the wider world

on friday i saw a film at the watershed. it as called Manufactured Landscapes - part of the Festival of Ideas. I was quite moved by the content. The film wasnt in any way political. But it did show vivid images of the world around us. Some often unseen. For example, pre-three gorge dam demolition, e waste recycling mountains in china and the bangladeshi ship breaking beaches. The last was the most shocking. Old ships broken up by hand. Not much personal protective equipment on show. Kids scooping tanker oil waste and sludge out of the bottom of the ships. Incredible to watch. But then where do you begin. Is it in the developing country itself or the developed countries who inflict such waste on the rest of the world. What a selfish lot we are.

puddings and policy

I had a great time this evening.

I went along to a puddings and policy evening on the environment at the leftbank centre down by stokes croft. Steve Webb MP was speaking. also Cllr Gary Hopkins and someone from friends of the earth, a wind power consultancy and the railway path organisation. I learnt a lot and appreciated that perhaps with the casework I have in lockleaze: housing and anti social behaviour (mainly) I miss out on the more global influences. The major stuff that makes everything pale into insignificance really.

I heard a very peculiar new development on green taxes - apparently in Estonia they have a cattle flatulence tax. Im not sure where the speaker's source was but it sounds so bizarre that it could be conceivable - especially given the large percentage of pollution (albeit natural pollution!!) from cattle and farming.

And of the course the chseecake and almond flan were lush!

it is a small world

they say that what comes around goes around. Over the other side of the world there is devastation in Burma. NGOs and charities are clamouring to get that aid in where its needed most. i cant help wonder what the blockage is in the works. surely red tape doesnt take a week. common sense says that the most fundamental needs of a human being must be met before a nation can prosper. food water and shelter are all the basic things that we seem to take for granted in the UK. whenever I come back off of holiday from abroad I say a thankyou that we have the infrastructure that we have. the rich diversity and resilience to respond in a crisis. i feel sorry for the many people who are caught between those basic human needs and the red tape that is literally killing them in Burma

The Noise...

North Bristol needs to be proud of the Noise Project. There are youth involvement and environmental projects across several parts of the city. This year its expanded out from Horfield, Lockleaze into Manor Farm and Southmead. Local clean-ups, fun afternoons etc etc





Earlier in the year I contributed at a couple of the planning meetings. A lot of agencies contribute ideas.





This year I finally managed to get time off of work so that I could get my 'hands dirty' and join in the fun. I helped out at with efforts in Southmead with the senior citizens banquet. Blowing up balloons, serving the 3 course meal, helping with the drying up. Here's a piccy of me looking a bit windswept going back into the building just before the soup course.

Managed to get hoodwinked by a passing camera crew. All a bit bizarre.

These guys do a lot of fantastic work. We should be thankful of the volunteer's time and effort. The blue shirts make the difference! Roll on next year.

are you with boris?

gosh what a surprise. boris is now the mayor of london. i'm not entirely sure how he did it?!

what i do have to ask is - when they voted for boris - were they thinking of voting tory or was it just a protest vote against labour. either way i feel sorry for londoners.

such is a democracy. sometimes you can never tell.....

house prices

I share the same subtle anxiety that is floating about housing market. Ther has been dramatic statements recently about a chaotic return to the shambles that was 20yrs ago. Negative equity, repos and crisis all round. So far there's been a flattening of the market but a slight fall at most.
What is fuelling this? Has the government lost the (financial) plot? Is Alastair less prudent than Gordon? Or were Gordon's earlier policies the key to these latest set of economic woes.....

weather is changing

anybody out there like storage heaters? my flat doesn't get gas so I'm forced to begrudgingly continue with my storage heaters. I'm not entirely convinced they are the most green way of heating a house so I do the whole clothes layering exercise to cut down on fuel bills. the pain with these heaters is that you need to be a psychic with the weather to analyse when you need to switch them on. forget them on a cold night and its a chilly day ahead. or maybe with all this global warming it will take the guesswork out of the whole heating saga... (tongue in cheek of course!). Brr!