We’ve been doing rotating pub quizzes and now we’re thinking of rating them.
Tonight- the Four in Hand, Lapwing Lane.
Food- 4 out of 5
Beer- 2.5
Atmosphere- 3.5
Quiz master- 1.5 – 3 (opinions vary)
Quiz- 3
Overall- 14.5 – 16 out of 25
Update I think we also need to add a score for prizes. I can’t remember what last night’s was, probably the generic 8 pints of beer. 3 out of 5 if it was.
Ec and Mid treaded softly, testing the forest floor at every footfall. The flanking squad of soldiers they sought were nowhere near as careful, and could be heard before they were seen. The pair found a clearing of storm felled trees. They skirted the edge and planted themselves behind larger trunks. Between them they could cover the open area with crossing arcs of fire and cut down anyone in the clearing.
The squad grew closer. Ec held up a hand, splaying the fingers. He closed the hand and opened it again, thumb and one finger folded into his palm. Mid nodded. He nestled back against the tree trunk, checked the magazine on his autogun and waited.
They came through two abreast. Ec and Mid allowed the squad most of the way across the clearing, to check their initial estimate of eight was right, then stood and opened fire.
Four soldiers dropped immediately. Two dived for cover, Ec aimed for them. Mid turned toward the remaining two, standing to fire from the shoulder. He pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. He braced the autogun against his thigh and pulled the cocking handle to eject the misfiring round. It was too late, the nearest of his two targets had his gun up and was firing from the hip.
Mid was hit three times. He slumped back against the tree trunk. Ec turned and empted the last of his magazine at the two soldiers. He ducked back down, changing magazines and cocking the autogun in quick fluid movements. When he stood again the clearing was silent. There was movement, one of the squad trying to pull himself under cover. Ec fired a three shot burst and the movement stopped. He checked back in the direction the squad had come from. There was no movement or sound.
Mid was dead. Ec made the sign of the cross over him, collected up his ammunition and headed back across the clearing, moving from body to body. One of the squad had a satchel of trip grenades. Ec jammed the spikes of a couple between the tree roots by the most obvious exits and stretched the wires across the gaps. He glanced across the clearing once more, then headed for the ravine.
Heavensent 9.15
Heavensent 9.13
Heavensent 1.1
Technorati tag: Fiction, Heavensent
The real targets of terrorism are the rest of us: the billions of us who are not killed but are terrorized because of the killing. The real point of terrorism is not the act itself, but our reaction to the act.
And we’re doing exactly what the terrorists want.
It needs saying loudly and often. In fact, I said something similar in 2003-
It’s not a normal commute if no-one tries to kill me
I’ve got a proposal. Let’s not buy bottled water, unless it’s French. Let’s not stock up on tinned food, but go out and buy fresh fruit and meat- organic if possible- from a local shop. Let’s get back to using
ductGaffer tape as it was intended, for the urban equivalent of a baler twine bodge. Simply, let’s ignore all these calls for us to be afraid.I live with terror as it is. I’m scared of the actions of my fellow coutrymen, and occasionally women, because of the way they drive. It’s not a normal commute if no-one tries to kill me. But at least my fears have some grounding. Compared to the threats of everyday life, the statistical chance of you, me or anyone we know being harmed by terrorist action is infinitesimal. It was tiny before this war began and- even though this action to make us safer has had the opposite effect- it’s still tiny now.
Technorati tag: Terror, Propaganda
I’m always in town without a car, so September 22nd won’t be much different from any other day. I recommend it to everyone else, though.
I was only doing badly until the Rolling Stones came on the radio with “You can’t always get what you want”. Now I’m a mess. It’s almost as if the Revolution wanted to make me cry.
Nanosolar has developed technology to create solar panels by printing films 1/100th the thickness of absorber in a silicon-wafer cell. With the drastic cut in unit price that will come from this they hope to have a solar panel on every building.
There are issues with the lifespan of these thin film photovoltaics, and worries about toxicity of the chemicals used. If they can be answered, then this could be a huge step toward a solar future.
via Treehugger
Technorati tag: Solar Power, Thin Film Photovoltaic
Nanosolar has developed technology to create solar panels by printing films 1/100th the thickness of absorber in a silicon-wafer cell. With the drastic cut in unit price that will come from this they hope to have a solar panel on every building.
There are issues with the lifespan of these thin film photovoltaics, and worries about toxicity of the chemicals used. If they can be answered, then this could be a huge step toward a solar future.
via Treehugger
Technorati tag: Solar Power, Thin Film Photovoltaic
Congratulations to Ickle on being one of the first three Manchester related blogs blogrolled by the BBC’s new Manchester blog. (Could I have said blog more in that sentence?)
But where’s Spinneyhead, eh? I tried to post a comment and tell them, but hit the publish button twice by accident and now they think I’m some sort of comment spammer.
Technorati tag: Manchester, Blog
Stan Fraser, of Inverness, has built a 1:8th scale model of the Titanic in the garden of his canal side home. It is meant to be the first in a series of models for a planned maritime museum. However, the project has come tyo the attention of the local council and now they’re demanding he applies for planning permission for it.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Titanic
A group of historians are arguing that it wasn’t the efforts of Fighter Command in teh Battle of Britain that kept Hitler from invading Britain, but the threat of the Navy to his invasion fleet. RAF types are, obviously, offended by this theory.
