Is is really wise to leave that man in charge?

With all the bad news about the economy of late why do we have, as secretary of state of business, enterprise and regulatory reform, a man who cannot even fill in a mortgage form correctly? Illegal it may not have been, but an indication he should not be left in charge of anything important it was.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/240390.stm

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope everyone has enjoyed a good valentine's day, even if they've not received a card and lack a little love in their lives have a great day!

Financial Experts and Economists - why are we still paying attention?

Apparently the IMF has decreed the British economy will suffer more than any other developed country. Watching the BBC's Newsnight tonight a variety of politicians referred to this prediction and actually appeared to be taking it seriously. Other bankers and economists were quoted on the programme and much the same people are appearing on all sorts of other programmes telling is just what is going to happen to our economies over the coming months. These are the same people who either utterly failed to predict the current crisis before it started or in many cases actually caused it through their involvement in the financial scams which brought this about. And we're still taking their advice. We're listening to the morons who either failed to notice this coming or are directly responsible for bringing it about. Why?

Experts from banks that have lots billions of their own and their customer's money are still sending pundits onto BBC programmes to give us the benefit of their expertise when they missed the biggest single financial event in nearly eight decades. What manner of fool selects these people as sources of information?

My photo seems to attract bondage fans

I don't quite know why but the image attached to this post has attracted two bondage fans who have both favourited it. What is it about patterned socks that attracts this sort of attention? Most odd, but any interest is welcome.

A Bunch of Amateurs

If you would like to see a nice bit of light comedy you should go and see this. A Bunch of Amatuers is delightful, well acted and beautifully set comedy. There were about 25 minutes of adverts to sit through before the fim started but it was good enough to be worth it.

Favourite Words

When reading a blog earlier this evening I got to thinking, what are my favourite words? I had noticed when reading a section on geology in Terry Pratchet's book 'Darwin's Watch' that I appreciate the feeling I get when reading the word 'rock.' Rock. It is not much of a word but for some reason I like it. Today when reading a blog by a lady who loves cupcakes, I found I like the feeling of "cupcake" too. It's not a word I would use as it seems to be American, but I do like to read it. The link between the two words appears to be "ck." There is another word along the same lines, but I cannot currently think what it is... Perhaps in the morning.

Locomotion at Shildon

Some little while ago now I spent the afternoon at Locomotion in Shildon, County Durham where I took a great number of photos. Some of these can be seen on my flickr page. Shildon is a pleasant railway museum with all manner of nice engines, trucks, tankers and other railway bits and as a result plays host to any number of school parties. These parties sometimes leave things behind for future vistors to see and read, in this case a story where a family from nearby Trimdon, consisting of the then Prime Minster, wife and children, unwisely visitied Locomotion at night and found themselves taking a ghost-guided journey around the county in a haunted train. I can't help but think things may have turned out better with this government were it true.

Whilst there I managed to walk directly into a shot of Peter Snow standing on and talking about the tilting train housed in the museum. Upon seeing the camera I paused and walked backwards, hiding behind a train carriage while they stopped and did the take again, so I'll not be famous just yet.