Evelyn Glennie plays 'Maple Leaf Rag'

One of the good things about 'YouTube' is that not only are there many many videos on that website of what happened today, yesterday, last week but there are also plenty of others dating back years, decades even and this is one of the latter category.

I dare say some people will have forgotten about percussionist Evelyn Glennie who, in the UK at least, seems to have dropped below the radar. Here she is playing her xylophone on Japanese TV way back in 1991 according to the info added by whoever put it on YouTube. The tune is 'Maple Leaf Rag' which she plays with great flair - you get the feeling that the support band have a job keeping up with her! Just have to smile at her hair and what she decided to wear for this occasion!

By the way just in case you didn't know or had forgotten: Evelyn Glennie lost her hearing when she was a child. Yes this amazing performer is deaf!!

Flooding in Plymouth but we miss the worst of it

The really pleasant dry weather we enjoyed in September and I think part of October now seems a very distant memory as yet again it is damp and dreary outside. Although there was rain here yesterday evening we escaped relatively unscathed once more because there was quite severe flooding in the south west corner of Devon in particular. The news this morning told us about people having to be rescued from their cars; it seems that the Plymouth / Ivybridge area was taking the brunt of the wet stuff.

Of course it's the poor folk up in Cumbria who have been suffering more than us in the West Country lately. And now I see that the area around Jeddah on Saudi Arabia's west coast is having its worst flooding for years with 100 or more deaths already. Here's the question then: are we and the rest of the World getting more frequent and severe rainfall events? Thanks to the internet and much greater news coverage off the web as well one becomes more aware perhaps of heavier rainfalls. Certainly I keep thinking "it never used to rain like this" but to be honest I don't really know.

A friend nearby is doing the sensible thing this week jetting off to Trinidad for a fortnight - staying with someone she knows I understand. I can well see why anyone with friends or family in warmer sunnier climes will take an opportunity to get away from the perpetual gloom here. The good news from my perspective is that in less than a month we shall have passed the shortest day, always a good psychological moment for me.

Water rates to drop marginally for some

A major story yesterday for we long suffering water users in the south west is the decision by OFWAT, the water regulator, that our water charges should go down by an average of £6 over the next five years. As might be expected 'South West Water' were asking for increases whilst consumer groups were unhappy that the reductions weren't far greater. We of course pay the highest water rates in the country so if anyone was deserving of a drop it was us. This very modest change in what the water company can charge us still leaves those in Cornwall and most of Devon paying far far more than other water consumers.

I have to admit that my home is unmetered at present - my very modest abode has a relatively small charge levied on it but having said that I am a one person household who doesn't use a huge amount of water so maybe the water meter route ought to be investigated.

It's proved to be instructive to look at the OFWAT website to get much more information about the way the charges will change over the next five years and I was shocked by the difference between 'metered' and 'unmetered' charges. Yes I knew that those on a water meter were generally going to be saving useful amounts of money compared to the rest of us. However the figures that proved really telling were the ones showing the unmetered charges going off in to the stratosphere! The table for the 'South West Water' area indicates the average water charge (that's water and sewerage) dropping from £489 to £483, in other words six pounds less than today as per the media headline. It then goes on to itemise the typical metered bill and the typical unmetered bill for the present year and the next five - whatever "typical" might mean in this context. This gets really interesting because whereas the typical metered bill goes up slightly from £401 to £407, the typical unmetered bill starts at a current £723 before racing up to £935!!

I'm too tired right now to investigate further but guess that the increases take into account inflation. It is self evident that those people without a meter are going to carry by far the biggest burden and that the headline story in the papers and on the radio are only telling a fraction of the story. The whole thing is giving me an incentive to look at the water meter alternative, that's for sure.

Beautiful view of a nuthatch

My last post was something of a rant, I've calmed down now and this time have something nice to write about. The back of my cottage directly overlooks a neighbour's garden, the nearest part of which she has planted as an orchard. At the moment the local blackbirds are feasting on the windfalls she has left for them and sometimes tits turn up to poke around in the apple trees for the minute insects they love. There are usually one or two finches that seem to keep the tits company. But what was especially pleasing this week was the sight of a nuthatch joining the menagerie.

