Today: Sunny, Minimum Temperature: 11°C (51°F) Maximum Temperature: 26°C (79°F)
From: weather
Maximum Temperature: 26°C (79°F), Minimum Temperature: 11°C (51°F), Wind Direction: Easterly, Wind Speed: 7mph, Visibility: Moderate, Pressure: 1022mb, Humidity: 52%, UV Risk: 7, Pollution: Moderate, Sunrise: 05:35 BST, Sunset: 20:21 BSTThursday: Sunny, Minimum Temperature: 14°C (56°F) Maximum Temperature: 28°C (83°F)
From: weather
Maximum Temperature: 28°C (83°F), Minimum Temperature: 14°C (56°F), Wind Direction: Southerly, Wind Speed: 8mph, Visibility: Good, Pressure: 1018mb, Humidity: 47%, UV Risk: 7, Pollution: Moderate, Sunrise: 05:33 BST, Sunset: 20:23 BSTFriday: Sunny, Minimum Temperature: 10°C (51°F) Maximum Temperature: 24°C (76°F)
From: weather
Maximum Temperature: 24°C (76°F), Minimum Temperature: 10°C (51°F), Wind Direction: Westerly, Wind Speed: 7mph, Visibility: Good, Pressure: 1017mb, Humidity: 54%, UV Risk: 6, Pollution: Moderate, Sunrise: 05:31 BST, Sunset: 20:25 BSTThe London Sewing Machine Museum Open Day happens just once a month – see upcoming dates here - Brixton Buzz
From: google news
The London Sewing Machine Museum Open Day happens just once a month – see upcoming dates here Brixton BuzzDinner at 1910
From: flickr
Sheep"R"Us posted a photo:
A Mexican cantina in Balham.
Everything was delicious.
From left to right:
* Flautas De Papa (Chipotle mash potato rolled in two corn tortillas & fried, topped with pinto bean sauce, sour cream, red onion & micro coriander)
* Crispy Avocado Tacos (Avocado coated in corn crumbs & fried crispy, with shredded lettuce, chipotle mayo & red cabbage in a lime dressing)
* Baja Pescado Tacos (Lightly battered white fish on a bed of
shredded lettuce & red cabbage in a lime dressing, topped with chipotle mayo & coriande)
Worst House On The Street viewers rage 'look at the state of it!' as couple who 'don't have a clue' fumble eye - Daily Mail
From: google news
Worst House On The Street viewers rage 'look at the state of it!' as couple who 'don't have a clue' fumble eye Daily MailHigh quality houses to replace office in Balham - UK Property Forums
From: google news
High quality houses to replace office in Balham UK Property ForumsCCTV released after man punched on dancefloor in Balham nightclub - Your Local Guardian
From: google news
CCTV released after man punched on dancefloor in Balham nightclub Your Local GuardianCCTV images released after man attacked on dancefloor in south London - London Evening Standard
From: google news
CCTV images released after man attacked on dancefloor in south London London Evening StandardBuilding a website in a day — with help from ChatGPT
From: davblog
A few days ago, I looked at an unused domain I owned — balham.org — and thought: “There must be a way to make this useful… and maybe even make it pay for itself.”
So I set myself a challenge: one day to build something genuinely useful. A site that served a real audience (people in and around Balham), that was fun to build, and maybe could be turned into a small revenue stream.
It was also a great excuse to get properly stuck into Jekyll and the Minimal Mistakes theme — both of which I’d dabbled with before, but never used in anger. And, crucially, I wasn’t working alone: I had ChatGPT as a development assistant, sounding board, researcher, and occasional bug-hunter.
The Idea
Balham is a reasonably affluent, busy part of south west London. It’s full of restaurants, cafés, gyms, independent shops, and people looking for things to do. It also has a surprisingly rich local history — from Victorian grandeur to Blitz-era tragedy.
I figured the site could be structured around three main pillars:
- A directory of local businesses
- A list of upcoming events
- A local history section
Throw in a curated homepage and maybe a blog later, and I had the bones of a useful site. The kind of thing that people would find via Google or get sent a link to by a friend.
The Stack
I wanted something static, fast, and easy to deploy. My toolchain ended up being:
- Jekyll for the site generator
- Minimal Mistakes as the theme
- GitHub Pages for hosting
- Custom YAML data files for businesses and events
- ChatGPT for everything from content generation to Liquid loops
The site is 100% static, with no backend, no databases, no CMS. It builds automatically on GitHub push, and is entirely hosted via GitHub Pages.
Step by Step: Building It
I gave us about six solid hours to build something real. Here’s what we did (“we” meaning me + ChatGPT):
1. Domain Setup and Scaffolding
The domain was already pointed at GitHub Pages, and I had a basic “Hello World” site in place. We cleared that out, set up a fresh Jekyll repo, and added a _config.yml that pointed at the Minimal Mistakes remote theme. No cloning or submodules.
2. Basic Site Structure
We decided to create four main pages:
- Homepage (
index.md) - Directory (
directory/index.md) - Events (
events/index.md) - History (
history/index.md)
We used the layout: single layout provided by Minimal Mistakes, and created custom permalinks so URLs were clean and extension-free.
3. The Business Directory
This was built from scratch using a YAML data file (_data/businesses.yml). ChatGPT gathered an initial list of 20 local businesses (restaurants, shops, pubs, etc.), checked their status, and added details like name, category, address, website, and a short description.
In the template, we looped over the list, rendered sections with conditional logic (e.g., don’t output the website link if it’s empty), and added anchor IDs to each entry so we could link to them directly from the homepage.
4. The Events Page
Built exactly the same way, but using _data/events.yml. To keep things realistic, we seeded a small number of example events and included a note inviting people to email us with new submissions.
5. Featured Listings
We wanted the homepage to show a curated set of businesses and events. So we created a third data file, _data/featured.yml, which just listed the names of the featured entries. Then in the homepage template, we used where and slugify to match names and pull in the full record from businesses.yml or events.yml. Super DRY.
6. Map and Media
We added a map of Balham as a hero image, styled responsively. Later we created a .responsive-inline-image class to embed supporting images on the history page without overwhelming the layout.
7. History Section with Real Archival Images
This turned out to be one of the most satisfying parts. We wrote five paragraphs covering key moments in Balham’s development — Victorian expansion, Du Cane Court, The Priory, the Blitz, and modern growth.
Then we sourced five CC-licensed or public domain images (from Wikimedia Commons and Geograph) to match each paragraph. Each was wrapped in a <figure> with proper attribution and a consistent CSS class. The result feels polished and informative.
8. Metadata, SEO, and Polish
We went through all the basics:
- Custom
titleanddescriptionin front matter for each page - Open Graph tags and Twitter cards via site config
- A branded favicon using RealFaviconGenerator
- Added
robots.txt,sitemap.xml, and a hand-craftedhumans.txt - Clean URLs, no
.htmlextensions - Anchored IDs for deep linking
9. Analytics and Search Console
We added GA4 tracking using Minimal Mistakes’ built-in support, and verified the domain with Google Search Console. A sitemap was submitted, and indexing kicked in within minutes.
