Do Something Extra

Some people haven't quite grasped this climate change thingie

2008-11-16T14:28:00.003Z

Some one directed my attention to this article

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20081112/1845132812.shtml

Just, wow.

I can't believe any company could be quite so, well, so not understanding of the point.
And to be supported by the transportation board.

Unbelievable.

Green Theatre Initiative

2008-09-17T12:29:00.003+01:00

A little bit of good news from the world of Theatre.

The Mayor of London's office has announced a 'Green Theatre Initiative' to help London's theatres drop 60% of carbon emissions by 2025.

More details including the press release, more info and a carbon calculator can be found at the Theatres Trust webpage.

Green Theatre Initiative

As a side note, I'm refusing to give Boris Johnson any credit for this one. I'm guessing that all he's done is add his signature to an existing plan. It's a little too sensible for the Buffoon to have had a part in

Arcola Energy

2007-07-23T18:02:00.000+01:00

Nope, not a sci-fi pipe dream but one very firmly based in real life.

The Arcola Theatre in Dalston, London have recently announced their intention to become a carbon-neutral theatre - one I back them 100% percent (no waste with that figure!)

Have a look at arcolaenergy.com to get more details - the links to the articles in the Guardian are particularly worth checking out also, especially to those of us in the world of theatre.

Expect this one to reappear in my posting in the future

Live Messenger adds charity to it's feature list

2007-06-16T15:16:00.001+01:00

Now, this is an odd one

I never thought I'd be supporting Microsoft in something that was environmentally positive (must be the power of the green shares and stocks at the moment ...)

Anyway, for users of Live Messenger 8.1 and above, Microsoft will now make donations to a (mainly US) clause of your choice just for adding a code to your name.

I'm hoping that there's no catch to this one

have a look for yourselves:

http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/Home/

Belu

2007-05-25T23:26:00.000+01:00

Everything about this little company seems to be a good thing - natural water bottled in the UK by a UK company in compostable, 100% recycled bottles and the profits go to Water Aid and other water based projects.

What's not to like?

CHeck for yourselves at www.belu.org

Pace of Progress Part 2

2007-04-14T19:52:00.000+01:00

5 months since the last update and what has my workspace managed to do?

Well the Water coolers have finally been connected to the mains supply - which means that we are now filtering our own spring water for drinking. Bins have arrived next to the new coolers that for just for plastic cups, which is also good.
I'm a little worried about the collection for these cups though - the pile of lightbulbs containing tungsten, mercury and other metals is growing ever greater and no battery collection has yet been arranged (other than the odd Freecycle pickup ;))

Thinking I might have to start pushing again a little - the Environmental committee has met a grand total of ZERO times - hmmm.

We have changed to GLH cars for our transport needs though. All their cars are now hybrid engines.

Things are happening but it does seem like red tape and beureacratic guidelines are not helping an awful lot.

Sigh ...

Local Works

2007-01-14T09:29:00.000Z

Local Works is the home site for supporters of the Sustainable Communities Bill.

In essence, it's wanting to promote more control of local communities by those communities, supported by the Government, and promoting sustainability.

More details can be found at the link above but this is one campaign that I'm really rooting for

Pay for rubbish

2007-01-08T13:26:00.000Z

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/08012007/140/new-pay-throw-rubbish-plan.html

The idea is that rather than getting your rubbish picked up for free, your recycling is picked up instead. I'm all for this with one little proviso - our local council (lewisham) is less than stellar at it's recycling pickups.

8 flats share 3 recycling bins and the only pickups are when myself or the better half call up to complain about the lack of service - hardly the weekly pickup we were promised.

Though, part of the problem may be some of the neighbours who still haven't read the list of items that Lewisham take (not as big as you would think). I'm having to pull out about a bin-bag of rubbish a week, removing non-recyclable items.

Ecotainment

2006-11-18T20:30:00.000Z

The entertainment industry is beginning to look into improving it's eco-friendliness.

To this end, a new website has been set-up to bring roadies, techs and everyone else involved together.

