One of my favourite radio slots is Simon Mayo's book review on Radio 5 on Thursday afternoons. Earlier this year his reviewers raved about "Salmon Fishing in The Yemen", the debut novel by Paul Torday. I spotted it on Waterston's shelves as I was looking for books to take on holiday to Egypt next week and bought it as part of a 3 for 2. Unfortunately, it'll be finished before then, as I just had
If you were fortunate enough to be hanging around with Blodgett on a Thursday morning in the middling years of the last century, you would as likely as not have been witness to a display of rare skill. For it was Blodgett’s endearing habit in those days, on Thursday mornings, to bash out various national anthems, using his fists, and sometime sticks, on the base of an upturned biscuit tin. He would have eaten all the biscuits for his breakfast, of course. Blodgett had learned by heart the national anthem of almost every state and statelet on the planet, reduced ...
Trust the Guardian to take exception to the BBC and the Film Council's Summer Of British Film. It's just a shame that the article in prints on the subject is so weak. Step forward John Patterson. Here he is on Brief Encounter: foresee teenagers watching Brief Encounter and whispering confusedly among themselves, "What is wrong with these people?" and "Is he gonna make his move or what?"What is absurd here is the assumption that the reactions of today's teenagers constitute the highest court of critical appeal. You might have thought that one purpose of education is to show young people ...
Today a large number of Sham Castle Lane residents had a street tidy up day. Because of parked cars weeds are growing in the gutters.Sunday is the only day you can see one of the kerbs as the road is so well known to commuters. The wall along the bottom has not been trimmed by the Waterways Board for two years plus and some of the storm drains were full up with soil - so not exactly good for...
Dan Hardie has a new posting about his campaign for Iraqi interpreters who have worked for British forces to be granted asylum here. He is keen that people who supports him should write to their MPs: There are two reasons for this. We will need, first of all, to see which MPs are sympathetic to this cause. If Government policy has not changed by the time Parliament returns from the Summer recess, we will need to think about a face-to-face lobbying effort. Secondly, it is possible that MPs may be briefed by their front benches to send with stonewalling replies; ...
This week's Lib Dem Voice Top of the Blogs features one of my very own offerings, so I get to add this natty button to my blog: * Yes, I'm a person under the age of 40 using the word "natty"
I’ve managed to bag another DJ slot, this time at the Barfly, at their Tuesday night “Jump Around” night. I’ll be running the back room playing indie and britpop from the 90s, while Maxi cheeses it up in the main room. To celebrate I bought a new pair of Sennheisser’s from Richer Sounds in Birmingham on Sunday. Whom should I bump into on my way out? None other than Bearwood’s very own Second City Stu(mbler)! On the off-chance that anyone reading this fancies a free night out at the Barfly on Tuesday, leave a comment and I’ll stick you on ...
Wednesday: It was ALL OVER in an INSTANT! One moment it looked like just another London FUN RUN and then BLAT! Mr Lembit Icepick was out of the running for mayor. (Though not before Mayorwatch had responded with a TIMELY call to call OFF the Clowns!) We have LOADS of much better candidates anyway – Ms Lynne Featherweight, Queen of Bloggers; Ms Sarah Ludford, Baroness of the House of Lords Club; Ms Susan Kramer versus Kramer (though she would probably want to let someone else have a go). Even my BELOVED Sarah Teather could stand for mayor! Possibly on a ...
Part of me was dreading the week in Gran Canaria. The idea of a package holiday to the sun normally fills me with dread, but I’d promised Rob (no doubt after a pint or two) so off to the sun it was… but what a week it turned out to be! Lovely temperatures, lovely people and some great laughs - and of course, the benefits of staying on a tax-free island for a week! However on the last two days, someone turned the temperature dial up. Firstly, half the island went up in flames thanks to a rogue ranger facing ...
Having been widely perceived as besting his Conservative counterpart, Peter “who he?” Ainsworth, on the floods crisis; Chris Huhne is keeping up the momentum into the Foot and Mouth outbreak. Just listened to the eight o’clock news bulletin on BBC Radio Four, where again Huhne was the only environment spokesman, putting DEFRA under scrutiny and acting as a well-informed voice for the agricultural community. Huhne is increasingly proving a class act, but surely if Ainsworth fails to provide any effective probing of the Government over this, he must be for the chop.
