November 26, 2011: Slobbery Unctuousness...

...there, that should have you scrambling for an online dictionary.

I was reading The Times newspaper the other day. This is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785. The Times was printed in broadsheet format for 219 years, until 2004 when it went to a more compact size partly in an attempt to appeal to younger readers and partly to appeal to commuters using public transport. Now every morning it comes direct to my ipad and, I must admit, I spend the first half hour of my day devouring as much of it as I can before the dogs start muttering 'pick me, pick me!'

Now and then I come across something that really grabs my attention...and this week it was the subheading "slobbery unctuousness." Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? For a split second, I thought someone had sent The Times one of my Chirstmas Mince pies but, no, it was about Japanese Wagyu beef (from cattle which are genetically predisposed to intense marbling and to producing a high percentage of oleaginous unsaturated fat). Big let down. The Times is generally seen as a serious publication with high standards of journalism...and here they are talking about slobbery unctuousness!

The British Business Survey named The Times as the UK's leading daily newspaper for business people. It's fascinating what British Business people like to read. The 'Court Circular' section is not a round up of the activities of the criminal element of society, but a record of what the 'Royals' have been up to every day! For example:

"Buckingham Palace: The Duke of Edinburgh, Colonel, Grenadier Guards, this morning visited the 1st Battalion at Lille Barracks, Aldershot, Hampshire. His Royal Highness, Trustee, The Prince Philip Trust Fund for the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, this evening attended a Trustees' Meeting and Dinner at Frogmore House, Windsor, Berkshire. ... The Princess Royal, accompanied by Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, this evening attended a Biennial Reunion Dinner of the Association of Royal Yachtsmen at HMS Collingwood, Newgate Lane, Fareham, Hampshire" and so on and so on.

Oh goodness, can you imagine a life packed full of visits, meetings, greetings, luncheons, dinners, pomp and ceremony? Yawn!

Off course, The Times is laden with the latest happenings at the Leveson Inquiry. If you are not 'up' on this, the Leveson Inquiry is a two-part inquiry investigating the role of the press and the police in the phone hacking scandal. The first part of the inquiry, in progress, is examining the culture, practices and ethics of the media. Hmmm...ethics and media in the same sentence! Slobbery unctuousness indeed!

And what's this got to do with sheepdogs?

Nothing! It's been a slow week for news. :-)

...except...huge congrats to Jorge Luiz and Kinloch Cian for their 3rd placing in the Open Cattle Competition at the Brazilian National Championship. Well done, boys!