Today in History 30th March

Hello there Gentle Readers, lets hold on tight to the reins of history as the bull of time tries to kick us into the sand of yesterday.

 

 1853: Vincent van Gogh, artist is born in Zundert, the Netherlands.

 

1867: The USA buys Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. That's about 2 cents per acre.

1945: Legendary guitarist Eric Clapton is born in Surrey, UK.

1979: Airey Neave, UK politician is killed by a car bomb detonated by the INLA.

 

1986: Jimmy Cagney, actor/singer/dancer dies in New York, USA.

 

2002: Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother of the United Kingdom dies aged 101 years old.

#vincentvangogh #ericclapton #aireyneave #jummycagney #thequeenmother #alaska

 

Robert's Easter

Hello Gentle Readers, I am  once again passing the reins to Robert to tell you about his Easter trip to England.

I had a great time in England with Mama and Papa. I loved the plane and the plane buses too. The plane went really fast and really high. We started below the clouds, then we were in the clouds and then we were way above them looking down.

 

I met my Granny Margaret and she was very nice to me. I really liked her cat Tipsy, he only has three legs. The best thing about being in England was spending time with Honey and Brendan, my daddy's grandniece and grandnephew and my first cousins, once removed (whatever that means). I played with Honey and Brendan a lot and we had an Easter Egg hunt in her garden  and we went on her trampoline. Her house is nice too.

 

We went to the seaside and we went to an amusement arcade and went on the 2p machines and we won lots of yellow tickets and papa swapped them for a Lego Star Wars Stormtrooper. Cooool.
Honey is very funny, she is 3 and a half. She is kind and my best friend. Brendan is 13 and I played with his crossbow and we played football too.
 Everyone kept giving me chocolate, there was like a mountain of it.

 

i really enjoyed my trip and I am looking forward to the summer when I will go back.

I hope you liked what I wrote about and that you comment.

Bye bye.

Papa was very excited about this sign in London. 

I just wanted to go see the Dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum.

Norwich Sucks

Just had my foot run over by a shopping trolley in Asda.

Feck it hurts. Robert heard a bad word.

#norwichsucks

Riga Map

Hey gentle readers. My middle and high school pupils made a 3d map of Riga  during science and technology week.

Here it is for you to enjoy.

Happy Easter

Hello gentle reader. Robert, Lena and I are off to the UK for a few days for Easter. This means I may not be able to blog very often.
Robert will meet his UK granny and family for the first time.
So there will be plenty to write about when we get back next week.

Wherever you are celebrating or whatever have a great weekend.

Wednesday Thought: Science

Hello there Gentle Reader. This week at school is Science and technology week. Here are some quotes about science. Enjoy!

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.  
Albert Einstien

Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science. 
Edwin Hubble

Science never solves a problem without creating ten more.
George Bernard Shaw

Science is not only a disciple of reason but, also, one of romance and passion.
Stephen Hawking



#hawking #shaw #hubble #einstein

International Poetry Day

Hello Gentle Reader, today, if you didn't know, is International Poetry Day. I love poetry. You may remember in the early days of the blog I shared some of my own with you.

Here are two of my favourites

Horace Poem

Much to his Mum and Dad’s dismay
Horace ate himself one day.
He didn’t stop to say his grace,
He just sat down and ate his face.
“We can’t have this” his Dad declared,
“If that lad’s ate, he should be shared.”
But even as he spoke they saw
Horace eating more and more:
First his legs and then his thighs,
His arms, his nose, his hair, his eyes...
“Stop him someone!” Mother cried
“Those eyeballs would be better fried!”
But all too late, for they were gone,
And he had started on his dong...
“Oh! foolish child!” the father mourns
“You could have deep-fried that with prawns,
Some parsley and some tartar sauce...”
But H. was on his second course:
His liver and his lights and lung,
His ears, his neck, his chin, his tongue;
“To think I raised him from the cot
And now he’s going to scoff the lot!”
His Mother cried: “What shall we do?
What’s left won’t even make a stew...”
And as she wept, her son was seen
To eat his head, his heart, his spleen.
And there he lay: a boy no more,
Just a stomach, on the floor...
None the less, since it was his
They ate it – that’s what haggis is. 

