Jerry Posted August 26, 2009 Report Share Posted August 26, 2009 Tonight I watched a delicious, light, sophisticated, romantic comedy in Technicolor featuring the gorgeous Merle Oberon and the uber actor Lawrence Olivier. But that is not why I'm posting. I'm posting to say that although London fog is legendary I had no idea it could bring traffic to a standstill and people could be forced to stay the night in a hotel unable to get to their homes. Really? That thick? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Sid Posted August 26, 2009 Report Share Posted August 26, 2009 at one time jerry it could get that bad. not so these days. we used to get some really heavy fogs when i was a nipper, so bad that you would wonder if it was day or night it being so dark that you could not tell the difference. it was due to all the coal fires and factories in the area and the fact warrington is in a bit of a dip in the landscape and close to the river and so the fog used to build up and linger sometimes for two or three days. london was in a similar situation and got the famous fogs. they were quite eerie as the fog tended to swallow up nay noise and so you had dark dreary days with little noise. they were very disorientating as well. you could get ten feet away from a building and then be totally lost in your own street. great fun for us kids though, enabled no end of mischief just realised when i read this that i am beginning to sound like a typical old fogie. " we ad proper fogs when i were a lad, not this sissy white stuff you get theses days" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted August 26, 2009 Report Share Posted August 26, 2009 They used to call London, "the smoke"; due to the amount of smoke issueing from coal fired chimneys; in the North this was added to by factories. it was called "smog" If you covered your mouth with a handkerchief, the black particles would gather on it like a slime; it's a mystery that we all didn't die of lung cancer. Ah, the good old days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Posted August 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 Back in the 1950s when I came to Los Angeles to stay there were smudge pots in orange groves whenever there was a fear of frost that put black particulate into the air and on all living things. We had air you could taste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Posted August 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 HA HA! The mail yesterday brought me a permanent DVD copy of Divorce of Lady X. Now I can enjoy watching Merle Oberon at age 27 for the rest of my life. According to Wikipedia she was Welsh-Indian, born in Bombay. She had to hide her half caste origins and her mother had to pretend to be her maid. How odd. Reminds me of another Welsh-Indian actress: Anna Kashfi. Anna's parents swear there is no Indian blood in their family, but, well, just look at her. My biology teacher once said, "it's a wise person who knows their own father." Why Welsh? In both instances the parental line seemed full of Irish surnames. I know Welsh Brits aren't darker complected: Richard Burton, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Jones, well Jones does seem to have kinky hair and when he was first popular none of my friends could believe he was a white man. Hm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 You forgot Shirley Bassie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Posted August 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 Shirley is Welsh? What were the odds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 Think there's been a long standing Afro-Carribean colony around Cardiff - which possibly explains Tom Jones's crinkly hair! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Sid Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 rolf harris family were welsh and look at his hair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted September 1, 2009 Report Share Posted September 1, 2009 errm,hah, errm, hah - thunder rise etc! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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