Cult of Celebrity
20% of Hilary Clinton's supporters have said that they won't vote for Barack Obama even though she has asked them to. Many have said that they plan to vote for John McCain instead.
This indicates that they are less interested in politics or doing the right thing for the country and more in the cult of celebrity. Even if it means handing over power to a crazed right-winger if the glorious Hilary can't have the job then they don't care who gets it.
And these people get a vote !
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Is the Queen ill ?
Prince William is spending 8 weeks with the Royal Navy as part of a scheme to familiarise him with each of the armed forces. If my maths is any good this means he will have spend 6 months this year preparing to become Commander in Chief.
Why the rush ?
While I'm no expert on the workings of the House of Windsor, I think before he gets this job both his Dad and Granny have to kick the bucket. That ought to allow plenty of time for him to play soldiers.
Unless they know something we don't...
Prince William is spending 8 weeks with the Royal Navy as part of a scheme to familiarise him with each of the armed forces. If my maths is any good this means he will have spend 6 months this year preparing to become Commander in Chief.
Why the rush ?
While I'm no expert on the workings of the House of Windsor, I think before he gets this job both his Dad and Granny have to kick the bucket. That ought to allow plenty of time for him to play soldiers.
Unless they know something we don't...
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Peel web cam. It's lovely. I have in the past spent several minutes a day looking at it to relax at work (well there wasn't much of a view from my desk) .
The view over the harbour changed with the seasons. Boats came and went. Sometimes it rained, sometimes the sun was out.
OK, so the camera was a bit wonky and the picture slightly fuzzy. It didn't make it any less appealing.Over the last week someone has noticed and been spured into action. They have replaced the camera.
You would think this is a good, but NO. The new device points down a lot more so we see more car park then sea. What's that about ? The cameras are run by the meteorological department and I would think the sea would be more interesting than tarmac.
I say, get back up that ladder and point it out to sea again pronto !
The view over the harbour changed with the seasons. Boats came and went. Sometimes it rained, sometimes the sun was out.
OK, so the camera was a bit wonky and the picture slightly fuzzy. It didn't make it any less appealing.Over the last week someone has noticed and been spured into action. They have replaced the camera.
You would think this is a good, but NO. The new device points down a lot more so we see more car park then sea. What's that about ? The cameras are run by the meteorological department and I would think the sea would be more interesting than tarmac.
I say, get back up that ladder and point it out to sea again pronto !
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Fuel prices - ranting to a solution
Truckers who are protesting about fuel prices might like to have a chat with miners who remember the 1980's. When they were fighting for their jobs (While I disagreed with the methods, they did have a point about the impending mine closures) I don't recall much support from the road industry who seemed happy to ship the stuff around. Now the haulage industry is in a similar state. Everyone who has a HGV licence and some redundancy money set themselves up as a business - the upshot of which is that there are too many supplier. People like Stobarts are busier than ever but the small guys are finding it very hard.
Now I ought to be all in favour of any tax cuts on petrol. I drive an old camper van with a laughable MPG. And I have the time this year to get out and use it. The trouble is I also firmly believe in public transport and know that if petrol gets cheaper, more people will get on the roads and off the trains and buses.
So some solutions, serious and not:
1) At the date of sale, a fuel price should be marked on vehicles. That will be the price that the owner will pay forever. With the regular changing of cars, people will still pay the ever increasing price. Of course, I will be paying 33p per gallon but that's OK :-)
2) Cut the tax on fuel that public transport buys perhaps by making it VAT exempt for licenced operators. That tilts the balance in favour of bus and train use thus supporting the "green" agenda. Of course that won't happen 'cos our Government hates public transport.
Truckers who are protesting about fuel prices might like to have a chat with miners who remember the 1980's. When they were fighting for their jobs (While I disagreed with the methods, they did have a point about the impending mine closures) I don't recall much support from the road industry who seemed happy to ship the stuff around. Now the haulage industry is in a similar state. Everyone who has a HGV licence and some redundancy money set themselves up as a business - the upshot of which is that there are too many supplier. People like Stobarts are busier than ever but the small guys are finding it very hard.
Now I ought to be all in favour of any tax cuts on petrol. I drive an old camper van with a laughable MPG. And I have the time this year to get out and use it. The trouble is I also firmly believe in public transport and know that if petrol gets cheaper, more people will get on the roads and off the trains and buses.
