Carlsberg ad set in a nearly full cinema with only 2 seats left in the middle

Great video. NOT what I was expecting at all.

Further Kidney Stone(s) Tests

The next part of the GP stream of investigations on my kidney stone(s) was an endoscopy (or as it was the bladder also referred to as cystocopy) at Westwood Park Clinic. As it turned out this was less painful and unpleasant than I was expecting and was just a bit of discomfort. The procedure was also quicker than the appointment letter indicated.  It was bizarre seeing the camera pics on a screen. There was a very small kidney stone that I was told would pass easily. Apart from that, no other traces of stones in the bladder but the test did not go into the kidney so if there are stones there they would not be visible on this test. The next planned appointment is at the end of the month for an X-ray to see if the stone at the base of the right kidney is still there or not.

After the appointment was back in work for 10:30 and was able to join the Business Change team for a departmental lunch at Dick Hudson’s.

No side effects from the procedure apart from stinging when I passed water the next 3-4 times until Friday morning.

Obituary: The Rev John Stott, influential evangelist and founder of the Langham Partnership

Stott, radical in his conservatism, could not be pigeonholed. He was deeply committed to the need for social, economic and political justice and passionately concerned about climate change and ecological ethics. He regarded the Bible as his supreme authority and related its teaching to all areas of knowledge and experience. He insisted that Christians should engage in "double listening" – to the word of God, and to the world around them – and apply their biblical faith to all the pressing issues of contemporary culture. He himself researched, preached and wrote on a wide range of matters – from global debt to global warming, from the duties of the state to medical ethics and euthanasia. This was the kind of evangelicalism he embodied.
Guardian obituary

Telegraph obituary
Independent obituary
Christianity Today article

Life Group: Meeting Notes (James 1)

Met at Joly and Tracey’s witjh Ben, Lynsey, Becca, Dave E, Dave H and Jon.

Dave E led with an ice-breaker on where we would go for our fave holiday (my answer was Tuscany as Skye was all very predictable!). For the input we went through Mark’s sermon questions on James 1 and Acts 15 as follows:

1. Do you have examples from you own life where someone
   has agreed with you, but in reality disagreed with you? Or
   they said they would do something, then didn’t or vice
   versa
2. Have you ever read the Bible and God clearly said
   something but you have never done anything with it? Be
   honest?
3. What are the key dos and don’ts in James 1 that you can
   identify? What do you find particularly difficult? Again be
   honest.
4. Read through Acts 15 – what does this tell us about the
   character of James?
5. What evidence have you of God’s lavish and forgiving
   generosity in your past? In churches past?
6. Have a look at John and Charles Wesley’s Holy Club
   Questions (listed here), what do you struggle with?

Also had a time of worship and open prayer.

In praise of … Giorgio Vasari, Italian painter, writer, historian, and architect

Nobody did more to establish the idea of the artist than this ardent Florentine, who was born 500 years ago
Guardian lead article in the regular In praise of … series

Fulltext of Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects

Obituary: Theodore Roszak, US observer of social change, he coined the term 'counterculture'

Theodore Roszak was the first to put a name to the new world of communitarian experiments, cults, spiritual entrepreneurs and competing new-age psychotherapies of San Francisco and Berkeley in the late 1960s, and his label – "counterculture" – stuck.
Guardian obituary

Wikipedia entry

Obituary: Robin Nash, Producer of Top of the Pops during its 1970s heyday

Top of the Pops was a "must-watch" television programme for Britain's youth at its height in the 1970s, when Robin Nash, who has died aged 84, was its producer. The Thursday-evening programme, a showcase for chart singles acts, featured performers in the studio – miming to their own tracks, specially recorded the previous day – plus videos and the dance groups Pan's People and Legs & Co, with Radio 1 DJs as the hosts. The rules changed later, but in 2006, following a long decline in viewers, the show was finally axed.
Guardian obituary

Obituary: Ray Pahl, sociologist known for his influential studies of work and friendship

Ray Pahl, emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Kent, who has died of cancer aged 75, was known for a number of startling and path-breaking insights in sociology. His PhD thesis, Urbs in Rure (1965), which looked at how commuters reinvent village life, spawned many further studies, and his book Whose City? (1970) reinvigorated the flagging field of urban sociology. Then, in the late 1970s, Ray's small exploratory study of the informal economy of the Isle of Sheppey, in Kent, grew into a major research project, which came to be known as the Sheppey Project. It helped change the way sociologists think about work and was read at the highest levels of government.
Guardian obituary

Economic and Social Data Service obituary
Wikipedia entry

Elders Meeting (Church)

A number of items discussed. Latterly, the theology of our church was discussed including the need to write this up as a 2011 position. There was a similar statement produced many years ago so it will be interesting to dig that out and see if it remains valid today.

