JamesRidgway.net http://jamesridgway.net Life, the Universe and Everything posterous.com Sat, 26 May 2012 00:54:00 -0700 Homophobic US 'Pastor' wants homosexuals to be placed in electrified pens http://jamesridgway.net/homophobic-us-pastor-wants-homosexuals-to-be http://jamesridgway.net/homophobic-us-pastor-wants-homosexuals-to-be

It is amazing, in this day and age, that people still believe this shit. Him and his 'church' should be put in the pens instead.......

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1598385/me_balloon.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bsBQFsaulP James Ridgway James Ridgway James Ridgway Thu, 24 May 2012 14:00:47 -0700 Maggie's first swim http://jamesridgway.net/maggies-first-swim http://jamesridgway.net/maggies-first-swim

p275.mov Watch on Posterous

Managed to persuade youngest dog to get swimming, but it wasn't entirely successful.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1598385/me_balloon.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bsBQFsaulP James Ridgway James Ridgway James Ridgway Sun, 20 May 2012 09:44:00 -0700 Vulcan! http://jamesridgway.net/vulcan http://jamesridgway.net/vulcan

This weekend seemed to have turned into an opportunity to view rare aircraft in the local vicinity. Yesterday was the Hurricane, today was the sole flying Vulcan bomber at RAF Cosford for Veteran's Day.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1598385/me_balloon.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bsBQFsaulP James Ridgway James Ridgway James Ridgway Sat, 19 May 2012 11:06:00 -0700 Halfpenny at War! http://jamesridgway.net/halfpenny-at-war http://jamesridgway.net/halfpenny-at-war

Leo and I braved the cold (which I should NOT be saying at the end of sodding May) to visit Halfpenny at War. This is a new annual World War 2 weekend where Allies and Axis troops camp next to each other and drink tea with one another in the cafe. Our main reason for going, however, was to see what we thought would be a Spitfire from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. After being put back 2 hours it turned out to be a Hurricane and photography was near impossible, but it was a nice end to the afternoon.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1598385/me_balloon.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bsBQFsaulP James Ridgway James Ridgway James Ridgway Fri, 18 May 2012 03:07:22 -0700 Gove's Bibles http://jamesridgway.net/goves-bibles http://jamesridgway.net/goves-bibles

Today I was astounded to learn that Gove has been sending out Bibles to all schools. Why and how were two questions that sprung to mind. The Guardian answers the question, but seurely donations could have paid for something more useful than a book of anceint religious homophobic propganda? The poll below says it all.A Bible  
via guardian.co.uk

This week, copies of the King James Bible were sent out to every state school in the country, courtesy of the education secretary Michael Gove. They were paid for by donations, not from the public purse. The Bibles are accompanied by a letter from Michael Gove, the education secretary.

Are Gove's Bibles good for schools?

17.5% Yes
82.5% No

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1598385/me_balloon.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bsBQFsaulP James Ridgway James Ridgway James Ridgway Tue, 15 May 2012 17:14:32 -0700 Spring Flowers 2 http://jamesridgway.net/spring-flowers-2 http://jamesridgway.net/spring-flowers-2
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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1598385/me_balloon.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bsBQFsaulP James Ridgway James Ridgway James Ridgway Mon, 14 May 2012 14:13:13 -0700 Spring Flowers http://jamesridgway.net/spring-flowers http://jamesridgway.net/spring-flowers
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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1598385/me_balloon.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bsBQFsaulP James Ridgway James Ridgway James Ridgway Sun, 13 May 2012 06:23:53 -0700 Bantock Sunset http://jamesridgway.net/bantock-sunset-36441 http://jamesridgway.net/bantock-sunset-36441
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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1598385/me_balloon.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bsBQFsaulP James Ridgway James Ridgway James Ridgway Sat, 12 May 2012 13:12:02 -0700 New Scooters! http://jamesridgway.net/new-scooters-70365 http://jamesridgway.net/new-scooters-70365

p271.mov Watch on Posterous

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1598385/me_balloon.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bsBQFsaulP James Ridgway James Ridgway James Ridgway Wed, 09 May 2012 10:28:14 -0700 Piano and Podium http://jamesridgway.net/piano-and-podium http://jamesridgway.net/piano-and-podium

