Yep, a week to go and the third series of Doctor Who begins.
The trailers look brilliant. Are they Sontarans in the first episode? Will Martha Jones be able to return to Earth? What are the witches doing with William Shakespeare? What secret will the Face of Bo explain to the Doctor? What evil plan do the Daleks have in Manhatten? Who is Mr. Saxon? And does Captain Jack hold a grudge?
And to cap it all, a fourth series has been commissioned and David Tennant WILL be the Doctor throughout. A master stroke for the all involved. He he he he he (for those WHO know).
Friday, 23 March 2007
Blair's Gay Gordon
It seems that the Prime Minister did "a little skip" at seeing the first Civil Partnership ceremony on television.
Tony's speech to the lesbian and gay rights campaigning group Stonewall is just as important as the positive policies introduced for LGBT people since Labour came to power in 1997.
Who would have thought that a Prime Minister would address an LGBT function of this kind years ago when all the parties had hostility towards gay rights in their numbers? But here we are and it is a big step. Of course we cannot rest as there are those who would still deny LGBT people the hard won rights.
In the meantime, I am left with the thought in my mind of Tony sitting in Number 10 with a G&T doing his little skip and thinking, was it a Gay Gordon? I imply nothing!
Tony's speech to the lesbian and gay rights campaigning group Stonewall is just as important as the positive policies introduced for LGBT people since Labour came to power in 1997.
Who would have thought that a Prime Minister would address an LGBT function of this kind years ago when all the parties had hostility towards gay rights in their numbers? But here we are and it is a big step. Of course we cannot rest as there are those who would still deny LGBT people the hard won rights.
In the meantime, I am left with the thought in my mind of Tony sitting in Number 10 with a G&T doing his little skip and thinking, was it a Gay Gordon? I imply nothing!
Admitting mistakes
I want to take this chance to explain something, bear with me and you'll understand.
Like many others, I reluctantly supported the war in Iraq and hoped for a quick end and for the minimal number of deaths and injuries. The final total may never be known.
In the run up to the war I called for a UN-route and believed that the Inspectors needed the time necessary to find the so-called weapons of mass destruction (WMD). I remember watching Colin Powell addressing the UN saying where the weapons were and of course Iraq, under Saddam, did use WMD, especially against his own people.
However, we went in and once in it is right to support British troops and whatever people think of the war, I believe that the vast majority of British people do. We will pay for years to come for the decision to go to war, it has split communities, families and friends and made others feel insecure.
Of course in hindsight it is easy to be proved right or wrong. I remember in one Labour meeting saying at the time that I wanted the anti-war people to be right and people like me to be wrong. The thought of Saddam's Iraq using WMD against other countries and peoples is to horrible to think about and thankfully the decision taken by Blair and Bush is something we'll never have to do.
I was wrong and should have been more vocal and stronger against the war. I want British troops to come home as soon as is possible, but of course worry about what will happen in Iraq when they do come home. I am delighted that Saddam was caught and his reign of terror is at an end.
However, it is by learning from these mistakes that I could not and will not support military action against Iran as some American hawks seem eager to do. We must learn the lessons of Iraq.
This particular blog could appear to be how wonderful I am in seeing the light, it is not that at all, in fact if we could turn the clock back of course it would be easier for all of us, but we are where we are. We live in a democracy and learn by our mistakes, my mistake was listening to the intelligence which proved to be wrong and because of that thousands of Iraqis and alliance troops have been killed or injured rather than letting jaw jaw work.
I am not saying there should never be war again, we don't know what the future holds, but I do hope that in future we allow a bit more talking and a bit less action.
Like many others, I reluctantly supported the war in Iraq and hoped for a quick end and for the minimal number of deaths and injuries. The final total may never be known.
In the run up to the war I called for a UN-route and believed that the Inspectors needed the time necessary to find the so-called weapons of mass destruction (WMD). I remember watching Colin Powell addressing the UN saying where the weapons were and of course Iraq, under Saddam, did use WMD, especially against his own people.
However, we went in and once in it is right to support British troops and whatever people think of the war, I believe that the vast majority of British people do. We will pay for years to come for the decision to go to war, it has split communities, families and friends and made others feel insecure.
Of course in hindsight it is easy to be proved right or wrong. I remember in one Labour meeting saying at the time that I wanted the anti-war people to be right and people like me to be wrong. The thought of Saddam's Iraq using WMD against other countries and peoples is to horrible to think about and thankfully the decision taken by Blair and Bush is something we'll never have to do.
I was wrong and should have been more vocal and stronger against the war. I want British troops to come home as soon as is possible, but of course worry about what will happen in Iraq when they do come home. I am delighted that Saddam was caught and his reign of terror is at an end.
However, it is by learning from these mistakes that I could not and will not support military action against Iran as some American hawks seem eager to do. We must learn the lessons of Iraq.
This particular blog could appear to be how wonderful I am in seeing the light, it is not that at all, in fact if we could turn the clock back of course it would be easier for all of us, but we are where we are. We live in a democracy and learn by our mistakes, my mistake was listening to the intelligence which proved to be wrong and because of that thousands of Iraqis and alliance troops have been killed or injured rather than letting jaw jaw work.
I am not saying there should never be war again, we don't know what the future holds, but I do hope that in future we allow a bit more talking and a bit less action.
Wednesday, 21 March 2007
A mixed day
What a day it has been!
This morning my work colleagues and I had a meeting with our Managers to talk about restructuring of our work. We are told that this is not to do with redundancies and this will be avoided if at all possible. Some of the work that we do will be shipped out to India. Well, it's meant to save the NHS money, i.e., lay off British workers and send to other countries where they probably pay a pittance for the work that we do. Of course, I will have the pleasure of knowing that if my job does go it will pay for another manager in the NHS, that seems the usual thing these days. How all of this is meant to help patient confidentiality and get patients seen quicker I do not know. However, on the bright side I found that we'd won £10 on Saturday's lottery and I won an extra kit-kat!!
