UCL Lunchtime Lectures
I went to one of the UCL lunchtime lectures yesterday on the largest archaeological site in London; the Thames. It is all detailed on this Thames Discovery web site.
Have You Ever Wanted to Own a Tube Station?
If the answer is yes! You can!
The Supreme Court on More4
There was a good documentary on the UK Supreme Court on More4 earlier in the week.
For those who missed it, it’s here.
And there is a review on the program in the Telegraph.
The Castle Climbing Centre
I passed this iconic building, which is now the Castle Climbing Centre, on a 141 bus. It used to be a water pumping station and I took a video as I passed.
In the next month or so, I must go and look inside. And perhaps have a climb, as that must be good for my balance.
An Unusual Pub Name
It’s called the Nobody Inn and it’s just off Newington Green.
The Nobody Inn
What it’s like, I have no idea. But I thought the name was clever.
Folding Stools at the British Museum
I saw these clever folding stools in the British Museum yesterday.
Folding Stools at the British Museum
I like these, as they are a simple design, that does what is needed without fuss. I didn’t use one, as I’m not that decrepit yet!
We need good design and the jobs it creates to get us out of the hole, that the clueless wunch of bankers dug for us.
A Good Cleaning
The big Chinese rug in my living room, was one that C and myself bought in Hong Kong in probably 1985. I remember we imported it personally and I drove the horse box to the docks at Felixstowe to collect it.
In all the years we had it, it had never been cleaned.
Until now.
Cleaning A Carpet
The only real problem was that a basset hound, we used to own, had christened the carpet. But in the end, it came up fairly well.
The Finished Carpet
Obviously it needs to dry off completely. But I think Michael from The Beautiful Cleaning Company did a very good job. And the price was less than I’d budgeted for!
Jazz At the New Merlin’s Cave
I took a 38 bus this lunchtime to go and have lunch with a friend and passed along Rosebery Avenue from Saddlers Wells Theatre to the main sorting Office at Mount Pleasant.
When we lived in the Barbican in the 1970s, sometimes C and I would go for a drink with the children at a jazz pub called New Merlin’s Cave to see John Chilton’s Feetwarmers and sometimes George Melly at Sunday lunchtimes. The pub was to the north side of the bus route.
I looked up the pub on the Internet and found this history.
Did those who were children in the 1970s suffer from being in a jazz club with all that booze and cigarette smoke?
Sadly the New Merlin’s Cave is no more!
My Alternative to Alternative Vote
I don’t like the system of Alternative Vote, especially in countries, where voters have little political awareness. One of the reasons is that many just vote, by going 1, 2, 3 etc. from the top. Now that means that a lot of people with surnames beginning with A get elected. It is good for Balls, Brown, Blair, Clegg, Cameron and Cable, but worse for those like Milliband or Wanker.
I would prefer some form of elimination and runoff system, based on the principle that no-one can get elected unless they have got fifty percent of the votes. There would also be a none-of-the-above box. After the first round, if the one with most votes, got more than fifty percent, then they are elected. If the none-of-the-above box got over the magic fifty, then all candidates are banned and the election is rerun with new idiots. In all other cases, any who got less than say five percent would be eliminated and a simple rerun is performed.
The permutations are endless and it would clog parliament up for months deciding what should be done. At least this would stop pointless legislation being passed.
Labour Makes Voting More Appealing to Younger Votes
According to Seven Day Sunday on Radio 5, the Labour Party is thinking of calling the ballot box, the X-Box, to make voting more appealing to younger voters.
I know it’s a show you don’t take seriously, but I like the idea. The trouble is, it’s the sort of idea, you could believe had been thought up by a bunch of self-opinionated politicians.
