Chatiryworld

Gulf Stream goes wonky

Photo: NASA/GSFC, MODIS Rapid Response. Seen on the BBC website (amongst other places).

I'm really just posting this for posterity, it's been shown all over the shop but yes, this is Britain (minus Orkney and Shetland, grr) at the moment.  We've been dealing with snow for several weeks and it's freezing.  We're not used to this kind of weather here, although we get snow it's usually for only a couple of days, thanks to the Gulf Stream.  Most people don't think about the Gulf Stream much, but it's the reason Orkney and Shetland aren't significantly colder (and don't get as much snow) than mainland Britain, and why there are palm trees on the north-west coast of Scotland.

I do wonder how much more of this type of weather we'll see with climate change and global warming, extreme weather patterns can only get more common.  It does look really beautiful outside but of course the reality is that the streets are slippy, transport slows down and vulnerable people struggle.

Inventor of Playmobil dies

1. Lunch atop a skyscraper, 2. Wir sind Playmobil, 3. Untitled, 4. Welcome to wherever you are., 5. CRAZY CAT LADY PLAYMOBIL FROM GROC!!, 6. Untitled, 7. they might be giants!, 8. 2/365 Toys: Pink, 9. going for a walk

More at The Guardian.

So, what Playmobil people and sets did you have, and what were your favourites?  I had the pirate rowing boat (bit like this only 80s style) and I think I had some hospital stuff.  My sister Ellen had a playpark that I used to like taking over playing with.  The Playmobil site is ideal for timewasting with games galore and STUFF to look at.  Maybe we should get the wedding set?  I want to play...

Bletchley Park funding

Enigma wheel, Bletchley Park, Bletchley, UK.JPG, originally uploaded by gruntzooki.

I heard on the radio today, and read at BoingBoing that Bletchley Park has a serious funding crisis, and, to put it crudely, is falling to bits.  The government have been asked to improve their funding of it, given its historical importance.  There is also a petition to Parliament.

I hope that Bletchley keeps going, I have not been but would love to go one day.  My Granny Pip worked there during the war, presumably down to her excellent crossword skills that remained with her throughout her life.  I'd love to get some sort of idea into what she, and others, did there.  By coincidence, many years later in Sheffield, I ended up doing some work for Bletchley Park Trust because they used the solicitors I was temping at.  Nothing more than typing up letters and colouring in plans, but I liked the connection with my granny.

Cory Doctorow (who took the photo above) of BoingBoing visited Bletchley recently and wrote a great post about it. 

Bloody hell

I thought something serious had happened when I walked past this place this afternoon and there were police stationed outside and police vans and cars parked up the road.

I could come out with all the cliches about this being a nice safe area full of families, but these things can happen anywhere, and obviously we don't know any more details.

Fire, fire

Via Ilkley bloggers Bertie and Yorkshire Soul I've discovered that Ilkley Moor has been on fire for the past few days.  You can see the moor from my mum's house (like many in Ilkley) and my grandpa lives on the way up it.  We used to call in for duck bread when we went for a walk round the Tarn. 

Read more here and here and here.

Flickr photos here.

Need a job?

Speak Gaelic? Got a teaching qualification? Parents on Islay have set up a website to encourage a Gaelic teacher to come to their island, previous recruitment drives having not worked.

Wouldn't mind going for a holiday.

Not quite Mr Patel

If you're a fan of Synthesizer Patel (currently featuring on Still Game and Meet the Magoons) you may, or may not, be interested to know that the inventor of the synthesizer has died. I wonder how Synthesizer Patel will mark his passing.

Via Rebecca's Pocket.

iMarch

So, I did it. I helped (I hope) to make poverty history, and an amazing event it was too. My marching chum and fellow ice-cream consumer was Nagl and well, we both felt that it was something very hard to describe. We arrived at the Meadows to find a sea of white (the organisers asked us to wear white), people everywhere, and all sorts of people: charities, student unions, church groups, political activists and ordinary folk like us who just wanted to do our bit (we did feel we ought to have made an 'Atheist Bloggers Against Poverty' placard or something). There was a great atmosphere and for once the socialist worker cult had not managed to take over the show.

