhelming. Overwhelming. Overw...