Rape Justice – Dubai Style
This story is horrific.
Why anybody would want to go to such an awful place, I do not know. I went once with C and we we found it a hot concrete jungle with no soul.
Children Should Go Free On The Buses
This story from the BBC says that the Liberal Democrats want all children to go free on the buses.
Not having been a child for many years and having no contact with any now, I thought that as in London, all children do go free.
But they don’t!
I think it will be a good idea, especially as reports in London recently have shown that this policy has cut the number of children getting injured on the roads.
It is interesting that the BBC illustrates their story with one of the Hackney Eight.
The Queues In The Underground At Kings Cross St. Pancras
I came through Kings Cross St. Pancras Underground station on Friday afternoon and the queues at the ticket office, were enormous, as they often are at that time of the week.
The Queues In The Underground At Kings Cross St. Pancras
I suppose one problem is that many people off the Eurostar from Paris or Brussels don’t have any British money or an Oyster card. But as this page says, you can buy Oyster cards on Eurostar.
Kings Cross Station
I took this picture of Kings Cross station from the balcony in front of St. Pancras station.
Kings Cross Station
It’s all coming together, with the new square, which should make Kings Cross into one of the best stations in the world.
Tigers At The London Zoo
I am a member at the London Zoo and went there to check out their new restaurant and also see my old friends, the penguins.
I also ended up at their new Tiger Territory.
Incidentally, they’d just introduced their male and female tigers to each other. but the female was being rather coy and hiding in the long grass.
The territory is much better than anything I’ve seen for big cats in the past. Except of course for lions in the Masai Mara.
The BBC’s Gloomy Reporting
Despite the good news of the near £10 billion boost the Olympics gave the UK, BBC London is leading with two negative stories.
In one they are saying local business in London are moaning about loss of business because of the games.
And in the other, we have the residents of Surrey complaining that they have more road closures this weekend because of another cycling event. I suppose that it does make it difficult to drive the 4×4. I did hear once that you need a degree in moaning to live in Surrey.
Of course for balance the BBC is also reporting that too much of the Olympic benefit came to London.
In some ways the best legacy from the Olympics in this weather, are the new air-conditioned Class 378 trains on the London Overground and the S Stock on the sub-surface lines of the London Underground. It can also be said, that the place which has benefited most from these trains, is Derby, where they were built or are still being built in the case of the S Stock. It can also be argued that these trains would have been ordered anyway. The value of the orders is approaching two billion pounds.
How To Get Your Own Back At The Devil
This story from the Standard about two brothers, Bob and Paul Forkan, who were orphaned by the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, have fought back from adversity, by starting a company making flip-flops called Gandys.
So don’t ever give up! You’ll only encourage her!
Cissé’s Stand On Wonga
Papiss Cissé is adamant he won’t wear a Wonga-branded shirt, as reported here in the Guardian.
I support his stand.
I would like to see a law, where all loan companies from the banks, through peer-to-peer lenders to the legal loan sharks, have to publish the amount of money they lend in various parts of the country.
That way we could see if shirt sponsorship was a good idea for lenders.
The Mary Rose And The Vasa Compared
In many ways comparing these two preserved ships is a bit like being asked to judge between two great actors, artists or musicians, who is the best.
In some ways to appreciate either, you must see the other one, as I have done in the last few weeks.
The Vasa is obviously more complete and in a better state, due to being a hundred or so years younger and being in the less destructive waters of the Baltic. Compare my pictures of the Vasa with those of the Mary Rose.
One big difference, is that when the Vasa sunk, it was almost an empty ship as it had not been fully victualled, whereas the Mary Rose was a ship full of supplies and artefacts, so it gives valuable insight into Tudor life. The two museums reflect this difference.
In some ways though it is best to almost consider the Vasa and the Mary Rose as two separate galleries in the same museum. Add in HMS Victory and HMS Warrior, with perhaps a visit to HMS Belfast and you have an almost complete living history of warship design.
In some ways though, those that work on both the Mary Rose and the Vasa are very close and a lot of the preservation techniques have been used on both vessels. If we ever find and raise another ancient wooden ship, we probably have the knowledge and competence to show it to everyone’s advantage.
The design and architecture of both museums may also find applications in other areas of archaeology, where we need to show delicate items.
The Mary Rose
One of the main reasons to go to Portsmouth was to see the Mary Rose.
The building might look rather bland on the outside, but the Tudor warship and the way it is displayed surrounded by objects retrieved from the wreck is truly spectacular.
Some of these pictures were taken from a glass-walled lift that ascends at one end of the museum giving superb views of the ship.
It will become even more spectacular inhopefully 2016, when because the ship will be completed dried out and preserved, they will be able to fully open up the views of the ship.
The Anonymous Widower 