The Professionals......Lewis Collins RIP......

Just heard the sad news that Lewis Collins has passed away after a long fight with cancer. 'The Professionals', the show for which he was probably best known in the role of 'Bodie' was an iconic late 70s/early 80s show beloved of certainly all the boys I knew at school....and as far as I remember, most of us wanted to be Bodie, not Doyle. I've actually been enjoying the re-runs on ITV 4 this Summer. Oh well, a sad day.

Some things can never be explained fully.....RIP Gary Speed

Just over two years have passed since Gary Speed took his own life and it still makes me sad that somebody who had so much to offer the world and live for felt so desperate that they took that course of action. RIP

Mount Etna eruption a few days ago......

It must be an awesome - and sobering - experience to live in the shadow of such a natural phenomenon....and the visual effects of an eruption are always enhanced at night. I visited the excellent exhibition at the British Museum earlier this year which examined life and death in Pompeii and Herculaneum and it was a poignant to see the final moments of whole families and their pets captured by casts made from the cavities created by their bodies trapped under volcanic ash.

London Skyscapes.......

The Emirates Cable car over the Thames continues to be one of London's best kept secrets. For a one-way ticket cost of £3.60 you get an amazing view over the city, especially the O2, the Canary Wharf complex and the Thames itself, including a view towards the flood barrier. It is easily accessible from North Greenwich on the Jubilee Line and is a brilliant way to commute across the river. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon with our A level students on our way to The Crystal!

Rat climbs on face of New York Subway Passenger.......VERY FUNNY

I have an admiration for rats....they are intelligent, social creatures that are capable of taking advantage of opportunities that we offer them. Apparently the 'super' rats are now with us - I thought they had been for some time - that are resistant to standard poisons and are spreading through south east England. I've seen rats on my neighbour's bird feeder and I have seen them predate eggs and nestlings and even ducklings, but then that is what they are....omnivores. This video is funny....I've seen rats on the New York subway but I particularly love the reaction of the man who wakes up to find one on his face.........the rat doesn't look particularly worried about events and is obviously trying to figure out a way of disembarking........

Strictly.....Madness

Let's boogie......I like to. Go on.....dare you - release the dance within....

billy elliot - i love to boogie (t-rex)

http://www.youtube.com/v/FTORCxqO0wM?version=3&autohide=1&autoplay=1&showinfo=1&attribution_tag=sYtYVmL8qktbgzByZ32HfQ&autohide=1&feature=share

Tired of London.......tired of life......

HS2...time to show some balls David.....

I have just discovered that David Lidington, our local Conservative MP for Aylesbury, was away in Oslo fulfilling his role as 'Europe minister', when the vote was taken for the Paving Bill for HS2 last week. His argument for not voting against it was that he would have to resign his ministerial role and therefore lose whatever influence he has from within Government to represent the views of constituents on the environmental and compensation issues arising from the project.
Well I follow that argument and I have a certain degree of sympathy with it, but the timing of the Oslo trip was unfortunate at best. David Lidington has to the best of my knowledge been a popular and hard-working MP for his constituents and I have no issue with that....but there has to come a time when political expediency has to be put to one side and principles have to take precedence. We live in a representative democracy where the electorate vote for an MP to represent them in Parliament.....and that has to be David Lidington's ultimate priority. Arguing that his vote against would have made no difference to the outcome may indeed have been true, but I am pleased that Wycombe MP Steve Baker and Chesham and Amersham MP Cheryl Gillan showed some balls and voted against the bill. Perhaps they had less to lose....I don't know. What I do know is that David Lidington's absolute and ultimate priority should be to represent his constituents and not to his Cabinet post. I could even (but only just) have forgiven him for voting in favour of HS2 if that is what he truly believed was the right thing. Well Mr Lidington, as I have done ever since I first became eligible to do so in 1983, I shall be voting at the next General Election..... but it certainly won't be for you.

Madness - Forever Young single 18.Jan.2010

http://www.youtube.com/v/hq-CZLo5nZ0?version=3&autohide=1&feature=share&showinfo=1&autohide=1&attribution_tag=ZV46va5kv52cj_uJoliJ7g&autoplay=1

Madness - La Luna (Live on Strictly)

http://www.youtube.com/v/PeMxR6BWedc?version=3&autohide=1&autohide=1&showinfo=1&autoplay=1&feature=share&attribution_tag=q3Z2yEeNzmsDwqyXsR2ItQ

Madness La Luna Strictly Come Dancing 03 11 13

http://www.youtube.com/v/5-ufkE8Ijhc?version=3&autohide=1&autohide=1&feature=share&autoplay=1&showinfo=1&attribution_tag=fdfqh6-JXc5h6dUClo_bRg