Find the site in it's early stages at ecotainment.co.uk

Streetcar

2006-11-14T12:59:00.000Z

While I'm on a posting frenzy, I'm also going to add that we've got rid of the car.

Instead we've joined Streetcar

In the last few months I think we've hired a car for about 4 hours. Everything else has been in walking distance, or public transport. It's working pretty well at the moment

Green Procurement Code

2006-11-14T12:52:00.000Z

For those of you inside the M25 and interested in getting your company to improve it's environmental impact, it may be worth having a gander at the Mayors Green Procurement Code (link)

And guess which company assists with it? I mentioned them several posts (and many months ago) - it may be starting to come together.

The pace of progress

2006-11-14T12:40:00.000Z

Way back when, I mentioned that I was looking into ways to improve the green footprint of my employers and figured that it was time for a (long-overdue) update.

Currently there is one bin for newspapers and magazines, all light bulbs (and we use many types) are collected, the Greencare UK water dispenser that has done so well is going to replace the other coolers that are around the building. So, not a great start.

But, we finally have an Environmental Committee and it's informal so there should be minimal beauracacy as we've all chosen to join to see what we can do.

I'll keep you all informed ...

Conserving water

2006-08-07T23:23:00.000+01:00

Further to the post on Thames Water (I was going to start a whole rant but cut it short - others have posted enough on that topic elsewhere) I got to thinking about my own water usage.

And it's not to bad for a First world Westener

For my morning ablutions:
While cleaning my teeth, I only run water to wash my mouth out and wash out the brush - it doesn't run for the 2+ mins I spend on my teeth
I have a shower not a bath and when applying shampoo or body wash I stop the shower - no point in running it if I'm not standing under it.
I normally dry shave
If making tea, I only pour enough in the kettle to fill the number of cups needed.
We don't have a dish washer so we wait until the sink is full before adding water (and Ecover dish wash :-))
The ironing also waits until we have a number of items
We use water from the tap for drinking and both drinking water and kettle water is filtered first (we'll be adding a limescale filter to the main water pipe soon)

I do buy the occasional bottle of mineral water to drink (I don't normally drink any kind of fizzy drinks) but I use either our tap water or the water from my workspace (we have our own supply and even sell some back to Thames Water!) to fill the bottle for several days.

The car rarely gets cleaned (or moved for that matter) and we have no garden (one of the joys of living in an apartment block)

There are still things we could improve on, I'm sure but it's a pretty good start

Water, water, everywhere ...

2006-08-07T23:10:00.000+01:00

... except in the pipes of Thames Water apparently.

London, UK, has been under a drought order since spring. Thames Water have spent £1.5millon (about US$3mil) on an advertising campaign showing London landmarks flooded.

This post on Digital Irony shows one of them and a quick web hunt will find the others.

To put that budget in perspective - the combined total fine of their last four pollution incidents comes to less than £200,000 and their profits are in the hundreds of millions.

This company are spending more on making themselves look good than on actually fixing the problem - but it doesn't matter as the Government isn't doing an awful lot to reprimand them.

Colour It Green

2006-04-04T18:52:00.000+01:00

Colour it Green - Together we can make a difference

Stumbled across the link and like the idea

Time Out London Magazine

2006-03-12T01:29:00.000Z

Just a quick notice to all that this weeks Time Out magazine for London has a green theme - buy from your local purveyor of magazines or order from the website.

Time Out London Magazine subscriptions and single issues - Time Out

Green Metropolis

2006-02-27T21:26:00.001Z

Looking to sell books that are just acting as dust magnets. Well, there is always Amazon but if you want to do a little bit extra, have a look at Green Metropolis

You get a set rate of £3 per book, plus some postage costs if it's a larger or hardback book. They will also put 5p towards the Tree for All Campaign from the Woodland Trust

Okay, so 5 pence isn't a huge amount but it's still better than nothing and £3 is about what you'd get for a normal paperback on any auction site.

how to get rid of the plastic water dispensor in the corner (kind of)

2006-02-25T20:03:00.000Z

For anyone bored of the water dispenser in the corner - have a gander at Greencare UK

They basically plumb into the water supply and provide filtered water rather having to use the heavy, awkward plastic bottles. They can even recycle the cups.