We headed into the mountains above Penmaenmawr this morning with the intention of getting some panoramic shots across the North Wales coast, catch some shots of the wild ponies here and photograph the granite quarry. 100 percent success. We even got to the druid circle as well. Photos will be posted on the blog shortly.---Sent via BlackBerry
In September Harriman House will publish the 2007 Guide to Political Blogging in the UK. It will contain articles on blogging by some of Britain's leading bloggers, together with a directory of UK political blogs, and a series of Top
A prominent Republican lawyer is trying to put a ballot to the vote in California which would mean the presidential votes of California in 2008 would distributed by district rather than by state. This would practically destroy the Democrats’ chances of an easy victory, and give the Republicans approximately an extra 20 votes (the same [...]
Dear Paul Walter has kindly described me as a "diamond in the Lib Dem jewel box".......(before going on to have a pop!) so I just wanted to return the compliment to him and all my other fellow bloggers. Paul you are a star in the Lib Dem firmament - I love reading your blog, even if you are hanging me from the nearest lamp post! I wish I had the time/opportunity to be so prolific, but I will be on leave soon - and if I finally get online at home - be warned......I may defend myself somewhat - but ...
Watching a BNPTV interview with Nick Griffen, shows how bad the TV is doesn’t it, doesn’t help that I don’t have digital; the Muslims must have taken it. To be honest for a Oxbridge graduate he’s particularly uncharismatic and in coherent. He even fails to get me a dirty liberal worked up. I expected to be at least angry at the man for being vile, and full of hate. Perhaps the evil liberal propaganda is beginning to win him over and he’s going soft. I dunno to be honest regardless of his views this man doesn’t have the skill to ... 
SetMode = Victor.Meldrew RantSuppression = No Why oh why do so many London buses have heaters turned on during the summer??? Why do my feet get warmed by hot air when the whole bus is sweltering? Are bus-drivers so stupid they can't be trusted with an Off button? Answers on a postcard....
I heard that Stephen Tall has done some sort of list of his top Lib Dem 100. So I thought that I could at least mention my favourite. It's no great surprise that it comes from a Lib Dem constituency in Scotland. In this sort of contest, nothing from London is going to win. (Or Essex, come to that) In fact it's from Orkney, and as you can see in the picture it's pretty green with some white
Birmingham's 2007 entry for the National Britain in Bloom competition, the St Paul's and St Philip's floral trail in the city centre, will be inspected by the judges tomorrow (Monday 6 August). Highlights of the trail include the Wallace and Gromit display pictured above (which is on Great Charles Street). The floral trail has been created through the joint efforts of St Philip's
First of all there was Lewis Hamilton winning the Hungarian Grand Prix. What a boy he is! Then our visit to Newbury races featured a flawless string of "investments" courtesy of my daughter's unerring picking skills, culminating in backing Free Offer, who won the last thoroughbred race at 16-1! Add to those things the glorious weather and it really has been a wonderful day!
I have been warned by a pal to count to 1000 before writing this so..........1,2,3,4.........1000! If you are prepared to dish it you have to be prepared to take it (in my case in spadefuls!) So, I have read carefully the fall out from my mild criticisms of Ming this week - criticisms that others far more important than me had also made, off the record, it has to be said. I certainly didn't expect "Jackgate" - but hoped for more of a "Jackdoor" - an open door to enable us to deal with some of these concerns which lets ...
Apparently there a dark plans afoot to change Lib Dem policy to back out of our commitment to equalise the minimum wage for under 18s. Based on the idea that under 16s are worth less than other 18s. Having worked both minimum wages I can say that’s tripe, when I left work on day as a 17 year old and came back the next 18 year old adult that I was, my productivity did not improve. The idea that under 18s work is worth less is ridiculous, if it is justified on the matter of skills lets just take a ...
On more than one occasion I have found myself locked in a chamber with an oily git. It is not an experience for the faint-hearted, and I have certificates. And let me tell you something, I made damned sure I kept my certificates far away from the oily git, at the times I was locked up with him, because he would have smudged them, just as he smudges anything with which he comes into contact, he can’t help himself, it’s what he does, it’s the essence of him in many ways, he’s a smudger, a smudger good and proper, and ...
Millions in the US are now losing their homes and refusing to pay back unpayable mortgages, I have a feeling we may be heading down the same road in Britain with high debt, people taking out larger non fixed rate mortgages and the highest interest rates for 6 years. I don't think there's going to be a crash but we should be prepared for one and ignore people like this. Jim Cramer (the angry shouting man in the video) is an 'expert' on stocks and shares in America and has worked for quite a few large corporations. He's been saying ...
I am pleased to note that, following my request that the pavements in Menzieshill Road, Whitefauld Road and Hillside Terrace are included on the Unadopted Footways List for future adoption, I have been advised that they will be added at the next review.
