So Led Zeppelin tickets are £125 each. As I have already posted, I saw them inthe 70s. But I could afford it, as a normal very unprivileged teenager. In the last few years I have seen REM, Queens of the Stone Age, Kings of Leon, Suede, Beck, and Inspiral Carpets at Brixton Academy, all close to the band, for a TOTAL price less than Zeppelin tickets. True, way back when I saw similar bands at the 
Excellent news from Whitefoot ward in Lewisham where there was a council by-election today. Having been to help several times and having delivered goodness knows how many leaflets, I’m very pleased to report that Pete Pattisson has been elected as the newest Liberal Democrat councillor in the borough. Labour will be very disappointed to have lost yet another by-election in Lewisham, especially having lost out to the Lib Dems last week in the Crystal Palace by-election, a ward that forms part of the new Lewisham West and Penge seat. Well done to the team in Whitefoot! Update: Here are the ...
It is strange that we have managed to go all summer without anyone needing to have a go at Ming Campbell, and arrive just a few days short of the Party conference without the press managing to manipulate a story along the lines of "Ming must go", then Ming's announcement about the EU referendum (don't start me on that) allows the press to jump on a real story or dissent against him. Anyone with an announce of political common sense could have prevented the press from having a chance to run these stories. but now they cannot be stopped because ...
I’m sat here scratching my head at the “VTP200“. It’s worth watching the video too. If people dislike the Selfridges building then what on earth are they going to make of this! I can’t say I like the sound of the “walk of fear”, 116m up with no handrail? No thanks!
I’ve gone two better than Jonathan Calder, it seems - A Liberal Goes A Long Way is, according to Tory uber-blogger, Iain Dale, the most under-rated political blog in the UK. Which is either a rather sweet accolade, or a bit of a back-handed compliment, depending on how you look at it. Iain suggests - and who am I to disagree? - that my gaff, and the other nine he lists “should be in the top
I strongly welcome the news that Charles Kennedy is to be the new President of the European Movement and will be going out there to make the case for Europe. Something we should be doing as a whole in the Party. I'm also pleased to hear that the European Movement will be having a formal relaunch. I certainly will want to get involved in that locally.
A reminder of an inspirational quote by a Liberal leader in a bygone era: "What do I understand by the Liberal principle? I understand, in the main, it is a principle of trust in the people only qualified by prudence. By the principle which is opposed to the Liberal principle, I understand mistrust of the people, only qualified by fear". W.E.Gladstone. Speeches and Addresses Delivered at the Election of 1865 reproduced in Brack and Ingham (Eds.) Dictionary of Liberal Quotations. Politicos (1999). We do well, as Liberals, to remember this principle and to have the courage of our convictions at ...
I needed to go to Sainsburys tonight to get some dinner. So I called in at 9pm, picked up 4 bargain priced bagels (30p for the lot), a bag of salad leaves and a bunch of spring onions. So off to the queue I go. As it is late, there are only 2 tils open. Why is it I always end up behind the person who, half way putting his purchases through the til, suddenly decides he hasn't finished his shopping
One of the rare days in recess spent in London. I had decided to attend the press conference accompanying the launch of the Health Select Committee's Inquiry into the Electronic Patient Record. Nearly didn't make it because of the usual struggle to find a parking space at any of the local stations (one day soon this will become a spectator sport). During the press conference (during which a spat 
"Eight out of ten parents admit to staying together for the sake of their children", screams the headline of a Relate press release on the launch of a new book about helping children deal with divorce. I originally saw it on Family Law Week, and was more than a little intrigued. I knew it was trying to grab my attention, but was it really saying that 20% of couples in the UK were together only because they had children? On further investigation, it transpired that "eighty five per cent of people surveyed admit that they would be more likely to ...
Apparently, some Lib Dems are thinking about quitting the party over Ming's stance on the EU treaty. Now, I have to say, if forced to take a stance, I probably agree with the people who argue that a referendum is not necessary. Or, to state it a little more accurately, that it's a bit late now if one is necessary. If you want to know my view, here it is in small writing (because it's not the
My my. Ming sure picks his time to be controversial. I’m sat here two days before traveling to Brighton and it seems the blogosphere is out to get him over the EU treaty referendum issue. It’ll be interesting to see what comes of this (if anything) at Conference. As it’s my first Conference there’ll be lots of new things to see and do - so I plan on repeating my diary entries that proved popular at the recent Ealing Southall by-election. I’ve already arranged to meet a couple of fellow bloggers, but if any more are going down and fancy ...