Having had one at our workplace for a while, I can throughly recommend them.

Waste Less

2006-02-11T19:43:00.000Z

I've recently begun looking into ways for my place of employment to become a little bit greener in it's operational practice.

At about this point, an advert caught my eye on the way home.
It's for Envirowise whose URL is nicely done to catch the eye of those who might otherwise turn the other way

www.maximiseprofit.org.uk See what I mean ;)

They can also be reached by entering www.wasteless.org.uk into your browser.

I'll keep posting with updates

Can't E-bay, won't rubbish.

2006-02-11T19:31:00.000Z

Ever wondered what to do with the stuff that won't sell on ebay but is not ready to be chucked out?

Freecycle may be just what you have been looking for.

Find a group that covers your local area, or start one that does, and post anything that you want to get rid of. The individual groups are part of the Yahoo Groups network (if that matters to you) but it does mean that there is minimal maintainence and the focus is then on actually offering items. Plus, of course, it doesn't cost anything to join, though you will need to have, or set up, a Yahoo ID.
Each group also has it's own Freecycle Cafe group that allows the chance to offer services, vouchers, and other non-item giving things that are in a similar vein.

They explain it very well so it makes much more sense to mosey on over and read up for yourself. It's amazing what gets offered on there and sometimes people want stuff almost as soon as you've posted it

There is also the Cheapcycle option but it seems very lonely over there :)

Another website for helping out

2006-01-14T01:05:00.000Z

A quick post to mention FreeDonation.com

Does exactly what it says on the tin

Family tree

2005-08-23T02:54:00.000+01:00

My word it’s been a while since I last published, well, anything. RL does that.
I have a new project. I’m slowly collated together a family tree. And if anyone has free search sites I’d love to hear about them.
I already use http://genesreconnected.co.uk, http://www.curiousfox.org.uk, and http://www.ancestrysearch.co.uk but the more the merrier right. I use http://www.familysearch.org also.

Any help appreciated

Pledge Bank

2005-06-13T13:42:00.000+01:00

www.pledgebank.com

Found this through the No2ID campaign. All those times when you've thought that you'd like to do something but you wanted to know that you weren't the only person in the world, now you have a place to get others to pledge to do the same.

I personally think that some of the pledge by dates are a little soon, especially for what appears to be site still in the beta phase but the idea is long overdue.

Book Watch

2005-06-12T15:47:00.000+01:00

This is for a book that pulled me away from my normal genres.

Worth reading through - it's a very human story.

You'll note that I've solved the problem about images - thanks to Amazon updating their html code for linkthroughs

And another

2005-06-12T15:30:00.000+01:00

http://www.no2id.org.uk
You can tell these are riling me - nothing for over a month and then two posts at once.
This particularly.
I took part in the original YouGov survey on ID cards way back when. At this point it was proposed at £50 - not the exorbinate £300 now being mooted. The stat that 57%, or there abouts of respondants supported the scheme is actually made up of about 32% strongly supporting and 25% somewhat supporting. Just remember the price difference also in this. And this before the findings that, on average, the biometrics only work on about two thirds of the populace

I still fail to see how an ID card is going to help the 'war on terror'. Now, I get having a (inter)nationally recognised ID but surely, isn't that what the passport is for? Or the driving license? I get an ID for those who choose to live in the UK and don't drive or fly but at £300 !?! WTF? What good is yet another card going to do?
Now if the plans were to incorporate all existing licenses into one ID, it would make SOME sense.

But in the current state, it just smells of a back-hand deal; of some American company who have had one too many US focus groups flat-right saying NO to national ID so they have decided to bully the other side of the Pond instead to try to answer to their shareholders.

More very likely to follow (assuming RL doesn' bite me in the ass again)

Make Poverty History

2005-06-12T15:27:00.000+01:00

http://www.makepovertyhistory.org

Does what it says on the tin.
I'm beginning to think more and more that the politicos need to be seen to be doing something to alleviate the suffering that we see day in, day out.