I have been pretty lucky all my life. I've lived a pretty prosperous life in a world where war and nuclear destruction seem like distant far gone things. Seems our government is preparing for a different situaation. We're in a war on terror, I know that much and I was there in London on July 7th when the bombs went off, but how exactly does buying weapons of mass destruction and missile defense systems help us win that struggle, especially when their aimed at tackling, wait for it ...... Russia! Monbiot has the story Turns out that Gordon Brown hasn't ...
Lib Dem blog supremo Stephen Tall has been ranking his top 100 Lib Dem blogs... this one came 13th... not bad for a little blog in a small corner of South London. Regretfully I am not yet able to retire on the proceeds of this celebrity.
When Henry VIII made the pilgrimage to Walsingham (this was before his monastery-dissolving days) he walked the last mile in bare feet. You, however, can visit the village in more comfort, thanks to the Wells and Walsingham Light Railway. It is a 10¼" line, which is tiny even by narrow gauge standards, but it takes itself wonderfully seriously. It starts some way outside Wells Next-the-Sea but reaches almost to the centre of Walsingham, a distance of four miles. Walsingham itself suffers from a surfeit of religious trinketry, but it is a lovely spacious village with fine buildings, pubs and teashops. ...
August is when the Council is on recess, allowing Members to concentrate on ward work and have a week or two off to go on holiday. Unfortunately the coming week is probably my busiest yet in terms of Council work. On Tuesday I have an appraisal with my Group leader. And on Thursday I am going to a meeting on Butterstile Lane which I suspect may be the inaugural meeting of a homewatch scheme there
Tuesday: American retail giant, Walmart – still run by the ORIGINAL Waltons! – has announced a new range of collectible action-figure dolls. Based on the Bible. I do not think that they have thought this through. Now kids will be able to have face-offs between Mr JESUS and HARRY POTTER in the comfort of their own bedrooms.
Gentle reader, if you live near me in Garston I urge you not to look out of your windows at the moment! Because what you will see is my trying to get to grips with riding a bike after a nearly 30 year gap in my cycling record. I now have my own cycle and plan to use it for visits and commuting. Got to get more practice in first though. They say you never forget how to ride a bike, but I must have put that statement to the test this week, as neighbours in Brunswick street can probably ... 
The most important issue at the past three general elections ought to have been Britain's relations with Europe - first the single currency and later the proposed new European constitution. Instead these questions have been consistently dodged by the government promising referendums on them at some unspecified future dates. Today it is in the interests of both Labour and the Conservatives to continue to keep Europe out of British politics in this way. Today the mainstream of Labour instinctively is pro-European, even if it is less easy to name the concrete policies through which that instinct might express itself. What ...
Andrew Rawnsley as usual provides Sunday merriment in the Observer: When the floods were inundating his new realm, Gordon Brown almost found himself in the shit. Touring drowned areas of England, he asked those handling that emergency what they most needed. He was disturbed to learn that there was a problem with sanitation which was threatening to go critical. Soon afterwards, the chairman of
It is a great relief to hear that the Foot and Mouth outbreak may be an isolated incident. Last time, I was amazed by the trail of the genesis of the disease borne through movements of livestock which zig-zagged the country from Cumbria to Cornwall. I remember the days when livestock travelled only a few miles from farm to market to slaughter-house. This outbreak appears to be a vaccine strain
The latest release of Cabinet meeting minutes from the National Archive seem a fascinating read. At a cabinet discussion in 1954 about immigration, Churchill is quoted (with abbreviations by the Cabinet Secretary) as saying: Coloured Workers - Problems wh. will arise if many coloured people settle here. Are we to saddle ourselves with colour problems in UK? Attracted by Welfare State. Public
Andrew Sullivan draws some interesting parallels, in today’s Sunday Times, between the dilemmas facing US Democratic Presidential hopeful Senator Hillary Clinton, and Tory leader David Cameron: Cameron has a Hillary problem. Hillary Clinton learnt the hard way what it is to be a Democrat in a Republican era, just as Cameron has had to learn how [...]
Sales of artificial white roses in Redcar town centre reached a new high on Yorkshire Day, Wednesday 1st August when £677 was raised for Redcar Lifeboat. Organiser of the annual sale, Mrs Nancy Hudson, Secretary of the Yorkshire Ridings Society's North Riding Group (pictured) said: "The nice thing is that not only are people donating to a worthwhile cause they also make it very clear to us when they buy the roses how enthusiastic they are to show their pride in Yorkshire." Chairman of the Yorkshire Ridings Society, Councillor Chris Abbott, said: "Nancy and her team were assisted by the ...
Welcome to the 24th of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (29th July - 4th August), together with a hand-picked sextet you might otherwise have missed. Here we go, in descending order of popularity: 1. Tories are frustrated that Linda Jack story [...]
