Archive for April, 2011
A review of “Far From The Madding Crowd”
April 25th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
The film, not the book. Check it out here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
The music of Adele
April 25th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
I may be a man in his early sixties, but I try to keep up with popular music. So I decided to check out the work of Adele which has become so popular in both the UK and the USA. I bought her latest – the second – CD called simply “21”. It is really […]
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (2)
What does it take to start a revolution?
April 24th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
Three weeks ago, I did a posting about the revolutions currently convulsing the Arab world. I wrote: “The underlying causes of this Arab Awakening include dictatorial regimes in power for decades, growing nepotism and corruption, increases in those obtaining higher education, substantial youth unemployment, rising food prices and falling living standards, the ability to communicate […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
A review of “The Rock Of Tanios”
April 23rd, 2011 by Roger Darlington
I’ve just discovered a great author – the Lebanese-born Amin Maalouf. Possibly his best-known work is the novel “The Rock Of Tanios” which I’ve reviewed here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
The challenges of being young and female
April 23rd, 2011 by Roger Darlington
This week the British think tank Demos published a study of young women which is co-authored by my son Richard. The report suggests that, compared to boys, British teenage girls experience worse rates of binge drinking, worse levels of physical inactivity and more frequent incidences of teen pregnancy than their European counterparts. In the course […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Our very busy social week
April 22nd, 2011 by Roger Darlington
This week has been amazing in London with consistently hot weather which has been great for the kids off school and the tourists visiting the capital. Furthermore the week has been special for Vee and me for the very full social programme that we’ve enjoyed which has been particularly busy because of Jewish Pesach coinciding […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (1)
Preparations for the Royal Wedding
April 18th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
Today I had a meeting at the Department for Work & Pensions in central London and there was a great deal of unusual activity at the end of Tothill Street. The area outside the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, which is adjacent to the entrance to Westminster Abbey, is full of scaffolding and seats in […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (1)
Yes to the alternative vote
April 18th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
In a previous posting, I have declared my support for the introduction of the Alternative Vote (AV) electoral system for elections to the UK Parliament and my intention to vote ‘yes’ in the referendum on 5 May. Today the think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) – for whom my son works – […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (1)
A review of “Tamara Drewe”
April 17th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
This weekend, we rented the DVD of the British film “Tamara Drewe”. I’ve reviewed it here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
How does homeopathy work?
April 17th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
The short answer here. A longer answer here.
Posted in Science & technology | Comments (0)