Having done the London marathon twice, very slowly (once for the Terrence Higgins Trust and once for Amnesty International), I know that the hardest part of it all is not the 26 miles but the fundraising beforehand. Found out today about two people with marathons coming up. So if any of you have any money to spare for two very good causes, then click below... Jo Swinson, who used to be on the Lib Dem Youth & Student Exec with me quite a few years back and is now MP for East Dunbartonshire, is running the Loch Ness Marathon for ...
Thursday 13th September 2007 - We've had another incredibly busy week in Brussels! As well as a packed committee agenda, with a session with EU Trade Commissioner, Peter Mandelson and the first exchange of views on my opinion on the Mid-Term Review of the 6th Environment Action Plan, I've hosted an event to launch the latest Human Rights Watch Report on Sri Lanka, drafted a series of amendments
Thanks to Chris K for pointing me in the direction of Labour’s next advertising campaign - Not Flash, Just Gordon. v Why is it always the biggest advertising agencies (Saatchi in this case) that come up with the most ridiculous puns? And more to the point, why is a political party with a £20m debt spending god knows how much more on an advertising campaign? The main criticism of “Dave’s Conservatives” is there’s too much PR - the awful “Built to Last” document a shining example. So why doesn’t Flash (sorry, I mean Gordon) use policy to promote the party, ...
Yes, you did read the headline right. For one small moment this afternoon I genuinely thought she had died. How did this come to pass ? I'll explain. I was at the gym, and sadly rather than watching Deal Or No Deal on one TV or watching MTV on the other, I was watching Sky News, or to be more precise, I was listening and not really watching. Sky were doing a piece, so it transpired about the Chess Board killer, a Russian murderer and how he was caught, but interrupted this piece without warning to bring us pictures of ...
Apparently the Department for Innovation, University and Skills have analysed the books and recipes of Delia Smith and Nigella Lawson and are of the opinion that their sentences are too long and are not easy to understand. By opinion of the Department for Innovation, University and Skills is that they speak bollocks. Anyone who has a Delia book knows that whilst her instructions are more wordy, she leaves nothing out, is absolutely crystal clear about measures, ingredients, quantities and even the method of cutting and preparation. I have never, ever gone wrong with a Delia recipe and would use her ...
One problem with being a selected GLA candidate is that anything I say for or against any of the mayoral candidates could be used against us/me by opponents. In addition the rules the party sets mean that what I say could land a candidate in trouble. I actually think some of our rules breach fundamental legal rights, but that is not something I want to test. So while I await clarification
I never thought I would see the day when the Conservative Party adopted ideas which can only be described as tree-hugging hippy crap. However, the Zac Goldsmith and John Gummer working party who were set to produce the new Conservative policy on the Environment have done exactly that. I'm a centre-left liberal with quite a lot of concern for environmental degradation, resource depletion, climate change, and other green issues. However, what the Conservatives have come up with goes well beyond what I'm comfortable with. I'll leave it to two examples, because I'm not Alex Wilcock. 1. Making the "Happy Planet ... 
The link is to more of the newly revealed Norfolk Story. I would like to extract elements: April 2004 Diane’s mental health social worker informs her that that he has made a referral to children and families for extra support. November 2004 Just before the baby’s birth, a case conference is convened. The case conference lasts four hours and nine of the 12 professionals vote against registration
Liberal Democrat Leader Ming Campbell has demanded an explanation from the Government after it controversially transferred 350 troops to Basra, near the Iraq-Iran border. The Independent reports that the deployment was at the request of the Americans, and quotes Ming: “This is yet more evidence of the lack of a coherent strategy for the deployment of British troops in Iraq. It would be disastrous if we were drawn into some kind of proxy war with Iran. “It would serve neither regional nor international interests and would put British lives at further risk,” he added. “We have consistently called for the ...
We have received the following from a resident in Easson Road: Over the past few months I have dutifully cleaned up the remains of dog bowel movement in order to safeguard the health and safety of my grandchildren and the rest of my family. I do not have a dog myself. I have tried to encourage the owners of the animals concerned to remove the stuff themselves by leaving messages flagged in the verge. The Community Protection Team is on the case.