I'm just looking at my 'Collins Pocket Guide to British Birds' and under Nuthatch it states: "Flocking. Sometimes accompanies winter foraging parties of tits and goldcrests". H'm, interesting stuff! Although it didn't hang around for long it was within about six feet of the kitchen window so I was very pleased to be able to get such a splendid view. I have to say that I'm no expert ornithologist, I just enjoy seeing them around. Not just birds but all forms of wildlife it has to be said.

I've never felt the urge to drive a hundred miles to see some rare vagrant that has been blown of course so that I can tick it off. Good sightings of relatively common species does me just fine. The view of the nuthatch emphasised just how much chunkier it looked than the tits that were fluttering around nearby. This excellent sighting made my day.

A rubbish idea in Queen's Speech

I had no real interest in watching the Queen's Speech at the State Opening of Parliament; as most commentators are pointing out it is nakedly political and, no doubt, the Tories would similarly play politics if they were in Labour's position and close to a General Election. What particularly made me write the headline above though was the inclusion in the Government's new programme of a 'Fiscal Responsibility Bill'. This would provide amongst other things a "firm and binding statutory basis" for the government's promise to halve the budget deficit within four years. To bind any future government to any budget reduction in a fixed time frame is so obviously ridiculous that I'm almost refraining from commenting on it.

So what happens if a future administration fails to cut by the required 50%? Are legal proceedings taken against the then Chancellor of the Exchequer? In four years time we may have got through 3 Chancellors say, including Mr Darling, so how would blame be apportioned if the target reduction isn't met? In measuring the deficit will inflation be taken into account? And what about all the Private Finance Initiatives (PFIs) which I think Gordon Brown tries to keep off the books. A new government might measure the budget deficit using different criteria, who knows.

Reducing the huge budget deficit by at least half in four years can be considered a good statement of intent but how any sort of legislation can be passed regarding that is beyond my comprehension. It annoys me that anyone in power has the idiocy to think this idea is practical or right. They are stupid, stupid, stupid.

Heather Brooke: Reformer of the Year

The think-tank 'Reform' have enabled online voting for anyone interested to decide who should be 'Political Reformer of the Year 2009'. With a landslide the winner was ... Heather Brooke, the lady whose tenacity got the ball rolling over the misuse of public money by many of our MPs. In other words it was her perseverance initially that won the right to get details of MPs expenses out into the public domain.

Well done Heather from me for not giving up when the going got tough. I think I have said before that it is a fascinating fact how even now one determined individual can create such a seismic change in an institution or in the way we live. I dare say most people will remember the revelations in 'The Daily Telegraph' about the way Parliamentarians have milked the system but perhaps not be aware that without Heather's work these matters just wouldn't have come to light. Hence this blogpost to remind folk about what Heather achieved.

Wind Energy distortion

I consider myself to be as passionate about environmental matters as anybody but I am very free thinking about the problems we have here on Mother Earth and won't support a policy just because mainstream opinion considers it be "green". A case in point that I have alluded to in the past concerns wind energy. Conventional thinking seems to be that the more wind farms we have the better in the search for environmentally friendly power generation. I beg to differ.

Last week the early morning 'Farming Today' programme on Radio 4 was concentrating on the vexed question of wind turbines in the countryside, on the Saturday they have a sort of omnibus edition of it pulling together some of the strands in the programmes of the previous five days and I was awake enough on Saturday morning to hear at least some of this. What really fired me up was the interview on it with Chris Tomlinson from the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA). Talk about arrogance! He was questioned by the interviewer, Charlotte Smith, about the fact that wind farms aren't delivering power all the time. He really didn't want to answer this one and she had to press him for a reply. He said something about them working 80 to 85% of the time. He very hurriedly went on to another aspect whereas Charlotte should have gone further and got him to admit that out of the time the mills are turning it is only a part of that time that they are delivering their maximum output. The way he tried to duck the questioning told me all I needed to know.

