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Tez

OCD-UK Member
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  1. Thank you very much Wil! I love Dhal!! ?
  2. I would not like to make any definitive judgements on the NHS. I was brought up to believe in it as an institution, and I have always paid my way into it. I have never worked in it directly, but I have many friends who do, and report that there is underfunding, a certain bureaucracy that it is always afflicting large structures. And a government which really would like to see it go - that is not a party political statement really: there are many Conservative Party people I know who treasure the NHS, but the free market ideologues in Parliament are of a different cut and do not understand what it is like not to have private health insurance. The "clap for the NHS" thing divided opinion: some workers I know felt that it was abhorrent to see NHS staff suddenly lauded by newspapers like the "Sun" and the "Daily Mail", who viciously attack the nurses and junior doctors whenever they strike for terms and conditions or better pay. I personally think that health care should take a more holistic approach. But I am also not a total hippie, and think that complimentary initiatives need to run alongside modern medicine. Actually, there is one judgement I would offer: we need to have - as others have suggested, a clearer and better service in mental health. When people are made to wait years for psychiatric appointments, and are then offered a therapist who dismisses them as "treatment resistant", that is when even I get angry! I thank the stars that we have OCDUK and similar charities that can help advocate on patients behalf!
  3. Hi Guys The Guardian is, I often find, "our paper", in terms of sympathetic and adult coverage of mental health issues. Even in its bear pit like message boards, which can be vicious in terms of political debate, are usually respectful of issues of mental ill health and struggle. Rugby Player Henry Slade speaks with the paper today (July 14th) about his struggle with OCD. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/jul/14/henry-slade-diabetes-exeter-chiefs-england-rugby The OCD bit is not a huge part of the article, but interesting nevertheless. I am however, personally slightly cautious about the remarks that he spoke to a plain speaking psychologist. Sounds like some of the mental health professionals that I have come across over the years - they think they can give you a stern talking to and presto! you're either cured or one of those recalcitrant, lazy treatment resistant types. Far too many professionals behave like that, blaming the patient. But that's maybe my gripe with western medicine generally. Best wishes Tez
  4. The word for silver and money is the same in 14 languages. Yes St Mike, the Welsh word "silver" and "cash" is arian. In Cornish - which of course, is related to Welsh, and not nearly so well spoken - the word for "silver" and "cash" is arghans. Tez ?
  5. Ear wax. The blood facts got me thinking about ear wax..... apparently, people of European or African ancestry tend to have yukky, gooey ear wax. East Asian people tend to have dry. flaky ear wax. Apparently, genetic researchers have studied the ear wax type distribution to determine how anatomically modern humans moved out of their ancestral homelands in East Africa and populated the rest of the world. Music facts: The first record played on BBC Radio One (when the Beeb introduced their own pop music station, in 1967) was "Flowers in the Rain" by the Move. The Move was led by Roy Wood who is most famous for "I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday" by his subsequent band, Wizzard. A great record, but it is trotted out every year. The final record played on Radio Luxembourg, the great pan continental station that was for my parents in the forties and fifties the only pop music outlet in English, on 31st December 1992, was "Maybe the Morning" by Marion Montgomery. A version by Sunny (from the Brotherhood of Man) had been used to close the station every night during the seventies and eighties. We are used to pop music videos being everywhere now - MTV has been on the air for forty years. The last UK number one single for which no official music video was ever made was "Move Closer" by Phyllis Nelson (1985).
  6. Cleopatra (51 BC - 30 BC) lived closer to today than when the Great Pyramid of Giza was built (2580 BC ~ 2560 BC) Speaking of the pyramids, wooly mammoths were still around (though not in Egypt) when the pyramids were built, they didn't go extinct until as late as 1650 B.C. I think it's amazing to reflect on the fact that by the time the Romans annexed Egypt, the civilization was already ancient. I had read that Woolly Mammoths survived on one of the arctic islands off the coast of Siberia until well into the Bronze Age. My fact: The first advertisement on ITV when it started in 1955 was for "SR Toothpaste".
  7. Hey Guys Bristol's two league clubs - City and Rovers, are around 5 miles apart across the city. Bristol City are actually based right at the old exit to the city on the road to Weston-Super-Mare. Rovers are - after decades of uncertainty - located in the North Bristol suburbs. The teams divide the city down the middle - Northerners prefer Rovers, the South is City Country. I have never particularly cared for either! There is a third club, Bristol Manor Farm which plays in the Western League and is based in North West Bristol.
