One of my favourite YouTube videos – the Afro Ninja!
I’m not sure what he was trying to do, but it doesn’t seem to go so well!
I challenge you to watch this without laughing 
Monthly Archive for November, 2009
Nick de Bois: In these testing economic times we must urgently argue the case for less – not more – intervention and regulation
Nick de Bois is the parliamentary candidate for Enfield North, the seat he also fought in 2001 and 2005. A father of four, Nick is also MD of Rapiergroup, an international marketing events company.
An excellent article by Nick – worth a read!
I was very sad to see that Katie Price has walked out of the Jungle on “I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!”
Katie Price's Official Picture from "I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!" 2009
Although I know that she is a naughty girl, the good spirit with which she accepted the challenges on the show really impressed me, and I hope that it has gone some way to helping her to rebuild her public image.
While she is a popular hate figure with many, I cannot help but see her as a beautiful, but vulnerable young lady who has been a victim of the ‘celebrity’ industry, and for whom the fall from popularity will be very, very hard to cope with indeed.
I believe that she is still in love with Peter André, and I’d be very happy to see them get back together so that they can rebuild the family life that I think is necessary to keep her on the straight and narrow.
Being part of a family unit has obvious benefits for most people, and Ms Price is no exception.
Fingers crossed!
I seem to have a large number of attractive, intelligent and successful female friends in their twenties and thirties, many of whom lament the difficulties of finding suitable men.
I struggled to understand how such eligible women can find it hard to date until one of them shared this clip with me on Facebook!
I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did!
The story entitled “Why some girls stay single) (repeated below from melodymaker.posterous.com) goes like this:
The story is this: a girl was out with friends having drinks on King St (in Toronto) when a man approaches her and won’t leave her alone -saying how cute she is. She finally gives in and hands the guy her business card to get rid of him.
The attached is an MP3 file of not one, but TWO voice-mails this guy left. This goes down in the history books – especially the second voice mail.
After hearing them you can clearly see why she didn’t call him back – instead she called in to the Z103.5 morning show & had them play this on the air.
Ladies: He is out there…
Here are the actual voicemails brilliantly re-enacted by Eric Anderson and hosted on YouTube.
Part One: Dmitriy’s first message. He’s a man who knows what he wants!
Part Two:Dmitriy’s second message. He’s getting annoyed.
Don’t get me wrong; I admired the boys’ fighting spirit, and their obvious love of life, but they were in danger of derailing what should be a fair competition to find singers of talent. I’m sure that they will go on to be successful entertainers, and I wish them well, but I probably won’t be attending one of their concerts any time soon.
'Jedward' aka twins John and Edward Grimes from the X Factor
However, while I do not believe that any of this year’s finalists have the potential, quality or the talent of , say, Leona Lewis or Alex Burke, it still makes interesting viewing, and the danger that their presence would turn the whole thing into a simple popularity contest could really have damaged the whole format.
I don’t believe that talent shows like this are the best way to give performers a break, and the absolute dominance of the music charts by X Factor acts is a testament to its power – and its ability to distort the music industry and exclude others.
However, whatever their negative impact, the ability of programmes like this to pull people together, and to provide a platform for discussion and dialogue between otherwise isolated groups fascinates me.
‘X Factor’ and its sister programme ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ seem to transcend barriers of age, class, race and religion in a way that should be encouraged. I think that politicians have a lot to learn from the way that the public react to these programmes, and the public’s willingness to engage with their ability to influence and shape the direction of them.
If we were able to harness that strong desire to participate, and seek ways to introduce the principles into the political process, I believe that our nation would be better for it.
In particular, the way in which young people seem willing to use the Internet and mobile devices to express their views and opinions, and to exercise their right to vote give me hope that, in the future, politicians will find ways to make the political process more inclusive, and to encourage the participation of a wider audience.
The recent Expenses Scandal, combined with the rise of extremist parties shows that we have reached a time when the electorate and the public in general have become uniquely disenchanted with politicians and the political process.
The forthcoming election gives us a chance to change that, but I also believe that a change of personnel at the top must be combined with fundamental changes to the system if we are to ensure the health and success of our democracy in the future.
Yet again, just over two years after the devastating floods in Tewkesbury, Britain finds itself once more coming to terms with the aftermath of a devastating freak weather occurrence and its impact on the people in Scotland and the north of England.