So some solutions, serious and not:
1) At the date of sale, a fuel price should be marked on vehicles. That will be the price that the owner will pay forever. With the regular changing of cars, people will still pay the ever increasing price. Of course, I will be paying 33p per gallon but that's OK :-)
2) Cut the tax on fuel that public transport buys perhaps by making it VAT exempt for licenced operators. That tilts the balance in favour of bus and train use thus supporting the "green" agenda. Of course that won't happen 'cos our Government hates public transport.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Keep your shirt on
Fat blokes. I know it is sunny but please keep your shirts ON. It's not pretty and we don't want to see your blubber no matter how proud you are of it.
That's all.
Fat blokes. I know it is sunny but please keep your shirts ON. It's not pretty and we don't want to see your blubber no matter how proud you are of it.
That's all.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Fuel
I keep being told on the news that the average gallon now costs over a fiver - it's been that way around here for months. Who's getting all the cheap petrol ?
OK, so I run an aged VeeDub which does an embarrassing MPG but I'd like to track down some of this stuff. If I want to travel around in it this year then I wouldn't say no to a slight dip in price.
Of course I still think the hauliers rampaging through London are idiots. One spokesman today said that the airlines could just charge their passengers the extra cost but they couldn't. Why not I wonder ? Is it because, as has been suggested, there are too many of them. Let's face it, if every man and his dog didn't own a HGV then there would be less competition and prices could rise so they wouldn't starve. OK so this would wedge the bills up for the rest of us but if we insist on goods being trucked around the country while simultaneously moaning about them cluttering up motorways, then this is the price to be paid.
I keep being told on the news that the average gallon now costs over a fiver - it's been that way around here for months. Who's getting all the cheap petrol ?
OK, so I run an aged VeeDub which does an embarrassing MPG but I'd like to track down some of this stuff. If I want to travel around in it this year then I wouldn't say no to a slight dip in price.
Of course I still think the hauliers rampaging through London are idiots. One spokesman today said that the airlines could just charge their passengers the extra cost but they couldn't. Why not I wonder ? Is it because, as has been suggested, there are too many of them. Let's face it, if every man and his dog didn't own a HGV then there would be less competition and prices could rise so they wouldn't starve. OK so this would wedge the bills up for the rest of us but if we insist on goods being trucked around the country while simultaneously moaning about them cluttering up motorways, then this is the price to be paid.
Friday, April 25, 2008
The return of Blake's 7
Info here
Let me start by saying this is a Good Thing. OK, so it's (apparently) being done by Sky but if they don't screw it up too badly then this should be good.
For those who didn't grow up in the 1970's, the plot in the early days was that Roj Blake was a "freedom fighter" living on Earth. This planet and others were controlled by the Federation. He is captured at an illegal meeting, shipped off to a prison planet, escapes with comrades on an alien ship where they fight back. More plot on Wikipedia.
Obviously this was made on a budget of 20 quid a series so the effects were iffy. Sometimes this helped though. That illegal meeting was shot in underneath a shopping centre (probably) but this gave it that grimy air of a planet where everywhere is an inner city. Best of all though were the guard costumes - these were all in one black suits (possibly rubber, which must have been horrible to wear) with gas masks and green visors. Obviously this allowed the entire army to be made up of about 6 people as they all looked the same. Oddly, save for the visors, the suits worn by the police today when storming building look very similar.
OK, so the special effects were dodgy but them some of us like knowing how the spacecraft are made. We also saw beyond this and enjoyed the writing. I suppose you could argue that the later series weren't as good as the very early stuff but then all long running shows suffer from this. At least Blake's 7 ended on a serious note but killing all the cast off !
I say - we need more miserable Sci-fi !
Info here
Let me start by saying this is a Good Thing. OK, so it's (apparently) being done by Sky but if they don't screw it up too badly then this should be good.
For those who didn't grow up in the 1970's, the plot in the early days was that Roj Blake was a "freedom fighter" living on Earth. This planet and others were controlled by the Federation. He is captured at an illegal meeting, shipped off to a prison planet, escapes with comrades on an alien ship where they fight back. More plot on Wikipedia.
Obviously this was made on a budget of 20 quid a series so the effects were iffy. Sometimes this helped though. That illegal meeting was shot in underneath a shopping centre (probably) but this gave it that grimy air of a planet where everywhere is an inner city. Best of all though were the guard costumes - these were all in one black suits (possibly rubber, which must have been horrible to wear) with gas masks and green visors. Obviously this allowed the entire army to be made up of about 6 people as they all looked the same. Oddly, save for the visors, the suits worn by the police today when storming building look very similar.
OK, so the special effects were dodgy but them some of us like knowing how the spacecraft are made. We also saw beyond this and enjoyed the writing. I suppose you could argue that the later series weren't as good as the very early stuff but then all long running shows suffer from this. At least Blake's 7 ended on a serious note but killing all the cast off !
I say - we need more miserable Sci-fi !
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