I don’t see why both sides can’t be right, to an extent. Without the destruction of the RAF the invasion couldn’t happen because there would still be air cover for the Navy, which would deal the killing blow to barges full of German soldiers crossing the Channel.
Technorati tag: World War Two, Battle of Britain
The Guardian on solar power’s increasing prominence.
There’s also a practical, very British reason for our interest in solar: money. With the average household’s electricity bill above £900 (and set to rise again with British Gas’s latest price rises), solar panels start to make sense at £4,000, after you’ve received a government grant available for installation. They can add value, too. When two new homes in Norfolk sold recently, the one with solar PV roof tiles by Solarcentury sold for 8.6% more than its neighbour. Energy efficiency ratings in next year’s home information packs, grants of up to £3,000 and imminent improved planning laws should help further.
Technorati tag: Solar Power
The Guardian on solar power’s increasing prominence.
There’s also a practical, very British reason for our interest in solar: money. With the average household’s electricity bill above £900 (and set to rise again with British Gas’s latest price rises), solar panels start to make sense at £4,000, after you’ve received a government grant available for installation. They can add value, too. When two new homes in Norfolk sold recently, the one with solar PV roof tiles by Solarcentury sold for 8.6% more than its neighbour. Energy efficiency ratings in next year’s home information packs, grants of up to £3,000 and imminent improved planning laws should help further.
Technorati tag: Solar Power
The Guardian discovers that the Long Tail does exist, but you’ve got to get beyond Amazon and iTunes to find it.
Technorati tag: Long Tail
Based upon suggestions from 650 experts, academics a list of 100 key environmental questions has been drawn up to steer research over the next decade.
The list includes current controversies in environmental science, and introduces some new ones. It asks whether there is evidence that organic farms are better for the environment, as supporters claim. It revisits the problem of whether badgers spread bovine TB to cattle. And it raises the thorny issue of the damage that domestic cats might be doing to bird and animal populations, a long-standing question that ecologists rarely voice in case they anger the UK’s millions of pet owners.
Technorati tag: Environment, Research
If you can’t afford a house (and let’s face it, far too many of us never will), then you could always get yourself a boat.
Technorati tag: Boat
Apparently Blackberries are as addictive as drugs. I’ve never even seen one of these mythical mobile email devices, so I guess I don’t live in the ghetto.
Technorati tag: Blackberry, Addiction
If I can get the files to uncompress (WinZip had issues with the first one I tried) these might be useful props. So long as we don’t linger on them.
via BoingBoing
Technorati tag: Papercraft, Gun
Sex positions for spacepeople. Probably all theoretical, but you never know.
via Fleshbot
Null saw the twin engined plane pass overhead, tracer dancing down either side of it. Then bombs exploded in the antennae above the bridge. He was sliced by a dozen splinters of wooden shrapnel and knocked off his feet.
The bombs from the second plane penetrated the roof of the bridge and the interior was gutted in a flash. All of the command and control crew were dead. Down in the engine room they could hear the explosions, they knew they were under attack, but no-one thought to check the steering and adjust their course. The Waltzer began to wander away from its targets, swinging into a long lazy turn toward the second of the convoy’s defenders.
Despite the loss of their wing leader, the Wasps continued their bombing runs, shattering the Waltzer’s decks. The big gun managed one final round, which flew high and wide. Then a bomb finally smashed through into the magazine. The fireball and shrapnel tore the next Wasp along to shreds and shattered the ship down to its keel.
Finally everyone in the engine room knew there was no hope for the ship. The last of the crew still alive, they headed for the deck, dodging fires and flooding compartments. There was one launch still intact. The last five of the crew clambered in, cut it loose and dropped the spans to the sea. They paddled away as the Waltzer snapped and the two sections sank rapidly.
There were groups of sailors from the sinking attack ship, clinging to makeshift rafts and bobbing in the swell. The battle was over for them and the crew of the Waltzer, so the law of the sea ruled that the sailors in the launch had to help those in the water.
Heavensent 9.14
Heavensent 9.12
Heavensent 1.1
Technorati tag: Fiction, Heavensent
Mike Hall MP says “TAKE TEN STEPS TO TURN DOWN CLIMATE CHANGE”
MP ASKS LOCAL RESIDENTS TO JOIN HIM IN REDUCING ENERGY CONSUMPTION
Mike Hall MP has pledged to take simple steps to reduce his energy consumption this summer, and has asked everyone in Weaver Vale to take simple practical steps to help turn down climate change.
Mike Hall MP said:-
“This July has been one of the hottest ever. Each of the last five years has been one of the ten hottest on record.
“Climate Change is science fact, not science fiction. Yet many people feel helpless, not knowing what they can do to make a difference.
“The Government has to do all it can to reduce carbon emissions by delivering the Kyoto agreement, encouraging low carbon energy, investing in renewable energy and leading international efforts to reduce carbon use. I’ve supported those measures in Parliament.
