The Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction
I remember a BBC television comedy series called Citizen Smith, which starred Robert Lindsay as Wolfie Smith. This sums up the theme of the series.
Wolfie is the self-proclaimed leader of the revolutionary Tooting Popular Front (the TPF, merely a small bunch of his friends), the goals of which are “Power to the People” and “Freedom for Tooting”. In reality, he is an unemployed dreamer and petty criminal whose plans fall through because of laziness and disorganisation.
But today, I was watching the BBC News and they were discussing the Lambeth slavery case.
Later in the article on Citizen Smith, this paragraph appears.
The Tooting Popular Front was inspired by the numerous minuscule leftist political groups active in the United Kingdom in the 1970s. One model may have been the then somewhat well-known “Workers’ Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought”, a particularly far-left group led by Aravindan Balakrishnan, who became a suspect in the Lambeth slavery case of 2013.
Sadly John Sullivan, who wrote Only Fools and Horses, in addition to Citizen Smith, died in 2011, so he can’t tell us if his fictional revolutionaries were based on Balakrishnan’s group.
A Tale Of Two Cyclists
Coming back from the shops this evening, I needed to cross the zebra crossing by my house. There were no cars in view, but I could see two cyclists coming towards the crossing. I couldn’t miss one, as he had a high visibility jacket on and lights flashing away. But the second was not so visible.
The first cyclist stopped and as I expected the second to do the same, I stepped onto the crossing shouting a loud thank you to the first cyclist.
I started to cross, when I realised the second cyclist was intending to overtake the first and ride straight across in my direction. I think the first cyclist could have obscured his view of me on the crossing.
When he saw me, he braked hard and virtually ended up in a heap on the crossing. He said nothing, picked up his bike, whilst the first cyclist who’d stopped, shrugged and made a long face, at the antics of the other cyclist.
Luckily there wasn’t any other vehicles behind him, otherwise a simple mistake might have become a serious one.
We may need more cycling and better routes for cyclists, but we also need better standards from all road users.
Cyclists may come off badly, when hit by buses and trucks, but pedestrians don’t fare well, when hit by a fast moving cyclist.
The Philharmonie de Paris
I read about the Philharmonie de Paris in The Times this morning, where they say that Parisians are snubbing the new grand concert hall, as it is on the wrong side of town. But according to this article from the Guardian in 2012, it looks like it’s been in trouble for some time. The Guardian describes it as a grand design that’s turned into a £300million bottomless pit.
It certainly looks to be something that I’ll visit next time I pass through Paris.
Are The Reds Fighting Back?
I’ve never seen a red squirrel in the wild and it has looked for some time, that they will disappear from the mainland in England.
However, the BBC is reporting that some red squirrels on Merseyside, may have developed an immunity to the squirrelpox carried by the dreaded grey squirrels.
I have found a link here to the research on this at Liverpool University.
Let’s hope that the immunity spreads to red squirrels elsewhere in the UK.
Stopping Suicides On The Railway
Some months ago, I posted about how the rail industry and The Samaritans were getting together to cut suicides.
Today, there is a good article about the results of that initiative, on the BBC’s web site.
The training would appear to be working.
So perhaps we ought to look at other suicide points like bridges and car parks and create some appropriate initiatives, drawing on the railway’s experience.
Speeding Between Silicon Roundabout And Cambridge Science Park
There is an article in the Sunday Times that says that Ministers want to improve the links between Silicon Roundabout and the Cambridge Science Park. Here’s the guts of the story.
The aim is to slash travelling time between them and accelerate growth in Britain’s hi-tech industries.
The trip between London and Cambridge has long been considered a stumbling block to greater collaboration between the two tech hubs.
A station is already being built at the Cambridge Science Park, which should open before 2014, although the report in the Sunday Times says this is only being considered.
The article also talks about a Shoreditch stop on a fast train from Liverpool Street station to Cambridge.
It strikes me though that if you look at the proposals for Crossrail 2, which are slated to possibly go via Dalston Junction and the Angel, then this could be eventually an integral part of the new rail route, especially if Crossrail 2 links to the West Anglia Main Line.
I say eventually, as Crossrail 2, will be unlikely to open in the next thirty years.
Alternatively, there is the option of running the fast Cambridge trains into Old Street and Moorgate stations on the Northern City line. They would then use the Great Northern route to Cambridge.The stations would need to be enlarged, but the tunnels could probably take the full-size, Class 365, trains currently used on Kings Cross to Cambridge services. Remember that Old Street station is actually under Silicon Roundabout.
There are a lot of possibilities.
My New Boiler And Control System
For the first time since I’ve lived in this house, the central heating system is properly under control.
Even if it isn’t quite finished yet. But at least the temperature seems to stay at a pleasant enough 21°C.
I’m certainly feeling better now that its killer instinct has been removed.
I’m also moving the washing machine a more easily accessible position, in the garage.
Battersea Park Station
I saw something in Modern Railways about the refurbishment of this station. So I went and took a few pictures.
It may be a nice station, but it certainly isn’t one you’d use, if you had diofficulties with stairs.
The Bus Station At Vauxhall
According to Wikipedia, the bus station by Vauxhall station is the second busiest in London after Victoria.
However, it is certainly more dramatic, than Victoria.
It also must be one of the few bus stations in London with a Waitrose about thirty metres or so away.
As the bus station has routes to a lot of South London, I think I’ll be looking to use this bus station more on my travels.
London Underground Goes Bilingual
There is not much bilingual signage in London. So I was surprised to see this.
London Underground Goes Bilingual
I must check, if the machines have instructions in various languages.
The Anonymous Widower 