pedal power, sunshine and doublethink

Last May was the first (short) time that the UK ran its entire power grid without coal all the way since 1882, although there was some subsequent scurrying to find enough power from other sources.

And last year, when I was out cycling, I would sometimes pass the edge of a nearby field, being converted for solar power. My picture at the top of the post is a frosty morning snapshot of one of the fields, taken a few days ago, when I passed it on the train.

Yes, by now, it is complete and in service, and I believe each of two nearby schemes is capable of producing a few megawatts of power. Compared with a 2000-3000 Mw power station, this isn't a lot, although it is sufficient to power the adjacent 1000 or so homes, at least when there's enough sunshine.

These local field schemes have been somewhat contentious. In one case the original site wasn't used, although an adjacent one was found and seems to suit the local population as well as the farmers. It changes the nature of some of the farmland, alongside the increasing poly-tunnels for fruit growing and now these mainly flat solar panels.

Most advertising of them add a few sheep running around to make it all look more picturesque. Eagle eyed may spot German sheep in this particular photo. German farmers soon discovered that the sheep were by far the best way to manage the grassland around the panels.

So now the UK's big energy agenda is to move from coal to natural gas, towards renewables (biomass) and to wind, tidal and solar power. Nuclear is still in there, assuming the fabled French/Chinese/British plants ever get built and don't just follow the Trumpian example of driving busy diggers around a muddy plot of land.

This British and European route towards decarbonisation is quite different from the new one advertised by America on their White House web site. Although their same description also expresses the need for responsible stewardship of the environment.

You can tell, I'm still getting used to the idea of post truth, alternative truth, newspeak and doublethink.

with cat like tread

Wandering around London is never dull, and over the life of this blog there's been many changes that start from an original glimpse or drawing and finish with the actual delivered item.

A quick example would be the new American Embassy, which was still a sugar cube sketch back in the day and now looks almost ready for use.

I see it more from the train than the roadside, because there's still building site paraphernalia around the actual area.

The taxi drivers are always full of stories of the price of the apartments opposite and although it is right next to the Nine Elms fruit and veg market, the market somehow seems to get edited out of most of the pictures.

The old embassy in Grosvenor Square is to become another Qatari-owned luxury hotel, like most of that particular part of Mayfair. So I'm not sure if yesterday's big protest will be the last one to convene in Grosvenor Square.

The route from the old US embassy to Trafalgar Square is just over a mile and fairly straightforward.

A new route from Nine Elms to Traf. Square would be more than twice as far and additionally would logically pass the Palace of Westminster itself. This could be tricky because of all of the rules about marches near to Parliament.

But, come to think of it, our Prime Minister is visiting the US President on Friday, so perhaps that will clear up any misunderstandings about respective roles and positions?

Meanwhile, here's one of my cheeky low sunlight snapshots of Parliament, from the currently uncrowded Westminster Bridge, featuring Charles Barry's architectural designs, and ahead of Parliament's own rebuild.

swamp replacement strategies?

Wading through the words and gestures...

Not sure that the swamp got drained exactly. More an overhaul of its inhabitants.

Now everyone blamed his old man
For making him mean as a snake
When Amos Moses was a boy
His daddy would use him for alligator bait
Tie a rope around his neck and throw him in the swamp

from mathematical to bridge of sighs

Anyone who has ever been punting along the Backs at Cambridge will know the wooden bridge that joins the two halves of Queens' College. The myth was that Sir Isaac Newton built it entirely from wood. When students dismantled it, they were unable to rebuild it without bolts.

Untrue, because its mathematical design was later than Newton, by William Etheridge, and built by James Essex in 1749. The whole saga is still a good story, and even if Newton didn't build it, he did say "We build too many walls and not enough bridges."

A useful message for today, this January 20th, as another so-called builder is installed. What's that other bridge just north of the Wooden Bridge? Oh yes, The Bridge of Sighs.

Choose the type of doomsaying techno fear only seen in the letters pages of a Home Counties gardening circular #LWL

I enjoy the film reviews at Little White Lies. Always high quality, in depth and considered.

Their recent one for Trainspotting T2 made me laugh on an actual train. Below is a short extract.

"Choose a film that feels like the ageing, obese foreman at a mayonnaise factory explaining the plot and characters of the original Trainspotting to his pet canary.”

It got a low 2.1.1 for Anticipation, Enjoyment, Retrospect.

Oh dear.

we're gonna need a bigger thumb

Every time I walk past this fourth plinth sculpture I can't help but smile.

David Shrigley's "Really Good" gives the extended thumbs up to positivity. It is made of the same bronze as the other statues in Trafalgar Square, yet, to me, somehow this one looks as if it could be a collection of balloons rather than something weighing 4.5 tonnes.

Like Shrigley says, it is supposed to inspire positivity.

Okay then, Everything's fine right now.

last day of america?

i get tricked by the supermarket twice

Dear Tesco,

Some time ago you sent me one of your on-line surveys about our local store.

I was generally positive, but did comment that occasionally, particularly with bakery items, I'd pick up something that was on its best before timeout date.

I didn't hear from you again about this and honestly I don't really think about it and still usually pick up the first available item without perusing all the date stamps.

I've also partially changed my shopping to use a nearby Waitrose, which doesn't suffer the same dates problem.

So imagine my surprise this week when I popped into your store on Sunday for some bread, got it home and noticed it was 'best before' the date I purchased it. Okay, it is still edible, and best before is only guidance, but somehow it didn't feel right.

