I have blogged before about the canal-based Mikron Theatere Company. This HTV film shows them in 1997, when they had been on the water for five years.
It wasn't just Nicholas Paget-Brown , the leader of Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council, who resigned on Friday. So did his deputy Rock Feilding-Mellen. And a reader sent me a link to a fascinating article that sheds light on Feilding-Mellen's background. It shows him as a curly-headed small boy on his father's shoulders. It dates from 1984 and is written by the late John Michell. The author of The View Over Atlantis, Michell was one of the most compelling voices of the counter-culture in the 1960s. The article talks about Rock's parents Amanda Feilding and Joey Mellen. It begins: Amanda ...
I'm three days away from my regular watch and wait appointment at the hospital, and I'm panicking again. Last time my white blood cell count was low, so I was "promised" another bone marrow biopsy if it hadn't moved back closer to normal this time. They're not fun. I can feel myself coming over all unnecessary as I contemplate the ... The post Little darlings: Dealing with watch and wait anxiety appeared first on ten pence piece.
Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 484th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere ... Featuring the five most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (25 June -, 1 July 2017), together with a hand-picked seven you might otherwise have missed. Don't forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging. As ever, let's start with the most popular post, and work our way down: 1. The deliciously ironic leadership ...
Sun 2nd
20:13
People are now more willing to pay extra taxes to fund our public services - Vince Cable
So said Liberal Democrat leadership contender Vince Cable when he was interviewed by Sophy Ridge on Sky.
Last week, the Royal Bank of Scotland announced that it was cutting 443 jobs in Britain. This is of great concern to our new Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West, Christine Jardine, for three reasons. First of all, the bank's HQ is in her constituency, secondly local businesses might be affected by the quality of service and, thirdly, could this be yet another effect of Brexit. She wanted to find a way to raise this in the House, but how? She wasn't down to make her Maiden Speech until Wednesday and it couldn't wait until then. Back in the day, ...
In his office at Bletchley, Turing sipped on his tea, and winced. Rationing was making even the smallest pleasures of life almost intolerable. Between the small quantities of poor-quality tea, the measly portion of milk the ration board allowed, and ... Continue reading →
The Multi Elevator from Thyssenkrupp: an elevator goes sideways. With bonus footage of an elevator test tower.
The latest quarterly update to PollBase, my database of British voting intention opinion polls since 1943 is now up, covering the really rather quiet second quarter of 2017... Points to note about this update: Alas, Norstat's polls for the Express did not follow the industry standards for transparency, and despite several requests to both pollster and newspaper, no data tables have been supplied. As a result, some data is missing. If you have a copy of the data tables or further information about them, please do let me know. A limited amount of detailed data for general election polls has ...
[IMG: 7 best] Many thanks to the 25000visitors who dropped by Lib Dem Voice this week. Here's our 7 most-read posts... Ed Davey MP writes...My family, my party (79 comments) by Ed Davey MP If they say you're a Red Tory or a Yellow Tory, ask about Corbyn's welfare cuts (53 comments) by George Kendall There are worse things than a coronation for Vince (97 comments) by Caron Lindsay May's Brexit setup denies remaining EU states what she wants to recover for Britain: sovereignty over their nation) (37 comments) by Bernard Aris Well that didn't take long. Vince answers questions ...
Sun 2nd
16:30
Tom Brake's quiet revolution - but there's so much more that should change about the Commons
Tom Brake achieved a bit of a baby step towards the 21st Century for MPs this week when he had the audacity to ask a Minister a question while not wearing a tie. Heaven forfend! Conservative MP Peter Bone grassed him up to the Speaker and asked if the rules had changed. John Bercow replied that as long as the attire was "business-like" it was fine. No tie was necessary. So far as the Chair is concerned, I must say to the hon. Gentleman, although I fear this will gravely disquiet him, that it seems to me that as long ...
This weekend the United Kingdom was due to take over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union, but as the government in London is focussed on Brexit it declined the honour. Estonia has stepped up to the plate instead, and its progressive, tech-savvy Liberal government will doubtless make a good fist of it. But [...]
- still not having the best of mental health. An example: just had a panic attack because the hotel I'm booked into for conference sent me an email beginning "unfortunately" (thankfully it was "unfortunately our outdoor swimming pool will be unavailable during your stay although we still have an indoor one, please don't cancel, please, we love you" not "unfortunately we've double booked your room and you've been bounced and are going to have to find somewhere else to stay and will probably end up about 50 miles away"). - still mostly off Twitter, although I'm checking it once or ...
One of the most interesting developments in domestic politics of recent years is the return of the debate over nationalisation in many public services: notably rail and utilities. Labour's 2017 manifesto put nationalisation firmly back on the agenda. Seeing as that is the case, I would argue that this offers the opportunity to make a strong case to the public for the largely ignored, but very credible model that mutualisation offers. There is no disputing that there are many flaws with the privately-owned models that have been adopted for many public services, but equally it's worth remembering that fully nationalised ...
Second paragraph of third chapter: By the end of the fifteenth century, the towns were almost everywhere governed by an oligarchy, a patriciate of rich merchants and property owners. The composition of these oligarchies varied considerably. In England there were hardly any patrician dynasties: after one or two generations of urban success, patrician families and their property tended to be reabsorbed, by intermarriage and land purchase, into the upper strata of rural society. This is one, though not the only, reason for the relatively small size and restricted autonomy of English provincial towns. As a further consequence, the smaller English ...
