Tag Archives: modern life

Why don’t I get out into the countryside more often?

On Monday, it was my day off.  My older son (just back from university for Easter) and I set out on our bikes.  We went down to the sea-front, along the eastern arm of Shoreham Harbour and crossed at the lock gates.  At Shoreham, we turned up the old railway line, now a trackway, andContinue reading “Why don’t I get out into the countryside more often?”

Time to re-think energy

Yesterday’s referral of the U.K.’s six biggest energy companies to the Competition and Markets Authority gives us a choice between a bad situation and a good situation.  The enquiry could take as long as two years. Already, investment in our energy supply is behind where it should be if we are (to use the over-wornContinue reading “Time to re-think energy”

Burn, baby, burn

The second biggest energy company in the UK, SSE, has announced a price freeze on domestic gas and electricity until 2016.  Good news for customers for the next two years, then. That’s the limit of the good news in this announcement.  Because of the expectation that this will hit the firm’s profits, they have alsoContinue reading “Burn, baby, burn”

Get thee behind me, shiny new bike

Here is Mrs Mabbsonsea’s shiny new bike.   It was fair enough. Her old one, which had carried each of our 3 children and all sorts of baggage as well as Mrs M herself over its 18 years, had stopped co-operating. Here, by way of contrast, is my bike:   It’s just over a yearContinue reading “Get thee behind me, shiny new bike”

In praise of cassette tape

This weekend marks 50 years of the humble cassette tape. These days, we only have one cassette machine.  iTunes has changed my life, but it always feels, somehow, a little grey and flat. In the olden days, I made a lot of cassette recordings.  To begin with, I used our battery-powered portable recorder, and placedContinue reading “In praise of cassette tape”

Sacred Economics

I came across this film of Charles Eisenstein talking about economics based on gifts rather than earnings – economics not predicated on growth.   I thought it was very interesting … Sacred Economics I’m currently reading Bill McKibben’s book ‘Eaarth’.  Thus far in (just finished chapter 2), he is also challenging the notion of endlessContinue reading “Sacred Economics”

Listen!

Today is World Listening Day.   Sponsored by the World Listening Project and celebrating the birthday (80 today) of Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer, one of the day’s purposes is “to celebrate the practice of listening as it relates to the world around us, environmental awareness, and acoustic ecology” (from http://www.worldlisteningproject.org).  Schafer is one ofContinue reading “Listen!”