Oasis

Great Oasis, somehow, I am really enjoying the freshness of Oasis these days.
It is really positive, pure rock, big Beatles influence, and as we recently read in the press, greatly influenced by Stone Roses. It would be great if they reconciled. Like the new Noel video and song.

BBC News - 7 billion people and you: What's your number?

The world's population is expected to hit seven billion in the next few weeks. After growing very slowly for most of human history, the number of people on Earth has more than doubled in the last 50 years. Where do you fit into this story of human life? Fill in your date of birth below to find out.

• 1. DATE OF BIRTH
• 2. COUNTRY
• 3. GENDER
• 4. RESULTS

NEXT

Where do you fit into 7 billion? Enter your date of birth to find out:

1500: the population is estimated at 500 million2011: 7,000,000,00015001525155015751600162516501675170017251750177518001825185018751900192519501975200020252050 1 billion2 billion3 billion4 billion5 billion6 billion7 billion8 billion9 billion10 billion

How big is your country's population? To find out, tell us where you live:

POPULATION 10002587

Every hour, there are:

15,347 Births 6,418 Deaths

Average yearly growth

+1.162%

Fastest-growing country

Qatar

+514 people per day

Average 2005-2010 Why?

Fastest-shrinking country

Moldova

-106 people per day

Average 2005-2010 Why?

Life expectancy varies across the world. Are you:

81.6 Female average

77.2 Male average

The average life expectancy in the UK is 81.6 years

Highest life expectancy

Japan

82.7 years

Average 2005-2010 Why?

Lowest life expectancy

Central African Republic

45.9 years

Average 2005-2010 Why?

this is the text

the amount the population has grown while you've been on this site

via bbc.co.uk

We remember hearing a speech on YouTube of President Kenendy mentioning that the United States had a population of 150 million, well past that now of course, and there was a point according to this page when the population fo the earth was 500 million. Now it is seven billion. Quite amazing.

BBC News - St Paul's protest: Canon Chancellor Giles Fraser quits

via bbc.co.uk

It is not clear why he resigned, but he is making a point about violence,
but now I guess he does not have a job, but also, has become a hero for the protesters. Well, it is good to take a moral stand, but the protestors, should they not be outside the churches of capitalism, rather than the churches of worship?
Plus they seem to forget, they need money to pay for food and clothes, and also, they are costing the Cathedral twenty thousand pounds a day.

Seems that they are doing damage, and in twenty years, or next year, or new years, who will really care?

The Queen meets Geoffery Rush

Geoffrey Rush has met just met Her Majesty the Queen
during her special tour to Australia. Playing the speech
therapist to her father, a man called Lionel Logue,
Mr. Rush really scored in this role which has been highly
praised around the world. The film is Oscar laden and also
starred Colin Firth. They met after a Church service in Canberra,
the capital of Australia this weekend, on Sunday.
There was a significant amount of cheering for the Queen as
she attended the service at St. John the Baptist which is an
Anglican Church,

Crowds cheered her on as she attended St John the Baptist Anglican church.

Later this week on Friday she will open the commonwealth meeting, and
perhaps all the good wishes from the crowd outside may have been
recognition for the very same dress she was wearing happened to be the
one worn the Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding this year.

An unknown sum of money was contributed during the collection by the
Queen, who later also congratulated the great New Zealand All Blacks
rugby team for their exciting win over France in the World Cup Rugby Finals
in Auckland, New Zealand.

"The Queen congratulates New Zealand on their victory in the
Rugby World Cup Final and sends her warm wishes to the team
for their excellent performances.", one of her
Buckingham Palace spokesman said

The Queen is the patron of Motability

Motabililty,
There will be a big announcement tomorrow
about the Motability scheme, of which
Her Majesty the Queen is the Patron.

There will be changes in regards to the
more expensive vehicles on the scheme;
from now on, vehicles will be listed available only with
advance payments under two thousand pounds.

Also the parameters in regard to nominated drivers
is expected to change.
From January the first 2012, nominated drivers will
have to live within five miles of the recipient of the
Higher Rate Mobility component of the Disability
Living Allowance, which is the allowance used to
pay for the three year contract hire lease that disabled
people can get under the scheme.