We got in the wrong queue to march so moved on and soon enough we were making our way around Edinburgh. Everyone was patient and peaceful (well, nearly everyone, there's always someone who has to spoil it for others isn't there, and let the school down). Nagl and I got stuck behind a guy with a placard stuck in his rucksack. It had a green map of England with lots of red blobs on it, with the slogan 'Against Israeli occupation of England' with 'not anti-semetic' underneath. Now I don't totally understand the whole Middle East issue (well, I do to an extent but not as much as I think I ought to) but I'm sure there are no Israeli troops occupying Northumberland. It was one of those occasions where you really want to know what it's all about but daren't get involved. Eventually we managed to get ourselves behind the cyclists and they were much more fun.

It's impossible to get any sense of the scale of the whole event but according to News 24 there were enough people to ensure that the march went on continually for four hours. Wow. We must have started fairly near the beginning and didn't realise how tired we were until we got back, it was also very warm, free water was being handed out at one point. The stewards were brilliant, very encouraging and thanked us as we arrived back.

I don't feel like I've described the day with the language it deserves but maybe you just hd to be here. I've put up a gallery of photos, not all of them are great quality but I've chucked them all in, you also get to see some good old Edinburgh architecture. I think it's almost a shame that the Live8 concerts happened on the same day as it took some media interest (especially outside Scotland) away from the march, which I think was more important, ordinary people making their voices heard.

Today there are more demonstrations and tomorrow we await with baited breath, it's when the anarchists strike our lovely city. Please remember people live and work in this city and please also don't give the make poverty history movement a bad name, I know you are nothing to do with it but the media are stupid.

(And the film I mentioned yesterday. War of The Worlds. Do not believe the 12A certificate as that means I could take my brothers and there is NO WAY I would, too flaming scary. I don't even think I watched it properly although my thought to the ending was 'as if'. You have been warned.)

Making poverty history

Fuller report tomorrow but in the mean time check these photos out. Pretty mindblowing stuff and I was there.

Nagl says hello. He took me to a very scary film. I am still shaking.

What the Make Poverty History march is about

On July 2nd we march because of this.

Not for our own political agendas, not to cause trouble, not to trash shops that may well be owned by nasty big corporations but provide a wage for the people who have to work in them every day.

If anyone who can't go would like me to take a message along please leave a comment and I shall be your fairtrade postie. Not sure I have any white fabric handy but there are plenty of charity shops round here.

It falls from the sky

Nagl has come up trumps (in how many parts of the country does the word 'trump' mean fart?  I had never heard of it until I came to Yorkshire.) with a photo of the dusky sky at the Auschwitz ceremony, I never thought to check Yahoo news.  Thank you sir.

When tears roll down

I spent 3 hours yesterday afternoon watching the Auschwitz Memorial Event, and I'm trying to find some good photos for you on the net.  It was an amazing event, and it almost seemed beautiful as the last of the sun went down.  So far I've found:

The Boston Globe - here you can see the railtracks that were lit by fire at the end of the ceremony.
Seattle Times - those present had to endure sub-zero temperatures, scroll to the bottom for another railtrack image.
CBS News - includes a video clip that I had trouble with but you may not.
Globe and Mail
Turkish Press - some of the survivors wore their prisoner numbers.
CNN - Small gallery of photos and key quotes.
Reuters
The Guardian
BBC - Good old BBC, still not many photos but you can watch the ceremony or a news report.

I don't know why I'm obsessed with finding 'the' photo, maybe it's because the arts help you understand, help portray the mood, I'm not sure.  In the evening I watched the London ceremony, and it was that which made me cry.  Seeing a survivor of Belsen meet one of her liberators made for very emotional television.  I wondered how many of the survivors present were from Leeds (we have a large Jewish population), have I even met any of them as I work at a library near where many of them live.  I don't know and I won't dwell on it, but it did make a little easier to identify (not that you can even begin to identify with the experience) with what happened, they are after all my neighbours.

Holocaust Memorial Day

Not sure really what to say about today, but what I will do is let you look at the photo album I have created over at the new site, click here for my Auschwitz photos.

Some sites about the Holocaust:
Holocaust Cybrary
Holocaust History Project
The url for the Auschwitz musuem does not appear to be working at the moment, but keep trying www.auschwitz.pl.org.
BBC page.

EDIT: Read Zeno's post on today, he has posted a letter that says everything I know a lot of us would want to convey but never could.

Helping

DEC Tsunami Earthquake Appeal

More on the car crash

Found out more about that car crash that diverted my bus on Friday. It was a stolen car and nobody died.

Nuff said.