Archive for December, 2006
50 works of art to see before you die
December 9th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
The readers of the “Guardian” newspaper have compiled a list of 50 great works of art which you should see before you die (when else would you see them?). You can check out the list here. I reckon that i’ve seen 19 of them – but I’m not dead yet.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
I agree absolutely
December 8th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
I saw this sign and photographed it this morning outside Treadwell’s book shop in London’s Covent Garden.
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
Two heads are better than one
December 8th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
Not sure about that? Check it out here.
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
A tornado down the road
December 7th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
Like most people living in Britain, I tend to think of this as a country which doesn’t have tornadoes – but today I was reminded how wrong I am. In the Lodon borough in which I live (Brent), this morning there was a tornado that damaged around 150 homes and injured six people. In fact, […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (1)
Understanding photons
December 7th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
This week, I took a phone call from a student at the University of Manchester to discuss how I might contribute to the university’s Alumni Fund. I was a student in Management Sciences at the University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology (UMIST) from 1967-1971 and UMIST has recently merged with the Victoria University […]
Posted in Science & technology | Comments (2)
Why did Litvinenko die?
December 6th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
Nowhere are different theories being discussed more than in Moscow. See here an examination of four theories in the Russian newspaper “Izvestia”.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (1)
The history of the Middle East
December 6th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
The plan is that our next holiday will be to Israel at Easter 2007. I’ll have to read at least one history of the Middle East before we go. Meanwhile there’s a fascinating web site that presents an animated historical map of the Middle East which enables you to review 3000 years of history in […]
Posted in History | Comments (0)
What kind of schools do we need?
December 5th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
The Government wants to see more faith schools but, in a recent poll of headteachers, only 9% agreed with this policy. The Government wants to see more academy schools but, in the same survey, only 7% of headteachers backed such establishments. You can see more information on the survey here. I think that the headteachers […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (2)
Our new home?
December 5th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
I was brought up by a single parent in one privately-rented place after another in Manchester and I would happily never move house again. In fact, we have lived in our present home in Sudbury Hill for 22 years and done a lot to improve it, so I have no wish whatsoever to move. But […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (2)
Should the UK renew the Trident system? (1)
December 4th, 2006 by Roger Darlington
Trident, the UK ‘s nuclear weapons system, is a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) system consisting of four British-built Vanguard class nuclear-powered submarines each carrying up to 16 US Trident II D5 missiles. There are around three British-built nuclear warheads mounted on every missile making about 48 warheads carried by each submarine. Each warhead can be […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (7)