My 18th short story
My latest short story - the 18th in the canon - is called "Coming In To Land".
Please read it and let me know what you think.
January 29, 2010
January 16, 2010
It's that time of year
Ask any relationship counsellor or divorce lawyer and they will tell you that January is the peak month for marital break-ups. It's all to do with all that close family proximity over the holiday season of Christmas.
My short story "The Dinner Party" is set about this time of year. I originally put it on my web site last September, but I thought it would be timely to mention it on this blog. Enjoy ...
January 15, 2010
My 17th short story
My latest short story - the 17th - is actually the shortest of all at only around 1,000 words. So you might like to give it a go and let me know what you think.
It's called "Nostalgic Reminiscence".
January 09, 2010
A snowy Manchester
My niece Saskia with her dad (my brother Ralph)
and their snowman in Manchester
January 08, 2010
A snowy Britain
Britain this week as seen by a NASA satellite
January 06, 2010
A snowy London
On the outskirts of London where I live, we had a heavy downfall of snow overnight, much of the snow is still in place, and now the problem is freezing ice. However, I managed to travel into central London where amazingly there was no snow.
- I went into the City Lit, where I did my short story writing course last term, and delivered a copy of my story "An African Adventure" for a competition to publish selected stories in the college magazine in the early summer.
- I went to the British Film Institute, which has the largest screen in the country, to see a 3D IMAX version of the James Cameron movie "Avatar" [my review here].
- Finally I went to the House of Commons for a reception to mark the merger of two trade unions: Connect - for whom I do some consultancy work - and Prospect.
December 31, 2009
Bank + iPhone = :-)
The latest app that I've downloaded to my iPhone enables me to check my bank statement any time I want.
How cool is that? Don't you just love new technology?
December 28, 2009
My 16th short story
A couple of months ago, I had a holiday in Iran, so I have been following closely the political events in the country, most recently the reports of the bloody demonstration over the weekend.
While I was on holiday, I was thinking about a short story on the country and its situation and I have today put on my web site my effort which is called "The Man From Iran". What do you think?
In the last six months, I've written a total of 16 short stories with a combined length of around 43,000 words. That's about half a book.
December 25, 2009
Merry Christmas everyone
A house near where we live
December 17, 2009
A white London
Here in London, we've had snow flurries over the last few days but this evening we've had a proper fall of the white stuff. I can't remember when we last had snow before Christmas. It looks pretty but I'm glad that I don't have to go to work in it.
December 11, 2009
My 15th short story
My latest short story came out of an exercise on the City Lit course that I've been attending. We had to revisit and retell an established fable but adopting the point of view of a minor character in the narrative.
I've called my effort "Cinderella Rebooted". Please let me know what you think.
My short story writing course (5)
This term, I've been attending a City Lit course on short story writing. I've only managed to make 8 of the 12 sessions and for me the course is now over. I would have liked more structure and more feedback in the course, but it gave me some tips and insights and encouraged me to experiment.
The last piece of homework I did involved creating a monologue in the voice of someone talking about their job (but not our own). I chose the occupation of web site designer and you can see my monologue below.
December 04, 2009
A day in Muswell Hill
Vee and I spent a most enjoyable day visiting a a couple of friends in the north London district of Muswell Hill. The two friends had never met each other before we introduced them but live almost round the corner from one another.
Muswell Hill has a character of its own, shaped by the location on top of a high hill, the predominance of Edwardian architecture, the absence of a tube station nearby, and the presence of lots of cafes, restaurants and shops. We had hot drinks in the local Maison Blanc, bought a book in a large independent bookshop, the originally named "Muswell Hill Bookshop", and ate lunch in a converted church, a branch of O'Neills.
After the wettest month on record, today was dry and bright, so we could stroll around at leisure.
My 14th short story
I've just published a new short story on my web site. It's utterly different from all the others I've written.
I hope that you'll give it a read and let me know what you think.
It's called "Letters From Above".
November 18, 2009
My short story writing course (4)
Wednesday morning means my short story writing course at the City Lit in central London. In fact, this morning we arrived at the college to find that trouble on the underground meant that our tutor had not been able to make it and the class was cancelled.
However, six of us gathered in the canteen, took turns to read out our homework, and discussed each piece of work. It was a very supportive and useful discussion.
I read out my piece on "Cinderella Rebooted". As a result of my class mates' critique, I may well revise my effort and even expand it into a full short story.
November 16, 2009
"Cinderella Rebooted"
As regular visitors will know, I'm doing a short story writing course at the City Lit in central London. We are given writing exercises in the sessions and we are given homework exercises to do between sessions. This week's homework involves retelling a classic story but from a different point of view, that of a minor character. You might be interested in my effort.
November 14, 2009
My world travels
Our recent holiday in Iran brings the number of countries that I have visited to 53.
You can see a map of the countries visited and a list of them here.
Ou holiday in Iran
A week ago, Vee and I returned from a wonderful week's holiday in Iran. I have now written up a full account of the trip which you can read here.
Later I will add a selection of photographs.
November 13, 2009
Happy birthday Vee
My wife Vee - who is not at all sensitive about her age - is 65 today. When we married she was only 38, so we're growing old together which is a comfortable feeling.
Vee has a twin sister who is much more concerned about her age. Miraculously she claims not to be be 60 yet.
Happy birthday to them both!
November 12, 2009
My short story writing course (3)
My short story writing course at the City Lit has now been running for eight weeks, although I have only been able to attend on five occasions.
In recent weeks, we've been looking at the issue of the point of view (POV) of the narrator. Basically there are two choices.
One option is the first person singular - that is, the use of 'I'. There is a variant of this called the unreliable narrator where the narrator does not tell the full truth for some reason. The use of the first person is very popular in contemporary fiction but has a number of serious limitations, such as the narrow knowledge base of the narrator. It is an approach that I have only used once - in my story "The Hostage".
The other option is the third person singular - that is, the use of 'he' or 'she'. This is my usual style as in, for instance, my story "A Moment In Time". A variant on this option is where one uses more than one viewpoint. This is the style I've adopted in my latest short story where we see things through the eyes of two young characters - the story is called "The Away Day". A further variant on this option is what is called the third-person omniscient where the narrator knows things that the characters themselves do not know. I've never used this style so far.
The important point for a fiction writer is, having chosen the point of view, to be consistent in narrating the story from that point of view.
November 11, 2009
Nothing lasts forever (1)
For the past 25 years, I've lived in the same semi-detached house in north-west London. Even though we live in a major capital city, it has not felt like it because at the bottom of our garden is a spinney with some huge trees. However, the largest - a horse chestnut standing about 60 feet tall - has become diseased and, over the last three days, three guys have been systematically cutting it down. Strange perhaps, but I feel sad about the loss.
November 10, 2009
My "Thought For The Week"
Today I added the 1,500th e-mail address to the circulation list for my "Thought For The Week". I have been sending out these thoughts every Sunday for over 10 years to a growing number of people all around the world.
If you would like to know what kind of thoughts I've been circulating, check out the full list here.
If you would like to receive these thoughts, e-mail me.
November 07, 2009
My 13th short story
Before I went on holiday to Iran, I drafted my 13th short story. Since returning, I've finalised it and posted it on my web site.
It's called "The Away Day". Please check it out and let me know what you think.
Back from Iran
Vee and I returned home this morning from our week's holiday in Iran. We had a wonderful time. All went well and we had no political problems, although we were in the country for the 30th anniversary of the taking of the American Embassy hostages.
More so than any other country I've visited - and this was number 53 - people were amazingly friendly and excited to make contact with us. It's absolutely clear than most Iranians - especially those in the cities and the young - do not share their government's hostility to the British or the Americans.
We were able to visit an Iranian family in their home in the capital Tehran and spoke - if only briefly - to literally dozens and dozens of Iranians who wanted to engage with us wherever we went.
Over the coming days, I'll be writing up a full account of our visit here. I hope that you'll check it out and find it of interest.
October 21, 2009
Iran - here we come
Today I collected our visas and tickets from Cox & Kings for our forthcoming holiday in Iran. I've already read two books on the history of Iran.
Another thing I do before each trip abroad is to check out my own advice on "How To Travel Wisely".
October 17, 2009
The perils of being a writer
In an article in today's "Guardian", writer Lionel Shriver explains how basing her fifth novel on her own family proved disasterous for familial relationships.
All writers face the problem that inevitably they will draw on the lives of people they know - perhaps most especially their own - but one does not want to cause hurt and, in the end, it is fiction.
So, for the avoidance of doubt, everything in my 12 short stories so far is fictional. Often the settings are real and characters and incidents are inspired by my own experiences, but ultimately everything is fiction.
My 12th short story
I haven't published a short story for a couple of weeks - too many work meetings. But today I've added to my web site my latest - and my shortest - story.
It's entitled "An African Adventure". Please check it out and let me know what you think.
October 11, 2009
Three libraries and one Marxist
This week, I visited Manchester to speak for Consumer Focus at a fringe meeting of the Conservative Party Conference [my blog posting here]. I took the opportunity to see my step-mother who lives outside the city.
Now I love books and she is a former librarian, so she took me to no less than three Manchester libraries. The main one was Chetham's Library which is located in a building constructed in 1421 and was founded in 1653, making it the oldest surviving public library in the English-speaking world. In the middle years of the 19th century, the library was used by Karl Marx during his visits to Salford businessman Friedrich Engels. We saw where Marx sat and looked at some of the books that he consulted.
The other libraries we called into were the John Rylands Library, which opened in 1900 and now has more than 4 million printed books and manuscripts, and the Portico Library, which opened in 1806 and has a wonderful Georgian glass and plaster dome.
Dinner at "Bakko"
Now that our good friend Eric has moved from Finchley to Muswell Hill in north London, we're exploring new eating venues each time we see him. This evening, we went to a Turkish place called "Bakko" and had the set menu. Delicious food and friendly service.
October 09, 2009
My visit to Toryland
I've been a member of the Labour Party for 40 years and, in my younger days, between 1972-1983 I attended 12 consecutive Labour Party Conferences at various seaside venues. But this week was my first visit to a Conservative Party Conference and the venue was Manchester (actually my home town).
I was a speaker for Consumer Focus at a fringe meeting sponsored by T-Mobile and the CBI to discuss the Digital Economy. The meeting was well-attended and lively, so I enjoyed it.
But politically it was a strange place for me to be. There was a palpable sense among delegates and visitors that, in a matter of months, there will be a Conservative Government running Britain, but still a lack of clarity over what they would do in office - not least on the digital agenda - as opposed to what they object to about Labour Government policies.
October 07, 2009
How to recognise a stroke
"Hi Roger,
I am a single 44 year old female living in Darlington, a recent stroke survivor just home after 5 weeks in hospital and 2 weeks in Eastbourne Care Home!
On 31st July 09 at 3pm my life changed forever when I collapsed at home alone and a neighbour heard my screams for help!
He took me to the Walk-in Centre who then sent us to A&E at Darlington Memorial Hospital who thought I was drunk. It was 3pm on a Friday afternoon and I was working from my home office as Area Sales Manager!! I didn’t know who I was, where I lived or what was happening. In my notes I had 2 unsupervised falls with injuries which explains my black eyes, bruised face, arms etc.
I was admitted at 10.40pm and at 11pm my friend phoned the ward and she was asked if I had been drinking!!
I had multiple TIAs and CVA then later diagnosed with Antiphospholipid Syndrome! Why did no one recognise my stroke?
I am left with partial blindness, cognitive issues, memory loss and warfarin for life!
I have lost my driving licence, my job, my car, my life and my home next. The only thing I have in life to keep me in touch with the outside world is my company laptop. They’re coming to collect it next week so that will be me home alone in my own little bubble as I cannot go out on my own because of my blindness!!
Its been a long journey, still got a long way to go!
I have 2 lives now, pre-stroke and post-stroke………… my new life is very different but I’m still smiling.
I used to have dinner parties, I cant even boil an egg or draw a clock now!
I would like to do more for others and help promote stroke awareness even by speaking of my experience and my new life I was blessed with.
I am attending a Stroke Awareness evening tonight at Darlington Memorial Hospital with Louise from Stroke Association (Different Strokes)… they have been fantastic with me and understand my needs.
Hope you can make sense of all this because I wrote it on my own!!"
This is the text of a moving e-mail that I received this week as a result of someone seeing on my web site my advice on "How To Recognise A Stroke". Make sure that, if this happens to you or someone you know, you realise what's happening and take quick action.
October 02, 2009
My 11th short story
My latest short story is entitled "A Life In A Box" - the first one to be stimulated by my course in short story writing.
Please check it out and let me know what you think.
September 30, 2009
My short story writing course (2)
This morning, I attended the second session of my course in short story writing at the City Lit in central London. Much of the session was spent discussing the homework from last week when we were asked to draft 500-800 words as the opening of a short story picking up on an object in the scene we had written about in the first session.
Three of us circulated the text of our work which was then critiqued by the tutor Wendy Brandmark and the class. I was the last of the three and I confess that I found it quite tough hearing comments which were less enthusiastic than I had hoped. A major problem, I think, is that, before I start drafting a story, I like to have a good idea how it will develop and conclude and I felt that, to assess my opening words, one really needed to see the whole story - but maybe I was just feeling defensive.
Anyway, I'll publish the full story - "A Life In A Box" - on my web site later this week and you can be the judge.
September 25, 2009
My 10th short story
My latest short story is called "The Face At The Window". Please give it a read and let me know what you think.
Now that work has resumed after the summer break, I'm likely to complete fewer stories that I managed over the summer but, since I'm now attending a course, they might become better.
September 23, 2009
My short story writing course (1)
Two and a half months after I registered for the course and having now written nine short stories for my web site, today I started a course in short story writing at the City Lit in central London. The course is from 10.15 am - 12.15 pm each Wednesday for 12 weeks and our tutor is an American called Wendy Brandmark who has published short stories and a novel called "The Angry Gods" (I've ordered a copy from Amazon).
There are 21 of us on the course with three times as many women as men. Once we had done the introductions (several teachers and journalists), we were told about the value of "The Writer's Notebook" for our ideas and reflections (I use the Notes section of my iPhone to record ideas for my stories as soon as I think of them but now I have a physical notebook to use on the course). Our exercise was to picture and describe a character from our life and our homework is to take an object from that description and see if we can develop it into the beginnings of a short story.
I'm sure that the course is really going to help me write better stories but, now that my work has resumed after the summer lull, I won't be writing as intensely as I have been doing over the summer.
September 22, 2009
The conspiracy theory and why it won't die (1)
This week, I attended a London event of the Skeptics In The Pub grouping. It was addressed by the writer David Aaronovitch who spoke about his recent book "Voodoo Histories" which is subtitled "The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History". I attended the event with my good friend and fellow skeptic Eric who bought me the book for my birthday. In fact, I've not read it yet, but I took the opportunity to have it signed by the author.
Aaronovitch was very fluent and persuasive. He talked about long-standing conspiracy theories such as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion which is still propogated by the likes of Hamas and Iran and he explored more contemporary conspiracy theories such as those suggesting that man did not land on the moon, Princess Diana was murdered and 9/11 was a plot by the American government or Israeli secret service. He was asked why so many people - often intelligent - believe so firmly such arrant nonsense and he suggested that it was because of "the human appetite for narrative".
I have myself written about "Why People Believe Weird Things".
September 18, 2009
My ninth short story
My latest short story is a political one entitled "The PM And The MP".
Please have a read and let me know what you think.
September 17, 2009
Ten days that shook my world (7)
Regular readers of NightHawk may be aware of my experience in the summer when my Internet service provider Pipex managed to cut me off from the Net and take 10 days to restore my connection. If you can bear to read the sorry story, you'll find it here.
Of course, I complained to Pipex and, when I did not receive satisfaction, I went to the relevant ombudsman Otelo. The ombudsman decided that i had not exhausted Pipex's complaints procedure, so I returned to the company, got no more satisfaction, and escalated the matter again to the ombudsman.
Otelo has now concluded the investigation and found that everything I stated was true. Its conclusion is as follows:
"In light of the issues discussed above and my recommendation of Mr Darlington’s complaint, I will recommend that the Ombudsman requires Pipex to:
· send a letter of apology;
· confirm in writing what the actual problem was and why it took longer to fix it, than might have been expected; and
· credit a further £25 to Mr Darlington’s broadband account to reflect shortfalls in customer service and to cover the cost of an ADSL broadband filter."
The money doesn't matter to me. I still want to know why I lost my connection and why it took so long to resolve. Over four months later and after lengthy complaints to Pipex and Otelo, is this too much to ask?
Footnote: What are the odds? I wrote the blog posting above in the morning and this afternoon I had an e-mail from Pipex inviting me to complete an online satisfaction survey. I did - and they won't like it.
