2010: Living in the Future (38 Years On)

In 1972 Geoffrey Hoyle wrote a children's book called 2010: Living in the Future.

Well 2010 is now the present, so take a look at the book on Tumblr courtesy of Daniel Sinker and see how close and far out some of the predictions are. Also see how some mix futuristic ideas with old school technology. You can even add a comment if you want.

A interesting thing to have stumbled upon on a Sunday afternoon. Indeed reading it I have a feeling that I actually have read this before, back in the 70s. It would have been the sort of book I would have picked up at my local library.

UPDATE: It gets better Daniel has managed to track down the author and has sent him an email to find out how he thinks the real 2010 compares with his vision of it. There is a Facebook group that was set up to find him, I look forward to hearing any potential response.

Patrick Hannan: A Useful Fiction First Impressions

On Tuesday I finally received a promised review copy of Patrick Hannan's book A Useful Fiction: Adventures in British Democracy I was hoping it would live up to the adventure element of the sub-title. Well it certainly has in what I have read so far. Take the opening three paragraphs:

'If you want to find out what Britishness is there are some obvious places
to for an answer. Top of the list is the British, perhaps, is the British Council, the United Kingdom's leading cultural messenger abroad. If they don't know, who does? And who better to consult there than the chairman, Neil Kinnock, a man who over many years has been on a long journey around questions of national identity within Britain and outside it; forty years of travelling from denim-clad, red-haired, endlessly loquacious, Welsh scourge of the establishment to an unexpected terminus as the neatly-suited, bald-headed, ex-Eurocrat, the Rt. Hon. Lord Kinnock of Bedwelty. So I went to the council's offices in a street which, on the borders of the Mall, Whitehall and Trafalgar Square, is at what is more or less the centre of gravity of establishment Britain. In Kinnock's office on the sixth floor you felt you could almost lean out and touch the Houses of Parliament.

'As we drank tea I asked him: "What does the British Council say Britishness is?"

'His answer was unexpectedly succinct: "It never does."'

Well apart from throwing in a early reference to tea that Arthur Dent's creator would be proud of. The descriptive language of Baron Kinnock of Bedwelty's journey has indeed proved the sign of things to come. His later retelling of how he was corrected on the length of the Irish issue brought a smile to this Ulsterman. He also tells us that King Lear was a play about devolution. That even John Major's measure of Britishness was one he was born too late for. Plus points out that while marrying a Roman Catholic leads to forfeiture of your place in the line of succession there is nothing to prevent Prince William marrying a Muslim, Hindu or Scientologist and still eventually succeeding in the steps of his Grandmother up to the throne.

The themes that I've seen him explore thus far have been done with enough tongue in cheek to make valid points. Enough explanation so that people who aren't as anoraky as me can follow what he's saying.

I hope to finish the rest of the book over the weekend and give a full and proper review next week once I've completed it.

What I can say 5 chapters in is well worth a read.

Grow and Cook Your Own Veg

I bought a couple of excellent books today that I would heartily recommend for all manner of reasons.

Firstly anyone who has been watching Gardeners' World will have already fallen in love with Carol Klein's earthy and organic approach to growing you own fruit and veg long before she had the spin off series Grow Your Own Veg and Grow Your Own Fruit. Both of which come with their own books the veg one I got this morning along with its companion Cook Your Own Veg.

The purchase of both these books together may well have flagged up some warning at the Home Office but I paid by cash so shush. However, I did also get them along with Cook with Jamie so maybe buying Number 10s favourite chef may have got me away with it.

However, the two books by Carol are excellent because they provide readers with an excellent, seasonal way to get from seed to table their own organic produce. When to sow, how to look after, how to harvest, prepare to store and some tasty ways to prepare the end result. Now if only I could get myself an allotment or at east be able to afford to buy somewhere with a garden that I could utilise the first book. But if you are able to use both books fully do so as your food miles will be reduced considerably and greatly also cut your carbon footprint.

As it is I'll be using a lot more of the seasonal information to prepare my own menus. Although I'm currently on the hunt for green puy lentils which seem to me missing from Tesco both at Edinburgh Park and Bathgate. I may have to head into Linvingston tomorrow see what I can find.

Debt Collectors Coming for Missing Library Books!!!

Well apparently I live in the Scottish council area with more missing books from its library service than any other. West Lothian has apparently got £51, 218 of missing stock. I would like to assure you dear readers that I personally have no outstanding library books, at the time of writing.



It appears that the council in order to regain this missing stock are about to call in a debt recovery service. Now I've not seen any signs recently advertising a late returns amnesty or anything similar to attempt to draw in the missing stock (I may have missed it and this step could already have been taken). It may well be that some of that stock has been forgotten about and when found the possible late fine is too much for the person with the book decided that it was better to forget about the ensuing fine.