Vince Cable gave his first big interview as probably-the-next-leader of the Lib Dems to Sophy Ridge on Sky News this morning. You can read the full transcript but here are some of the highlights. It was, as you would expect, a reasoned, calm and accomplished performance. He certainly comes across as the grown-up in the room. First of all, he was asked about austerity and whether or not it could continue. You could, he said, spend more money wisely: I think what there is a big public mood for, and I think it's right, is that we shift the balance ...
When I visited the Swalwell Fire Station open day yesterday, there was a demonstration about what not to do with a burning chip pan - never pour water on it! I filmed the demonstration which rather brings home the message.
Apparently this reached number 16 in the UK singles chart in 2002. I would pay more attention to that chart if it featured were more songs like this. It comes from Lemon Jelly's album Lost Horizons: Many reviews singled out "Nice Weather for Ducks" as the album's stand-out track. Mason selected the "dreamy, acoustic guitar-based" song as one of the album's highlights in his review. Dahlen described it as "the most likeable" on the album, and concluded that it is "a happy-slappy lollipop of a song that nicely sums this record up: Sunny, bright, and vaguely irritating." Wysel wrote, "When ...
This map from the Office for National Statistics shows that the UK is above mid league in terms of risk of poverty throughout Europe. If we leave the EU and the Single Market we will dream of these days as ... Continue reading →
Instagram Instagram photo: But WHY would you want to move, mummy? [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
Sat, 12:01: RT @meridithmcgraw: A rather deep exchange between Trump and Buzz Aldrin at the signing of the Executive Order on the National Space Counci... Sat, 15:14: The Humans, by Matt Haig https://t.co/q9rj9tQbhn Sat, 15:42: BBC News - Film critic Barry Norman dies https://t.co/lA74yi3GLX Sat, 18:36: The Class novels https://t.co/MTQv39wHwQ Sat, 20:36: RT @bbcpress: The Doctors will return at Christmas: https://t.co/O0GKdZijIC #DoctorWho https://t.co/x6nZVrSshP Sat, 20:37: RT @OldRoberts953: Oh Bill. One of the best assistants EVER. #drwho https://t.co/4ZaTlwUAJC Sat, 20:37: RT @claytonhickman: I thought #DoctorWho was just *perfect*. I blubbed. Whewww. Sat, 20:37: RT @stackee: If Peter Capaldi isn't nominated for ...
Last year a lorry hit the Blaydon Footbridge. A section of it had to be removed. Yesterday, the replacement section was installed, resulting in the eastbound A695 being closed for much of the day. I had a look at the site in the early afternoon. Work was coming along well. Fingers crossed that the bridge will be open for use in the near future.
My second visit yesterday was to the Dunston Festival at Dunston UTS football ground. Richard, my friend who accompanied me, won 2 prizes on the tombola - both makeup remover. Not the most useful of things! Nice to bump into the mayor, Pauline Dillon (in whose ward Dunston football ground is based).
Yesterday, Swalwell Fire Station had an open day so I popped down to have a chat with people and watch some fire safety demonstrations. The most shocking one was the effect of pouring water on a burning chip pan. Fortunately that was carried out at a distance! I also bumped into Liz Twist, the Labour MP for Blaydon who expressed her condolences about the loss of my Dad during the election
Sir Robert Walpole (Whig 1721-1742) was the first prime minister in the modern sense. Ever since major UK parties have always had one leader. But Walpole and his successors, whether prime ministers or opposition leaders, were not subject to the relentless pressure of 24/365 broadcast news until the mid-1990s. Perhaps John Major (1990-97) was the first to suffer. Since Major's day media outlets have multiplied, coverage has become shallower, more sensationalised, more knee-jerk. Meanwhile social media abounds, analysing what's been said (and sometimes, what's not been) syllable by syllable. Today, the media demands on any party leader are immense and ...
The basis of sustained significant success, whether in politics, sport, commerce or civil society, is a core of loyal, regular support.
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT REPORT FOR WEST END WARD - SUNDAY 2 JULY 2017 Westfield Place (at Perth Road) - closed on Sunday 2 July for Virgin Media duct repair. REPORT FOR WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 3 JULY 2017 Riverside Esplanade/Riverside Drive (Tay Road Bridge off ramp to 75m along Riverside Drive) - westbound nearside lane closure for 22 weeks to facilitate V&A construction works. SSE Glenagnes Cable Renewal - Lochee Road lane restrictions and closures on Blinshall Street, Fleuchar Street and Scott Street for 7 weeks. A85 Riverside Drive - prohibition of right ...
The plans for two large executive-style homes on the Linney have been thrown out by Shropshire Council planning officers. This is a precious green space that provides a beautiful view from the Linney towards the Bringewood. It is right that these houses have been rejected. We have no need for more large homes in Ludlow. There are plenty of other places to build and what we need most is smaller homes for young people and families. The latest iteration of the site plans had pushed both houses towards the south of the site in an attempt to preserve the view ...
The Canary has the story on its web site – see link above If you, like me, despair at the march of privatisation though our public services (and lets face it all 3 main parties have have had a hand in it) then this report makes sobering if somewhat unsurprising reading. With thanks to Roy Connell for the lead to this posting