What really does make me irate is when the wind power proponents talk about a windfarm producing the energy for so many homes. This is so misleading because there are many occasions in the course of a year when it is yielding either no power at all or something below the theoretical maximum. Going back to Mr Tomlinson it wasn't just me who was dismayed by his attitude - there is a message board on the BBC's 'Farming Today' website and there are many listeners on there who have taken issue with his approach. Definitely not good.

Kevin and Silvia with "You Were The One"

On Monday last week I posted a video of Kevin Romang and Silvia Plegniere (Astral Plane) with their interpretation of a Bellamy Brothers classic. At the same time I commented that they have written original compositions and here is an example "You Were The One" which I hope you will enjoy as much as I do. There is a section about half a minute long in the middle of the song when Silvia plays her guitar along with Kevin. This is guitar playing at its exquisite best for me.

I have plenty of videos to go on the blog other than the ones from 'Astral Plane'. But the quality of their music is so outstanding that I just couldn't stop myself from adding this one to highlight their composing as well as their playing!

First Christmas Card arrives

Today saw my first Christmas Card land on the doormat! Not only did it come via Royal Mail it was from Royal Mail! When I first opened it I thought to myself that this was a bit expensive if everyone was going to receive something similar. Reading it properly though I realised it was advising of the extra services they are providing this Christmas and also the last posting days for the different sorts of mail to ensure arrival in time for the day. Interestingly the envelope containing the card had a second class franking mark on the front, I suppose one bit of Royal Mail is paying another bit for the delivery!!

Anyway well done Royal Mail for being innovative with dispensing this important information regarding collections/deliveries over Christmas. I can't remember if they did something similar last year but now I've blogged regarding this card today I've got something to refer back to when my memory fails me in 12 months time!

Edward Woodward dies aged 79

This is not the sort of news item that I would normally add to this blog: actor Edward Woodward has died in hospital in Truro aged 79. I gather that he had been ill for a while. The reason that I have singled out his passing is that he and his second wife actress Michele Dotrice once had a home in this parish, the former Calstock Rectory. Latterly they have lived near Padstow and I think that they really took Cornwall to their hearts although Edward originally hailed from the south east, Croydon I believe.

I never knowingly met Edward or Michelle when they lived nearby but I'm told how ordinary and straightforward they were. Edward Woodward will be remembered for his incredible versatility in a variety of roles both live in the theatre and on screen. Although as I say I didn't know him everything points to him having been a thoroughly decent human being and family man. Now he can rest in peace.

Genuine remorse about North Tawton graffiti

My last entry was all about apologies, now I'm off again about someone saying sorry but in a much more local context. This is all centred on the Parish Church of St Peter in North Tawton. The village between Okehampton and Crediton and in the heart of Devon has its church featured in the 'Jam and Jerusalem' comedy show but it was the all to real graffiti scrawled on its walls and gravestones that has caused me to write this piece.

How the three responsible for this crime (two girls and one boy, all teenagers) were discovered I don't know but they all viewed the prospect of going to court and getting a criminal record. A different outcome though has emerged. The three of them all showed genuine remorse for their actions apparently and spent considerable time removing the offending graffiti. What pleased me even more was the fact that they had to face the church's congregation this morning and apologise for their behaviour as part of their punishment. This it seems has brought closure on this episode for everybody. I guess that they worried and sweated a bit beforehand, all part of the punishment I say.

Many criminal acts of course get committed without any subsequent regret. But in this sort of situation with genuine remorse I think a really good end result has materialised.

Brown to issue Child Migration apology

On 1st April 2007 I blogged a piece about the then proposal that Tony Blair should deliver an apology over the role of this country in the Slave Trade. I criticised the Archbishops of Canterbury and York who wanted the apology to go ahead. My take on it was that the slave trade ended a very long time ago, attitudes in much of society were vastly different at that time and that for Blair to say sorry for something that neither he nor his government had put into place was a total nonsense. I stick with that opinion 100% and see no reason at all to alter it.