Chef: Leila Lindholm (Sweden)

Stumbled over Leila Lindholm via:

Scandinavia's answer to Nigella Lawson said to be behind spread in popularity of dairy product at expense of margarine
Guardian article

Lots of cakes and baking recipes, including Leila Lindholm's Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Official site
Recipes

Google is 13 years old

 

Doodle's simple design in keeping with search engine giant's low-key approach to anniversaries
Guardian article 

Mashable article including history slideshow

TV: Downton Abbey (Series 2)

Watching this on catch-up as it clashes with Spooks which we are watching live with Isaac. Classic TV.

Lots of great characters.

 ITV site
Wikipedia entry

TV: Spooks (Series 10, and last)

Still a fave drama series. Topical storylines with a ring of truth that are often spookily accurate with events that really happen later. The last ever series.

BBC site
BBC news article about the series
Wikipedia entry

Clip from epiode 1:

Clip from episode 2:

A newcomer in this series. Erin Watts.

Film: Albatross

Aspiring writer Emelia (Jessica Brown-Findlay) takes a job as a cleaner in a seaside hotel owned by Jonathan (Sebastian Koch), a middle-aged author with writer's block. His wife, Joa (Julia Ormond), has given up her acting career to run the hotel, while his daughter, Beth (Felicity Jones), plans to study medicine at Oxford. Emelia becomes friends with Beth but also begins an affair with Beth's father after they connect over a love of books.
Wikipedia entry

Guardian film site

Film: A Separation

The stand out film of the 2011 Berlin Film Festival and winner of the Golden Bear, A Separation is a suspenseful and intelligent drama detailing the fractures and tensions at the heart of Iranian society. Written and directed by Asghar Farhadi, the film boasts a range of superb performances from the ensemble cast who collectively received the Silver Bears for both Best Actor and Best Actress at the Berlinale. The compelling narrative is driven by a taut and finely written script rooted in the particular of Iranian society but which transcends its setting to create a stunning morality play with universal resonance. When his wife (Leila Hatami) leaves him, Nader (Peyman Moadi) hires a young woman (Sareh Bayat) to take care of his suffering father (Ali-Asghar Shahbazi). But he doesn t know his new maid is not only pregnant, but also working without her unstable husband s (Shahab Hosseini) permission. Soon, Nader finds himself entangled in a web of lies manipulation and public confrontations. A SEPARATION is the first ever Iranian film to be awarded the Golden Bear.
Amazon UK

Official site
Wikipedia entry

The Big Ideas: Why McLuhan's chilling vision still matters today

100 years after the birth of the media visionary, 'the medium is the message' explains what Google and YouTube do to our souls
Guardian article

Marshall McLuhan's message was imbued with conservatism
Although an icon of the counterculture movement, the man who coined 'the medium is the message' was no pill-popping hipster
Guardian article

One of the most charismatic, controversial and original thinkers of our time whose remarkable perception propelled him onto the international stage, Marshall McLuhan is universally regarded as the father of communications and media studies and prophet of the information age
McLuhan site

Film: Win Win

Tom McCarthy, acclaimed writer/ director of The Visitor and The Station Agent, once again explores the depths and nuances of human relationships in this touching comedy about disheartened attorney Mike Flaherty (Paul Giamatti) who moonlights as a high school wrestling coach.
Amazon UK

Official site
Wikipedia entry

Book: Tweet If You Heart Jesus: Practicing Church in the Digital Reformation, Elizabeth Drescher

What is the Digital Reformation?
A revitalization of the Church driven by the often ad hoc spiritualities of ordinary believers as they integrate practices of access, connection, participation, creativity, and collaboration encouraged by the widespread use of new digital social media into all aspects of daily life, including the life of faith.