September 11, 2009
My eighth short story
Over the summer, Friday has been the day that I've posted a new short story in my new writing phase and today is no exception.
I've now posted my eighth short story which is about relationships and is called "The Dinner Party".
Please check it out and let me know what you think.
September 09, 2009
It's 09.09.09
Maybe the world will end?!? But maybe not.
I hope not - I still have a lot of short stories to write ...
September 08, 2009
From the sublime to the ridiculous
I spent the day attending a meeting of the Communications Consumer Panel and learned that our Ofcom colleagues had no connectivity almost all day thanks to COLT.
I got home to find that my fixed line wasn't working thanks to BT. Once I had fought my way through the company's automated answering systems, I reported the fault and wait to have it resolved.
Footnote (9/9/09): I have to say that BT's fault report service did well. The fault - a defective card at the exchange - was corrected in 24 hours and, along the way, I received three SMS messages and a call to report progress and then completion.
September 07, 2009
The summer is over
If you live in Britain, you'll be saying: what summer? For the third consecutive year, it's been pretty wet here in the UK. Today effectively I go back to work with the scheduling of a number of meetings in town.
During the summer, I didn't go away (that comes later in the year) and professionally I had a very quiet month or two (very few meetings), so I spent the time having fun and crafting some short stories.
So far, I've put seven on my web site and you might like to check them out:
"The Edge Of War"
"A Friend Indeed"
"The Hostage"
"Making A Difference"
"A Moment In Time"
"Six Degrees Of Separation"
"Thelma And Louise - The Sequel"
In a couple of weeks time, I start a part-time course in short story writing to learn some techniques and polish my skills - so more stories to come.
September 04, 2009
My seventh short story
The ideas keep flowing and so today I publish my seventh short story entitled "A Moment In Time".
Like the others, it's different from previous stories, so please check it out and let me know what you think.
August 30, 2009
Welcome to the Middle East
This weekend, the travel section of the "Observer" newspaper is mainly about the Middle East and apparently the region one of growing popularity to British travellers. As this piece puts it:
"Once regarded as a dangerous no-go zone, the Middle East is emerging as the hottest travel destination of the year. While many countries are seeing visitor numbers fall as the recession continues to bite, the Middle East is bucking the trend, with big increases in numbers of tourists, alongside major investment in new hotels, attractions and tours."Over the years, I've visited Egypt [my account here], Jordan [my account here] and Israel [my account here] and later this year I'm off to Iran [the "Observer" advice here].
August 28, 2009
My sixth short story
A month ago, I set myself the objective - set out in this posting - to write five short stories this summer. I have now achieved this target but the ideas are still flowing.
So today I publish my sixth short story entitled "A Friend Indeed".
What do you think?
August 21, 2009
My fifth short story
I'm thoroughly enjoying my summertime project of crafting short stories.
Today I've added to my web site my fifth story called "Six Degrees Of Separation".
In some respects it's my most ambitious effort yet, so I hope that you'll give it a go and let me know what you think of it.
August 20, 2009
Message from the Czech Republic
Dear Mr. Roger Darlington.
I am Jitka Dočekalová and I am a "personal guide" of your wife Vee and
her sister Mari.
I must write you and thank you very much for all the things you have
done for the memory of Karel Kuttelwasher. I am so excited about all
these events taking place these days!
As a present I got your book "Night Hawk" and it is excellent! You had
to take you lots of time to find out so much information about "Kut"!
And thanks to you all these activities are happening.
Kut was and is a real hero , a great person and it is very important
to inform people about his brave acts.
Mari and Vee are my friends now and they are great too! After his
father (and mother of course).
I am glad and happy to meet them and spend the lovely week with them
and all the friendly relatives and other people.
Have a nice time in England and I hope I will meet you some time in the
future here in the Czech Republic or elsewhere!
With the best regards.
August 14, 2009
All alone am I
My wife Vee left home today to travel down to her twin sister Mari. Tomorrow the two of them set off to drive to the Czech Republic (I know!).
They are going over there to take part in various events to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of their father Karel Kuttelwascher. He was a night fighter ace with the Royal Air Force in the Second World War and in 1985 I wrote his biography "Night Hawk".
Vee will be away for 11 days in all - the longest that I think we've ever been apart since we married 27 years ago. But, of course, I'm not totally alone. I have our cat Honey and I've suddenly become her new best friend.
My fourth short story
My summertime project of short story writing is coming along fine and I'm really enjoying it.
Today I published my fourth story entitled "The Hostage".
Please let me know what you think.
August 13, 2009
My visit to the palace
I may have lived in London almost 40 years but, until today, I'd never visited Buckingham Palace. This is partly because the state rooms have only been open to the public for about a decade and they are still only open for a few months a year. It's partly because we always neglect places on our doorstep and some uncomfortableness about someone with my republican sentiments visiting the home of a hereditary monarch.
It took a good Slovak friend to get me to the palace, but I'm glad I went. Of course, I've visited any palaces around the world but what makes Buckingham Palace different is that it's still very much a place in use where many people live and work. So many palaces have a dusty, anachronistic feel about them, but every room that one can visit in Buckingham Palace sparkles and shines and impresses. In particular, I had no idea that the art collection was so outstanding.
There's a special exhibition on this summer focusing on the Queen's many trips to Commonwealth countries and displaying dresses she wore and gifts she receives. Of course, there's a propaganda sub-text here: look how busy the Queen is on our behalf and these gifts are as much yours as hers.
In the groungs of Buckingham Palace
20 questions - and the answers
August 07, 2009
My third short story
My summer time project to become a short story writer is progressing well.
Today I publish my third story entitled "The Edge Of War".
You can read it here.
Please let me know what you think.
August 03, 2009
An example of toilet humour
I was recently in one of my favourite cafes: "The Doll's House" on Harrow-on-the-Hill. When I used the toilet facilities, I found this delightful piece of advice:
Our aim is to keep this bathroom clean.
Gentlemen: Your aim will help. Stand closer. It's shorter than you think.
Ladies: Please remain seated for the entire performance.
The boundaries of belief (1)
I sometimes think that no belief is too weird that someone somewhere - probably quite thoughtful and intelligent - will hold that belief. I really wonder whether there are any boundaries to some people's belief systems.
I send out an electronic Thought For The Week [if you'd like to receive it e-mail me] and this week's thought is as follows:
“As a culture, we seem to have trouble distinguishing science from pseudoscience, history from pseudohistory, and sense from nonsense.”
“Why People Believe Weird Things” by Michael Shermer (1997)
If you want an example of what I'm thinking about, check out this course.
I'm particularly amazed by this offer:
"After travelling to 43 different countries and sharing healing experiences with many hundreds of healers, complimentary therapists, shamans, medicine people, Michael developed his own style of healing. His unique approach allows the healing to occur without sending healing energy, without touching the client, without ever needing to meet the client (phone consults work well) and which takes only minutes!"
July 31, 2009
My second short story
My summer time project to become a short story writer continues.
Today I publish my second story entitled "Thelma And Louise - The Sequel".
You can read it here.
Do let me know what you think.
July 30, 2009
Outside our house ...
... at the moment is this huge thing:
The local council is resurfacing our crescent.
July 25, 2009
The humour of the kids
Earlier this week, I was travelling on a crowded train on the London underground and overheard two young school girls telling each other silly jokes.
The first asked: "What's the fastest drink in the world?" After a pause, she added: Milk - it's pasteurised before it's down your mouth."
The second responded: "OK. What's the fastest food in the world?" After a slight interval, she announced: "Too late - it's scone."
I thought that these jokes were so funny in a schoolyard way that I leaned over and told them a joke to share with their friends: "Why would you never starve in the desert? Because of all the sand which is there."
July 24, 2009
My first short story
As I explained in this posting, I intend to use a quiet summer to attempt to be come a short story writer.
I have now published my first short story. It is titled "Making A Difference" and you can read it here.
Dinner with former labour leaders
Yesterday evening was a very congenial occasion when I met for dinner two former trade union leaders with whom I used to work when I was Head of Research at the Communication Workers Union.
Tony Young used to be General Secretary of the National Communications Union and the Communication Workers Union, where he was my boss, and now, as Lord Young, he is minister for postal services and employment relations at the Department of Business, Innovation & Skills.
Morty Bahr, served as President of the 700,000-member Communications Workers of America from 1985 until his retirement in 2005. He wrote a book about his career which I've reviewed here. He is now a sprightly 83 year with six great grandchildren and still working on housing for seniors which is what brought him to London.
We ate and chatted in "Rules" which has a great atmosphere and claims to be the oldest restaurant in London being established in 1798 (as I pointed out to Morty, it was founded just after the creation of the United States).
One of the great pleasures of my 24 years employment in the trade union movement was the opportunity to work with outstanding figures with relatively little formal education but enormous intellectual and social skills. Another such man was Bryan Stanly who was my boss as General Secretary of the Post Office Engineering Union until his retirement in 1986. Earlier this week, he died aged 83 and I will attend his funeral on Monday.
July 17, 2009
The summer of short stories
As long as I can remember, I have written. I've kept a personal diary since I was 14; in my professional career, I have written countless papers, reports, articles and speeches; in the mid 1980s I authored a full-scale book which was published in both the UK and the then Czechoslovakia; I've had a web site for 10 years and blogged daily almost as long. But all this is non-fiction and I've long had a yearning to try my hand at some fiction.
From this weekend, most of my work goes into a hiatus, since the bodies on which I sit do not meet in August, so I have a very light month or so ahead of me. I've decided to use the time to attempt to become a short story writer and I've set myself the target of crafting five short stories in the course of the summer.
I will, of course, publish them on my web site and invite you to read them. Please be kind ...
July 12, 2009
Ten days that shook my world (6)
The long saga of my complaint against my Internet service provider Pipex continues - see here for the original situation.
Having filed an online complaint with Pipex and received a totally unsatisfactory reaction, on 21 May 2009, I filed an online complaint against Pipex with the ombudsman Otelo. They replied in a letter dated 2 June 2009 suggesting that I had not reached deadlock with Pipex and advising me of a Pipex address in Birmingham with which I should continued to pursue the complaint.
I wrote to Pipex on 3 June 2009. I have now received a response dated 9 July 2009. The Pipex letter states: “I trust that this now resolves the issue and will be closing the case”. I regard this as a deadlock letter and therefore I am now referring the case back to Otelo for support and assistance since I have not received from Pipex what I sought and requested.
In the intervening month since I first tried to register my complaint with Otelo, all that Pipex has done is to credit me with a further £20 as a goodwill gesture. However, in my letter of 3 June 2009 to Pipex, I did not seek a further apology or further compensation. What I sought was an explanation of why it took so long (10 days) and was so confusing (multiple calls) to resolve my lack of connection. Furthermore I sought an explanation of how the company intends to ensure that this sort of failure will not be repeated.
The deadlock letter from Pipex makes no effort whatsoever to explain why my fault occurred and took 10 days to resolve and it offers no information whatsoever as to how the company intends to change its procedures to avoid the risk of repetition of this terrible customer experience.
I am left to wonder whether Pipex understand what went wrong with my Internet connection and have any idea how to improve their complaint processes. I very much hope that Otelo can obtain the relevant information from the company - but I'm not holding my breath.
July 11, 2009
Nephew 1: Dom is 30 years young
My sister's youngest son Dom is 30 today and the family celebrated the event at a special gathering near to his home close to Blackburn. The chosen venue was the wonderfully named pub "The Clog and Billycock" in the Lancashire village of Pleasington.
It was only a small gathering of 12 but represented three generations of the family. The menu was excellent with some original fare (I had fried cauliflower for the first time) and, to conclude the meal, my sister (Dom's mother) had baked a delicious birthday cake (I had two slices).
For Vee and me, driving there from London and back again was a round trip of some 450 miles, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable gathering.
July 10, 2009
Do foxes like cricket?
I've just spend two days at the Brit Oval cricket ground in south London as part of an away day for the Board of Consumer Focus. Since my interest in cricket is zilch, I declined the offer of a short tour of the ground. Instead I enjoyed looking at the resident family of foxes that were exploring the ground before the following day's match.
July 07, 2009
Three things about me
Adapted from an e-mail circular doing the rounds ....
Three names I go by
1. Roger
2. Rog (my brother and sister)
3. Rogiček (my Czech 'family')
Three jobs I have had in my life
1. Research Assistant in the House of Commons
2. Special Adviser to a Cabinet Minister
3. Head of Research for a trade union
Three places I have lived
1. South Manchester (Rusholme, Fallowfield & Withington)
2. East London (Leyton & Leytonstone)
3. West London (Sudbury Hill)
Three TV shows that I watch
1. "Desperate Housewives"
2. "Brothers & Sisters"
3. "Friday Night With Jonathan Ross"
Three places I have been
1. Prague, Czech Republic (22 times)
2. Taj Mahal, India
3. Iguassu Falls, Brazil/Argentina
Three places that I want to visit
1. Iran
2. Australia
3. New Zealand
Three of my favorite foods
1. Rice pudding
2. Banoffee pie
3. Sticky toffee pudding
(Can you see a theme?)
Three of my favourite drinks
1. Cappuccino
2. Red wine
3. Mango lassi
Three things I am looking forward to
1. Writing my first short story
2. Becoming a grandfather
3. Celebrating my 100th birthday
July 05, 2009
Jam for lunch
Today Vee and I made one of our regular visits to Oxford to see our Chinese 'family': Zhihao, Hua and their two-year old son Joshua. Little Josh just gets cuter every time we see him.
A couple of days ago, it was Zhihao's 35th birthday so we took the family out for a celebratory meal. Just round the corner from their flat is The Jam Factory - a delightful name for a charming place. The food and service (from a Sardinian waitress) were both good and the ambiance is very pleasant.
The restaurant doubles up as an arts centre. This is what the painter currently on show has to say about her work: "Emma Moxey invites you to interpret and inhabit an evolved and translated place in which drawings re-present, respond and correspond to topopoetic patterns of thought, memory, experience and perception". What's that?!?
July 02, 2009
My web site is 10 years old
I suppose that, like most non-technical people, I first became aware of the Internet around 1995 when world-wide the number connected to the network doubled. Besides e-mail, for me the great benefit of the Internet was the Web (I’ve never been interested in social networks, newsgroups or gaming).
The more I used the Web, the more I thought that I should like to generate my own content on my own site. Indeed I was convinced that soon most Internet users would want to have their own site and I’ve been surprised at how few people have a site.
So, on 2 July 1999, I started my own site with the help of my wife’s nephew Martin Rowe – the first piece of content was the Darlington newsletter for Christmas 1998. In succeeding months, I taught myself Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML) with the aid of my then CWU colleague Jane Taylor and developed the site with the encouragement of my good friend Eric Lee.
From the beginning, I have believed in the principle of simplicity, so the site is designed that any part of it can be reached with one click from the home page. Also I firmly believe that content is king, so I have concentrated on adding well-written material rather than decorating the place with spinning symbols. Finally I’m a great believer that the Web is all about links to other sites and therefore throughout my site there are lots of links to other sites relevant to the particular topic under discussion.
I confess that my site has now become something of a passion and I’ve asked myself why I love the exercise so much. My answer involves the four Cs:
* It is creative, encouraging me to develop my IT skills and my knowledge of the Internet, the links especially taking me to corners of the Web that I might not otherwise explore.
* It is continuous, enabling me to work on it whenever I have time and incrementally to build up the content and develop the format.
* It is comprehensive, allowing me to bring together all my interests from aviation to the cinema, from technology to literature, from trade unionism to travel.
* It is cohesive, permitting me to bring into one place previous as well as current work, such as extracts from my book “Night Hawk”, book and film reviews, and of course the famous Darlington Christmas letters.
Ten years ago, my web site was literally one page and had no visitors. Ten years later, it is a huge site with 120 sections and two blogs and it has between 5,000-6,000 visitors a day. Thanks for visiting.
June 26, 2009
Am I a white supremacist?
I've just had a text message from a British friend who is currently working in the United States. He told that he was in the lobby of a hotel in Connecticut where 'SiteCoach' would not allow him to access my web site on the grounds of 'white supremacy'.
Check out whether you think I'm that evil by accessing the offending material.
June 25, 2009
It's my birthday (again)
Today's my birthday. This is surprising to me because I'm sure that I had one last year - but they seem to keep coming. As my wife says, it's better than the alternative.
Last year, it was a special birthday; this year, it's a routine one (I'm 61). In fact, so routine was it that I was working: chairing a meeting on the mobile sector for Consumer Focus. However, colleagues at CF were really kind and delivered a birthday cake with candles. Thanks, guys!