“But the environment is an issue for all of us, not just politicians. After all, if each of us used just a little less energy it would make a real impact on our carbon emissions.
“The average household is directly responsible for about 10 Tonnes of carbon per year. Our decisions have a major impact on the Environment.“Simple small measures – from turning your TV off rather than leaving it on standby to turning your heating down a couple of degrees make a difference.
“Summer’s a good time to take action because we tend to use less energy in heating our homes. We can set habits in summer that we keep up for the rest of the year.
“That’s why I’m pledging to take some of the ten simple steps the Energy Saving Trust have designed for each of us to reduce our energy use.“Of course we need to do more, but let’s do what we can immediately, then campaign to put the environment at the top of everyone’s agenda”.
Energy Savings Trust
Here are ten simple steps to help stop climate change
1. Turning your thermostat down by 1ºC could cut your heating bills by up to 10 per cent and save you around £40 per year.
2. Is your water too hot? Your cylinder thermostat shouldn’t need to be set higher than 60ºC/140ºF.
3. Close your curtains at dusk to stop heat escaping through the windows.
4. Always turn off the lights when you leave a room.
5. Don’t leave appliances on standby and remember not to leave appliances on charge unnecessarily.
6. If you’re not filling up the washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher, use the half-load or economy programme.
7. Only boil as much water as you need (but remember to cover the elements if you’re using an electric kettle).
8. A dripping hot water tap wastes energy and in one week wastes enough hot water to fill half a bath, so fix leaking taps and make sure they’re fully turned off!
9. Replace your light bulbs with energy saving ones: just one can reduce your lighting costs by up to £100 over the lifetime of the bulb.
10. Do a home energy check. Just answer some simple questions about your home and get a free, impartial report telling you how you can save up to £300 a year on your energy bills. Visit www.est.org.uk for more details.
Erith & Thamesmead MP, John Austin, joined the Mayor of Greenwich, Cllr Harry Singh and Council Deputy Leader, Cllr Peter Brooks at the opening of the council’s new Re-use and Recycling Centre off Nathan Way in Thamesmead today (Wednesday 16 August). John Austin said: “I am pleased to have such a modern facility located in my constituency. Greenwich is probably the most improved borough in London regarding recycling. The adjacent Materials Recycling Facility, operated by Cleanaway and handling and separating the Council’s collection of recyclable waste, has enabled Greenwich to increase its recycling rate from 9% to 22%. This new facility provides an improved civic amenity where residents can bring their unwanted goods – everything from garden waste, motor car tyres, oils, paints, to wood, metal, old shoes and clothes.
Much of this would previously have gone to landfill or incineration and now can be re-used or recycled”.
John Austin toured the site, including a new facility for testing and re-using electrical goods. John Austin said: “Greenwich is well placed to expand the re-use and recycling of electrical goods when the new Regulations on disposal come into force and I will be urging the Minister to bring in the regulations sooner rather than later”.
Whilst on site, John Austin discussed with Council Deputy Leader and Thamesmead Councillor, Peter Brooks, the possibility of developing a kitchen waste composting plant on or near the site and said: “There are many potential benefits from composting such as electricity generation or production of bio-fuels, possibly to power local public transport schemes such as the Waterfront Transit from Thamesmead and Abbey Wood to North Greenwich. These are exciting possibilities”
FAIRER AND GREENER – LIB DEMS PROPOSE RADICAL OVERHAUL OF TAX SYSTEM
11 August 2006
Today the Liberal Democrat tax commission unveiled its proposals for a fairer, greener and simpler tax system.
The commission proposes to:
* Lift two million people on low income out of tax
* Cut the basic tax rate by 2p and take 1.3 million people out of the upper tax rate
* Tackle climate change by taxing pollution
* Cut the number of tax rates and reliefs for both individuals and businessesCommenting on the proposals, Lembit Öpik, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, said:
“These proposals would help tackle inequality and environmental damage without increasing the overall tax burden.
“The Liberal Democrats believe that we don’t need more taxes, we need fairer taxes, and the changes we’re putting forward are the most progressive policies proposed by any party in recent history.
“Our radical changes would benefit the vast majority of pensioners, key public sector workers and young professionals in Wales. Tax cuts for the majority will be paid for by the wealthy and those with environmentally damaging lifestyles.
“The current system of taxation is outdated and unfair, with the bottom 20% paying proportionately more of their income in tax than the richest 20%. It’s outrageous that since Labour came to power the gap between rich and poor has grown even greater!”
Roger Williams, Welsh Lib Dem MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, said:
“The Government’s approach to taxation has failed to provide social justice and failed to safeguard our environment. Under Labour, levels of green taxation have been falling and carbon emissions have been rising. When it comes to the environment both Labour and the Tories talk big and act small. Warm words and empty statements won’t tackle climate change.
“Our balanced proposals would ensure polluters pay an appropriate price for the environmental damage they cause. These policies would make a real and significant difference in the fight against climate change.
“The Liberal Democrat vision is a fairer, greener Britain. These tax changes would play a significant role in reaching that goal.”
Technorati tag: MP, Press Release, Green