Otherwise, there's going to be point that it's all just going to kick off

Two Years

2005-04-29T20:51:00.000+01:00

Two Years

Try to ignore the political element and just let it serve as a reason why conflict is bad ...

Who Should You Vote For?

2005-04-20T23:57:00.000+01:00

Who Should You Vote For?

Does exactly what it says on the tin.
For those of us in the UK whom the election is passing us by but still feel that the vote is important enough to be used.

Give it a try - the worse that can happen is that you disagree ;)

Warms the cockles of your heart

2005-03-26T16:11:00.000Z

Received this email through (Thx Paul)

Don't know if it's a true story or not but I really, really hope so.

>Subject: This is what its all about!!!
>
>
>
>A Little Story
>
>You make the choice. Don't look for a punch line. There isn't one. Read it
>anyway.
>
>My question to all of you is: Would you have made the same choice?
>
>At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning disabled children,
>the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be
>forgotten by all who attended.
>
>After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question.
>
>"When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is
>done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other
>children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the
>natural order of things in my son?"
>
>The audience was stilled by the query.
>
>The father continued. "I believe, that when a child like Shay comes into the
>world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it
>comes, in the way other people treat that child."
>
>
>Then he told the following story: Shay and his father had walked past a park
>where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball.
>
>Shay asked, "Do you think they'll let me play?"
>
>Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on
>their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to
>play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging. Shay's father
>approached one of the boys on the field and asked if Shay could play.
>
>The boy looked around for guidance and, getting none, he took matters into
>his own hands and said, "We're losing by six runs and the game is in the
>eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to
>bat in the ninth inning."
>
>In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was
>still behind by three In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove
>and played in the outfield.
>
>Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in
>the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to
>him from the stands.
>
>In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two
>outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay
>was scheduled to be next at bat.
>
>At this juncture, let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?
>
>Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but
>impossible 'cause Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much
>less connect with the ball.
>
>However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved in a few steps
>to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least be able to make contact.
>
>The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again
>took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.
>
>As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball
>right back to the pitcher.
>
>The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the
>ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been
>the end of the game.
>
>Instead, the pitcher took the ball and turned and threw the ball on a high
>arc to right field, far beyond the reach of the first baseman.
>
>Everyone started yelling, "Shay, run to first! Run to first!"
>
>Never in his life had Shay ever made it to first base. He scampered down the
>baseline, wide-eyed and startled.
>
>Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!"
>
>By the time Shay rounded first base, the right fielder had the ball.
>
>He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he
>understood the pitcher's intentions and intentionally threw the ball high
>and far over the third-baseman's head.
>
>Shay ran toward second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled
>the bases toward home.
>
>Shay reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran to him, turned him in
>the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third!"
>
>As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams were screaming, "Shay, run
>home!"
>
>Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit
>the "grand slam" and won the game for his team.
>
>"That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face,
>"the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity
>into this world."
>
>AND, NOW A LITTLE FOOTNOTE TO THIS STORY: We all send thousands of jokes
>through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending
>messages about life choices, people think twice about sharing.
>
>The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but
>public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and
>workplaces.
>
>If you're thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that you're
>probably sorting out the people on your address list that aren't the
>"appropriate" ones to receive this type of message.
>
>Well, the person who sent you this believes that we all can make a
>difference. We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help
>realize the "natural order of things."
>
>So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a
>choice:
>
>Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up that
>opportunity, and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?

>Friends are quiet angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble
>remembering how to fly.

Ethics

2005-03-26T15:23:00.000Z

Not content with getting green power (see below) I've also been updating my finances. over the last few weeks I've switched from lloydsTSB who have been my bank since before TSB were taken over by Lloyds to having a current account from Smile. Then taking out a mini ISA which now had a higher rate of interest as I had another account with Smile, which in turn gives a higher rate of interest on the current account. A no notice savings account as an emergency store and a new credit card have completed Smile's takeover of my wallet.

