Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (Nick Park, Steve Box, 2005)

Wallace & Gromit rule! Great movie - everything you've come to expect from Nick Park. Will have to watch it on DVD to catch more of the in-jokes. Don't miss it.

Windsor Great Park

Went out with the kids and a friend today and made our first stab at geocaching. We were heading for an Autumn walk in Windsor Great Park anyway when we figured we might as well try and locate this geocache. It wasn't there but it was a fun challenge. Will have to try again sometime and maybe put our own cache together.

The kids also practised firing a slingshot with crab apples and searched for conkers. It's half-term and I'm looking for projects to keep them occupied.

Rosa Parks

It was Rosa Parks whose refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man in 1955 triggered the start of the Civil Rights Movement. She died a few days ago on Oct 24, age 92. A truly inspiring story. Amazing that racism was so deeply entrenched only fifty years ago.

Canadians not so different from Americans

Horror of horrors but that's the conclusion of a study published in Science Magazine this month comparing perceptions of national stereotypes to the results of averaging countrymen personality tests. The study was conducted by the U.S. National Institute on Aging by 87 researchers across 49 countries by gathering NEO-PI-R self-reports from 3,989 people.

I haven't got ahold of the original study but it's being widely reported around the 'net.

Canadians have always had a problem defining a national identy and part of the Canadian myth building is "we're not American". The perception is widely agreed upon across Canada but it doesn't hold up to measurement. There are certainly cultural differences but those differences aren't due to personality traits. It would be interesting to test whether there's a measurable difference in the average West Coast and East Coast personality.

It's also turns out the British stereotype is completely unfounded. Rather than reserved, stalwart and conventional, they're measured to be extrovert and generally open to new experiences. Meanwhile Germans think that they're conscientious and industrious and they measured out as conscientious and industrious. However, it's the Poles that turn out to be the people that know themselves the best. 

This article has more details on the methodology and takes a look at it from the perspective of ethnic jokes...

 “Heaven is where the police are English, the cooks are French, the mechanics are German, the lovers are Italian and everything is organized by the Swiss. Hell is where the police are German, the cooks are English, the mechanics are French, the lovers are Swiss, and everything is organized by the Italians.”

Political Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction (David Miller, 2003)

I love the "Very Short Introduction" series put out by Oxford University Press. I've just finished reading the one on Political Philosophy. The topic sounds daunting but it's written in a very clear readable manner. The chapters covered are:

• Why do we need political philosophy?
  
• Political authority
  
• Democracy
  
• Freedom and the limits of government
  
• Justice
  
• Feminism and multiculturism
  
• Nations, states and global justice

I found the last chapter on global justice particularly interesting. In contrast to cosmopolitanism, which is admittedly utopian, he outlines what I would consider a realistic vision of a world built on global justice:

"Political authority would rest primarily with nation-states, but they would collaborate to ensure that the costs and benefits of international cooperation were fairly distributed. Each political community would govern itself according to its own political traditions, and schemes of social justice would likewise vary somewhat from place to place. But everywhere human rights would be respected, and in cases where they were threatened, either by natural disasters such as drought or by oppressive regimes, other states would work together to ward off the threat. Some states would be richer than others; this would not be unjust provided that it resulted from political choice and cultural decisions rather than from economic exploitation. Some states would also be more democratic than others, but even those peoples who did not control their governors directly would identify with their government and feel that it represented their interests and values." (p130)

Sounds promising to me. I believe this vision has its roots in the political liberalism of John Rawls. Looks like it would be worth reading more about his ideas (e.g Original position).

I find books like these are very good at helping you test and strengthen your own opinions. I've been taking a closer look at where I stand on political issues and political philosophy gets right to the fundamentals.

Apple Day

Yesterday we dropped by the annual Orchard Open Day at Cross Lanes Fruit Farm in Mapledurham (just north of Reading). The kids tried the traditional apple peeler, saw the displays on apple growing and bee keeping, tasted lots of apples and had a go at the games. We also tagged along on a tour of the orchard by the owner, Gill Franklin, who is obviously very passionate about apples (trivia: the Romans introduced apples to England).

What makes Cross Lanes special is that they grow 60 different obscure British apple varieties (and some pears and plums) and take tremendous care to get the greatest flavour from them. It's a bastion of good practice and does its best to help keep local production alive.

Each apple variety peaks at a different time and are usually on sale for just a few weeks. The rolling harvest means that the apple season is stretched out from  August to December and then that's the end. There's no gassing of the apples and putting them in storage for 10 months. These apples aren't covered with pesticide residues and are truly flavourful.

The kids tried a dozen varities and settled on a bag of Red Devils that they're now taking to school. Next month, I'll have to remember to pick up a bag of Jesters when Cross Lanes show up at the local farmers' market.

Shopping Rights

Nice article on your shopping rights in the UK. There's also the DTI Fact Sheet on the Sale of Faulty Goods. No, haven't had any problems lately. I was just following links from the latest issue of Money Saving Expert.

The Yes Men (2003)

A comedy/documentary following some activists that impersonate the World Trade Organisation and work to correct their identity through outrageous presentations at conferences and to the media.

It's low-budget and not particularly hard hitting but it is great fun to watch. I truly admire people with the gall to do stuff life this. I had a great laugh over the re:burger and the economic analysis of slavery was good too.

Don't buy the DVD. Either rent it or download it off the 'net. It's worth watching.

The Yes Men website is also a good browse. There are links to parody corporate websites of Dow and Cargill and you can buy US Regime Change Playing Cards.

