Autumnal

Marlowe brought a shrew into the house, tossed it up into the air and failed to catch it- so it ran behind Ailz's desk and is probably still there.

It's my theory the shrews creep up to the house under cover of the fallen leaves- and that's why- after a long hiatus- the cat has started catching them again- and so I fetched my yard brush with the bristles missing and my wheelbarrow with the rivet missing and swept the patio.

Still Worrying At The Same Old Bone

High culture- so called because it's past its sell by date- and stinks.

Yes, I'm back with The Dresser again- that brown Windsor soupy, well-made play- which seems to exist- at least in this production by Richard Eyre (I've never liked anything I've seen by Richard Eyre) to convince TV audiences they're not missing anything by not going to the theatre- because theatre is long-winded and wordy and static and lacking in surprises- and theatre actors (like Ian McKellen) give attention-seeking, broad-brush performances that would shame a soap-opera.

I would like it if TV put on more single plays- but let them either be written for the medium- like the classic work of Denis Potter, Jack Rosenthal and others- or else thoroughly adapted to it.

Ugly

Margaret Thatcher was an ugly person who wore ugly clothes. Only an uncritical admirer could think of her as a style icon. The Victoria and Albert Museum- which defines itself as a museum of design and the decorative arts- was quite right to turn down a collection of her old duds. It's not part of its remit to warehouse the wardrobes of the famous.

So why did the Thatcher family approach the V & A and apparently no-one else? Mrs T's Aquascutums are of genuine historical interest- and I'm sure there are plenty of charity shops museums which would be only to happy to house them. Did the family never think of approaching the museum in Grantham for instance- or was it not grand enough?

Diehard Thatcherites keep on trying to pressure the rest of us into accepting their heroine as a national icon- like Churchill or Nelson or Elizabeth I- and keep suffering rebuffs. I wish they'd go away. They're not doing my blood pressure any good.