The reason I am mentioning this again is that I see that Gordon Brown is set to make an apology, not over any of the mistakes he is responsible for of course. No this bit of news concerns the child migration scheme which over the decades sent thousands of young children from this country to the colonies, principally Australia. Many of them were told, incorrectly, that their parents were dead. Huge numbers were abused. It is now regarded as a truly shameful episode in this country's history and what might seem particularly surprising is that it didn't stop until 1970!

Following the logic of my earlier blogpost I ought to be condemning Brown's intentions I suppose. However the slavery thing was absolutely clear cut but this is a little different. Bear in mind that 40 years ago children were still being packed off to another country - therefore, fairly obviously, there are folk still alive today who were on the receiving end of the policy. I'm still not totally happy with the concept of apologising for something over which you had no say but, having said that, these people should receive some sort of apology and I guess it is down to the Prime Minister to do this. Brown's counterpart in Australia, Kevin Rudd, will be saying sorry to the several thousand still in that country this week.

There is a piece about Australia's child migrants on the BBC website here. You can also read about the 'Child Migrant Trust' by clicking here.

Storm in south west blowing itself out

Having had quite a benevolent autumn in my area things are certainly now going downhill. Some very rough weather taking hold with winds last night forecast on the south coast to be severe gale 9 to violent storm 11, in my book that's very breezy indeed. I don't think the peak winds in the early hours were quite as bad as that and certainly in my valley they weren't that exceptional. But as I have remarked before tucked away here in what is effectively a deep gorge sometimes the severity of the weather isn't apparent. When the wind is due south the wind really whistles through here but I think that it had veered south west when the worst of the gale came and from that direction the hill takes some of the sting out of the wind.

Just after lunch now and the main rain has long gone (but plenty more promised, thank you Met Office!) and the wind has abated. Low lying parts of East Devon have suffered a bit and of course the usual exposed parts of our south coast such as Penzance, Porthleven and Lyme Regis have witnessed spectacular waves. There has been no mention of the railway at Dawlish but as the wind hasn't been from the east perhaps the sea wall there has escaped unscathed.

I have to say one of the real pleasures now for me is not having to do the regular commute. By and large I can choose to be out and about when the weather suits. The local radio late yesterday afternoon was full of the problems of traffic congestion on the approaches to the Tamar Road Bridge. Because of the wind the middle lane over the bridge was closed and lorries, caravans and motor bikes stopped from crossing. Now it's some time since I've used 'The Parkway' (the dual carriageway A38 on the north side of Plymouth) and I can't remember but is there a sign to the east of Manadon Flyover advising traffic to turn up on the Tavistock route to avoid the bridge. Similarly west of Saltash to send the heavy stuff north through Callington. Extending that a bit further are there signs at Bodmin and Exeter to try and syphon lorries on to the A30. Possibly but I don't really know - such signs are needed that's for sure for freak weather conditions etc.

Back to good old 'Radio Devon' for a moment: I thought they included cyclists in the road users stopped from crossing the Tamar Bridge in their report. Perhaps I misheard this, or they may have got it plain wrong but I would be surprised if cyclists had been included. My understanding is that cyclists and pedestrians have the cantilevered lane on the downstream side of the bridge to themselves so that there wouldn't be the worry of cyclists being blown by the wind into the path of motorised traffic. How would cyclists cope though if they were prevented from crossing? Basically two possibilities I think. Firstly phone someone they know on the other side who has a cycle rack on the back of their car and beg them to cross over and pick up bike and cyclist. The other one is to cycle back to the station and get the bike on a stopping train and get home that way. A bit problematic though as the railway company don't allow many bikes on the trains particularly at commuting times.

