| God Spot This Christian Resource Blog has been created by a group of friends from around the world. Our purpose is to provide links to useful resources, some commentary on topical or doctrinal issues, a place where anyone can come with questions and a means whereby we can share our faith. And above all, to grow and encourage each other. As Christians, we believe we bear God's image in this world, and seek to glorify God's name in this endeavour. Any Christian who wants to join with us is very welcome! |
||
| . | ||
|
Information Scripture Resources Interesting Links Archives |
Tuesday, January 06, 2004 Great Guy!Gary, you're truly a GREAT GUY - one of the (few) living treasures (Gough's another!). Anybody who can try to cheer an "ignorant Melbourne FC supporter" at 06:30 on Saturday mornings is truly in the "GREAT" category!BTW, what time does Paul Barker start his talk on Mark's gospel at Holy Trinity (cnr Doncaster & Church Rds, Vic) tomorrow night? Now, because I think you'll enjoy this, here's a link to a very well-written and amusing article in the Guardian on the royal pets. I've picked a few bits out of it below, but there's much more in the complete article - very amusing, but maybe Betty Britain isn't too amused!? Florence the bull terrier with a penchant for housemaids is, like her owner, living on borrowed time The monarchy begins 2004 on a reformist note. Florence, one of Princess Anne's English bull terriers, is to go into therapy after biting a maid. But for her status, the royal dog would already be as moribund as the Beagle space probe. Instead, she played a starring role in the end-of-year royal 'scandal,' which began with Pharos, the Queen's oldest corgi, being mauled to death at Sandringham. The culprit was initially named as one of Anne's other dogs, Dotty, whose previous attack on two small boys cycling in Windsor Great Park resulted in a modest £500 fine. This time, an inquiry, which reminded one servant of a 'murder investigation', came up with evidence that a different miscreant had ignored the Orwellian sixth commandment that no animal shall kill another. Exhaustive internal questioning of the kind not undertaken when George Smith, a valet to the Prince of Wales, claimed he had been raped in his master's household, revealed the corgi-cruncher to be Florence. The lucky verdict that the Princess Royal had two nasty dogs instead of one psychopath was shaken shortly afterwards when Florence savaged (or 'nipped', in Palace-speak) the knee of a housemaid called Ruby, who reportedly begged that the dog be spared. To wonder why this saga should have shuffled the Bam earthquake, the Parmalat débacle and the seaweed detox diet off newspaper front pages is to miss the point. Anyone wishing to understand the modern monarchy should study how it treats its pets. On the whole, rulers have always preferred dogs to subjects. The papillons loved by Marie Antoinette, the sacred Pekingese of the Chinese emperors and the spaniel discovered, by her executioner, in the skirts of the dead Mary, Queen of Scots, all underpin that taste. But even Victoria's habit of running her court along the lines of Rolf Harris's Animal Hospital cannot match the dog mania of her successors. The Buckingham Palace corgi makes Caligula's horse look under-promoted. No visiting head of state or triumphant rugby player can enter Her Majesty's staterooms without being ankle deep in a writhing scrimmage of dogs which never defer to dignitaries. Elizabeth's biographer, Sarah Bradford, describes how one nervous bishop, baffled by the lunchtime feeding ritual, took a dog biscuit from a footman's salver and ate it. The same goes for lesser royals and their pets. Where else can they find companions who never fawn or curtsy and whose filthy tempers mesh so neatly with their own? Just picture that bishop, munching on the dog biscuit from the butler's tray! Another line from the Guardian article "there's another, more widespread, current of opinion that thinks the real scandal of the Windsor's winter holiday is that of an aimless, self-indulgent, over-rewarded clan, cooped up with their dysfunctional dogs in a publicly subsidised, privately owned palace, tax-exempt and used once a year". But we're not going to judge them, are we? # posted by geoff @ 10:03 am 0 comments
Comments:
Post a Comment
|
|
| << That's it! But checkout the Archives for more... | ||
|
||