ALBERT AND THE LION

from the Stanley Holloway record
There's a famous seaside place called Blackpool
That's noted for fresh air and fun
And Mr. and Mrs. Ramsbottom
Went there with young Albert, their son.
A fine little lad were young Albert,
All dressed in his best, quite a swell.
He'd a stick with an 'orse's 'ead 'andle;
The finest that Woolworth's could sell.
They didn't think much to the ocean,
The waves they were piddlin' and small.
There were no wrecks and nobody drownded,
'Fact, nothin' to laugh at at all!
So, seeking for further amusement,
They paid, and went into the zoo,
Where they'd lions and tigers and camels
And cold ale and sandwiches, too.
There were one great big lion called Wallace
Whose nose was all covered with scars;
He lay in a som-no-lent posture
With the side of 'is face on the bars.
Now Albert 'ad 'eard about lions-
'Ow they was ferocious and wild;
To see lion lyin' so peaceful
Just didn't seem right to the child.
So straightway the brave little feller,
Not showin' a morsel of fear,
Took 'is stick with the 'orse's 'ead 'andle
And stuck it in Wallace's ear.
You could see that the lion din't like it,
For givin' a kind of a roll,
'E pulled Albert inside the cage with 'im
And swallered the little lad - 'ole!
Now Mother 'ad seen this occurrence,
And not knowin' what to do next,
She 'ollered "Yon lion's et Albert!"
An' Father said "Ee, I am vexed."
They complained to an animal keeper
Who said "My, wot a nasty mis'ap;
Are you sure it's your boy 'e's eaten?"
Pa said, "Am I sure? There's 'is cap!"
The manager 'ad to be sent for;
'E came and 'e said "Wot's to-do?"
Ma said "Yon lion's et Albert,
And 'im in 'is Sunday clothes, too!"
Father said "Right's right, young feller-
I think it's a shame and a sin
To 'ave our son et by a lion
And after we paid to come in."
The manager wanted no trouble;
He took out his purse right away,
Sayin' "'Ow much to settle the matter?"
Pa said "Wot do you usually pay?"
But Mother 'ad turned a bit awkward
When she saw where 'er Albert 'ad gone.
She said "No, someone's got to be summonsed!"
So that was decided upon.
And off they all went to p'lice station
In front of a Magistrate chap;
They told what 'ad 'appened to Albert
And proved it by showing 'is cap.
The Magistrate gave 'is opinion
That no one was really to blame,
And 'e said that 'e 'oped the Ramsbottoms
Would 'ave further sons to their name.
At that Mother got proper blazin':
"And thank you, sir, kindly," said she-
"Wot, spend all our lives raisin' children
To feed ruddy lions? Not me!"

Top 10 fun facts about Lego.

Hello there Gentle Reader. As you may of discovered over the last few weeks. Lena and I have adopted a little boy called Robert.
Now Robert likes playing with our cat Danny; spaghetti and Lego. So in honour of his love of those little plastic bricks, I present to you my top ten facts.

1. Lego will be 84 years old in 2016. It was founded in a carpenters workshop and the first bricks were made of wood.

2. A brick made in the 1950's will easily interlock with a brick made now.

3. The name comes from the Danish words "Leg" and "Godt" which means 'play well.'

4. There have been 4 billion mini figures made since 1978.

5. In 2009, former Top Gear presenter James May created a full size house with working plumbing out of over 3 million bricks.

6. Duplo bricks for young children can connect with normal lego bricks.

7. The tallest Lego tower in the world contains over half a million bricks.

8. The largest commercially available Lego set is a model of the Taj Mahal that contains nearly 6000 pieces.

9. The original name for Lego was Automatic Binding Bricks.

10  19 million bricks are made every year. Thats 36000 every second.

#lego

Mama's Nummy Cutlets

Hello Gentle Readers. Tonight I present to you another recipe, courtesy of my beloved Lena. All i had to do was make the mashed potatoes and eat it. Trust me...it was awesome.

Ingredients (makes 7 large cutlets)
525 g Minced Beef
1 slice of old bread
Half an onion
Quarter a cup of milk.
1 teaspoon mustard
2 cloves garlic
salt and pepper
olive oil

Gravy Ingredients
Half an Onion
1 Tablespoon plain flour
2 tablespoons of tomato ketchup
squeeze of lemon
1 cup hot water.