An amnesty of course may not totally work, but what is the cost to employ a debt recovery service to get these books returned? Has anyone done a cost benefit analysis of taking such action for these particular library books? Assuming an average cost of £10 per book, that would be about 5,000 books out there somewhere in West Lothian. The average Library user you would assume as between 3 to 5 books at any time. Say there are 1,500 households involved. The debt recovery service would then be mailing out, possibly with visitation is nothing is forthcoming after a number of mailings.

Seeing as I still get mail for the two previous residents of the flat I've lived in for 30 months depending how far back these missing books go back, in a transient, contractor style environment like West Lothian is at times. It is possible that many of those addressees are no longer present at the address where they registered for their library card. I hope someone at the council has done something obvious, like compare names and addresses of late returnees against say the electoral roll and written to them first if they matched. Rather than this simply being another case of Nationalists wanting control of all the minutiae of people's lives.

Who is this Stephen Linlithgow?

Caron has received her copy of Total Politics Guide to Political Blogging in the UK 2008-9 but apparently in the Scottish section there is the following quote:

"reading the likes of Fraser MacPherson, Stephen Linlithgow and Underdogs Bite
Upwards is a useful insight into Lib Dem thinking and how this might
affect things in Edinburgh"

Erm, who is this super blogger? Sarge?

No!

Rosemary the telephone operator?

No!

Penry the mild-mannered janitor?

Erm...enough of this phooey.

It says quite clearly at the top of this page under the title "Blog of Stephen Glenn". Even the posted by bit at the bottom of each entry unless done by Lionel de Livi a rather fluffy Lib Dem and sportsmad addition in recent months says Stephen Glenn. So who this Stephen Linlithgow guy is I have no idea, furtunatly if you google Stephen Linlithgow this blog is the top hit which is better than under my real name where the blog is only 4th* so maybe I'll be changing it by deed poll. Only joking mum.

At least Nich Starling of Norfolk fame gets it right with hios quote in the Lib Dem section and probably sums up the essence of my blog in the quote he took the one about about attacking when you need to and praising when I can.

Anyhoo my name's in print, again, along with a whole host of others, ad plenty of articles about political blogging across the United Kingdom of all shades from all corners. If you are going to conference make sure you get a copy or click on the pic at the top to link through to order it for yourself if like me you aren't heading to a conference this autumn.

*Although the top hit is this article by me for Our Kingdom and second is me guest editing the Scottish Roundup.

The Second Greatest Science Writer Has Gone

At the age of 8 I once wrote an essay in class called "Journey to the Moon". The reason I remember this particular childhood essay is that it took up 11 pages of my exercise book, normally they took a max of three and the comments at the end in red ink. 'Are we ever going to get to the moon or are you the next Arthur C Clarke?'

The reason for this comment was that despite 11 pages of an 8 year olds early attempt at science fiction he had not managed to get out of earth's gravity on this trip to the moon. The teacher had spotted at an early age my love for the genre, and sub consciously had attracted me to my father's bookshelves. These were full of Clarke and Isaac Asimov and my love for Sci-fi continued to blossom so much so that the unfinished novel on my hard drive is a sci-fi book of considerably more than 11 pages, but at least the ending has already been writing I'm just working on getting there through the twists and turns I've set in motion.

The great man, who himself said he had entered his 90th orbit around the Sun, passed away appropriately enough at the Apollo Hospital in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Since Apollo 11, 12, 14 through 17 all achieved what that 8 year olds essay never did and reached the moon. It seems appropriate that a full circle seems to have been encompassed in the death of the "greatest science fiction writer in the world" in accordance with the Clarke-Asimov Treaty.

So the last of the big three, along with Asimov and Robert A. Heinlein, and a truly inspirational and has finally thrown off this mortal coil. He will be free of the post-polio symptoms he'd suffered from since the 1960s but will this world ever see the likes of such great writers and visioniaries in my favourite genre again.

We can but try.

Pratchett Not Doing a Mark Twain

As has been noted before on this blog I am an avid reader of the novels of Terry Pratchett. So it was with shock that I read this morning, that not only had he had a minor stroke but had also be diagnosed with a rare form of early Alzheimer's.

The Author says he still has a few books in his yet. Nation is nearing completions and Unseen Academicals (possibly based on Saturday's performance at the football) is well annotated ready to roll. I shall be treasuring these and however many more he can produce from now on. I just hope they can find an equivalent of Dried Frog Pills with which to treat him.

Having had a Grandmother who suffered Alzheimer's I know that if they have diagnosed him early he may well have many years and many novels left in him yet. However, for those who want to know more or want to know how to give to research into trying to find a cure for this yet incurable disease I have provided two UK links below.

The Alzheimer's Society

The Alzheimer's Research Trust

What next for teenage wizard?

I'm quite surprised I managed to prepare for my candidate development day yesterday and read the lastest Harry Potter book all in the space of about 9 hectic days. Fear not I will not spoil the plot I'm just looking forward to the next and final installment.

Anyone know of a good reliable time machine I could borrow? So I can grab the new one now!