This is to preserve the integrity of the scheme and
to shield the Motability from possible scheme abuse.
This has been stated as not being in response to
recent negative press, but in fact is the result of
six months of re-assessment of the scheme and how
it works, Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles (WAVs)
will not be affected by the new cap on Advance payments
as WAVs, will generally have a higher level of
requirement, if in doubt, you can contact Motability
Customer service: 0845 456 4566 M-F 8:30AM-5:30PM

Charles brings an artist on tour.

 

Photograph: Murdo MacLeod

 

With the upcoming tour planned for Prince Charles and his wife Camilla,

there will also be a following group of fifteen people travelling with him on his

tour to South African and Tanzania in November.

Charles has laid the groundwork for an Official Artist, to be part of his retinue.
The tour will be for eight days and will cover sixteen thousand miles there and back.
The journey will take Charles and Camilla to Quatar and Kuwait, but may not
including all official dignitaries and the normal people one might expect them to
visit. At ninety three, Nelson Mandela is apparently a bit to frail to receive a visit.

The artist is being protected from all the media and paparazzi attention, and

by bringing an artist along with him, Prince Charles is building a body of work

that may be a welcome addition to the Royal Collection.
Charles will most normally, if that term applies!, bring with him a valet, butler,

dresser, someone to do his hair, he will have a doctor in attendance, press

officers, secretaries, personal assistant, an equerry, and someone to handle the

logistics of it all.

The goal of the trip is somewhat ambassadorial, and the intent is to help build

strong relationships business wise for the UK.

Charles and Camilla to go on tour!

Charles and Camilla are going on a Royal Visit,
exciting news! The other Royal couple will be making
a visit to Tanzania and South Africa for a week,
beginning November the second, and ending on
November the ninth, and Charles, who believe it
or not is sixty two, will be adding visits to some of the
Arab Gulf countries at the end of this month also.
We wonder if they might be positioning themselves
to fill some of the gap left by Prince Andrew stepping
down from his role as business ambassador, because
a large part of the focus on this trip will be trade and
investment promoting on behalf of the UK, to help give
some support to bringing Britain into an economic
recovery phase, and also to help strengthen the
country's business partners as well. Included in the
focus of the visit will also be emphasis on the world
wildlife fund interests of Charles.

Royal Garden Parties

 

 

Not sure if we have ever had a Crouch End garden designed for

a Royal Garden Party, but, have you ever been to one of

the Queen's Garden Parties?

The doors open at three in the afternoon, and the event takes

place between four and six pm. Normally, the Her Majesty,

Prince Phillip, and the other Royals attending, will usually

at four.

The National Anthem is played when the Queen arrives,
and selections of different types of music will be played
throughout the event by one of the military bands that
will be playing.

The Royal family members, will then mingle with their

guests, through specially created avenues through the
guests called "lanes". Each member of the Royal Family
will meet at random with different attendees, presentations
are made, until they all gradually arrive at the tea tent

reserved for the Royals, and there they will meet further

guests. There are plenty of refreshments, the quantities
available are considerable, standard quantities being
perhaps, just over twenty five thousand cups of tea,

twenty thousand sandwiches, and twenty thousand

slices of cake. Usually there are about four hundred

staff in attendance at the event. The National Anthem is
played again at the end of the event, around six pm,

the members of the Royal Family depart, and the guests 

are left with a day of very special memories! 

Kate would be wise not pose for Anna.

 

Remember the movie, "The Devil Wears Prada " with Anne Hathaway,
Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci, among other great actors?
Meryl Streep's role as the Editor of the New York based fashion magazine
"Runway", was based on Anna Wintour, the editor of American Vogue.
Anna has quite a reputation for being driven, scaring subordinates,
and getting what she wants.

Well apparently, what she wants, (word on the street), is Kate Middleton,
The Duchess of Cambridge, to pose for Vogue.
She is working on Prince William's photographer friend Mario Testino to
get the prized assignment. However, it is possible that Kate could demean
herself a bit to much if she acquiesces, and grants a Royal photography session.