The other alternative of using the Torpoint Ferry and cycling round to Saltash in dark wet and windy conditions would be too awful to contemplate. I can't in all honesty imagine cyclists being stopped from crossing the Bridge, after all they can always dismount and walk their bikes across. No mention in today's paper of cyclists having been stopped so I'm guessing that I have the story about them wrong.

Gordon Brown, the letter and the phone call

Many blogs have commented on the furore that arose out of the letter of condolence sent by the Prime Minister to bereaved mother Jacqui Janes whose son Jamie lost his life in Afghanistan. So I might as well add my twopenneth ... As I see it nobody has emerged from this mess with their reputation intact. I have found it interesting to read comments on the lines of "I really dislike Brown and his policies but I do sympathise with him in this instance". This indicates to me that some at least can put their usual personal feelings aside and bring the British sense of fairness into play and that's pleasing. I will state in Brown's defence that, given that he is continuing the process started by I think Margaret Thatcher of doing these condolence letters, he is absolutely right in writing rather than typing them. If typed there is no certain sense that they are the words of G Brown, it could be a civil servant in 10 Downing Street doing the necessary with Brown signing it along with the dozens of other letters and memos crossing his desk.

OK so yes Brown is absolutely right to hand write such letters, I'll take my hat off to him for that. The problem for him of course is his restricted vision allied to really poor handwriting and he has let himself down by not having his letter checked by someone before posting and also the fact that he clearly altered a name rather than writing a fresh letter. This episode sums up one of his character flaws: he just seemed to be unaware of how essential it was to get everything right in a communication of this sort. I absolutely hate sending out any letter of mine that is incorrect in terms of spelling or punctuation - I'm not saying that I've never corrected an original letter rather than rewriting it but it would seldom if ever happen and certainly not if it was a missive of real importance.

In Brown's case this letter could easily have been written late at night and when he was really tired and when he was alone with no advisers around him. You would have thought though that with his handicap he would have realised just how important it was to pass a letter such as this to a confidante for checking. Well from now on in perhaps he will! Brown unfortunately is ill suited to this televisual age in which we live. He lacks many of the social skills and niceties someone in his position perhaps should have. An example was the instance when he was seen picking his nose in the Commons and before you could say "Tony Blair" there was a video of it on 'YouTube'. Another time he was meeting some dignitary with one trouser leg inside his sock. He is such a complex character - he really displayed genuine empathy when the Camerons lost their disabled son but on the other hand is well known for his unacceptable levels of bullying, his vicious temper and the fact that he will not answer a straight question. He got caught out didn't he with the recording of the phone call with Mrs Janes, very humbling I thought but goes to show how difficult it is to keep anything private these days.

As for 'The Sun' I'm not going to dignify them with a comment.

Kevin and Silvia in perfect harmony

I have previously added videos to this blog of Silvia Plegniere playing music on her keyboard. Silvia has quite a few videos on YouTube as has English guitarist Kevin Romang. Both of these talented musicians saw each others work on YouTube and evidently thought how good it would be to become a duo. So happily for me 'Astral Plane' was formed. They are great songwriters in their own right but this is an old one and was a hit for The Bellamy Brothers. To me this rendition is perfect - simple, refreshingly direct and with Kevin and Silvia harmonising perfectly. It's the way music should be.

I'll be posting more videos of them in the months to come.

Public Transport getting even better

The rest of my family all live in towns and therefore compared with myself there are more facilities immediately available. I have to say that there are towns not too far from here in which I could be fairly content to live, Tavistock being the classic example. Cities - big, anonymous, noisy; not for me I'm afraid, I'll stick with this village right now. As I drive but don't have an imperative to make many long distance journeys the cost and frequency of public transport never used to be a big deal so far as I was concerned. That's changing now, partly as a result of the free bus service that I enjoy, having ahem passed a certain age. Good news then that local coach company DAC are making their timetable even more convenient when for instance I don't want to use the car for the four mile trip into Tavistock.