10. Accessibility and Performance
We ran Lighthouse and WAVE tests. Accessibility came out at 100%. Performance dipped slightly due to Google Fonts and image size, but we did our best to optimise without sacrificing aesthetics.
11. Footer CTA
We added a site-wide footer call-to-action inviting people to email us with suggestions for businesses or events. This makes the site feel alive and participatory, even without a backend form.
What Worked Well
- ChatGPT as co-pilot: I could ask it for help with Liquid templates, CSS, content rewrites, and even bug-hunting. It let me move fast without getting bogged down in docs.
- Minimal Mistakes: It really is an excellent theme. Clean, accessible, flexible.
- Data-driven content: Keeping everything in YAML meant templates stayed simple, and the whole site is easy to update.
- Staying focused: We didn’t try to do everything. Four pages, one day, good polish.
What’s Next?
- Add category filtering to the directory
- Improve the OG/social card image
- Add structured JSON-LD for individual events and businesses
- Explore monetisation: affiliate links, sponsored listings, local partnerships
- Start some blog posts or “best of Balham” roundups
Final Thoughts
This started as a fun experiment: could I monetise an unused domain and finally learn Jekyll properly?
What I ended up with is a genuinely useful local resource — one that looks good, loads quickly, and has room to grow.
If you’re sitting on an unused domain, and you’ve got a free day and a chatbot at your side — you might be surprised what you can build.
Oh, and one final thing – obviously you can also get ChatGPT to write a blog post talking about the project :-)
The post Building a website in a day — with help from ChatGPT appeared first on Davblog.
How I build websites in 2025
From: davblog
I built and launched a new website yesterday. It wasn’t what I planned to do, but the idea popped into my head while I was drinking my morning coffee on Clapham Common and it seemed to be the kind of thing I could complete in a day – so I decided to put my original plans on hold and built it instead.
The website is aimed at small business owners who think they need a website (or want to update their existing one) but who know next to nothing about web development and can easily fall prey to the many cowboy website companies that seem to dominate the “making websites for small companies” section of our industries. The site is structured around a number of questions you can ask a potential website builder to try and weed out the dodgier elements.
I’m not really in that sector of our industry. But while writing the content for that site, it occurred to me that some people might be interested in the tools I use to build sites like this.
Content
I generally build websites about topics that I’m interested in and, therefore, know a fair bit about. But I probably don’t know everything about these subjects. So I’ll certainly brainstorm some ideas with ChatGPT. And, once I’ve written something, I’ll usually run it through ChatGPT again to proofread it. I consider myself a pretty good writer, but it’s embarrassing how often ChatGPT catches obvious errors.
I’ve used DALL-E (via ChatGPT) for a lot of image generation. This weekend, I subscribed to Midjourney because I heard it was better at generating images that include text. So far, that seems to be accurate.
Technology
I don’t write much raw HTML these days. I’ll generally write in Markdown and use a static site generator to turn that into a real website. This weekend I took the easy route and used Jekyll with the Minimal Mistakes theme. Honestly, I don’t love Jekyll, but it integrates well with GitHub Pages and I can usually get it to do what I want – with a combination of help from ChatGPT and reading the source code. I’m (slowly) building my own Static Site Generator (Aphra) in Perl. But, to be honest, I find that when I use it I can easily get distracted by adding new features rather than getting the site built.
As I’ve hinted at, if I’m building a static site (and, it’s surprising how often that’s the case), it will be hosted on GitHub Pages. It’s not really aimed at end-users, but I know how to use it pretty well now. This weekend, I used the default mechanism that regenerates the site (using Jekyll) on every commit. But if I’m using Aphra or a custom site generator, I know I can use GitHub Actions to build and deploy the site.
If I’m writing actual HTML, then I’m old-skool enough to still use Bootstrap for CSS. There’s probably something better out there now, but I haven’t tried to work out what it is (feel free to let me know in the comments).
For a long while, I used jQuery to add Javascript to my pages – until someone was kind enough to tell me that vanilla Javascript had mostly caught up and jQuery was no longer necessary. I understand Javascript. And with help from GitHub Copilot, I can usually get it doing what I want pretty quickly.
SEO
Many years ago, I spent a couple of years working in the SEO group at Zoopla. So, now, I can’t think about building a website without considering SEO.
I quickly lose interest in the content side of SEO. Figuring out what my keywords are and making sure they’re scattered through the content at the correct frequency, feels like it stifles my writing (maybe that’s an area where ChatGPT can help) but I enjoy Technical SEO. So I like to make sure that all of my pages contain the correct structured data (usually JSON-LD). I also like to ensure my sites all have useful OpenGraph headers. This isn’t really SEO, I guess, but these headers control what people see when they share content on social media. So by making that as attractive as possible (a useful title and description, an attractive image) it encourages more sharing, which increases your site’s visibility and, in around about way, improves SEO.
I like to register all of my sites with Ahrefs – they will crawl my sites periodically and send me a long list of SEO improvements I can make.
Monitoring
I add Google Analytics to all of my sites. That’s still the best way to find out how popular your site it and where your traffic is coming from. I used to be quite proficient with Universal Analytics, but I must admit I haven’t fully got the hang of Google Analytics 4 yet—so I’m probably only scratching the surface of what it can do.
I also register all of my sites with Google Search Console. That shows me information about how my site appears in the Google Search Index. I also link that to Google Analytics – so GA also knows what searches brought people to my sites.
Conclusion
I think that covers everything—though I’ve probably forgotten something. It might sound like a lot, but once you get into a rhythm, adding these extra touches doesn’t take long. And the additional insights you gain make it well worth the effort.
If you’ve built a website recently, I’d love to hear about your approach. What tools and techniques do you swear by? Are there any must-have features or best practices I’ve overlooked? Drop a comment below or get in touch—I’m always keen to learn new tricks and refine my process. And if you’re a small business owner looking for guidance on choosing a web developer, check out my new site—it might just save you from a costly mistake!
The post How I build websites in 2025 appeared first on Davblog.
Go-Ahead London WS92, SK67FKB - 355
From: flickr
King Flick posted a photo:
Balham Tube Station.