  8. Hey Peeps Thought you might like this as a bit of a diversion... well, we all like a good mystery. Three hours of programmes about the enigma of Unidentified Lights in the Sky, on the channel Blaze (Freeview 63, also on other platforms like cable and satellite). Kicking off at 9pm this evening. Personally, I am something of a skeptic - the Universe contains hundreds of billions of galaxies, each with hundreds of billions of stars - so it would seem a terrible waste if life had only started once and only evolved to intelligence (okay, that bit is debatable about the human race) once. But the vastness of distance and time seems to me to make it unlikely that anyone would be visiting Earth. Nevertheless, there are people who have had some bizarre experiences and do not make any money from them. Intriguing. Tez
  9. A guilty pleasure of mine is the Seth MacFarlane series of shows - "Family Guy", "American Dad" and "The Cleveland Show" which show in the UK on ITV-2 late at night often back to back. They are very satirical and some would say near the edge humour, but they do cheer me up and relax me. For gentler entertainment, "The Simpsons" on a Sunday afternoon on Channel 4. Amanda - I am also a "Blackadder" fan, my favourite season being the Regency England one. "Doctor Who" of course, and science fiction generally. And history, especially Ancient History. Takes me out of myself. Tez
  10. Hello All I hope everyone is doing well and avoiding the torrential rain we have had recently!! (Certainly here in the West Country!- ITV News showed some localised flooding in Gloucestershire last night ). Anyway, to cheer us all up, I have come up with an idea. Does anyone have any nice, uplifting celebrity encounters? Have you met someone famous who was really nice or considerate? I will kick off - someone I once new who worked at Harrods said that the nicest person he had met was Penelope Keith. In 2011, I went to the Little Theatre in Bath to see the eighteenth century play "She Stoops to Conquer", starring Colin Baker. He was the Sixth Incarnation of "Doctor Who" between 1984 and 1987. http://www.colinbakeronline.com/. He was a gentleman who met about five of us Doctor Who fans at the theatre door. I explained that my elderly mother is a lifelong science fiction fan and has watched "Doctor Who" since the very first episode in 1963. Mr Baker was very kind and signed a personalised autograph for her, which still has pride of place on her bedroom wall! My friend Martin presents a programme for our local community access radio station on "Nostalgia" and vintage film / TV. He said that Janet Ellis was lovely to meet (for young people - she is Sophie Ellis Bextor's mum and presented Blue Peter in the eighties). And finally, a friend called Dom writes to a lot of celebrities. I asked him who the most kind was, and he said Don Henderson, an actor who appeared in the famous "War Council" scene in Star Wars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Henderson . He wrote a lengthy letter, photocopied scripts and photos and sent Dom a Christmas Card every year until he passed on in 1997. What are your celebrities guys? Tez ?
  11. Hi Guys I am taking part in a community radio broadcast in my home city on Saturday afternoons. We're doing a recipe slot, and have chosen to do a different vegan recipe each week to reflect the fact that here in Bristol, we are (supposedly!) now ahead of San Francisco and Vancouver as the vegan capital of the world. I have made a few of my favourite dishes fully vegan and read them out. I am looking for ideas for this weekend. Savoury or sweet - does anyone have a vegan recipe that they can share with me? if so, I will give them and OCD Forums full credit over the air on Saturday's programme!! Tez ?
  12. Thanks mate. Yes, it's good when the media get it right. The "alternative press" tends to do it a bit better - tabloids are the ones you gotta watch. Funnily enough, the "Bristol Cable" has launched a series of articles on mental health provision. They are quite hard hitting about the NHS use of private facilities. I understand what they are trying to do - there *should* be good NHS provision for all people with mental health issues with decent in and out patient facilities. But personally, I thought that their criticisms of the Priory Group were unfair. I turned to the Priory when the NHS would not offer a good service (this is a long time ago) and found their staff and services to be extremely sensitive and kind. Take care and best wishes Tez ?
  13. Oh dear. It's not good when our heroes turn out to be rude. A friend of mine from community radio here in Bristol used to be involved in putting on "Doctor Who" related events, but found that one of the actors involved who'd she had looked up to was quite rude to her. (I shall not reveal the identity of the said person - only that they were a very important actor in the Who universe and passed on a long, long time ago). Other early crushes were Simon O'Brien who was Damon in "Brookside" when that started on Channel Four in 1982. Can't think of any more right now. Roy: We're all showing our age on here. I cannot remember a time when there were only two channels..... when I was very little, in the late seventies, there were just BBC-1, BBC-2 and ITV, unless you were lucky and had one of the very early cable services. In 1982, Channel Four came along - (Sianel Pedwar Cymru (S4C) in Wales to provide Welsh language programming). That was very exciting. I watched the whole first night, and then fifteen years later did the same thing when Channel Five started broadcasting.!! Back to celebrity crushes: my friend that met Freddie Mercury also did live out a crush - he slept with Marc Almond. A very, very long time ago. Tez ?
  14. Nick Heyward (Haircut 100, circa 1982). My friend Martin had dinner with Freddie Mercury in about 1981. He said he was a nice bloke, and not at all like the quite nasty articles some of the British tabloid papers ran about him after his passing in 1991. Paul Darrow as Kerr Avon in "Blakes 7" is a good one: he was apparently a very funny man, and if you listen to the radio, he did the continuity announcements for Jack-FM, and its sister networks. Tez
  15. Hello All I hope that everyone is well. I just picked this up at work and wanted to share with everyone. An article on living with OC spectrum disorders during the continuing health situation. This appeared today in the "Bristol Cable". The Cable is a left(ish) community newspaper operated by a workers' co-operative. It is owned by around 1300 Co-operative shareholders and is designed to hold the city to account. The paper is distributed locally free of charge through community centres, libraries, record and bookstores, vegan and health food shops and the like. It has quite a good reputation for dealing sympathetically and in some detail with mental health issues: https://thebristolcable.org/2020/06/living-with-ocd-during-a-global-health-crisis/ I hope you find the article of interest. Stay well. Tez
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