Beautiful Plumage

I have to admit that I wasn’t old enough to see Monty Python when they were first shown on TV (Not the Nine o’Clock News was more my era) but I have watched them repeatedly since then along with the films. When it was announced that the five remaining members where reuniting for a series …

Tracks Added – June 2014

A more manageable list this month after the bumper lot in May. This months additions are: Steve Hackett – Genesis Revisited – Live at the Royal Albert Hall Laura Mvula – Live with Metropole Orkest (SoS) LSO – Vaughan Williams – Symphony No. 4 (SoS) OKGO – Upside Out Foxes – Amazon Artist Lounge Live Various – Best of the 60’s The gem of this …

A Step Back in Time

Thirty years and the whole of my adult life separates the two images above. In 1984 I left home to go to Portsmouth University (actually back then it was Portsmouth Polytechnic but it amounts to the same thing). Unfortunately they didn’t have enough accommodation for all the first year students so some were farmed out …

Nut-free Easter Eggs

We’ve known for about 20 years that our eldest son has a nut allergy. I remember very clearly him sitting in bed with us one weekend morning when we offered him some of our breakfast – crunchy nut cornflakes. It was the tiniest amount, no more than a teaspoonful if that, but he immediately spat …

Rushing Water

It’s been a bit wet over the first few months of 2014 and the consequences are still pretty visible. This video doesn’t really do it justice but the water flowing through Reading is still pretty strong and powerful.

Say No to 01189

Many years ago in 1995 I was involved in the PhONEday number change when UK telephone numbers had an additional one forcibly inserted into the dialing code so, for example, Reading went from being 0734 to 01734. The purpose of this was to allow for more capacity across the network as a whole. My part …

What the British Really Want

Bill going thru Parliament to rename August Bank Holiday “Margaret Thatcher Day”. When you stop throwing up-sign this http://t.co/pereTXZRrU — Stephen Mangan (@StephenMangan) January 13, 2014 So while signing this very worthwhile e-petition, highlighted to me by Stephen Mangan (to be clear it wasn’t specifically sent to me by Mangan, I’m not that special to …