From: flickr
Joseph Pearson Images posted a photo:
Balham Carnival Procession, Balham, Wandsworth, 12, July, 1997, 97-725-24
From: flickr
peter marshall posted a photo:
Balham Carnival Procession, Balham, Wandsworth, 12, July, 1997, 97-725-24
Balham Carnival Procession, Balham, Wandsworth, 12, July, 1997, 97-725-11
From: flickr
peter marshall posted a photo:
Balham Carnival Procession, Balham, Wandsworth, 12, July, 1997, 97-725-11
Picturehouse Film Club
From: davblog
I’ve been a member of Picturehouse Cinemas for something approaching twenty years. It costs about £60 a year and for that, you get five free tickets and discounts on your tickets and snacks. I’ve often wondered whether it’s worth paying for, but in the last couple of years, they’ve added an extra feature that makes it well worth the cost. It’s called Film Club and every week they have two curated screenings that members can see for just £1. On Sunday lunchtime, there’s a screening of an older film, and on a weekday evening (usually Wednesday at the Clapham Picturehouse), they show something new. I’ve got into the habit of seeing most of these screenings.
For most of the year, I’ve been considering a monthly post about the films I’ve seen at Film Club, but I’ve never got around to it. So, instead, you get an end-of-year dump of the almost eighty films I’ve seen.
- Under the Skin [4 stars] 2024-01-14
Starting with an old(ish) favourite. The last time I saw this was a free preview for Picturehouse members, ten years ago. It’s very much a film that people love or hate. I love it. The book is great too (but very different) - Go West [3.5] 2024-01-21
They often show old films as mini-festivals of connected films. This was the first of a short series of Buster Keaton films. I hadn’t seen any of them. Go West was a film where I could appreciate the technical aspects, but I wasn’t particularly entertained - Godzilla Minus One [3] 2024-01-23
Around this time, I’d been watching a few of the modern Godzilla films from the “Monsterverse”. I hadn’t really been enjoying them. But this, unrelated, film was far more enjoyable - Steamboat Bill, Jr. [4] 2024-01-28
Back with Buster Keaton. I enjoyed this one far more. - American Fiction [4] 2024-01-30
Sometimes they’ll show an Oscar contender. I ended up having seen seven of the ten Best Picture nominees before the ceremony – which is far higher than my usual rate. I really enjoyed this one - The Zone of Interest [3] 2024-02-03
Another Oscar contender. I think I wasn’t really in the mood for this. I was tired and found it hard to follow. I should rewatch it at some point. - The General [4] 2024-02-11
More Buster Keaton. I really enjoyed this one – my favourite of the three I watched. I could very easily see myself going down a rabbit hole of obsessing over all of his films - Perfect Days [3.5] 2024-02-15
A film about the life of a toilet cleaner in Tokyo. But written and directed by Wim Wenders – so far better than that description makes it sound - Wicked Little Letters [4] 2024-02-20
I thought this would be more popular than it was. But it vanished pretty much without a trace. It’s a really nice little film about swearing - Nosferatu the Vampyre [3.5] 2024-02-25
The Sunday screenings often give me a chance to catch up with old classics that I haven’t seen before. This was one example. This was the 1979 Werner Herzog version. I should track down the 1922 original before watching the new version early next year - Four Daughters [3.5] 2024-02-29
Because the screenings cost £1, I see everything – no matter what the subject matter is. This is an example of a film I probably wouldn’t have seen without Film Club. But it was a really interesting film about a Tunisian woman who lost two of her daughters when they joined Islamic State - The Persian Version [3.5] 2024-03-07
Another film that I would have missed out on without Film Club. It’s an interesting look into the lives of Iranians in America - Girlhood [3] 2024-03-10
This was the start of another short season of related films. This time it was films made by women about the lives of women and girls. This one was about girl gangs in Paris - Still Walking [3] 2024-03-16
A Japanese family get together to commemorate the death of the eldest son. Things happen, but nothing changes - Zola [3.5] 2024-03-17
I had never heard of this film before, but really enjoyed it. It’s the true story of a stripper who goes on a road trip to Florida and gets involved in… stuff - Late Night with the Devil [3.5] 2024-03-19
I thought this was clever. A horror film that takes place on the set of a late-night chat show. Things go horribly wrong - Set It Off [3.5] 2024-03-24
A pretty standard heist film. But the protagonists are a group of black women. I enjoyed it - Disco Boy [2] 2024-03-27
I really didn’t get this film at all - Girls Trip [3.5] 2024-03-31
Another women’s road trip film. It was fun, but I can’t remember much of it now - The Salt of the Earth [3] 2024-04-07
A documentary about the work of photographer Sebastião Salgado. He was in some bad wars and saw some bad shit - The Teachers’ Lounge [3.5] 2024-04-10
Another film that got an Oscar nod. A well-made drama about tensions in the staff room of a German school. - Do the Right Thing [4] 2024-04-14
I had never seen a Spike Lee film. How embarrassing is that? This was really good (but you all knew that) - Sometimes I Think About Dying [3] 2024-04-17
I really wanted to like this. It was well-made. Daisy Ridley is a really good actress. But it didn’t really go anywhere and completely failed to grip me - The Trouble with Jessica [4] 2024-04-22
Another film that deserved to be more successful than it was. Some great comedy performances by a strong cast. - Rope [4.5] 2024-04-28
A chance to see a favourite film on the big screen for the first time. It’s regarded as a classic for good reason - Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry [3] 2024-04-30
Another film that I just wouldn’t have considered if it wasn’t part of the Film Club programme. I had visited Tbilisi a year earlier, so it was interesting to see a film that was made in Georgia. But, ultimately, it didn’t really grip me - The Cars That Ate Paris [3] 2024-05-12
Another old classic that I had never seen. It’s a bit like a precursor to Mad Max. I’m glad I’ve seen it, but I won’t be rushing to rewatch it - Victoria [3.5] 2024-05-19
This was a lot of fun. The story of one night in the life of a Spanish woman living in Berlin. Lots of stuff happens. It’s over two hours long and was shot in a single, continuous take - The Beast [3.5] 2024-05-22
This was interesting. So interesting that I rewatched it when it appeared on Mubi a few months ago. I’m not sure I can explain it all, but I’ll be rewatching again at some point (and probably revising my score upwards) - Eyes Wide Shut [4] 2024-05-26
I hadn’t seen this for maybe twenty-five years. And I don’t think I ever saw it in a cinema. It’s better than I remember - Rosalie [3.5] 2024-05-28
A film about a bearded lady in 19th-century France. I kid you not. It’s good - All About My Mother [3.5] 2024-06-02
Years ago, I went through a phase of watching loads of Almodóvar films. I was sure I’d seen this one, but I didn’t remember it at all. It’s good though - Àma Gloria [3] 2024-06-04
I misunderstood the trailer for this and was on the edge of my seat throughout waiting for a disaster to happen. But, ultimately, it was a nice film about a young girl visiting her old nanny in Cape Verde - Full Metal Jacket [3.5] 2024-06-09
This really wasn’t as good as I remembered it. Everyone remembers the training camp stuff, but half of the film happens in-country – and that’s all rather dull - Sasquatch Sunset [2] 2024-06-11
I wanted to like this. It would have made a funny two-minute SNL sketch. But it really didn’t work when stretched to ninety minutes - Being John Malkovich [4] 2024-06-16
