Archive for July, 2013


A wonderful example of Czech irreverent humour

July 31st, 2013 by Roger Darlington

My wife Vee and I have just returned from a long weekend (four nights) in Prague where we were attending the wedding of a dear friend. It was my 24th trip to the Czech Republic, largely explained by the fact that Vee is half Czech. We have seen all the sights so many times so, […]

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A special wedding in a special city

July 27th, 2013 by Roger Darlington

Czechoslovakia – now the Czech Republic – has long had a special place in our lives and hearts because my wife’s father was Czech. He was a distinguished night fighter pilot in the Second World War and you can read about him here. In 1985 while Czechoovakia was still communist, we met a Czech doctor […]

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What is the highest bungee jump in the world – and would you do it?

July 25th, 2013 by Roger Darlington

There is news today that there are plans to build “the world’s highest bungee jumping platform” on a Swiss cliff top. This raises the question of what is currently the highest bungee jump on the globe. Now for me it’s an academic question, because you ain’t going to get me doing any sort of bungee […]

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How diverse is your community?

July 24th, 2013 by Roger Darlington

I often think that how one sees the world is coloured – if you’ll forgive the pun – by how one’s community looks in terms of diversity or ethnicity. I live in the Northwick Park Ward of the Borough of Brent in the city of London and I have recently seen census data for the […]

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Farewell Consumer Focus, hello Consumer Futures

July 23rd, 2013 by Roger Darlington

Consumer Focus – on whose Board I served for four years – has just published its last Annual Report. In it, the Chair Christine Farnish writes: “This is the last Consumer Focus Annual Report. We were established by Parliament in 2008 as the result of a merger between the National Consumer Council, energywatch and Postwatch. […]

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The Royal Family has a new prince but the Darlington family already has a princess

July 22nd, 2013 by Roger Darlington

The latest picture of my granddaughter Catrin

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A review of the summer blockbuster movie “Pacific Rim”

July 22nd, 2013 by Roger Darlington

Two of the cities that I visited on my holiday in March are destroyed by sea monsters in “Pacific Rim” so it’s a good thing that I went when I did. You can read my review of the film here.

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A poem from my niece Saskia

July 20th, 2013 by Roger Darlington

”The Dragon Eye”   Bright as the moon fierce as the sun as delicate as a rose weighs just about a ton   Yet its foot steps are silent so he wanders late at night fighting other dragons and using his special power flight   He’s delicate and cunning but fierce and enchanted as he […]

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A review of the film “The Impossible”

July 20th, 2013 by Roger Darlington

When this film about the tsunami of Boxing Day 2004 was released at the beginning of the year, I did not manage to catch it at the cinema. But I have just seen a Blu-ray version from Lovefilm and was very impressed. You can read my review here.

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The decline and decline of Detroit

July 19th, 2013 by Roger Darlington

The city of Detroit used to be one of the most dynamic in the United States, but it has suffered a steady decline over a period of 60 years and it has now filed for bankruptcy. Detroit is the US’s 18th most populous city and the largest by far to go into bankruptcy. The figures […]

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