The branch railway to Plymouth now has its trains spread more evenly during the day. (I may have blogged that bit of information before) and another plus is that the train windows at last appear to get washed on a regular basis, important on the sort of scenic line we are lucky to have. My own occasional observations suggest that this line is getting ever more use and I think that I'm right in saying that all the branch lines in Devon and Cornwall are seeing greater numbers of passengers. Britain's public transport has been much maligned over the years but it looks as if the various operators are getting their acts together. Incidentally DAC use reasonably short 27 seat buses in the Tamar Valley, longer ones could be a problem around some of the lanes in the area.

I have to thank one Gordon Brown for the bus pass (the man is not all bad!) but it will be interesting to see if a new government in 2010 imposes any restrictions on the use of this popular scheme.

Seem to be fewer fireworks this year

The evening isn't over yet so I mustn't count my chickens but there do seem to be fewer fireworks this year around here. Looking out of the bathroom window the noisiest seem to be coming from the direction of a family who I call "the usual suspects" when it comes to fireworks! Yesterday evening I was in a building whose location and thick walls would have insulated us from any explosions so I don't know what it was like back home in my village. Perhaps the wet weather plus the recession has (literally) put a dampener on proceedings.

Having just typed this the aforementioned noisy near neighbours have just left off a few more rockets. I know this usually happens - they let off a few bangers, all goes quiet for quite a few minutes and you think they have finished and then off they go again!! For the sake of people's pets I just hope that tonight is the end of it until the usual mayhem seeing in the New Year.

Totnes Rotarians video on 'YouTube'

I had a video all lined up to go in this post and then heard about these antics by the Totnes Rotarians. I thought it so amusing that I couldn't resist adding it to the blog. Just in case you didn't get the message the Totnes Rotary Club are having their Annual Conference next February at the 'Langstone Cliff Hotel', Dawlish Warren! Nice free advertising for that establishment. Doesn't that well known tune lend itself to a variation of its original words!

Cameron upsets some Tories

So David Cameron upset a few of his own side yesterday when he made it clear that should he become Prime Minister following the General Election he will NOT hold a referendum regarding the Lisbon Treaty. This all goes back to his piece in 'The Sun' ages ago and his "cast iron" guarantee. There was a link to this on someones blog which I read earlier today and I have to say that to me at least his phrasing is a little ambiguous. This leads to the age old problem that people will make their own construct from the words they read to suit their own agenda.

Realistically I suppose it was never on that one could have a sort of retrospective referendum, for better or worse the deal is done. My thinking is that we have gone more than far enough down the Federal Europe route. After Brown took over from Blair there was an attempt by a Tory backbencher to introduce a Bill whereby any legislation enacted in this country that had its origin in Brussels would have that fact stated in said legislation. Labour had the whips out on that one to make absolutely certain it would not make headway, a disgrace in my honest opinion. Cameron should ensure that such a proposal goes into the Conservative Manifesto.

Property prices on the up - or not

"Property cheer at last" - that was the front page headline in last Saturday's Western Morning News with its report that house prices continue to inch up. But in its piece the WMN records the comments of a few estate agents who were not quite so bullish about the housing market as one might expect: in my opinion they are usually far to eager to talk things up! And the massive problem of affordability for the first time buyer was flagged up being a huge stumbling block in much of this low wage peninsula.

So what will happen with house prices? I hope if nothing else that they are stable now and into the future. It's noticeable that the WMN weekly property supplement is getting a little thicker and that top of the range properties continue to be advertised for quite ludicrous prices. Near me two Cornish cottages are for sale (different vendors and estate agents) at prices that I would describe as "very optimistic" and I shall be interested in seeing how much they eventually sell for. I have to say that with the economy being very fragile and with more unemployment to come I am glad not to be in the property game.

A current news story concerns a family - somewhere in Devon I believe, don't know where - who were facing eviction from their rented property because their landlord had fallen behind on his mortgage payments. What a horrendous situation! But with their plight having been highlighted somebody has come to the rescue and that story seems to have a happy ending.