Still great - Green Border [4] 2024-06-19
A lot of the films I’ve seen at Film Club in previous years seem to be about people crossing borders illegally. This one was about the border between Belarus and Poland. It was very depressing – but very good - Attack the Block [4] 2024-06-23
Another old favourite that it was great to see on the big screen - The 400 Blows [3] 2024-06-30
The French New Wave is a huge hole in my knowledge of cinema, so I was glad to have an opportunity to start putting that right. This, however, really didn’t grip me - Bye Bye Tiberias [2.5] 2024-07-02
Hiam Abbass (who you might know as Marcia in Succession) left her native Palestine in the 80s to live in Paris. This is a documentary following a visit she made back to her family. It didn’t really go anywhere - Breathless [3] 2024-07-07
More French New Wave. I like this more than The 400 Blows – but not much more - After Hours [4] 2024-07-13
Another old favourite from the 80s that I had never seen on the big screen. It’s still great - What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? [2.5] 2024-07-14
This was an object lesson in the importance of judging a film in its context. I know this is a great film, but watching it in the 21st century just didn’t have the impact that watching it in the early 60s would have had - Crossing [3.5] 2024-07-16
A Georgian woman travels to Istanbul to try to find her niece. We learn a lot about the gay and trans communities in the city. I enjoyed this a lot - American Gigolo [3] 2024-07-28
Something else that I had never seen. And, to be honest, I don’t think I had really missed much - Dìdi (弟弟) [3.5] 2024-07-31
Nice little story about a Taiwanese teen growing up in California - I Saw the TV Glow [4] 2024-08-05
I imagine this will be on many “best films of the year” lists. It’s a very strange film about two teens and their obsession with a TV show that closely resembles Buffy the Vampire Slayer. - Hollywoodgate [2.5] 2024-08-13
I really wanted to like this. An Egyptian filmmaker manages to get permission to film a Taliban group that takes over an American base in Afghanistan. But, ultimately, don’t let him film anything interesting and the film is a bit of a disappointment - Beverly Hills Cop [1] 2024-08-18
I had never seen this before. And I wish I still hadn’t. One of the worst films I’ve seen in a very long time - Excalibur [4] 2024-08-25
Another old favourite that I hadn’t seen on the big screen for a very long time. This is the film that gave me an obsession with watching any film that’s based on Arthurian legend, no matter how bad (and a lot of them are very, very bad) - The Quiet Girl [3.5] 2024-09-01
A young Irish girl is sent away to spend the summer with distant relations. She comes to realise that life doesn’t have to be as grim as it usually is for her - Lee [3.5] 2024-09-04
A really good biopic about the American photographer Lee Miller. Kate Winslet is really good as Miller - The Queen of My Dreams [3.5] 2024-09-11
Another film that I wouldn’t have seen without Film Club. A Canadian Pakistani lesbian woman visits Pakistan and learns about some of the cultural pressures that shaped her mother. It’s a lovely film - My Own Private Idaho [2] 2024-09-15
Another film that I had never seen before. Some nice acting by Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix, but this really didn’t interest me - Girls Will Be Girls [3.5] 2024-09-17
A coming-of-age film about a teenage girl in India. I enjoyed this - The Shape of Water [3.5] 2024-09-22
I don’t think I’ve seen this since the year it was released (and won the Best Picture Oscar). I still enjoyed it, but I didn’t think it held up as well as I expected it to - The Banshees of Inisherin [3.5] 2024-09-29
I’d seen this on TV, but you need to see it on a big screen to get the full effect. I’m sure you all know how good it is - The Full Monty [3] 2024-10-06
I never understood why this was so much more popular than Brassed Off which is, to me at least, a far better example of the “British worker fish out of water” genre (that’s not a genre, is it?) I guess it’s the soundtrack and the slightly Beryl Cook overtones – the British love a bit of smut - Timestalker [2.5] 2024-10-08
I really wanted to like this. But if just didn’t grab me. I’ll try it again at some point - Nomadland [3] 2024-10-13
Another Best Picture Oscar winner. And it’s another one where I can really see how important and well-made it is – but it just doesn’t do anything for me - The Apprentice [4] 2024-10-17
I don’t know why Trump was so against this film. I thought he came out of this far more positively than I expected. But it seemed to barely get a release. It has still picked up a few (well-deserved) nominations though - Little Miss Sunshine [4] 2024-10-20
Another old favourite. I loved seeing this again - Stoker [3] 2024-10-27
I had never seen this before. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I didn’t really enjoy it - Anora [4] 2024-10-29
This was probably the best film I saw this year. Well, certainly the best new film. It’s getting a lot of awards buzz. I hope it does well - (500) Days of Summer [4] 2024-11-03
I don’t think I had seen this since soon after it was released. It was great to see it again - Bird [3] 2024-11-05
This was slightly strange. I’ve seen a few films about the grimness of life on council estates. But this one threw in a bit of magical realism that didn’t really work for me - Sideways [3.5] 2024-11-10
Another film I hadn’t watched for far too long - Sunshine [4] 2024-11-17
This is one of my favourite recent(ish) scifi films. I saw it on the Science Museum’s IMAX screen in 2023, but I wasn’t going to skip the chance to see it again - Conclave [3.5] 2024-11-19
Occasionally, this series gives you a chance to see something that’s going to be up for plenty of awards. This was a good example. I enjoyed it - The Grand Budapest Hotel [4] 2024-11-24
I’ve been slightly disappointed with a few recent Wes Anderson films, so it was great to have the opportunity to see one of his best back on the big screen - The Universal Theory [4] 2024-11-26
I knew nothing about this going into it. And it was a fabulous film. Mysteries and quantum physics in the Swiss Alps. And all filmed in black and white. This didn’t get the coverage it deserved. - Home Alone [2] 2024-12-08
I thought I had never seen this before. But apparently I logged watching it many years ago. I know everyone loves it, but I couldn’t see the point - The Apartment [4] 2024-12-15
This was interesting. I have a background quest to watch all of the Best Picture Oscar winners and I hadn’t seen this one. I knew absolutely nothing about it. I thought it was really good - The Taste of Things [3.5] 2024-12-21
A film that I didn’t get to see earlier in the year. It’s largely about cooking in a late-nineteenth century French country kitchen. It would make an interesting watch alongside The Remains of the Day - Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point [2] 2024-12-24
I didn’t understand this at all. It went nowhere and said nothing interesting. A large family meets up for their traditional Christmas Eve. No-one enjoys themself - La Chimera [2] 2024-12-29
And finishing on a bit of a low. I don’t understand why this got so many good reviews. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood for it. Something about criminals looking for ancient relics in Italy
The post Picturehouse Film Club appeared first on Davblog.
The Tourist
From: davblog
Changing rooms are the same all over the galaxy and this one really played to the stereotype. The lights flickered that little bit more than you’d want them to, a sizeable proportion of the lockers wouldn’t lock and the whole room needed a good clean. It didn’t fit with the eye-watering amount of money we had all paid for the tour.
