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Some three years ago, I wrote a short hymn to a small yellow plastic container in the shape of a small lemon that brings a smile to my face each year as it graces the shelves of our supermarkets. In…

As open-air funerals have now been – sort of – legalised, I propose the following for my own funeral. Yes, I know it is a really bad bit of photoshopping! Not only a fantastic way to leave the city, physically…

Following on from news that TV companies can now take payments for putting products on screen as part of the plot, comes news that TV dramas can have a stronger impact on boosting contraceptive use than serious news programmes. “Researchers…

There is a bit of a rant by John Dugdale over at The Guardian complaining about an increasing trend for semi-serious TV shows being fronted by a (diminishing) pool of respected and serious news journalists. Situations such as Jeremy Paxman…

Managed to acquire this line drawing of the Old Houses of Parliament made in 1760 before they burnt down in 1834 and were replaced with our “modern” Gothic building. Click on the image for a larger (much larger!) version. Enjoy.…

Interesting news in the land of steam trains, as a joint project by First Great Western and Vintage Rail aims to recreate the non-stop Bristolian Express service this April. The Railway Herald reports that the details are still sketchy, as…

If you thought snow fell from the sky as a natural phenomena, then let me dissuade you of that old-fashioned thinking. In our modern age where we expect nature to confirm to our requirements and calendar – snow is imported…

As seems a semi-regular occurrence whenever there is snow, we have a routine debate about the legality of clearing snow from the paths outside our own homes. Various news outlets expound on the dire and ridiculous situation that faces people…

Over the years since I moved into the docklands area, I have listened to people denigrating the area. Too often I am told the area lacks a “soul”, that it is full of glass and steel towers with no character…

The slow trickle of “happy new year” messages is still coming in, and this one from the London Festival of Architecture is one of the better variants, so I thought I’d put it below. It neatly blends my love of…

As the news media starts the ritual of the “local council runs out of road salt” stories, I wonder if the supermarkets were to put less salt in their foods, would there be more for the roads? Of course not…

…what would London’s skyline look like? Well, a little like this: I’ve roughly compared the height of the Gherkin (180m) to the Burj Dubai (818m) to scale the source image. Obviously I’ve guessed where it might be located if it…

Today is the first day of the year back to work for the average office and factory worker – henceforth known as Smart Clothing Dayâ„¢. Today is the day that people proudly walk around like models from a 1970s catalogue…

The auction house, Christie’s is having a suitably timed sale – this time of posters advertising the ski holiday industry. Although I haven’t been skiing for well over a decade, and would almost certainly need to be taught to ski…

The tires on my bicycle are looking and feeling a bit squishy, so I decided that it was time to increase their atmospheric pressure by application of generous thrusts upon a pumping device designed for the task. I hadn’t actually…