Churches everywhere are scrambling to get linked with Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. But are they ready for the Digital Reformation: the dramatic global shift in the nature of faith, social consciousness and relationship that these digital social media have ushered in? Tweet If You Heart Jesus brings the wisdom of ancient and medieval Christianity into conversation with contemporary theories of cultural change and the realities of social media, all to help churches navigate a landscape where faith, leadership and community have taken on new meanings.
Amazon UK

Author’s site
Author’s book page

Exhibition: Churches

Had intended to see this exhibition by David Spero at the National Media Museum but I see I have missed it.

Love the idea of taking pictures of buildings where churches meet which do not look like traditional church buildings.

Great reminder that the church is the people not the buildings.

Twitter buys UK's TweetDeck for £25m

This happened back in May. TweetDeck is my Twitter client of choice for the PC and mboile.

TweetDeck acquisition puts Britain's web entrepreneurs on map, along with Shoreditch's 'Silicon Roundabout'
Guardian article

Jim Henson's Google Doodle (75th Birthday)

Isaac sees the World War 1 battlefields

Isaac had a whirlwind trip with school to France and Belgium travelling overnight Thursday night and was back in Bradford almost exactly 24 hours later. The trip covered a number of the famous battlefields and concentrated mainly in Belgium.

(more info to follow)

U2's (Psalm) "40" + Aaronic blessing, last track, last gig on 360 tour at Moncton (Canada)

Sunni Brown’s TED Talk on Doodling

RT @SunniBrown Doodlers, unite! My #TED talk just came out:http://www.ted.com/talks/sunni_brown.html / just watched, ace, i do need to try this and work at it

Interview: Andrew Mason, Founder/CEO, Groupon

There's nothing new in bulk buying and negotiating discounts. But Groupon does it in 47 countries for more than 70 million people. It's an idea so simple anyone could have thought of it. Unfortunately, Andrew Mason got there first… And now he's sitting on a company worth $30bn
Guardian interview

Wikipedia entries for Andrew Mason and Groupon

Film: Life In A Day

Life In A Day is a historic global experiment to create a user-generated feature film shot in a single day. On July 24, you have 24 hours to capture a glimpse of your life on camera. The most compelling and distinctive footage will be edited into a feature film, produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Kevin Macdonald.
YouTube Channel

Wikipedia entry

Book: Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age, Clay Shirky

 

For decades, technology encouraged us to squander our time and as passive consumers. Today, tech has finally caught up with human potential. In Cognitive Surplus, Clay Shirky examines the changes we will all enjoy as our untapped resources of talent and good will are put to use at last.

Since the postwar boom, we’ve had a surfeit of intellect, energy, and time - a “cognitive surplus.” Shirky argues persuasively that this cognitive surplus - rather than being some strange new departure from normal behavior - actually returns our society to forms of collaboration that were natural to us up to and through the early 20th Century. He also charts the vast effects that our cognitive surplus - aided by new technologies - will have on 21st Century society, and how we can best exploit those effects, and how the choices we make are not only economically motivated but driven by the desire for autonomy, competence, and community.
Publisher’s book page

Guardian book review

Wikpedia entries for the book and the author
Wired article with Daniel Pink

Obituary: Nathan Clark, great-grandson of the founder of Clarks, he created the bestselling desert boot in 1947

Nathan Clark understood what few did - that the fighting kit of the wartime allies could become popular as peacetime leisurewear.
Guardian obituary

Clarks Shoes
Wikipedia entry for Clarks

Film: One Life

Directed by Michael Gunton and Martha Holmes from the BBC Natural History Unit, and featuring music from award winning composer George Fenton, ONE LIFE captures and celebrates the journey that all living things take from the moment they are born, to that most important of achievements - the delivery of the next generation.
BBC press release

BBC site

Obituary: John Hospers, Philosopher and Libertarian nominee for US president

Anyone over the age of 40 who has ever studied philosophy is likely to have on their shelves at least one edition of the mandatory student primer, An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis, first published in the mid-1950s. Its author, John Hospers, who has died aged 93, was emeritus professor in philosophy at the University of Southern California.
Guardian obituary

Wikipedia entry

Obituary: Harold Garfinkel, sociologist who delved into the minutiae of daily life