There were a dozen or so of us changing from our normal clothes into outfits that had been supplied by the tour company – outfits that were supposed to render us invisible when we reached our destination. Not invisible in the “bending light rays around you” way, they would just make us look enough like the local inhabitants that no-one would give us a second glance.
Appropriate changing room etiquette was followed. Everyone was either looking at the floor or into their locker to avoid eye contact with anyone else. People talked in lowered voices to people they had come with. People who, like me, had come alone were silent. I picked up on some of the quiet conversations – they were about the unusual flora and fauna of our location and the unique event we were here to see.
Soon, we had all changed and were ushered into a briefing room where our guide told us many things we already knew. She had slides explaining the physics behind the phenomenon and was at great pains to emphasise the uniqueness of the event. No other planet in the galaxy had been found that met all of the conditions for what we were going to see. She went through the history of tourism to this planet – decades of uncontrolled visits followed by the licensing of a small number of carefully vetted companies like the one we were travelling with.
She then turned to more practical matters. She reiterated that our outfits would allow us to pass for locals, but that we should do all we could to avoid any interactions with the natives. She also reminded us that we should only look at the event through the equipment that we would be issued with on our way down to the planet.
Through a window in the briefing room a planet, our destination, hung in space. Beyond the planet, its star could also be seen.
An hour or so later, we were on the surface of the planet. We were deposited at the top of a grassy hill on the edge of a large crowd of the planet’s inhabitants. Most of us were of the same basic body shape as the quadruped locals and, at first glance at least, passed for them. A few of us were less lucky and had to stay in the vehicles to avoid suspicion.
The timing of the event was well understood and the company had dropped us off early enough that we were able to find a good viewing spot but late enough that we didn’t have long to wait. We had been milling around for half an hour or so when a palpable moment of excitement passed through the crowd and everyone looked to the sky.
Holding the equipment I had been given to my eyes I could see what everyone else had noticed. A small bite seemed to have been taken from the bottom left of the planet’s sun. As we watched, the bite got larger and larger as the planet’s satellite moved in front of the star. The satellite appeared to be a perfect circle, but at the last minute – just before it covered the star completely – it became obvious that the edge wasn’t smooth as gaps between irregularities on the surface (mountains, I suppose) allowed just a few points of light through.
And then the satellite covered the sun and the atmosphere changed completely. The world turned dark and all conversations stopped. All of the local animals went silent. It was magical.
My mind went back to the slides explaining the phenomenon. Obviously, the planet’s satellite and star weren’t the same size, but their distance from the planet exactly balanced their difference in size so they appeared the same size in the sky. And the complex interplay of orbits meant that on rare occasions like this, the satellite would completely and exactly cover the star.
That was what we were there for. This was what was unique about this planet. No other planet in the galaxy had a star and a satellite that appeared exactly the same size in the sky. This is what made the planet the most popular tourist spot in the galaxy.
Ten minutes later, it was over. The satellite continued on its path and the star was gradually uncovered. Our guide bundled us into the transport and back up to our spaceship.
Before leaving the vicinity of the planet, our pilot found three locations in space where the satellite and the star lined up in the same way and created fake eclipses for those of us who had missed taking photos of the real one.
The post The Tourist appeared first on Davblog.
2023 in Gigs
From: davblog
I really thought that 2023 would be the year I got back into the swing of seeing gigs. But, somehow I ended up seeing even fewer than I did in 2022 – 12, when I saw 16 the previous year. Sometimes, I look at Martin’s monthly gig round-ups and wonder what I’m doing with my life!
I normally list my ten favourite gigs of the year, but it would be rude to miss just two gigs from the list, so here are all twelve gigs I saw this year – in, as always, chronological order.
- John Grant (supported by The Faultress) at St. James’s Church
John Grant has become one of those artists I try to see whenever they pass through London. And this was a particularly special night as he was playing an acoustic set in one of the most atmospheric venues in London. The evening was only slightly marred by the fact I arrived too late to get a decent seat and ended up not being able to see anything. - Hannah Peel at Kings Place
Hannah Peel was the artist in residence at Kings Place for a few months during the year and played three gigs during that time. This was the first of them – where she played her recent album, Fir Wave, in its entirety. A very laid-back and thoroughly enjoyable evening. - Orbital at the Eventim Apollo
I’ve been meaning to get around to seeing Orbital for many years. This show was originally planned to be at the Brixton Academy but as that venue is currently closed, it was relocated to Hammersmith. To be honest, this evening was slightly hampered by the fact I don’t know as much of their work as I thought I did and it was all a bit samey. I ended up leaving before the encore. - Duran Duran (supported by Jake Shears) at the O2 Arena
Continuing my quest to see all of the bands I was listening to in the 80s (and, simultaneously, ticking off the one visit to the O2 that I allow myself each year). I really enjoyed the nostalgia of seeing Duran Duran but, to be honest, I think I enjoyed Jake Shears more – and it was the Scissor Sisters I was listening to on the way home. - Hannah Peel and Beibei Wang at Kings Place
Even in a year where I only see a few gigs, I still manage to see artists more than once. This was the second of Hannah Peel’s artist-in-residence shows. She appeared with Chinese percussionist Beibei Wang in a performance that was completely spontaneous and unrehearsed. Honestly, some parts were more successful than others, but it was certainly an interesting experience. - Songs from Summerisle at the Barbican Hall
The Wicker Man is one of my favourite films, so I jumped at the chance to see the songs from the soundtrack performed live. But unfortunately, the evening was a massive disappointment. The band sounded like they had met just before the show and, while they all obviously knew the songs, they hadn’t rehearsed them together. Maybe they were going for a rustic feel – but, to me, it just sounded unprofessional. - Belle and Sebastian at the Roundhouse
Another act that I try to see as often as possible. I know some people see Belle and Sebastian as the most Guardian-reader band ever – but I love them. This show saw them on top form. - Jon Anderson and the Paul Green Rock Academy at the Shepherds Bush Empire
I’ve seen Yes play live a few times in the last ten years or so and, to be honest, it can sometimes be a bit over-serious and dull. In this show, Jon Anderson sang a load of old Yes songs with a group of teenagers from the Paul Green Rock Academy (the school that School of Rock was based on) and honestly, the teenagers brought such a feeling of fun to the occasion that it was probably the best Yes-related show that I’ve seen. - John Grant and Richard Hawley at the Barbican Hall
Another repeated act – my second time seeing John Grant in a year. This was something different as he was playing a selection of Patsy Cline songs. I don’t listen to Patsy Cline much, but I knew a few more of the songs than I expected to. This was a bit lower-key than I was expecting. - Peter Hook and the Light at the Eventim Apollo
I’ve been planning to see Peter Hook and the Light for a couple of years. There was a show I had tickets for in 2020, but it was postponed because of COVID and when it was rescheduled, I was unable to go, so I cancelled my ticket and got a refund. So I was pleased to get another chance. And this show had them playing both of the Substance albums (Joy Division and New Order). I know New Order still play some Joy Division songs in their sets, but this is probably the best chance I’ll have to see some deep Joy Division cuts played live. I really enjoyed this show. - Heaven 17 at the Shepherds Bush Empire
It seems I see Heaven 17 live most years and they usually appear on my “best of” lists. This show was celebrating the fortieth anniversary of their album The Luxury Gap – so that got played in full, alongside many other Heaven 17 and Human League songs. A thoroughly enjoyable night. - The Imagined Village and Afro-Celt Sound System at the Roundhouse
I’ve seen both The Imagined Village and the Afro-Celts live once before. And they were two of the best gigs I’ve ever seen. I pretty much assumed that the death of Simon Emmerson (who was an integral part of both bands) earlier in 2023 would mean that both bands would stop performing. But this show was a tribute to Emmerson and the bands both reformed to celebrate his work. This was probably my favourite gig of the year. That’s The Imagined Village (featuring two Carthys, dour Coppers and Billy Bragg) in the photo at the top of this post.
So, what’s going to happen in 2024. I wonder if I’ll get back into the habit of going to more shows. I only have a ticket for one gig next year – They Might Be Giants playing Flood in November (a show that was postponed from this year). I guess we’ll see. Tune in this time next year to see what happened.
The post 2023 in Gigs appeared first on Davblog.
Christmas minus four days
From: wandsworth witterings
Listening to Billie Holiday on Apple Music
Reading Bernard Cornwell, Samuel Richardson, Balzac, Dickens, Ferrante
Watching Force Awakens
Thinking about how when I retire I'm going to live in small spare flat with a small spare garden with a terrier and a couple of turtles and learn how to write poetry, paint pictures and play the trumpet
Christmas hols
From: wandsworth witterings
Hooray I'm on holiday for two weeks!
Yesterday I made and put the marzipan on the Xmas cake.
Today I'm going to Sisters using my Cineworld Unlimited card.
Tomorrow we're going to see the Force Awakens
Other stuff I'm doing:
- trying to find O2 Floor tickets for Strictly 2016 tour (we love you, Jay McGuinness, the human equivalent of the Andrex puppy)
- trying to get day tickets for Dominic West in Dangerous Liaisons at the Donmar Warehouse
- trying to get returns for Nutcracker, Cavalleria Rusticana at Covent Garden and Jim Broadbent in A Christmas Carol
- going to look at the West End Xmas windows with Laura
- going to Go Ape in Battersea Park with Alice
- going to Hampton Court as I've just realised I've got Historic Royal Palaces membership
- read, read, read!
- listen to unlimited music on Apple Music
- make mince pies (Delia)
- make Chana masala (Guardian)
- update this blog daily
Happy days
Safeguarding: Southwark diocese
From: wandsworth witterings
Tea and coffee turns out to be a kettle, some tea bags and a pint of milk.
Then there's a big kerfuffle about where you sign in: at the back, at reception, "I've signed in three times now"
Then someone wants to open a window, but the windows don't open
Oh God someone I know is here. I'll make like I haven't seen her
Three hours later: actually it was really informative, if hair-raising. Obviously some parishes are a lot more problematic than others
Things We Argue About
From: wandsworth witterings
Driving down to Bristol for sister's wedding. We pass an estate agents window which has little model houses in the window like at Bekenscot.
Me: Laura, look at the cute little houses. Which one would you live in?
Laura: I can't really see them.
Me: I like the white one best, but the green one has bigger windows.
Laura: oh those houses. I thought you meant the houses they were advertising in the window. I was wondering how you could possibly see them.
Chris: I thought you meant the ones in the photos.
Alice: so did I.
Me: how could I possibly have seen the ones in the photographs? What, have I suddenly developed super eyesight?
Chris: that's what I thought. So I thought you must be talking just for the sake of saying something.
Me: when do I ever do that?
Chris: exactly. So I thought you must have gone mad.
Me: so you'd rather ignore everything you know about me and assume that I'd gone mad, rather than entertain the possibility that I might have been talking about the cute little model houses, which only that estate agent has, rather than the photos of houses, which every estate agent has?
Chris: I didn't think they were cute.
Me: surely it's more plausible that I meant the model houses but that what I think is cute is different from what you think is cute, rather than that I'd suddenly developed super eyesight and also lost my mind?
Chris: your position is indefensible
Me: my position is defensible. I am defending it, unfortunately I appear to be dealing with a bunch of dopes
Laura: we can't all be dopes
Me: well, apparently you can
Laura: the families in cars in adverts are never like this
Fall Out Boy
From: wandsworth witterings
I'm in the grip of several slow-burning obsessions at the moment. Fall Out Boy, for one, I'm sort of crushing on them collectively. What a difference a live gig makes! It's hard to say why as most of the time you had to watch them on the big screens (and why is that different from watching them on YouTube?), but that is the mystery of human presence. Being there, in the same air as people, makes a difference. Why? Maybe they seem more real. Maybe you see everything, not just what the cameraman directs you to see, which helps to fill in the reality of someone.
Then I've started my new Elena Ferrante book. I wonder if a Lila really existed, or if the author is simply applying herself into two and writing about both halves. I wish I could get the girls to read it: it's such an eye-opening validating piece of work, especially for women. Some woman in the paper was worrying that it wasn’t really literature. Why? Why not? What is
unliterary about it? The fact that it’s enjoyable? The fact that it acts as
though what two young girls in Naples in mid-twentieth century thought or
felt is important? I don’t see how you could find a book more serious intelligent and authentic than these novels are turning out to be.
On a more trivial note, I've been reading about Kate Moss’ new squeeze in the Telegraph: Nikolai von Bismarck, who from a quick piece of deductive work via Wikipedia, must be the second nephew of Gottfried von Bismarck (the first cousin of Nikolai’s father Leopold, who was the younger brother of Gottfried’s father, the
Prince von Bismarck). I knew Gottfried from Oxford when we were both in a
Ionesco play, The Lesson, being directed by an acquaintance from New College. I didn’t really know Gottfried, what with him being such a posho, but he seemed perfectly nice. He moved with the Olivia Channon set and died himself a few years ago, essentially from his lifestyle (drugs, gay orgies etc). All rather sad: gilded youth! This was all post the ITV Brideshead craze. Little did I think, as I was living through it, that people would be looking back at the eighties in a haze of nostalgia.
At lunch I went out and bought some Vichy Aqualia Thermal Serum because it
was on a Guardian list of best skincare products and I’m running out of
face cream. I don’t even know how to use it! It was £5 off. I wonder if it
will have any detectible effect on my skin, that wouldn’t be just as well
achieved with a £5 pot of generic moisturiser. Anyway, when I went to pay,
instead of the self-service checkout asking whether I wanted to buy a bag,
there simply were no bags. There was only a little Boots man wandering
around with a handful of bags. I told him I wanted to buy one, but I had no
change. He shoved a little paper bag into my hand and whispered, “Go, go,
run away!” which I promptly did. Hilarious.
