New town, new name
This blog has changed its name because my (marvellous and talented) wife has secured herself a new job, and we now have to move pronto to Amersham, in the Chiltern Hills, way out on the end of the Metropolitan Line.
EU exists: official
Don’t tell the islanders, but the CIA’s world factbook – which lists countries and their vital statistics – now lists the EU. Link: A Fistful of Euros.
Hotel Babylon
Hotel Babylon is an entertaining book – it takes you through a fictional day in a fictional hotel, but is a vehicle for real stories and anecdotes about life working in a luxury London hotel. It feels like a snack rather than a full meal – the type is large, and the margins wide – but it’s written in a punchy, cynical style that keeps the pace going. In its darkness, it reminded me slightly of the Mike Leigh film Croupier. Not as disgusting as Kitchen Confidential, and unlikely to be as controversial, but a good read.
A stupidly hard football quiz
And hence irresistible.
Two railway links
Pictures of Historic & Listed Railway Buildings.
And the New Adlestrop Railway Atlas.
That is, if you like that sort of thing, ahem.
rule forty-two
rule forty-two, home of misheard lyrics, interesting articles about English life c. 1998, and photos of NYC.
Exciting Beaconsfield
There is a small chance that this mighty organ will need to go into voluntary exile in Buckinghamshire, specifically Beaconsfield, for a year or two.
Were that the case, I’d at least be sure that my adrenalin levels would be kept high. The current news headlines on the site (which have been there since February, so there’s a fair chance they’ll still be there when you come to read this) are:
DOG FOUND IN GERRARDS CROSS – FEBRUARY 13TH
DOG LOST IN OLD TOWN – FEBRUARY 12TH
You can just see the development of the story right there, can’t you?
Global Cooling
Will climate change cause the Gulf Stream to stop, plunging northern Europe (and particularly Britain) into the freezer? Well, do you want the bad news or the very bad news.
End of the season drama
The end of the season in the Premiership is looking interesting. Three teams will, as always, be relegated out of the Premiership into the second division, confusingly called the Championship. But this year, for the first time, the four teams at the bottom are so close that no team has definitely been relegated. It all depends on their final games.
The four teams in jeopardy are Norwich, West Bromwich Albion, Southampton and Crystal Palace. Norwich are currently just outside the relegation zone, so they have, as the football commentators say, ‘their fate in their own hands’. If they win (away at Fulham), they send the other three teams down and stay up themselves. All the other three teams need a particular permutation of results elsewhere, with West Brom being the closest to the trapdoor.
All the last games will be played together on Sunday afternoon (coverage on the Internet at http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive), and are:
Fulham v Norwich
Southampton v Manchester United
Charlton Athletic v Crystal Palace
West Bromwich Albion v Portsmouth
To give you an idea of the different permutations, here’s the BBC clarifying what Southampton need to do to stay up:
“A win would relegate West Brom, but would be immaterial if Norwich win. If Norwich fail to win and Crystal Palace win, Southampton would need to win by the same margin as Palace win at Charlton. If Norwich fail to win, and Palace win, a Southampton victory by one goal less than Palace’s margin of victory would keep them up on the next criteria, goals scored. A draw would be enough if Norwich lose and Crystal Palace lose or draw and West Brom lose or draw.”
All the permutations in full at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4526865.stm