June 24, 2009
The PILL pilot trial (5)
For 12 weeks now, I've been taking a "polypill" each day as part of an international pilot trial for the treatment of people at raised risk of cardiovascular disease such as as heart attack or stroke. So this morning, I made my fifth and final visit to the International Centre for Circulatory Health at St Mary's Hospital at Paddington in London.
For the last time, I had my blood pressure taken three times, a blood sample was taken, and I was weighed. Throughout the trial, I have not felt different at all. This either means that I have not experienced any side effects from the "polypill" or that I have been not taking the pill at all but a placebo. I won't know till the results if the trial are published in Spring 2010.
Interestingly, I'm currently reading "Bad Science" by Ben Goldacre. He explains how the trials of medicines and treatments are conducted and the pilot trial in which I have participated has followed all the key principles, such as equal numbers of people being allocated on a random basis to take the pill or a placebo and 'double-blinding' where neither the person conducting the trial nor the person who is the subject of the trial knows whether the subject is taking the pill or the placebo.
All medicines approved for use in this country have to undergo such rigorous testing and yet so-called alternative and complementary medicines can be sold with amazing claims without any scientific testing.
All change in Manchester
In the early part of this week, I visited Manchester to speak at a conference on next generation broadband. Now I was brought up in Manchester and went to school and university there, so it's always a pleasure to return to the city which has undergone enormous redevelopment since I left in 1971. Also I still have relatives there, so I spent the night before the event with my brother, his partner and their delightful daughter (my niece) and then, after the conference, I had dinner with my step-mother and her partner.
My brother drove me through the part of Manchester where we lived as kids more than 40 years ago. We lived in a district in the south of the city called Fallowfield which was always popular with students and is now dominated by them. More specifically, we lived behind and above a dry cleaning shop on Wilmslow Road called "Silver Wings" where our mother - a single parent with three children - was the shop manageress. All the shops in the parade have now changed ownership and where we used to live is now a Kentucky Fried Chicken!
June 21, 2009
My ever-smarter iPhone
I bought an iPhone within days of its release in the UK as I blogged here and, in no time at all, I was enthusing about its wonderful features here. However, it's only recently that I've started to use the e-mail facilities and to download applications.
Now along comes version 3.0 of the Operating System which became available this week and which I downloaded this weekend. It makes over 100 changes to the operation of the iPhone - some 13 of which are described here. As far as I'm concerned, the smart phone has changed the world - well, mine anyway. It simply rocks.
June 20, 2009
Ten days that shook my world (5)
Regular readers of NightHawk will know about my recent loss of connection problems with my Internet service provider Pipex, but you can remind yourself here.
Once I obtained my Net connection back again, I lodged an immediate and detailed complaint with Pipex. I was not satisfied with the response so I took the matter to the ombudsman Otelo. They would not accept the appeal because they said that I had not exhausted Pipex's own procedures.
So I escalated the complaint within Pipex in a letter sent on 3 June 2009. What do you think happened?
I had a response in a letter dated 12 June 2009. Bizarrely this stated that three out five specified items of information were not available in my original letter and that therefore the company was unable to act upon my complaint. What were these five items of information?
Customer account number:
I was astonished that Pipex needed me to supply this information since the company's own customer systems ought to provide this from my name and address.
Customer's full name:
This was of course contained in my original letter.
Customer's address including postcode:
This too was of course contained in my original letter.
Customer's date of birth:
I have no idea why Pipex requires this information (except perhaps as a security check).
Customer's contact telephone number or e-mail address:
Since Pipex is my Internet service provider, it provides my e-mail address and, since my loss of service resulted in frequent calls between me and the various lines of support in Pipex, I thought that my contact number was well-known to the company.
Is it any wonder that so many people choose not to complain or give up when faced with this Byzantine response? I've now supplied Pipex with all the information it requested and now await a speedy and helpful response. Well, I can hope ...
June 05, 2009
What is your Myers-Briggs classification?
People sometimes ask me what classification I obtained from the Myers-Briggs personality test. The test assigns people to one of 16 personality types.
Now I recall doing the test on a training course many years ago but I'd long forgotten the result. However, this week I was sorting out some old papers to make some room in my study and came across my test outcome.
It seems that I am ENTJ. And what does this mean? Apparently it means:
"Frank, decisive, assume leadership readily. Quickly see illogical and inefficient procedures and policies, develop and implement comprehensive systems to solve organizational problems. Enjoy long-term planning and goal setting. Usually well informed, well read, enjoy expanding their knowledge and passing it on to others. Forceful in presenting their ideas."If you know me, do you think that this sounds like me?
June 03, 2009
Ten days that shook my world (4)
I've used this blog to give a detailed account of my recent experience with Pipex whereby I lost my Internet connection for 10 days and only had it restored after around 20 calls to the Pipex first line 'support' in The Philippines and regular conversations with the second line 'support' in India. My attitude to Pipex was not improved when, two weeks after having my connection restored, I lost it again for two days.
I will, of course, be leaving Pipex but I decided first to follow through on the complaints system if only to try to improve matters for other customers. So I filed a formal complaint with Pipex, I received a weak and vague response from a customer relations staff member in the Republic of Ireland, and I took the case to the ombudsman Otelo. Now Otelo has declined to accept my complaint on the grounds that i have not yet exhausted Pipex's complaints procedure. They advised me to take up the matter with Pipex Customer Relations in Birmingham, so today I've sent them a detailed five-page letter of complaint.
It is this bureaucracy and complexity that dissuades so many customers from complaining about poor customer service. But I've not given up yet.
May 28, 2009
Back online (again)
Regular visitors to NightHawk will know about my time off-line when I lost my Internet connection and it took about 20 calls to Pipex and 10 days for my connection to be restored. For the next two weeks, things worked like a dream.
Then, about mid-day on Tuesday, I lost my connection AGAIN. Either Pipex are upping their game or I was more persistent or I was just plain lucky, but this time it only took two calls and two days to restore the connection.
By the law of averages, I should now have fault-free service for at least a decade. Let's see ...
May 24, 2009
An audio guide to London
London is one of my favourite cities and the one where I have lived for the last 38 years as I've written on my web site here.
I always like to learn more about the numerous sites of the city and my attention has recently been drawn to this audio guide to London.
May 21, 2009
How I looped the loop
I have a lifelong interest in aviation sparked by my father being trained as a fighter pilot at the end of the Second World War (he was too young to see actual action). Like all pilots, I've kept a flight log and, in the course of my near 61 years, I have now made almost 500 flights totalling almost 900 hours.
Nine of my first 12 flights - made when I was 14 and in the Air Training Corps - were in a glider (the Slingsby T21B). That was 46 years ago and I never imagined that I'd be back in a glider but, for my 60th birthday, my good friends Andy & Georgeanne gave me a voucher for a flight in a glider from the Booker Gliding Centre at Wycombe Air Park and I only got round to using the voucher today 11 months later.
Now some of my friends have asked me if gliding is dangerous and Booker helpfully provides a risk assessment which notes the average accident rates in the UK:
- Minor injury: one per 25,000 launches
- Serious injury: one per 73,000 launches
- Fatalities: one per 100,000 launches
Mike encouraged me to take the controls on several occasions and was kind enough to comment that I "flew very nicely". I asked him if we had enough height to do a 'loop the loop' which I've never done. He said that we did and so I asked him if he would perform the manoeuvre for me which he was happy to do. This was thrilling and unlike anything I've done before.
Our Schleicher ASK 13 glider
Before donning parachute and climbing into front of cockpit
Our tow plane: a Pipe Super Cub
Wycombe Air Park as we come in to land
Thanks a million Andy and Georgeanne.
May 18, 2009
Ten days that shook my world (3)
I've used this blog to give a detailed account of my recent experience with Pipex whereby I lost my Internet connection for 10 days and only had it restored after around 20 calls to the Pipex first line 'support' in The Philippines and regular conversations with the second line 'support' in India.
The day my Net connection was restored (last Monday), I filed a formal complaint to Pipex via their online reporting procedure.The automated response said that I should receive a response within two working days. In fact, it has taken a week for me to receive a response and this morning I took a call from Pipex Customer Relations in the Republic of Ireland. The results of our conversations were confirmed in an e-mail which I have reproduced below.
At the end of my note of complaint, I had asked for three things:
1) an apology - I received this but, of course, it is easily given especially by a junior member of staff
2) compensation - I have received a credit of £14.77 which is scant response to all the time I gave to resolving the issue and all the frustration I suffered in the process
3) an explanation of how procedures will be changed to avoid a repetition of this experience by any other customer - here all I received was an bland assurance that all customer complaints are reviewed and changes are constantly implemented.
Of course, this last point is at the heart of my frustration. No reference was made in our conversation or in the subsequent e-mail to the specifics of my case. No explanation was given as to why it took so long and was so confusing to resolve my lack of connection. Indeed the guy in Ireland admitted that he did not have the technical knowledge to understand the data on the file.
Yet again I was dealing with somebody who was polite and patient but lacked the knowledge and the authority to deal with the essence of my complaint. It is not the individuals who are at fault - although it is not an easy customer experience to deal with three sets of accents which are often strong and hard to understand. The fault is with Pipex's systems.
As I explained in my original posting, the protocols followed by the staff put too much emphasis on insisting that the fault is something on the customer's premises and then, when it is established that this is not the case, the dialogue between the first and second lines and that Pipex and BT just do not work as they should.
I have heard nothing to explain how it took so long to identify my fault and how the company intends to ensure that this sort of failure will not be repeated. I will, of curse, leave Pipex once i have taken this matter all this way. But I guess that i now go to Otelo which is the alternative dispute resolution procedure of which Pipex is a member.
May 15, 2009
Ten days that shook my world (2)
If you read my original posting on my terrible time with Internet service provider Pipex, you will understand why I am so angry with the company.
I submitted a formal complaint by e-mail on Monday and was advised by an automated reply that I should receive a response within two working days. Four days later - nothing. But I'm going to take this all the way. As a member of the Communications Consumer Panel, it will do me good to understand how consumers lose out in a market place where public promises fall so far short of private experience.
Meanwhile it's clear that I'm not alone in suffering at the hands of Pipex. In today's "Guardian", the whole of the "Dear Anna" column is devoted to atrocious consumer experiences with the company.
May 11, 2009
My feeling of 'Jai Ho'
I receive over 5,000 visits a day to my web site and two blogs - but typically I only have one or two comments a day. Yet the blog posting that has attracted more comments than any other - 28 so far - is the one where I ask "What does 'Jai Ho' mean?".
The consensus seems to be that it means something like "Victory to you". That's how I feel today - having just got my Internet connection back after being off-line for 10 days and finding more comments on the song. "Slumdog Millionaire" was an excellent film and "Jai Ho" was a terrific song and today I'm feeling good.
Ten days that shook my world (1)
Have you missed me?
For more than a week, I haven't blogged but I haven't been away – so what was the problem?
We all lose our connection to the Internet from time to time and it's very frustrating. Usually switching off the PC and switching it back on seems to do the trick. Sometimes you just leave things a while and miraculously it sorts itself out. But what I've experienced in the last 10 days has been altogether different.
April 28, 2009
Art nouveau in Prague
As regular readers of NightHawk will know, I was in Prague for Easter. Now this city is an architectural gem and it has some especially fine buildings in the art nouveau style. One of the best examples in the Municipal House and, on this occasion, we went on a guided tour of the interior of the building.
Check out the official web site, especially the 'Guide to the Municipal House' and the 'Virtual tour' (with zoom facility).
April 27, 2009
This Sunday (1)
Vee and I spent the day with our Chinese 'family' celebrating the second birthday of little Joshua. We all drove over to the Cotswold Wildlife Park which is ideal for young children. He was able to view large animals like rhinos, zebras, camels, and lions and to stroke smaller animals like sheep and goats - and we all got to travel on the miniature railway.
Joshua bravely rides one of the wildest beasts in the park
April 22, 2009
40 years in the Labour Party
Forty years ago today, I joined the British Labour Party. At the time I was aged 20 and a university student.
I wrote in my diary on 22 April 1969: ""Today, after about 18 months of slowly drifting Leftwards, I joined the Labour Party at a time when 'In Place Of Strife' is causing just that throughout the Labour movement."
You can read the story of my political journey here.
April 21, 2009
The Darlington Spitfire
I am not a materialistic person so I want for very few possessions. However, if I had the money and it was for sale, I'd love to own a Supermarine Spitfire and, if it was a two-seater so that I could be flown around in it, then that would be absolutely fantastic. But, besides not having the money, Spitfires come on the market very infrequently (last time was two decades ago) and two-seaters are extremely rare (there are only six in the world).
So imagine my excitement when I saw the news this week that a two-seater Spitfire IX had been sold down the road from me at the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon. It went for a cool £1.7 million.
Now, as some of you will know, my surname is Darlington which is a town in the north-east of England and, during the Second World War, there was actually a Darlington Spitfire. Many years ago, I researched the record of this particular aircraft and wrote it up in a essay which is on my wen site here.
April 19, 2009
Thought For The Week 500
It all began a decade ago when, on 18 April 1999, I read this sentence in the middle of an article in the "Observer Business Section": "There appears to be a positive correlation between an atmosphere of 'human playfulness' (otherwise known as humour) in the workplace and the improvement of 'innovative activity and creativity'."
At the time, I was Head of Research at the Communication Workers Union and responsible for 12 staff. I thought that the quote reflected how I was trying to run the Department so, next day, I sent the quote round to my colleagues in an e-mail and playfully I titled the e-mail "Thought For The Week".
As the week went on, I thought that it would be fun to send out one or two more thoughts each Monday and started to number them. Other colleagues in the building heard about the idea and asked to be included on the circulation list. Over the years, I continued the practice, sending out the e-mail each Sunday so that it was in people's 'In' box on Monday to set them up for the week ahead.
Ten years later, today I have issued my 500th such thought: “The three components of happiness are something to do, someone to love, and something to look forward to.” The source is the book “Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart” by Gordon Livingston MD (2004). You can check out all 500 thoughts here.
As you will see from this section of my web site: "Underlying these thoughts are my personal values and my personal philosophy which encompass difference and diversity, fun and friendship, optimism and openness, trust, tolerance and teamwork, creativity, learning and growth, a commitment to reason and critical thinking, an interest in other countries and cultures, and a willingness to embrace change and new experiences."
Over the years, the circulation list for Thought For The Week has grown to over 1,400 people living all around the world. If you don't already receive it, now may be the time to join the circulation. If you already receive it, perhaps you would like to help me celebrate reaching No 500 by suggesting a friend or colleague who would welcome receiving these thoughts. In either case, just e-mail me.
It's great way for me to keep in touch with friends and colleagues. Just click on the 'Reply' button and tell me how you're doing. Your life may never be the same ...
April 18, 2009
How to be good
The Life Skills section of my web site has, over the years, expanded to no less than 29 short offerings of advice on "How to .." do various things.
Today I add my boldest endeavour in this section. It's called "How To Be Good" and it's inspired by a conversation I had with an Anglican minister whom I very much respect.
April 16, 2009
The PILL pilot trial (4)
For two weeks now, I've been taking a "polypill" each day as part of a pilot trial for the treatment of people at raised risk of cardiovascular disease such as as heart attack or stroke. So this morning, I made my third visit to the International Centre for Circulatory Health at St Mary's Hospital at Paddington in London.
For the third time, I had my blood pressure taken three times and, for the second time, I had a blood sample taken and I was weighed. So far, I have not felt different at all. This either means that I am not experiencing any side effects from the "polypill" or that i am not taking the pill at all but a placebo. I won't know till the end of the 12-week pilot trial.
April 15, 2009
Notes on Prague
Vee and I have just returned from a very enjoyable week in Prague. It was my 22nd visit and Vee's 17th so we have seen most of the sights many times and now go over mainly to see our dear friends, the Horvath family, whom we have now known for almost 24 years [see my tribute to the late head of the family]. In the course of the week, we saw 13 friends and shared in the Czech Easter festivities including the notorious, but very traditional, practice of "pomlazka" (check it out!).
The weather was simply amazing. Since we've been to Prague so many times, we've visited in almost every month of the year, but I can't remember a time when it was so warm so consistently - 22C (72F) every day. I certainly caught the sun. Prague is an eminently walkable city and as usual we walked everywhere (the record on my pedometer was 16,700 steps one day).
Although we did not do a lot of sightseeing, we still managed five exhibitions or museums. Also we went the cinema twice and the opera once. Prague is a really magical place of little cobbled streets, wonderful architecture, and endless spires and there are always new places to see and an incredible number of cultural events.
April 08, 2009
From Lisbon to Prague
A couple of weeks ago, I made a business trip to Lisbon, but I took the opportunity to stay on for a day to do a little sightseeing. It was my fourth visit and I've up-dated my brief notes on this delightful city here.
