Saturday 16 May 2020

No-Dig Bond Villains


Overheard while watching season 3; episode 3 of The Last Kingdom. Æthelred - a Mercian, Saxon villain (not villein, just to be clear) - has just killed one of his own men:

Aldhelm (Æthelred's right hand man): "Lord, you cannot simply slay your subjects - this is the 9th century."

Can't get used to Alexander Dreymon, the actor who plays the part of Uhtred of Bebbanburg. Seems too much of a pretty boy, with whispy chin hair, to be a hirsute, Saxon/Danish warlord.

Bond villains - Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Auric Goldfinger, Jaws, Alec Trevelyan, Francisco Scaramanga, Le Chiffre, Dr. No. Why is it than none have ordinary names, like Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn? It seems that to be a villain you have to have an exotic moniker. Mind you, Boris does sound a bit shady, like a Russian operative in a report.

I was listening to Simon Armitage, the current Poet Laureate, yesterday on Desert Island Discs. I'm not comfortable with the idea of poetry on demand. I wonder whether he'll be forced to do a Brexit poem by Boris. What's an ex Poet Laureate called - Emeritus Poet Laureate?

Hay, being a keen gardener, is rather enamoured with the No-Dig method of vegetable cultivation.


I told her I was an expert in the no-dusting and no vacuuming method of household management...


No comments: