Monthly Archives: February 2007
Rant: Trident (What a bloody waste!)
OK – just give me a moment to get this straight…
- The Cold War is now over and we’re on reasonable terms with the Russians and most of their eastern bloc colleagues. What’s more we have been for over a DECADE and the odds of previous hostilities resuming are longer than the odds of winning any state lottery (even ours!).
- Unilateral disarmament speeches (including from the current Labour cabinet and our “Prime Minister” himself) are a regular feature in the long-running farce that is UK politics for well over TWO decades.
+23Rant: Time for a Rainforest Tax?
Recently, I watched a video of an old episode of Equinox, recorded about 18 months ago.
Called “The day the oceans burned” the documentary discussed the issues of global warming and concentrated on an aspect of the process which is often overlooked…the impact of large scale deforestation by the timber companies and beef farmers in Brazil.
The Brazilian rainforest not only represents the largest carbon “sink” on the planet, it is also helping to slow the greenhouse effect by extracting an increasing amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. For the non biologically inclined amongst you, plants absorb and breakdown CO2 as part of the process of photosynthesis; the carbon is used to construct cells and the oxygen is released back into the atmosphere.
+21Rant: Valentine’s Day Sucks!
Of all the naff annual events on a typical western-civilisation calendar, Valentine’s day has gotta be top of the list of all but the most stupid and gullible.
It’s a day when men (and women but mostly men) all over the world are compelled out of some kind of misguided sense of obligation to make largely empty gestures and spend a small fortune on overpriced crappy flowers, sickly chocolates and naffly sentimental cards.
+20Rave: They’re Waking Up!
Interesting news article on the Beeb website today – apparently the UK is now able to produce over 2GW of electricity from wind power – only one of eight countries in the world to be able to do so.
This is of course good news and a small, but significant milestone in the move away from our over-dependence on oil/fossil fuels. What I would like to see however is a similar level of investment by the energy companies in the development of other “green” energy technology.
I’m specifically thinking of both solar and wave power. Wind turbines provide a reasonable return on investment and can be erected fairly quickly, allowing both energy companies and the government to show that they are moving towards their targets in good time. But if history has any lesson to teach about energy generation and usage, it’s that it is never a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket.
+16Extreme Sports
Over the years, we have partaken in a a number of sports which some folks might consider a little extreme.
+19Rave: Jack Savoretti’s “Dreamers”
It doesn’t happen often, but every now and then I hear a track which stops me in my tracks.
This happened earlier this week, when I heard Jack Savoretti’s “Dreamers” on Radio 2.
This track has a relatively simple but touching melody, with thought-provoking lyrics and a beautiful overall arrangement that is reminiscent of artistic legends such as Nick Drake.
Savoretti’s raw, yet yearning vocals give the track a “straight from the soul” sound and the ghostly background harmonies add to the bittersweet melancholy.
“Dreamers” is due for release, by De Angelis Records as a single on the 12th February, 2007. Check it out!
+10