Music and Movies of the Year 2017
I always enjoy compiling end-of-year lists. For the past few years I’ve added all the new music I like to a Spotify playlist, then selected my favourite songs from that year’s list to make a top 10, or 20. It’s …
“Faces Of The Year” Printable Christmas Picture Quiz 2017
I made up a quick quiz for our Christmas party last night, and one or two people asked if they could have copies to recycle at their own gatherings, so here it …
Seriously? Meme
Heidi Allen MP in the House of Commons, 2 November 2017. In response to some right-winger making some typically appalling comment.
Seriously?
…Cambridge Folk Festival 2017 thoughts
Another year, another Cambridge Folk Festival – our 27th in succession, by current reckoning. Many people have been going far longer: it really is an institution. I’m not a huge folk music fan, just a local resident who loves the …
General Election Football Analogy
I once tried to explain the parliamentary electoral system to a teenage relative, using footballing terms. It’s not a perfect analogy, but it’s a lot more perfect than the way we choose our government.
“Imagine we’re having an election to …
Why I’m not renewing my Ipswich Town season ticket
Not angry. Just bored.
I’ve had a season ticket at Portman Road since 1974, apart from a few years when I was away at university. For the first few years I went with a schoolmate and we both stood on …
Music of the Year 2016
So for the fifth year running, every time I came across some new music I liked in the last 12 months I added it to a ‘best of the year’ Spotify playlist. And for the third year running, the list …
Films of the Year 2016
It’s that time again. Absolutely delighted to report that after several years of trying, and always narrowly failing, I managed to watch 52 new release films at the cinema this year. Here then are my 10 favourites, and the rest …
“Faces Of The Year” Christmas Quiz 2016
I made up a quick quiz for our Christmas party last night, and one or two people asked if they could have copies to recycle at their own gatherings, so here it …
The “Cambridge Independent” Newspaper
If you haven’t seen it yet, the Cambridge Independent is a major new weekly newspaper for the area. I’ve really put this blog post up because a month after its launch, the newspaper still hasn’t managed to get Google to …
How to organise a local council hustings event
Earlier this year I was part of a small group which organised a hustings event for a local council election here in Cambridge. We think it was a great success, and a real asset to local democracy. One or two …
How should an MP vote?
I’m writing this in the aftermath of the EU membership referendum, and the result is still very raw. I’m probably not alone around here in having almost all of my friends, colleagues and neighbours having voted ‘remain’, and not having …
My complete guaranteed predictions for 2016
Denmark: makes the news in May.
I’m sure that some of you may take these predictions for 2016 and somehow make money out of them, because they’re guaranteed**, but nevertheless, on this new year’s day, I’m going to tell you …
Our Christmas After-Lunch Picture Quiz
The Christmas After-Lunch Picture Quiz has become a bit of a tradition in our family, and I thought I’d post this year’s here on the blog so that if any of you …
Movies of the Year 2015
So, I didn’t manage to see 52 new cinema-release movies this year, despite the best of intentions. To date I’ve seen 47, although there may be time for one or two more, if our local cinema can afford to stop …
My Top 20 Songs of the Year for 2015. Enjoy.
One of the joys of streaming audio is that you can listen to new music all year long and just file away anything you particularly like into a “best of the year”playlist. Here it is on Spotify if you fancy …
Parking at Stanmore for Wembley Stadium events
I’ve found in the past that relating travel and parking experiences here always seems to be useful to people, so here’s another one, this time relating to parking at Stanmore for Wembley Stadium events. This was something we tried in …
I Cannot Delete Dad
This is a poem by Paul Cookson (above), who I’ve had the pleasure of seeing perform, and who once inspired my son when doing one of those school visits which so many authors undertake. I hope Paul won’t mind me …
Will Cambridge be the hardest seat to win in parliament in 2015?
Here in Cambridge’s Queen Edith’s ward, we consider ourselves to be very much part of the city, so it’s strange that the parliamentary boundary of the Cambridge constituency rather oddly puts us outside of the city. Unsurprisingly, folks round …
Movies of the Year 2014
Just in time! I set myself the extremely ambitious target of watching 52 movies released in 2014 during the year, and made it by binge-watching (for me) four movies in four days up to New Year’s Eve. Admittedly my target …
Songs of the Year 2014
For the last couple of years I’ve managed to come up with a top 100 songs of the year, but (disturbingly), I couldn’t find 100 I really like this year. To be fair, with three weeks of the year to …
Scandinavia and Russia Cruise – a Port Guide and Tips
Summer 2014…
We’re just back from a fabulous 14-day cruise around the Baltic on Celebrity Eclipse and for the benefit of future cruise passengers planning their trip, I thought I’d do a quick port guide. Of course, your exact itinerary …
A Movie A Week in 2014 – halfway stage update
So, with the help of a Cineworld Unlimited card, my target this year has been to see one film a week on the big screen. Not too much of a hardship, and at the halfway stage I’ve nearly done …
Old views of Cavendish Avenue
I just noticed that the aerial views on Bing Maps are still showing the plot on which our house stands, before it was developed …so I thought I’d record them here for posterity. The old house really looks quite a …
Forecasting the European Election in the East of England
You rarely see serious forecasts of the European elections on a regional (constituency) basis, mainly because the proportional voting system makes it much harder than “first past the post” systems. But I thought I’d take a look, spurred on by …