A review of the new version of “The Magnificent Seven”
September 26th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Like almost everyone, I loved the 1960 version of “The Magnificent Seven” and I’ve seen it at least four times. But the new remake of the classic is a decent work that deserves to be enjoyed. I’ve written a review here.
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One of the most beautiful songs ever recorded
September 25th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
I refer to the Italian song “Con Te Partiro” as sung by the tenor Andrea Bocelli. You can hear and watch him perform this classic here:
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A review of the 1979 Woody Allen movie “Manhattan”
September 24th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Of course, I have seen it before, but this weekend I was round with friends and we revisited this Woody Allen classic, leading me to review it here.
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Watch Mustafa Suleyman at FutureFest 2016
September 24th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
I’m very interested in the future – it’s where I intend to spend the rest of my life. Last weekend, I attended an event called FutureFest and this is one of the talks – a discussion of artificial intelligence – that I heard:
Mustafa Suleyman, Co-founder of Google DeepMind at FutureFest 2016 from Nesta UK on Vimeo.
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A review of the Jordanian film “Theeb”
September 23rd, 2016 by Roger Darlington
In 60 years of watching movies, I think that my all-time favourite film is still “Lawrence Of Arabia” (1962) – see my review here.
Surprisingly, I’ve just seen a film set and shot in the same location and rooted in the same point of history. It is the Jordanian work “Theeb” which I found moving and which I have reviewed here.
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The 100th anniversary of the birth of Karel Kuttelwascher, the RAF’s greatest night intruder pilot
September 23rd, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of my wife’s father, a Czech pilot with the wartime RAF whose story I wrote in the book “Night Hawk” published by William Kimber in 1985 and to be reprinted by Fonthill Media in 2017.
Flight Lieutenant Karel Kuttelwascher,
DFC and Bar
Together with many other Czechoslovak pilots, Kuttelwascher was able to make his way from Poland to France where he was drafted into the Foreign Legion to await the imminent outbreak of war. When war came, he flew with the French Air Force in the fierce but brief Battle of France. He claimed a number of German aircraft destroyed and damaged.
Then, when France fell, he managed to reach Algeria, escaped to Morocco, and took ship to Britain where he immediately joined the beleaguered Royal Air Force. He was assigned to the RAF’s oldest unit, the legendary No. 1 Squadron in time to earn his place as one of ‘The Few’.
Kuttelwacher eventually spent a full two years with No. 1 Squadron. During the early circus operations, in each of the months of April, May and June 1941, he shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 109 off the French coast – but his score would not remain at three.
Meanwhile No. 1 Squadron experienced more excitement with their involvement in the famous Channel Dash when, on 12 February 1942, the two German battle cruisers ‘Scharnhorst’ and ‘Gneisenau’ raced from the French port of Brest and set sail for Norway. In a cannon-blazing attack on three accompanying destroyers, No.1 Squadron lost two aircraft, but Kut saw his shells exploding on the decks of his destroyer and judged the damage to be considerable.
By this time, No. 1 Squadron was based at its ancestral home at Tangmere. It was in April, May & June of 1942 that Kuttelwascher – notwithstanding his German surname – became the scourge of the Luftwaffe bombers operating from France and the Low Countries. The type of operation was called night intrusion. This involved flying a long range Hurricane IIC, aptly named the ‘Night Reaper’, over enemy bases during the couple of weeks around the full moon. He would endeavour to locate German bombers as they were taking off or landing, so that they were low, slow and vulnerable to his cannon.
In just three months, Kuttelwascher destroyed 15 bombers and damaged a further five. On one memorable occasion, he knocked out three Heinkel bombers in just four minutes. These exploits brought him the Distinguished Flying Cross twice in a mere 42 days.
He was the RAF’s greatest night intruder ace and, with his total score of 18, the top-scoring Czech pilot of the Second World War. The wartime media dubbed him ”the Czech night hawk”.
You can find more details about his exploits here.
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From Moscow to Mexico: a father-and-son’s 2,000 mile voyage by bicycle from northern Idaho to the Mexican border
September 22nd, 2016 by Roger Darlington
A colleague of mine has just done something remarkable. Together with his teenage son, he raised over £5,000 for the cancer charity Macmillan by cycling some 2,000 miles in the United States over a period of seven weeks.
I made a small contribution to the cause which which is why I followed the journey on Facebook as it happened. The whole trip has now been written up in a captivating account complete with great photographs. If you’re interested in cycling or the USA or would like to contribute to the cause, check out the narrative here.
Many congratulations Adam and Joe.
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A review of the recent film “Woman In Gold”
September 21st, 2016 by Roger Darlington
Helen Mirren gives another golden performance as an Austrian refugee in the United States seeking the restitution of the most famous of Gustav Klimt’s paintings. You can read my review here.
And you can find a picture of the magnificent painting itself here.
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How can the consumer voice be better heard in the regulation of essential services?
September 20th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
The Essential Services Access Network (ESAN) – which I chair – will hold an important one day conference on Wednesday 2 November 2016 focusing on the consumer voice in the regulation of essential services such as water, energy, communications, financial services and transport.
The event will be held at the BT Tower in central London. There will be 18 speakers discussing different models of consumer representation and different methodologies for finding out what consumers think. You can check out the programme here.
All those with an interest in consumer engagement are encouraged to attend this event. To register a place, please contact: admin@esan.org.uk.
Posted in Consumer matters | Comments (0)
The amazing rice fields of Japan
September 19th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
A friend drew my attention to something rather special. Check this out and be amazed …
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