Then, on Tuesday, I dropped into the same store after a train journey. Just some milk and a couple of other bits. This time, once home, I noticed that the long date 'Pure' milk was dated use by 17th. That's the date I bought it. I'll let you know if it makes me ill.

I looked in the fridge at my last long date Pure - it was dated 30th January. This time you'd somehow sold me long shelf life milk that was already about to expire.

That's twice in three days. I know I should pay more attention to the stuff on your shelves. I suppose you want to rotate the almost expired stuff out to the customers. Really it's a false economy. Others like me will just break the habit and buy stuff elsewhere.

tune in, drop in

It was business as usual around the central part of London whilst Mrs May was giving her Brexit speech in Lancaster House, just across the road from the Queen's place.

I'd already passed a yawning Downing Street, quiet like the whole of Whitehall and Parliament Street, particularly since the newer traffic measures.

Usually when there's something big going on involving politicians around Westminster, there will also be a static helicopter or two overhead. The police will have one and sometimes there will be news agencies as well.

Nothing this time until I counted three Apache attack gunships flying purposefully into the central area before making their way westward along the Thames.

Their flypast close to Lancaster House was around the time that all the diplomats would be emerging from the session. Coincidence, security measures, practice for something else or making a point?

just finished reading I'm not with the band

I finished Sylvia Patterson's "I'm not with the band". A sprited account of Sylvia's time in the music business, writing mainly for the once epic Smash Hits.

Although I was more an earnest Melody Maker reader, even then we knew that the fun was taking place across in the rollicking Smash Hits offices.

There was a kind of madness to the way that pop music was treated, far removed from 2017's acquired earnest burbling of the beige wannabes on Cowell's sociopathic talent shows, such that Patterson's world is another planet.

The book describes the immensely well-connected Sylvia larking her way through encounters with just about everyone from the 80's and 90's pop scene.

Whether it's Beyonce, Prince, Morrissey or Madonna, she'll have tales to tell. Of Noel Gallagher in the living room of her flat whilst she was somewhat inconvenienced upstairs. The subsequent 3am departure to Gary Barlow's house.

It was pretty simple too, separating the pop stars with an attitude from the ones that were just plain boring.

There's also a many a positive spin to the tabloid elements. Instead of everything being negative and about put-downs, there's far more positive craziness.

Sylvia's story telling is far more about the people and their attitudes rather than the music. This provides its own layering which I suspect many modern day wannabe slebs probably wouldn't know how to handle.

The best bits of the book show the random and spontaneous nature of the people she worked around. A word springs to mind that is largely missing from much of 2017 pop.

Carefree.

Inside share price punditry

They were just re-running Wolf of Wall Street on telly and I remember the improvised Matthew McConaughey description of Wall Street trading.

The great fugazi.
Just add a dash of Bernie Sanders quotes and we can start to see that the next few weeks and months can be an unpredictable ride.

It's hard enough to make any sense, what with the weakening pound.

Sure, it boosts the apparent value of shares, but at the moment we appear to be at roughly the same rebased level as in 1999.

The end of year assessments from the learned financial advisors are coming in, and in some cases they have comprehensively failed to beat the market average.

That's where Matthew and Leonardo could well be right.

Keep the punters in the market.
Don't let anything crystallise.

Although it could be harder than it sounds with the bucking bronco about to kick in.

Covonia nights, Austrian fans, Nena and the impending discovery of the grand tour hoax

I decided to watch an episode of that Grand Tour. Truth is, I've been under the weather for a few days and wanted something mindless. The episode I picked was set in Stuttgart, which is somewhere I use to live.

Actually, although superficially similar to the main square in Stuttgart, the actual setting they used was a castle at Ludwigsburg, which is way to the north of central Stuttgart.

Now Stuttgart is also the home of Daimler-Benz, Porsche and even Smart, so I thought they'd have something to say about the great car companies on their theoretical doorstep. Admittedly Mercedes and Porsche did get a superficial mention, but nothing about the Mercedes factory test track, the Porsche museum, the refined customer collection experience where new vehicles can be handed over personally or even a couple of the futuristic cars sketched onto the walls of one of the restaurants. Instead they cut to film to look at a Honda and a botched up Clarkson ego vehicle which fell to pieces and was worth far less than he paid for it. At least they got that last part right.

For my Lemsip fuelled viewing the show was barely tolerable, being like a bad episode of the old programme with half of the features missing. A somewhat predictable red balloon failure prevented 1980s pop star Nena from appearing in the studio.

To my viewing the programme is now just about as contemptuous of its viewers as it can be whilst still churning out episodes. I shudder to think where all the money is being spent and wonder when someone will point out to the American paymasters that this series is really a gigantic hoax.

As a comparison, I found a newly aired 30 minute BBC4 programme by James May about re-assembling a 1960s Kenwood Food mixer comparatively entertaining.

This had been shot in a fake Barry Bucknell style shed with about £10,000 of artistically arranged tools and showed all the main stages of putting the pristine vintage mixer back into working order to then mix a cake. A curious form of television, I'm sure, but highly suitable when under the influence of Covonia cough syrup.

To the extent that I ordered the parts to replace the fans in my own Drobo disk drives.

The original fans have progressively become noisy, so I decided to swap them out for some high tech industrial ones from Austria. Inexpensive non PWM fans that can operate from 5.5v to 12 volts such that my Drobo devices are once again almost silent. 30 minutes per unit, and in my case with real soldering of the needed cable joints.

But, like replacing The Grand Tour with a food mixer re-assembly, I suspect this recent Nena live performance of 99 Luftballons is far more interesting than a picture of me soldering.