The UK Government has failed to modernise and toughen anti-corruption laws. It withdrew its own Corruption Bill and hasn’t backed reforms proposed by Transparency International. Writing in The Times, lawyer Jeremy Summers criticises the Government’s failures on corruption. But Britain’s enforcement record, in sharp contrast, remains poor. Already reeling from the decision to halt the BAE Systems al-Yamamah investigation, it recently suffered another setback when the Government was forced to withdraw its Corruption Bill in a state of disarray. Remarkably, the Government has also refused to support an alternative and far more workable Corruption Bill proposed by the leading international ...
To the Thornbury branch of Countrywide store today for a promotional event for a new type of boiler which burns wood chip or wood pellets. We heard from Sir Ben Gill (formerly a big cheese in the NFU) and also from the manufacturers about how their new boiler has a much smaller 'carbon footprint' than the oil equivalent. Government grants are available for about 30% of the cost, and they reckoned it would also save money over a 3-4 year period. Instead of getting a periodic delivery of oil you would get a periodic delivery of wood chips or pellets. ...
Having spoke to one or two people I know, largely by e-mail, but a couple face to face in the wake of Ming's refusal to let the British people decide if we should accept the new EU constitution, I am amazed at the number of people who say they are quite prepared to quit the party over the issue. Sadly, given comments like these from some Lib Dem bloggers, the feeling seems to be that you can only ask for a referendum on this issue at the general election, and given the party's policy at the moment, someone like me ...
Rod Liddle has an article in the Spectator tomorrow that expresses my own views on the case: The McCanns, having discovered that Madeleine was missing, did what they were meant to do these days and flung themselves bodily upon the massed media; they performed, they posed with that cuddly toy of Madeleine’s, they embraced the brouhaha: they did what was expected of them. If Madeleine had been found within 72 hours all would have been fine; but the media, especially the English media, always end up loathing what they have created — an essential part of the self-disgust intrinsic to ...
This is the landing outside my office in Cowley St. The grey, rather thread bare carpets have been stripped out today and new green ones have gone in their place. Another green initiative to add to the energy audits on the building and the paper, can, plastic and glass recycling bins and lights that switch themselves off automatically if the room isn't in use. Anyway, here's the pic.
Until the other night I’d never considered that a bus could be somehow sexy. But clearly there is a Stagecoach driver in Sheffield who thinks otherwise. I boarded the bus at about 11pm and after racing in to town, (I’m convinced he was doing well over the speed limit), he then slowed down to a crawl as he reached West Street. For those who don’t know Sheffield, West Street is the main road for bars and restaurants a bit like Birmingham’s Broad Street or Manchester’s Deansgate. I was wondering why until I realised he was cruising women who were walking ...
The Conservative Quality of Life policy review people have finally released their long dreaded report. One question though, has it been printed on recyclable paper, because the online version at least doesn't say?
According to Iain Dale, at any rate.
…And it was all going so well. Ming had us applauding about climate change and Iraq yesterday, and then he had to go and say exactly the wrong thing about a referendum. I was going to tot up just how many Lib Dem bloggers disagree with him, but James Graham got there first with a brilliant post (which also includes Daffy Duck). Will we all be grumpy at Conference now? How can I cheer us up? It’s as easy as 1234! This summer saw the emergence of Grant Shapps as a great new comic character: here come his greatest hits, ...
Apparently, cocaine users are “getting younger“. Plus, it’s cheaper and more plentiful than Boots’ No7 Protect & Perfect Beauty Serum. Share This
The link is to a story in Community Care where a family were messed about by the Childrens Social Services department. The fundamental problem is a lack of ocncern for proper investigation of allegations of potential child abuse. This leads in part to the systematic perversion of the course of justice. When this is accompanied by some solicitors undermining their own clients it is not
Ming Campbell will be leading by example during his Community Canvass Week following the Liberal Democrats’ upcoming conference. The party leader and colleagues will be out canvassing in Cupar, in his constituency of North East Fife. Liberal Democrats up and down the country have already committed to similar sessions, going door to door to meet residents, finding out their views on key issues as part of a week of mass surveying within local communities.
