A Day of change & a damned culture

It feels like a day of change today. This morning we welcomed two new members to our support group. Both are unique and bring their own problems and experiences. I am reminded of just how diverse society is.  It is very easy to get used to people, those you see regularly and interact with. New people bring fresh insight and dynamics, and it is interesting to see the new connections being made between the new and old members of the group. Change can be good, but it can feel odd.

Weather today has been pretty miserable. It's still very misty, but quite mild. My drive to Spalding this morning was peppered with countless mindless idiots who don't understand when they should use the bright shiny lights on the front of their cars. Another (blue Vauxhall Cavalier driver) even thought it would be great to overtake anything in front of him, at speed and without indication. In a changing world, one thing seems to remain constant - the driving skills and behaviour of South Holland road users. Rant over.

I see that Ceefax will be switched off tonight at 11.30pm when Northern Ireland's remaining analogue TV signal is powered down for good. It's amazing to read that Ceefax has been around for 38 years and how at its peak in the 1990's, 20 million viewers regularly used the service, relying on it for their news headlines, weather forecasts and and sports results - all in a simple though blocky format.

The Jimmy Savile scandal is still very much in the news and continues to dominate the headlines. George Entwistle appeared before MP's earlier today to explain why the Newsnight report into the original allegations had been dropped. I like many do find his explanation a little difficult to understand and I question why he was not in the least bit curious as to why the report had been cancelled. I find it very hard to believe that a person in his position would not want to know why, or enquire at the very least into what the report was about.
I do feel that although obviously the person at the centre of the allegations and investigations is Jimmy Savile, what we are also investigating and to some extent blaming, is an entire era and its culture. It seems to me that it is not just the actions of an individual, but a culture that allowed for such actions to take place and go unreported for so long. I cannot believe that no one else knew. One only has to watch an edition of 'Top of the Pops' from the 1970's to see young girls literally falling all over the presenters. Other programmes of the era record over-familiarity between presenters and audience members. There is a stark physical element to many - arms around shoulders and waists, embraces and touching - that today simply would not happen. It would be judged as assault, pure and simple. The culture then was totally different to the culture of today, and it is the culture then that played an important part in allowing the abuse to take place. We judge that period by the standards of today. Yes it was wrong, very wrong but the culture and the society of the 1970's allowed it and expected to see it - a few hours of TV from the period is evidence enough.

My Moodscope rating is 33% today, pretty good.

Non-event Monday

It's one of those Monday's when I just can't get motivated. I'm active - I've done the washing-up, cooked breakfast and vacuum cleaned all over. I feel as if I should be doing things and I'm sure there are things waiting to be done, but I just can't get started.
My wife is at home for another week recovering from what is probably a kidney infection. She's on a cocktail of pain killers which are making her very tired. It's a bot odd having her about at the moment, and I must remember not to burst into song, forgetting she is in the other room.
Weather is horrible. It is grey, misty and damp - typical 'leading up to Winter' weather.
I could be doing some work on our group funding bid. I have about a third of the application form to complete, but I really don't feel in the mood. I have to be in the right frame of mind to do things, as I've mentioned before.
I do need to reply to a Psychology student who wishes to gain some experience by joining our support group as a volunteer. I will ask her to come along Tuesday 30th. Perhaps she could do a little talk about her studies  and what has made her interested in mental health.
Yesterday wasn't too bad. If I go down, it's normally on a Sunday. I managed to busy myself fixing a friend's WIFI. She lives in Spalding so it wasn't too far to go. It didn't take me long to get things up and running for her and we sat and talked for a while, which was nice.
In the news, the Jimmy Savile 'scandal' seems to have felled its first TV executive. Peter Rippon has stepped aside whilst the BBC investigation continues. Peter is editor of Newsnight and was responsible for dropping the Jimmy Savile story when its own investigation revealed allegations into his conduct. I doubt very much if Peter will be the last and more revelations are expected following a special Panorama programme tonight on BBC1.
My Moodscope rating is 26% today, not bad at all and a true reflection I think.