Chat and Chomp: The Finale

A few years back, Phil Hewitson of Carlisle Speakeasy and Caldew Press, roped me into a community project based in Upperby, Carlisle, just around the corner from where I live. The idea was to create a space where people could meet up, have a craic – and do that over a meal. With the support of ST Margaret mary’s Community Centre and an array of councillors from Carlisle City Council as it was then, Chat and Chomp born. Phil’s connection was filming the project for Tony Brown the community organiser who kept the organisation running and did the donkey work of applying for the necessary grants, reporting and MC-ing the Monday lunchtime sessions. The results of those filming projects can be seen here, in the Chat & Chomp: Currock and Upperby...

Climate Disinformation in The Wake of the UN Climate Summit

Because the oil industry is on the back foot now, they are using their obscene wealth to double down on their disinformation PR campaigns globally, to con the gullible into ignoring the blatantly obvious warning signs that we are f*cking up our little spaceship Earth! A friend posted a video from the Youtube channel “Friends of Science” (sic). In it a very “lovely” grandmotherly figure (clearly a cold calculating, cynical, “take the money and run” lying bastard) talks in soothing tones about how Greta and the youngsters (whom she so respects “for standing up for something”) have been misled and how climate change is nothing to do with human activity, but do with natural processes and cycles. Her soothing tones cover...

The Case For A Climbing Wall In a Redeveloped Sands Centre

Recently it came to our attention that the new management of the Sands Centre here in Carlisle, were about to push through changes that would see the Sands’ current climbing wall demolished with no plans to replace it in the new facility. For the City’s growing climbing community it represents a real loss. Pete Gunn, has organised a petition through Change.Org to try and get a rethink on this short sighted decision (IMHO). It’s the only decent sized leading wall in North Cumbria and for those living in the Borders. Kendal’s massive wall is 50 miles away and it’s 60 miles to Newcastle the nearest alternative large lead wall. Under Pete and Davina’s stewardship, it’s open to the public 7 days a week and these two...

Climate, Science and the Scourge of the Denialist

Who Do You Put Your Faith In For Climate Change Reality Checks? In the Climate Change and Global Warming debate, human beings are getting very tribal again.  The debate is polarising into the Greens and the Denialists. I have to say right at the outset I am a Green (ish). My ire was triggered by the report from climate scientists, publicised on the Mashable blog, that the atmospheric CO2 level has already passed the 400 parts per million (0.004%) this year, weeks earlier than its first recorded 400ppm+ reading last year and its showing now sign of slowing down.  (0.002% was more or less the textbook norm that we were taught as young Chemistry school students 40 odd years ago). In my Google Plus feed I noticed that Mashable had put the post out publicly and as...

The Best Plumbers Know This Science All Too Well!

My forays into plumbing have been pretty limited.  A bathroom rebuild, a kitchen refit and a few plumbed in appliances are about it!  What’ll be keeping our plumbers exercised this winter will be the consequences of  the good old frozen pipes.  As we all probably know, it’s not the freezing spell that gives the biggest headache, it’s the thaw that that unleashes all the water over your best furniture and carpets.  Where I live now, is a nicely insulated little semi that escaped any real problems last winter.  This coming winter though…  the weathermen seem to be predicting gloomy cold times. In a previous lifetime, I was a Science teacher at one of the local secondary schools.  I was a little infamous for bangs, smells and shocks!  One of...