Method

1. Finely chop or grate the onion and mix with the beef.  Crush the garlic and add this to the meat.

2. Cut off the crusts from the bread, tear it into small bits and soak in the milk for 2-3 minutes.

3.   Pour the bread/milk mixture into the beef and stir well, adding the salt, pepper and mustard.

4. Shape the beef into patties about 4cm in diameter.

5. Poor 1 tablespoon of olive oil into a pan and turn on the heat.

6. When oil is hot enough, carefully place the cutlets into the oil and cook through turning regularly.

7. When they are cooked place them on a plate and place them in an oven at a low heat to keep them warm.

8. Using the beef fat that is in the pan add half an onion and stir. Add the flour stiring continuously, add tomato sauce and hot water and keep stirring until it heats and thickens. Squeeze a few drops of lemon juice at the end.

9. To serve fill a deep dish with mashed potato, place 2-3 of the cutlets onto the potato and pour the gravy over the top.

 

A Scotsman in Riga interviews.......Robert

Hello again Gentle Readers, after his successful first post the other day. Already over 100 of you have read it. I have decided to probe a lot more into what makes this sweet little boy tick.

I sat for hours coming up with questions that would challenge and push him to the limits of his intellectual boundaries.

Here  below are the results.

1 Hello Robert, how are you feeling today?
Good, I feel playful.

2. What is the best thing about living with Mama and Papa?
The best thing is that they are strict when I am naughty. I also like the house, especially the living room it is big and very pretty.

3.You are good friends with Danny. What do you like about him?
He is fluffy. He is alive, even when he scratches.

4. Do you like your school?
No, there are too many rules.

5. What job would you like when you are older?
Policeman, No....fireman, No......doctor!

 

6. Are you excited about going to England to see your granny?
Yes, I like the fact I got a passport as a present and that I am going to fly.

7. What is your favourite food?
Sweets and meat with spaghetti. 

8. Favourite colour?
Orange

9. How much lego would you like to have?
60-100.....lots (I want to fill my room with it)

10. What are you scared of?
Vampires

 

11. You will be turning 6 very soon. What does that mean?
It means I will be going to  a new class

12. What do you want for your birthday?
An orange Lego Helicopter. (Like this one)

Today in History March 20th

Hey there again Gentle Reader lets step into the sports car of time and drive to fast on the Highway of History.

1726: Sir Isaac Newton, scientist and mathematician dies.

 

1852; American classic, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe, is published.

1916; Albert Einstien publishes the General Theory of Relativity.

1957: Film Director Spike Lee is born.

1995: A Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway kills 13 people and wounds over 1000 others.

2003; The USA, UK, Poland and Australia  begin the Iraq war.

 

#isaacnewton #einstein #uncletomscabin #spikelee #sarintokyo #2003iraqwar

Today in History 17th March

Well hello again Gentle Reader, its time to once again squeeze ourselves into the codpiece of history and scare the nuns of time.

 

180: Marcus Aurelius dies. His son Commudus becomes the Emperor of Rome.

 

 

1969: Golde Maier becomes Prime Minister of Israel.

 

1992: A referendum in South Africa ends the Apartheid era.

 

1995: Ronnie Kray, London gangster dies.

2003: A politician shows he has moral authority as Robin Cook resigns his position as UK Foreign Secretary over the British governments decision to enter the 2nd Iraq war.

#robincook #ronniekray #marcusaurelius #commodus #goldamaier #apartheid

Son of A Scotsman in Riga

Hello gentle readers, I have decided to let Robert help me with the blog sometimes. So here we go.

 

It has been an interesting couple of days, Mama and Papa have let me help with some cooking. I like their cooking but I think its even better when I help.

On Sunday Mama told me we were making pelmenies, one of my favourites. Papa normally just buys them frozen from the supermarket so to get them freshly made seems like a real special treat.

We chopped onions and mixed them with the meat and Mama mixed the dough. Then Papa and I put the meat into the dough and  shaped them into the Pelmenie shape.

Altogether we made about 60 little dumplings . It was hard work. We  froze half of them and Mama and I left papa  to cook the pelmenies that would be our dinner.

Oh Dear! Papa forgot to stir the pelmenies and a lot of them burst open or stuck together. Mama was very angry at Papa and made him eat all the burst ones.

 

This only left a few for us. Papa cooked a few more and this time they were yummy because he "LISTENED TO MAMA."

Today Mama and Papa were staying home from work and I stayed home from school, we played Lego and I watched cartoons.

Plus I got to make PIZZA, another favourite of mine. I had never made it before so I was super excited. Papa had to go out but Mama made the dough and I helped to chop the vegetables. I really wanted to help with the dough but Mama said I was too small and I cried, Mama explained to me that I am still small and that I  could roll the dough with the rolling pin.

