Made in 2008, this short film sees Mark Kermode discussing the making of Local Hero with its director Bill Forsyth. They travel back to Pennan, the Aberdeenshire village where the film was shot. Comfort and Joy, the film Forsyth made after Local Hero, is currently available on the BBC iPlayer. I have fond memories of it, though I have not watched it since it came out in 1984.
Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has today called on the government to freeze and begin seizing the assets of Putins' cronies in the UK, as part of a tough package of measures responding to Russia sending troops into Ukraine. It comes after Boris Johnson announced the government would be sanctioning just three Russian high net-worth individuals, falling way short of the number believed to be allied with Putin and holding assets in the UK. Ed Davey has also backed a boycott of international sporting and cultural events hosted in Russia, starting with moving this year's Champions League final from St ...
Tue 22nd
17:10
"Bloodchild", by Octavia E. Butler; "Press Enter ◼️", by John Varley; Neuromancer, by William Gibson...
These three all won Hugo and Nebula Awards presented in 1985 for work published in 1984. (So the 1985 Hugo, but the 1984 Nebula.) "Bloodchild" has no chapters or sub-sections. The third paragraph is:But my mother seemed content to age before she had to. I saw her turn away as several of T'Gatoi's limbs secured me closer. T'Gatoi liked our body heat and took advantage of it whenever she could. When I was little and at home more, my mother used to try to tell me how to behave with T'Gatoi—how to be respectful and always obedient because T'Gatoi was ...
Responding to the President of the National Farmers' Union Minette Batters criticising the UK Government's farming policy as "completely contradictory" at their national conference, Liberal Democrat Food & Rural Affairs Spokesperson Tim Farron MP said: "The comments from the NFU today prove what we already know - the Conservatives don't understand our farmers' needs and they're failing the farming industry. "On one hand they're signing trade deals that are deeply damaging, undermining British food standards and undercutting British farmers, while on the other hand they're cutting the vital support they need by phasing out Basic Payments before the new payments ...
In reaction to the news that the Vagrancy Act will be repealed, long time campaigner against the Act, Layla Moran MP said: "After years of campaigning I am elated that we consigned this archaic and cruel law to history. No one should be criminalised for sleeping rough, especially by a piece of legislation passed in the Georgian era. "This is testament to the hard work of so many people: the students who first brought the issue to my attention, and to our campaign partners Crisis. "This can transform the way we talk about rough sleeping and homelessness in this country, ...
Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has today called on the government to freeze and begin seizing the assets of Putin's cronies in the UK, as part of a tough package of measures responding to Russia sending troops into Ukraine. It comes after Boris Johnson announced the government would be sanctioning just three Russian high net-worth individuals, falling way short of the number believed to be allied with Putin and holding assets in the UK. Ed Davey has also backed a boycott of international sporting and cultural events hosted in Russia, starting with moving this year's Champions League final from St ...
It's taken several years of campaigning, but Layla Moran has some very welcome news about the Vagrancy Act: We did it! The Government have just put down the amendment to repeal the Vagrancy Act – the law that criminalises rough sleeping. This took 4yrs. Started with Oxford students. Countless Bills, Qs events and debates. I can't quite believe we've got there. Thanks to all [IMG: 😊] [IMG: 👏] pic.twitter.com/MUjYlssrXM — Layla Moran [IMG: 🔶] (@LaylaMoran) February 22, 2022
Responding to the Prime Minister's spokpesperson confirming that people visiting loved ones in care homes will no longer be able to access free Covid testing, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said: Yesterday, Boris Johnson simply could not admit that it is his policy to put a new tax on caring by forcing people to pay for covid tests before they visit vulnerable people. Now, his spokesperson has done his dirty work for him. It is simply unjust and unfair to force people to pay hundreds of pounds to year to safely visit their loved ones. It will make vulnerable people ...
Prime Minister Boris Johnson (Photo: Times of Israel) Boris Johnson's populist approach to Covid-19 may be winning him friends in the tabloid media but isn't going down to well with either medical experts or Scotland's First Minister. Prof Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance have already spoken out, in admitedly measured contributions, to explain why Boris Johnson's "living with Covid" strategy is short-sighted and ignores "standard public health advice". It was close as they will go to openly calling the proposals stupid, but they made it very clear that the scieitific evidence is suggesting an approach very different to the ...
You are invited to celebrate the life of Shirley Vivian Teresa Brittain Williams (Baroness Williams of Crosby) Memorial Service Tuesday 10 May at 2.30 p.m. Westminster Cathedral, Victoria Street, London SW1P 1LT RSVP (by 25 March) to Joanna Simonds joannasimonds@btinternet.com - 07818 016108
I recall that many farmers were some of the strongest advocates of Brexit, unfortunately for them things have proven to be less than rosy on the other side of secession from the EU. The Guardian reports that the leader of the National Farming Union has attacked UK farming policy, saying that the industry is in crisis because of government failures over staff shortages, Brexit red tape and cheap imports. Minette Batters, president of the National Farmers' Union, says the government has shown a "total lack of understanding of how food production works", introduced "completely contradictory policies" on farming, and risks ...
Mon, 12:56: RT @Emily_Rosina: This made my weekend! It's been wonderful hearing people talk so fondly about our Doctor Who Lockdown times and lovely to... Mon, 16:05: RT @BernardineEvari: 1/3. The media's obsession with so-called 'cancel culture' is dangerous. Marginalised communities have always been de... Mon, 18:37: RT @bbcdoctorwho: We're sad to hear that Stewart Bevan has passed away, who played Professor Clifford Jones, the husband of Jo Jones (née G... Mon, 18:40: April 2015 books https://t.co/TqEN6Dl2QP Mon, 20:48: Jo van Gogh-Bonger: Creator of Vincent van Gogh https://t.co/M1fKHoUe9u A longish read, but a lovely story. Tue, 10:45: NFTs aren't art ...
A rapid career path into the square mile is seen as preferable to the steady learning of a trade. Continue reading →
Hardly a week goes by without some new evidence of the damage done by Brexit to the British economy. From rising food prices, to empty supermarket shelves, to shortages of HGV drivers and of staff in the healthcare, farming and hospitality sectors, to musicians being unable to perform abroad, to British firms, farmers and fishers facing such higher charges and bureaucracy that they give up exporting their products altogether, to scientists losing chances of collaborative projects, Brexit is affecting more and more parts of everyday life. The coronavirus pandemic has caused the biggest shock to the British economy since the ...
Courtesy of Anthony Fairclough, here is a Focus leaflet from 1986. It was for Dundonald Ward in Merton and contains a familiar style of photo at the bottom of page 2: Focus_Dundonald-Ward-Apr-1986 For other leaflets from the past, see my series How leaflets used to look.
Tue 22nd
07:00
Getting things done - grass area at Oxford Street/Elliot Road/Cambridge Street/Eton Street #dundeewe...
Residents highlighted to me at the weekend that, following Storm Arwen before Christmas, two felled and cut up Cypress trees are sitting at the grass playing field area at Oxford Street/Elliot Road/Cambridge Street/Eton Street, awaiting uplift. I raised this with the council's Senior Forestry and Arboricultural Officer who has helpfully responded as follows : "I can confirm that the two Cypress trees extracted to the playing fields from Glamis Road Storm Blockage will be removed this week."