Yesterday, along with my West End councillor colleagues, I met with residents and a representative of the City Council's Planning & Transportation Department regarding two West End road safety concerns:Firstly, a useful meeting with the Chair of Logie Residents' Association about safety concerns in Logie Avenue. A speed survery will now be undertaken - click on the headline above to view the full story in tonight's Evening Telegraph.Secondly, following concerns raised about the safety of pedestrians on Blackness Road (including Harris Academy pupils and visitors going to Royal Victoria Hospital), we met with residents who live close to the Kelso ...
Will Howells wins an award* for the Saatchi and Saatchi posters that the other two parties rejected: * I don't know what though... a lifetime obsession with Doctor Who?
Many thanks to OutaSpaceman for drawing to my attention this splendid dinner party suggestion, culled from Seven Centuries Of English Cooking by Maxime De La Falaise: To delight and amaze your guests make the likeness of a ship from a coarse pastry. Add flags and streamers of marzipan with such holes and trains of gun powder that they may all take fire at once. Place your ship on a platter with salt all about it as if at sea. Upon the next platter have a stag made from coarse pastry with a long arrow out of the side of him ...
The topicality of my mission to Egypt has been underlined with the headline news that four Egyptian newspaper editors are on trial today for allegedly slandering the President and Prime Minister. Once again, a key element in this process is the ability of individuals who have nothing to do with the case to instigate charges against outspoken writers and journalists. One of the defendants, a former editor of the opposition weekly Al-Araby, Abdel Halim Qandil, protested, ‘While the government declares that it will broaden democratic reforms which are inseperable from freedom of speech, it devises laws that curb this freedom.’ Meanwhile, ...
Acting Chief Executive Ray Richardson, has sent the following information to residents living in the Coast Road area following concerns from residents who have had up to SIX different explanations from Council staff when they rang to ask about notices that had been posted: "You may be aware that Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council staged a firework display on the Stray last year which was a huge success. As a result of this we have recently applied for a Premises Licence (Licensing Act 2003) in regard of repeating the display on the 5th November. "If we held a firework display ...
Since Leeds United have now won their first five games of the season, the 15 point penalty imposed by the Football League (as we shall refer to them in polite company) has come to the end of it's useful (useless) life. So LUFC, with a little help from a LSS Waste Mangement have had the penalty symbolically removed from Elland Road in one of their big yellow skips. As I understand it, under the EU's end of life directive, it is the responsibility of the originator to ensure proper disposal of rubbish like that..... So I expect to see that ...
The West Country - and I don't mean Bristol or those 'south Midlands' places like Gloucestershire ;-) - is one of the stronghold areas for the LD's. Equally, it is one of the most euro-sceptic parts of the UK ! Therefore, it is my view that lots of LD seats are at risk if the party chooses not to accede and allow the British people a say, via referendum, on the EU Reform Treaty. It is strange to find Liberals not 'trusting the people', especially when tactically and politically it is the right thing to do, even if the result ...
Let me put it to you directly - I didn’t vote for Ming for leader - lest folk think I’m on some crusade for Ming. However, I am very happy for him to be our leader on the Foreign Policy issues. Keep on keeping on Ming! So to today’s question - Whom exactly are we protecting? For whom are we working? Ourselves, the Iraqi people, American GOP? Does our Prime Minister actually know? I only ask as I’ve just viewed the clip on www.crooksandliars.com (Democracy Now! On the ground in Baghdad - dated today 13/9/07). A reporter and film-maker with ...
With nearly 20% of Chelmsford's population heading into London for work every day, what happens there (particularly with transport) matters to us too. So, though I cannot vote to choose the Lib Dem candidate for London Mayor, I will be taking a keen interest in who is finally selected. There is an excellent shortlist from which London members can choose - former 'top cop' Brian Paddick clearly
"Not Flash - Just Gordon" is Labour's new slogan. In an announcement which will further fuel snap election fever, it has been revealed that Saatchi have come up with a really atrocious pun to lead Labour's general election billboards. It's set me to humming "Flash... king of the impossible, he saved every one of us" over my lunch hour. I am not sure whether my humming, or the fact that people are starting to go to Brighton to set up for conference, is more important in emptying Cowley Street. In my view, it would be far, far more interesting to ...
I will simply note Jeremy Hargreaves‘ and Paul Walters‘ recent articles on Ming’s opposition to holding a referendum for now as I don’t have time to fillet them at the mo. Meanwhile however, via Direct Democracy, I note that the Lib Dems’ sister party in Australia - the Democrats - are calling for citizen-initiated referendums at the moment. Senator Andrew Murray writes: While recognising that Australia is a representative democracy and supporting what that entails, I support direct democracy in defined circumstances because it promotes popular engagement with the political process on questions of public importance, particularly in matters that ...
