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Post by tod2 on Apr 13, 2021 8:03:25 GMT
I have a long-stay guest that is a Muslim. Well by birth but maybe not so much a practising muslim, or maybe just a more relaxed one. There are one or two bottles of whisky and brandy on his kitchen shelf. Oh, must be for cooking purposes. You know. That flambe`d Chicken Tikka Masala.....
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 13, 2021 8:50:03 GMT
It is for killing virus.
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Post by onlyMark on Apr 13, 2021 10:44:52 GMT
More opportunities for covid clusters as certain people ignore rules that were not made by the Prophet. At least some prominent Imam in the UK has declared that getting a vaccine isn't against the principles of Ramadan. Somewhere a few streets away from us they will set off a cannon every night to indicate when eating can begin (Iftar).
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Post by casimira on Apr 13, 2021 13:16:43 GMT
WOW!! A canon? Wouldn't bells or a siren of some kind be more gentle to announce the alert?
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Post by Kimby on Apr 13, 2021 13:21:43 GMT
During Ramadan you aren’t drinking, eating or smoking, so there’s no reason to be maskless during daylight hours...
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Post by tod2 on Apr 13, 2021 15:52:35 GMT
Kerouac - Ramadaan has not started in South Africa yet. The reason being that after no sighting of the moon on Monday night, Ramadaan will commence on Wednesday in South Africa. I can only add that for me I think this is a fallible system but hey! Who knows better than the Muslims who rule.....the rest follow suit.
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Post by onlyMark on Apr 13, 2021 17:32:42 GMT
Casi, a siren would cause panic and no mosque has bells. I'm quite happy with a cannon. Makes a nice change and it is a tradition started about a hundred years ago but put on hold during Communist times. Re-started in 1997. In fact, just as I write this, it has gone off. What it looked like previously -
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 13, 2021 17:51:04 GMT
Professional photographers with their perfect photos make me want to throw away my camera.
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Post by questa on Apr 13, 2021 23:18:25 GMT
I was in Jogjakarta for the start of Ramadan one year. There they let off fireworks to mark the start and a few bangs each evening to celebrate. It was a time when the super-religious were gaining power and a few bombs had been planted just to "Remind" the faithful of their commitments. I lived near a park which had a men's toilet block in it. The cleaner went in to mop it one evening and saw a package that 'looked like a bomb' he said. He poked and prodded at it but couldn't get a clear view so he went outside and found a longer stick. He took shelter behind the open door and tried to reach around the door to poke again. KA-BOOM. He lived but lost his 'poking arm'
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Post by huckle on Apr 14, 2021 0:41:45 GMT
Yes, confirmed today, the flash of light that sailed over my building last night on its way to the coast was a meteor.
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Post by tod2 on Apr 14, 2021 6:36:14 GMT
Great photo Mark - I can almost hear the boom!
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Post by onlyMark on Apr 14, 2021 7:06:25 GMT
Didn't mention just in case, it's not my photo. Just one from the interwebnetthingy.
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Post by tod2 on Apr 14, 2021 8:45:55 GMT
I guessed that after Kerouac made a remark about throwing his camera away. He mustn't do that as his photos are as good as this one!
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Post by tod2 on Apr 17, 2021 15:05:38 GMT
Like many of you I suppose, I watched the televised funeral of The Duke of Edinburgh. My admiration for the organization was immense - Everything seemed perfect beyond words but my heart ached for William & Harry. I thought of my darling Diana and how sad she would feel seeing her boys walking apart. I do realize it is Covid times but the spaces between the Royal Family members was far far too much. Mr.Tod and I both felt the Queen should have had Charles, Anne , and other sons sitting close by. I shed many tears just watching this sad occasion. Probably not so much for The Duke but for those he has left behind and are in turmoil. One thing we thought about was when Queen Elizabeth passes - will that funeral will be as low-key, or will Britain stand up and mourn her as one huge nation. RIP Prince Philip. You were an amazing man.
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 17, 2021 15:36:04 GMT
Since I did not grow up wrapped in royal adoration, obviously I was quite indifferent regarding the ceremony. Actually, I found the arrival of the people attending interesting and appreciated the fact that those guys (no women?) in the bearskin hats had not been sorted out by size, since there were major disparities in stature. I lost interest the instant the minute of silence began and watched something else instead. I expect that any real moment of emotion will be shown on the evening news. Not sure whether it will affect me or not.
