Woke up at 5.45 and listened to Radio LBC (Leading British Conversations) for about half an hour. Steve Allen is the man who can talk underwater. Looks nothing like you would imagine. He does not have a regular spot. He is on some days and not others. He is on from 5 til 7 on Sunday morning to go over the Sunday papers. How English. I must listen. Then turned on the Parliamentary Channel. Committee looking into why all houses accommodating asylum seekers in one northern town have their front doors painted red. Makes them identifiable to people who want to give the tenants a hard time. And apparently it has been going on for 2 years despite complaints. Very easy to target an asylum seeker. Doors are daubed. Feaces put through the postbox etc. Like Australia all accommodation and services have been turned over to private companies. Three executives were being questioned by a very competent member of parliament. All backpedaled furiously using weasel words. They made great play that they had a hot line for complaints and that they had received 2400 calls in 2 years. Turned out the complainants had to pay One Pound every time they phoned the number. Even then nothing was done. I would say that some employee being a UKIP supporter took it upon himself to make these houses identifiable. Could be some of these executives were involved judging by their super defensive attitudes. Watched question time in the Welsh Assembly. Very different to the Australian Parliament. Maybe they haven't learned how to show contempt yet. Blood Pressure 133/70 Pulse 59 We left home at 10.20. Cooler day. Rain threatened. Walking through Preston Road we commented on the number of Mens Barbers. Must be about 6 in a small area of shops. They appear to cater only to Middle eastern Men. And they are always busy. Having a sharp recently shaved head must have something to do with male masculinity. Could not help noting a man who was having the works. His head was shaved in a ring that was level slightly above his ears. Above his ears he had a number one cut but within this cut were symmetrical lines cut into his hair into some kind of pattern. But he was going bald and on top of his head the pattern was not visible. The impact was lessened. I don't know how much these haircuts cost but lots of men are having them. Must be a matter of honour. We changed to the Jubilee line at Finchley Road and went to Westminster. We were encouraged to take the Westminster Tour by a person handing out pamphlets. He offered 20% off. So we took it. With the Seniors Discount it wasn't so bad. But I must say not as enjoyable as it was 46 years ago. The building has been spruced up. An alarming amount of gold leaf has been inserted onto the building. Not there in the days of austerity. I liked it better then. Who is impressed with gold leaf? And it did not seem to be as well lit as 46 years ago. We were in a group of 17. Lots of security. Counted in and counted out of every staging post. Cannot sit down and cannot touch anything. And we were moved along quickly by the guide. And by the myriad of attendants standing around supervising and talking into their walkie talkies. I found the female guide unsympathetic. She did not like questions. Some very ignorant Americans in the group however. This is the visitor tag you have to wear when you enter the building. They all have a different barcode. In 1969 I was shown around by a man who was a volunteer guide. He couldn't charge but we could give a donation. I was in a group of 5. This was on a saturday morning. Of course there were not as many people in London then. Not the same numbers of Europeans. We seemed to be able to go anywhere and it seemed we did. For instance we walked past and had a look at members offices. They were all very small. There were members of Parliament walking around openly. There was absolutely no security. Lots of time for questions. All very congenial. I sat on the Woolsack because it was made out of Australian Wool. I sat in The Speakers Chair. I sat in the members seats. We should sue the IRA for spoiling everything. After we left the building and walked to Westminster Bridge we were asked to take a couples photo. They were from Vietnam. We told them we were from Australia and the man said "Ah Australia is now part of Asia". Humour from Vietnam. We walked from Westminster to Bank along The Embankment. Saw a Sphinx that was removed from Alexandria and placed on the Embankment in Victoria's time. It was one of the first things bombed during a bombing raid in the First World War in 1914. It must have been a strong bomb because the Sphinx had holes in it. How did the Germans get here? Was it an attack by dirigible? Surely not by winged plane? Can I make another derogatory comment about Australian women. More Australian women than men now have tattoos. One cannot but help note that English Girls do not have tattoos. You cannot help but notice how much better they look. Perhaps I'm biased. We have seen one tattoo shop here but that is all. Not even many men seem to have tattoos. Watched another episode of Timothy West and Prunella Scales on TV traveling in the south on their long boat. Prunella was born near a canal and they actually went there. Suddenly Prunella did not have Alzheimer's. She was the charming woman in control. She remembered every detail of the house she left when she was six and showed the two children who now live there just what she did when she was there. They were transfixed. Of course she is a great actor but I think she was not acting. She was suddenly confident and in charge. She took control of two girls who were about her age when she left. Photo's of her in the house at the age of the two children were shown. Heartbreaking in their way. Watched Ian Hislop's "Workers or Shirkers". Extremely good TV. Excellent history. All the facts at his disposal to confront middle class prejudice. Lots of people displaying petty beliefs. Some film of a very right wing modern politician expressing quite sincere contempt for those on benefits. This type of show could only be made by the BBC.
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