Yep, the world could use a lot of identity correction.

Bride & Prejudice (Gurinder Chadha, 2004)

A unique fusion of Indian and Western traditions in this retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice as a Bollywood film. It's fun and a bit corny - a snuggle-up-with-your-other-half movie. Aishwarya Rai is drop dead gorgeous.

One of the director's comments has stuck in my mind. Bollywood films, with their singing, dancing and fantasy sequences, are a celebration of life. I think that's true compared to other film traditions.

Southampton Boat Show

Spent today at the Southampton Boat Show with some friends. It's an absolutely massive event with every kind of vendor there is that has something to do with boats showing off their wares. The best part is going onboard all the different kinds of yachts and checking them out.

Sunseeker had a massive stand so I climbed aboard one of their baby luxuy powerboats since it had almost no line-up. It was a Predator 55 and sold for a cool £576,000. Yep, it was nice for the bottom of the range. Very comfy. Even had a small garage for a speedboat. The top of the range is around £5,000,000!

I stuck mostly to checking out 40' sailboats. It's the size I like. Not too big; not too small. Of the ones I looked at, my favourites were the Elan Impression 384 and 434 distributed by Moody. Excellent layout, comfortable, light and airy. No idea about how they perform. Base price of the 384 is £103,000. Reasonable compared to the cost of similiar size yachts.

No, I'm not about to buy a yacht but it's fun to think about it. If I was seriously going to try to do a lot of sailing, I would rather buy into a syndicate of some kind and share the expense with others.

Back to Schedule

We're finally back to a regular schedule for the rest of term. Kids are in school and all their activities and transport sorted out. K* has piano lessons, beavers, swimming and kindermusik. He's also signed up for football although I still have to check with the hospital whether that's ok with his leg still mending. R* has school play, cornet lessons and swimming. She's quit brownies because it's just too girlie and is currently deciding between either St. John's Ambulance Cadets or Sea Cadets.

Jenny started back full-time at the Tante Marie cooking school last Wednesday. It will keep her very busy until the end of November when she graduates. We celebrated her birthday yesterday at home.

So that leaves me at home mucking about with various projects and being a house hubby. I'm thinking about going back to work after we return from Christmas in Canada. TBD.

Our New Kitten

Last Friday we brought home our new kitten. He's a moggy we got for free from R*'s friend. He was born on July 9th which makes him 9 weeks old.

I've always wanted a cat and with R*'s gerbils gone it seemed like an obvious next pet for the family. R* would much rather have a dog and as much as we all like dogs, neither Jenny or I want to commit to daily dog walks. Cats are just so much easier to look after. Our only concern is whether K* will turn out to be allergic to him; it may turn out that we can't keep him. (the kitten that is although it's a close call).

The kitten was, in fact, my birthday present but we couldn't pick him up until after our holidays. R*'s been hounding me about what the cat name should be all summer as I reserved the right to make the final decision. R* wanted to call him Mewcus. No, definitely not! Chairman Meow was tempting. So was Elvis Catstello. It's been very tough and looking through Kessel's 15,000+ cat names didn't make it much easier. At the moment, it's either "Bobo" or "Pixel" as it's still a topic of family discussion.

Of course you never really "own" a cat.  It's just a cohabitation arrangement for mutual benifit.

Hog Day

While on holiday in France, Daniel and I were looking for motorcycles to hire but we never found any. We were told by one business that new insurance changes had made the business unviable. It's too bad I hadn't discovered Ride The World before we went on holiday as they list a few companies still renting bikes there. Anyway, we managed to rent some Harley's yesterday just before Daniel headed back to Canada.

Both bikes were 1200cc Sportsters rented from Thames Valley Harley-Davidson for £69. For me, this was my first ride after getting my motorcycle license seven months ago and by far the biggest bike I had ever ridden. I was a bit nervous but at some point you just have to get out and do it.

It was a perfect warm sunny and dry day to go for a ride. We skirted around south of Oxford and rode around the Cotswolds. Fabulous open windy roads out there. By the time we headed home through the Chilterns, I was much more relaxed and enjoying the ride. My hands stopped being numb from gripping the handles so hard! Altogether we covered 185 miles.

The Harley was really easy to ride. For such a big bike, it's not at all twitchy. The power comes on smooth and slowly and just keep coming on as much as you want. No big jolt of power. It definitely prefers to rumble along at low revs. The sound is terrific as you go down narrow streets between buildings on a high street.

After a pub dinner, we rode home at night which was not fun. With oncoming cars, you're obliged to use a low beam and if there's no street lighting, it's really hard to see what the next corner is like or where the road is turning! Freaky.

We returned the bikes this morning after going for another short ride. Definitely felt good swinging around the bends on the local backroads on a crisp sunny morning. I really should get myself some proper biking gear. I wouldn't mind trying out some of their other Harley's too!

While hunting for bike rentals in the UK, I also discovered Raceways in London. They look like a great place to hire a bike for the weekend.

Back From France

Boy it sure is nice to get home after a few weeks away! All-in-all, we had a good trip. Yes, Provence is pretty although it would be much better at the right time of year - late June/early July. Jenny loved the markets. I thought the Roman ruins were outstanding. The campsite further south near Perpignan was less than thrilling but more fun for the kids. It was less culture; more holiday suburbia.

Here's a picture of Jenny and I after racing some gokarts. It was a heap of fun. It was a first time for Jenny so she wasn't very speedy. The kids also got to try some real petrol-powered karts too but on a smaller track. One of a number of things we did.

Travelogue coming soon!