Two new Liberal Democrat members of the House of Lords have been appointed today by the Government. Sue Garden is the widow of Lord Tim Garden, who died last month. An active Liberal Democrat in her own right, she is a member of the party’s Federal Conference Committee and was the parliamentary candidate for Golders Green [...]
So the Saatchi and Saatchi agency has been recruited to look after Labour’s advertising for the general election. Whenever that might be. <cough> Here’s their pitch: {Not flash, just Gordon} What the BBC story doesn’t tell you*, is that they were previously turned down by the Liberal Democrats after this proposal: {Not merciless, just Ming} For some reason, the Tories - despite the success of Labour Isn’t Working in 1979 - also turned them down. Can’t imagine why: {Not anything really, just Dave} *because (let’s be clear for legal purposes) I’ve made it up
Assuming a four year cycle*, this is coming about two years early. Another sign that an election is imminent or just Labour being good Scouts? PS. Saatchi and Saatchi won the account with this: So that's "vote for us, he's boring" then. Or is this a case of "Not Flash Gordon" trying to beat "Ming the less-than-Merciless"? What does this make Cameron? * Although it can legally be five years.
A scoreline that didn’t reflect the play, I feel. The BBC described England as “vibrant”. At times, going forward we probably were. But until Rio bagged the third, I wasn’t confident of the win. Russia missed a couple of chances, had a fair goal ruled out, were denied what looked a definite penalty (although the sympathy I had for this decreased substantially when they started throwing themselves around towards the end) and got past our full-backs time and time again. Cole was abysmal on the left and while Richards and Wright-Philips combined well on the right going forward, they were ...
The new book Reinventing the State is an attempt to update social liberalism for the present day. The origins of social liberalism lie in the party’s re-creation of itself in the early 20th century as a party not just of political reform but also of social reform, when radical Liberals added a commitment to social [...]
It seems a few people are unhappy with my decision to back Ming on calling for no referendum on the EU treaty. I was in a rush yesterday, so now it’s time to explain myself a bit more. This document is well over 100 pages. Is Joe Public going to read that? No of course they wont. It will become a referendum on Europe full-stop. And what happens if the “no” vote wins? Because of biased media coverage from the tabloids, the public will then expect us to withdraw completely from Europe. Well that won’t happen, as that’s not what ...
After my little rant yesterday, LibDem Voice have compiled a list of LibDem Bloggers who are opposed and who support Ming's decision not to support a referendum. My pick of the dissenters who have now risen up? Stephen Tall.
The jury trying a Labour member of Waltham Forest Borough Council has been told by prosecutors that she spread lies about her Lib Dem opponent in order to win election by just 28 votes in 2006. It is alleged that she told voters that her opponent - a gay Lib Dem councillor in a long-term [...]
The end of analogue broadcasting is going to herald in a digital age of more choice and diversity with no loss of quality. At least that's the message I've picked up from our Select Committ...
Plaudits to our Dear Leader who has written to Gordon Brown to decry his decision to post British troops in southern Iraq on the Iranian border - on American 'advice'. Ming has set out how this demonstrates the lack of a clear strategy for our forces and the fact that this move does nothing to serve our regional or international interests. Perhaps that is the key: does the British government seek to serve British interests at all or is it still inexplicably following the diktat which emerges from across the Atlantic? Most significantly, this move will put more British lives ...
Another in my occasional series about the BBC (which may well have been corrected by the time you read this): {Miranda Grell news story} Now, innocent until you’re proven guilty on all that: I’m not commenting on the case itself. But since when does accusing someone of paedophilia count as a “gay slur”? If a straight man was accused of paedophilia, would the BBC call it a “hetero slur”? Share This
Sir Ming has written to Party members and supporters calling for our troops to be brought home. The letter is below, he also urges people to sign up to his petition (also below)
That caught your attention! In fact, the Liberal Democrats are a federation of local parties. Each local party, in our case Kingston Borough Liberal Democrats, is autonomous; we are member driven, with no central power group that can overturn the views of the membership. This is best seen at work at the Liberal Democrat Conferences - the main Autumn Conference begins in Brighton on...
