Tuesday, November 29, 2005

We come 1

Mohan, Nicola and I went to see Faithless play at Nottingham Arena last Saturday. My review of it is here. One of the best live performances I have seen, there were a few dull instrumental moments, but that is forgivable given the amount of energy they put in for the rest of the set.

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Moose!

Have you seen this?

I am also intrigued by the elk story link on the right hand side...

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Blunkett

Apologies, but prepare yourself for a rant.

There is genuinely no pun intended, but could he not see this coming? He had to go. Again.

I tend to keep my party-political views to myself, but suffice to say that any party that is in government for a prolonged period of time will become arrogant and act as though the rules do not apply to them.

Hence Mandelson and Blunkett's ongoing political careers, and the total lack of contrition shown every time they stick their feet in their gobs.

I for one will not miss him in the Department for Work and Pensions. Blunkett has had a genuinely hard life, especially in his younger years. And yet rather than using his experience to demonstrate how difficult life can be for people with disabilities, who have to deal with prejudice in the workplace and a lack of opportunities, he simply tries to force through policy to say "you can work, you will work".

My girlfriend Nicola is disabled. She is not registered disabled, but according to the official guidelines, her epilepsy is debilitating enough to impair her ability to function. She has encountered great prejudice when attempting to get jobs - of course we have not been able to take any action about this, as you have to be able to prove that they were discriminating. And yet we have had to fight to get Disability Living Allowance, and she is still not eligible for Incapacity Benefit. And to think that Blunkett had the nerve to suggest that people do not work simply because they are martyrs to their disabilities.

Rant over. You can get on with your work now.

Public toilets

Why are sensor-operated hand-dryers impossible to use? Either you put your hands in the path of the sensor to activate it, OR you put your hands in the warm air. There is no way to activate the sensor and enjoy the hand-drying benefits of the stream of hot air at the same time. As a result, you end up flapping about with wet hands, before taking the inevitable decision to wipe your hands on the back of your trouser legs. Grrr.

Nottingham is full of fun!

My latest Forest-related article is now available at www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/sport/nottingham_forest, and click on the "confessions" link.

Or, to make life easier, you could just click here. Enjoy reading!

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Happy Diwali

Oh, almost forgot...

Happy Diwali!!!

Enjoy your fireworks, and stay safe.

On a serious note, Diwali celebrations in Delhi are going to be muted this year, following the recent bombs. I got a text message from my cousin Roja yesterday, and he is still "in one piece" (his words, not mine!). It has not been a good weekend in India, following the train crash near Hyderabad. To any of you with family out there, I hope everyone near and dear to you is OK.

Holiday

"Hooray, hooray, it's a holi, holiday."

"Holiday. Celebrate."

I cannot be bothered to think of any other holiday songs. But we have just been on holiday. To South Devon. We stayed in Torquay, which was a lovely place. We went to see some penguins at the Living Coasts exhibition, which was good. The seals were sleeping. We also went to the Eden Project, which is an excellent day out. The weather was filthy on the way there though, really foggy. It doesn't matter, I love driving, even in filthy weather. But the model village, although well-built, and the caves didn't do much for me.

The hotel we stayed at was very pleasant, although we did have a mishap on the first night where we ended up being locked in. It would have been funny, except for the fact that we were both really really hungry; you tend to lose your sense of humour in times like that.

All in all, I would recommend South Devon. Lots to do, not too expensive (but finding decent places to eat at a reasonable price was not always easy). I will stick some photos up for your perusal, as soon as I finish the film and get it developed!