 

Papa came back and this time he didn’t help as much. He just took the photos you can see and put the Pizza in the oven because it was too hot for me to do.

We put chicken, ham, onions, tomatoes, red paprika and two types of cheese on our pizzas plus on one we put some pickles. The pizzas were awesome and I had 3 big pieces. Now I am as stuffed as a banana and I am lying on the floor telling Papa what to type.

 

Thank you for letting me write for you, I hope you liked what I wrote about.

Robert

Trumping my own Trumpet (toot toot)

 

Hello there Gentle readers, where ever you are in the world, you know who Donald Trump is.

I have been doing some research into this man, who claims to be the choice of the common man and considering his net worth is in the billions, is the common man just an ordinary millionaire.

This research I have been doing is to find the funniest Trump Jokes because if this guy wins in November, I promise, WE WONT BE LAUGHING.

Donald Trump is giving narcissism a bad name.―Madeline Begun Kane

Donald Trump is "the kind of person who goes to the Super Bowl and thinks the people in the huddle are talking about him."―Eric Schneiderman

Donald Trump likes to say he's a friend to "the blacks." Unless the Blacks are a family of white people, I'm guessing he's mistaken.―Seth Meyers

This is what I've been waiting for my whole life. A President who's not afraid to tell the truth about being a lying a**hole!―Lewis Black

In an exclusive interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, Donald Trump said, "I believe in god." But of course Donald was talking about Himself.―Jay Leno

Here's the thing about Donald Trump: he never apologizes; he's never wrong no matter what crazy thing he says. He's the white Kanye.West―Bill Maher

Say what you will about Trump, he is not stupid. He is a smart man with a deep understanding of what stupid people want.―Andy Borowitz

Donald Trump showed his birth certificate to reporters. Who cares about his birth certificate? I want to know if that thing on his head has had its vaccinations.―Craig Ferguson

By the way Gentle Reader where I come from a "TRUMP" is a fart.....maybe that explains the bad feeling I get in my gut when I hear him speaking.

....and finally this ....

Donald Trump: 666 Mark of the Beast? This is no joke, because the most expensive single building ever sold in the United States was purchased by the Trump family, at 666 Fifth Avenue, a street that symbolizes money (Mammon). The price was $1.8 billion, which is three more sixes! Another Trump tower at One Journal Square will be 666 feet high with a price tag of $666 million. And still that is just the tip of the 666 iceberg! The founder of the original Trump company died on 6-6-6 and her maiden name may shock you: Elizabeth Christ. You can click the hyperlink to learn more (no annoying ads or requests for money; this is a public service). Yes, it does sound like the plot of a new OMEN movie, but in this case fact really is stranger than fiction. Ironically, evangelical Christian leaders are now lining up to endorse Trump. Have the very elect been deceived, just as the Hebrew prophets predicted thousands of years ago when they told us to listen for the Trump of Doom? The Antichrist has been prophesied to be a sort of "reverse twin" of Jesus Christ, as if Lucifer became flesh and sought to become the Savior of the world. And Trump has certainly been proclaiming himself as the only possible Savior. For instance, at a campaign rally in Kiawah Island, S.C., the egomaniacal Trump made it clear that he, not God Almighty, is the only possible defender of Christians. Discussing ISIS, Trump said, “Their primary goal is to get to the Vatican. If and when the Vatican is attacked, the pope would only wish and have prayed that Donald Trump would have been elected president.” In other words, it is useless for people of faith to pray to God for protection. Christians should pray for Trump to save them, or perhaps directly to The Donald. Who but an Antichrist would claim to be a Christian while denying the need to ask God for forgiveness? Who but an Antichrist would denigrate Holy Communion by reducing it to a "little cracker" and a "little wine," when these represent the sacred body and blood of Jesus Christ to real Christian believers?

This proves that some Americans will believe anything.....lets hope they wont just vote like it too.

#donaldtrump #antichrist?

Today in History: 13th March

Hello Gentle Reader, lets get lathered up and wash the grime of history from our hair.

1781: The planet Uranus is discovered.

 

1930: Pluto is discovered

 

1996: The Dunblane School Massacre: 16 children and 1 teacher are shot dead by Thomas Hamilton.

2013: Pope Francis is elected 

 

 #pluto #uranus #popefrancis #dunblane #todayinhistory #march13