http://jriddell.org/diary Sat, 07 Aug 2010 22:46:19 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en You know how sit-coms always have really forced sounding laughter over the soundtrack? That really is from an audience watching it being acted live and being forced to laugh on pain of being shouted at by a Glaswegian woman. I went to see The Old Guys being recorded. I ... http://jriddell.org/diary/?p=91 I voted for the SNP this election. I wasn’t terribly impressed by their “we don’t want any cuts” idea, it seems to me if you’re in massive debt you should get rid of that debt as soon as possible. But they remain the party that I find myself ... http://jriddell.org/diary/?p=89 I did the BCU Advanced Whitewater Safety and Rescue course with Steve MacKinnon (H2O Outdoors) and Dave Rossetter (Standing Waves, RCO, SCA, BCU, most everything). The course follows on from the basic Whitewater Safety and Rescue with more jumping in rivers, pulling people off rocks and running after boats. ... http://jriddell.org/diary/?p=88 Went to the anti Trident demo today run by Scotland’s for peace. Quite a quiet affair walking up the high street, could have benefited from some drums. Alex Salmond spoke first, made me happy to live in a country where the first minister still goes on peace marches. Oor ... http://jriddell.org/diary/?p=87 My birthday is on Christmas Eve. Every year I get asked by people if this is annoying because people are distracted and I might get one present where otherwise I would get two. Actually I find the opposite is true. On Christmas Eve people are in the ... http://jriddell.org/diary/?p=86 Today I paddled the River Ericht. We lost a boat after a rescue took longer than it was possible to go chasing after it There’s no guide to the Ericht on ukriversguidebook so here’s one I’ve written which I’ll submit to him. Stats Level: There is a SEPA gage on ... http://jriddell.org/diary/?p=85 I did my level 1 canoe coaches course at Glenmore Lodge with Dave Rosseter (who seems to have a large chunk of the market). This includes a day doing the Foundation Safety and Rescue Course. Here are my notes for my own use and anyone else who cares. Fundamentals ... http://jriddell.org/diary/?p=84 I went on a first aid course held by Leo Hoare of Getafix, the course had an ourdoor activities theme and included plenty of scenarios to get into practice should a problem ever happen. Here are my notes for my own purposes and incase anyone finds them useful. The definitive ... http://jriddell.org/diary/?p=83 I went to see the European election announcement. SNP were out in force. Labour kept a low profile. Lib Dems and Tories both managed to claim victory despite losing. BNP racists didn’t get near a seat but were depressingly high compared to some of the other ... http://jriddell.org/diary/?p=82 My voting paper came through the door. There’s a long list of parties to chose from, some of whom I’ve never hard of. What’s depressing is the lack of political campaigning and news coverage. I’ve had lots of political leaflets through the door recently, but none of ... http://jriddell.org/diary/?p=81 This isn’t an easy admission to make, but I read the News of the World website. The first thing that’s curious about the site is that even the scant amount of non-celebrity stories in the newspaper are really hard to find on it, it really is all celebrity non-news ... http://jriddell.org/diary/?p=80 I bought a shares ISA today. This is a horrible gamble. Last year I bought one and of course it’s worth half the price now than I paid for it. But hopefully this means the stock market is at a low and it’ll get better. Or ... http://jriddell.org/diary/?p=79 Food is useful stuff, it’s handy to have around. It’s also expensive and quite precious so it’s a good thing to consume it properly. I buy most of my food from Suma a wholesalers who specialise in wholefoods, organic and fairtrade. It’s a vastly cheaper way of ... http://jriddell.org/diary/?p=78 Edinburgh Sheriff Court called me up for jury service. This is an important responsibility, but because you are not allowed to discuss the trial as a juror there’s no information out on the internets about what happens and no guidance about how you should come to a decision. ... http://jriddell.org/diary/?p=77 It’s nice to be popular, my blog’s traffic has increased from about 150 readers yesterday to 100 times that today. Amongst the people looking to my blog for gossip on poor old Yvette Bettley the polis woman who is illegally a member of the BNP are someone at the ... http://jriddell.org/diary/?p=76 The excellent Wikileaks got hold of a list of BNP members. Is there a racist in your street? Now you can know. The well informed Lancaster Unity blog has some (occationally over optimistic sounding) coverage. Out of about 12000 records, a depressing 56 members in the EH area, including a ... http://jriddell.org/diary/?p=75 Went to see Hilary Benn in Leith last night. It’s always great to see politicians, especially senior ones like him, come and meet the public in ways which aren’t primarily for press coverage. The turnout was maybe 100 people which I think was disappointingly small. It was ... http://jriddell.org/diary/?p=74 Walking along the road in Glorious Tipton the other day I smelled smoke. Seems the fascist Lagoon pub was no more. This newspaper article gives a nice overview of the area. Arson, squatters, stupid Tory councillor, fascist councillor, fascist pub, machete attacks. I wonder who the “they” is ... http://jriddell.org/diary/?p=73 Some of the little pleasures in life I like: Digital radio. Especially Chill Radio, BBC 7 and BBC World Service. Amazon Marketplace, helps you get rid of stuff you’ve used and much less hassle than ebay’s time limited method, also cheap things to buy. A slice of ginger in a glass of ... http://jriddell.org/diary/?p=72 Utterly bemused by London voting for Boris. Crazyness. In Glorious Tipton the normally Labour/BNP fight was lost to a Tory. I can’t work out why people think David Cameron’s party will do anything better than Gordon Brown’s. http://jriddell.org/diary/?p=71