She may find herself transitioning from being a reserved and private person,
into a glitzy and glamorous clothes mannequin. The memories still linger of
Diana, becoming a world celebrity and fashion icon, however with a price.
Allowing herself to be chased by the world's photographers,
being hustled though airports and becoming
"too available", she gave up a piece of her mystique.

This may have been her best move in a strategy to continue to be a powerful
force, having left the protective atmosphere of the Royal Family, but Kate is very
much a conservative figure who has obviously been warmly welcomed by the
Queen and the rest of the Royal relations, and will continue to play a solid
contributing role to the Monarchy, and be a symbol and representative for
many years to come.

It seems there is an interesting parallel with her sister Pippa, and the Queen
and her sister Margaret. The sister who has stepped into a significant royal
role is somehow shadowed by the other sister, who is a little more,
"entertaining", not constrained by having to live under the rigidity of court,
and having the freedom to continue to lead a relatively free private life.
Pippa's bottom, and Margaret's battles with the booze.
Kate will obviously not have to deal with that

 

 

What's this Our Kate not fashionable?

Discussing the Kate Middleton effect, it seems

anything she wears is an instant hit with female

shoppers, and also the fact that she buys 

high street brands is a big plus for British Retailers.

Mary Portas has said that, given the chance 

she would go in and do a 

fashion makeover for many women political figures

in the UK, well, they just might need it, but 

leave our Kate alone Mary!

Apparently, Mary Portas, says that Kate does not 

possess a sense of style.

This is simply and outrage!

Heads will roll!

She feels that Kate is doing a great job as a 

Global ambassador for the Royal Family profile

and the UK, but she does not understand how

The Duchess of Cambridge can be construed as

a fashion icon.

Some people have no sense of style!

Cyclamen in Crouch End

Cyclamen come in all shades of all pink, red-colored, purple as well as bright 

warm purples..
A person can make excellent effects by combining the different shades or even growing
them in solid blocks of single colour. Bedding cyclamen are not frost
hardy so plant them in a sunny, sheltered spot. Remove any yellowing leaves
or foliage with botrytis (a fungus to which they are prone) to keep them tidy
and healthy. Deadhead regularly to prolong flowering and they will give
you a lovely display all the way through the autumn.

Princess Beatrice, elegant and tasteful.

In the news, it seems that
Sara Ferguson's daughter, Princess Beatrice
is showing a well, shall we say, a fine set of pins!

Elegant, well dressed, well presented, and
obviously, she is a very charming young lady.

Shown here in a body fitting red dress
at a Paris fashion show, she looks set
to be a new style icon on the world's stage.

She was glimpsed at a special Tony Bennett
concert at Ronnie Scott's, and left with her
five year boyfriend, Dave Clark.

She has just completed her university finals,
and is all set for the road ahead.

Both brothers are pilots.

During his training in California this coming week,

Prince Harry, who has been promoted to Captain,

will be firing live rounds on the helicopter practice range.

This will be a stage in training him for assignments

in Afghanistan.

 

The firing ranges are actually spread across Arizona

and California, and are apparently huge expanses of

land owned by the US military, and perfect for practicing

in combat type situations.

 

Prince Harry has already been in Helmund province

as a controller, this was in 2008.

Saturday Night

This is a fantastic version of

Saturday Night's All Right

for Fighting. Elton John.

Guess we don't need to point

out the connection right kids!

Do Kate and Prince William watch this?

 

 

 

Have you seen the John Lewis electronics advert on televsion?

It goes through, we think, the sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties

to the present. They are good at running pretty poignant adverts.

 

This music

 

Plays right at the very end, and is so well blended in, that you can

see that there are many people who have found it on YouTube,

specifically because of John Lewis on TV!

Don't know if Kate and Prince William have watched it, but you

never know, but part of British Culture captured in a short video

clip. Interesting that they know how to touch that wiring inside

one that knows that time is marching on, that youth, the positive

energy of the past, is somehow the best days of one's life.

