My favourite British politician. You might have seen him in Michael Moore's, Sicko.

Another reason to remain in Britain. . .

(This report is from the BBC website)

Veteran left-winger Tony Benn is planning to stand for Parliament again, he has said.
The 82-year-old, a Labour MP until 2001, wants to be the party's candidate for Kensington in west London.
Mr Benn said: "There's a general election on the way and Kensington is looking for a candidate. I've written to them to see if I can stand."
Mr Benn's son Hilary is in the Cabinet and his granddaughter Emily is already a Labour candidate in East Worthing.
'Age no problem'
Mr Benn, who was an MP for almost 50 years before retiring, said: "If they would like me to stand, I would like to be there.
"I'm not sure if I would be selected but I'd like to do it. I don't think my age would be a problem. "I believe in saying the same thing inside and outside Parliament.
"I believe in peace, not taxing students with enormous loans and securing a referendum on the EU."
Mr Benn is an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq.
The Kensington constituency, submerged into Kensington and Chelsea in 1997 boundary changes, has been revived in the latest seats shake-up.
This will come into effect at the next general election.
Currently represented by Tory former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind, it is one of the safest Conservative seats.
But the party's margin is expected to be much smaller in the revived Kensington, which retains poor areas of Notting Hill in the north but loses some of the rich south.
Mr Benn's son Hilary is currently the environment secretary, while 18-year-old granddaughter Emily is the Labour candidate for East Worthing and Shoreham for the next general election.

HM Queen Elizabeth II

Becoming British: Step 7

Our Citizenship Ceremony is scheduled for the 21st of November. It will take place in the Guildhall here in Bath. Maurene and I wish members of our family and friends who live 'across the pond' could attend. We will have a photographer on hand and will post some photos on the blog.

From the instruction letter:

The ceremony will include taking an oath (or affirmation) of allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and a pledge of loyalty to the United Kingdom. The only thing I've ever pledged allegiance to was the flag. Is Queen Elizabeth going to be mounted on the wall?

I'm a lumberjack
This performance was at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the memorial concert for George Harrison. Note Tom Hanks on the right side of the front row of the Mounties.

Our book signed, we were suprised to see that the queue still extended into the street as we left.

MP looks at the number of people in the queue and smiles as he realises how much his little jaunt to Bath has added to his bank account.

"In all of the book signings I have done, I have never seen Maurene spelled that way."

Michael Palin

I have always love the work of Monty Python and especially John Cleese and Michael Palin. Years have passed, and Michael Palin is now most noted for his BBC travelogues. He was in Bath today at a book signing and Maurene and I decided to go. Maurene had seen Michael on the street in Hampstead when we still lived in London.

He was quite talkative and friendly, even at a book signing, which in typical British fashion was run to precision. He was fascinated with the spelling of Maurene's name and when she told him we were envious of all of his travel adventures he commented that it was never too late to start. I wanted to tell him that I'd be happy to travel all of those places if the Beeb would pick up the tab.

The one photo is a bit blurred. The bookshop prohibited flash photography. I will also include Michael's famous rendition of 'I'm a lumberjack' in the next post.

Can you guess our arrival station?

Obviously, a Scottish artisan. . .

In a couple of hours high tide will obliterate all of this hard work.

If you step on a crack, you'll. . .

Yes, it certainly looks like a crack in the floor!

Our day trip to London: Part 2. . .(click on photos)

The Tate Modern Gallery always has a thought-provoking display in the massive turbine hall. Right now, they are displaying the work of Doris Salcedo, entitled, Shibboleth. It is actually a crack that begins very small in the concrete floor at one end of the turbine hall, but by the other end (167 metres) it is large enough to swallow a large house cat or small dog. Parents are urged to watch their small children carefully. I think I was more fascinated with the people's reactions to the work of art than I was with the work itself. And perhaps that is what it is all about. Anyway, I have included a couple of photographs of her work and compared them with a street artist who was taking advantage of low tide and make rather impressive sand sculptures. Tourists, please throw money!

Is it art? Hundreds of people view Doris Salcedo's 167 metre long crack in the floor of the Tate Modern Gallery. More on this later.

St. Paul's from the South Bank

For some strange reason, First Class tickets were cheaper on this particular day than standard class. So, Maurene tries to look quite pretentious as we are served free tea and get a free newspaper.

On our way. . .I always sleep with a contented smile

Day trip to London. . .

Yesterday, Maurene and I journeyed to London to hear John Spong lecture at an Anglican Church just across from Waterloo Station. It is easy to forget how London teems with energy, hustle and bustle. We enjoyed our day but were glad to get home! Must be getting old.

This picture truly is worth a thousand words. . .

South Africa 15 England 6

St. Alfred: Patron Saint of Preachers

Things you sometimes notice in church. . .

Our church in central Bath was built in 1789. Consequently, it is filled with brass plaques in memory of different individuals. These plaques are normally attached to a piece of furniture, a stained glass window or some other gift that was left in memory of the deceased saint. Central has a 'high pulpit' which is quite prevalent in Congregational churches. During the hymn prior to the reading of the gospel I climb the steps and sit with my birdseye's view of the congregation. As the gospel was being read this morning, I glanced around the pulpit and noticed a plaque that had not caught my attention in 20 months since we arrived. The pulpit was given in honour of Alfred Hitchcock. Could it be? No, although Hitchcock was born in London I seriously doubt that he was an Elder at Central or the Church Secretary. But, it added a bit of comic relief. I'm sure I'll have an opportunity to use it in the future. Remember, most folks never go up in to the pulpit. It is considered 'sacred' ground. So, I doubt if many folks are aware that the plaque even exists.

Jonny Wilkinson drop kicks England into the finals
Two minutes into the match England scores the only 'try' of the evening
Rugby isn't for wimps

Give that man a faceguard

66 to 1

Just two weeks ago England's Rugby Team were 66 to 1 underdogs to win the World Cup. After last week's defeat of Australia England faced even stiffer competition on Saturday evening in Paris. But now they have reached the finals after humiliating France on their own home turf.

England 14 Les Bleu 9!

Step 6 -Click for larger copy

Naturalisation - Step 6

Today we received from the Home Office our notification that we have been approved for British Citizenship. We will now await, by mail, our invitation to the mandatory citizenship ceremony which will probably take place in the Guildhall (courthouse) here in Bath. The mail part could be problematic. The postal workers have gone out on strike twice in the last week, and are threatening another strike for next week. So, the usually efficient Royal Mail seems to be falling apart at the seams.

Field of Nightmares. . .

Is this hell? No, its Chicago.

The non-indigenous population of Australia originated with English criminals being sent to the island to live out their natural lives. Typical thugish behaviour on the part of the Wallabies.

Waaaahhhhh!

These guys need helmets (hopefully I'll find some blood pictures to post later.)

Jonny Wilkinson scores 3 more for the underdogs!

Wallabies 10 England 12

England defeated Australia today in the quarter-final of the Rugby World Cup. I know my family and friends on the other side of the Atlantic are wrapped up in the Baseball playoffs and the NFL. Let me try to give you some perspective. This upset is as big as if the Cubs won the World Series, or should I say even won their series against the lowly D-backs. That big!

DAMN COMMIES!
Sir Bernard Lovell makes for exciting television, huh?