I'm now off to spend Easter in Prague where Vee and I will be staying with some dear friends. Amazingly it will be my 22nd visit to this wonderful city and you can check out some notes on the place here.
So I won't be blogging for a few days, but do take the opportunity to look around some of the 140 sections on my web site.
April 04, 2009
A sunny day in Oxford
Today Vee and I made one of our regular visits to Oxford to see our dear Chinese 'family': Hua, Zhihao and Joshua (almost two).
It was lovely weather and so, after a delicious homemade Chinese meal, we went for a walk to a part of Oxford that we haven't viewed before. It's called Jericho and is by the side of the canal where many barges are moored. This area was the inspiration for the Gyptian community in the book "Northern Lights" [my review here] and the centre of a successful battle against redevelopment [see campaign here].
We all stopped for drinks and desserts at a cafe called FREVD on Walton Street. Amazingly this is a converted church with the stained glass windows still in place [more info here].
Roger, Joshua and Vee in front of
a building of the Oxford University Press
March 31, 2009
The PILL pilot trial (3)
Can you believe it? Just days after I become involved in a trial of the so-called "polypill", this morning the "Mirror" newspaper - for no apparent reason - runs a story on this new form of medication.
Footnote: Now that I've seen more of today's media, I see why the "polypill" is in the news today. It's because of the presentation of a paper yesterday at the American College of Cardiology annual conference - see this report in the "Guardian" - and the publication of a paper in the "Lancet" - see this summary.
March 30, 2009
The PILL pilot trial (2)
This morning, together with my wife, I made a second visit to the International Centre for Circulatory Health at St Mary's Hospital at Paddington in London to be considered for participation in a pilot trial for a "polypill" to treat people at raised risk of cardiovascular disease such as as heart attack or stroke.
We had our blood pressure tested another three times and then all the data from the two visits was fed into a computer to assess our suitability for the trial. My wife was judged too healthy for inclusion, but I was judged to have a marginal level of risk that justified me being in the trial. So I was given a packet of pills which I have to take each day at dinner time. Of course, I don't know whether I'm taking the real pill or a placebo and indeed nobody will know that until the conclusion of the 12-week trial.
March 26, 2009
Off to Lisbon
I'm off to Lisbon for a couple of days to speak at a seminar organised by the Portuguese regulator for posts and telecommunications. I'll be describing the operation of the Communications Consumer Panel in the UK on which I have served since it was created five years ago.
It will be my fourth visit to Lisbon and I hope to have a little time to look around. I love the place as you'll see from this note.
The PILL pilot trial (1)
You read about medical trials but this is the first time that I've had any personal involvement in one. This morning, together with my wife, I spent an hour and a half at the International Centre for Circulatory Health at St Mary's Hospital at Paddington in London being considered for participation in a pilot trial which will lead on to a long-term clinical trial.
The research study is of the efficacy of a combination medication called the "polypill" - which contains aspirin, a statin, and two blood pressure lowering medicines - compared to a placebo in treating people at raised risk of cardiovascular disease such as as heart attack or stroke. Rather neatly, the trial is called PILL which stands for Programme to Improve Life and Longevity.
We were asked not to eat or drink anything for the 12 hours prior to our 10.30 am appointment. Following an explanation of the trial and signing of a consent form, I was asked lots of questions about my health and lifestyle and then my blood pressure was taken three times, a blood sample was taken, my height and weight were measured, and my body mass index was calculated.
If I'm found to be too healthy, I won't be included in the 12-week trial; if I'm found to be too much at risk, I won't be included either; if I'm found to have a modestly increased level of risk (my mother had a stroke at 69), I will be included.
Some more information here.
March 18, 2009
Back from Gateshead
I've just returned from a short trip to Gateshead in the north-east of England where, on behalf of the Communications Consumer Panel, I made a presentation at a conference on next generation broadband.
The event was held in the Gateshead Council Chamber where I found myself sitting in the seat normally occupied by the Leader of the Opposition (a Liberal Democrat - there have never been any Tories on the Council!) and admiring a banner of the National Union of Mineworkers (don't imagine that's very common in other town halls).
On the trains to and from Newcastle, I could see the monumental Angel of the North. The conference was held in the Gateshead Civic Centre which contains a small scale replica of the Angel of the North which apparently featured on the "Antiques Roadshow" television series where it was valued at £1 million.
Since I spent the night previous to the event in Gateshead, I was able to have dinner with my good friend Mavis Smith. We both used to work for communications trade unions in the telecoms sector, but I had not seen her in the 11 years since she retired.
So it was a trip in which I was able to combine the professional and the personal.
March 17, 2009
I'm off to Newcastle ...
... to speak at a conference in Gateshead tomorrow.
Maybe, while I'm passing through Newcastle, I'll see a flaming horse, a singing humanoid or fighting machines, all of which can be found at Newcastle's Maker Faire. Check it out here.
March 15, 2009
Has Spring sprung at last?
For the first time this year, it was mild enough for us to have lunch on our terrrace.
March 05, 2009
My night with the stars
As a massive movie fan, my dream is to attend a BAFTA or Academy Awards ceremony and mix with famous actors and actresses. It hasn't happened yet, but last night I suppose a had a little taste of what it might be like.
I was a guest of the Post Office at an event which they co-sponsored with Barnardo's and the "News Of The World" newspaper held at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane in central London. Some 300 people attended the Children's Champions 2009 Awards.
I am now going to shamelessly 'name drop' in a manner that I've never done with any previous blog posting, so forgive me.
The hosts for the event were Shane Richie (ex "EastEnders") and Emma Bunton (the nice Spice Girl). The presenters of the awards included Prince Andrew, Jane Torville and Christopher Dean, Lord Seb Coe, Kelly Holmes, Paul O'Grady, Ros Kemp, Amanda Holden and Melinda Messenger. Sitting on my table were of Graham Cole of "The Bill" and Danielle Lloyd of "Celebrity Big Brother".
Of course, the real stars of the ceremony really were the people who received the awards and each of their stories was incredibly moving.
February 28, 2009
Some favourite places in London
- A favourite cafe - Gaby's
- A favourite cake place - Valerie
- A favourite restaurant - Incanto
- A favourite pancake place - Kensington Creperie
- A favourite card shop - Medici
- A favourite art gallery - Courtauld Gallery
- A favourite museum - Victoria & Albert
- A favourite cinema - Curzon Soho
- A favourite street - Museum Street
- A favourite square - Golden Square
- A favourite park - St James's Park
- A favourite building - Palace of Westminster
- A favourite statue - Boadicea
- A favourite oddity - Little Ben
- A favourite church - St Mary's, Harrow
February 21, 2009
Am I a Buddhist?
A reader of my web site has recently e-mailed me to ask whether I am a Buddhist. Apparently he thought from my writings that I might be. In fact, I am not. I am a humanist.
But what do Buddhists believe? They don't believe in God or an after life - which is fine by me. But they do believe in things like karma and rebirth - which I don't accept. For details on Buddhism, see here.
Is Buddhism a religion? Many people believe that it is, but It is argued that it is not here
February 15, 2009
Have you read them all?
In my home, I have approaching 2,000 books - probably not that unusual for someone who is both middle-class and middle-aged. But some visitors to our house - especially some rather cheeky young relatives - sometimes ask me: "Have you read them all?"
Of course, I haven't - not least because a proportion of them are reference works. But should I have read them all?
Currently I'm reading "The Black Swan: The Impact Of The Highly Improbable" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
At one point, early in the book, Taleb refers to the library of the writer Umberto Eco which apparently amounts to some 30,000 titles. It seems that Eco has the same problem as me with visitors exclaiming "How many have you read?"
Now Taleb argues that "Read books are far less valuable than unread books" and he calls this collection of unread books "an antilibrary". I love my antilibrary because I love learning.
February 14, 2009
Happy Valentine's Day
I hope that you're spending it with your loved one. My Valentine of the past 27 years - my wife Vee - bought me a card and a little present - the soundtrack CD to the film "Slumdog Millionaire" [see my review of the movie here]. This evening, I'll be taking Vee for dinner at her favourite local restaurant: "Incanto" at Harrow-on-the-Hill.
February 08, 2009
Ten years without my mother
Ten years ago today, my mother died. She was aged 78 - but she had a serious stroke a decade before and her deterioration over the next ten years was terribly sad to behold.
Today, I'm travelling up to Leicester to join my younger sister Silvia and my younger brother Ralph and together we will remember and celebrate her life and all that she did for the three of us.
Mum at her most beautiful and carefree,
in Naples in her twenties
You can read my eulogy to her at her funeral here.
February 07, 2009
Where to next?
I love travelling - the chance to experience different cultures and meet different nationalities and to see the world in a more informed and enlightened way. I've been very fortunate and so far managed to visit 52 countries all around the world. You can read about some of my travels here.
But I always have lots of other places in my mind for future visits. This weekend, my wife and I tentatively planned our travelling for the next three years:
Easter 2009 - return trip to Prague to see our 'second family'
Autumn 2009 - holiday in Iran in the year of the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution
Easter 2010 - return trip to China with our 'Chinese family' in Oxford
Autumn 2010 - holiday in Kiev, Ukraine
Sometime in 2011 - the BIG ONE: a trip to Australia and New Zealand to mark our 30 years together
Let's see how much of this actually happens ....
February 04, 2009
Do you know where your ancestors came from?
I've always thought that racism was not just morally repugnant but logically absurd since, if you go back a few generations in most people's families, you find yourself in a different race or ethnicity or nationality. Ultimately, of course, we can all trace our ancestry back to tribes in Africa.
In the case of the Darlingtons - my family on my father's side (my mother was Italian) - I am advised by a Darlington (no direct relative) in Australia that the name may well be linked directly to the Angeln inhabitants in the northern region of England.
My Australian Darlington friend had his DNA submitted to the National Geographic Society's Genographic Project mapping the distribution of the human race around the planet. This has indicated the origin of a common ancestor located in the region of northern Germany/southern Denmark approximately 5,000 years ago. All subsequent males that share this DNA haplogroup with modern English surnames are most likely to be related to this one person.
As to when later ancestors crossed the channel to England, this is unknown. It could have been with the Angeln 'invasion', or any one of the subsequent Danish, Scandinavian, Viking, Norman or later 'invasions'.
The information is tenuous as the application of surnames happened only later in the 13th-14th centuries. Of particular interest to me, however, is the fact that Edward the Confessor's own confessor was in fact a friar known as Jean de Derlington.
February 03, 2009
Do you know what your name means?
My first name Roger was brought to England by the Normans - it comes from two Germanic words 'hrod' and 'gar' meaning respectively 'fame' and 'spear'.
My family name Darlington came originally from the English place name 'Deornothingtun' in the north-east of England.
Working backwards, 'tun' (our 'ton') is found in hundreds of English place names from Stockton to Brighton and means simply ‘settlement’. Indeed our word' 'town' comes, in fact, from 'tun'.
'Ing' is a difficult word, that here means ‘named for’.
Then we have 'Deornoth' which was a man’s name - giving us 'Deornothingtun' as 'the Settlement Named for Deornoth'.
And what do we know about Deornoth? Unfortunately, absolutely nothing. No records have made it down to us.
But the word 'Deornoth' does tell us something about the times that he lived in for, as with almost all early English names, 'Deornoth' is really two words combined. 'Deor' meant ‘beast’ - our word 'deer' comes from here. 'Noth', on the other hand, meant ‘boldness’. So 'Deornoth' was 'Beast-boldness'.
And when did 'Beast-boldness' live? Well, 'the Settlement Named for Beast Boldness' was first recorded in the eleventh century, but it may have been five hundred years old by then, so it could date back to the Angeln 'invasion' about 500 AD.
I'm very interested in naming practices around the world - which are really varied - which is why I wrote this essay.
February 02, 2009
Snow blankets Britain
Readers of NightHawk in Britain don't need telling this but my many readers outside the UK might be interested to know that we are experiencing our heaviest snow in 18 years. The last time that we had so much of the white stuff was 7-9 February 1991 - that's before we had the Web and blogs!
Here in London, it started last night and this morning we measured five inches in our garden. The kids in our crescent are loving it - no school and lots of snowboarding. I only had one event scheduled in town today but it was cancelled because of the snow. It's just as well - most of London's buses and tube lines are out of action.
The spinney at the end of our garden
A view toward some of our neighbours
January 30, 2009
After four decades ...
Last night, in a central London restaurant, I attended a small reunion of some of the people I studied with at university in the late 1960s. We were all in the Department of Management Sciences at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (now part of the Manchester Business School).
It was slightly weird seeing these older, wiser faces. One woman is spending a lot of time caring for her 92 year old mother, one guy is now a professor at a university in Australia, and another guy used to be married to one-time Bond girl Jane Seymour (honest!).
January 25, 2009
My dear friend Joshua
This week, I attended the Oxford Media Convention as I do each year. Since I live in London and the convention had an early start, I stayed the previous night in Oxford which gave me the opportunity to visit my special Chinese friends Hua and Zhihao.
They have an adorable boy of a year and a half whose English name is Joshua, but he has been in China for the last half year and only just returned to the UK. It was simply wonderful to see him and for us to play together.
The last time that I put a picture of him on this blog, he was only four months. He's going to be a fine young man.
January 03, 2009
Words of wisdom
I've finished my first book of 2009. It was a Christmas gift from my sister who is a counsellor and it only took three sittings.
It's called "Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart" and is written by the American psychiatrist Gordon Livingston. You can read my review here.
Like so many self help books, what is said is not particularly original, but what is helpful is who is saying it and how it is expressed. It's certainly given me several contributions to my "Thought For The Week".
December 29, 2008
How to make decisions
Shortly before Christmas, a conversation with a friend turned to discussion of how people do or should make decisions. This got me thinking and, over Christmas, I've drafted a new section for my web site on "How To Make Decisions".
This is the 26th section of my web site concerned with various life skills and the 144th section overall. My web site is intended to be truly international and eclectic with something about almost every country and something on many different subjects. Happy reading ...
December 27, 2008
A family Christmas
Vee and I have now returned from Felpham on the south coast where we spent Christmas at the home of Vee's twin sister Mari and her husband Derek. Also with us was their eldest son Martin with his wife Isobel plus their daughter Yasmin (three in a couple of days time) and Lucas (seven months). Christmas is always so much more fun with kids and Yasmin loved being showered with presents.
Princess Yasmin
Baby Lucas
December 25, 2008
What were the final words of King George V?
In early 1936, Britain’s King George V, who triumphantly celebrated his Silver Jubilee only months earlier, lay in his bed at Sandringham House on the verge of death, surrounded by his family. Concerned with keeping his royal patient’s spirits up, the King’s physician reportedly suggested, “Your Majesty will soon be well enough to visit Bognor.” The King replied “Bugger Bognor” - and promptly died.
And why do I mention this on my blog on this of all days? Well, I'm off now for a couple of days to celebrate Christmas at the home of my wife's twin sister. They live in Felpham, a pleasant village by the sea on the West Sussex coast that is literally next door to Bognor Regis. And, from some personal experience, I can confirm that the late King was a shrewd judge of place.
I hope that you have as good a Christmas as I hope to have.
December 24, 2008
I have a theory ...
Now all generalisations are dangerous (even this one), but I have a theory that, generally speaking, the higher up the social scale, the slower people speak and the worse they write. The Christmas cards that I've received in the last couple of weeks provide strong evidence for the writing part of my thesis.
The art of the Christmas letter
Some people are somewhat cynical about the idea of a Christmas letter, but I've sent out one each year since 1979 [see this year's letter here] since we have so many friends around the UK and throughout the world that we are in touch with much less often than we would like and they appear to appreciate hearing our news for the past 12 months.
In turn, I love receiving Christmas letters and, so far this year, we've had 13. Sometimes there is sad news to report, but mostly it's stories of people making the most of their lives. One letter this year comes from a woman in her late 70s, whom we met on a trip to Uzbekistan [my account here], who tells us that she's now writing a tourist guide to the Sichuan part of China.
We only have one life - so let's live it to the full and share that joy with others.
December 21, 2008
Our new roof (6)
When I did my first posting on our new roof, I said that I'd been told that it would take three-four weeks. Six weeks later, the scaffolding was finally removed this morning - just in time for Christmas.
The roofers that Derek (Vee's brother-in-law) appointed did a first class job and then went on to help replace all the gutters, fascias and soffits so the whole place is watertight. The property has a converted loft and so Vee and Derek undertook the insulation of the loft areas that remained, stuffing fibre glass into the sections of the loft that the roofers had not dealt with.
