Archive for February, 2015


British general election (6): the key could be Scotland

February 28th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

“The evidence suggests that no single party will win an outright majority on 7 May. But with more than two months until voting day, and with the margins between possible government scenarios so tight, there are enough moving parts to yet turn the wheels in favour of either Cameron or Miliband. At this stage, the […]

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The film “Selma” and the song “Glory”

February 28th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

Earlier this week, I caught up with the film “Selma” which I have reviewed here. It’s surprising and disappointing that the brilliant  central performance was not nominated for an Academy Award but at least the moving song which closes the film won the Oscar for Best Song. You can listen to it here:

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In the week since our return from Ethiopia …

February 27th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

We have had our third and last rabies injection. We have had our third and last (for a year) hepatitis B injection. We have completed our course of maleria tablets. All the clothes have been washed and ironed (mostly at our local dry cleaners). Even our dusty, hard working trainers have been cleaned (in our […]

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What do you know about the Internet of things?

February 25th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

My latest IT column provides a short introduction to this fascinating subject. Check it out here.

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10 things we learned from this year’s Academy Awards

February 24th, 2015 by Roger Darlington

Last night, we watched a two-hour programme of the highlights of this year’s Academy Awards. It was good to seen British artists – most notably Eddie Redmayne – do so well. i have seen four of the eight films which wee nominated for Best Picture, but I have still not viewed the winner “Birdman”. So, […]

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15 + 1 greetings from around the world

February 23rd, 2015 by Roger Darlington

View Interactive Version (via Two Little Fleas). And an extra one from me: in Ethiopia, from where I have just returned, while still holding the right hand of your companion, you touch your right shoulder to your friend’s right shoulder three times.

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“The greatest novel you’ve never read”

February 22nd, 2015 by Roger Darlington

This is the description given by the “Sunday Times” newspaper to the novel “Stoner” written by the American John Williams and published as long ago as 1965. You can read my review here.

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What happened when I spilt my tea

February 22nd, 2015 by Roger Darlington

After two weeks away in Ethiopia, I haven’t quite settled into home yet. So somehow I managed to spill a full cup of tea over my computer keyboard. Once I had wiped up the mess, my keyboard looked cleaner than at any the since I bought it, but a number of the letters no longer […]

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Our Ethiopian odyssey: the complete narrative

February 21st, 2015 by Roger Darlington

During our two-week holiday in Ethiopia, I blogged most days about the travel experience of that day. I have now pulled all the postings into a single narrative. Even if you read the various blog postings, you might want to look at the narrative because: the headings relate to locations rather than dates there are […]

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What happened when I missed my desserts

February 21st, 2015 by Roger Darlington

A day after our return from a two-week holiday in Ethiopia, I weighed myself and found that I had lost almost 3 kilos. Partially this must be due to all the tough walking we did. Partially, however, it must be because we rarely had deserts and then it was usually a banana. As friends and […]

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