My quick review of Staged Fiction will almost certainly have a lot to say about coronavirus: the initial cover-up in Wuhan is ripe for a Chernobyl style docu-drama, the frenetic scenes on hospital wards will be fantastic fodder for medical procedurals, odd couples forced to quarantine together will doubtless become a rom-com staple, and a [...]
This box stood on the line from Market Harborough to Northampton and could be found in the former at the junction of Scotland Road and Northampton Road. It closed with the line in 1981 - I took this photo a year or so before that - but had an afterlife. Today you can find it on the Northampton & Lamport Railway under the name Pitsford and Brampton. Meanwhile, there is no news on whether Little Bowden Junction box on the Midland main line survived the closure of Coventry's Electric Railway Museum. I fear it did not.
In 2016 Paul Pettinger wrote a Social Liberal Forum paper arguing that centrism doesn't work as a strategy for minor parties. "The government failed to activate the full network of laboratories at its disposal - within the NHS, as well as in universities and independent research facilities. When the government did finally roll out wider testing, months later, it again bypassed existing labs and set up three, new mega-facilities whose operations - managed by Deloitte under the banner of 'lighthouse laboratories' - have been based on contracting arrangements about which there's little public disclosure." Rachel Shabi says the British government's ...
I'm a late convert to the Lodestar Award. I opposed instituting it, because I felt (and feel) that there are already too many Hugo categories (even if this is formally not a Hugo). It also seems to me that the diligent voter is carrying an ever heavier burden of reading obligations, though I guess this applies more to Best Series than here. However, I have to admit that pound for pound, the Lodestar Award finalists have been pretty good books, and have given me more new authors to look out for. Anyway, in brief here's what I thought about this ...
Young Frankenstein won the 1975 Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation and the 1975 Nebula for Best Dramatic Script (the latter awarded in 1976, but with eligibility covering December 1974 when the film was released). The other Hugo finalists were Flesh Gordon, Phantom of the Paradise, The Questor Tapes and Zardoz; the other films on the Nebula shortlist were Dark Star, A Boy and His Dog (which won the 1976 Hugo) and Rollerball. The only two of those that I have seen are Zardoz and Dark Star, for both of which I have an unfashionable affection. Young Frankenstein is perhaps more ...
What do the Liberal Democrats stand for, and why vote for us? That's my lead question from several I sent to Liberal Democrat Leadership candidates Layla Moran and Ed Davey. I'm still awaiting their replies, yet have just had answers from a Lib Dem Leader... But probably not the one you're expecting. Doctor Mark Pack is Acting Co-Leader of the Liberal Democrats, an unexpected temporary addition to his election as Lib Dem President, so I sent him three of the same questions and he was first to respond. Thank you, Mark! Here are Mark's pithy answers: Question One: People say ...
Mistakes happen. Either your own or the social network's. That's why backups are useful. Here's how to backup your Twitter account.
Photo - one of the growing number of electric cars in Yate (this one owned by a Focus Team member) South Glos Council is installing 14 new electric vehicle (EV) charging points at seven locations across South Gloucestershire.The 14 charging points will be located at Emersons Green, Hanham, Kingswood, Patchway, Staple Hill, Thornbury and Yate, offering residents and visitors to the area rapid (50kW) and fast (7-22kW) charging facilities at a wider range of locations. This is the first phase of our roll-out of EV charging points, with future plans for a number more at sites across the area. They ...
There's an active and friendly Liberal Democrat community on Reddit, the social network site which is often nicknamed 'the frontpage of the internet'.
Sometimes when I am sitting on an underground train I look at other passengers and wonder what is the story of their lives, because behind even the most ordinary face there are often extraordinary stories. I was reminded of this while watching the Colombian director Franco Lolli's new film Litigante (available on Curzon home cinema), [...]
It is easy to criticise Rishi Sunak's Summer Economic Statement for not doing enough. The Chancellor had a difficult task to assess what size of economic stimulus would be effective. His main aim was apparently to create jobs for those who had lost them or will be losing them soon. But the Statement.is very disappointing because it doesn't deal with the realities of the situation for lots of businesses. Social distancing is very likely still to be in place after October, so it just will not be possible for many businesses to provide their services to as many customers as ...
