One of the longest love affairs in history
May 26th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Luigi Pedutto was an Italian prisoner of war, while Mokryna Yurzuk was a Ukrainian forced labourer. They met during the Second World War in a Nazi camp in Austria and fell in love. What happened?
You can read their story here.
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
If you were faced with an armed terrorist, what would you do?
May 25th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Would you attempt to flee the scene or would you walk up to the terrorist and engage him in conversation?
Here in my home city of London, this week two Muslim fundamentalists hacked to death a soldier in broad daylight as he walked in a street in Woolwich. One remarkable woman, named Ingrid Loyau-Kennet, approached the killers and engaged one in conversation. You can see a short television interview with her here.
Bizarrely, something just like this situation came to my mind as inspiration for a short story which I wrote four years ago. You can read “A Moment In Time” here.
Posted in British current affairs, My life & thoughts | Comments (3)
A review of “Iron Man 3”
May 23rd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Tony Stark strikes again in this new movie which I’ve reviewed here.
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Why was Ann Boleyn executed in 1536?
May 23rd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
This was the question examined in a fascinating BBC2 programme aired this evening. Seven different historians and historical novelists offered their views, including Suzannah Lipscomb who has blogged about the programme and the subject here.
Another of the contributors was Man Booker Prize winning novelist Hilary Mantel. The death of Ann Boleyn concludes her new novel “Bring Up The Bodies” which I have reviewed here.
Posted in Cultural issues, History | Comments (0)
My introduction to e-government services
May 23rd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
One of the huge potential benefits of widespread Internet connectivity and digital literacy is the development of online government services at both national and local level. Although I have been using the Net for 18 years now, it was not until very recently that I have entered the world of e-government services.
I imagine that, if you know me, you’ll be surprised (!) to learn that next month I was be 65 and therefore eligible for a state pension. So I have just registered on the Government Gateway and applied for my pension.
It took longer than I expected because a lot of information is required – both to establish identity and eligibility – and my position is a bit complicated (I am still a portfolio worker). The whole process took a degree of confidence that I’m not sure all people in their mid 60s have and some would require support and encouragement.
Posted in Internet, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
An interesting perspective on the distribution of population around the globe
May 22nd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
There are more people living inside this circle than outside of it.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
Practical advice at my local station on the London Underground
May 22nd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (2)
A review of “Star Trek Into Darkness”
May 21st, 2013 by Roger Darlington
You can read my review of the latest “Star Trek” movie here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (1)
Do you know a place where seven streets come together?
May 20th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
I do – it’s called Seven Dials and it’s located in the centre of my home city of London. You can see a map here and find more information here.
There’s a Seven Dials in Brighton too [see here], so the UK has at least two such phenomena.
The French beat us by having the Place Charles de Gaulle with no less than 12 roads coming together [see here].
Do you know of any other places around the world where seven or more streets come together?
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (1)
More time with American friends in Dover
May 19th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Two years ago, Vee and I drove down to Dover for the weekend to spend some time with our close American friends Mike and Laura Grace who had crossed the Atlantic on the “Celebrity Constellation” and docked in the port for a few hours. You can read my blog posting on the occasion here.
One year ago, we went to the United States and stayed for a week with Mike & Laura in their home between Washington DC and Baltimore. You can read my account of the trip here.
This weekend, Vee and I repeated the visit to Dover since again Mike & Laura were over on the same cruise ship. They were very keen to discuss our recent holiday in Australia and New Zealand, because they want to visit those countries themselves, and they pored over the near 700 photos in our four albums. You can read an account of our holiday and view a much smaller selection of photos here.
We drove Mike & Laura over to the Battle of Britain Memorial at nearby Capel-le-Ferne. This has a wall listing all the 3,000 Royal Air Force pilots who fought in the Battle which includes Vee’s father the Czech Karel Kuttelwascher.
The famous white cliffs of Dover
Vee points out the name of her father
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