Yearly Archives: 2004

Hubble Bubble

Jupiter WFPC2 June 1999I am not a star gazer by any stretch of the imagination but I am fascinated by the pictures of Mars coming from the Express Probe, there really are some interesting images. It’s amazing to think that not very long ago we believed there were little green men on Mars. It’s a great achievement for the scientists involved. On a sadder note for those interested in life beyond the stars, it has been announced that one of the most successful space projects is to be allowed to gradually die as no more servicing missions will be made to the Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble also had some great pictures of Mars – although I really do think it should be known as the orange planet.

I’ve just updated my computer’s wallpaper to use a picture from Hubble, although I have chosen something from Jupiter as my background image. I really should try and learn a little more about the planets and what is happening there. Maybe I should have made something like that a New Year’s resolution. Ah well, there’s always next year.

On this day…

2004: London Buses
2003: 8 Mile

London Buses

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picture of a red london bus

The familiar red London bus with an open platform (no door) at the rear, a conductor and a charming little bell to signal the driver to go or stop is the Routemaster. Introduced to an post-war 1950s London they were the hight of modernity (automatic gears and hydraulic brakes) and, apparently, designed to be in service for only seventeen years. In 2004 they’ll have been in service for fifty years and there will be a party in Finsbury Park in July.

This picture was taken at Piccadilly Circus in London at around 13:35 today. It’s a mobile-phone picture so it isn’t great but, for some reason, even this blurry shot of a Routemaster bus makes me smile. The route listed down the side (Oxford Street, Selfridges, Marble Arch) evokes a warm and fuzzy feeling about this great city, the kind you had as a child when imaging what London was like to live in. I wonder if there were advertisements on the sides of the original buses and what they were.

On this day…

2004: Hubble Bubble
2003: 8 Mile

British Government Since 1970

I am not sure if it was the recent New Year’s message from Tony Blair telling us how great everything is (despite the tough choices) or Michael Howard’s ‘too much control from the centre’ message that got me to thinking about British Prime Minister’s in my lifetime and, one evening, the question came up, ‘can you name all the PMs since you were born’?

Now, I did manage to get it correct, although I got the order of those when I was little, slightly wrong. The first PM I remember is James Callaghan (and with it I have memories of power cuts) but of course there were some before him and I managed to name them.

While I was coming up with the list I did, for a moment, forget John Major and was later surprised to learn that he came to the job in 1990 and was defeated by Tony Blair in 1997. He had more-or-less seven years in the top job. That came as a bit of a shock.

When I think back to my time as a student, Margaret Thatcher was in power for a great deal of it. I have mental images of the Iron Lady ruling her over-whelming parliamentary majority with nothing but a handbag to beat her party. What shocked me, as I was checking the list of Prime Ministers I had come up with, with was that Tony Blair’s New Labour has had a bigger majority in The House than either of Mrs Thatcher’s governments.

So, for my own record, British Prime Minister’s since my birth (the year is the year they came to the job):

  • 1970: Edward Heath (Conservative)
  • 1974: Harold Wilson (Labour)
  • 1976: James Callaghan (Labour)
  • 1979: Margaret Thatcher (Conservative)
  • 1990: John Major (Conservative)
  • 1997: Tony Blair (Labour)

(Full list of British Prime Ministers since 1721 at Burke’s Peerage)

and those majorities at recent elections:

  • 03 May 1979: Conservative majority of 43
  • 09 June 1983: Conservative majority of 144
  • 11 June 1987: Conservative majority of 102
  • 09 April 1992: Conservative majority of 21
  • 01 May 1997: Labour majority of 179
  • 07 June 2001: Labour majority of 167

There seems to be some dispute about the June 2001 majority. Some figures put it at 166. I use the election results pages at Keele for these numbers.

On this day…

2003: The Good Girl

Helsinki Snow

I am travelling again on business and, yet again, I have found myself in Helsinki. This time it is like a picture postcard – the snowy streets illuminated by the soft glow from a street lamp. It’s lovely but I have to admit that it is cold! We landed with snow on the ground and snow in the air, temperature was already below freezing when we landed at 9pm last night.

I didn’t get much of a say in the hotel for this trip as it appears there were few rooms available. So, I stayed in a good hotel in a decent sized deluxe room. It appears there was a fashionable bar in the hotel and I got use of a separate lounge with, what I imagine, is a great view of the city (when it’s not dark). The downside is no wireless Internet – which is quite unusual for this part of the world.