The River Nith burst its banks in the Whitesands area of Dumfries after the area experienced its wettest November day on record
Quite rightly, people’s thoughts are focused on the tragic loss of life (including PC Bill Barker who died in the line of duty helping people after a bridge collapse in Workington) and also the huge clean-up operation that will be required afterwards.
But shouldn’t we also stop to think about the impact of climate change on our lives, and consider whether or not events like this are likely to become more common?
Whether or not you believe that humans are responsible for the obvious changes in the Earth’s climate, those changes are a fact.
Increasingly unpredictable weather events are affecting many parts of the world – from Hurricane Katrina that devastated New Orleans in 2005 to Hurricane Felix that killed hundreds of people in Nicaragua in 2007 and the floods that left thousands homeless in eastern Africa in the same year.
Trends would suggest that increasingly volatile climatic events are going to become a regular feature of our lives and whilst we are right to focus our efforts now on helping the victims to get their lives back together we also need to make sure that we are considering the reality of climate change in our future plans.
Rising water levels, wider variations in temperature and a wetter but warmer climate are all realities for Britain.
We must mitigate the impact of these facts on British life by sensibly considering them in our planning and development activity.
The Government cannot pursue a strategy of allowing the population of our cities to grow unchecked; this places enormous pressure on the infrastructure in those cities, not least the need for housing.
The building of housing in flood-plains must stop. The Government must develop a clear strategy for dealing with the need for additional housing, whilst also looking to address the regional imbalances caused by mass immigration and demographic shift.
Mainland Britain is a beautiful island, but one that can only comfortably support a certain size of population – before we cram any more people in, we must make sure that our population can be safely and comfortably housed – targets for huge numbers of houses in former flood-plains across the south-east of England are simply unrealistic.
We must also put more effort into the protection of our environment, and that means better planning, and more considerate use of our planet’s resources.
In my area, northern Enfield, I am particularly keen to prevent further development in our Green Belt. This band of greenery around London is essential to the quality of life of all Londoners, and we must minimise development there.
Whilst I understand the need for new housing, I believe that this must be carefully-balanced against environmental considerations, and I will personally resist further building in the area.
Bridleway through Whitewebbs Park in Enfield from Pete's Walks
I know that not everyone loves cats as much as I do, but I defy even the most ardent anti-cat person not to fall in love with these two gorgeous felines!
Two beautiful cats relaxing in the bathroom sink!
I’m updating this with some more cats for 2010 – this time a picture of my mother’s kittens, Bobby and Benjy, relaxing at home in a much more appropriate setting than a sink!
Benjy and Bobby relaxing on the rug!
Whilst much of the nation seems to be captivated by ‘X-Factor’ and ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, I think that the best thing on British TV right now is the much underrated ‘Merlin’.
Merlin & the Druid Girl - his kindness may have significant implications later in his life...
Tonight’s episode simply took my breath away and, as much as I hate to admit it, the acting and the strength of the screenplay brought me to tears this evening.
If you haven’t seen it, you should give it a look – great stories, great acting and super sets mean that this is the only thing on TV that makes me feel that the TV Licence Fee is justified.
Outstanding!
Watch it here: BBC iPlayer – Merlin: Series 2: The Lady of the Lake.
Luxury car maker Spyker wants to move closer to its main parts supplier and chooses to relocate in Coventry
A luxury sports car maker based in the Netherlands has announced it is moving an assembly plant to Coventry.
Spyker Cars makes up to 50 luxury cars a year, mainly for the US market, with prices starting from about £180,000.
It said up to 45 out of 135 jobs would be at risk when it moved its assembly plant from Zeewolde in Holland to Whitley in Coventry by the end of 2009.
via BBC News – Dutch car maker plans move to UK.
This is fantastic news for Britain – it is good to see foreign companies deciding to make strategic investments here in the UK – especially in our ailing automotive industry.
There are many good reasons for Britain to become – once again – an international hub for manufacturing, perhaps reducing our reliance on the Financial Services sector.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) could restart as early as this weekend after more than a year of repairs.
But officials have avoided giving an exact date for sending beams of protons around the 27km (17 mile) circular tunnel which houses the collider.
The LHC was first switched on in 2008, but had to be shut down when a faulty electrical connection caused one tonne of helium to leak into the tunnel.
via BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | LHC nears restart after repairs.
I have always enjoyed science and have long been fascinated by the potential for scientific developments to improve our lives, but I do wonder if the expense on this project is justified – particularly at a time when so many people are still feeling the effects of the recession…