The whole thing has cost an absolute fortune, so no foreign holidays next year, no cinema visits for a month, and no mince pies this Christmas. Well, we'll see ...
December 14, 2008
The Darlington Christmas newsletter
Vee and I have spent a lot of today writing Christmas cards to our many friends around the world. As always, we included the latest edition of the famous Darlington Christmas newsletter which you can read here.
December 11, 2008
What's the most expensive cup of coffee in the world?
I'm a big coffee drinker - especially cappuccino - and I spend a lot of time in central London, so I'm used to paying a lot for my coffee. But today was something else.
This morning, I met a colleague for a working discussion over coffee and, at the Hilton Hotel by Paddington station, my cup of cappuccino cost £5.20. Now the meeting was at her request, she chose the venue, and she paid the bill - but it made me wonder: is this the most expensive cup of coffee in the world?
December 06, 2008
Remembering Mike Terry
When I was a university student, I took a year off my studies to serve full-time as the sabbatical President of the Students' Union of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) which has now merged with the University of Manchester. The academic year of my office was 1969-70.
This was a turbulent year in student and political circles. A third of universities experienced sit-ins and I addressed the one held at the University of Manchester. Jack Straw - the current Cabinet Minister - was President of the National Union of Students and I was one of his nominees for a second term.
One of my fellow student union presidents that year was a great guy called Mike Terry (he was at the University of Birmingham). He was one of those student activists - like Jack Straw and me (I hope) - who carried his radicalism into post-university life. Mike became Executive Secretary of the Anti-Apartheid Movement in the UK, a post he held from 1975 to 1994. He was an utterly tireless worker for the cause in a mild-mannered, understated way.
Mike lived to see Nelson Mandela released from imprisonment and the African National Congress form a post-apartheid government, but sadly he has just died from a heart attack, aged only 61. I offer deep condolences to his family and friends.
More information here.
November 29, 2008
Our new roof (5)
It's the weekend; the tilers aren't here; and, for once, there's none of the crashing and the banging.
Oh, heaven!
November 27, 2008
Our new roof (4)
It's making progress ...
November 20, 2008
Merry Christmas?!?
Today we received our first Christmas card. Can you believe it?
And it only came down the road from Hove ....
November 19, 2008
Our new roof (3)
Bad news and good news on the roofing front.
The bad news is that we had so much rain yesterday that the roof sprung a new and more serious leak. Water burst through the spare bedroom ceiling and cascaded into the living room.
The good news is that, a week after the scaffolding went up, the tiling has actually begun. The two workers are a British guy called Ray and a Romanian guy that they all call Basil (actually his name is Vasil).
So there's tons of heavy banging going on, bits of ceiling coming away above my PC, and ceiling lights in the bathroom giving up, but we're making some progress ...
November 13, 2008
Our new roof (2)
On Monday, I blogged about the need for us to have a new roof. That morning, three guys came along in the pouring rain to erect all the scaffolding. This is what our place looks like now:
What about the workers?
Since then ... nothing.
November 12, 2008
My visits to the White House
Seeing pictures of President-Elect Barack Obama visiting the White House this week took me back to my own visits to this most iconic of political buildings. I believe that, since 9/11, the general public has not been ableto visit the White House but, before then, I had done so on three occasions.
The first time was on 19 September 1970 when I was aged 22 and a university student spending a three-month summer in the United States. After a very short wait, I was in the White House and noted in my diary: "Saw only a few of the 132 rooms - East Room, Green Room, Blue Room, Red Room, and State Dining Room".
The second time was on 23 August 1980 when I was aged 32 and on a telecommunications study visit to the USA. There was a system of timed ticket entry. It was a 20-minute self conducted tour and I saw the same rooms as on my previous visit but noted in my diary that there had been some renovation.
The third time was on 19 April 1984 when I was aged 35 with my wife and (almost) eight year old son. We queued for 50 minutes and spent 20 minutes on the official tour. I noted in my diary: "This time there was more security (there are barriers round to prevent suicide attacks) and the North Side is being cleaned".
I can't imagine that I'll ever be there inside the White House again.
November 10, 2008
Our new roof (1)
It started at 7.45 am this morning when the scaffolders arrived. I'm told that it will take three-four weeks - depending on the weather (it's raining now - poor guys).
I'm always so reluctant to initiate house repairs or improvements. It's not just the cost (which, in this case, is huge) - it's all the noise and dirt and disruption.
But the heavy rain of the last few weeks has revealed a serious leak in our back bedroom. It's clear that we do need a new roof and, while we're at it, we're going to insulate the loft and be more eco-friendly.
It should all be over by Christmas ...
October 31, 2008
A busy Halloween
It was a busy Halloween evening. Between 5.30-7.30 pm, the doorbell rang no less than nine times as we were visited by a total of 31 local children. Fortunately Vee had bought lots of miniature chocolate bars and filled up a plastic bucket with them, so everyone went away with two items each. Here are some of the scarier visitors:
Waiting for Halloween
When I was a kid (which admittedly was some five decades ago), here in Britain (at the time I lived in Manchester), this time of year meant Bonfire Night: collecting material for a bonfire, building a guy, collecting money for fireworks and then - on the night itself - the bonfire, the fireworks, toffee apples and parkin cake.
By the time my son was a kid (some three decades ago), Bonfire Night was already being challenged by the celebration of the more American festival of Halloween which I guess really took off in Britain with the success of the film "ET". In those days, we had abandoned the idea of a bonfire, but I collected money from the neighbours with children, bought a special set of fireworks, and then set them off at a street gathering in circumstances which I hoped were safer and more fun than individual household displays.
Now we then lived - and still do - in north-west London which has a large Asian population and the celebration of the Hindu festival of Diwali in late October usually meant at least as many fireworks in the area as Bonfire Night in early November. Meanwhile Halloween has become more and more popular and one can see why - no dangerous bonfires and fireworks, an excuse to dress up and knock on neighbours doors, and lots of treats.
As far as our cat Honey is concerned, late October and early November is one long nightmare in which Diwali, Halloween and Bonfire Night just run into one another as a set of unpredictable loud noises. But Vee and I have bought lots of treats for the local kids and are ready for them ...
October 28, 2008
Snow in London
Here in London, it snows rarely. Indeed we can go a whole winter without snow.
But tonight it's snowing here. I can't remember when it last snowed in London in October.
Footnote (29/10/08): I've lived in London since 1971 and never seen snow here in October. Today's media advised us that this has been the first October snow in the capital since 1934.
October 19, 2008
Seeing Sarah Silverman
This evening, Vee and I - together with our American Jewish friend Eric - went to see a show at London's Hammersmith Apollo by the American Jewish comedienne Sarah Silverman. The British - and here I include myself - have really only just discovered Silverman.
It probably started with her video called "The Great Schlep" about the US presidential race. Last weekend, she was the subject of a colour supplement profile and this weekend she was on the "Friday Night With Jonathan Ross" show (where strangely there was a lack of connection between the two).
Now the tickets for the event gave no start time but stated that doors would open at 6.30 pm. I've been to the Apollo before and guessed that the event would not in fact start until 7.30 pm so we rolled up about 7 pm. However, it was 7.45 pm before the audience was allowed to take its seats and around 8.30 pm before the event started.
I think that there was supposed to be a support act from an American comedian but apparently he was ill and we just had a very short video link with him. Then there was a video advertising season two of a Silverman comedy programme in the States that was unintelligible to anyone - virtually all the audience, I guess - who has not seen the first season.
At last, around 8.40 pm, Sarah Silverman herself appeared. Her material - scatological monologues broken up with little songs - was always politically incorrect and totally outrageous but only occasionally really funny and the unevenness of the performance was oddly amateurish.
Then, about 9.30 pm, it was suddenly and surprisingly over. There had been slow hand-clapping while we waited for the event to start and now there was more slow hand-clapping as the audience virtually demanded more.
Eventually Silverman reappeared but astonishingly insisted: "Go home. I've got nothing more". She was pressed by the audience to come up with something and she struggled to find a joke or two and even faltered badly with one of her own old songs. Eventually she resorted to inviting the audience to field her with some questions. This might have worked with a much smaller audience and a performer with more depth, but she just couldn't hack it. One woman screamed out: "You're over-hyped, Sarah!". Sadly this was true.
Our tickets were £42 each with a handling charge of £5.75 each. That meant that we paid more than a pound a minute for a show that was not even that funny. I think it will be a while before Silverman dares to take to a British stage again.
But, heh, she's cute - and she supports Barack Obama.
Footnote 1 (20/10/08): A review in today's "Times" - and the comments from others at the show - confirms everything I've written as you can see here.
Footnote 2 (21/10/08): A review in today's "Guardian" is not much kinder to Silverman and concludes "a trader in racial insensitivity narrowly escapes a lynching".
Footnote 3 (26/10/08): Today's "Observer" carries a broadly supportive review.
Oh, Sarah - come back with more material and a more polished performance.
October 04, 2008
Are you a 'to do list' person?
I confess that I'm an inveterate - possibly even compulsive - 'to do list' person. I think that it all started with my university studies when I kept lists to ensure that I completed all my projects on time and had a good revision timetable for exams.
These days, I still do my daily 'to do' list on paper and love ticking off accomplished tasks. Each daily list includes adding a posting to this blog. I reckon that it makes me efficient and ensures that I don't miss deadlines.
However, in addition to the daily list on paper, I have another six electronic lists on my iPhone (things to buy, books to read and so on).
Now, my wife - she's the exact opposite. The only lists she ever makes are shopping lists and she usually forgets them at home.
In the colour supplement of today's "Guardian" newspaper, Oliver Burkeman devotes his column to his list-keeping habit.
What kind of person are you?
September 21, 2008
Earth from the Air
Today Vee and I drove over to Oxford to see our dear Chinese friends Hua & Zhihao (and their new teenage lodger Jiayu). They live close to the city centre so, after a home-made Chinese lunch, we walked around to Oxford Castle where we found a photographic exhibition called "Earth from the Air".
Now, five years ago, I saw this exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London and I blogged about it here. Since then, the photographs have been all around the country and the Oxford exhibition opened this week and will run to January 2009.
The work consists of some 120 pictures shot by the French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand. They are a stunning collection of photos and present a powerful ecological message. The exhibition is organised by wecommunicat8 and I spoke to Chris Bridge who runs the company and has great enthusiasm for both the photographs and their message.
September 14, 2008
Should humanism have equal status to faiths?
This seems like a good question to pose on a Sunday in a country that still professes to be largely Christian. I think that humanism should be given equal weight in schools to the various religious faiths and there is currently an argument on precisely this subject.
September 13, 2008
Fun at the festival
For the next few days, Vee and I are hosting a visit by a couple of her relatives from the Czech Republic (Vee is half Czech on her father's side). The problem is that these relatives don't speak any English and the little Czech we know we learned 20 years ago when the country was still Czechoslovakia and Communist.
So we needed some visual entertainment and we found it in buckets down at the Thames Festival. There was an incredible variety of ethnic food outlets, craft stalls and street entertainers. And, for once, the weather was fine.
We bought three lovely pieces of ceramics from a company called Pama Forza which is Palestinian-owned and based in Jerusalem.
Our son Richard and his wife Emily live close to London's South Bank, so we though we'd call them on the mobile and see if they were around. We stopped to make the call, looked up, and there they were - how cool is that?
September 10, 2008
"The Bleeding Heart"
"Lady Elizabeth Hatton was the toast of 17th Century London society. The widowed daughter-in-law of the famous merchant Sir Christopher Hatton (one-time consort of Queen Elizabeth 1), Lady Elizabeth was young, beautiful and very wealthy. Her suitors were many and varied, and included a leading London Bishop and a prominent European Ambassador. Invitations to her soirees in Hatton Garden were much sought after.And why do I reproduce this graphic tale? It's because today, for professional reasons, I had lunch in the wonderfully-named "Bleeding Heart Restaurant" in an unfamiliar corner of historic London. It's French place and my lamb was so lightly-done French-style that there was a fair bit of blood on show.Her Annual Winter Ball, on January 26, 1662, was one of the highlights of the London social season. Halfway through the evening's festivities, the doors to Lady Hatton's grand ballroom were flung open. In strode a swarthy gentleman, slightly hunched of shoulder, with a clawed right hand. He took her by the hand, danced her once around the room and out through the double doors into the garden.
A buzz of gossip arose. Would Lady Elizabeth and the European Ambassador (for it was he) kiss and make up, or would she return alone? Neither was to be. The next morning her body was found in the cobblestone courtyard – torn limb from limb, with her heart still pumping blood onto the cobblestones. And from thenceforth the yard was to be known as The Bleeding Heart Yard."
August 31, 2008
The last day of 'summer'
Officially it's the last day of summer but, here in London, we've had thunder, lightning and heavy rain. It's looks as if this August will turn out to have been the wettest in the UK for a century - but I still believe in global warning.
Spare a moment though to think about the victims of Hurricane Gustav. As I write, it's tearing into the western-most part of the island of Cuba which I visited on holiday earlier this year [my account here].
August 27, 2008
What were you doing when ...?
The Conservative blogger Iain Dale has started a meme which invites those other bloggers who've been tagged to explain what they were doing on five key dates. I have been tagged for this meme by former Labour MP Harry Barnes, so I guess I'll have to rise to the challenge - although I won't inflict the meme on any other bloggers.
In fact, in responding to this meme, I have a head start on most bloggers because, long before I had a blog, I had a diary and I have in fact recorded a daily entry for the past 47 years. So I can check the dates in the diaries. This is what I recall:
Princess Diana's death - 31 August 1997
It was a Sunday and Sunday morning for me always means the "Observer" newspaper - but at breakfast time it had still not been delivered. My wife called our newsagents and came to me in tears to announce that Diana was dead and all the newspapers were being reprinted. Immediately we switched on the television and found that all the broadcasting schedules had been taken over by the news throughout the day. That night, we watched a 75 minute tribute to Diana on ITV without any advertisements. I wrote in my diary: "The media killed her and now she will become an icon like Marilyn Monroe". But I did not anticipate - or even fully understand - the scale and intensity of the emotion that we then saw between the death and the funeral.
Margaret Thatcher's resignation - 22 November 1990
I was in Strasbourg on a delegation to the European Parliament as Policy Officer of the trade union for which I then worked the National Communications Union (now the Communication Workers Union). After attending a meeting of the Socialist Group in the Parliament, we were addressed by three different Labour Party Euro MPs. In the course of these briefings, the Dutch official with the Socialist Group who was looking after us slipped into the room to announce that Thatcher had resigned. I wrote in my diary: "This was a sensation and for a time it was hard to concentrate on the meeting". After I had flown back to London that evening, at home I watched an extended BBC news on Thatcher's resignation announcement. I wrote: "It was all very exciting". As a committed Labour voter, I was pleased to see her go - but her tears as she drove from No 10 could not fail to move one.
Attack on the twin towers - 11 September 2001
Of course, this is the date I remember most vividly and most painfully. I was at the Trades Union Congress in Brighton as part of the delegation of the union for which I then worked, the Communication Workers Union. The Congress had started the previous day and that afternoon the Prime Minister Tony Blair was going to make a controversial address to the Congress on the private funding of public services. As I sat on the floor of the conference centre that afternoon, a delegate told me that a light aircraft had accidentally flown into one of the Twin Towers. However, it soon became clear that something much, much more serious was going on. When Tony Blair spoke, he abandoned his intended subject, spoke gravely about the attack on America, and left immediately for Downing Street. Then I left the hall to visit the AEEU stall to watch the BBC's News 24. I saw incredible film of the South Tower collapsing; then later I saw shots of the North Tower collapsing; next I saw the Pentagon on fire. I could barely believe what I was seeing. Congress was suspended. Back in my hotel room, I watched a lot more news. I recorded in my diary that "the events in America are outside all our experience" and "my jaw literally dropped at the awful scenes". It was clear that the world had changed for ever.
England's World Cup Semi Final v Germany - 4 July 1990
I did record England's defeat in my diary, but I have less interest in football (or indeed sport generally) than almost any man I know - so the event made little impression. I understand that Gazza was in tears. I believe that he's had few more problems since then.
President Kennedy's Assassination - 22 November 1963
I am actually old enough to remember this. I was 15 at the time and living at home in Manchester. I heard the news on the radio in the kitchen and I knew at once that it was both tragic and important. I did mention it in my "Lett's Schoolboy's Diary" - but I also recorded that the Beatles were at Number One in the charts again and had three EPs in the Top 30.
August 25, 2008
Pictures of the Baltics
Just over a week ago, I returned from a short holiday in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuanian and I quickly wrote up an account for my web site.
Over the Bank Holiday Monday that we had in the UK today, I have added 52 photos to my account (I took just over 200 in all).
