The airwaves were a sadder place when DLT left the BBC. His shows were always a delight so I am not surprised that Suu Kyi regarded his World Service shows something of a lifeline.
I don’t think the BBC really knew what they were losing when he resigned in 1993. And now that he is receiving such an endorsement all I can say to the BBC is
“quack quack oops”
DLT, the Hairy Cornflake, we miss you.
When is our government going to wake up ?
For many months now senior figures have been telling the government that they have gotten their strategy wrong for the Royal Navy.
Now Air Chief Marshal Sir Simon Bryant, the RAF’s second-in-command is singing to the same tune but the lyrics are about the RAF.
The swingeing cuts that are being applied across the country are seemingly actioned without any sense of reality. We are at the point where as a nation we are having to add our support to police the world and are committing resources that we no longer have.
As a nation we are exposed.
The Air Chief Marshall warned MPs back in may that many areas of the RAF were “running hot”. This is a term that should be applied to all of our armed forces.
For the last couple of years we have heard about equipment shortages and equipment performance shortfalls for the army. We now have a navy with no aircraft carriers yet we are involved in actions that would normally have been centered around a carrier fleet. And to cap it off we have these comments from Sir Simon Bryant.
Its time to wake up and smell the coffee Mr Cameron. We have seen that you can stop and rethink your strategies. Some like to call these direction changes “U-Turns”. It doesn’t matter what they are called. It’s a brave man who can admit when a strategy is wrong and then take action to correct it.
This is one of those times. We need you to act now and sort out our armed forces strategy.
And if you are looking for the extra money I suggest you take a good look at the folks in the NHS that are happily spending our money – £50.00 for a £2.00 pack of pasta !!!
Councillor Sean Woodward the leader of Fareham Borough Council claims that the infrastructure will be put in place to support the 7000 new homes being proposed for land north of Fareham. Well to put it bluntly, he’s got his head up his arse.
Who is going to fund putting the infrastructure in place ahead of the houses being built ? Roads, utilities, shops, schools, surgeries, the list goes on.
Where are the jobs to sustain an influx of 7000 families ? The government can’t even magic that number of jobs into existence at a national level. How on earth does Cllr. Woodward think he can do that locally ?
The linked article mentions the proposed business park to be established at HMS Daedalus. That’s geographically the opposite side of Fareham and Gosport. The Gosport / Lee on Solent area is already a nightmare to get to during peak times. How much worse is it going to get with the residents of a new village (town ??) trying to cross the general Fareham area to get to work ?
The M27 and its feeder roads must be one of the busiest road networks in the country.
I am so glad that I work from home as much as I do. Unfortunately I still have a number of years to go before I can retire and make that a permanent situation.
The future as seen with the warped eyes of Cllr. Woodward is anything but rosy. Solent City creeps steadily closer.
Council leader says 7,000 home town is needed – Blue Day news – The News.
Given the latest cutbacks in our armed services I suspect this is a new weapons training exercise.
No shells – We can’t afford ’em.
No missiles- We can’t afford ’em.
Get the lads up on deck to wack a few hard balls at the enemy.
That’ll scare ’em.
Navy cricketers have a practice with a difference on ship – East Hampshire – The News.
A Big Man with a Big Sound.
He will be sorely missed.
BBC News – Clarence Clemons, Springsteen saxophone player, dies.
Off to the Isle of Wight today. We are going to visit Osbourne House having spent many years looking at it from across the Solent. We have always said we wanted to visit and finally we got our bums in gear and are going today.
It’s all a bit of an adventure as we are taking the car for the first time. We have been to the island several times in the past. Crossed by Catamaran and also by Hovercraft as well as the normal ferry.
Just hope the weather behaves. Lets hope the Isle of Wight lives up to its reputation and has better weather than the mainland.
Spent a relaxing afternoon down at Selsey Bill yesterday. Sea was dead calm. Skies were blue and the sun was warm. It probably would have been too hot if there hadn’t been just the gentlest breeze puffing away to keep us cool. Oh that and a wonderfully chilled pint of Scrumpy Jack Cider which was downed while we sat on the terrace outside The Lifeboat Inn. There were a about a dozen of us being entertained by a fisherman who was preparing Smoothounds. He must have had 6 or 7 boxes, each containing at least 10 “hounds”. The results of a an early morning fishing trip. He told the onlookers that he had been on the go since 05:30 that morning. While we watched he de-finned and skinned the contents of a single box before sitting down to have a pint. And that was just before 15:00. That’s a long day. This pub serves many fish dishes caught from their own licensed fishing boat. It was a shame that we arrived too late for the lunchtime menu.
