Monday 20 June 2011

Jack Warner

Jack Warner has resigned for FIFA and the corruption charges have been dropped and FIFA presume him innocent. The rest of the work presume him guilty and so guilty the only way for him to be innocent is to resign. Indeed surely he should fight and clear his name unless it is so tarnished it would be impossible.

What is fair?

The Olympic tickets have been given out using a ballot.
Everyone could apply for any ticket and they were given out at random. This means everyone had an equal chance of getting a ticket this leads to some people getting lots and some people getting none. To me this is fair as everyone had an equal chance and there is no interference in the process. To A this unfair as lots of people missed out. To her fair would be that every gets one thing they asked for. This means that everyone gets one ticket but to me this is unfair as some people might get the first round of the handball and as this is their one ticket and therefore have no chance of the 100m final.
Neither is particularly brilliant.

Tuesday 7 June 2011

Tory NHS plans

1. If doctors are not treating patients but managing budgets this is a waste of their time and expertise
2. If shareholders are taking 10% profits from any transaction with the NHS this means that tax payers are not getting value for money. Think Southern Cross.

Bergh Apton

Just down the road is a small village called Bergh Apton which every three years hosts a sculpture trail. It is a chance to have a look at the gardens of fourteen houses around the village as well as see some sculptures of varying quality. In some of the gardens there is live music (like a klezmer band) and some traditional skills such as a falconer, wood turner and an amazing illustrator. At three miles long it is not for the faint of heart but some of the views are well worth it. I liked some of the mirror sculptures and animal sculptures the most and have put some of my favourites below.







Twickenham

As a present my sister got me a trip around the rugby stadium in Twickenham. Apart from being an immense stadium there were some really interesting little stories.I was impressed with the way that the stadium tries to work with the community around it so that they can use the facilities and are also not inconvenienced by the matches that occur. Other facts like you can by a season ticket for £10000 but you still have to pay for the tickets on top of that. You get the money back in 70 years. I had a push on a scrum machine and proved I could still do it but really need to get a straighter back.
The best fact of all was that when Prince William and Harry turn up in jeans, baseball cap and rugby shirt they are not allowed in the royal box due to the dress code and have to sit in the row in front.

Wizard of Oz

We went to see the Wizard of Oz in London and to see the winner of the talent show that was on BBC1. Overall I thought the show was good but felt a bit simplistic and the songs whilst famous got a fraction repetitive. The use of Michael Crawford was also a bit wasted and for effect. The stage and special effects were very good with the dog stealing the show. Even when the dog was lying quietly on the stage all eyes were drawn towards it. Danielle's performance was good but not outstanding with some excellent choreography and some cute Munchkins.

As with a lot of things the back story is actually as interesting as the show.
There is an idea that the book contained an allegory of the late 19th-century bimetallism debate regarding monetary policy. At the beginning of the novel, Dorothy is swept from her farm to Oz by a cyclone, which was frequently compared to the Free Silver movement in author's time. The Yellow Brick Road represents the gold standard and the Silver Shoes (changed to ruby in the film) which enable Dorothy to travel more comfortably symbolizes the Populist Party's desire to construct a bimetallic standard of both gold and silver in place of the gold standard. She learns that to return home, she must reach the Emerald City, Oz's political center, to speak to the Wizard, representing the President of the United States. While journeying to the Emerald City, she encounters a scarecrow, who represents a farmer; a woodman made of tin, who represents a worker dehumanized by industrialization; and a cowardly lion, who represents William Jennings Bryan, a prominent leader of the silverite movement.

The villains of the story, the Wicked Witch of the West and the Wicked Witch of the East, represent the wealthy railroad and oil barons of the American West and the financial and banking interests of the eastern U.S. respectively. Both these groups opposed Populist efforts to move the U.S. to a bimetallic monetary standard since this would have devalued the dollar and made investments less valuable. Workers and poor farmers supported the move away from the gold standard as this would have lessened their crushing debt burdens.

The Populist party sought to build a coalition of southern and midwestern tenant farmers and northern industrial workers. These groups are represented in the book by the Good Witches of the North and South. "Oz" is the abbreviated form of ounce, a standard measure of gold.

This allegory appears to be bollocks however.

Olympic Tickets

I got some of the tickets that I bid for. I have got £140 of the £500 I wanted. Now some of the things we wanted were

Gymnastics at £40.00
Athleticscat £40.00
Basketball at £40.00
Cycling - at £100.00
Equestrian at £70.00
Hockey at £40.00
Swimming at £100.00
Synchronised Swimming at £60.00
Handball at £40.00

so it looks like I have got 1 of swimming or cycling and equestrianism and synchronised swimming are out. As these were not the most popular sessions I am a bit suprised not to get more but then they were the cheap seats and probably limited.

How to make a decision

Buying or trying to buy furniture has highlighted some differences in the way that A and I go about decision making. I was looking at the size of the furniture and whether it would fit the gaps. A looked at the colour and whether the furniture looked good. What this means is I found some ugly furniture that was the right size whereas A found some lovely furniture but that would not fit. Somehow it looks like between us we might have found what we were looking for.

Ronan is from Poringland - and he came 2nd

In talent shows they always seem to film where the contestant comes from and it seems a bit corny and staged when they interview locals who are asking you to vote for a town’s favourite son or daughter. That was Ronan of Poringland got into the BGT final and now there are Vote Ronan signs all over the place such as Budgens, scout hut, community centre etc. In the car park of the supermarket was a trailer advertising the candidate. Sadly it looks like the teen singing vote was split.

BGT = crap

As I write this I have watched two talent shows. I am not a big fan of this type of TV but have been roped into it by A. On BBC is the show So You Think You Can Dance where a group of dancers get handpicked from a variety of dancing styles and ask to work with a range of partners in a number of different styles. At the semi final stage the standard is amazing and still the judges criticise and ask for improvement. On ITV is Britain’s got Talent where a range of talent some good, some awful and voted for. A range of sycophantic judges tell them how good they are despite the quality. Dances could be out of time and singers not hit all the notes (Simon Cowell’s words) but yet they still get in. The whole thing seems to be judged not on how good they are but how much money they can make. A lot of acts get just 24 hours to come up with something the same but different. In my opinion there is no contest as to which is best but only one gets the headlines and seems to continue. Shame