YesBut was she there? - Part 1

For 26th June 2007 YesBut’s Image Doug suggested the caption –

”What a nice view...wait, isn't that the bridge that Uncle Bill jumped off last year?”

The photo suggested the following story to me: -

“People are so stupid they stand in your way, they leave there luggage in the middle of walkways“.

He cursed all those around him as he rushed, barged his way through to the train.

“What time, what platform?”
He saw a monitor with arrival and departure data, 11.50 platform 5.

“Shit I thought it was 11.55, I’m not going to make it. Platform 5, that way”.
More barging past crowds.

”Stupid foreigners get out of my way”.
He bounded up the stairs to the platform, station staff were slamming the train doors shut.

“Stop wait“ he exhaled.

He dived through the closing door, landing in a heap. He laughed, “close call”. He picked himself up off the floor and unhitched his rucksack off his back.

Having regained his breath he strolled into the carriage and stored his bag on the rack. The train was making its way through the suburbs passed office blocks and car parks. He loved travelling, but this was the penultimate leg on his homeward journey. A few hours stopover at the next city, then out to the airport for the flight to London. Now the train was passing small workshops and garages, soon it would be houses and back gardens before reaching the countryside. He sank back into his seat and made himself comfortable.

It took him some time to see her. He had been looking out of the opposite window and didn’t at first notice her. She sat unmoving in the shadow. As he became more accustomed to the light her features became more discernable. He was embarrassed when he realised he had been staring. But she didn’t move, just stared into space. He was fascinated, there was something ethereal intangible about her. She sat there transfixed waiting for her to acknowledge his presence. But she did not move.

He was brought back to the present moment by the other passengers preparing themselves for the arrival at the terminus.

(To be continued tomorrow - Bookmark this page)

Memorial day - 13

Walking up Northumberland Avenue from the Victoria Embankment London, instead of continuing to Trafalgar Square turn left into Whitehall Place, towards the Old War Office. At the junction with Whitehall Court there is a shady group of trees, on sunny days you do not see, until you are nearly upon them, a group of figures in the deep shadow. The five figures are turned away looking towards Whitehall as if expecting to see something or someone coming towards them. Their body language clearly says they are friends and comrades, they are the members of a tank crew.

Click the “view show” tab if the slideshow doesn’t open automatically

The Royal Tank Regiment Memorial statue was originally designed by G.H. Paulin and reworked in bronze by Vivien Mallock. It was unveiled by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 13 June 2000. It commemorates all ranks of the Machine Gun Corps, Tank Corps and Royal Tank Regiment. The figures look towards Whitehall and the building in which the first tank was designed. The trees were brought from Canada to signify the country’s relationship with the regiment.


Though the figures are 1.2 life size, set at ground level the statue is one of the most realistic, “friendly” and “at ease with its surroundings” statues in London.

Two bronze plaques are set in the pavement before the statue. One reads:

In tribute to the Crewmen who have served in the Heavy Section and Heavy Branch Machine Gun Corps the Tank Corps Royal Tank Corps and Royal Tank Regiment since tanks were first in combat at Flers on 15th September 1916.

The other:

Royal Tank Regiment Memorial Statue.

This memorial statue depicts the crew of a World War 2 Comet Tank which was issued to the Royal Tank Regiment in 1945. The Comet had a crew of five: Commander, Gunner, Loader, Hull Machine Gunner. Driver. It was equipped with a 77mm high velocity gun and powered by a 600 horse power Rolls Royce engine. The Comet proved to be highly effective against enemy tanks of the day.

At the other end of Whitehall Court stands the memorial to the Gurkha Soldier the subject of 27th June 2007 blog.

Click here to see YesBut’s Image of the day, and leave your suggested caption.

YesBut is sex overrated

There has been a debate in the UK on whether it is morally correct to run an immunisation program to inoculate 12 year old girls against cervical cancer. Opponents say it would encourage promiscuity. The medical profession point out the vaccination is only affective if given before girls become sexually active. The results of recent surveys in the UK showed 50% of 16 year old girls were sexually active and 10% of 14 year old; hence the need to inoculate girls as young as12 year olds.

What is the cause of change in moral attitudes that has occurred in the last sixty years? Even as late as 1960, young women would “reserve themselves for the wedding night”; and men would expect to marry a virgin. Undoubtedly the contraceptive pill, with the resultant decrease in risk of pregnancy, had a major impact. But that cannot be the sole reason.

In the last twenty years there has been a fundamental change in attitude, not only towards the loss of virginity, but also with respect to having children out of marriage - no longer is illegitimacy a stigma.

In magazines and on television, sex is projected as “the ultimate source of pleasure”. People have forgotten that the anticipation is far better than the realization. A moral barrier no longer exists. Mothers no longer counsel their daughters “not to have sex“, but rather “to take precautions”.

But has the breaking down of barriers been a positive influence in society? Certainly in the UK, the number of unmarried teenage mothers has skyrocketed. Unfortunately, despite the efforts of the mothers, their children will be born into a socially and economically disadvantaged household - there the vast majority will remain for the rest of their lives.

The pendulum has swung fully from advocating complete abstinence to not only indulging in sex being the norm to advancing the message “if you haven’t had sex by the time you are 16 you are frigid and a weirdo”. While it would be unrealistic to re-establish the former norm, there needs to be a re-alignment, where young people do not feel pressured to having sex. Rather they make love to the person they really want to make love to at the time they really want to, without feeling any compulsion.

Winner of the YesBut's Image - Caption of the Week Award

Another week of captions.



There was no need to draw up a short list this week.

The winners this week’s Caption of the Week Award jumped out of the screen. They were posted for Thursday’s image (which when I posted I thought no one will ever think up a caption for – wrong again!)


Click here to see the winner of YesBut's Image Caption of the Week Award for the week 25th to 31st August.

YesBut how many words?

How many words can you make from the letters in the word PARENT? Words must be at least three letters long.

31 words - good
47 words - great
62 words or more - excellent.

Then make a meaningful sentence using as many of the words.

If you want another puzzle, then click here to go to YesBut’s Image and select the caption of the week - leave your nomination as a comment

Sudoku 2

If bloggers have problems finding things to write about so do newspapers.

The main purpose of the newspaper isn’t to report news but to sell advertising space! To do that they need to publish a paper with a given number of pages. One easy way of filling the gaps between the adverts is to have a puzzle page: Sudoku, crossword, chess puzzle, etc.

Yesterday I suggest Friday should be made a fun day.

Why stop there?

Why not join in the fun and post a caption on YesBut’s Images, or give your brain cells a workout with a Sudoku puzzle.

Better still, do both, first post a caption, then return to do the Sudoku puzzle.

Leave a comment and let me know how long it takes you to finish the puzzle.

Have a fun day.

Let’s make Friday a fun day.

There’s the Monday morning blues - back to work after the weekend.

But why not make the weekend arrive a day early, by making Friday a fun day. Steps to be taken:

Tell your: husband, wife, partner, lover (whichever is appropriate), how much you love them. Give them a cuddle. The same with your children, yes even those obnoxious teenagers, also give them a hug and show how much you care.

If you haven’t seen a friend for sometime, give them a phone call or send an email.

Show some consideration to your work colleagues, even the “grumpy old fart” - it could be me. Fetch them a coffee, avoid for one day having disagreements. - you might be surprised by the reaction.

Share in the fun of posting a caption on YesBut’s Images blog. Also encourage others to participate, even if they do not want to post their own captions, they can have a good laugh at those posted by others.

Click here to go to YesBut’s Images