In a pre-conference interview yesterday, Ming told the FT that he doesn’t believe a referendum on the European Reform Treaty is necessary. I think he’s absolutely right: this treaty does not justify one of the very very rare occasions when the UK deviates from a system of Parliamentary democracy. Firstly, for me it is clear that it is strongly in the interests of the UK to continue to play a leading role in the European Union. It seems to me massively in our interest to work together effectively with our neighbours on crucial issues such as cross-border crime, terrorism and ...
James Graham writes of the EU Treaty and quotes the old phrase: “if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck…” Look, I am just muddling through here. I am quite prepared to stand up and say I am wrong. So please tell me which provisions of the proposed EU Treaty result in transfers of sovereignty from the UK to the EU significant enough to warrant a national referendum and to justify the
I think it’s fair to say there’s not been universal acclaim of Ming’s verdict, posted here on Lib Dem Voice yesterday, that a referendum on the EU reform treaty is “not necessary”. Here’s the scores on the doors… Agreeing with Ming David Nikel Paul Walter Frank Little Disagreeing with Ming Gavin Whenman Chris Black Arwen Folkes Nich Starling Antony Hook Jonathan Calder Toby Philpott Stephen Tall James Graham Finally, [...]
Last night whilst at one of my five parish councils we were all informed that because of the lack of clarity in how grants will be paid to the police authority they are changing how the PCSOs are allocated. This is really disappointing - my parish council had made a policy decision that they felt high visibility community policing was the way forward. I felt they made the right choice....
According to the Glasgow Daily Record, anyway: Ex-Lib Dem leader Lord Paddy Ashdown has been outed as a spy by successor Sir Menzies Campbell. Ashdown, a former Royal Marine who served with the elite Special Boat Service, was long suspected to have been a real life James Bond. Now Sir Menzies has confirmed he worked for [...]
We have a right wing Labour government that: is undermining our civil liberties; is privatising our public services (including job centres, housing, hospitals and schools);has committed us to an illegal war on a false pretext, costing billions of pounds and tens of thousands of lives with no clear exit strategy;is closing 43 factories committed to providing employment for disabled people;is closing thousands of local Post Offices;is penalising lone parents instead of providing assistance to help them back to work;achieved the lowest level of green taxes as a percentage of GDP for a quarter of a century;is considering a major nuclear ...
God, I'm lonely. I've been telling outside a polling station since 7 a.m. And the number of voters so far? Nil. Democracy at its finest... Ah well, at least the sun is shining...
Sunday: The Americans are a funny lot. One bunch might see ancient Babylon as no more than a place to park their tanks, while another lot take it as their inspiration to create probably the most groundbreaking television series of the Nineties. I am talking, of course, about Joe Michael Straczynski's "BABYLON 5", the five-year project to create a "novel for television", and show that careful budgeting, a dedicated cast and at-the-time cutting edge computer imagery could produce a cinematic feel on the small screen. Well, Babylon is back and the news is it's BRILLIANT! "Babylon 5" is like the ...
Haven't been posting much the last couple of weeks as I've been reading and trying to prepare for next week. What have you all been talking about while I've been awol.... EU referendum....? Hell yeah! Of course we should! Quaequam nails it... Anyway, Barcharter is off to university as a mature student to study Politics and Legal Studies. Registration is on Saturday, and classes start Monday. So sadly, I won't be going to the Lib Dem Conference in Brighton next week. Going to uni is a bit of a daunting prospect. I'm really excited, but a little intimidated. My daughter ...
Today (Wednesday) at the local plan inquiry I and my fellow Lib Dem Cllr. Chris Rycroft explained WHY (not just how) we differ from Chelmsford council's views about where to place new houses. But, in general, the day's activity largely confirmed my view that this month-long exercise at taxpayer's expense is really just a rubber-stamping exercise of the council proposals. Key issues of today
looney tunes - rabbit fire Add to My Profile | More Videos You can forget Tom and Jerry. For me, the best cartoon double act of all time is Bugs and Daffy. The thing is, I’ve always had a soft spot for the underdogduck. It’s not that I have anything against transvestites you understand, but I always found Bugs to be unbearably smug and utterly cynical, appealing to Elmer’s worst nature. Daffy on the other hand, despite always ending up on the business end of a shotgun, has a sort of everymanfauna appeal. Sure, he loses his temper every once ...
