The treasures of Afghanistan

May 31st, 2011 by Roger Darlington

All we ever hear about Afghanistan is war and death, but the country has a long history and a rich heritage. Some of this is celebrated in a current exhibition at the British Museum which my wife and I visited this morning.

The exhibits come from four archaeological sites in the north of the country: Tepe Fullol, Al Khanum, Begram and Tillya Tepe.

One of the most beautiful exhibits is a gold crown from Tillya Tepe which is dated 1st century AD. This astonishing object was found in the tomb of a nomadic woman. It was designed and assembled from different pieces which allowed it to be folded when not in use.

Posted in Cultural issues, History | Comments (0)

Global warming still out of control

May 30th, 2011 by Roger Darlington

“Greenhouse gas emissions increased by a record amount last year, to the highest carbon output in history, putting hopes of holding global warming to safe levels all but out of reach, according to unpublished estimates from the International Energy Agency.

The shock rise means the goal of preventing a temperature rise of more than 2 degrees Celsius – which scientists say is the threshold for potentially “dangerous climate change” – is likely to be just “a nice Utopia”, according to Fatih Birol, chief economist of the IEA. It also shows the most serious global recession for 80 years has had only a minimal effect on emissions, contrary to some predictions.”

This is the stark message from the lead story in today’s “Guardian” newspaper.

What can you do as an individual? You’ll find few tips on “How To Save Energy” here.

Posted in Environment | Comments (0)

Reminiscences from a 90 year old war veteran

May 29th, 2011 by Roger Darlington

In 1985, my biography of Vee’s father – Flight Lieutenant Karel Kuttelwascher DFC & Bar – was published as “Night Hawk”. It took me three years to research and write and I thought that the project was then over – but it keeps coming back to life, even after 26 years.

In 2006, Vee and I were interviewed for a television programme about her father’s wartime exploits in a series called “Love And War”. From time to time, it is rebroadcast by the Yesterday channel.

At the beginning of May, the programme was broadcast again. One of those who saw it contacted his daughter who then tracked me down. Don (‘Lofty’) Parks – who is 90 in a few weeks time – was a flight mechanic who worked on Kuttelwascher’s Hurricane IIC aircraft and remembers him well.

His daughter Gillian Castro was keen to obtain a copy of “Night Hawk” for her father for his 90th birthday but, of course, it has long been out of print and only second-hand copies are available online. So this afternoon we drove over to meet Don and Gillian in St Albans and Vee presented him with a signed copy of the book from our very limited stock. As you can imagine he was absolutely thrilled.

Don is in incredibly good shape. He still lives alone and does all his own cooking. Each morning, he does a set of exercises that he learned while in the wartime Royal Air Force.

Vee with 90 years young Don Parks

We spent over two hours listening to his wartime reminiscences. He was a member of the ground crew at No 1 Squadron throughout the three-month period when Vee’s father shot down 15 German bombers. He later served in Egypt, Palestine and India.

Vee and I have never seen a decent photograph of her father in his Hurricane fighter aircraft but Don has one which he is copying for us.

Vee’s father in his Hurricane
– the swastikas represent aircraft shot down

Posted in History | Comments (1)

Oh, what a delicious mess

May 28th, 2011 by Roger Darlington

I do love my desserts as I’ve explained here. This evening, I had dinner with friends and concluded with a dish with the delightful name of Eton mess. In fact, our friend Nina also had the Eton mess but only ate half of it – so I finished her mess as well.

We are dinner at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, London, following attendance at a short play called “Do We Look Like Refugees?!” The play concerns the plight of those Georgians displaced from South Ossetia following the war with Russia in 2008 and it is delivered largely in Georgian with surtitles.

Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)

Ratko Mladic and the siege of Sarajevo

May 28th, 2011 by Roger Darlington

I was delighted this week to hear the news of the arrest at long last of the Bosnian Serb leader Ratko Mladic. Of all his war crimes, undoubtedly the most horrific was the massacre at Srebrenica in 1995, but I have a particular interest in his responsibility for the siege of Sarajevo from 1992-1996.

In 2007, I spent several days in Sarajevo and saw and heard memories from the siege. You can read my account here.

Posted in History, World current affairs | Comments (0)

A review of “Hanna”

May 28th, 2011 by Roger Darlington

The eponymous heroine of this action thriller is like no 16 year old you’ve ever met. Check out my review here.

Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)

The difficult debate on Internet regulation

May 27th, 2011 by Roger Darlington

“The internet cannot exist in some undiscussable and untouchable dimension of human activity. It is a human creation. It affects human lives in all sorts of increasing ways. Morality and the rule of law should apply on the internet as elsewhere in human conduct. As such, it is an absolutely proper subject for governments to consider, though naturally with sensitivity.”

“To argue for controls over the internet may not be cool. But the internet was surely not meant to be this way. The geniuses who created the modern web and made it so exciting did not do so in order to create the largest pornography bombardment in human history, to have a global email system weighed down by spam, to encourage hostile hacking into national security secrets, to embolden sectarian bigots to violent threats or mere gossipers to say ill-considered things under the protection of pseudonymity.”

These are quotes from a piece by Martin Kettle in today’s “Guardian”. He makes some good points and raises issues which have exercised me for more than a decade. I’ve spoken and written on Internet regulation including this speech.

Posted in Internet | Comments (0)

How to reduce the risk of a heart disease

May 26th, 2011 by Roger Darlington

For three months in early 2009, I took part in an international trial of something called the “polypill” to test its efficacy in combating heart disease. The pill contains aspirin 75 mg, simvastatin 20 mg, lisinopril 10 mg and hydrochlorothiazide 12.5 mg. I blogged regularly about my experience with a concluding post here.

The result of the international trial has now been published and is very encouraging – if not quite as dramatic as some originally hoped. The once-a-day tablet has been shown to halve the risk of heart disease and stroke in those who take it, opening the way to a simple form of global mass preventative medication. You can read more about the outcome of the trial here.

Posted in Miscellaneous, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)

A review of “Pirates 4”

May 26th, 2011 by Roger Darlington

The fourth instalment in the immensely successful “Pirates Of The Caribbean” franchise is now out. Should you go and see it or wait for the DVD? Check out my review here.

Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)