Shopping on a real tight budget (again).
From: vendazero
Went for a walk earlier because like Old Mother Hubbard my cupboard was bare .Didnt have a lot of cash so first stop was the fruit/veg market as they were packing up looked through a few boxes and ended up with about 40 apples.a pineapple,6 nice carrots,garlic and all for the bargain price of £0.00.Next stop a Health food place that every night puts out a few bags of goodies just reaching the sell by date ,its all perfectly good food.the haul was 200g of Cornish Camembert,125g of goats cheese,18 Glenilen Farm probiotic yoghurts 160g jars I kept 6 and redistributed the others to homeless people on my journey home.I called at Sainsburys and was able to splash out on Normandy butter ,a sunflower+honey bloomer loaf,Youngs fish ,a £4 ham and pineapple pizza so its good eating today.After washing/scrubbing the free fruit/veg it was juiced and produced 4 pints of juice better and fresher than the stuff bought in the shops.It still amazes and pisses me off the amount of good food throw away and destined for landfills while so many people are havuing a hard time and starving.Just grateful Im not one of them.SELLING BIG ISSUES ,a honest profession.
From: vendazero
Its my opinion that selling Big Issues is a honest honarable way to make a living.Ive been doing it on and off from the very begining, sure Im critical of the way its run but the benefits far outweigh the negative aspects.So the wages are not the best in the world but your rewards come in the form of the great orduinary people that you meet.Im not the sort that pushes it in peoples faces,I like to think that people who buy from me do so because they want to not because Ive put pressure on them or made them feel guilty in any way.In the past year Ive had a professional fundraising org headhunting me,telling me I could make 4 times as much for less effort.Truth is if I was to shake a bucket claiming the money was for starving third world children well thats where it would have to go,not in my pocket.Im no angel and while selling Big Issues if anyone asks I tell them the money is for me and if asked I tell them my housing status.Like I say Im honest like all the other venders, we dont make a living from other peoples misery - only our own.My advice before parting with money to a charity think about how much reaches those that need it.If hostel systems work,why do so many end up back on the streets.
From: vendazero
My apologies for ranting about time spent in the hostel system but in my opinion it was 6yrs of my life wasted.6 years where I had to have a keywork session with a moron every week and awnser the same questions over and over again.FFS how long does it take to asses someone and see if they are suitable for housing.Im of the opinion its a deliberate conspiracy to prove to society how essential they are in the rehabilitation of poor unfortunates like myself.Only thing is Ive never thought of myself as unfortunate no matter what apart from the times I had to sit and listen to all their fucking crap.I put up with it because I wanted a permanent place of my own without them having acsess to my room or supported housing unit so the nosey fuckers could snoop while I was out.I often used toleave little notes for them to find but only offensive ones.They couldnt say anything about this as they shouldn have been snooping .Its a fact if I had a key to their houses and did to them what they do to their residents I would probably be branded a pervert and locked up for a long time.In a nutshell hostels dont work as most residents end up back on the streets or are kicked out for raising hell about their draconian rules.The Drugworker
From: vendazero
Not all of the people working for homeless orgs are money grabbing careerists,or worse stupid.sOME ARE ANGELS i DONT HAVE TO NAME THEM THEY KNOW WHO THEY ARE its a tradgedy that they are more often than not in a surbordinate position and stick with their job to genuinly help.I know a girl ,I say girl even though shes in her mid 40s now,she was a teenager when I met her begging on the Hungerford Bridge in the 80s.For over 20yrs she was a hard core heroin user,she knows everey trick in the book that drug users follow,maybe she even wrote it.She got of the drugs sorted her life out got a job with an org that deals with rough sleeping drug users,shes very familiar with the problems and bigotry and difficulty these people face when sorting their lives out or trying.Happy ending - no way,all she gets todo is the donkey work she feels and justibly that she is more qualified than her co-workers,she thinks she has been hired as the token ex-junkie.What a criminal waste of what could be that orgs most valuable asset.Is this her 2nd chance at life,and who could blame her if she went home everynight and stuck a needle in her arm.
From: vendazero
So it been established that rough sleepers have a pretty rough time,one night a outreach worker eventually finds them hidden in some out of the way place,they say I can get you a hostel place,meet me tomorrow.Let me tell you it feels like finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.So you meet you go through all the procedures you think peace,safety ,escape from alcholuism ,petty crime,drug addiction and all its related baggage,you feel exstatic but that soon wears off when you are in your cell like room ,it begins to dawn on you that what you are holding in your arms like a new born baby is not as you envisaged a pot of gold but in reality its a bucket of shit.You are so run down tired you dont care anymore so you sleep.You awake to the sound of footsteps in the coridor,keys getting pushed intolocks door slamming obcenities being shouted,youre half asleep thinking shit slop out already,you rush to get dressed looking for the bucket there is none.The door opens you have one leg in your trousers a voice booms room check ,it then dawns on you again you are not in the Holiday Inn ,but a hostel ,you dont yet know youve been sentenced to 6yrs.Winky Face!
From: alice's dark place
I'm just going to come right out and say it. I am not a huge fan of emoticons. I do not use a happy face to indicate happiness, or a sad face to indicate sadness. I don't even use LOL when texting or IMing, as I prefer a simple "ha!" to get the idea of laughter accross.However, I will acknowledge that I am in the minority. If there was a battle, I lost. Emoticons have won, and I accept their place in the world. I will even admit that they can make the tone of an email or text or whatever clear if the words themselves don't convey the proper meaning. I don't use them myself, but if someone sends me a frowny face or a confused face, I understand their meaning and move on with my life.
Except!
The winky face. If there is one emoticon I cannot stand, it is the winky face. You know the one I mean:
;)
The intended meaning, as far as I'm aware, is to convey cheekiness or sassiness. And it drives me up the freaking wall. Because here is the thing. In real life, people smile at each other, or frown, or have big smiles, or stick out their tongues (which, ugh), or look surprised. All of which have a corresponding emoticon to convey these expressions.
Do you know what people don't do? Wink at each other. Constantly wink at each other. And if they do, they should stop, because I'm sure they'll just develop a twitch of some kind.
There only two contexts I can think of where winking is appropriate in real life.
One: If you are playing a joke on someone and want to let someone they are with in on the joke subtly. A wink at that person while continuing the joking will get that message across, and then hopefully they'll get in on the joke and you'll all have some fun times.
Two: A pickup wink, done in jest. Possibly accompanied by finger guns. This works in almost any circumstance in life, and is generally delightful.
That's it! Those are the only two situations in which you should be winking! Or maybe if you're trying to get a contact back in place. But blinking would also accomplish this, so let's forget that one.