The two main events aside it was generally a very good natured and rapid Council meeting tonight, in no small part due to the new procedural rules brought in by the Liberal Democrats and effective chairing of Mayor Bob Skelly. A note to my former opponent Councillor Bates of Faraday ward though. If attempting to signal to a blogger working in the public gallery that you see them blogging using a laptop... it is generally unwise to raise both your hands in front of you at chest height and wiggle your fingers in the air like you are typing something... ...
Thank god for that, now I can get back to writing drivel about politics... Apologies for the hiatus in the middle of those, but I went to Portugal. Normal service will be resumed shortly, I would imagine with my thoughts on conference, which I will be going to (some of it, anyway).
Simon Amstell: No Self Company: Mick Perrin for Just Venue: Pleasance – Grand Date: 25 Aug '07 Enjoying unexpectedly high demand for his show, Simon Amstell and Pleasance decided to shove in a few extra dates at lunchtime in the Pleasance Grand (not, if truth be told, the ideal stand-up venue, as Amstell admitted) in addition to his regular evening slot. A move I appreciated, and stayed in
Reginald D. Hunter: F**k You in the Age of Consequence Company: Mick Perrin for Just Venue: Udderbelly – Pasture Date: 24 Aug '07 Returning to the Fringe for his third year in a row, Hunter explained to us that he was under a great deal of pressure from his management not to include the word “nigga” in its title; his previous two shows were entitled “Pride and Prejudice and Niggas” and “A
Rhona Cameron Company: Gilded Balloon Productions Venue: Gilded Balloon – Dining Room Date: 24 Aug '07 I was going to go and see Stewart Lee, but the Udderbelly weren’t going to release any more tickets until half an hour before the show, which I couldn’t be arsed with. If I am organised enough to sort myself out in advance, I don’t want to be penalised by the venue just so some random punters
Coat Company: Overcoat Productions Venue: Underbelly – White Belly Date: 24 Aug '07 Next up on my tour of Cambridge’s presence at the Fringe was Coat, starring three people, at least one of whom I am going to be working for as a sound designer next term. It’s just as well that I thought it was pretty good, then! The acting was strong, the script good, and the production inventive on a small
Stephen K Amos: More of Me Company: Stephen K Amos Venue: Pleasance – Beyond Date: 23 Aug '07 Something of an old favourite at the Fringe by now, and deservedly so, Amos is a natural stand-up. He can do audience interaction, but doesn’t go overboard with it, his material is not only funny but genuinely interesting or affecting, and his style and technique is perfectly pitched. The show was
So, work has begun on the solar panel. This is Tuesday: {Roof access} The company turned up, and spent an hour looking at the roof. Access is really tricky. There’s a car-port preventing them putting a ladder straight up to the south-facing roof. Eventually, they decide the easiest way, short of entirely removing the car port then replacing it, is to go up into the attic, out through the sky-light and clamber over the roof to the panel. {Solar panel - incomplete} By the end of the second day, they have fitted the top part and some of the tubes. ...
Into the Hoods Company: Zoonation Venue: Pleasance – Grand Date: 23 Aug '07 When I was in Edinburgh last year, this was the hottest ticket in town, both in general and amongst my friends from Shrewsbury School (well, we had been up two years before with the original Into the Woods). I couldn’t get a ticket, but all the reports I heard were that the show was amazing. This year, it’s back, and
Footlights: Wham Bam Company: Cambridge Footlights Venue: Pleasance – Cavern Date: 23 Aug '07 Next Cambridge show up was the annual Footlights excursion to the Fringe. These shows can be interesting to watch evolve, or not as the case may be, as they go from an initial run in Cambridge in May Week, then off to the Fringe, then on a tour of the country before returning for a final run back in
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Company: Cambridge University ADC Venue: C – (+3) Date: 23 Aug '07 At least part of my purpose in going to Edinburgh was to see several shows featuring people I knew (ie. personally, not in the sense of following their work). This is the first such show, a CUADC production of Adrian Mitchell’s adaptation of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. It’s a
For many Muslims today is the first day of Ramadhan. Ramadhan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and is most well known by people as the month in which Muslims fast. According to Islam Ramadhan is the most religious month of the year and God increases the rewards people receive for good deeds. | < | September 2007 | > | ||||
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| 30 | ||||||
