Monday, April 27, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Canary bird's eye view
Rest of the week been busy with various things, including double checking numbers and preparing a 'death by PowerPoint' presentation for today.
So, in one of those bizarre things that happen, I ended up spending most of the day 39 floors high above London - another place I'm never likely to come to again! In the end it wasn't quite 'death by PowerPoint', but perhaps a mild coma... ;o)
With elongated travel due to various engineering works the day was long, but good - lots of bright ideas fizzing round and real thinking and discussion, all with the glorious view of London to my left.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Sheep to the right??
Saturday, April 18, 2009
A funny old game?
Welcome to the sixth level of football in England. Welcome to the Blue Square South. Welcome to the Beveree where Hampton and Richmond FC hosts AFC Wimbledon.
I've been to numerous non-league football matches - but never an all ticket one, never one which was sold out well in advance. I've also not seen as many police at a non-league match!
A crowd of over 3,200 crammed into the small ground in suburban London. Hampton and Richmond are a small community club whose main claim to fame is that Alan Simpson, one of the writers for Tony Hancock, is the club president. AFC Wimbledon are the supporter trust club set up after the creation/move of the MK Dons. They have been swiftly moving up the non-league pyramid and could be back in the league soon. AFC are top of the table, Hampton three points behind and already guaranteed a play off place. In effect Hampton need a win, AFC could settle for a draw due to their great goal difference.
The result - in the end a fair 1-1 draw. AFC will be in the Blue Square Premier league next season - hopefully Hampton will make it via the play offs.
It's a world away from the gloss of the Sky Sports and international superstars - but it's real community based 'jumpers for goalposts' football. And all the better for it.
Friday, April 17, 2009
A river runs through it
So I got around to doing something I've thought about for a while. Took the train in to London - as I would on a working day - and instead of getting off at Vauxhall and turning right, I turned left and set off by the Thames.
Despite the weather being less than spring like - is was a dreadfully grey day in really flat light - what a wonderful stroll it was.
It was a walk of contrasts - the haunting mass of the old Battersea power station, the redevelopment of some parts, the industry by Nine Elms and Wandsworth, and the peace of Putney and Barnes.
A lovely walking corridor through the heart of London.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Website of the week
Then there was Dancing in Liverpool Street.
Now the Belgians are it as well...
Does anyone just go to a station to catch a train anymore??
Sunday, April 12, 2009
New in Town(er)
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Going up the Downs
At Easter 15 years ago I first came to Eastbourne as my grandparents were looking to move there and we looked at various flats. Eventually they moved down and I've got know Eastbourne quite well over the years. I've a soft spot for the place - it's not particularly glamorous or exciting and it has perhaps a bit of faded glory. However, compared to other UK coastal towns it's doing OK - its seafront has a lot of lovely architecture that, due to good use of planning law, hasn't been ruined by tacky shopfronts. Above all it has the coast on one side and the glorious South Downs on the other.
I'm staying at a new 'funky' hotel - it's the type of place that has sofas in the bar with throw rugs and scatter cushions with 'Peace' and 'Love' stitched on them. It's OK - a bit different and a welcome addition to the other older style hotels that cater for the pensioner coach party tourist crowd. I would say the demographic here is a lot younger than most Eastbourne hotels - and it's a 1 minute walk from the theatres and the wonderful new Towner gallery. But...
Like many of these newly redone hotels they tend to have thought about style and forgotten that hotels also need to function as such. Yes the key fob is cute (see photo) and a wet room is very trendy - but there is no shaver point and a wet room simply means that the whole of the bathroom floor gets wet after a shower. Other little things are annoyances - the room has a flatscreen TV, but it's fixed to wall and can't be swivelled meaning that you can't easily watch it in bed - which is surely one of the small luxuries of a hotel stay! Breakfast is lovely, a continental style buffet rather than a cooked breakfast, which is plentiful and great - pity the breakfast room is nowhere near big enough for a hotel of this size. All of these are minor - overall the hotel is fine and a welcome change from others. But that makes the little annoyances worse - with just a little more thought the place could be wonderful.
Mind you - the trendy decor and scatter cushions look great now, but in 2 years will look dated and in need of overhaul. I mean cushions with 'Peace' and 'Love' in the hotel bar!?! Really...
Friday, April 10, 2009
Something smells fishy...
The person circled is the officer alleged to have pushed Ian Tomlinson. Looking at the whole photo various questions need to be asked;
- several officers are wearing balaclavas, why? It wasn't cold on the day and they are already wearing full riot gear helmets so why the need for the balaclavas? If protesters wear them - or masks or hoodies - they are asked why - the same applies to the police,
- the officer circled doesn't seem to be wearing his identification number on his shoulders, why? Without these how do we even know he a police officer?
- the various incidents took place outside the Bank of England and Royal Exchange. This is in the heart of the City of London where there are numerous CCTV cameras - both public and private. Either the CCTV cameras will easily and quickly establish the chain of events, or this will prove that the headlong rush in to CCTV cameras is a waste of money and false investment as they will either be looking in the wrong direction, been deleted, or not be of sufficient quality,
- since February is has been an offence to film or photograph a police officer in a manner that might be of use in terrorism. Thankfully public order law was used re these demonstrations but given the wide use of terrorism law - most notoriously used to seize the money in Icelandic banks and when I last looked Iceland wasn't a hot bed of terrorism - will such filming be allowed in the future? Without an American trader happening to film this incident we may never have known about it.
We are repeatedly told when new laws are introduced that "if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear." This also applies to police - more so as in the UK there is the tradition of policing with the consent of the people.
Overall, something smells fishy - and in the words of Blackadder "I'm not just talking about the contents of Baldrick's apple crumble."
This story "has legs" - watch this space - more is going to come out...
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Dress down Wednesday
The train was standing room only as normal but the Waterloo and City line, though busy, wasn't rammed. About halfway rumbling along the drain I looked around and it dawned on me - not a single person, male or female, was in a suit. The order of the day seemed to be casual trousers, smart jeans, fleece top or North Face jacket. It was the same at Bank station - though busy I spotted only one commuter suited and booted.
Walking to my meeting I passed the Bank of England (crush barriers ready) and the RBS offices - noticing that unlike many store and bank fronts it wasn't boarded up. The only people sporting shirt and ties seemed to be the various doormen and security guards who were very fastidiously checking people's passes before letting them in the buildings. Leaving the meeting at 10.30am I head to Liverpool St station - it's really quiet and I get the tube no problem.
I've always liked the contrasts of the Square Mile - Monday through Friday it's all hustle and bustle, and at weekends very quiet, empty and peaceful. Today was different still - it was fascinating to see how the whole atmosphere of the place changed for the better, on the tube and as people walked to work, simply because virtually everyone had 'dressed down'.