Comparing the 2003 candidates for West Berkshire Council with the 2007 ones, it is clear there has been a reduction in the amount of Labour party candidates standing in Newbury.
In 2003 there were 12 Labour candidates in West Berkshire. In 2007 there are 11.
In Newbury in 2003, Labour stood candidates in St Johns, Northcroft, Falkland and Clayhill (in addition there was a Social Labour candidate in Victoria ward). This time there are Labour candidates only in Falkland and Clayhill wards (additionally they have a candidate in Greenham, a small part of which is in Newbury town). For the first time for many years, Steve Billcliffe is not standing for Labour in Newbury.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Suits you sir!
What a good job that the suits used for the World Cup winning England Rugby team were available for the sailors released by Iran.
What a shame the tan shoes weren't also available.
What a shame the tan shoes weren't also available.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Found: Squeeze me sauce web site
After waxing lyrically about "new squeezy sauce mini-containers" yesterday, I have now found out their real name. They are Heinz "Squeeze me" containers.
Snap...tear...squeeze...
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Debunking our Jimmy's boast
There is a remarkable article about Sir Jimmy Savile in this week's Guardian Guide, published last Saturday. It includes a number of extraordinary boats from the man:
No, you haven't Jimmy. Sorry to disappoint. If you put "Jimmy Savile" into Google it comes up with 87,500 results. That includes results for "Jimmy" on its own, and "Savile" on its own. So it would include mentions about Jimmy Cricket, Jimmy Hill etc etc.
If you put ""Jimmy Savile" into Google you get 44,900 results for the words "Jimmy" and "Savile" used together. And hardly any of these are "pages about" Jimmy Savile. They are pages which include a mention of "Jimmy Savile".
Putting in the incorrect spelling (thank you Stephen!) of "Jimmy Saville" gives 275,000 results. Putting that in inverted commas gets 76,600 results.
All this is not as sexy as "a quarter of a million internet pages about me". But for someone born in 1926, and therefore as old as my father, I wouldn't expect even a passing knowledge of the way internet search tools work.
Jim's amazing but true tales
"I'm an honorary Royal Marine and Green Beret."
"I turned a £600m pound loss into a £700m profit for British Rail in just over four years."
"I invented the plastic railcard."
"I invented Top Of The Pops."
"I'm a registered Manchester taxi driver."
"I own a mountain."
"I've got a quarter of million internet pages about me."
"There has never been a law passed that I couldn't bend."
"How much would it cost to hire me? A million pounds. And we'll work up from there."
"Big Brother paid me £150,000 for two days and I didn't even have to stay over."
As a bit of fun I followed up one of those boasts. The only one that I am in a position to easily check, in fact. "I've got a quarter of million internet pages about me."No, you haven't Jimmy. Sorry to disappoint. If you put "Jimmy Savile" into Google it comes up with 87,500 results. That includes results for "Jimmy" on its own, and "Savile" on its own. So it would include mentions about Jimmy Cricket, Jimmy Hill etc etc.
If you put ""Jimmy Savile" into Google you get 44,900 results for the words "Jimmy" and "Savile" used together. And hardly any of these are "pages about" Jimmy Savile. They are pages which include a mention of "Jimmy Savile".
Putting in the incorrect spelling (thank you Stephen!) of "Jimmy Saville" gives 275,000 results. Putting that in inverted commas gets 76,600 results.
All this is not as sexy as "a quarter of a million internet pages about me". But for someone born in 1926, and therefore as old as my father, I wouldn't expect even a passing knowledge of the way internet search tools work.
Newbury smelling of manure
There are not many tangible reminders of Newbury's agricultural past. So it was good to have one the other day, although it was not entirely tangible.
We came out of our house the other Sunday and inspected the bottoms of our shoes. There was a nasty smell about. A dog? But as we travelled around Newbury, the smell remained, despite there being nothing on the bottoms of our shoes. We checked several times.
Conclusion: a local farmer had been muck-spreading and the wind was in the right/wrong direction to spread the smell all over Newbury. Good for the farmer. It is good to have a reminder of Newbury's roots and the occupation of many people in the rural community around the hinterland of the town.
We came out of our house the other Sunday and inspected the bottoms of our shoes. There was a nasty smell about. A dog? But as we travelled around Newbury, the smell remained, despite there being nothing on the bottoms of our shoes. We checked several times.
Conclusion: a local farmer had been muck-spreading and the wind was in the right/wrong direction to spread the smell all over Newbury. Good for the farmer. It is good to have a reminder of Newbury's roots and the occupation of many people in the rural community around the hinterland of the town.
Triumph of new squeezy sauce mini-containers
While I am not a fan of any packaging in canteens or restaurants (why can't they just put a ketchup bottle of tables?) there is a new type of ketchup squeezy mini-container which deserves praise. The old sauce sachets are often impossible to open, and you often end up squirting the sauce all over the shop.
But there are new sauce containers, for which you pay about 10 pence. You twist the top to remove it and you have an exceptionally easy mini-sauce container, the contents of which to squirt on your plate.
Well done to whoever invented it.
But there are new sauce containers, for which you pay about 10 pence. You twist the top to remove it and you have an exceptionally easy mini-sauce container, the contents of which to squirt on your plate.
Well done to whoever invented it.
The strange case of bare feet in sofa adverts
Apart from hot summer's days, it seems that people do not lounge around their houses with nothing on their feet except in TV adverts for sofas. Why is this?
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