THINGS THAT MATTER ?

Aficionados of these pages will know that the BBC is not one of my favourite organizations.   Reasons include the compulsion of the licence fee (I really have a problem with any form of compulsion, probably going back to my National Service call-up;) the seemingly unbridled profligacy with the money we`re obliged to cough up;  and the fact that a lot of the stuff it churns out is rubbish, pandering to the lowest common denominator in a retarded mass market and the ungainful employment of aberations such as Jeremy Clarkson, Chris Moyles, Graham Norton and that dreadful woman who does the breakfast news with Bill Turnbull.   I could go on but you get my drift.

But now and again, the BBC does something that makes the licence fee seem good value for money.   Their Olympics coverage was quite simply wonderful;   BBC 4 is probably my favourite channel - always `different,` always a little quirky and most times more than a little challenging.   Similarly BBC2 comes up with the occasional pearl, as it did last evening with another in its engaging `Horizon` series.

Last night`s edition posed the question, `How big is the Universe?` and it took us through the latest developments in the daunting but fascinating task of measuring and mapping the Universe.   No easy task when you consider the size of the thing and the fact that it`s getting bigger all the time and expanding more rapidly, rather than more slowly which was the conventional theory.   The conclusion seemed to point to the likelihood that we live in a flat, infinite Universe among an infinite number of Universes.  

My mind, not for the first time, was truly boggled once again at our fleeting existence in the enormity of space and time.   So I`ve decided to stop worrying whether the Saints survive in the Premier League and I suggest that all Saints fans should check out  http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01mgllj/Horizon_20122013_How_Big_is_the_Universe/.   

I might even stop grumbling about the compulsory licence fee.   No promises though.