[blogfocus wednesday] failure to find a theme

1. Colin Campbell needs no words here to convey the message. Click on the pic to get the idea.

2. Tuscan Tony rebuilt a different kind of house:

Not all my property adventures have been as replete with success as the Sussex one; I plunged deep into the market for my first foray in 1990, paying a princely £68,000 for the pictured terraced house in Dorking [below right]. I then proceeded to spend every weekend for the next 4 years restoring it lovingly. I did the loft conversion and put in the Velux, reroofed it, put in new pine floors throughout, replastered, put in new kitchen and bathroom, mostly aided and abetted by the first Mrs Tuscan. All work was done by me personally (idiot), and I learned more than I needed to know about the building trade.

4. L'Ombre recalls the joy of his non-Parisien house:

French people can be amazingly helpful and when we moved in we had almost exactly this experience:

When my uncle bought his Provençal house he called on his neighbour, a farmer in his sixties, and jokingly apologised for the fact they now had "des anglais" next door. The farmer merely responded, "Heureusement, vous n'êtes pas Parisien."

3. The Swearing Mother is also not Parisienne but is still moved by France:

The sight of the waiter bringing lunch, weaving through crowded tables, tray held high, makes you do a double take and wonder why this scene feels so familiar. A badly maintained front door, instead of looking scruffy and in need of attention, suddenly makes you want to paint it. And I don’t mean with two coats of Dulux, either. Everywhere you look, something is begging to be immortalized on canvas, and it's very likely that someone already has.

4. Meanwhile, Bag makes the logical connection between granddaughters and KGB records:

On the way back to the car with a poor wet little girl who had not coped too well with the delay. I overheard someone coming from another shop close to this one who were also unable to validate the cards and was looking for cash. Makes you think how dependent we are on the infrastructure that has built up over the last few decades. Technology. Not very good to us at the moment with the use our government is making of it. Just think, all those tax records, DVLA data, KGB records on us all.

5. Speaking of Stalinist records, Benedict White outlines how you'll be tracked down in the near future in Gordon's Britain:

Yesterday's Mail on Sunday carried the story that the government has passed legislation that requires telephone companies and Internet service providers to keep records of when and where telephone conversations and emails were sent. This will include tracking data on where mobile phones are.

6. Ian Parker shows the alternative - the stormtroopers:

Meanwhile, the Conservatives today published their plans for a homeland security force made up of two battalions and headed by a permanent leader. Former intelligence chief Dame Pauline Neville-Jones, who led a national and international policy group for the Conservatives, said: "We feel there needs to be a small force which is readily available, properly trained and has a command centre dedicated to looking after our territory at home."

HatTip Postman Patel

8. And finally, Tiberius Gracchus, in his usual insightful manner, gives an insight into Ian Curtis:

Curtis was, by the film's account, an appalling husband. He was unable to repay Debbie. Locked in his own world of creativity, he refused at times to even answer her when she knocked on the door of his room, refused even to climb the stairs to go to bed with her. He is so self focused, that at one point he even asks her whether she wants to sleep with other men. There are enough indications in the film to demonstrate that Curtis by the end found that he was dependent on Debbie but not attracted to her.

And while you're there, don't forget Dave Cole's gingerbread haka or Courtney Hamilton's teenage smoking. See you on Saturday I hope.

Tuscan Tony's palace - isn't it lovely looking into other people's backyards and seeing what they're up to?