Check out the account and photos here.
August 18, 2008
The first sign of Christmas
This morning, the post brought us our first Christmas catalogue - the price of ordering and sending charity Christmas cards each year. The organisation concerned is Amnesty International - an immensely worthy body, but one that I would rather waited a while before encouraging us to order things for the Christmas season. After all, it is still 129 days to Christmas.
August 16, 2008
Back from the Baltics
I'm just back from a six-day break with my sister Silvia. It was a short holiday in the Baltic States visiting Tallinn in Estonia, Riga in Latvia and Vilnius in Lithuania. This brings the total number of countries that I have visited to 52 - you can find the full list here.
I'll be writing up a full account of the Baltics trip here - but first I have to check out those 525 e-mails (much spam and scam no doubt) that have arrived in my absence.
August 08, 2008
The Night Hawk has flown
There'll be no postings on this blog for a week or so, since I'm off now on a short holiday in the Baltic States visiting Tallinn in Estonia, Riga in Latvia and Vilnius in Lithuania.
I'll write up an account for my web site on my return. Meanwhile please look through earlier postings on this blog and feel free to look around my comprehensive web site.
August 02, 2008
How do you spend your Saturday?
For the last three consecutive Saturdays, I've started the day in a city centre hotel giving a short speech to consumers selected by Ipsos MORI for a deliberative research project on behalf of Postwatch, the consumer watchdog for postal services. Two weeks ago, it was Edinburgh; last week, it was Sheffield; today it is London.
And next Saturday? No work this time. I'll be in Talinn in Estonia on the first leg of a three-centre break which will then take me to Riga in Latvia and Vilnius in Lithuania. I might check out the odd post box!
July 30, 2008
A success in the family
The author Michael Carr has stated that: "All kids are gifted; some just open their packages earlier than others". I was reminded of this comment this week when I received some news from my younger brother.
We were three kids in Manchester in the 1960s. My sister Silvia and I both did well at a school and went on to do degrees at university. Our younger brother Ralph struggled academically at school and eventually became a postman.
Later though, he took his degree and then his MA and then his PhD - you can check his credentials here.
He has just become a professor at the University of Salford. Well done, our kid!
July 28, 2008
Travelling around
This morning, I left the house at 5.30 am and I was not back until 9 pm. This 15 and a half hour day was occasioned by a trip from my home in London to the offices of the Scottish Consumer Council in Glasgow for a series of interviews to appoint the Scottish Director of Consumer Focus - the organisation that, on 1 October, will take over from Postwatch, Energywatch and the National Consumer Council.
It was the first time that I've used the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow airport - a huge, gleaming affair. I only had hand luggage but I was assured that the baggage handling problems of the first couple of months have now been resolved.
Since I became a portfolio worker - largely serving on consumer bodies - some six years ago, almost all my meetings and events take place in London. But the last couple of months have been different. My work has taken me to Oxford, Nottingham, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Lisbon.
I'll be visiting relatives in Leicester this weekend and then, in two weeks time, I'll be on holiday in the Baltic States visiting Talinn (Estonia), Riga (Latvia), and Vilnius (Lithuania).
July 12, 2008
Lunch with Jesus
This week, I visited Lisbon for professional purposes in order to give a presentation on next generation broadband on behalf of the Ofcom Consumer Panel. I was only in the city for 48 hours but I managed to do a lot: a day at the conference, half a day's sightseeing, and three meals in restaurants.
The evening before the conference, I dined with the Ofcom speaker at the event: Chinyelu Onwurah, Head of Telecoms Technology at the regulator. The evening after the conference, I had dinner with Paula Neves whom I first met in Lisbon in 1993. Then, on the last afternoon, I had lunch with Vanda Jesus who works for the organisation which hosted the conference. I know - all young, intelligent, attractive women. What can I say?
July 07, 2008
Off to Lisbon
July 04, 2008
Now I'm 60 ...
I was 60 last week and, having now reached this venerable age, certain privileges come into play.
For instance, I now have a Freedom Pass to travel on London's tubes and buses. Then the national health service has written to me to offer a free bowel cancer test.
i prefer the former ...
July 02, 2008
My American friend Larry Cohen
One of my closest friends is also one of the most distant. Larry Cohen is now President of the Communication Workers of America (CWA) but I have known him for around 20 years. He has just completed his first three-year term as President and been elected unopposed for a second three-year term. You can read his address to the recent CWA convention here.
When I was myself a trade union official, I used to see Larry regularly in various countries of the world but, since I took early retirement six years ago, it's been more difficult to see one another. Today, however, i caught Larry for a couple of hours at London's Heathrow Airport as he flew from Switzerland back to the USA.
Larry is a superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention and, once his original favourite John Edwards withdrew from the primaries, he was an early public supporter for Barack Obama with whom he is in regular contact. It was an opportunity for me to see a great friend and to receive some insights into what's going on politically in the United States.
For America's labour unions, one of the biggest election issues is the Employee Free Choice Act. I know - you've never heard of it. You can learn about this proposed legislation here.
Happy birthday to my web site
Today is the ninth anniversary of the creation of this web site. I have to thank Vee's nephew Martin for getting me started by opening a homepage for me on one of those free hosting sites. Later he purchased a domain name with my name for me.
Over the intervening years, the site has grown enormously in content and I've added two blogs, so typically I receive around 6,000 visits a day.
Many thnks to all my readers for their support and encouragement. Please spread the word!
June 29, 2008
My 60th birthday celebration
Although my 60th birthday was earlier in the week (see posting on Wednesday), it was yesterday that we had a gathering of family and friends to celebrate the event - and it was truly wonderful day.
The venue - organised by my wife Vee - was the Grim's Dyke Hotel, a country house that used to be occupied by Sir William Gilbert (of Gilbert & Sullivan fame). The actual location was the Music Room which has a floor to ceiling carved Alabaster fireplace and a minstrels gallery. The weather was wonderful and the food and service excellent.
No less than 63 of us (including seven children) gathered for the celebration. Vee offered some welcoming words and our son Richard gave a short toast. I then took the opportunity of a captive audience to give a speech which paid tribute to some of the people who had influenced each of the first six decades of my life and were present at the party. Finally Georgeanne and Andy led a sing-song in my honour.
I received an embarrassing number of gifts. There were no less than 16 books, so I'll have a busy summer. There were three bottles of champagne, so Vee and I can be very merry. There were two presents picking up on the year of my birth (1948): a full set of British coins for that year and an original edition of "The Aeroplane" magazine for the actual day of my birth. A really fun gift was a floating globe using clever magnets and technology. Then I was given a token for a flight in a glider. There were another 19 cards, making a total of 46, plus 20 electronic messages. I had no idea I had so many friends!
Truly I am blessed with a wonderful family and a fantastic set of friends and I thank them all for making this day so very special.
Roger gives his sister Silvia a big cuddle
while James Peixoto looks on
Roger behind David & Sharon, Vee's nephew and his wife
Roger hugs the mother of his Chinese 'son' Zhihao
Little and large: Vee with Roger's half-brother Chris
June 25, 2008
Today I am 60
It is my 60th birthday today. I'll be spending the day at a conference on postal services, but this evening my wife Vee will be taking me for dinner at our favourite local restaurant "Incanto" and then on Saturday we will have a gathering of around 50 family and friends to celebrate.
I feel that I have been very lucky with my life as I explain in these notes on "Why It's Fun To Be In One's Sixties In Britain".
Footnote 1: A sign of the electronic times is that, as well as (so far) 27 birthday cards through the post, I've had six e-mails (including one from Afghanistan), five SMS message (including one from Zambia) and nine blog comments (including one from the USA). Thanks to all!
Footnote 2: My wife has bought me for my birthday the two books written by Barack Obama: "Dreams From My Father" and "The Audacity Of Hope".
Footnote 3: As I mentioned in this posting, the management term that currently most irritates me is "going forward" (what's the alternative?). At the postal conference I attended today, I counted 20 instances of the use of this phrase, no less than 15 of them by Adam Crozier, the Chief Executive of Royal Mail.
June 21, 2008
The celebration continues ...
Three months ago, Vee and I returned from a wonderful holiday in Cuba [my account here]. On that trip, we befriended two other couples: Jean-Pierre & Annabell Boulé and Bill & Ann Samuel.
Last night, the six of us had a Cuba reunion and timed the event to mark my 60th birthday in a few days time. We ate at a Greek place in central London called "Beotys", looked at Cuba photos. and had great fun
I was given birthdays cards and presents, so thanks Jean-Pierre, Annabell, Bill and Ann.
June 19, 2008
Let the celebration begin
It's hard for me to believe, but next week I'll be 60. I know - I look so young and act even younger ;-)
The actual day is Wednesday 25 June and the main celebration will be on Saturday 28 June, but this event is so special that there are going to be celebrations over a 10-day period starting today.
My Postwatch London colleagues took me out for a most enjoyable Chinese lunch at Kym's. Thanks Terry, Sam, Sarah and Malcolm.
June 15, 2008
Happy Father's Day
In the UK, this Sunday is Father's Day (I know that Father's Day and Mother's Day are celebrated on different days around the world), so I want to wish a good day to all fathers like me. I had a card and a call from my son Richard and, in remembrance of all the super-hero movies we saw together, I include this short video clip from YouTube.
June 14, 2008
Fly past over London
Whenever the Royal Air Force does a fly past over central London, I try to catch it at home since we live almost due west of the city centre and usually catch such fly pasts before the aircraft disperse.
Today it was the Queen's official birthday and so, after the ceremony of the Trooping of the Colour, there was a fly past. As this is the 90th year of the RAF, there was an unusually large formation totalling 55 aircraft spread over 20 miles of sky.
At the moment, we're having repair work done on our roof and so we have scaffolding in place. This enabled us to climb out of the loft window, stand on the scaffolding, and have particularly good views of the passing formations. You can see the thrilling sight that we saw in this seven-minute video clip.
June 08, 2008
The oldest cinema in Britain
Last night, I went to see a film - "Mongol" [my review here] - at a cinema which could be the oldest in Britain.
The Phoenix cinema in north London first opened in 1910 as "The East Finchley Picturedrome", offering 'the world's finest picture plays'. It has been open as a cinema since and is believed to be the oldest purpose-built continuously serving cinema in the UK - it has never been a bingo hall, snooker hall or dark even during two World Wars.
It was one of the first cinemas in London to introduce sound films in 1929 when it was known as the "Coliseum". In the early 1970s, it was known as the "Rex" and I lived literally round the corner in Fairlawn Avenue.
June 02, 2008
I have no idea
This lunchtime, I was at the Treasury - at the invitation of my half-brother who is an official there - to hear a lecture by Professor Frank Trentmann. He was speaking about his latest book which is called "Free Trade Nation: Consumption, Civil Society and Commerce in Modern Britain".
The Treasury officials there seemed to love it - but I had no idea what the relevance was today's economic challenges. It was one of those events where I understood each word; I just couldn't make much sense of the sentences that they made up. Do you ever attend meetings like that?
May 31, 2008
How to take a good photograph
I have a section of my web site called Life Skills which is very popular. There's nothing terribly original there, but the advice is offered in a concise, catchy and friendly form which appears to appeal to readers.
Today I've created the 25 page in this section. It's called "How To Take A Good Photograph". Enjoy!
May 26, 2008
Visit to Apsley House
I have lived in London now for 37 years and I fairly recently read a book about the Duke of Wellington [my review here] but, until today (a very wet and windy Bank Holiday Monday), I had never visited Wellington's home at Apsley House at Hyde Park Corner.
The house was built between 1771-1778 by Robert Adam for Baron Apsley and sold to the Duke of Wellington in 1817, two years after the Battle of Waterloo and just before Wellington became Prime Minister. Apsley House was given to the nation in 1947. The Waterloo Gallery with its heavy oil paintings and the Dining Room with its ornate table piece are particularly fine.
May 25, 2008
Is Karen Armstrong religious?
It's Sunday - so let's have a religious posting.
On the strong recommendation of a friend, I'm currently reading "A History Of God" by Karen Armstrong. I'm find it tough going, not least because I am so unsure of the position of the author, and I am constantly asking myself whether Armstrong is now a person of religious belief.
I found this long interview partially helpful. It reminds us that Karen Armstrong spent seven years in a convent before leaving because she had lost her faith in God. But it seems that, while writing "A History Of God", she rediscovered some kind of religious faith and we are told that she now calls herself a "freelance monotheist".
The interview concludes as follows:
"Do you consider yourself a religious person?
Yes. It's a constant pursuit for me. It's helped me immeasurably to overcome despair in my own life. But I have no hard and fast answers.
I take it you don't like the question, do you believe in God?
No, because people who ask this question often have a rather simplistic notion of what God is.
What about an afterlife?
It's a red herring as far as I'm concerned."
May 22, 2008
"My name's Bond .."
As a teenager in the 1960s, I read all 14 of the James Bond novels and saw every one of the 007 movies as they were issued. When I became a father, I always took my son Richard to see the latest Bond film and today the two of us when to see a special exhibition at London's Imperial War Museum entitled "For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond".
This exhibition is both informative (I didn't know that in the books Bond bedded 'only' 14 women) and entertaining (there are some fun touch screen devices). The exhibits range from the Bell Textron Jet Pack from the film "Thunderball" to Halle Berry's orange bikini from the movie "Die Another Day". You can take a spin round the highlights here.
May 20, 2008
Farewell to Billy Blease
In my 60 years (OK, short of a few weeks) on this earth, one of the most decent men I have ever met was Billy Blease, otherwise known as Lord Blease of Cromac. He has just died aged 93 and today his obituary appears in the "Guardian".
At the time I knew Billy best in the 1970s, he was Secretary of the Northern Ireland Committee (NIC) of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU). This was his darkest hour when his beloved trade union movement was hijacked in a strike led by the Ulster Workers' Council, a hard-line Loyalist force that overthrew the first power-sharing government of Northern Ireland. It has taken us three decades to put together another such power-sharing administration.
Billy was a brave and honourable man who fought for workers' rights and against sectarianism of all forms and I was proud to know him.
May 13, 2008
Off to do some training
When I am not doing my consumer work, I sometimes act as a Support Trainer with a training consultancy called Lamont Associates.
This is run by a remarkable woman called Georgeanne Lamont who wrote the book "The Spirited Business" [my review here].
I'm off now for a few days to run a course for a group of managers who work for QinetiQ which used to be the research arm of the Ministry of Defence.
May 12, 2008
This week's Thought For The Week
For no less than 453 weeks now, I have circulated by e-mail a Thought For The Week to a growing number of friends and contacts around the world (the current circulation is around 1,200). You can check out all these thoughts here.
Now this week's thought is:
“Remember – a statue has never been set up in honour of a critic.”
Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
One of the recipients of the thought points out to me that this is not technically true. But then Ian does nit pick!
If you would like to be put on the circulation list for these thoughts e-mail me.
May 11, 2008
Brother Cyril and me
From the age of eight, I was brought up in a single-parent household led by my mother and I was the oldest of the three children. Although I saw my father regularly, it was not a happy relationship - so altogether I was short of a respected father figure and tended to find one where I could.
The first was my headmaster at the Roman Catholic direct grant grammar school in south Manchester where I studied from 1959 to 1966. The school was called the Xaverian College, it was run by a religious order of brothers, and the headmaster was a guy called Brother Cyril. I saw a lot more of him than most pupils because he chose me as School Captain for my final year and he allowed me to nominate my own prefects and to establish a School Council.
Everyone found Brother Cyril a formidable, even scary, figure. Although short and very quiet, he commanded immense respect and even fear. So often when I visited him in his study, he would fall silent for what seemed an eternity. At first, I nervously rushed to fill the silence. But then I learned to stay silent myself and give him time to think. This silence technique is one I have subsequently used countless times to assist me in negotiations or encourage people to talk about their problems.
Now Brother Cyril seemed old to me at the time (I was aged 11-18) and, if I ever thought about him these days, I assumed that he was long dead. So imagine my surprise to receive an e-mail directing me to a web site run by another former student at the school which carries a recent interview with Brother Cyril. I learn that amazingly he was headmaster from 1962 to 1989 and that he is now living in retirement in the USA aged 83.
I wish him long and happy retirement.
May 10, 2008
Another revealing meme
I've been tagged for a meme by my American cyber friend Dana Huff. I won't follow all the rules but I'll go with the flow and answer the questions.
What were you doing ten years ago?
I've checked my diary.
