The other night I ventured into the loft and brought down all my vinyl, in preparation for disposing of it. The other week a friend took away my beloved Linn Sondek turntable (well it had been languishing in the cupboard for a few years) and tomorrow he will pick up some records to go with […]
Entries from February 13th, 2009
Work for peanuts
February 12th, 2009 · 35 Comments · Politics
Apparently a group of Tory MPs are gathered in support of Christopher Chope’s 10 minute rule bill to, effectively, abolish the minimum wage. I find this absolutely breathtaking. It is wrapped up in some euphemism about ‘increasing employment opportunities’, but it boils down to allowing employers to pay as little as they can get away […]
Tags: Class Warfare·Idiots·Tories
Near Misses
February 11th, 2009 · Comments Off on Near Misses · Life
I saw these on teh news last night and could hardly believe how stupid/lucky these people were. A couple of the clips were so unlikely I just had to hunt them down on Youtube.   Unlikely as in: if a Hollywood film featured such a close shave you would think it too close to be realistic. […]
This time it’s war!
February 11th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Music
In a throwback to the pre-colour TV days, it looks like England and France are both taking the Eurovision song contest seriously this year, although their approaches are slightly different.
In the firing line: teachers
February 9th, 2009 · Comments Off on In the firing line: teachers · Politics
Why should teachers worry about a future Tory government?  Some of the answers are here in an article written by George Bridges, who used to be David Cameron’s campaign director, entitled “Time to crush the National Union of Teachers”.
Tags: Education·Tory Targets
Day of the Dead
February 8th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Life
I have been wearing the new specs around the house, trying to get used to them and get used to looking through the right bit of them for different distances. It is a bit trial-and-error but when I get it right there is a great improvement. This evening I watched a DVD and it was […]
Varifocals
February 7th, 2009 · 38 Comments · Life
I picked up my new glasses today, and it was very daunting.
Tags: Medicine/Health
There is more to being a teacher than just teaching
February 7th, 2009 · Comments Off on There is more to being a teacher than just teaching · Life
Last month there was a brilliant example of the ways a teacher can improve the lives or happiness of pupils without having to teach anything. The whole pastoral care thing is difficult to pin down and define and impossible to measure and put into league tables, but can make a lot of difference, which we […]
Tags: Education·Family·Schooldays
Nice try
February 7th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Technology
A couple of spam/phishing-related tales. Amongst today’s haul of junk mail I received this, apparently from “BT Connect Customer Service <info0009@btconnect.com>”: Dear Esteemed Customers, Due to management problems, your btconnect email will have to be verified by our customer service department due to large amount of spam complains. Please verify your accounts by sending the […]
