Women

Today I want to talk about yesterday.  It is coincidental there are two other women cropped up on my radar so what follows is a post about three women; the struggles they are faced and the role models they became. I’m a man.  I cannot write in empathy but with sympathy of the inequalities that […]

Review of Glideboard / Segway / Balance board – V30

I got one of those balance board thingys.  There isn’t one name.  It’s a complicated story. It took me a while to get the hang of.  Here’s my slightly incoherent review of it:     Samuel

BBC should keep using the Met Office

I am very disappointed at the BBC’s decision to end its contract with the Met Office.  A middle finger to this decision.   The Met office is the most accurate forecaster, according to the World Meteorological Organisation.  It has made some infamous cock-ups, but generally it is brilliant.  In its 93 year relationship, the BBC […]

Critical Mass, Ride London, and Ben and Jerry’s

On Friday I took part in Critical Mass.  I met Tom at Hyde Park and we cycled to meet his friend, Felix and his friend, Thomas and then onwards to roughly assemble for around 7pm.  At 7.15pm the mass rolled out.  The 1000 odd cyclists that take part in Critical Mass is a spectacle.  Despite […]

Marx, laugh and Brighton

Hello, Recovering from the tail end of a light cold reminded by an intermittent tickling cough, and listening to the rain as it patters down on my bedroom window, here I reflect on a wonderful few days a week ago. On Tuesday 21st I got the train down to London, bicycle in tow.  From St. […]

Critical Pride

Hello there. Oh, I headed down to London last Friday 25th June. I partook in June 2015’s Critical Mass.  If you have stumbled upon this blog, or have somehow missed the plethora of posts from me about it before, Critical Mass is an assemblage of predominantly cyclists which occurs on the last Friday of every […]

‘Cycling’ holiday

We planned to cycle from Wellingborough to the south coast but we ended up taking our bicycles on the trains.  We had a ‘Cycling’ holiday.  On Wednesday 17th June, Seb and I got the train down to Southampton with a stop off at London St. Pancras and short cycle to Waterloo. In retrospect, I am […]

World Naked Bike Ride 2015

I took part in the World Naked Bike Ride in central London. Yesterday Tom and I met on Blackfriars Bridge, hired our bicycles and headed to Clapham Junction.  Assembling at 2pm, numbers were scarce, so we headed to a lovely little cafe for about 40 minutes.  Back in plenty of time for applying some body […]

Interrailing 2015

Paris, Rome, Venice, Munich, Berlin and Amsterdam. I went travelling from Tuesday 19th May until Thursday 4th June. Here is the main photo album. Over the next few days this will be corrected and padded out with more information. Photo credits to Seb. Here’s what I got up to in just over two weeks when […]

Anti-Tory Protest?!

On Saturday 9th May  2015 I attended some anti-Tory protests. First of all I met with Akram.  I have known him since 2008 ish time online and this was the first time we met.  We got on really well and I showed him a few sights. After meeting Seb, saying goodbye to Akram and meeting […]

VOTE!

I heard the other day that this is “the most important elections in a generation” but I’m sure I only heard this only five years ago.  Perhaps it is the most important in one election cycle or generation.  Nevertheless, I think all elections are important and it is imperative that you cast your vote today. […]

Cycled 90 miles

On Friday 24th April, Seb and I cycled from Wellingborough to London.  It was a long and hard journey totalling 90 miles.  We were shattered. After much deliberation, umming and ahhhhing we finally left Wellingborough just after 10.30am. Last year I bought a Garmin device for my bicycle.  It records all kinds of information.  We […]

We were about to climb!

Big Ben tour

Yesterday (Thursday) my Mum and I went down to London for a  tour of Big Ben.  Amazing!  Stunning. There’s some work happening near to Westminster Bridge and there’s this sign: After passing through airport-style security in the entrance to Portcullis House, we sat and waited for it to begin.  I hadn’t looked into it any […]

June 2014 Grenoble

Back at the beginning of last June I went with my friend, Sophie to visit our friend, Amy, in Grenoble, France, who had just finished a diploma year out there.  I vlogged the trip and meant to upload when I got home.  One thing lead to another (including a naked bike ride) and I just […]

#TimeToAct2015

On Saturday 7th March, Tom and I took part in the #TimeToAct2015 protest.  What wonderful day!  I felt so relaxed and at such ease with myself.  The lovely warm and sunny day may have helped – perhaps ironically I was enjoying a bit of a sign of climate change?!  It felt as if we were on […]

Cyclist vigil and die-in

Yesterday Tom and I attended a protest and die-in for Claire Hitier-Abadie on Victoria Street, Westminster.  The event, organised by Stop Killing Cyclists, was a tribute and remembrance of a woman killed on a bicycle – the fourth this year in London and nationally the 19th. Starting off as a protest outside Westminster City Hall […]

An Idiot’s Guide to Politics

Yesterday I watched BBC Three’s An Idiot’s Guide to Politics and I liked it.  It showed how disengaged especially young people are.  Watch it! Jolyon Rubinstein has popped up a couple of times on my BBC programme radar and gets a thumbs-up from me.  In his interactions with the political elite, he lacks expected embarrassment, […]

Creative technology

Whilst singing the wonders of good old-fashioned toys and the harm technology may do to the creative minds, as stated in my last blog post I was dichotomising the argument and it is wholly more complex. The thoughts popped into my mind again recently.  With the birth of my cousin’s daughter (not up on the […]

Imagination and passion in Harrod’s toys’ section

On Sunday I was in London with my friend, Giles Gear.  We had a superb day. After arriving at St. Pancras, I hopped on a Boris Bike and navigated my way to Trafalgar Square.  Without consulting a map, I cycled straight there – there was a confirmation from a passer-by that I was heading in […]

The Theory of Everything and Mobiles

First post of 2015.  Brief, but more will come. Yesterday I went to the cinema to see The Theory of Everything.  It was a great film.  Oh, I do enjoy the cinema.  The experience of sitting in front of an enormous screen with enormous sound next with wonderful company is delightful. But not all of […]