Archive for April, 2011
“Rocks will melt in the sun …”
April 7th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
I was talking to a Scottish colleague this week and she quoted the leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party Alex Salmond as insisting that “rocks will melt in the sun” before he introduces university tuition fees for Scottish students. I had not heard this phraseology before and clearly it is so colourful that it did […]
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (3)
Obama to run again
April 6th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
As long-term readers of NightHawk will know, I backed Barack Obama for the US Presidency from the moment he was elected to the Congress. I first blogged about Obama in April 2004. Then I blogged 11 times on the Illinois Senate race which he won in November 2004. In my last posting on that election, […]
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (1)
Out of the mouths of babes
April 5th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
I saw my darling granddaughter Catrin again today. I took her out in the pram for an hour and a half to give her mum a break and me some fun time. In fact, she slept most of the time but, when she was awake, I had some more wonderful smiles. She’s some way from […]
Posted in Miscellaneous, My life & thoughts | Comments (1)
Word of the day: sesquicentennial
April 4th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
The word refers to a period of 150 years or the 150th anniversary of an event. We are about to commemorate in a week’s time the 150th anniversary of a major historic event, so you will see the word used and reports on the anniversary – remember where you saw it first. The event I […]
Posted in Cultural issues, History | Comments (0)
Happy Mothers Day to all you mums
April 3rd, 2011 by Roger Darlington
In the UK, it’s Mothers Day and I want to send special good wishes to my daughter-in-law Emily who is celebrating her first Mothers Day. Eleven weeks ago, she gave birth to my first grandchild Catrin who is doing great and is an absolute delight. My own mother died 12 years ago and I still […]
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
The Arabic singing of Fairuz and Ilham
April 2nd, 2011 by Roger Darlington
When I travel abroad, I often like to bring back some local music. In the course of my recent visit to Syria and Lebanon, I bought CDs by two very popular Arabic singers and I’ve been listening to them again today. The first singer is called Fairuz – her actual name is Nouhad Wadi Haddad […]
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Who started the Arab revolutions?
April 2nd, 2011 by Roger Darlington
Transformative historical events usually have profound, long-term causes but can be initiated by an incident or spark. Think of the First World War which was started by the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo. The last three months have seen amazing events in the Arab nations of north Africa and the Middle East. Tunisia, […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (3)
My offer to become a London Ambassador (3)
April 1st, 2011 by Roger Darlington
As I have reported in a previous posting, I have applied to become a London Ambassador for the 2012 Olympic Games. Today I heard that I have been shortlisted for interview but the interview is not for another three months. A marathon rather than a sprint then.
Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (1)
How many of these books have you read?
April 1st, 2011 by Roger Darlington
Apparently the average is six (although this is probably just an invention), but I’ve read 20 of these 100 books. I’m guessing that my American cyberbuddy Dana has read more than any of my friends. What about you?
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (8)