DGM HQ A grey day
17.22
DGM HQ.
A grey day along the valley.
An en passant kitchen discussion with David on the latest arisings in the world of NewsCorp. US shareholders don’t seem perturbed by the brouhaha that engages the Commons’ Media Select Committee, including revelations of phone-hacking, bribes paid to the police and political suasion. The Murdoch press is such a small part of the NewsCorp financial giant, after all. Should we be worried if US investors are not?
Clearly, yes. I find it worthy of comment, and quietly terrifying, that anyone might not. Like, leading NewsCorp shareholders.
A morning of reflection and writing.
Into the DGM Parking Lot at 12.10 I…
II...
… and off to visit Uncle Bill in Southbourne.
Uncle told me new stories.
The first story: of being in Stalag Luft III, in what was then East Prussia (now part of Poland), and seeing German transports carrying Russian corpses for disposal. The bodies were naked, said Uncle, having been stripped of all possessions; and not all the corpses were corpses. They called out brod! brod! The British POWs, who had very little bread to eat themselves anyway, threw loaves over the barbed wire.
The second story: from Uncle’s RAF days following his release. He was involved in the Berlin Airlift, navigating his flying boat to the Wannsee. Russian flak flew up either side of the air corridor, as a reminder not to stray outside. German bodies were floating in the lake, from when the Russian forces had arrived in the city. Little concern was given to burial.
Then we watched DVD pix from the Channel Four documentary on The Great Escape. They took Uncle to the site for three days, with interviews on the excavation to find the tunnel. He was edited out of the programme and didn’t make any appearance; this despite him being the first ex-POW to step down into the re-discovered tunnel since the Escape itself. Shame, say I!
And onto pix of the POW in-camp theatrical presentations. One of these was The Merchant Of Venice with Shylock, the Jewish character, cast as hero. The costumes had been provided by Berlin, Uncle surmised as support for an anti-Semitic depiction of the moneylender. The German commandant and officers, with translator, were in the front row. As the play unfolded, with translating and mutterings, the penny dropped: the front row stood up and left.
These stories were very moving. Uncle is in great shape and has been asked to write his autobiography. Squadron Leader Alfie Fripp (RAF retired) is currently in great demand for interviews and guest appearances.
The Real Great EscapeBill "Alfie" FrippFrom Uncle Bill to to Don Hardyman, pianist, woodworker and homeopath, and now back to DGM HQ. Our landlord generally comes out to see me when I arrive. So, a putting-the-world-to-rights conversation with Butcher Fry.
18.23 And in response to …
Kill the King:: Posted by AgentOrange on April 30, 2012
At the risk of incuring the wrath of the Venal One and his many forum followers I would like to make a modest proposal. Please put an end to the King Crimson Collector’s Club at number 50.
This was already the DGM Plan, at the initiative of David…
KCCC: Posted by David Singleton on Wed., May 2, 2012
Following the various comments on the guestbook, I can confirm that the Collectors Club will draw to an exciting, honourable close at Club50. Club 46 The Marquee 1972, (one of the best sounding shows of the RF/Boz/Ian/Mel line-up) will be the last audio-only release. The last four Collectors Club releases will be DVDs (possibly with accompanying CDs), of which the first of which, Club 47, will be a DVDA with footage of two shows in Buenos Aires in 1994.
So reluctant completists are nearly at the end of their period of grief..
18.30 A DGM Kitchen meeting: Is truth a good business model?
Conclusion: only where the people with whom you are dealing are also truthful.
Also mentioned: David’s pension mis-selling. Thiss a disgrace, and exemplifies trends within the financial services industry during recent years. There is an accounting to be made, in several ways. Then David was down the street…
18.51 Calls to The Minx and the Sistery Person.
00.04 An evening computing now done. It waits…