The transfer has been painless so far and I've taken the opportunity to cancel a standing order that I didn't really need anymore.

Just need to get that pension sorted now ...

Green power

2005-03-26T15:13:00.000Z

In another of my doing something extra, we have switched to Juice from npower. Didn't cost a penny and the leccy we use is matched by North Hoyle Offshore Wind Farm. N-power also have other energy saving ideas on their website.

If you are looking to go green with your power, head over to uswitch. Just been looking at this for the in-laws and found that we could save them up to £150 to switch to a green power supplier.

No reason not to switch now.

And on a lighter note ...

2005-02-21T13:51:00.000Z

Received this email today and it's definitely worth reading ...

Enjoy!

If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days you would have produced
enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.

(Hardly seems worth it.)

If you farted consistently for 6 years and 9 months, enough gas is produced
to create the energy of an atomic bomb.

(Now that's more like it!)

The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to
squirt blood 30 feet.

(O.M.G.!)

A pig's orgasm lasts 30 minutes.

(In my next life, I want to be a pig.)

A cockroach will live nine days without its head before it starves to death.

(Creepy.)

(I'm still not over the pig.)

Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories a hour

(Don't try this at home, maybe at work)

The male praying mantis cannot copulate while its head is attached to its
body. The female initiates sex by ripping the male's head off.

("Honey, I'm home. What the....?!")

The flea can jump 350 times its body length. It's like a human jumping the
length of a football field.

(30 minutes. lucky pig! Can you imagine?)

The catfish has over 27,000 taste buds.

(What could be so tasty on the bottom of a pond?)

Some lions mate over 50 times a day.

(I still want to be a pig in my next life...quality over quantity)

Butterflies taste with their feet.

(Something I always wanted to know.)

The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.

(Hmmmmmm......)

Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed
people.

(If you're ambidextrous, do you split the difference?)

Elephants are the only animals that cannot jump.

(okay, so that would be a good thing)

A cat's urine glows under a black light.

(I wonder who was paid to figure that out.)

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

(I know some people like that.)

Starfish have no brains.

(I know some people like that too.)

Polar bears are left-handed.

(If they switch, they'll live a lot longer)

Humans and dolphins are the only species that have sex for pleasure.

(What about that pig??)

Green News

2005-02-19T17:03:00.000Z

Since the Kyoto Protocol came into effect this week it has been heartening to see all the articles in the press promoting green living.

One hopes that these become a regular feature and are not relegated. While Kyoto does not nearly begin to solve the problem of climate alteration, it is mostly definitely a start.

188 countries have ratified or accepted the Convention on Climate Change since it's inception in the earlies '90s: the exceptions are Andorra, Brunei Darussalem, Holy See, Iraq, and Somalia.

However, only 141 countries have ratified the Kyoto Protocol which followed the convention. 6 more countries, including the US and Australia, have signed the Protocol but have not ratified it yet.

So that's 40% of greenhouse gas emissions that the offending countries refuse to deal with. And with the whole Protocol only asking an average 5% decrease in emissions, the scope of the problem really starts to be apparent.

THe UNs own page on Kyoto is a good start to really get into this. Watch out, it can be convoluted.

It leaves you wondering if the UN has any purpose any more.

URGENT food warning

2005-02-19T14:26:00.000Z

Just seen this. A UK banned chemical dye has somehow managed to contaminate 359 food items available at all major supermarkets. Click the link to get a list complied by the FSA

Yahoo News Article

With any luck this should kickstart the various campaigns to have artificial ingredients from food removed

Human Condition 2

2005-02-05T15:06:00.000Z

I suspect that this thread is one that is going to go on and on ...

This time our subject is an elderly woman who has sucessfully sued two girls who baked her cookies for bringing on an anxiety attack

OH MY GOD!

Read the article http://http://uk.news.yahoo.com/050204/80/fbtoj.html and weep.

