It seems to have taken most of the last week to recover from going on holiday - I've just felt really tired until the weekend. Still Weymouth was great - we had fantastic weather so we went on the beach quite a bit, which the girls really liked. We did a walk along the coast, from Durdle Door to Lulworth Cove - quite a steep hill, so I was impressed Ella managed the whole distance with no problem (and very little complaint). Lulworth Cove is beautiful - I'd like to go back there sometime.
I also took the girls to MonkeyWorld (Mrs F declined to come) which was really good - it's a rescue centre, so there is a good reason for the apes to be there, and the girls really enjoyed seeing the chimps (who were equally fascinated by the crowds) and the Capuchins. However the thing they really enjoyed was the enormous aerial playground, with big climbing nets and slides.
We ate out far too much - I'd particularly recommend the Statue House Tapas Bar on the seafront - great view, nice food, and pretty reasonably priced. There were some very nice looking expensive restaurants by the harbour, but it didn't seem fair to the girls to drag them out there in the evening, and not fair to us to rush through a meal. On the last evening we went to Rossinis, near where we were staying and had a really nice meal. Lizzie drew a portrait of H on the tablecloth, which was so good we've kept it.
Back in Cambridge, we went to a party on the Saturday at Guy and Susie's house, which was really good fun. I stayed quite late, and drank too much red wine. Didn't feel ill, but I was pretty groggy and slow on Sunday. Then on Tuesday we'd arranged a babysitter, and so we decided we'd go out while we had the chance! We were going to go to The Bridge at Waterbeach, but the service was pretty surly, and we were promised a delay of up to an hour for food, so we skipped it, and went back to the Crown and Punchbowl, where the waitress was incredibly friendly and helpful, and we had a really nice meal (albeit a somewhat more expensive one than we were anticipating).
This week I'm probably working in London one day, and then maybe back in London on Saturday for OpenTech.
Sunday 28 June 2009
Wednesday 3 June 2009
European Elections
I went to the hustings in Cambridge on Monday organised by the local Amnesty, NO2ID, and Oxfam groups. Since I've been inactive in both the AI and NO2ID groups for a while, it was good to see quite a few people I know but haven't met up with for a while.
The panel was quite interesting - they had UKIP, LibDem, Labour, Green and Conservative candidates and there was a good selection of questions. UKIP fell at the first fence when David Campbell-Bannerman said that he wasn't convinced of the case for climate change. To me, this kind of statement now puts you outside sensible political discourse.
The Conservative candidate suffered from the problem set by the UK party to leave the centre-right grouping in the European Parliament and start a new one with various loony and disturbing groups. I can't take their positions on Europe seriously while they are taking this stance.
That leaves Labour, LibDem and Green. To be honest, I could potentially have voted for any of them. I thought the chap from the Green party was very articulate, although unfortunately he isn't the candidate for the EU election. The Labour guy seemed very genuine, and certainly seemed to have a record of achievements. I didn't take to him personally though, and to be honest, I just can't bring myself to vote Labour in this election*.
So Andrew Duff for the LibDems gets my vote. I am pretty much a natural LibDem anyway, but his answers to the questions on climate change, data retention (which Labour weaseled on), and the position of Britain in the EU were by far the closest to my own views.
Overall a good evening, and I hope we'll have a good turnout tomorrow, and that the extremist groups don't profit from the venality of some mainstream politicians.
* I'm making an exception for the council elections, for various reasons.
The panel was quite interesting - they had UKIP, LibDem, Labour, Green and Conservative candidates and there was a good selection of questions. UKIP fell at the first fence when David Campbell-Bannerman said that he wasn't convinced of the case for climate change. To me, this kind of statement now puts you outside sensible political discourse.
The Conservative candidate suffered from the problem set by the UK party to leave the centre-right grouping in the European Parliament and start a new one with various loony and disturbing groups. I can't take their positions on Europe seriously while they are taking this stance.
That leaves Labour, LibDem and Green. To be honest, I could potentially have voted for any of them. I thought the chap from the Green party was very articulate, although unfortunately he isn't the candidate for the EU election. The Labour guy seemed very genuine, and certainly seemed to have a record of achievements. I didn't take to him personally though, and to be honest, I just can't bring myself to vote Labour in this election*.
So Andrew Duff for the LibDems gets my vote. I am pretty much a natural LibDem anyway, but his answers to the questions on climate change, data retention (which Labour weaseled on), and the position of Britain in the EU were by far the closest to my own views.
Overall a good evening, and I hope we'll have a good turnout tomorrow, and that the extremist groups don't profit from the venality of some mainstream politicians.
* I'm making an exception for the council elections, for various reasons.
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