Of course it's been Budget Day, never the most popular of events and is expected to be Gordon Brown's last as Chancellor. As a single person I have always been taken by the talk of hard working families and yes, sometimes, I do feel that a thank you to hard working single people would not go a miss. We pay our taxes as well. That aside, I cheered at the shock announcement of the 2p cut in income tax saying to my colleagues "where will that come from?" to find the 10p lower band will be axed. That worries me. That is being mild and I fear that our Labour Chancellor may be making a mistake on this and it will be low paid people suddenly finding themselves paying more tax and getting into debt because of it. I hope that Gordon is doing the right thing. I do however welcome an increase in ciggies, though one smoker feared an even higher increase, I too personally would have liked to have seen an increase of 20-30p for a packet of 20. There will be extra help for pensioners with insulation costs and the Budget is certainly aiming at the green agenda.
A mixed budget for a mixed day, still at least the NHS can now have some more managers with the extra investment. They don't send management jobs off to India for some strange reason!
This morning my work colleagues and I had a meeting with our Managers to talk about restructuring of our work. We are told that this is not to do with redundancies and this will be avoided if at all possible. Some of the work that we do will be shipped out to India. Well, it's meant to save the NHS money, i.e., lay off British workers and send to other countries where they probably pay a pittance for the work that we do. Of course, I will have the pleasure of knowing that if my job does go it will pay for another manager in the NHS, that seems the usual thing these days. How all of this is meant to help patient confidentiality and get patients seen quicker I do not know. However, on the bright side I found that we'd won £10 on Saturday's lottery and I won an extra kit-kat!!
Of course it's been Budget Day, never the most popular of events and is expected to be Gordon Brown's last as Chancellor. As a single person I have always been taken by the talk of hard working families and yes, sometimes, I do feel that a thank you to hard working single people would not go a miss. We pay our taxes as well. That aside, I cheered at the shock announcement of the 2p cut in income tax saying to my colleagues "where will that come from?" to find the 10p lower band will be axed. That worries me. That is being mild and I fear that our Labour Chancellor may be making a mistake on this and it will be low paid people suddenly finding themselves paying more tax and getting into debt because of it. I hope that Gordon is doing the right thing. I do however welcome an increase in ciggies, though one smoker feared an even higher increase, I too personally would have liked to have seen an increase of 20-30p for a packet of 20. There will be extra help for pensioners with insulation costs and the Budget is certainly aiming at the green agenda.
A mixed budget for a mixed day, still at least the NHS can now have some more managers with the extra investment. They don't send management jobs off to India for some strange reason!
Not long now
The adverts have begun and the new series starts soon.
Yup the third series of Doctor Who begins on BBC One on Saturday 31st March at 7pm with an episode entitled "Smith and Jones". Penned by Russell T. Davies, the trailers for the new series look excellent.
And of course talking Who on Saturday I attended the Dr Who - Invasion convention in Barking. Unfortunately, seventh Doctor actor, Sylvester McCoy, had to pull out and companion actress, Sophie Aldred, was running late, but we still had former Doctors, Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Paul McGann appearing on stage together and they were joined by stage Doctor Who actor, Trevor Martin.
Over 400 people attended the convention with Daleks gliding around. I have now booked to go to Swansea in September for a further convention, entitled "Regenerations". More will follow on that.
Yup the third series of Doctor Who begins on BBC One on Saturday 31st March at 7pm with an episode entitled "Smith and Jones". Penned by Russell T. Davies, the trailers for the new series look excellent.
And of course talking Who on Saturday I attended the Dr Who - Invasion convention in Barking. Unfortunately, seventh Doctor actor, Sylvester McCoy, had to pull out and companion actress, Sophie Aldred, was running late, but we still had former Doctors, Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Paul McGann appearing on stage together and they were joined by stage Doctor Who actor, Trevor Martin.
Over 400 people attended the convention with Daleks gliding around. I have now booked to go to Swansea in September for a further convention, entitled "Regenerations". More will follow on that.
Tuesday, 20 March 2007
Farewell to a "game old bird"
At last night's Full Council meeting we were informed of the death of former Councillor and ex-Mayor, Mary Neuner.
Mary had served on the Council in the old Crouch End ward from 1986-90 and then in Alexandra ward from 1990-2002. She was Mayor during 1990-91 and again in 2001-02. It was during this time that I had the pleasure of being the Mayor's Escort to Mary in my time off the Council.
Mary worked hard with the Koblenz Friendship Association, one of the Towns that Haringey is twinned with, the Junior Citizenships, mainly based at St. Thomas Moore School, and of course the Renate Campbell Trust helping deaf people and people with hearing difficulties.
As I mentioned in my tribue to Mary at Council, Mary had a wicked and rude sense of humour and her jokes about her time at the BBC could turn the air blue. She was a game old bird.
Mary, thank you for enriching our lives.
Mary had served on the Council in the old Crouch End ward from 1986-90 and then in Alexandra ward from 1990-2002. She was Mayor during 1990-91 and again in 2001-02. It was during this time that I had the pleasure of being the Mayor's Escort to Mary in my time off the Council.
Mary worked hard with the Koblenz Friendship Association, one of the Towns that Haringey is twinned with, the Junior Citizenships, mainly based at St. Thomas Moore School, and of course the Renate Campbell Trust helping deaf people and people with hearing difficulties.
As I mentioned in my tribue to Mary at Council, Mary had a wicked and rude sense of humour and her jokes about her time at the BBC could turn the air blue. She was a game old bird.
Mary, thank you for enriching our lives.
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