My two favourite TV series, both starring a surprisingly un-macho hero and fabulous women, both kicked off in the early Sixties by Sydney Newman, both among the most iconic and most successful British TV ever made - both exciting, witty, weird and fun. TL;DR— If there's one Avengers episode that's influenced Doctor Who more than any other, it's The Cybernauts Of all the Doctor Who crossover actors, watch out for From Venus With Love and Stay Tuned Of all the Doctor Who crossover plots, marvel at The Morning After and Man-Eater of Surrey Green And as I publish this right ...
There are many good reasons for wanting to see the back of 2021, though some may argue that it became indistinguishable from 2020. It is certainly the case that it appears to have lasted twice as long as it should have done. For those involved in the import-export business, and by implication all us consumers as well, tomorrow could well herald the start of another sort of nightmare, one consumed by red tape. The Mirror reports that 1st January 2022 is the day that Brexit import checks kick in, a move business chiefs fear could swamp small firms with red ...
I read 296 books in 2021, the fourth highest of the eighteen years that I have been keeping track, and the highest since 2011. I was less distracted by real-life politics and by Hugos this year, and also I admit to reading some very short books which bulked up the numbers (Full numbers: 266 books in 2020, 234 in 2019, 262 in 2018, 238 in 2017, 212 in 2016, 290 in 2015, 291 in 2014, 237 in 2013, 259 in 2012, 301 in 2011, 278 in 2010, 342 in 2009, 371 in 2008, 236 in 2007, 207 in 2006, 144 ...
Roundup for 2021 coming shortly. Current Animal Dreams, by Barbara Kingsolver Calvin, by F. Bruce Gordon A Radical Romance, by Alison Light Books finished last week The 48 Laws Of Power, by Robert Greene (Did not finish) The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury Les Mondes d'Aldébaran: L'Encyclopédie Illustrée, by Christophe Quillien Barbarella vol 1, by Jean-Claude Forest, tr Kelly Sue DeConnick Northern Ireland a Generation after Good Friday, by Colin Coulter, Niall Gilmartin, Katy Hayward and Peter Shirlow Jani and the Greater Game, by Eric Brown Barbarella vol 2: The Wrath of the Minute-Eater, by Jean-Claude Forest, tr Kelly Sue ...
Change is upon us. And now it is incumbent upon us to adapt to the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Continue reading →
Speaking after the Battle of Egypt in 1942 Sir Winston Churchill spoke these oft repeated words, "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning". At ... Continue reading →
The month began with a lost deposit in the Batley and Spen by-election and an argument over whether or not our candidacy aided or hindered Labour's narrow retention of the seat. For the record, I'm generally minded to prefer the arguments of the locals (including local councillor and past-President of ALDC, Baroness Kath Pinnock) over, for example, someone trying to apply data from Cambridgeshire. Competing hard for votes in predominantly Liberal Democrat/Conservative wards hardly seems likely to harm Labour turnout, but what do I know? There were, however, successful by-election gains in Elmbridge, where a more than 24% swing removed ...
Many thanks for being a reader of, or listener to, my output. It would be great if you can take a few minutes to complete my latest reader survey in order to help me make my content and choice of channels interesting, useful and convenient. You can take the reader survey here.
Thu, 12:56: RT @DPhinnemore: 'The UK government's repeated threats... "are an enormously disruptive element in negotiations... You try to achieve somet... Thu, 13:04: Taken by an uncle on (roughly) this day in 1990. https://t.co/YdPEmXfoMK Thu, 15:27: "Est-ce que madame a vraiment besoin de la cuillère?" "Oui, vraiment." "Bien, allez-y alors." https://t.co/mJJZfVk4qm Thu, 15:53: July 2014 books https://t.co/kcNZBZk0XV Thu, 16:05: This is precisely the Spanish mistake. https://t.co/2Iu5eOCY58 Thu, 17:53: The Mind Robber, by Andrew Hickey (and Peter Ling) https://t.co/nT44JYiAIQ Fri, 10:45: Your TBR Reduction Book Challenge - Let Me Help You! https://t.co/4A38zZ5y2n I already have an absurdly detailed TBR reduction scheme. ...
Everywhere I go, everyone I meet - you make me proud to be British, and optimistic for our future. You give me great confidence that 2022 will be a Happy New Year for our country. And I hope it's a Happy New Year for you too. pic.twitter.com/bwpUYe7GVQ — Ed Davey MP [IMG: 🔶] [IMG: 🇪🇺] (@EdwardJDavey) December 31, 2021
Many thanks to everyone who has been a reader in the last year, whether on this site, one of my other sites, on email with Liberal Democrat Newswire and my digests, on social media, or in book form.
Last year, as I have every year since 2011, I made some predictions for the coming year. As always some were serious and some were... well, not quite so serious. I did get quite a lot right, which has inspired me to have yet another go at looking into the future. Before I consider what may happen in the year ahead, let's take a look at what I got right for 2021. Firstly, I talked of opportunities for the Lib Dems as local elections and by-elections returned after Covid restrictions were lifted. That was a pretty good call, with the ...
Residents contacted me after Storm Arwen at the end of November about the damage to the fencing through the Seabraes site along the path from Roseangle to Greenmarket. The fencing is owned by Scottish Enterprise and fences off the area that was subject to decontamination works over the past decade. I am grateful to Scottish Enterprise for promptly ensuring that exposed nails on parts of broken fencing was promptly dealt with and work commenced to repair the fallen sections of fencing. I asked, on behalf of residents, if the fencing would be repaired or simply removed as the decontamination works ...
The judges' last Headline of the Day Award of 2021 goes to The Economist.
