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 year. So I spent today in Oxford.
None of the Committee members is paid anything so, as a ‘thank you’ for our year’s work, we were taken for lunch to the Randolph Hotel. I chose the traditional Christmas fare and had turkey with all the trimmings followed by Christmas pudding – all of which I love.
After the meal. I was passing through the hotel reception when a big, black guy and I accidentally brushed shoulders. As we each turned to the other to apologise, I realised that he was American civil rights activist Jesse Jackson. Apparently he was in town to address the Oxford Union. Sorry, Jesse.
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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 been doing the same thing.
This is an important process because, on the basis of the company’s business plan and our critique of it, Ofwat will eventually decide what prices South East Water can charge to its 2.1 million customers from 2015-2020.
The deadline for submissions to Ofwat was noon today and I submitted our report about 9.30 am this morning. I decided to write the report myself – most other CCGs have employed professionals – and it has occupied most of my waking hours in the the last three months. This is because I have had to consult so many minutes, papers and people, read so many drafts of the company’s massive and complex business plan, and then take on board so many comments from CCG members and the company on my six drafts.
In the end, our CCG report came out at 108 pages. You can access it here. But I don’t expect you to read any of the report. Just be shocked and awed.
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A good friend of mine on television
December 2nd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
A new series, called “Pilgrimage With Simon Reeve”, is being shown on BBC2 television at 9 pm on Tuesdays.
My good friend Derek Bright, who runs the company Walk Awhile, will be appearing in the first programme tomorrow (Tuesday) evening. Check it out.
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A review of the film “Philomena”
December 1st, 2013 by Roger Darlington
You can read my review of this excellent British film here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (1)
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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He’s one of the most powerful men on the globe, but most of the world’s citizens could not give you his name and even political observers struggle to understand him
December 1st, 2013 by Roger Darlington
He is Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, the President of the People’s Republic of China, and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission.
The “Observer” newspaper carries this profile today.
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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 and pyjamas. All of sudden, there was a noise and a smell as she filled her nappy with poo. What to do? You see, her overnight pack only included one nappy. Obviously she could not stay in that nappy and she could not go through the night without a nappy. Fortunately we have a neighbour with four children, the smallest younger than Catrin. She kindly gave us a second nappy.
The episode was bedtime. Catrin is going through a phase of not wanting to go to bed. I tried everything – stories, warm milk, the lot. What eventually worked was me lying on her bed as she lay on the floor – and waiting … The trouble is, I was asleep before her. But when I woke, she was fast asleep and I transferred her then to her bed.
Other than the crisis and the episode, she was perfect – absolutely adorable and immensely chatty. She was great on the two London Underground trains from her nursery to our home in spite of the rush hour crowds. She loved watching DVD episodes of Peppa Pig. She played with our family of wooden cats.
In the morning, Catrin’s first words were not: “Wake up, granddad!!!” But: “Where’s my dragon?” (her red dragon toy was behind her bed). She delighted in watching DVD episodes of “Angelina Ballerina”. She wolfed Nanny Vee’s porridge with blueberries. She had a bath with the most bubbles ever. With a little help from granddad, she completed a 48 piece jigsaw of dinosaurs.
We were meeting her daddy at Harrow-on-the-Hill tube station so we went to Harrow shopping centre first. Catrin thrilled to two rides on an aeroplane roundabout and two rides on a spinning cup roundabout. Then we stayed warm in a cafe where she had chocolate cake and babyccino until daddy collected her.
Till the next time, little one …
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A review of the film “Ender’s Game”
November 29th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
As a portfolio worker, I have lots of meetings which do not always slot one after the other. If I have an hour or two between meetings, I go to a book shop. If I have longer, I try to find a film.
Yesterday, in between meetings with South East Water and the Tinder Foundation, I took in the movie “Ender’s Game” which I have reviewed here.
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How the Mother of Parliaments might be brought into the 21st century (1)
November 28th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Speaking to the Hansard Society this week, the Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow said:
“I am announcing today the creation of a Speaker’s Commission on Digital Democracy, the core membership of which will be assembled in the next few weeks, supplemented by a circle of around 30 expert commissioners and reinforced I hope by up to 60 million members of the public.
“This exercise will start in early 2014 and report in early 2015, a special year for Parliament as it will be the 750th anniversary of the de Montfort Parliament, along with the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, the document that set the scene for the 1265 Parliament to come later.
“Digital democracy will have some universal features but others which vary nation by nation. It is yet another change which pushes against formality and for flexibility.
“Its elements might include online voting, e-dialogue between representatives and those represented, increased interconnectedness between the functions of representation, scrutiny and legislation, multiple concepts of what is a constituency, flexibility about what is debated when and how, and a much more intense pace for invention and adaptation.”
Some more information here.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (1)
The new Cold War: China vs Japan
November 28th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
In the East China Sea, there is a a group of islands which the Japanese call Senkaku and the Chinese call Diaoyu. Japan currently owns them but China wants them. This is the most current and visible point of conflict between China and Japan, but the divisions between the two Asian giants runs much deeper as explained in this article.
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