Two!
So, when I see people (and god help me, so many people do this) use the winky face after a comment they mean to be funny, all I can think is STOP STOP STOP! If you need to use an emoticon (and I really must stress that no one needs to use an emoticon) in that case, will the smiley face not do? What is wrong with the good old smiley face? Are you too good for the smiley face??
Your cheekiness comes across as far less cheeky if you have to tell me you're being cheeky! (Also, the work cheeky looks funny when you write it too many times. Cheeky.) Would you really wink in real life after you said whatever you just said? I thought not. It's just dumb. Stop it.
However, if someone develops an emoticon for the double finger guns, I will have to bow to their genius and gladly allow all winky face/double finger gun emoticon combos, as they will be hilarious.
Mug of the Day - 3 August
From: alice's dark place
Cuba!
Mug of the Day - 2 August
From: alice's dark place
Bruges! It's my most multi-lingual mug, as it also says "Bruges" and "Brujas".
Mug of the Day - 29 July
From: alice's dark place
The kings and queens of Scotland. Educational!
Mug of the Day - 28 July
From: alice's dark place
Barcelona is one of my favourite mugs. I think it's so pretty.
Politicians and journalists, put the statistic down and step away.
From: balham bugle
A good example of this is the present scandal on MPs' expenses (does it have an official name yet - "Duck-gate"). A number of people have jumped on some analysis by Mark Reckons, a LibDem blogger, that seems to indicate there is a positive correlation between the size of an MP's electoral majority and the chances that they will abuse the expenses system. In essence, the more safe an MP feels, the more likely they are to be a crook.
This apparent correlation has led Mark and a number of other people (such as Polly Toynbee and Ben Bradshaw) to suggest that we move away from the First-Pass-The-Post election system. Their reasoning is that a PR election system would lead to lower majorities for MPs', and according to this correlation, more honest MPs.
Now, the first problem with this is that (I think) the analysis doesn't stand up to scrunity (details of my concerns are here). Mark has been careful to caveat his statistical conclusions, though I don't think his caveats go far enough. The caveats, of course, have been ignored by everyone else.
Secondly, even if there is a correlation, it does not mean there is any real or useful link between majorities and honest MPs. A classic example is the correlation that areas with high level of policing having a high level of crime, leading to the policy conclusion that policing should be reduced as it causes crime.
And finally, what no-one seems to have tried to show is how PR will help, even if the correlation holds. Though there may be many reasons for PR, tackling MPs expense dodgies seems the flimsest. Consider:
- While PR will change the majorities of some MPs, it needn't necessarily lead to the fall in the majorities overall. You could have some MPs, which after first and second votes, have a larger majority.
- Some forms of PR can lead to more corruption. For instance, voters have little ability of getting rid of a hated MP in some forms of close list systems, where that MP heads the list.
- It would seem from the evidence of the unseating of Neil Hamilton in the 1997 election, and the current mass sacking of tarnished MPs, that the current system can act to get rid of sleazy MPs when the voters have the facts.
Sorry is the hardest word, but I can do regret
From: balham bugle
Gordon has waited five days before apologizing about Smeargate. By waiting and then saying sorry, he's guaranteed further damaging coverage of the story as the morning paper report his apology and analysis it. If he had said sorry straight away when McBride had resigned, the story would have been over already (assuming there's no further emails).
Also, his apology is so mealy mouthed.
I take full responsibility for what happened. That's why the person who was responsible went immediately.If you take full responsibility, you take full responsibility. You can't say I take full responsibility, but in the same breath say I'm not the responsible person. And I'm sure that Gordon is "sorry for what happened", but is sorry that people in his office considered smearing people.
Tail wagging the migration dog
From: balham bugle
Jacqui Smith is proposing that skilled work must first be advertised in the Job Centre before it may be given to a migrant, so that British workers have a chance. Non-EU migrants need a master's degree before coming to the UK for skilled work; EU migrants can come as they please unless they're a Dutch Parliamentarian. How many master-level jobs are advertised in Job Centres at the moment? How many master-level British workers look for jobs in Job Centres? Pure posturing.
Welcome to Balham Bou's Style Blog
From: balham bou
We would like to welcome you to Balham Bou's first post on our style blog. We hope to inspire you with our ideas and fashion advice. We would like to generate a on going discussion between Balham Bou and you! :-)
balham bou on bbc2 "Mary queen of shops"@9pm
From: balham bou
thank you for all the surpport you have showed in the passed and hope you enjoy the futrue at balham bou
working with mary portas was priceless
30 june one to watch"mary queen of shop"bbc2@ 9pm
Taking a leak
From: balham bugle
However, apart from the irony of another leak (and the desperation of Labour's news management), the best bit about this story is Harman's office attempt to wriggle out. According to the BBC, her spoken has said:
"The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the parliamentary business and handling of issues that arise from the fact that the speaker's statement and the Queen's Speech will be happening on the same day."
Yes, if you are going to have a meeting about Parliamentary procedure,
you invite the Head of the Civil Service, the Justice Secretary and the
Home Secretary (as well as the Labour Chief Whip) at less than 24 hours
notice; they are busy people, who enjoy nothing more than talking about
seating arrangements.
Putting destruction in context
From: balham bugle
The destruction of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil has accelerated for the first time in four years, Brazilian officials say. Satellite images show 11,968 sq km of land was cleared in the year to July, nearly 4% higher than the year before...Now, at a time that the world seems to be falling apart, with the terror attacks in Mumbai, protests in Thailand, the end of Western capitalism, and the assault by the Met police on Parliamentary sovereignty, you would think the ordering of BBC stories is strange. But the biggest sin, is the poverty of the story.
In recent years the Brazilian government has been able to celebrate three successive falls in deforestation. But the latest estimate from the National Institute for Space Research, known as INPE, shows that this trend has come to a halt.
The lesser error is the suggestion that one year data can signal an end of a trend. To be honest, I wouldn't be sure that three years of downward data shows there is a downward trend; but there there is no way to tell whether this year's rise was a new trend or a blip.
But the howler is saying the 12,000 sq km were destroyed (as opposed to trees just being cut down) without any context. How big is 12,000 sq km?
Using what seems to have been the international benchmark of choice when discussion Amazon destruction, 12,000 sq km is around half of Wales; that seems big. A more appropriate comparison is that 12,000 sq km is but 0.2 per cent of the total rainforest area of 5,500,000 sq km. Or put it another way, this rate of loss would have to continue for 50 years for the present rainforest to fall by 10 per cent; hardly disastrous.
So the bottom line of the story is there is no evidence that the slowdown of a already very slow fall in the Amazon rainforest has stopped. A good news story.
Balham Bou on BBC 2 'Mary Queen of Shops'
From: balham bou
If you missed the show you can check it out on BBC IPlayer!http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/page/item/b00ccg5m.shtml
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