[blogfocus wednesday] fishy stories

The common thread linking these excellent bloggers, as you'd be aware, is fish. Fish are part of our life, our heritage, they're the chips' best friends. So without any further ado, read on, fish lovers:

1. Wat Tyler shows through this quote that, even in the world of finance, fish may lurk surreptitiously:

£87m pa on MPs' fishtanks and iPods - "MEMBERS of parliament are using their taxpayer-funded expense accounts to buy iPods, plasma screen televisions and even, in one case, a fish tank, insiders allege. Finance administrators have been approving a wide array of executive gadgets despite widespread public concern about abuses of the parliamentary expenses system. MPs routinely claim thousands of pounds a year without having to produce receipts or other evidence that they have made any purchases...

2. Alice has also had to negotiate fish tanks, an educational tool, it seems:

I’ve had a four foot fish tank lurking in my kitchen for a couple of years now. There must be a lot of energy involved in making a fish tank, from the manufacture of the glass and the glue to the transport involved in getting it all from source to manufacturer to retailer to my flat, so I didn’t want to just throw it away without first applying “The Four Rs” as best I could.

The Four Rs are principles to put into practice as often as possible to avoid creating unnecessary waste, and they stand (depending on who you ask) for Reduce, Repair, Reuse and Recycle. Applying these principles to a large fish tank is proving pretty difficult, especially as I try to organise its final transport to fish tank heaven in a responsible way.

3. Tony Sharp finds the analogy of fish useful in illustrating political tactics:

Cameron, I believe, could have made the changes the party needed in presentation without departing from our traditional ground. This is why I believe so many in the party are upset and frustrated at his tactics and execution. We have been letting Labour off the hook. Why go fishing in deep water when the shoal has finally come into your own shallows? Why stay out in the deep water when you can see a rival fleet has followed the shoal into your waters and is hauling the fish in with huge nets? The Tory approach needs to sharpen up rapidly.

4. There is clearly some connection between David Cameron and fish, as the Norfolk Blogger attests:

I see Dave is planning permits for producers of fatty foods. Read about it HERE. I always read and hear Tories going on about "the nanny state", but this is obsessive. Having a permit for fatty foods is hardly going to endear Mr Cameron to fish and chip shop owners in Glasgow who have been known to deep fry Mars bars. I guess though that the Tories have few votes to lose there !

5. Richard Havers takes a musical approach to our finned friends from the deep with this piece on Memphis Minnie:

Minnie also tackled crime, voodoo, trains, health and the perennial blues subject - chickens! Minnie was constantly touring, playing jukes and fish fries, which certainly helped in maintaining her popularity. She stayed in touch with her audience, singing about what they both knew, and understood. The lady who was at the forefront of transforming the Blues into ‘Pop Music’ continued to record up until 1954.

6. Blognor Regis is not satisfied with any ordinary fish - oh no - he has to have a snoek:

I mentioned 'snoek' last weekend, and now look: A new word entered the vocabulary - snoek, a fish from South Africa, vaguely tasting of mackerel. Ten million tins went onto the shelves, and the Ministry of Food publicised eight snoek recipes, including one with salad called "snoek piquante". I've already read plenty about the era bit I'm still tempted.

7. Trixy leaves us in no doubt that fish and my beloved Tories are somehow connected - perhaps they swim against the tide?

Fish are scaley and odd colours. Still, as much as I don't particularly like them, they aren't anywhere near as slimey as Tory politicians! I grant you, many of the other denominations are bad - but their hypocracy never fails to astound me. The reason I mentioned fish was because this new gut wrenching Tory comment is about fish, fishing, the Common Fisheries Policy and a stable. At least, that's what the Shetland box sounds like.

8. Mopsa winds up the evening with the revelation that fish are basically childish:

My oldest friend (not as in aged, but as in I've known her longer than any other friend) came to the farm for the first time and spent the weekend here. It was grey and it rained, but we chirped and chirruped and chortled and chatted and totally reverted to the girls we once were. The old nick names and fish-lips face contortions were greedily adopted and enjoyed again and luckily this time I refrained from wetting my pants under the duress of hysterical laughter plus full bladder combo.

Croydonian, Charlie Marks and Heraklites had nothing whatsoever to say about fish but Celia Green did. And on that note, a very good night to you all and see you on Saturday after your fish supper.