Anyone who has used the underground system in London will be familiar with a voice that comes over the tannoy and informs passengers to be careful of the gaps between the platform and the tube trains. Well the lady behind the voice has lost her job with London Underground! She recorded some joke recordings, and also apparently criticized the tube for being an unpleasant method of travel. However, she is arguing that she was mis-quoted, and has been given no chance to represent her version of events. Anyway, head on over to this article for more information. I’ve not yet checked, but I imagine there will be an on line petition or two to rehire her, at least if she is in contact with a good publicist (Max Clifford etc.) there will be 🙂
Nov 21 2007
UK Trip Details
THIS POST IS TEMPORARILY ‘STUCK’ TO THE FRONT PAGE.
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO SEE MORE RECENT POSTS, THANKS…
Once again, this post is primarily for family and friends back in Britain. A few have asked when and where we will be this Christmas time, and rather than repeating ourselves umpteen times, I thought I would post it up here, and refer people to the blog instead. More visitors never hurt the Alexa rank either 😉
Leave Astana 22nd December : 07:25
Arrive Moscow : 08:00
Leave Moscow : 10:05
Arrive Heathrow : 11:15
At this point John is hopefully picking us up in the motor-home, and driving us back to Clydach
23rd December : Flying visit to, and tour of, Cheltenham, as Ira’s parents will be returning to Kazakhstan before New Year
25th December : Something major happened this day in history, anyone recall?
27th December : Mum and John get married. 🙂 🙂 🙂 (note to myself, remember to update Outlook Contacts to Carol Kavanagh!)
29th December : The in-laws return to Kazakhstan, so following flight times are just for them…
Leave Heathrow : TBC
Arrive Moscow : TBC
Leave Moscow : TBC
Arrive Astana : TBC
New Years : At Mum & John’s place
Post-New Year : Spend some time in Clydach, Cheltenham (catching up with friends sober enough to move), Evesham (to see Dad), and hopefully London (to finally catch a glimpse of EmmaF’s new home, as well as other friends living there)
12th January : We leave Britain to return to Kazakhstan, with the following flight times
Leave Heathrow 12th January : 12:25
Arrive Moscow : 19:30
Leave Moscow 13th January : 00:10
Arrive Astana : 06:25
All flights are quoted with local times
Oh, and once again, a random two word phrase to make searching for this post, once it has slipped off the front page, a little easier. Hmm we had pink badger last time I think, so today’s phrase will be red dove.
[edit] Well, turns out there is a film called Red Dove. Involving amnesia, communism and water polo. I’m half tempted to try and source a torrent for that, it seems like an interesting mix of plot devices!
Aug 27 2007
Random Reunion
As per normal, Ira and I went over to her parent’s house on Sunday, where we catch up on the week’s news, have some lunch, potter around the garden. OK, honesty time, I tend to skip the gardening section. Don’t get me wrong, if there is heavy lifting to do, or something that involves manual labour, I’ll not complain too much, but plants have never liked me; I can try and look after them, but they normally end up in a mess, and wilting; combine my hay fever in, and you can (hopefully) see why I tend to avoid the garden, at least in the hot summer months. Later on, they have a sauna, whilst I appreciate being in a room with normal humidity, and can breathe easily. However, before they got to the sauna stage, Lorsha and his Mum & Dad popped over. The two males had just arrived back from Germany, and wanted to pop in and say hello to the family. It was good to see them again, and then a little while later, Dr. Natalya, Sasha, Balzhan and their respective offsprings popped over, as they had been to the Duman (the big fish place and entertainment centre) for the first time. Yep, they live in Astana, but had never been to the aquarium. I guess it may be a little like the London Eye, or Empire State Building over in NYC – if you live in the city, and don’t have any visiting friends to take to the attractions, you never get round to it. Anyway, as they were in the area, they popped over, as did Asen’s mum, who dropped off a plant for Ira’s mum. It was good to see everyone, though it appears the vodka shots effected me, as I dozed off for a while.
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Aug 18 2007
This Is London Calling
The Russian language version of BBC Radio will no longer be accessible via FM radio. Many commentators have noticed this occurring prior to Russian Parliamentary elections, and a Presidential election next year, when Mr Putin will want a little more control over what is stated about him and his policies. Although the Russian station that broadcast the BBC’s output is denying any political involvement in the decision making process, two other stations recently stopped broadcasting the BBC programs, and complained that everyone knows the BBC’s output is simply the UK’s propaganda machine. This raises an interesting question for me – if the bosses truly believed that, then why did they originally make the deal in the first place? One piece of information the BBC article neglects to mention is that the Russian language service is still also available on satellite, at the very least by people pointed at the Hotbird satellite.
PS I know this has been put in the Satellite TV category, but I do not have a separate section for Satellite Radio…
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Aug 04 2007
Hotels That Charge By The Hour
and I am referring to Amsterdam! So, is this post going to be on the Red Light District?
NO. Instead I wanted to mention that Schiphol airport is to open a hotel, placed BEYOND the security and passport check areas. Rather than rushing to the airport, just to find no queues at check in etc, or indeed the opposite, assuming that 1 hour will be enough to actually get to your gate, you can simply arrive early, get air side, and then relax in a hotel, safe in the knowledge that when your flight is called, you simply have to wander on over.