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Post by onlyMark on Apr 17, 2021 17:20:01 GMT
Since I did not grow up wrapped in royal adoration.... Quite right. Us Brits who invariably have been have found it a great comfort for her to watch over us can only watch the ceremony in awe and with unadulterated thankfulness that we were raised within the warm embrace of a Monarchy.
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Post by Biddy on Apr 17, 2021 18:09:51 GMT
I too watched most of Prince Philip's funeral services this morning. Nobody does pageantry like the Brits.
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 17, 2021 18:17:38 GMT
I saw there was a woman among the 4 GSTQ singers. Was any other woman part of the ceremonies?
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Post by bjd on Apr 17, 2021 18:21:47 GMT
I didn't watch any of it but on the (France24) news just now they had a short report about it. I did feel a bit sorry for the Queen who looked really old and doddery as she walked into the chapel on her own.
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Post by mickthecactus on Apr 17, 2021 19:13:11 GMT
I saw there was a woman among the 4 GSTQ singers. Was any other woman part of the ceremonies? Yes, I think there were a couple of lady trumpeters.
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Post by Biddy on Apr 17, 2021 19:19:33 GMT
I too noticed a couple of ladies in the military bands. Also a couple of soldiers of colour - as they would be described un the US.
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 17, 2021 20:32:13 GMT
Ah, okay, I didn't watch enough to check out any of the musical groups.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Apr 17, 2021 20:49:10 GMT
As most people know I'm not a royalist. I watched the funeral. Eveybody around here watched it. I went out into the garden at one stage and everywhere was silent...just the birds singing, no traffic noise despite there being several busy roads around here.
Wills and Harry seemed fine, the arrangement either side of their cousin was a thoughtful thing organised by the queen herself. She is the one who decided on Morning suts rather than uniforms to spare Harry...as he has resigned his position and is no longer entitled to wear a uniform (so he would have been the only one not wearing one following the coffin). There was supposedly a kerfuffle bcause Andrew was insisting that he wore his uniform of Admiral of the Royal Navy...(now THAT would have upset her subjects as he is very unpopular) so the Queen's diplmatic decision to insist on morning suits really was for the best
I haven't watched the Oprah interview and have no interest in seing it..just watched the funeral because...well pageantry...it's difficult to resist.
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Post by Biddy on Apr 18, 2021 0:40:15 GMT
Cheery - I hear you it's the end of an era. I was just reading that flags in the Irish Republic are flying at half mast too.
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Post by questa on Apr 18, 2021 3:30:32 GMT
The older I get, the more I appreciate the monarchy...for UK, not as ruler of Australia but as the Rock on which the waves of history have crashed but has not crumbled. How can a very small island, surrounded by rough seas and enemies, survive all the hostilities and troubles and rise above them. The Monarch has no power other than "to advise" her Parliament, yet her presence sets an example, reinforces what should be done and gives courage to her people.
Out in the colonies we grew up singing God Save the King / Queen and had faded prints of the Royal Person in every classroom. Every picture theatre and football match played the National Anthem and Scouts and Guides promised to "honour" It was not a case of their monarch having a 'warm embrace,' but of simply "being there". Naturally all these relics have gone now.
I missed the coverage of the funeral and chose to not watch the flapping gums of the Windsor's and Oprah. The pageantry, as usual, was magnificent and you just know a British Monarch could never cross town in a bus and not be recognised. (post on another thread)
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Post by casimira on Apr 18, 2021 13:02:27 GMT
The photo of the Queen sitting alone in the church was heartbreaking.
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Post by whatagain on Apr 18, 2021 13:20:16 GMT
I didn't watch. The older i get ghe kess i watch tv. If i want info, i look for it in internet,but absorbing info at such a slow pace as tv makes me feel.i lose my time. I prefer to read.
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 18, 2021 13:26:58 GMT
Nobody forced the Queen to sit there all alone. She chose to do it herself, because really, wouldn't you if you had the family she has?
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Post by patricklondon on Apr 18, 2021 14:07:23 GMT
Nobody forced the Queen to sit there all alone. She chose to do it herself, because really, wouldn't you if you had the family she has? The social distancing rules required it.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 18, 2021 14:22:57 GMT
Thank you, Patrick -- of course that is correct and the royal family quite correctly followed the same protocol as the rest of the country.
And really, each and every person is alone with his/her grief. No one in that church has even been alive as long as the queen, much less with her for seventy-three years, so her grief was very specifically her own. Perhaps having one of her children next to her to hold her hand would have been a comfort, but perhaps sitting alone made it easier to maintain composure.
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