I was Head of Research for the Communications Workers Union (CWU) which represents staff in the postal and telecommunications industries. The Union had just elected a new General Secretary Derek Hodgson and one of his very first meetinga - on which I accompanied him - was to meet the then Chancellor of the Exchequer (now Prime Minister) Gordon Brown and the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury (now Chancellor of the Exchequer) Alistair Darling. The sole subject of the meeting was Derek's fear that the Government was considering privatisation of the Post Office (now called Royal Mail). We were assured that this was not the case. But today - ten years on - there is a Government-commissioned review of the postal industry being led by Richard Hooper that will certainly be revisiting this immensely controversial issue.
What are five things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order)
- Polish up my CV - I need to find some new public appointments for when Postwatch finishes in September.
- Write some of my diary - I've never caught up since we went to Cuba.
- Read the "Guardian" - I love the weekend newspapers.
- Read "A History Of God" - my current book.
- Enjoy the sunshine - it's incredibly warm this week.
What are some snacks I enjoy?
- Toblerone bar
- My wife's fruit cake
- Hot cross buns
- Eccles cakes
- Chorley cakes
What would I do if I were a billionaire?
Tell as few people as possible, give each family member enough to pay off debts and have a holiday, and give away the rest to various charities as soon as I could.
What are three of my bad habits?
- I worry too much
- I feel too much
- I don't admit to my bad habits
What are five places where you have lived?
- The Midlands - i was born in a little place called Sedgley
- Manchester - I went to school and university here
- North London - I first lived here when i moved to the capital
- East London - I lived there with my first wife
- North-west London - I've been here 24 years now with Vee
What are five jobs I have had?
- Researcher to a Member of Parliament
- Political Adviser to a member of the Cabinet
- Head of Research for the Communication Workers Union
- Chair of the Internet Watch Foundation
- Member of the Ofcom Consumer Panel
May 09, 2008
How many countries have I visited?
My good friend Andy has directed me to a great web site that enables one to create a personal map showing all the countries one has visited. I've eagerly done this and posted the map on my web site.
Now on my web site, I list the 49 countries that I reckon I have visited. But, creating the map on the World66 site, I clicked on a total of 52 countries. Two of the extra countries are the Channel islands and Vatican City. Should I count these for my web site calculation. The third extra country is my own: the United Kingdom. Do I count this on my web site list?
Help me out here, guys. I need your advice.
By the way, the World66 map misses out an entire continent: Antarctica.
May 08, 2008
Gas explosion near to us
May 04, 2008
What we watch
Vee and I usually finish the day sitting on the couch together watching television. Most of what we watch is recorded on Sky+. That way, we never miss a programme we really want to watch, we can stop the programme if we missed some dialogue, and we can skip the adverts.
At the core of our viewing is the American series. In fact, we follow three: "Desperate Housewives" (we've just started series 4), "Brothers And Sisters" (we've just commenced series 2) and "Heroes" (again series 2 has just begun). I also watch "Lost" (we're on series four here) but Vee thinks this is silly.
We're both keen on news and current affairs, so we always watch BBC's "News At Ten" and we usually watch CNN's "The Situation Room" (to get the latest on the US primaries).
We like some entertainment, so we generally watch "Friday Night With Jonathan Ross" and we loved "Gavin & Stacey".
Vee watches more television than me. She likes programmes on property and gardening, so she's never sort of something to view, and she's also strong on nature programmes and historical documentaries. My extras tend to be programmes on science, especially cosmology and physics.
Neither of us is remotely interested in sports programmes.
What you you like to watch?
April 27, 2008
Weekend in Winchester
Vee and I have spent the weekend visiting my (much younger) half brother Chris (a Treasury official) and his partner Janine (a Spanish language teacher). They live in a village called South Wonton just north of the historic city of Winchester.
On Saturday afternoon, we drove through the New Forest and down to the south coast where we took a ferry from Keyhaven out to Hurst Castle, a fortification first built at the time of King Henry VIII. We walked back along a mile and a half long shingle spit from which one can see the Isle of Wight and the Needles. This created an appetite for dinner which we had at the unusually named restaurant "The Half Moon & Spread Eagle" in Micheldever which is under new management .
This morning we travelled over to a place called intech which is a space centre and planetarium on the outskirts of Winchester. The planetarium only opened a few weeks ago and it is the country's largest. We were able to view two presentations at the planetarium: one on the solar system and one on black holes.
Next we went into Winchester. First we called into something called the Winchester Discovery Centre which is a complete reinvention of the idea of a library. Finally we had lunch at an outlet of the "Prezzo" chain where every member of staff - including the chef - was Polish.
Except for first thing this morning, the weather stayed fine and sunny and it was a really good trip. Thanks Chris and Janine!
April 26, 2008
Do you like a thrill?
If so, you might like to try this.
Me? I couldn't do it. When my son was eight (that's 24 years ago), I took him on Space Mountain at Disneyworld in Florida. I'm still recovering ...
April 25, 2008
Life can be a pain
For several months now, I've had a recurrent and persistent pain in my right shoulder.
Usually with pains and other ailments, I take the view that they will either get better (in which case fine) or they will get worse (in which case I'll go to the doctor) - and fortunately, in the vast majority of cases, things sort themselves out. In this case though, while the situation did not get worse, it did not get better either.
So this morning, I did finally go to the doctor. He quickly came to a diagnosis. Apparently it's something called cervical spondylosis. No cure, no treatment, but not serious or threatening - just painful. I suppose I am 60 in a couple of months ...
April 24, 2008
Walk To Work Day
This morning, it took me an incredible 2 hours 20 minutes to reach my meeting at Post Office Headquarters in central London where, as the Chairman of Postwatch Greater London, I was putting the case for the withdrawal of certain proposed post office closures.
I was doing fine until I reached Baker Street underground station. Then we had to leave the train because of a signal failure at Moorgate. I was trying to find another tube route to my destination at Old Street when there was an emergency evacuation of Baker Street station.
There were masses of passengers milling around and walking off and there was simply no way that I could find a free taxi in the vicinity. In the end, I walked all the way to Kings Cross before I was able to find a taxi which then inched its way through congested streets.
As soon as I encountered trouble on the London Underground - one of the occasional joys of living and working in the capital - I used my IPhone to connect to the Net and access the web site of Transport for London. I found that today is 'Walk To Work Day'. What an irony!
April 18, 2008
A tip on tipping
Increasingly, in restaurants I try to tip the waiter or waitress in cash even though i usually pay the bill by credit card.
Why? Because of practices like these.
Five years blogging
Today is the fifth anniversary of my life as a blogger.
This was my first posting. Since then, there have been almost 2,000 more on this personal blog - and lots more on my professional blog.
NightHawk has changed my life - but has my blog changed yours?
April 16, 2008
The gas men cometh ... and cometh again ... and again ... and again
The two holes were filled today.
April 15, 2008
The gas men cometh ... and cometh again ... and again
OK - so now we have our gas supply back on. But we still have two big holes that have to be filled.
The gas men cometh ... and cometh again
In the middle of last week, we smelt gas outside the front door so we called National Grid Gas. In no time, a guy was here and confirmed that there was a leak. Very soon, three other guys were at the house and digging up the pavement outside our front garden. Next day, we were told that the leak was solved - but, for some reason, the hole had to remain unfilled for a few days.
Over the weekend, we could still smell gas. So we called again yesterday. Again a guy was round in no time. Again he confirmed a leak. Two more guys were round quickly. This time a new hole was dug just outside our front door and a new gas meter was installed on the wall at the front of the house in the porch area.
Meanwhile the gas supply has been cut off and we have been loaned a couple of fan heaters to keep warm and an electric hot plate to cook food. Some more installation work needs to be done before the gas can be reconnected. The front of the house looks a mess and the meter box is pretty obtrusive - but I guess it's better than being blown up.
Now - how about filling those two holes?
April 12, 2008
Photos of Cuba
As regular visitors will know, a few weeks ago I had a holiday in Cuba and I've been writing up a narrative of the trip for my web site.
I've now added 56 photographs. You can check out the text and the pictures here
April 09, 2008
6,000 visits a day
Yesterday the number of visitors to my web site exceeded 6,000. Thank you so much for your interest and support. Please encourage relatives and colleagues to have a look at the site.
April 06, 2008
London in the snow
On Friday, here in London, it was mild enough for me to have lunch on our garden terrace for the first time this year. But, two days later, what a contrast.
We rarely have snow in London and, when we do, it is in January or February. This morning, in early April, we woke up tp a good covering of snow - although, by lunchtime, most of it had gone.
The spinney at the end of our back garden
April 03, 2008
How much water do you need?
I've always been amused by people who claim that we need to drink lots of water every day because it clears out toxins or gives you energy. The latest research would suggest that there is simply no evidence to support the need for lots of water.
For me, drinking glass after glass of water is boring and tasteless - and sends you to the toilet. I prefer to drink when I'm thirsty. My favourite drink is cappuccino but, in a typical day, I indulge in both coffee and tea with lesser amounts of orange and wine.
If you want to be healthy, I've offered some advice here.
April 01, 2008
The RAF at 90
As a lifelong aviation enthusiast, I could not fail to note that today is the 90th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Air Force. I have always been well aware of the importance of 1 April to the RAF because, in the biography that I wrote of my wife's father, I noted that his wartime night intruder operations started on this date.
Today the 90th anniversary was marked by a fly past over central London at 1 pm. Since I was down town for a meeting of the Postwatch Council, I was able to get to Buckingham Palace just in time for a good view of the Red Arrows and and Typhoons - stirring stuff.
March 26, 2008
Keeping you posted
In my capacity as Chairman of the London Region of Postwatch, I've attended no less than four meetings today to discuss the proposals to close 169 post offices in the capital:
- I was at the House of Commons for an hour to meet a Member of Parliament to talk about two proposed closures in his constituency.
- I was at Postwatch Headquarters for an hour to review the London programme with our London Regional Manager.
- I was at the Oversight & Scrutiny Committee of Haringey Council for over two hours to given evidence on six proposed closures in the Borough,
- I was at a public meeting in Kensington & Chelsea to speak on the proposal to close two offices in that Borough. This last meeting was the most exciting. There were around 250 people filling a hall and the speakers included former Conservative Cabinet Minister and local MP Malcolm Rifkin and former Labour Cabinet Minister and local resident Tony Benn.
March 25, 2008
Our time in Havana
In between attending my son's wedding in South Wales, reading papers for the New National Consumer Council Board meeting, and trying to reduce further all the outstanding e-mails, I used some of this cold Easter weekend to write up an account of our time in Havana as part of my web page on our recent trip to Cuba. You can check it out here
March 24, 2008
It's snowing!
It's Easter Monday and, here in London, it's snowing - crazy!
March 23, 2008
A very special wedding
This Easter weekend was very special for the family because our son Richard married his partner Emily after some five years together. The wedding took place at the Cwrt Bleddyn Hotel ('cwrt' means court and 'Bleddyn' was a Welsh prince) in South Wales.
It was a wonderful occasion with 122 guests from as far away as Montreal (where Emily was brought up), Vancouver, New York and Los Angeles. Richard entered the room to the main theme from "Gladiator", Emily appeared accompanied by the Princess Leia theme from "Star Wars", and at the end the two of them left the room to the triumphal march from the conclusion of "Star Wars".
Fortunately the rain held off but the weather was literally freezing and at one point there was even a flurry of snow. However, this did not stop photographs being taken in the hotel grounds. Terrific speeches were made by Emily's father David, Richard, Emily and best man Doug respectively - a total of 43 hilarious minutes (there was a sweepstake). The dancing was started by Richard and Emily who had trained to accompany the James Bond theme tune "Nobody does it better". Later there was even a fireworks display.
Truly it was a fabulous occasion.
Emily and Richard sign the wedding register
Roger and Vee - the proud parents
March 21, 2008
Off to the wedding
Since I arrived back from our holiday in Cuba on Monday [some preliminary notes here], I've had a furiously busy week with events morning, afternoon and evening every day.
The three evening events have all been public meetings on post office closures which I have had to address as the Chairman of the Greater London Region of Postwatch. The meetings were held in a social club in Redbridge, a council office in Hammersmith and a Pentecostal church in Battersea respectively. All of them were fraught and emotional occasions.
I'm off with Vee now to spend the weekend in South Wales. Our son Richard is getting married to his partner Emily tomorrow in a hotel just north of Newport. It promises to be another emotional, but much happier, occasion.
March 17, 2008
Back from Cuba
I'm just back from a 10 day holiday in Cuba so now I can resume blogging on NightHawk. The trip was absolutely fascinating and of course I'll be writing a full narrative for the travel section of my web site. First though:
a) I have to get over the jet lag
b) I have to look through over 1,000 e-mails
c) I have to do public meetings every night this week on the post office closure programme
d) I am attending my son's wedding in South Wales on Easter Saturday
I'll build up the Cuba account section by section and you'll be able to follow it here.
March 05, 2008
Hasta luego
I'm about to go off for a holiday to Cuba so I won't be blogging on NightHawk for a while.
While I'm a way, please take the opportunity to browse some of the 120 sections of my web site.
February 23, 2008
Welcome to the world Harvey
A new generation in my family started yesterday when my nephew Dominic and his partner Emma became proud parents of a baby boy Harvey. He arrived at 1.20pm weighing 6lb 5oz. You can view his slide show here.
I am so thrilled for Dom and Emma and wish them and Harvey all the luck in the world. I'm also delighted for my sister Silvia who becomes a grandparent for the first time.
February 02, 2008
How to think critically
I'm a great believer in clear and critical thinking and one of the most visited pages on my web site is my advice of "How To Think Critically".
Therefore I was pleased to have my attention drawn recently to a really good web site which presents an encyclopedia of errors of reasoning.
In fact, yesterday I bought a new book yesterday called "Counterknowledge" which is sub-titled "How we surrendered to the conspiracy theories, quack medicine, bogus science and fake history".
January 29, 2008
Starting a new role
Just days after the Government announcement of the membership of the New National Consumer Council on which I will serve for the next four years, we had our first Board meeting today - almost five hours discussing over 100 pages of papers. A really great team of colleagues - but a lot of complicated procedural issues to bring about the merger of Postwatch, Energywatch and the current National Consumer Council in October 2008.
I'm delighted to see that our extremely able Chief Executive Ed Mayo shares my interest in all things Internet and has started a blog to report on his progress in building the new organisation.
January 25, 2008
My new public appointment
On 30 September 2008, three statutory consumer bodies - energywatch, Postwatch and the National Consumer Council - will cease to exist. They will be merged into a body currently called the New National Consumer Council which will come into effect on 1 October 2008.
At the end of July 2007, advertisements were placed seeking applicants to serve on the Board of the New NCC. Six months later, the appointments are announced today by Consumer Minister Gareth Thomas at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. You can see the details here.
I'm pleased to say that I've been appointed to the New NCC Board for a four year term. Since I am currently on the Postwatch Council until September 2008 and on the Ofcom Consumer Panel until February 2009, I should have a busy 2008 working to advance the interests of consumers.
January 19, 2008
A very busy week
I've not blogged for a few days because this week has been such a very busy time.
- I'm the Member for England on the Ofcom Consumer Panel and, on Tuesday, we had our monthly meeting and met our new Chairman Anna Bradley.
- I'm the Chair of the Greater London Region on the Postwatch Council and, on Wednesday, we had our monthly meeting which lasted five and half hours.
- I spent the whole of Thursday at the Oxford Media Convention where I spoke in a panel on the impact of new media on public service broadcasting.
- On Friday, I was back at Postwatch for a discussion on the output a research project which involved a PowerPoint presentation with no less than 80 slides.
- By Friday evening, I was ready for some social life and Vee and I had dinner with good friends in "Rules", the oldest restaurant in London (established in 1798), where one of the other diners was the new England football manager Fabio Capello.
- Today - a very wet and miserable Saturday here in London - I was down town to spend time with my wonderful sister who was visiting from her home city of Leicester.
- Time now to start reading a new 700-page biography of Fidel Castro before we go on holiday to Cuba in March.
January 01, 2008
A new year; a new device
For a decade now, I've always carried two electronic devices with me wherever I go: my mobile and my personal digital assistant (PDA). From today, no more ...
For my 49th birthday (June 1997) I bought myself a present. My first palm top computer – a Psion 3c with 2 megabytes of memory. Some years later, I up-graded this to a Psion 5mx with 16 megabytes of memory. Four years ago, I switched to a Palm Tungsten T3 with 64 MB of memory.
Having had an iPhone (8 GB of memory) for some weeks, I have now transfered all my diary appointments and other data to my mobile and, from today, I am going to use the one device. The size of the IPhone screen and the ease of use of the device will make this a pleasure as well as a convenience.
A new year; a new diary
One of the reasons why blogging comes quite naturally to me is that I've kept a daily diary for decades. In fact, I have an entry for every day for the last 46 years - that's some 16,800 entries. Of course, today I start my 47th diary.
