Archive for August, 2011


Remembering Nicholas Winton

August 31st, 2011 by Roger Darlington

The media has dubbed him Britain’s Oskar Schindler but his story is by no means as well-known as that of Schindler. He is Nicholas Winton and he is still alive, aged a remarkable 102. In the months prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, he organised groups of Jewish children from Czechoslovakia on […]

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Remembering Hans Litten

August 31st, 2011 by Roger Darlington

I think I know a fair bit about the Second World War and then I discover something I never knew. Recently it was the story of Hans Litten, a German lawyer who defended victims of Nazism in the courts in the late 1920s and early 1930s, who has just been the subject of a both […]

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What is this and where is it? (1)

August 31st, 2011 by Roger Darlington

I’ll give you a few days to post your answers.

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How are hurricanes named?

August 30th, 2011 by Roger Darlington

Two of our closest friends flew back from New York to London last night, but their flight was delayed by the aftermath of Hurricane Irene. But why was it called Irene? The naming convention is a bit more complicated than you might think and has changed over time. You’ll find a brief explanation in this […]

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“Are you there Moriarty?”

August 30th, 2011 by Roger Darlington

In both the novel and the film “One Day” [see my reviews here], there is a scene where middle-class English characters play a parlour game called “Are you there Moriarty?” I had never heard of it before. Have you?

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A review of “One Day”

August 29th, 2011 by Roger Darlington

Like everyone who read it, I loved the novel by David Nicholls [my review here], but the film adaptation [my review here] – released this weekend – was not as successful as it should have been.

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Catrin’s visit to Wagamama

August 27th, 2011 by Roger Darlington

Today I indulged in one of my favourite activities: spending time with my gorgeous granddaughter Catrin (now seven and a half months). I was supposed to be babysitting this evening so that her mum & dad could go out and visit friends, but I was advised early in the day that she had her first […]

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What’s it like to be a NEET?

August 26th, 2011 by Roger Darlington

A NEET is a young person not in education, employment or training. What’s it like? “Being NEET, is no fun at all.” Who says so? My son Richard in this online piece.

Posted in British current affairs | Comments (2)


New views of St Paul’s Cathedral

August 25th, 2011 by Roger Darlington

Today I had a business lunch with a BT colleague at a restaurant close to the company’s headquarters in Paternoster Square which is next to St Paul’s Cathedral. I took the opportunity afterwards to call into the new shopping centre One New Change. I confess that I was less interested in the shops than in […]

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A review of “Never Let Me Go”

August 25th, 2011 by Roger Darlington

I’ve read the 1985 novel by Kazuo Ishiguro [my review here] and now I’ve seen the faithful 2010 film adaptation [my review here].

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