See yesterday's blog entry: I watched all of
The Trial of King Richard III last night; it was quite interesting. The jury found that Richard III was probably innocent of the murder of the princes in the Tower, but I am unconvinced. I think he probably ordered it, or at least knew of it being done or approved of it. But... who knows? The evidence is scant, circumstantial and debated and not likely to be increased. We shall never know for sure. Whether most people think Richard III guilty or innocent is a matter that will continue to be blown about on the winds of historiography.
One of the witnesses for the prosecution was Dr. David Starkey, who came across as snippy, arrogant and insulting - just plain rude, actually. He didn't do his case any good at all, and the defense attorney, Richard Dillon Du Cann, made short work of him, trashing his arguments in subsequent testimony when Starkey, out of the stand, could only sit and listen. For instance, Sir Thomas More, who lived during the reign of Henry VIII, wrote a scathing attack on Richard III; it is his account that gives us the image of Richard III of being a humpback with a withered arm. Stanley finds More totally credible, "...an intellectual giant attacked by lesser men." However in his first defense witness Du Cann shows that More's depiction of Richard III is not borne out by early images, indeed, later portraits have been altered to show a raised back and a shrunken arm in accordance with the Tudor mythology.
The fun between Du Cann and Starkey begins
here and continues
here.
This David Starkey is a well known figure on British television. He once presented a series called
Monarchy which I couldn't get through. Starkey's delivery was so ponderous and over done, he made it sound like everything was as important as everything else. For instance, information of some noble's wedding was delivered with the same fateful tones that an account of the Battle of Hastings was delivered in. After about an hour or two of this I gave up.
Last Saturday I found a couple of serviceable 5" x 7" frames at a yard sale for $1 each;
I have put neat photos of my kids when little in them and hung them up on the VW wall of my garage.
My shoulder is doing quite well - surprisingly well, actually. The therapist told me yesterday that the great majority of her rotator cuff patients experience moderate to severe pain in physical therapy. I can barely feel any and have most of my shoulder's pain free or minor pain mobility restored. (That is, with the therapist moving my arm, not my doing it. I'm not allowed to, yet.) She thinks I must have a higher tolerance for pain... that would explain my gravitation to rugby, I guess.
(Story: I was playing a match one time and, during a halt, some of my teammates asked me, "Why didn't you turn around and slug him?" "Who?," I asked. "The opposition player hitting you in the back... you couldn't feel that?" No, I didn't. I suppose I did, but just considered that it was the usual minor bumps and jostling that are part of the game.)
At one point I played a trick on the therapist... as she slowly extended my arm I could sense she was watching my face for some signs of pain. So I cried out theatrically and caused her to become a bit startled. "Just kidding," I said. She narrowed her eyes at me and asked, "Have you ever heard about the story of the boy who cried wolf?" Ha ha!
Hurricane Irene is coming to the D.C. area! Well... that's not quite correct. The models indicate that it will pass by to the east, preferably more east than west. We'll get rain and winds this weekend, which possibly means trees coming down on power lines.
I doubt anybody will be having yard sales tomorrow morning... it doesn't matter, because I'm attending a Cub Scout "Raingutter Regatta." This is an activity where eight, nine and ten year-old boys blow onto the sails of little wooden ships racing down a gutter filled with water. It's not as good as a Pinewood Derby - and the race is usually won to the boys with the superior lung capacity - but it can be fun.
Speaking of yard/garage/estate sales, I found this article,
Ten Garage Sale Secrets. I have additional advice:
"Start Early": Indeed. Don't bother staying out until 2 PM. People are generally done at Noon. Yard sales are a Saturday morning activity.
"Fire Up the Grill": Or, simpler still, have some cans of soda in a cooler sitting in ice, especially during the summer. People will buy these. I do.
"Get the word out": Sure, putting notice of your sale on craigslist helps, but don't forget the signs. Forget all the descriptive text (nobody can read it while driving) and adjectives about how "huge" your sale is... all that is really needed are the words "Yard Sale" and an arrow. Naturally you must put up a number of these to lead people in.
And take the signs down when you're done! (This is a pet peeve of mine.)
"The Art of Presentation": I am always amazed at how lazy some people are. If you have books to sell, don't just drag out a box of them for people to have to open and paw through - lay 'em out so people can see them. You're more likely to sell them that way - duh!
Clark's Rule About Film Cameras: I would say that about half of the film cameras I see at yard sales have a roll of film in them. When I point this out to the owner, they are often unconcerned. What's on the roll? Priceless images of the kids when little? Vacation shots? The Missus in her birthday suit? Remove the roll and get it developed!
Your Stuff is Not Precious: Every now and then I come across the yard sale where the people think their stuff are retail items. $3 for a VHS tape, $1.50 for a cassette, $5 for a CD, $6 for a DVD, etc. Hello? Ever hear of Netflix? Your DVDs are quickly becoming worthless. Your cassettes and VHS tapes already are. If you want to keep this stuff, why bother holding a yard sale? Nobody is going to give you $3 for that coffee mug.
Have a great weekend!
The last day of August! Spiritually, it's kind of like the last day of summer, if you know what I mean. I just can't see "September" and think "summer."