This will also be useful for people who want to be refreshed, mis-journey. As Amsterdam’s Schihpol airport is a hub, with many airlines using it to ferry passengers onto their final destinations, I can see this hotel getting a fair amount of business.
London’s Gatwick airport already has one of these ‘Yotel’s (if someone could let me know why that name, I’d be greatful), and this will in fact be the 3rd in the entire world.
So, sorry to disappoint anyone expecting something seedy, I hope you aren’t too upset.
My thanks to Puffin13 over at the ACD forums for bringing this fact to my attention.
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Jun 20 2007
Gas Pipe Disruption – Though Not Where You Think
Police take action over attempts to disrupt the construction of a gas pipeline.
Just another day in Iraq? Not a very surprising head line to read perhaps?
Well, this is not regarding terrorists/freedom fighters in Iraq. No, this concerns my home countries – England and Wales!
Around 30 people have been protesting about the construction of a pipeline between Pembrokeshire and Gloucestershire (the county Cheltenham is in, where we lived prior to Astana), and the A40 (that eventually leads onto London) has been closed around Brecon, as the authorities attempt to evict the protesters.
Grab more info at the BBC article on their web site.
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Jun 19 2007
Hot Fuzz
Just watched the movie here at home. Fricking brilliant is my two word review of it…
Slightly longer version as follows…
For anyone who has not come across Simon Pegg before, he came to national attention after starring in Spaced, a series that captured the ‘scene’ in Britain pretty well. My favourite moment was a bloke who had partied a little too hard for too long. Whilst waiting to cross a road, the bleep-bleep-bleep alarm for pedestrians becomes a dance track in his head, and he starts dancing to it.
Not too difficult to reach that state if you have not slept for a couple of days, and you can’t remember where you were an hour ago, other than a good party 😉
Anyway, Sean of the Dead was the last film I saw that featured Simon Pegg, which was a sort of spoof of the many zombie films in existence, whilst not being too farcical. Hot Fuzz followed the same formula, and had many quality English actors in it. The idea is that a hot shot ace London copper is sent to a South Gloucestershire village, as his stats are making all his colleagues look very bad. Not too surprisingly, all is not as it seems, and Nick Angel (Pegg’s character) starts to join the pieces of the puzzle together.
Ira seemed to like the film as well, and we don’t always enjoy the same sort of film to the same degree, so I think Hot Fuzz has a wide appeal…
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Jun 16 2007
Cornwall Nationalists
Militants in Cornwall (where my brother attends university) have issued a statement warning two celebrity chefs that their businesses are at risk.
There is history of rebellion in Cornwall, reaching back centuries. In some areas, there also strong ties to the Brittany area of France. Around 1500, a protest march was taken to London by Cornishmen unhappy at the extra taxes King Henry VII was imposing, in an attempt to finance the struggle in Scotland. (Any fans of the movie Braveheart might want to actually check what really happened sometime.) Anyway, needless to say Henry was having none of it, and sent his troops out to defeat the Cornish.
The rebellion was put down, and all the leaders executed. Why all this explanation? Because one of the executed was Michael An Gof, and the An Gof group are believed to have combined with the Cornish Liberation Army to form the Cornish National Liberation Army. This group has threatened both Rick Stein and Jamie Oliver’s businesses, complaining that the ‘newcomers’ are responsible for a surge in house prices in the locality, causing true locals to not be able to afford houses in areas that they have lived in for generations.
A couple of apparent flaws in their logic though – 1) Stein has lived in the area, on and off, for a long time, and both he and Jamie Oliver bring a lot of business to agricultural and dairy farmers in the area, not to mention fishermen. Both chefs are proud of the produce they use being locally reared/harvested/caught 2) Jamie Oliver’s business was setup to help dis advantaged youths in the area, with the idea of training them up to be professional chefs themselves.
Neither people really seem to be fairly targeted, perhaps it is simply because they are high profile, and so will bring publicity to the Cornish Independence cause? Either way, I’m hoping the restaurant Nick is currently working in is safe from such threats…
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Jun 05 2007
London Unveils The 2012 Olympic Logo
Ummm.
Yuck.
The End.
No seriously, apparently it does not look so bad in its other colours, which will be used in a one-time cycle as time draws closer to the actual games taking place in 2012. Lord Coe (ex-runner, now Tory ego) announced the decision to use the logo, which cost 400,000 pounds, in a glitzy ceremony.
Unlike many previous Olympics, this logo does not feature any famous land marks of the host city, though obviously the Olympic rings are contained with the 0 of the 2012 date.
Jun 02 2007
The Call of the Wild
The Call of the Wild – Jack London
Set amongst the heady times of the American gold rushes, the main character in this book is a dog. We see the dog well looked after, and enjoying his position as alpha male dog in his vicinity, and all seems well. Very quickly things take a turn for the worst – he is dognapped! (Hmm is that one word or two?)
Taken for his power, Buck soon discovers that many humans are not as king and well meaning as his old master. Slowly he begins to return to his most base instincts – he could afford to share food back in his comfy original home; when he ends up pulling sledges through harsh environments, he must use all his cunning, as well as his strength, to stay alive.
Without giving away too much, life does improve for Buck, as he is sold from one person to another, and eventually he settles down to a more sedate life with his new master. Until the indians arrive on the scene that is!
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