Just a brief note to say that I’ve been informed of a Take Back Parliament (the organisation campaigning for a Yes vote in the referendum on the voting system next year) meeting for Essex that’s happening next Tuesday. It’s at 7.30pm in the Charles Peters Lounge of Chelmsford YMCA. I’ll be going along with at least one other person from Colchester, and if you want to know more about it, see the website here.
Laurent Fignon, RIP
Aug 31
Laurent Fignon, twice winner of the Tour de France, has died. However, I didn’t get to see him until after his wins when Channel 4 started the first regular British coverage of the Tour (every night at 6.30, if I remember correctly) and so my overriding memory of him is from the 1989 Tour. Specifically, the final stage:
Of course, this was a long time before anyone thought of showing the final stage – even one as potentially dramatic as that – live on British TV, and in those days before the web, Five Live and Eurosport the only way for us to find out what was happening live was to find a French radio station covering the Tour that could be picked in the Midlands. Incredibly, there was one Long Wave station doing that – perhaps because a French victory seemed likely, though this was when they’d only gone four years since winning the Tour rather than twenty-five and counting, so it wasn’t a hugely special achievement – and we were able to pick out the odd bits of commentary and just about work out what was going on until the end when it all became clear.
‘Laurent Fignon a perdu, Laurent Fignon a perdu, Laurent Fignon a perdu.’
Laurent Fignon has lost, over and over again. Remarkable as LeMond’s victory was – just a couple of years before he’d almost died in a hunting accident – all that mattered to the commentator was that Fignon had lost, that France had lost. While I never got to see or hear what happened when he won the Tour, the memory of what it sounded like for him to lose it has stuck with me.
Just to let those of you in Colchester know, the next meeting of the Castle Neighbourhood Action Panel will be on Monday 23rd August, starting at 9.30am in the Town Hall.
Any residents can come along and raise issues that they want the NAP to deal with, or if you can’t make it to the meeting, then please leave a comment or email me with your problem and I’ll raise it for you. For more information see the Colchester Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership website.
A thought on Government
Aug 4
Merely being better at it than Labour is like being funnier than Michael McIntyre – there’s a few people who might think it’s a laudable achievement but it’s really just clearing an extremely low hurdle.
Just to let those of you in Colchester know, the next meeting of the Castle Neighbourhood Action Panel will be on Thursday 22nd July, starting at 5pm in the Town Hall.
Any residents can come along and raise issues that they want the NAP to deal with, or if you can’t make it to the meeting, then please leave a comment or email me with your problem and I’ll raise it for you. For more information see the Colchester Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership website.
Just a question
Jul 8
I’m wondering how much it would cost to organise a speaking tour of Australian republicans who voted ‘no’ in their 1999 referendum on establishing a republic, on the grounds that it wasn’t quite the sort of republic they wanted? (The possible audience being those who are preparing to vote against AV in a referendum on the grounds it’s not the exact reform they wanted, so if it’s rejected they’ll get a pony a referendum on the exact reforms they want, in exactly the same way as the Australians didn’t.)
Jenkin’s Law
Jul 3
So if Bernard Jenkin does propose an amendment in the Commons to require a 40% threshold in an electoral reform referendum, can it be completely ignored on the grounds that he doesn’t have the support of 40% of his own electorate?
Quick football question
Jun 29
Which nation’s international football record does England’s most resemble – Sweden or Germany?
(Answer under the cut, so if you don’t want to know the score and are reading this in some manner that doesn’t allow for the cut, look away now)
Read the rest of this entry »
Just to let those of you in Colchester know, the next meeting of the Castle Neighbourhood Action Panel will be on Wednesday 23rd June, starting at 1pm in the Town Hall.
Any residents can come along and raise issues that they want the NAP to deal with, or if you can’t make it to the meeting, then please leave a comment or email me with your problem and I’ll raise it for you. For more information see the Colchester Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership website.
Cerebri
Jun 7
Just had an idea for a film that would surely be a massive success, merging two things that are very popular in various media: Gladiators vs Zombies. Tattered corpses lurching through the streets of ancient Rome to confront the serried ranks of gladiators who stand waiting for them as the last line of defence before they break through and swarm over the seven hills. With plenty of opportunities for gratuitous violence and entirely artistically necessary scenes set at orgies, how could it possibly fail to be a success?
I’m not sure something like this even needs a script, but Hollywood? Feel free to call me and offer large sums of money for the rights. After all, if this is a success, you’ll need an idea for a sequel.