Fri, 12:56: RT @MooseAlston: Fun fact there are more PHDs running for the Green Party leadership election that there are around the cabinet table. Fri, 14:31: And the Belgians won! https://t.co/2TgNvQi6Mo Fri, 14:32: RT @garethharding: My golden rules of communication. Don't: - Confuse your message with the news - Think messages are stories - Bore peop... Fri, 14:33: Those two words "on paper" are doing an awful lot of work. https://t.co/YfnsfEeGya Fri, 16:05: RT @NathanJRobinson: There's more and livelier free speech and open debate than ever before and all of the people who are supposedly silenc... Fri, 17:11: I prosecuted ...
Sat 11th
10:25
Latest PollBase is out, with all the voting intention polls since the general election
With the end of another quarter, another update to PollBase, my database of British voting intention opinion polls since 1943 is now up. Enjoy! P.S. For the very latest polls, see my polling scorecard. Get polling news and analysis by email I release a new edition of PollBase once a quarter, both adding in the new national voting intention polls from the last quarter and also improving the older data, such as filling in gaps and making some of the columns clearer. Sign up here for Polling UnPacked, which will give you an email notification when the database is updated ...
I'm not a follower of football but I was saddened to learn today of the death of Jack Charlton, one of the country's footballing national heroes and one of the great names of the North East. He came from an era when the English team enjoyed greater success than now. And it was an era when footballers' pay packets did not resemble phone numbers. I met Jack Charlton once, at a promotional event
With Layla and Ed duly nominated, they now embark on an eye-watering series of hustings events across the country. There are 4 this weekend. In just under an hour you can see them at the Social Liberal Forum q and a at 11 am. At 3:25pm, both candidates will be put through a job interview style interview at the Scottish special conference by former candidate Katy Gordon, who's a senior HR person and John Ferry, a journalist. I wonder if they've been modelling their interviewing style on Claude from The Apprentice. Tonight at 6pm, it is the South Central hustings. ...
Yesterday we received news of an alarming uptick in Covid-19 cases in South Liverpool. It wasn't amongst the older population who were the key victims of the virus for the first 4 months and the pre lockdown and lockdown periods. ... Continue reading →
How do you grow and maintain your pool of local party activists needed for successful grassroots campaigns? This is the question Recruiting and Retaining Party Activists: Political Management at the Grassroots seeks to answer.
i) births and deaths 11 July 1925: birth of David Graham, who did loads of Dalek voices in Old Who as well as the Peter Cushing films, and also appeared on screen twice, as Charlie the Barman in The Gunfighters (First Doctor, 1965) and Professor Kerensky in City of Death (Fourth Doctor, 1979). They both die horribly, but he is still alive as far as I know - happy 95th birthday, David! 11 July 1945: birth of Michael Pickwoad, BBC Wales production designer who created the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctor Tardis sets and also designed Class (died in 2018). 11 ...
So all the promises that leaving the EU would not increase the cost of goods, impinge free trade with Europe or add red tape and bureaucracy to imports and exports, thus increasing the price of goods and services for consumers have come to naught. What a surprise! The Guardian reports that the government has secretly purchased 11 hectares (27 acres) of land 20 miles from Dover to site a vast new Brexit customs clearance centre for the 10,000 lorries that come through the Kent port from Calais every day. The paper says that it will be the first customs post ...
Sat 11th
07:32
Roof terrace overlooking Church Walk would damage setting of St Lawrence's Church and the Reader's H...
I have objected to plans to extend a third floor flat above Joules and the hospice shop, 9-10 King Street, with a north facing roof terrace. The balcony, which will be 10.5 metres (34ft) above ground level, would break up the established roofline. Residents or holidaymakers in the flat will overlook the bedroom windows of two of the new almshouses. They will gaze over the roof of the almshouses to St Lawrence's Church and the 17th Century Reader's House, both Grade I listed. Looking from Church Walk, the balcony will be in full view. It will also be seen from ...
A resident recently contacted me saying : "Do you think that you could request that the markings that distinguish and delineate the cycle lane from the footpath at Seabraes between Roseangle and Greenmarket could be refreshed/reinstated? With the increased number of cyclists and pedestrians using this thoroughfare there needs to be greater clarity as to who should be where on this shared path." I raised this with the Director of City Development at the City Council who has responded helpfully as follows : "I confirm that we are aware that in a number of areas around the city existing cycle ...
