I’m back, with pictures

I’ve been away on holiday for a few days. I forgot to mention it here, but I tend to stop writing here when I’m away. That’s why there have been no entries for a while. I’m back at work now however, which means I’ll be writing again.

So lets update on what’s been happening. Last week we went camping in Cornwall. I know, foul weather for camping, but actually we were incredibly lucky. It peed down with rain on Tuesday lunchtime as we drove down there. But by 3pm it was clear again and we pitched our tent. It din’t rain again until we left, exept for a short shower on Wednesday evening. We borrowed the tent from my brother and it was surprisingly good. Also, I had no idea that campsites were so comfortable these days. There was a swimming pool and a bar, coffee shop. There was even a crazy golf course, which the boy loved.

We were just two miles from the Eden Project, so we spent a day there which was really good. There is a lot to see. Definitely worth a visit, especially if you have children. I didn’t really know what to expect. The rainforest dome is very impressive.

We drove back from Cornwall across Bodmin Moor and stopped at Jamaica Inn. Yes, the Jamaica Inn. I found it slightly disappointing. There was a gift shop and a museum. It didn’t seem to be in the spirit of the place. I was hoping for odd blokes in funny hats doing dodgy deals in dark corners. We had lunch there and the boy was impressed with all the pirate and smuggler memorabilia. I’m not sure he really beleaved it was a smuggling den. I’m going to read the novel. I’m pretty sure I’ve read it before, but I’m going to go to the library on the way home if I have time.

Of course there has been one big nudity story dominating the news since I’ve been away. Prince Harry seems to have been waving the crown jewels around on holiday in Vegas. Usually I would outline the story at this point and then give you my opinion, but today I’m simply going to give you my opinion since everyone knows this story anyway. So here’s my view. He’s 27, nice looking, rich, third in line to the throne, single, and apparently heterosexual. That makes him the most eligible bachelor in christendom as far as I can see. He appears to have gone out for an evening in Vegas and wound up naked in a hotel room with some fit looking ladies. Honestly, I think more questions would need answering if he hadn’t scored under those conditions.

We’re told that the pictures were taken with a camera phone during a game of “strip billiards”. My first reaction when I read that was, “why the hell didn’t I think of strip billiards when I was in my twenties”. I also note that a facebook group entitled, “Support Prince Harry with a naked salute!’ has formed and attracted 12,000 members, quite a number of whom have submitted pictures. Read about it here.

I’m going to do one more serious story and then call it a day or this entry will go on for ages. A study from New Zealand has suggested that smoking pot as a teenager is likely to affect IQ levels later in life. There has long been fairly strong evidence to suggest that cannabis use increases the risk of mental illness in adults, but this new study is the most extensive yet. It started in 1972 with 1,000 subjects, all children before they had tried cannabis. All subjects were tested 25 years ago and then again as adults. Those who had used cannabis were compared with those who hadn’t. It would appear that those who started using cannabis as teenagers lost on average eight IQ points. It also appears that those who started smoking cannabis in their twenties were able to reverse the effects simply by giving it up, whereas those who began smoking as teenagers could not.