Not In Venice
Pierre Cardin is really trying to upset everybody with this design for a building near Venice. The Mail cals it a fashion faux-pas.
And we worry about wind turbines!
Taliban Condemn Bishop Vote
This is the headline over a humorous picture in the Sunday Times, showing three fully covered-up women from Afghanistan, with a speech bubble saying, “It’s appalling how the Church of England treats its women”
Coalition At War Over Wind Farms
This headline is on the front of today’s Sunday Times. The row is also reported here in the Telegraph.
It is to be expected.
I must be one of the few green individuals, who is totally opposed to onshore wind farms. Offshore ones are a different matter.
I’ll give you a simple personal example, which is not about wind farms, but about visual intrusion. My previous house had one of the best views in Suffolk. But it wasn’t perfect, as a water tower on the horizon spoilt the view. Now I only joked about it and on some of the photos, I air-brushed it out. And it was after all several kilometres away on the outskirts of Haverhill. If they decided to knock it down, I’d have bought drinks all round. Now that was one water tower, how would I have felt about a line of wind turbines on the intervening ridge. It would have probably made my house unsaleable.
So I can understand why people get upset about visual intrusion.
But let’s face it too, most who live in the countryside are some of the most energy wasteful people you could want to meet. Many have large uneconomical vehicles that they drive up and down from London every weekend. And they often live in large energy-inefficient houses. So asking them to accept wind turbines is like asking a vegan to eat meat every day.
No wonder the countryside, which generally votes Tory, doesn’t want wind turbines.
In fact I find it rather surprising that anybody, anywhere in the world, wants wind turbines on a beautiful landscape. It’s just like sticking fake moles all over the Mona Lisa.
I am surprised that wind farms haven’t come under physical attack from their opponents. But I can’t find any incidents on the Internet.
Offshore wind farms though should be developed.
There is so much less visual intrusion and I believe innovative designs can make them bigger and at less cost per watt. I’m possibly back to my old favourite of the Balaena.
Henry Blofeld Is In Fine Form
I woke early today and after sorting my e-mails, I went back to bed to listen to Test Match Special from India. It wasn’t just England’s batsman, that were in fine form, but Henry Blofeld was as well, as have gave an amazing talk on his memories of India during the lunch break.
He told the tale, about how he nearly played for England in 1963 in India, when the team was decimated by the dreaded Delhi Belly. This link points to the paragraph containing the tale in Wikipedia, but it is much less colourful than Blowers account.
He also told how in 1976, he was one of five, who took a vintage Rolls-Royce all the way to India by road, travelling through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. As it was such an immaculate vehicle, it was treated by everyone with the respect it deserved. Try doing that journey now. But it was done by many in those days. My cousin, John, did it around the same time in a Thames Trader gown van. There was even a regular bus to India called something like the Overland Trail.
Henry Blofeld until recently used to wear a pith helmet whilst reporting cricket tours like India.
He must be one of the last great British eccentrics. Hopefully, his talk will appear on the BBC iPlayer after play finishes for today. It’s well worth a listen. It’s here.
Incidentally, C who was a barrister, appeared several times in front of his elder brother, the judge, Sir John Blofeld.
Why Britain Doesn’t Have Revolutions
The BBC on its web site has published an article outlining an interesting theory about why Britain has not had a violent revolution in recent centuries.
Apparently, it’s all down to our political cartoonists.
Most of the article, is based on an interview with Lord Baker, who is an avid fan, despite having suffered at their hands a few times.
The Anonymous Widower 