Harold Garfinkel, who has died aged 93, was professor emeritus in sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he was based from 1954 until his retirement in 1987. In the 1950s, he coined the term "ethnomethodology", literally meaning "people's methodology".
Guardian obituary

New York Times obituary

Book: The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories, Christopher Booker

Saw this in a bookshop a few months ago and then a few weeks later saw it in a secondhand bookshop in Broadford on the Isle of Skye. Thinking I should have bought it …

This is a monumental work of breath-taking originality - the fruit of a lifetime's research and reading that will unlock the secrets of stories through the ages for all. From The Epic of Gilgamesh to Jaws and Schindler's List, Christopher Booker examines in details the stories that underlie literature and the plots that are basic to story-telling through the ages. In this magisterial work he examines the plots of films, opera libretti and the contemporary novel and short story. Underlying the stories he examines are seven basic plots: rags to riches; the quest; voyage and return; the hero as monster; rebirth, and so on. Booker shows that the images and stories serve a far deeper and more significant purpose in our lives than we have realised hitherto. In the definition of these basic plots, Booker shows us entering a realm in which the recognition of the plots proves to be only the gateway. We are in fact uncovering a kind of hidden universal language: a nucleus of situations and figures that are the very stuff from which stories are made. With Booker's exploration, there is literally no story in the world that cannot be seen in a new light. We have come to the heart of what stories are about, and why we tell them. Here, Christopher Booker moves on from some of the themes he outlined in his best-selling book The Neophiliacs. Seven Basic Plots is unquestionably his most important book to date.
Amazon UK

Guardian review
Book notes from a blogger

Film: The Tree of Life

Prehistoric and cosmic visions aside, Terrence Malick's film is an unashamedly epic reflection on love and loss
Guardian review 

At the premiere of Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life, which I reviewed at the Cannes film festival in May, the movie's final moments were almost drowned out by the booing, jeering and giggling in the auditorium, a response widely developed into a note of balanced and wearily tolerant dismissal in print. People would repeatedly reproach me for my own laudatory notice; this film, they said, was pretentious, boring and – most culpably of all – Christian. Didn't I realise, they asked, that Malick was a Christian?
Guardian review

The Tree of Life is a 2011 American drama with surrealist and experimental elements written and directed by Terrence Malick and starring Sean Penn, Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain. Malick's film chronicles the origins and meaning of life by way of a middle-aged man's childhood memories of his family living in 1950s Texas, interspersed with imagery of the origins of the universe and the inception of life on Earth. After decades in development and missed 2009 and 2010 release dates, the film premiered in competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Palme d'Or. The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews for its technical and artistic merits, but there were also polarizing reactions in response to Malick's directorial style and, in particular, the film's fragmented and non-linear narrative.
Wikipedia entry

Guardian film site

Obituary: Betty Callaway, ice skating coach behind Torvill and Dean's gold at the 1984 Winter Olympics

In 1978, two young ice skaters approached Betty Callaway and asked her to be their coach. Callaway agreed, and the decision shaped all their lives; Christopher Dean and Jayne Torvill went on to become the most celebrated of Britain's Winter Olympians, and Callaway, who has died aged 83, was forever linked with their successes.
Guardian obituary

Artist David Mach’s most recent piece, Golgotha

David Mach’s official site

The City Art Centre has joined forces with internationally renowned Scottish artist David Mach for one of the most explosive exhibitions of 2011. Mach, famed for his dynamic large scale collages, sculptures and audacious installations, tackles his biggest subject yet…the Bible.
Edinburgh City Art Centre exhibition page

Bill Fontana: Wave Phases at Chesil Beach

Sound sculpture of Chesil Beach: remote microphones, audio codecs, digital lines, playback system, hard-disc recorder, 1999
National Maritime Museum page

Love the sound of waves. Never been to Chesil Beach (yet).

Via this Guardian article

Emmys 2011

Great to see a number of my fave programmes getting Emmys this year.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
JULIE BOWEN as Claire Dunphy ABC
Modern Family

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
TY BURRELL as Phil Dunphy ABC
Modern Family

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
JULIANNA MARGULIES as Alicia Florrick CBS
The Good Wife

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A MINISERIES,
MOVIE OR A DRAMATIC SPECIAL
JULIAN FELLOWES, Written by PBS
Downton Abbey (Masterpiece)

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS
IN A MINISERIES OR A MOVIE
MAGGIE SMITH as Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham PBS
Downton Abbey (Masterpiece)

OUTSTANDING MINISERIES OR MOVIE
DOWNTON ABBEY (MASTERPIECE) PBS

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
MODERN FAMILY ABC

Cover to Cover Book Club: George Eliot’s Middlemarch

Four of us met for this latest meeting of the Cover to Cover book club meeting at Vicars Cafe in Saltaire, including two that came for the first time. The book this meeting was George Eliot’s Middlemarch.

