Is This The House Of The Future?
All over the world we have a problem of affordable, quality housing.
So when I saw this £30,000 house for one on the BBC web site, called a Y-Cube I had to investigate.
It has a good pedigree in being designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour and backed by the YMCA. There’s a lot more about the concept here.
This design may not succeed, but others will!
We are all too ambitious (or is it greedy?) about the type of property we want to live in.
And the tax system encourages well-off single people like myself to live by ourselves in larger houses. Why should I get a Council Tax rebate because I live alone?
Sometimes, I think I’d prefer a minimalist luxury two-bedroom flat high in a tower block with spectacular views of the river. One of the reasons, I don’t move, is that I’d probably be the only person, actually living in a flat they owned.
Perhaps, Councils should publish the occupancy statistics for every street and block in their area. Possible incomers would then see the areas with the right mix of population for their choice of dwelling.
Putting The Grim Into Grimaldi
That is part of the comment in The Times about the new biopic about Grace Kelly.
With a plot that is risible and a dialogue lost in translation, poor Nicole Kidman puts the grim into Grimaldi
That is one film, I’ll be missing.
Cats For Protection
The BBC is showing a video of a cat saving a young boy from a dog. It’s here on the Daily Mail.
But cats are strange animals and often behave in ways to get what they want.
Years ago, I often used to walk round the stables by the house to check the horses. One night, I shone a torch into the stable and saw that the horse was sitting curled up by the back wall. But the torch picked out two eyes just under his shoulder and I could see one of our ginger cats snuggled in the warmth. It wasn’t the only time I saw this and one day mentioned it to an old horse-coper, who explained it like this.
Horses don’t like mice and rats scrambling through the straw, as being flight animals small noises may make them want to flee and of course they can’t. So the horse had encouraged the cat in, to protect him from the savage rodents. He said that over the years, he’d seen several strong friendships between horses or ponies and cats.
The Harrods Of The East End
I’d never heard of Wickham’s Department Store known in East End folklore as the Harrods of the East End, until I read about the building and its troubles in Private Eye.
Note how the two parts of the building are different sizes, with an off-centre tower. All caused because the jewellers in the middle wouldn’t sell out.
If you need to know more, there’s an excellent article here.
A Day Out In Portsmouth
I’ve been to the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard before, but as my yearly ticket can be used as many times as I like for £24.25, I thought I had better go again. I chose today, as the weather looked it might by sunny in the afternoon. I got the weather wrong, as it was sunny from when I arrived in Portsmouth Harbour station at about 12:30, courtesy of South West Trains for £23.30 in ninety minutes.
I walked to Carluccio’s in the Gunwharf Quays shopping centre by the station so I could have some lunch. But it would be much nicer if there was a direct connection between the station and the shopping centre.
Every time I visit Portsmouth there seems to be more to see, especially in the Dockyard.
Are Boko Haram Just Psychotic Male Chauvanist Pigs
I’ve just watched John Simpson’s report from north eastern Nigeria on the BBC.
I’m left with the thoughts that led me to write this post.
I’ve read extensively about Islam and can’t see how any of Boko Haram’s actions have anything to do with the religion.
In fact, in the early days of Islam, women were equal and over the centuries education has been a large part of the religion. In fact, but for early Islamic scholars and thinkers, we wouldn’t have the mathematics we have today.
Boko Haram are just thugs and should feel the full force of all right-thinking people in Nigeria and the wider world.
Is Putin Watching?
I’m watching the Eurovision Song Contest. But is Putin? Or has he just switched off the signal to all Russian sets, as a bearded drag act is representing Austria?
Remember Adolf didn’t need much of an excuse to invade Austria!
Boden’s Sense Of Humour
I just had to take a picture of this sign outside of Boden’s building as I walked by.
Boden’s Sense Of Humour
As this blog is only about things that are good to look at, I decided to show a picture of just the sign.
Thinking about it, I suspect that an ugly building is cheaper to rent or buy, so why not save money and just make fun of it.
I wonder what discount they got for The Shard?
Our Energy Future According To Ovo’s Founder
This article in the Guardian, lays out the future of our energy supplies according to the founder of Ovo Energy.
I agree with all that he said and I’d like to see more schemes like the Bunhill Energy Centre I saw last Open House.
The great thing about small energy schemes, is they are not capital-intensive and often can be hidden away in the most surprising places. They can also take heat from any source like Bunhill is going to do in the near future.
Who Wants A $20 Smartphone?
I found an article entitled Why ARM Believes We’ll See a $20 Smartphone
This is the first paragraph.
ARM Holdings (ARMH) believes the company’s future will be brighter because it’s embracing both ends of the computing business – high-end devices such as smartphones and tablets with quad-core, 64-bit processors, as well as increasingly inexpensive mobile devices running on new single-core chips.
The future seems to be ARM
The Anonymous Widower 