# The Late News



## IanMGSmith (Oct 15, 2012)

Power failure, second in as many days. Probably due to major excavations at a nearby building site.

Without electricity the wife can't cook her supper. I say "her" supper because the only thing I cook is a boiled egg, easily substituted with a can of sard's. 

No time to light a fire outside in the BBQ and besides, it was raining, so we decided to drive into Rugby (town) hoping to buy one of those gas grillers. Nothing fancy, just a gas bottle, stand pipe and a round grill top. 

Unfortunately, all the shops we visited said they would only be re-stocking that sort of stuff next summer. Ugh! We ex South Africans keep forgetting the seasonal nature of things here in England. After trying several shops, without success, we abandoned the hunt and reverted to plan "B" which was to pick up a pizza on the way home.

Waiting in the car while the wife went into the shop, I turned on the radio hoping to "catch" the news. Don't know what station I found but it was news about some guy who jumped from a balloon 24 miles high and, WOW, get this, broke the sound barrier in free fall! 

Amazing! How did he do it? What equipment did he use? Did he black out? How did he prevent going into an uncontrollable spin? I was riveted to the car radio as the presenter introduced, "someone who is no stranger to dangerous feats", a "famous explorer." Well I'd never heard of him but no matter, I haven't heard of a lot of people, it seems, these days. I settled back and looked forward with great anticipation to a very interesting 10 minutes of ultra sky diving revelation. History in the making!

Almost choked with disbelief when I heard her opening question, "Did it make you feel just a little bit jealous learning that Felix Baumgartner has done something you haven't?" _What the ...!  Ok, stay cool man, she's just breaking the ice before getting to the real stuff. You know, "news_?"

The famous explorer did not seem too fazed by the strange question and went on to explain that he did all his exploits with two feet firmly on the ground, that he was scared of heights and that he would be scared out of his wits jumping from a plane or a balloon, let alone from 24 miles up. _OK! That's over,  now for the good stuff_!

She asks, "How did you feel when you heard about the jump and what were your innermost emotions at that moment?"

That's when I switched the radio off. 

It was still early evening. A few raindrops from an inky blue sky spattered across the windscreen and I turned up the heater before settling back to ponder the "late" news.


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## The Backward OX (Oct 15, 2012)

Good story. Typical reporter’s comment.

---​
_“The famous explorer did not seem too phased”_

Believe it or not, the verb is “faze”. I know it looks Arabic, but there you go, that’s English for you.

"Phase" is a time-related word.


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## Divus (Oct 16, 2012)

Hi, Ian

WHat I want to know is how the balloonist knew where to land?


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## IanMGSmith (Oct 16, 2012)

The Backward OX said:


> Good story. Typical reporter’s comment.
> 
> ---​
> _“The famous explorer did not seem too phased”_
> ...



Thanks Ox, 

...correction done.

BBC and Sky news (and now local radio, it seems) have moved away from diverse and factual news reporting. We seem to be at the mercy of a bunch of news editors who reduce everything this Earth has to offer into two or three headliners, "canning" them into soap opera style editorials.

To have any hope of knowing what goes on in the world we must switch quickly between bbc, sky, al jazeera and occaisionally Russia Today. After about 20 minutes we have seen everything available and unless there is a good geographical or historical program, it's preferable to switch the tv off.

In fact, we are discovering that life with less tv is more enjoyable. LOL

Take care and thanks again,

Ian


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## IanMGSmith (Oct 16, 2012)

Hi Divus,

...great to see you again.

Yes, everything about this exploit is quite amazing. I think he had some top technical boffins and a shed load of sophisticated equipment. I guess you've seen the Youtube video, I believe he landed in the Nevada desert, visible from the edge of space and not a bad target :lol:

[video=youtube;q4Z7M4bPfHk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4Z7M4bPfHk[/video]


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## Cran (Oct 20, 2012)

Good anecdote, Ian.


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## Bloggsworth (Oct 20, 2012)

The most impressive thing was the landing, he just walked it down as if he had just stepped out of the front door. He had a whole desert to land in, not much chance of missing his landing spot. If it goes wrong, doesnt much matter whether it is 200 feet or 22 miles, and as an illustration of the ghoulish nature of modern observers, when his parachute opened 1,000,000 people turned off the live stream...


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## garza (Oct 20, 2012)

Ian - It's too bad that what you relate is what passes for news these days. Of course there are those among us who says it's always been thus, that reporters have always been fakes and liars, leeches on society. Edward R Murrow probably never left his New York office. He made up all that stuff about bombs falling on London just to get higher ratings. At least, so some say.


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## bazz cargo (Oct 20, 2012)

I wish this was in the discussion area.

You have successfully managed to encapsulate so much of what is wrong. Pointless sensationalism. I like your style.


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## IanMGSmith (Oct 23, 2012)

Cran said:


> Good anecdote, Ian.



Thanks Cran,

I have enjoyed writing about some of my experiences. Maybe with development and practice this is the way forward for me.

Cheers,

Ian


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## IanMGSmith (Oct 23, 2012)

Bloggsworth said:


> ...when his parachute opened 1,000,000 people turned off the live stream...



...scary


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## IanMGSmith (Oct 23, 2012)

garza said:


> Ian - It's too bad that what you relate is what passes for news these days. Of course there are those among us who says it's always been thus, that reporters have always been fakes and liars, leeches on society. Edward R Murrow probably never left his New York office. He made up all that stuff about bombs falling on London just to get higher ratings. At least, so some say.



Hi Garza, 

Every profession has its good and bad. I admire and respect the many great reporters out there who often risk their lives bringing in the real news. I imagine some contrite, small minded editor, suffering from a hangover after wining and dining one of the stations big advertisers, shelving the real story and airing in its place, some smutty revelation which (supposedly) increases the ratings.  

Take care,

Ian


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## IanMGSmith (Oct 23, 2012)

bazz cargo said:


> I wish this was in the discussion area.
> 
> You have successfully managed to encapsulate so much of what is wrong. Pointless sensationalism. I like your style.



Thanks Bazz, 

I am much encouraged.

Best,

Ian


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## The Backward OX (Oct 23, 2012)

Bloggsworth said:


> as an illustration of the ghoulish nature of modern observers, when his parachute opened 1,000,000 people turned off the live stream...


What were they hoping to see if the parachute didn't open? I understand there was a 20-second delay on the telecast. Time enough to yank everything and say, "And now for a word from our sponsor".

Anyway, what do you mean, 'modern observers'? Read up on any medieval battle and you'll find the local townsfolk turned up in their thousands, and stood on a nearby hill to watch all the mayhem.


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## IanMGSmith (Oct 24, 2012)

The Backward OX said:


> ...Read up on any medieval battle and you'll find the local townsfolk turned up in their thousands, and stood on a nearby hill to watch all the mayhem.



...that would be the working class waiting to clean up and re-plant the field after the battle. Dang nuisance wars!

Should be three different coloured wheelie bins at the side of each battle field and anyone chopping off a hand or whatever must pick it up immediately and place it in the appropriate bin.


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## Cran (Oct 24, 2012)

The black one is for the smithy who turns swords into plowshares.


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