Earth from the Air

2005-01-27T20:04:00.000Z

Earth from the Air

My 'Do Something Extra' for this week (month) is to peruse this site. It's a collection of photos by Yann Arthus-Bertrand that are striking and in some cases defy any words.
It also provides links to things that you can do for yourself to help to global community.
Definitely recommended.

2005-01-24T19:51:00.000Z

Just what is it about the Tsunami that hit SE Asia that has had such a global appeal when the earthquakes, monsoons and hurricanes that battered Iran, America, Bangladesh barely got a mention.

It is a tragedy certainly, one that 165,000 are presumed to have died and http://www.dec.org.uk are current saying that 5 million people have been affected. I trust that everyone has donated and will continue to do so. But remember that there are many other tragedies in the world also.

I urge you to make a commitment to start a regular donation to a charitable cause, be it global or local and support your chosen cause in addition to other events that occur.

If we are did just one little thing more, surely we could improve our planet just that little bit more.

Jerry Springer encourages debate

2005-01-11T01:59:00.000Z

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | TV and Radio | Group to act over Springer opera

Christian Voice say they intend to sue the Beeb for broadcasting a live recording of Jerry Springer the Opera.
WHY?
At what point does a TV station become liable for that? Certainly the content of the show is offensive to some people. I won't dispute that. Oddly enough, many things are offensive to some people. But the BBC are just portraying something that has been running for a few years in one form or another. Why is it suddenly a big thing? What is it about putting the show on the TV that has caused such a fracas? Especially when the TV show itself has been running for over a decade.

For pity's sake, over 150,000 people are dead in South Asia because of a tsunami, millions of people across Africa are starving, Iraqi citizens of all creeds are experiencing one of the most troubled times of their history, and a few Brits are burning their TV license because they don't seem to understand the concept of satire. I fail to see how Jerry is any worse than, say The Producers.

Answers on a postcard ...

2005-01-01T18:56:00.000Z

I was watching a documentary about Cirque du Soliel and the looks of absolute awe on the faces of the audience reminded me just why I work in the theatre biz.

Sure you get the more political-make-a-statement-style pieces such as the abortive Behzti but there is definitely something in helping people experience a piece of live theatre that will never come again and brings a little joy into a world that seems to care less and less.

Tsunami

2004-12-30T20:38:00.000Z

Our thoughts and prayers go to the survivors of those caught in the Indian Ocean Tsunami, and to the families and friends of the, currently 125,000, feared dead.

Nothing we can say will lessen the pain - the most we can hope to do is to somehow contribute to rehabilitating all those affected and also contribute to systems to provide protection in the future

Indonesian Tsunami

2004-12-29T21:10:00.000Z

Our thoughts and prayers go to the survivors of those
affected.

On a side note, for some reason I find it little
reprehensible that the Evening Standard, Londons local
paper is focussing on the 50 Britons known to be
fatalities, rather than the 70,000 grand total (so far).

___________________________________________________________
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When The Filament Fades

2004-12-27T21:56:00.000Z

When The Filament Fades

It probably won't make a huge amount of sense to any non-theatre person but it's a great piece of writing

Do a good deed

2004-12-27T18:27:00.000Z

For anyone looking for a quick help to charity that can be done in a minute or so, try clicking on these sites. Won't cost you a penny
The Hunger Site - Has links to other similar sites on various good causes
Redjellyfish.com - two click buttons for helping chimps and the rainforest
Ecologyfund.com - several buttons for environmentally friendly concerns

You could probably do these sites in the time it takes to download your emails

2004-12-27T18:17:00.000Z

Spent the day wondering around London city as a full-blown tourist and got my fix of culture for the season.
Went from HMS Belfast across Tower Bridge past the Tower (busy) up to Whitechapel Art Gallery (closed) then back through the city past the Lloyds building (looks like a factory) and Bank. Stopped at the crypt cafe under St Pauls for a very nice, if a little pricey, meal. We then carried on down Fleet Street to Temple (closed) then up past Trafalgar Square (not stopping) to the Royal Academy to see the William Nicholson exhibition
His work is oddly better from a distance for the most part, with some great landscapes and a slightly sardonic view of those in power.