Rest assured that we will return to try their menu in the future.
In the Canadian Grand Prix yesterday, Jenson made what has to possibly be the drive of his career. It certainly is the drive of the season so far. The statistics of his drive make interesting reading alone. Two accidents, six pit stops and a drive through penalty. These are Jensons contribution to yesterdays race which was arguably the most exciting of the season.
The race contained everything, red flags, safety cars, superb overtaking charges, collisions and not forgetting the penalties.
While Jensons drive from the back of the pack to win the race in the final lap is the stuff of dreams we should not forget the other drivers who were also making this a race to be talked about for months, no years, to come.
While Vettel was out the front for the bulk of the race all the excitement was behind him until Button brought the race to him. The pressure was really on then and Button forced Vettel into a mistake which handed over the race lead and showed that Vettel is fallible.
But lets not forget Michael Schumacher who was also driving his socks off. he was within sniffing distance of a Podium finish when it was snatched away from him by Mark Webber, more than once, and then Jenson as he ploughed a furrow through the pack.
The fight for that podium place was riveting and while I was rooting for Webber I really did feel sorry for Schumacher who was making the best drive of his comeback.
And then there was Paul di Resta who was running 5th when he ran into Nick Heidfeld in his Renault. Di Resta had to return to the pits for a nose/wing change but somewhat harshly the stewards decided that he was at fault and hit him with a drive through penalty. Back out and running in 11th place with a chance of finishing in the points he came of worst while trying to pass Williams’ Rubens Barrichello. He ended up on the damp part of the track, made contact with a wall and he was retired from the race with a puncture.
F1 is going through a renaissance. It has long been criticized for being boring, a procession. This season has proven otherwise. The new tyre rules have made a huge difference that’s for sure. Then you have to add in to the mix the technology, in the form KERS and DRS. The KERS system is temperamental and with the DRS system only operational during specific sectors and only if you are chasing down a competitor and only if you are within 1 second.
But you also have to look at the pedigree of the drivers. Never have so many world champions been competing together. That alone would be enough to make for sparks.
Yesterdays was the 7th race of the season. We have been treated to some fabulous racing this season and there are still 12 races to go. Just imagine the possibilities.
Well here I am again. Actually I haven’t been away but work has kept me so busy with the run up to a new product announcement, well 2 actually, that I haven’t known if I was being bored, punched, drilled or reamed. The actual announcement is today and thankfully I managed, by the skin of my teeth, to get all my stuff done. I really am getting to old for all this excitement or is it stress. Can’t really tell these days. To cap it all I pulled an all nighter earlier in the week to catch up on another project which has “issues”. I wasn’t even able to relax for my birthday which seems to have gone by in a blur.
Anyway, it’s all done and dusted so I can relax, I hope. And the icing on the cake is that I am on holiday for the next week…… Yay !!!
What have I got planned ? Nothing really, a trip to the Isle of Wight to see Osbourne House is the only set piece. We’ll give our English Heritage cards a bashing and hopefully I’ll be able to get in some photography too.
And as for the view from the conservatory. Well it was sunny and dry but in the last few minutes it has clouded over, the temperature has dropped, the wind has picked up and it has started to rain. Well that’s fine, get it out of your system. Need it be dry for tomorrow as we are off to Stansted House.
This weekend is their Garden Show. We try to go every year and believe it to be one of the best in the area. Will try to pick up a couple of low maintenance plants to put into pots. This is also an opportunity to browse the food tents or should I say graze as there are plenty of samples of cheeses, chutneys, ciders and quite often a nice hot pasty. For the ladeeze there is always a splash of Pimms to be found if the weather is warm.
I’ve just been watching Mrs Blackbird preparing a slug for her lunch, wiping it from side to side, rolling it over, and wiping it again and again to remove the slime before downing it in one juicy swallow…..Yuuummmy !!!
As an intermmittent attendee at gigs held at The Wedge I am proud that they are getting the recognition they deserve.
Everyone should go vote for them at NME
Wedgewood Rooms celebrates 20 years with national recognition – A Weekend With – The News.
WrAnTz 