Archive for July, 2016
A review of the remake of “Ghostbusters”
July 22nd, 2016 by Roger Darlington
This film has had mixed reviews and forced its black star to leave Twitter but I enjoyed it. You can read my review here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
The beginning and the end of the novel “War And Peace”
July 21st, 2016 by Roger Darlington
At the beginning of the year, I did a blog posting titled “Have you ever read ‘War And Peace’?” and then two months later another blog posting titled “How to cover ‘War And Peace’ in six hours”. Recently I read an article entitled “War and Peace: the 10 things you need to know (if you haven’t […]
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
What Britain’s new Foreign Secretary had to say at his first media conference
July 20th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
“We can spend an awfully long time going over lots of stuff that I’ve written over the last 30 years … all of which in my view have been taken out of context, through what alchemy I do not know – somehow misconstrued that it would really take me too long to engage in a […]
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Half of low income households at risk of missing out on vital welfare benefits
July 19th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
You hear a lot of political propaganda in this country and others about how so many people choose to live on welfare benefits as a lifestyle choice when allegedly they could simply go out and obtain satisfying paid work. The reality is, of course, utterly different. It is estimated by the Government itself that the […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Does the world need another Tarzan movie?
July 18th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
So many films are remakes or sequels. It seems that moviemakers are terribly risk averse and are reluctant to try new characters and stories. So now we have yet another Tarzan film which really does little to distinguish the franchise. You can read my review here. But, if we have to return to characters that […]
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A review of “The Lady In The Van”
July 17th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
First a book; then a stage play; then a radio adaptation; and finally a film. It is a remarkable, and mostly true, story that slowly unfolds to portray a character as damaged as she is eccentric. Check out my review of the movie here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Trying to understand the phenomenon of global political Islam
July 16th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
We don’t yet fully understand the motivation behind the terrible attack at Nice, but it seems that the perpetrator, as well as being mentally ill, was inspired by Islamic fundamentalism. We don’t yet know the background to the attempted coup in Turkey, but it seems that sections of the military are concerned about a shift […]
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (3)
Why I visit Snodland so often
July 15th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
You’ve probably never heard of Snodland which sounds like somewhere in a story of Noddy and Big Ears. In fact, Snodland is a village in Kent where the company South East Water is headquartered. For the last four or so years, I have chaired the company’s Customer Challenge Group – now called Customer Panel – […]
Posted in Consumer matters, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
Some odd choices in Theresa May’s new Cabinet
July 15th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
In the last three weeks, British politics has been a whirlwind of surprises. The latest shocks come with the appointment of a new Cabinet by the new Prime Minister Theresa May. Most shocking of all is Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary. He is infamous for his many gaffes and insults denigrating various foreign figures and […]
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (3)
How can we use behavioural economics to better understand customers ?
July 14th, 2016 by Roger Darlington
In my capacity as Chair of the South East Water Customer Panel, some months ago I met Julien Lancha, Chief Customer Officer and co-founder of a company called Advizzo which advises companies on how to use behavioural insights to better serve their customers. I’ve met him several times since and we’ve had some fascinating discussions. Following […]
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