I had not finished the book, got to 56%, but do intend to finish it as I was enjoying it but is a long read. Discussion about the book. The story line and characters reminded me a bit of Lark Rise to Candleford.

WIder discussion on book covers, comedians and their life stories and other topics triggered by Jane’s book selections which were as follows (we agreed to do the McIntyre book):-

 

'I can imagine you at forty,' she said, a hint of malice in her voice. 'I can picture it right now.' He smiled without opening his eyes. 'Go on then.' 15th July 1988. Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways. So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that? And every year that follows? Twenty years, two people, ONE DAY. From the author of the massive bestseller STARTER FOR TEN. (Amazon UK) Wikipedia entry

Michael reveals all in his remarkably honest and hilarious autobiography, Life & Laughing. His showbiz roots, his appalling attempts to attract the opposite sex, his fish-out-of-water move from public to state school and his astonishing journey from selling just one ticket at the Edinburgh Festival to selling half a million tickets on his last tour. Michael's story is riveting, poignant, romantic and above all very, very funny. (Amazon UK) Wikipedia entry

Tony Webster and his clique first met Adrian Finn at school. Sex-hungry and book-hungry, they would navigate the girl-less sixth form together, trading in affectations, in-jokes, rumour and wit. Maybe Adrian was a little more serious than the others, certainly more intelligent, but they all swore to stay friends for life.
Now Tony is in middle age. He’s had a career and a single marriage, a calm divorce. He’s certainly never tried to hurt anybody. Memory, though, is imperfect. It can always throw up surprises, as a lawyer’s letter is about to prove.
The Sense of an Ending is the story of one man coming to terms with the mutable past. Laced with trademark precision, dexterity and insight, it is the work of one of the world’s most distinguished writers. (Amazon UK) Wikipedia entry

Chip told us not to go out. Said, don't you boys tempt the devil. But it been one brawl of a night, I tell you. The aftermath of the fall of Paris, 1940. Hieronymous Falk, a rising star on the cabaret scene, was arrested in a cafe and never heard from again. He was twenty years old. He was a German citizen. And he was black. Fifty years later, Sid, Hiero's bandmate and the only witness that day, is going back to Berlin. Persuaded by his old friend Chip, Sid discovers there's more to the journey than he thought when Chip shares a mysterious letter, bringing to the surface secrets buried since Hiero's fate was settled. In Half Blood Blues, Esi Edugyan weaves the horror of betrayal, the burden of loyalty and the possibility that, if you don't tell your story, someone else might tell it for you. And they just might tell it wrong ... (Amazon UK) Wikipedia entry

 

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2011, Snowdrops is THE debut of 2011: A stunning novel of moral ambiguity, uncertainty and corruption. Snowdrops. That's what the Russians call them - the bodies that float up into the light in the thaw. Drunks, most of them, and homeless people who just give up and lie down into the whiteness, and murder victims hidden in the drifts by their killers. Nick has a confession. When he worked as a high-flying British lawyer in Moscow, he was seduced by Masha, an enigmatic woman who led him through her city: the electric nightclubs and intimate dachas, the human kindnesses and state-wide corruption. Yet as Nick fell for Masha, he found that he fell away from himself; he knew that she was dangerous, but life in Russia was addictive, and it was too easy to bury secrets - and corpses - in the winter snows... (Amazon UK) Official site

Obituary: Eric Swenson. businessman and promoter who helped to spark a skateboarding revival

Guardian obituary

China opens world's longest sea bridge

26-mile Jiaozhou Bay crossing connects Qingdao to Huangdao, took four years to build and uses 5,000 pillars
Guardian article

Wikipedia entry

Obituary: Mike Doyle, Manchester City stalwart during the 1960s and 70s

Dad is a big Manchester City fan and I remember Mick Doyle playing from when I was at school.

