To the Geological Society of London for a Lecture
When I went to the exhibition on Soviet Architecture, I saw this lecture being advertised on a poster outside the Geological Society of London. So I applied for tickets and yestersay I was able to see James Jackson of Cambridge University, lecture on Earthquakes and Tsunamis in the Modern World. It was fascinating and I learned a lot. I think a video of the lecture will be uploaded at some time.
Years ago, as a sixteen-year-old schoolboy, I went to see Patrick Moore give a lecture on whether there was a link between earthquakes and the moon, next door at the British Astronomical Association.
We do go round in circles.
Oxford Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up To Be
I had to smile at this article.
At least she decided to follow in C’s footsteps and go to UCL to read law.
I’ve always believed that you shouldn’t go to a university, that is in a place, that is very similar to where you were brought up, as it doesn’t widen your mind.
Today’s Times Leaders
They are a classic.
The first details the rows in the Labour Party and how Blairite is now an insult.
The second says that America’s investment in Mubarak’s leadership in Egypt was very misguided.
It finishes by taslking about how various factions and religions in India have destroyed the largest literary festival in Asia at Jaipur.
We need some compassionate and sensible thinking.
Joan Collins on Men and Sex
This was from the Evening Standard last night.
Joan Collins is a minx. Asked by Shelf Life which literary character she would share a bed with, she picks Gone With the Wind’s Rhett Butler “for sheer macho magnetism”. And what book would she give to a lover? The Joy Of Sex.
Joan certainly doesn’t pull her punches.
Weird and Wonderful
The Sunday Times has a column of this name, which collects odd news from around the the world. This is the text of one this week with a title of Call the Pants Police.
Brides should be forced by law to wear knickers at the altar, says a Brazilian councillor. Ozias Zizi claims a growing number of women are being married without underwear because a superstition says this will guarantee a longer marriage.
The councillor from Vila Velha wants to introduce a local law that would not only force brides to wear knickers, but would bring in a minimum neckline for dresses.
“The moment they enter a place of worship they must show some respect,” he said. But Enoch de Castro, a local priest, said: “It would be absurd to try to police something like this, to find out whether a bride is wearing knickers or not.”
I think the priest has it right. Although, I don’t think that the police would lack volunteers for the job.
It’s Driving Me Mad
Sometimes things get into your memory and even Google and/or Wikipedia can’t get the reference.
An example is a play, which might have been a Play for Today. It starred, someone like Leo McKern as Sir Harry, a barrister, who was defending someone who was being tried for rape. He doesn’t get on well with the judge and feels that his client is guilty. So Sir Harry mimics the alleged rapist’s modus operadi and clothes and attacks another young lady in her flat. She then gives evidence and Sir Harry’s client is found not guilty. The judge feels that Sir Harry has been up to his old tricks and accuses him of getting his client off by unfair means. Sir Harry then pulls a gun and shoots the judge dead in his courtroom. The last scene is Sir Harry being led away saying that this will be his greatest case. ‘Sir Harry defends Sir Harry’.
So what am I remembering?
The Coldest Station on the Underground
Whilst I was being let in to Elephant and Castle station to get north of the river, I was joking with the barrier staff, that it was cold, but it wasn’t as cold as Oakwood station, which is one I knew well as a child. I did say that if you ever were offered a transfer there then don’t accept, as on a cold day like today, it’s always freezing.
With the wind in the east at Oakwood it gets particularly cold, as the wind blows all the way from Siberia. In fact, if you were to fly level due east from the station, the first land you hit is the Urals. It all probably explains how our house there, at 73 Sussex Way, was so cold and regularly had sheets of ice on the windows in the winter.
Apparently, there used to be a plaque in the station about the height and the Urals, but I couldn’t find it, when I visited.
In Search of Strata
If you look south from the river, you’ll see a curious building with what look like three clock faces. The building is called Strata London and today I went to Elephant and Castle to have a closer look at it.
Unfortunately the sun was in the wrong direction and the pictures aren’t the best.
The clocks are actually wind turbines. Although there are doubts about their effectiveness. Wikipedia says this.
Strata SE1 is one of the first buildings in the world to incorporate wind turbines within its structure. The three nine-metre wind turbines at the top of the building are rated at 19 kW each and are anticipated to produce 50MWh of electricity per year. They are expected to generate sufficient energy to provide power for the common areas of the building (8% of the energy needs of the building), although questions about their real efficiency will remain unanswered until the completion of two years of comprehensive wind data analysis.
Having lived on the 11th floor of one of the towers in the Barbican, I’m not sure that this building would be as nice a place to live.
An Insult In My Recycling Bin
Thursday is recycyling day and I didn’t bother to get my recycling bin in. So someone put a present in it.
An Insult In My Recycling Bin
It was a half-eaten steak pie. Is this a deliberate insult as obviously the junk food isn’t gluten-free? They could have put it in my wheelie bin for general rubbish, as that was actually next to the other bin. But they would have had to lift the lid!
If we assume it wasn’t a deliberate insult, it just goes to show that those eating junk food have few manners and feel it is their right to throw the remains anywhere.
It’s a pity that the pie didn’t have a name on it, as I would have someone to sue, if I felt the effort worthwhile.
A Profound Thought From George Clooney
This was supposedly said by George Clooney in an interview with the US edition of Esquire magazine.
Now that every human being on earth has a camera phone, where are all those UFO pictures?
Remember you used to see those pictures. Some guy just happened to have a Polaroid when the UFOs appeared?
Either it was all bullshit or my theory is that the Martians have decided, “Don’t go down there, man. All those fuckers have cameras now.”
He may not have said it, but think about it.
George though isn’t totally right, as I don’t have a camera in my phone.
The Anonymous Widower 