Archive for December, 2017


20 of the best films of 2017

December 10th, 2017 by Roger Darlington

I’m a big movie fan and see quite a lot of films, but I find it hard to select a set of best works for a list. However, the latest issue of “Empire” magazine – to which I subscribe – has offered this list of the top 20 of 2017 (I’ve seen 13): “Get Out” […]

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The centenary of the largest man-made non-nuclear explosion

December 6th, 2017 by Roger Darlington

The Halifax Explosion was a maritime disaster in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on the morning of 6 December 1917. SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship laden with high explosives, collided with the Norwegian vessel SS Imo in the Narrows, a strait connecting the upper Halifax Harbour to Bedford Basin. A fire on board the French […]

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A remarkable story about an amazing young woman

December 5th, 2017 by Roger Darlington

I recently attended a conference held at the BT Centre and organised by the Good Things Foundation (on whose board I have sat for six years – I step down tomorrow). The event was all about the power of the Internet to change lives for the better. The most inspirational address came from a young […]

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A review of the new film “Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool”

December 3rd, 2017 by Roger Darlington

In the late 1970s, Academy Award-winning American actress Gloria Grahame – four times married and deeply troubled – struck up an unusual relationship with an actor from Liverpool called Peter Turner who was some three decades younger than her. This British film is based on Turner’s account of their life together and is ably directed […]

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“Song For Guy” by Elton John

December 2nd, 2017 by Roger Darlington

This week, I saw the film “Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool” which features the “Song For Guy” by Elton John. The music took me right back …

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So apparently we’ve all evolved from the sister of the humble sponge (some more than others, Mr President)

December 1st, 2017 by Roger Darlington

“A longstanding row in animal evolution has come to a head, with a team of scientists claiming they have ended the debate over which type of creature is the sister of all other animals. Researchers have been torn for years over whether sponges or marine invertebrates known as comb jellies were the first type of […]

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