Archive for January, 2010
David Cameron and that poster
January 16th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Conservative Party leader David Cameron has received a lot of publicity – much of it critical – for the airbrushed poster that prominently featured his face. There have been some great spoofs of the poster online which you can see here.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (1)
It’s that time of year
January 16th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Ask any relationship counsellor or divorce lawyer and they will tell you that January is the peak month for marital break-ups. It’s all to do with all that close family proximity over the holiday season of Christmas. My short story “The Dinner Party” is set about this time of year. I originally put it on […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
My 17th short story
January 15th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
My latest short story – the 17th – is actually the shortest of all at only around 1,000 words. So you might like to give it a go and let me know what you think. It’s called “Nostalgic Reminiscence”.
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (3)
Forgotten World (200): Serbia
January 15th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Effectively Serbia – a country of 7.3 million – is what is left over from the collapse and break-up of the former Communist state of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. The six republics of the old Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia, which was proclaimed in 1945, comprised Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Hercegovina and Macedonia. Serbia became a […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (1)
Looking after pets post Rapture
January 14th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Ever heard of the Rapture? This is a predicted future event, found primarily among Conservative Protestant denominations, relating to the return of Jesus and the taking into Heaven of the devout. Apparently there are 40-50 million believers in the Rapture in USA. Further information here. Now the problem is that animals are said to be […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (1)
Forgotten World (199): Martinique
January 14th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Martinique is a mountainous and densely-populated overseas department of France in the Caribbean with a population of 400,000. The French and Creole heritage is mirrored in its customs, food and languages. Tourism flourishes on the tropical island, which draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year and is a stopping-off point for cruise ships. Despite […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
How do we measure time?
January 13th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
There have been – and indeed still are – many calendars to plot the passage of time. In today’s “Guardian”, ‘Notes and queries’ features a short overview – see here.
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
How do we measure distance?
January 13th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Over the centuries, there have been countless means of measuring distance, but today all scientists use metres. Since 1793 when the French first made the effort, there have been many attempts to define a metre. The book “You Are Here” [my review here] explains that, since 1983, the metre has been defined as the distance […]
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Forgotten World (198): Seychelles
January 13th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
Seychelles is an archipelago nation of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some 1,500 kilometres (932 miles) east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar. The biggest island is about the size of Manhattan, the smallest the size of a coffee table. Independence from Britain came in 1976 and, after an ominous, post-independence […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
Fact and fiction in kidnapping
January 12th, 2010 by Roger Darlington
There is a report today that three British people and a Colombian working for oil giant Shell have been seized in Nigeria’s Delta region. It was this sort of incident that inspired one of my short stories: “The Hostage”.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)