At Miles Cross they must bide

This is very charming in itself (and occurred on a road I often drive down), but I put it here because the combination of an escaped horse and a string quartet is so very, very Fire and Hemlock. Needless to say, the quartet are travelling in the direction of Bristol, or possibly as far as Burnt Norton...

ETA: The escaped horse is not visible in this picture, but it's what caused the traffic jam, and thus the jamming.

ETA2: From the Telegraph: 31-year-old Lu Jeffery, of Portishead, near Bristol, said: "It was a lovely moment, one the quartet will treasure. Between us, we have played some of the most incredible concert venues globally and the one afternoon you play the M5 it all goes crazy."

A very Portishead thing to say.

"" (Watch on YouTube)

At Miles Cross they must bide

This is very charming in itself (and occurred on a road I often drive down), but I put it here because the combination of an escaped horse and a string quartet is so very, very Fire and Hemlock. Needless to say, the quartet are travelling in the direction of Bristol, or possibly as far as Burnt Norton...

ETA: The escaped horse is not visible in this picture, but it's what caused the traffic jam, and thus the jamming.

ETA2: From the Telegraph: 31-year-old Lu Jeffery, of Portishead, near Bristol, said: "It was a lovely moment, one the quartet will treasure. Between us, we have played some of the most incredible concert venues globally and the one afternoon you play the M5 it all goes crazy."

A very Portishead thing to say.

Up With Which We Will Not Put

TV Programme: "By cooking the squid slowly and gently, it becomes tender."

Me, blustering: What? What becomes tender by cooking squid gently? Some mythical squid-cooking creature? Jeez!

Do you recognize this kind of exchange with the telly? Have you been party to it? I'm certain that I'm not alone.

I thought I had my blustering habit under control until I was watching some David Attenborough programme with my daughter the other night. Said DA:

"Despite their solitary reputation, polar bears can be surprisingly sociable."

I heard my voice cry: "No! It's not not despite their reputation, it's because of it! If they didn't have a reputation for being solitary, their sociability wouldn't be surprising!"

My daughter laughed, and yet I wonder whether she didn't think there was something excessive in my zeal.

Do I need help?

Up With Which We Will Not Put

TV Programme: "By cooking the squid slowly and gently, it becomes tender."

Me, blustering: What? What becomes tender by cooking squid gently? Some mythical squid-cooking creature? Jeez!

Do you recognize this kind of exchange with the telly? Have you been party to it? I'm certain that I'm not alone.

I thought I had my blustering habit under control until I was watching some David Attenborough programme with my daughter the other night. Said DA:

"Despite their solitary reputation, polar bears can be surprisingly sociable."

I heard my voice cry: "No! It's not not despite their reputation, it's because of it! If they didn't have a reputation for being solitary, their sociability wouldn't be surprising!"

My daughter laughed, and yet I wonder whether she didn't think there was something excessive in my zeal.

Do I need help?