Innocent, positive, the pre 9/11 world. It seems a lot changed

with that event, the world has become darker, we have to find

our way back to Shine On!

Double up Prince William!

Prince William completed a busy twenty four hour shift working
as a Helicopter pilot at ten in the morning, then caught
another  helicopter to  ride over and play his formal
role as a member of the Royal Family, and play a completely
different part in officially opening a new children's hospital unit.

Just the previous evening, he was part of the team that rescued a woman
in the Snowdonia range with injuries to her head after a fall, an
emergency pick up to transport a seaman to a sick relative's bedside.
Got back to base around nine thirty, and he was able to offer the
sailor a lift to Sandhurst, and then over to Anglesey for the next part
of his journey. Changed into a suit, and off to meet with
 Kate to open the Special Unit, a Cancer unit for sick children,
a project that was cherished by Princess Diana, his mother.
There was only one other really official engagement that included
the Duchess, which was the Canadian trip in the last year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

BBC News - Arthur Conan Doyle's first novel hits shops

via bbc.co.uk

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15054089

Strange how things can get lost in the post.
The Narrative of John Smith, was written by Sir Authur Conan Doyle, however, the post office somehow "lost" it, and the great author had no option but to dig into his memory banks and rewrite the whole thing.
Must have been quite a task. The British Library, incidently and really worthwhile place to visit, is about to publish the novel and also read by the Actor Robert Lindsay, and audiobook.
There are actually a number of notebooks, four in all that comprise the novel, and these will form part of a display at the Lirbrary that will be on exhibit until the beginnin gof January 2012.

"My shock at its disappearance would be as nothing to my horror if it were suddenly to appear again - in print," he once joked.

The book about a man who was afflicted with gout was written in the 1880's.
Quite a find.

Want a photo Your Majesty?

 

 

There is a large new portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Windsor,

oops, perhaps we should say, Her Majesty the Queen,

and Prince Phillip. The large image is one and a half

by two meters, and was especially commisioned in

the first one of a kind picture of one of the other

Royal Couples.

The image was made in April in the famous green

room at Windsor, one of their favourite castles.

“I wanted to leave them both in their royal environment,

and of course not try to disguise who they are,

but also show them as an elderly

couple who are together"

Thomas Struth the artist.

According to the National Portrait Gallery website:

“To mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012,

the National Portrait Gallery is staging an innovative

touring exhibition bringing together sixty of the most

remarkable and resonant images of Elizabeth II".

picture.

Prince William is trying very hard not to think about being the King of England.

Prince William has recently said that he is trying to avoid thinking
about becoming the UK's Soverign as much as possible, and would be very content
to keep on with his job as a search and rescue pilot for as long as possible.
Or, at least, three or four years yet.

His grandmother Her Majesty the Queen, in regard to the Royal Wedding invitation list
advised him to send invitations to his friends and not worry about the rest.
She is very positive and supportive towards Prince William and Kate's marriage and sees
them very much as the future of the British Monarchy.
Although she is showing no sign of slowing down and fully intends to continue in her role
well beyond her Jubilee celebrations next year, which if you are Prince Charles, and have
been kind of waiting for quite a while for a chance to play the role, assuming that he would
like to become King, means, he will have to wait a bit longer.
That being said, there has been talk of the accession skipping Charles and going straight
to William and Kate. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The Queen is old school and
will perform her duties until she has done everything she can to fulfill her role for the country.

 

Airmiles Andy strikes again!

New item, "Airmiles Andy", the Duke of York,

despite having stepped down from his position as

business ambassador for the UK, just spent several

days in Saudi Arabia meeting with members of the

construction company owned by the Bin Laden family

(They had apparently disowned Osama) and other

government and business representatives.

Knowledgeable sources informed reporters that the

flight in a private jet likely would have cost anywhere

up to one hundred and fifty thousand pounds.

People don't like to cause trouble for him do they?

Private travel would have cost about four thousand

pounds, but Palace spokesmen offered the information

that the trip was arranged well before Prince Andrew

had stepped down from his position. It seems that the

private flight was necessary due to scheduling concerns.

We remember when they called him "Randy Andy" !