Now my diary and this blog are very different. Essentially my diary is a comprehensive record of my life and full of personal details. This blog picks out certain subjects or events of wider interest and I don't reveal really personal information about me, my family, or my friends.
Hopefully though, you'll find the blog interesting enough to keep visiting. I aim for an entry a day and the intention is to present a global look at the world in a liberal and positive frame of mind.
December 25, 2007
Wii-ing at Christmas
Having spent the morning running [see photo here], Vee's nephew David and his wife Sharon joined the rest of Vee's immediate family to spend Christmas Day with us. They brought along David's Christmas present to Sharon: a Nintendo Wii game console.
Now I'm not into gaming and certainly first person shooter games and fantasy games hold no attraction for me, but I quite enjoyed playing bowling and golf on the Wii - which apparently is aimed at a wider consumer base than many other games consoles.
Hurricane at Christmas
A few days ago, I blogged about how my biography of the World War Two night intruder ace who was my wife's father keeps coming back into our lives. The Czech Karel Kuttelwascher flew a particular Hawker Hurricane IIC which he called "Night Reaper".
Today, to our astonishment, Vee and I received a Christmas present from her twin sister Mari and her brother-in-law Derek which is a metal cast 1:32 scale model of the "Night Reaper" produced by Corgi. We had no idea that the model existed.
You can see details here.
December 24, 2007
Reaching round the world
I know that my web site and blogs are visited by up to 5,000 people a day because my traffic statistics tell me exactly what's happening day by day. But it's wonderful when I hear from a visitor I don't know and find that some of the material has proved helpful in some way.
Today I received this e-mail:
"I have two friends, Kath and Margaret, who are currently rowing across the Atlantic together with 20-odd other competing boats. Their site is here. They love daily jokes, and I found your site to be the best source I could find for quality material. Every day I send them a selection from your site, via sat phone. So thanks, on behalf of Kath, Margaret and myself. You are inadvertently making their rather tough days a little brighter and a little easier! You have a huge, wise, and wonderful site."If you want to check out the jokes in question, you'll find them here and here.
December 21, 2007
Memories still flying high
One of my favourite sayings is: "It isn't over until it's over - and then it isn't over". This has certainly been the case regarding the book "Night Hawk" which I wrote in 1984 about the life of the Second World War night fighter ace who was my wife's father [his story here]. I keep thinking the story is behind me, but it keeps coming back with something new.
This afternoon, my wife and I were visited by John Weber of Bushey Heath. Now aged 75, he was 10 in 1942 when his father evacuated the family to Buckinghamshire and rented out the family house in Hendon, north London, to a Czech pilot called Flight Lieutenant Karel Kuttelwascher (my wife's farher).
John recalls a newspaper photograph - which he believes was taken at his home - of the Czechoslovak President in exile Eduard Benes presenting a Czech War Cross to Kuttelwascher on 11 August 1942. He would love to locate a copy of the photo to assist him in a painting which he would like to create, but sadly we have never seen such a photo, still less have a copy.
We were able to show John some of our many records of the exploits of Karel Kuttelwascher - but he was able to add to this archive with something totally new to us.
He gave us a DVD of a History Channel programme on the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. Now we were well aware that the BBMF has painted one of its Hurricane aircraft in the colours of Kuttelwascher's aircraft [I blogged about this here]. But this programme had wartime footage of Kuttelwascher which we've never seen.
In the short clip, he is asked by an interviewer which is his favourite German aircraft and he responds: "Well, I don't mind. I like them all going down". We have seen a tiny film clip of him and we've heard a tiny audio clip of him, but this is the first time we have seen and heard him in the same piece of media.
Vee was only 15 when her father, the wartime hero, died and she naturally treasures such recollections of him.
John has managed to obtain a copy of my 1984 book "Night Hawk" which he wishes to present to the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon since apparently their copy is falling apart. Vee and I were happy to sign it for him.
December 15, 2007
Christmas news (1)
At this time of year, we send out Christmas cards to our many friends at home and abroad and, so that they know what we've been doing in the past 12 months, we always include a Christmas newsletter. You can read this year's newsletter here.
Christmas news (2)
On a wall of my study, there is a framed photograph of the Students' Union Council of 1969-70 at the then University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. I'm there at the front in the middle as the sabbatical President for that year. Standing behind me is a Council member who is mentioned in a Christmas card I've just received from an old friend.
It seems that my one-time Council colleague has just celebrated 25 years as a Catholic priest and is now a Bishop. Lord ....
November 13, 2007
It's not cricket
Yesterday I attended a conference on telecommunications regulation organised by the London Business School. As a result, I was a guest at a meal hosted by BT and held in the Media Centre of Lords Cricket Ground in north London. This provides stunning views of the cricket field. There were just a few problems:
a) It was nighttime so one could barely see the field.
b) It's winter so there's no playing there anyway.
c) I'm an atypical male with no interest in sports.
But it's an impressive building - and the meal wasn't bad.
November 12, 2007
Back from the Isle of Wight
Vee and I spent Saturday and Sunday on the Isle of Wight visiting our good friends Trev and Tess Jessop. It was a time for friendship and food rather than sightseeing.
They live in an amazing place called Span Lodge which was bulit in 1805 as a home for the gatekeeper of the southern gate of a stately home called Appuldurcombe House. They have built a wonderful conservatory and are now adding an extension and the whole house is full of Trev's paintings. They have even created a new copse filled with 15 different varieties of trees, numbering some 1,000 in all.
Appuldurcombe House itself is an 18th century Palladian house which, as a result of a bomb that fell nearby during the war, had its windows blown out and roof destroyed. It has been partially restored and is now privately owned but open to the public. The impressive grounds were designed by Capability Brown. We had some walks around the Lodge and the House and also through the village of Bonchurch and the town of Ventnor.
November 09, 2007
Off to the Isle of Wight
In all my nearly 60 years, I've only been once to the Isle of Wight - and that was almost 30 years ago. But this weekend, Vee and I are off for couple of days to visit Trev and Tess Jessop whom we befriended on our holiday in Indochina. Trev is an artist and you can see some of his excellent work on his web site.
More than half of the land on the Isle of Wight is designated an area of outstanding natural beauty and the island attracts more than 2 million visitors a year. Yet, although the island is known for its wealthy yachting community, it now has the second lowest wage levels in the UK, more than 25% of people are on benefits, and nearly half the 130,000 inhabitants are over 50.
October 30, 2007
My role in "Coronation Street"
Over the last six weeks, I've done an unusual amount of travel: Sarajevo for a short break with my sister, Prague to attend the graduation ceremony of a dear friend, Inverness for a meeting of the Ofcom Consumer Panel, Zagreb to give two presentations at a conference, and now this week Manchester mainly to attend number of events organised by Ofcom's Advisory Committee for England.
Now I lived in Manchester until I was 23 and my brother and his family still live there, so I went up early to visit them before embarking on the Ofcom events. I was able to make short visits to an exhibition centre called Urbis and to the Museum of Science & Industry.
Once I left my brother's place, I moved to the Hilton Hotel which is located in the Beetham Tower. At 171m tall, this is the tallest building in Manchester. It has the UK's highest living space and it is the UK's tallest building outside London.
One of the highlights of my return to Manchester was a visit that Ofcom Committee made to the outdoor set and indoor stages used by the Granada television series "Coronation Street". The "Street" is the longest-running soap on British television and has been running since 1960.
Standing second from left - that's me outside the "Rover's Return"
Pulling a pint in the "Rover's Return"
October 27, 2007
Back from Zagreb
It's like those buses - you wait for ages and then two come along ... For decades, I've travelled the world but I never went to former Yugoslavia or its newly-independent components. However, last month, I spent a long weekend in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina [my review here]. Then, last week, I spent several days in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. I was there for a seminar entitled "Consumer Issues In The Electronic Communications Market" and I gave presentations on telecommunications and the Internet. Since I've never been to Zagreb before, I flew out a little early and stayed on a little later, so that I could see a bit of the city.
Croatia is very different from Bosnia. It was never part of the Ottoman Empire and does not have the ethnic and religious mix of Bosnia. The vast majority of its 4.4 million citizens are Croat and Catholic. It has a long Dalamatian coastline which helps define its character and results in a good deal of tourism, whereas Bosnia only has a very tiny coastline and still experiences relatively little tourism.
Both Croatian and Bosnian - which are very similar - are Slavonic languages and I speak a little Czech, so I was able to use a few Croatian words and (with the aid of a delightful woman called Andja) even opened my first conference presentation with two sentences of Croatian. A strange fact: even though Croatia is such a small country, there are several distinct Croatian dialects.
Zagreb itself is like a small Prague or Budapest. The architecture of the inner city is heavily influenced by its former membership of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, while the outer parts of the city display plenty of evidence of the stark, utilitarian style of its decades as a Communist state. Like Prague and Budapest, there is an old town with historic buildings, a hill with an imposing cathedral, and cobbled streets and lots of cafes. The city is particularly blessed by some splendid parks.
At one point, I was reminded of Krakow. There a trumpeter in the cathedral tower announces the arrival of noon, whereas in Zagreb a cannon is fired from a tower in the Upper Town (the old bit). Although it rained every day that I was there, I did a lot of walking: I took a guided tour of the Upper Town with a very able guide called Neven and did my own walking tour of the Lower Town. I even managed to spend time in three museums: the Zagreb Museum, the Arts & Crafts Museum and the Mimara Museum.
October 23, 2007
Another trip; another country
I won't be blogging for a few days now because I'm off out of the country. I'm attending a seminar in Zagreb and Croatia takes the number of countries that I've now visited to 48.
I'm participating in a seminar entitled "Consumer Issues In The Electronic Communications Market" and I'll be giving two presentations.
How small can a cinema be?
Regular visitors to NightHawk will know that I'm a big movie fan and love going to the cinema. One of the smaller and most unusual cinemas I've ever visited is called Kinema in the woods and is located in Woodall in Lincolnshire.
However, my attention was drawn to a report this week of the closure of an even smaller cinema. La Charrette outside Swansea seated just 23.
The smallest cinema I can recall visiting was in Monterey in California when I was travelling around the United States as student in 1970. This place was so tiny and so casual that there were no seats; one simply reclined on huge cushions on the floor ...
October 22, 2007
How to do this and that
I had an interview for a public appointment today (I'll let you know more about it if I'm successful). As part of my preparation, I read my own advice on how to have a good job interview. This is a page on my web site as part of a broader section on life skills which attracts a lot of supportive comments from users. The list of advice is as follows:
How To Be Happy
How To Be Healthy
How To Recognise A Stroke
How To Resolve Conflict
How To Use Time Well
How To Remember Things
How To Think Critically
How To Use Punctuation
How To Have A Good Job Interview
How To Have A Good Media Interview
How To Make A Good Speech
How To Make A Good Presentation
How To Be A Good Listener
How To Have A Good Meeting
How To Be A Good Leader
How To Build A Team
How To Produce A Strategic Plan
How To Work At Home
How To Achieve A Work/Life Balance
How To Travel Wisely
How To Be A Top Secret Spy
How To Save Water
How To Save Energy
How To Save The World
October 17, 2007
Back from Inverness
I've returned from a couple of days in Inverness where I was attending an out-of-London meeting of the Ofcom Consumer Panel. This is the furtherest north that I've ever been in the United Kingdom.
The local constituency goes by the catchy name of Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey and we met the constituency MP, Liberal Democrat Danny Alexander. He is walking evidence that it is not just policemen who seem to be getting younger.
Although II didn't have the opportunity to go searching for the Loch Ness monster, I had a little time to wander round the town and found that the wave of immigrants from Eastern Europe to the UK is reaching to every part of the country. I met Poles and Lithuanians and they were suitably impressed when I could say "Good morning" in their language.
I am not surprised - but pleased - by the report this week showing that these migrants are making a positive contribution to our economy.
October 15, 2007
Remembering the great storm
Twenty years ago this morning, Britain suffered the most ferocious storm since 1703. In the South-East of England, 19 people were killed and 15 million trees were uprooted and damage ran to £1.5 billion.
I always sleep soundly and we had new double glazing, so I slept throughout the entire storm. However, when I rose, I found that we had lost all electricity, felt from the dorma roof and guttering from above one of the side windows had been ripped off, and the back garden was littered with branches snapped off from the spinney behind us.
My line of the London Underground was not working and so I did not manage to reach my place of work until 10.30 am, only to be told that the building was being closed at lunchtime.
There's a story in today's "Mirror" newspaper about that infamous broadcast by weather man Michael Fish assuring us that all was well.
October 08, 2007
Back from Prague
Vee and I have just returned from five days in Prague - her 16th visit and my 21st. This time, we were there to attend the graduation ceremony of our dear friend Vojtišek (Vojta) Horváth whose family we have known for 22 years.
Vojta has recently completed a six-year degree in medicine and his degree ceremony was held in the Magna Aula of the Karolinum of the Charles University of Prague. This is a very old establishment: the first university in Central Europe established in 1348. We didn't understand a word of the event - what wasn't in Czech was in Latin - but we were delighted to celebrate Vojta's success after so much hard work.
The graduation ceremony in the Magna Aula of the Karolinum
Our Czech friend Vojta with his Slovak girlfriend Zuzanna
October 02, 2007
Off to see my Czech mates
Thirteen years ago, one of my closest friends - a Czech doctor from Prague - died of leukemia here in London. You can read my tribute to Pavel Horvath here.Vee and I have retained a deep friendship with his family who are like our own and we exchange visits between London and Prague on a regular basis.
The family's eldest son Vojta has just finished his six year degree to become a doctor like his father. His graduation ceremony in Prague is later this week, so Vee and I now are off there for a few days to help celebrate this event.
September 30, 2007
Welcome to Sarajevo
A week ago, I was in Sarajevo for a weekend break with my sister Silvia. I've now written up an account for my web site and included 24 photographs.
Usually my holidays are all about enjoying local architecture and culture with little opportunity or need to focus on politics, but this trip was different. Every corner of this city and this society has been scarred by the war of 1992-1995 when Serb forces attempted to extinguish Bosnian aspirations for independence.
The people we met there - both Bosniak and Serb - were keen to share their experiences and perceptions. They felt - rightly, I believe - that people outside former Yugoslavia do not really appreciate what happened in the war and the challenges that the country still faces.
So I hope that you will want to read my modest contribution to a greater understanding of Bosnia's past and present. You can check it out here.
September 24, 2007
What is truth - and does it matter?
On my web site is a short essay that has stimulated some thought and discussion by visitors to my site. The essay is entitled "The Reason For Truth" and you can read it here.
The fullest response has come from my former colleague and good friend Derek Bright. I've appended it below together with my reaction.
A challenging way to start a new week ....
Feel free to add your thoughts.
September 23, 2007
Back from Bosnia
Anyone who knows me or who reads this blog knows that i love travelling to different countries and meeting people from different cultures. I haven't blogged for a few days because I've been on a short break to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. This is the 47th country that I've visited but very special in being a European country that has recently been at war.
It was a fascinating trip and I'll be writing about it on my web site soon.
September 16, 2007
The New Europe
This evening, I watched the first programme in a series of seven called "Michael Palin's New Europe". The series is being shown on Sunday evenings on BBC1 and they will cover 20 countries in Eastern Europe.
I have an intense interest in this part of the world, mainly because my wife is half Czech and I've visited the Czech Republic 20 times (I'll be making my 21st trip there later this month to attend a graudation). I've been to Slovakia several times and I've also visited Poland (twice), Hungary (twice), Bulgaria and Russia.
I've not yet been to former Yugoslavia, but I'll be going to Bosnia later this week - a visit to Sarajevo which featured in this evening's programme - and to Croatia next month - a seminar in Zagreb. During his time in Sarajevo, Palin met and heard a Bosnian singer called Amira and, as part of my preparation for my trip there, I've been listening to her CD "Rosa" which is hauntingly beautiful sevdah music.
Thoughts wing around world
For eight years now, I've been sending out by e-mail a "Thought For The Week" - usually on a Sunday. More than 400 have now been dispatched and you can read them all here.
I started the practice when I was Head of Research at the Communication Workers Union and at first it only went to the 12 colleagues who worked for me. It now goes to over 1100 individuals all around the world.
Every day or two, I receive a new request to be added to the circulation list. This week, four people in Afghanistan joined the circulation. If you'd like to receive it, please e-mail me.
September 10, 2007
Anyone for a game of conkers?
One really notices the change of seasons by observing the trees and, in my part of London, there are fortunately quite a few trees. On the main road near my home, there are some particularly fine horse chestnut trees and I noticed today that they've just started to shed their conkers.
I wonder if children still play the game of conkers these days. Of course, there's guidance on the web.