No, I don't believe that, but I liked the allusion to Monty Python's 'The Meaning of Life' so I indulged myself. I could happily fill this blog with pieces endorsing every word written by the Observer's Henry Porter. It is rare for me to disagree with him and today is no exception. Mr. Porter is rapidly becoming the conscience of the nation, weighing up each infringement against civil liberties on the part of the government and measuring it against a carefully crafted set of criteria to see if it stacks up, or if it is yet another unjustified intrusion by ...
Connecting Devonian strippers with a high profile former London policeman might seem like the sort of idea that could end you up in court if you put it in writing. But, there is a connection between the fate of the Bideford One and the bandwagon that is building behind making Brian Paddick Lib Dem candidate for London Mayor. I know almost nothing of the background to the story from last week that three Lib Dem councillors had resigned in response to the election of a stripper as a colleague of theirs. But a clue seems to lie in the fact ...
Dawn Butler and Diane Abbott are having a pop at Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson: Ms Butler highlighted a 2002 article in which Mr Johnson referred to the Queen being greeted in Commonwealth countries by “flag-waving piccaninnies”. She claimed he also said that he expected, during a mooted visit by Tony Blair to the Congo, that “the tribal warriors will all break out in watermelon smiles to see the big white chief”. Hang on a minute; this isn’t a “claim” - it is a matter of public record. Why do the BBC persist in this policy of interpreting balance to ...
A former Tory MP in Wales has had a rant about David Cameron and is damanding his sacking. However, when you read the reasons why Delwyn Williams, former MP for Montgomery, wants him sacked, it is the sort of criticism that David Cameron would be please to receive. Now I don't know much about Delwyn Williams, but on part of his statement told me everything I need to know about him ; "What’s more, he fumed, Dave sacked any candidate who “dared to criticise homosexuality” – something, which Mr Williams insisted was ridiculous “in a country where it is still ...
Having been away, I’m slowly catching up on some of the stories that emerged while I was away. One thing that appears to have briefly gripped the Lib Dem Blogosphere is the lamentably monikered “Jackgate” focussing on Linda Jack’s decision to diss Ming on the World At One. I thought I’d make a couple of points (with apologies to anyone I missed who has already made them). Firstly, those opinion poll drop claims. To start with, my calculation - using the UK polling report - is that the fall since April is from 20% (19.5% to be precise) to 17% ...
I've always been slightly scetical of (now) Democrat Presidental candidate Barack Obama since his speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention. It was delivered brilliantly - and there's no doubt his style and content wowed many, many people - but to me - a non-American - there was something very insular, even insulting, in his claim that - after recounting how he came from a poor immigrant family that came together from across the world - "that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible". Nonesense - there are examples fo similar moving, amazing stories from many, many ...
Sipping my Sunday morning cup of Darjeeling, I'm watching BBC News 24 Sunday, where Peter Sissons has just handed Chris Huhne an opportunity to endorse the continuing leadership of Ming Campbell: which he patently failed to take. Asking him whether this was going to be a long summer of discontent for Ming Campbell, Chris sidestepped the question, saying that after our excellent by-election
One to draft a framework for the change of the lightbulb and another to tell the first envoy he is brilliant.
The linked story is about the failure of the system to provide judgments to two parents at Liverpool County Court. Without the judgment they cannot appeal to the Court of Appeal. The system of correcting unlawful decisions at a lower court is, therefore, blocked. This is not a trivial issue. It undermines the whole process of law. I am told that frequently parents' solicitors prevent the
Flock Together, the party’s website for finding and advertising meetings, social events, campaigning sessions and just about anything else, has now been linked in to the party’s Liberal Democrats Account system. The LDA allows party members to create one username and password which then work across a range of different party sites - including the members [...]
Monday: With the United States currently owing the rest of the planet something like TEN TRILLION DOLLARS, Mr Frown told the world that WE owe a debt to America, for their leading us into the MESS in the Middle East. Perhaps the former Chancellor of the Exchequer would be willing to let us off some TAX in return for the DEBT that he owes to US for our leadership in taking us all into this spot of bother with our credit cards. No?
A pleasant distraction from Southwark's politics today with the Council-sponsored Vibrations Festival in Burgess Park. The glorious Sunshine rapidly turned the paler of us a traditionally British shade of lobster so we will all not doubt be remembering this Festival, in one way or another for the forseeable future. Funky light box drawing toys in the discovery tent None of our local politicians are this good at flip-flopping. Tim, David and Ann take over the mid-afternoon shift | < | August 2007 | > | ||||
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