Helinksi in the snow

I really like the people of Finland, especially Helsinki. They are always friendly and welcoming; everything seems so clean and efficient – although I am sure that there are natives that would dispute that. For a city with 560,000 people there does seem to be quite a bit of space – which is great and makes for large areas of clean, unbroken snow. Interestingly, 10 per cent of the country is water (which seems a lot) but I imagine that a great deal of it is ice right now.

snow in helsinki

The streets were snowy and many of the back roads had compact snow but the driver’s were oblivious to the skidding. The pathways were also, often, ungritted but people just walked along without a care – which made my carefully placed steps look silly.

Finland declared independence in 1917 but became and member of the European Union in 1995 and has adopted the Euro which makes transactions easy for me as I have always have a stock of Euro coins that I need to use up from my various visits. I really must remember that I need to come here for a holiday and explore it a little more. I will, of course, have to save as this is not a cheap country!

On this day…

2003: To Play Or Not To Play?

Another Cute One

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And more cuteness (of sorts). Last night I got around to adding the first Man of the Moment for 2004. I decided to pick Phixx cutie Andrew Kinlochan in celebration of another gay pop idol. Phixx will release their second single towards the end of February so, hopefully, there will be some more information to post about them then.

Dermot O’Leary is still proving popular because of this recent appearances on Channel 4 and I am surprised Josh Harnett, Ben Affleck and Colin Farrell get so little attention.

On this day…

2004: Too Cute

Hiddent Stuff

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quick screen shot of the lost entry as it looked 12 january 2004Do you ever start to write entries for your blog but do not ever get round to publishing them? Today, I have just uncovered an entry I was going to publish when I put the first page up for the Man of the Moment project but for some reason I never got round to it. I have activated it today but left it in the place it was originally intended.

Similarly, I was about to start writing the Man of the Moment FAQ section but had a feeling I had written it already. And it was true but I have never hit ‘publish’ so I have updated it to be a little more reflective of the current situation.

One evening I must get around to digging out other unpublished content.

What this does to the site, I do not know. Should I leave it where it was originally written or should I move it? If you go back to the entries for July 2002 they are now not wholly reflective of the content that was presented to the world then.

On this day…

2006: links for 2006-01-12
2005: Garden State
2005: links for 2005-01-12
2004: Make Me Write
2003: Entitlement Cards

Make Me Write

Inspiring me to write today is Matt Haughey’s A Whole Lotta Nothing. Thanks for the following:

  • A link to the Abandoned Bicycles of New York photo blog which is strangely compelling and makes me think that somebody must come up with a way of using bicycles in London that is easy and safe.
  • An item about the hypocrisy of Dick Cheney and his stance of gay marriage: What kind of father goes out on a national stage and says he doesn’t believe his own daughter deserves the same rights in her life that he enjoys with his own marriage? [Source]

On this day…

2006: links for 2006-01-12
2005: Garden State
2005: links for 2005-01-12
2004: Hiddent Stuff
2003: Entitlement Cards

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Return of the King posterI have finally managed to see the final part of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King. To be honest, I am not sure if I was a little disappointed or not in the last part. Nevertheless, there are many, many more good things than bad and, regardless, it is a superb film. The battle sequences are truly ‘epic’ and, in the case of the catapulted heads, a little horrific. The acting is superb, the bonds between the characters are, at times, tear-jerking. The settings are stunning (and Minas Tirith exactly as I imagined it), the story is edited in an edge-of-the-seat way and the effects that created Sauron’s massive Orc armies are incredible.

Although the effects are really brilliant it is the acting that makes this film (and in that respect it is sad that Orlando Bloom and John Rhys-Davies do not have a bigger part to play and that Christopher Lee – Saruman – does not get anything at all). Elijah Wood is great as Frodo, tormented by The Ring to the very end, but in that partnership it must be Sean Astin who deserves some kind of award. I am not sure there were many dry eyes in the theatre. And how will Ian McKellen every play anything other than Gandalf?

On the downside, Arwen’s decision to become mortal is really not played out (which is a shame) and does leave the very end of the film a little limper than the book.

When I read the book, I was very conscious of Tolkien’s multiple ending points. You felt it went on beyond it’s natural end. You can also say the same about this film (although it doesn’t get dragged out quite so much) and yet I am disappointed that the return to The Shire was not faithful to the book as it really shows the changes that have taken place to The Hobbits. That is, however, a minor complaint. This is a stunning film and Peter Jackson deserves all the praise that has been heaped on him.

On this day…

2003: You Spin Me Round