The God FAQ

I have just stumbled across this: the God FAQ. Worth a visit.

Old Photos

I found an old photo from about 1995 (see right). Not a great photo (and this image is scanned from an A4 colour photocopy of the original print) but moderately interesting to anyone who might know one of the three subjects. The are (l-r) Gwilym, Jonathan and me; we went along to the Network Q Rally in (I think) 1995 and marshalled a small part of the Welsh forest stage. Cold, sleepless and wet, with no decent food but a bit of a laugh in spite of that.

Trains, Again

My new solution for reducing train over-crowding is simple; double the price of tickets on trains that arrive in London before 09:00 and halve the price for trains arriving between 09:00 and 12:00. There might need to be some finessing of the timetable and of the prices for weekly and monthly season tickets, but the general principle seems good (if unpopular).

Price increases would pretty much guarantee seats for annual season ticket-holders, but this addresses only the symptoms of the problem. In the short-term, a combination of timetable, pricing and rolling-stock changes might address the over-crowding, but train operating companies still have no incentive to provide seats for their passengers and this is something that the Regulator needs to address.

The North

I'm writing this in a pub in Higham-on-the-hill (see naff phone picture). This is, essentially, the first night of Kaushik's stag do, but the real action is tomorrow. More information, and photos, to follow.

Nigerian Theatres

Pity the owners of the theatres of Nigeria. The Hisbah (Islamic Police) have closed four already (according to the BBC - link) and are planning to close more, apparently to save the citizens from immoral plays. Theatres now, but surely discourteous books, critical newspapers and outspoken radio stations will follow and it is then but a short step to full-blown dictatorship. Pity the people of Nigeria, who will suffer alongside the ex-theatre-owners.

Quote of the Day

Taken from the Ottawa Citizen (link), here is today's Quote of the Day:

Don't you know Stalin was an atheist? That's the way it goes. First you read Richard Dawkins. Then you have an abortion. Then you're putting a fresh coat of paint on the Gulag.

Train Pain

Working late is never a fun experience, and catching a later than normal train does not win brownie points with the wife. Having found myself in exactly that situation (I am on the 19:05 rather than the 17:05 I normally take) it is unfortunate that the train should depart late and, it would appear, miss its slot on the line, which means that there is no telling when we might arrive at Southampton Airport Parkway. Oh, and we seem to be making unscheduled stops at Clapham Junction, just in case things were going too well!

London Art

London has two new installations of outside art. The first is relatively conventional; Antony Gormley has installed 30 life-size statues of himself on buildings (and Waterloo Bridge) around the Hayward Gallery. Great fun.

The second is rather strange. Somebody, for reasons best known to themselves, has turfed two faces of one of the buildings of the National Theatre on the South Bank. The effect is bizarre and the sight of a man watering the walls of the building from above with a hose is not one that is seen everyday, even in London.