Archive for the ‘My life & thoughts’ Category
An evening with the film critic Mark Kermode
December 5th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
This week, I went to hear a talk by the “Observer” film critic Mark Kermode. The venue was the “Phoenix” cinema in East Finchely in London. This was Mark’s local cinema when we grew up. It has recently celebrated its 100th anniversary and claims to be the longest running cinema in the country. Ironically, when I […]
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My first Christmas lunch of the year and how I bumped into Jesse Jackson
December 3rd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
As part of my work portfolio, I chair the Policy Stakeholder Committee of Nominet, the body which operates the .uk domain name system for the Internet. The pattern is that we have a conference call once a month, we meet in London once a quarter, and we meet at Nominet offices in the Oxford Science Park once a […]
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What’s been driving me crazy the last three months
December 2nd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Recently I have blogged here and here to explain that, for the last 20 months, I have been chairing the Customer Challenge Group of South East Water which has to submit views on the company’s business plan for 2015-2020 to the water regulator Ofwat . Each water company in England & Wales has a CCG which has […]
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It’s the first day of December which means …
December 1st, 2013 by Roger Darlington
… I’ve just received my first Christmas card. It was sent electronically – no doubt to avoid delay in the post.
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A new definition of a crisis – or what happened when Catrin came to stay
November 30th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Our granddaughter Catrin stayed with us overnight for the third time in her near three years. This was so that her parents could celebrate one of them having a significant birthday. There was only one crisis and one episode. The crisis occurred when Catrin was all ready to go to bed dressed in her nappy […]
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The day Kennedy died
November 22nd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
The media is full of reflections on the assassination of President John F Kennedy exactly 50 years ago today. At the time, I was a teenager of 15 attending a Roman Catholic secondary school in Manchester. I reproduce below, without comment, what I wrote in my diary that day: “The Beatles were No 1 in […]
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Our attendance at “The Book Of Mormon”
November 21st, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Although we live in London, Vee and I do not take as much advantage as we should of the city’s theatres. However, this week we ventured out in the cold and rain to see the musical: “The Book Of Mormon” at the Prince of Wales Theatre. This is a very funny, very rude, very irreverent […]
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Can you imagine a television programme on life in a cul-de-sac? (3)
November 15th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
A month and a half ago, I did a posting about being contacted by a television production company interested in making a documentary about living in a cul-de-sac. This was a follow up to a posting I did seven years ago! Well, things have moved on. Following my circulation of a flyer about the programme idea to all the […]
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When the going gets tough, then the tough get going (if not now, then soon)
November 14th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Almost two years ago, I was appointed the independent Chair of the Customer Challenge Group at South East Water which supplies drinking water to 2.1 million customers in Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire. Our prime role is to challenge the construction and composition of the Business Plan for 2015-2020 which the company will be submitting to the regulator Ofwat […]
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If you’re thinking of Christmas presents for children …
November 13th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
… you’re not alone. So am I. I have no connection with this company, but – just a tip – I’ve bought a number of games from The Happy Puzzle Company.
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