In these football days of millionaire mercenaries, Mike Doyle, who has died of liver failure at the age of 64, stood out as a bastion of club loyalty. For him, Manchester City meant everything, and he had an almost visceral hatred of their rivals, Manchester United.
Guardian obituary

Kidney Stone Diagnosed

Tuesday 13
So a fortnight after the 1st out of hours GP call at the BRI, had a 2nd on Tuesday night. Phoned in at 8:30 in agony, not being able to get comfy in any position in bed. Appointment with out of hours GP at BRI at 22:20. Admitted straightaway to Ward 20 with the GP saying I should have been admitted on my 1st appointment as a male with kidney problems. Had blood and urine tests and X-ray. No kidney stone showing on the X-ray. Rachael was with me and it was taking forever for progress through the tests and assessments to happen.

Wednesday 14
Was finally discharged at 3:30am and I was told that I would be getting an intravenous dye test via a phone call appointment sometime later that day. We were both wrecked. Bed at 4am and all up again at 6:20am for the school run. We both tried to catch up on sleep. Phoned the hospital to chase the appointment and was finally told that one of my blood count levels was too high for that test. In the meantime a St Luke’s appointment came through for an ultrasound test and X-ray from the original GP referral for tests. Sorted out that I should keep that appointment (Thursday at 9am) without the X-ray having had that at the BRI last night and was given a confirmed CT scan appointment for 11:30 at the BRI also on Thursday. So a fun day planned for tomorrow.

Thursday 15
Got to St Luke’s really early after dropping the kids off at Colette’s. No other car in the car park. Got seen earlier for the ultrasound test with the doctor saying that it was a bit of a waste of time given I was having a CT scan later. From the test I was told that I had a dilated kidney that could be a kidney stone. Off to the BRI for the CT scan (an hour later than the appointment) which thankfully did not involve any insertion of capulas (unlike a number of other patients in the queue). Off to Ward 20 for the results. Was finally told that I had a kidney stone at the top of the tube down (getting technical!) and that I would be prescribed Tamsulosin which eases the tubes and so eases passage of the stone (hopefully!). So no op in the 1st instance. Was relieved to know what the problem is but now have to wait and see if it passes. Next step with medics is an X-ray in a fortnight to check. I have had a kidney stone in the past and that passed without me knowing! Finally got home late afternoon.

Life Group (1 Timothy)

The first session back after the summer holidays. Met at Joly and Tracey’s with Becca (new Edge worker), Dave E, Lyns, Ben and Maria.

Ice breaker on our favourite birthday party (ours or someone else). Mine was Hugo Moss’ 11th birthday party when we went to see The New Seekers in concert, my first live gig. Pinball Wizard was in the charts when we saw them.

Discussion on what we wanted to do in the group over the next period of time:-

• Andy Flanagan’s book 360
• Street Life/Street Wise topic
• Praying for each other specifically and individually as the main part of the meeting and not at the end, once every 2 months
• Variety of things
• Bible study in any form and with CD/mp3 etc, verse by verse or topic
• Study the less commonly known books of the Bible like Habakkuk that we did recently

We did an informal study of 1 Timothy discussing verses on the way through the passage.

Ben led us in worship including prayer for healing.

TV: Strike Back: Project Dawn

A Sky drama series that is keeping me going until Spooks returns …

The second series focuses on former United States special forces operative Damien Scott joining Section 20 to stop an international terrorist organisation after John Porter is kidnapped.
Wikipedia entry

Official Sky site

 

Culture Club: “Solar” Ian McEwan (book)

Led the latest Culture Club meeting, the eighth one of the year, when we discussed the book “Solar”. I only finished the book an hour and a half before the meeting. Feedback on the book was that it was not a great read. However, as always, we had a great discussion on all sorts of issues prompted by the book and our discussion. These included global warming, science, academia, relationships, the place of God in the lives of those where God just does not come up as a topic and so on. Those that had read some of his other books said that this was not his best and not up to his normal standard.

Also attended by Mark, Hilary, Tracey, Eryl, Dave, John and Margaret F.

Meeting details here.

Obituary: Peter Falk, star of Columbo

US actor whose success as the scruffy TV detective Columbo was complemented by a wide range of stage and screen roles
Guardian obituary