Archive for the ‘My life & thoughts’ Category
My summer reading project
August 1st, 2011 by Roger Darlington
Amazingly it’s the first week of August already. The organisations on which I sit do not have formal meetings, so it’s a light month for me and I like to have a project. Two summers ago, the project was to write five short stories. I exceeded my target and continued with the exercise so that […]
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There must not be another Hama
July 31st, 2011 by Roger Darlington
The political protests in Syria came later than in most Arab countries but have now been running for almost five months. The demonstrations began within a matter of days of Vee and I leaving the country after a brief holiday. One of the places we visited briefly was the city of Hama (see here). This […]
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39 stops on the London Underground
July 27th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
The London Underground system – popularly known as the Tube – is the oldest in the world (it opened in 1863) and the second largest in the world (only Shanghai is larger). Today I made one of the longest tube journeys of my life by travelling from Sudbury Hill on the Piccadilly Line to Hornchurch […]
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Exactly one year to the London Olympics
July 27th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
In exactly one year’s time, the 2012 Olympic Games will open in London. Essentially all the buildings are ready, but of course much more planning needs to take place. Today various special events will be held to mark the occasion. I have volunteered to be a London Ambassador for the Games, providing advice and guidance […]
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A lovely afternoon with granddaughter Catrin
July 25th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
This weekend, I babysat my gorgeous granddaughter Catrin for the fourth time (she is now six months old) while her mum and dad went to see the latest “Harry Potter” film. We were together almost five hours and had a fun time. We read three books together and then I fed her all the yogurt […]
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100 years since rediscovery of Machu Picchu
July 24th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
Exactly 100 years ago today, on 24 July 1911, Hiram Bingham announced the discovery of Machu Picchu in Peru. An American historian employed as a lecturer at Yale University, Bingham had been searching for the city of Vilcabamba, the last Inca refuge during the Spanish conquest. He had worked for years in previous trips and […]
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There’s a new ice cream parlour in town
July 24th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
As I’ve explained here, I’m very keen on my desserts. So I was delighted last night, when Vee and I went over to Muswell Hill for dinner with our good friend Eric, to find that a new ice cream parlour had opened right next door to the Chinese restaurant where we ate. Naturally we had […]
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Another new location in London: the Cartoon Museum
July 22nd, 2011 by Roger Darlington
One of the many reasons that I love living in London is that there is always something new to see and do. This week, my sister Silvia came down from Leicester to London for the day and suggested that we visit a museum that I hadn’t even here of. It’s the Cartoon Museum which was […]
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My new public appointment concerning digital radio
July 18th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
The Minister for Culture, Communications & Creative Industries Ed Vaizey has invited me to take over as the Chair of the Digital Consumer Electronic Group which has previously been ably chaired by Leen Petre of the RNIB. For most of its life, this Group – which advises the Government on the consumer view regarding digital […]
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Back with my beautiful granddaughter
July 15th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
My gorgeous granddaughter Catrin will be exactly half a year old on Sunday. I’ve been very fortunate in how often I’ve been able to see her because we live in the same city but, until this week, I had not seen her for four weeks (she has been in France most of the time with […]
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