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1598385/me_balloon.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bsBQFsaulP James Ridgway James Ridgway James Ridgway Tue, 08 May 2012 10:13:23 -0700 Bantock Blossom http://jamesridgway.net/bantock-blossom http://jamesridgway.net/bantock-blossom

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1598385/me_balloon.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bsBQFsaulP James Ridgway James Ridgway James Ridgway Tue, 08 May 2012 10:08:32 -0700 Awaiting launch..... http://jamesridgway.net/awaiting-launch http://jamesridgway.net/awaiting-launch

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1598385/me_balloon.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bsBQFsaulP James Ridgway James Ridgway James Ridgway Sun, 06 May 2012 15:52:34 -0700 Wolverhampton Station http://jamesridgway.net/wolverhampton-station-86880 http://jamesridgway.net/wolverhampton-station-86880

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1598385/me_balloon.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bsBQFsaulP James Ridgway James Ridgway James Ridgway Sun, 06 May 2012 02:30:00 -0700 Amerton Farm http://jamesridgway.net/amerton-farm http://jamesridgway.net/amerton-farm

A nice day out in the Easter hols in the depths of Staffordshire.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1598385/me_balloon.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bsBQFsaulP James Ridgway James Ridgway James Ridgway Thu, 03 May 2012 10:10:00 -0700 Swallows and Amazons http://jamesridgway.net/swallows-and-amazons http://jamesridgway.net/swallows-and-amazons

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Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton

A week ago we saw Neil Hannon's new musical, Swallows and Amazons. As a fan of his and his writing it was something which I didn't want to miss and the reviews of it in London were very good. When I found out it was going on tour and visiting Wolverhampton I jumped at the chance to see it.

Unfortunately I was a bit disappointed. The play was a bit dull and a bit irritating (annoying adults playing the kids) and there was way too much going on on the stage all the time. The musicians were also stage hands stroke bit part actors. It was all very confusing. Some of the props (notably the birds) were shocking and it wasn't sure if it was family entertainment, a musical or a play with a serious point. Arthur Ransome's story had been hacked to pieces and did I mention the irritating actors? With one exception however, Titty Walker played by Akiya Henry. Her credits included the RSC and it showed. She also sang the only memorable and likeable number from Hannon's score, Robinson Crusoe. Here is Hannon himself singing it in 2010:

Here is a bit more about the production:

Related articles

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1598385/me_balloon.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bsBQFsaulP James Ridgway James Ridgway James Ridgway Mon, 23 Apr 2012 03:25:00 -0700 Teaching about Turkish St. George and his Libyan dragon http://jamesridgway.net/teaching-about-turkish-st-george-and-his-liby http://jamesridgway.net/teaching-about-turkish-st-george-and-his-liby
As today is St. George's Day I decided that I would do special lessons with my Year 8 and 9s today as a one off. I often do the same on Valentine's Day if the chance arises.
Like most patron saints, George has an interesting back story. Martyred for his Christian faith by the Romans on 23rd April 303, the Turkish George became the patron saint of soldiers during the crusades. He was then adopted by Richard the Lionheart as a 'good luck charm' and became associated with England, although it wasn't until Edward III that George had official English recognition, as the patron of the Knights of the Garter.
From the crusades the myth grew about St. George slaying a dragon, oddly enough in Libya. The story had turned George into a knight of the crusades and has him rescuing a princess from the dragon. As a result all of the locals (Muslim) converted to Christianity. It is likely that this story was a piece of war propaganda as the Christian 'west' fought the Muslim 'east' in Palestine.
So now you know. Happy St. George's Day!

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1598385/me_balloon.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bsBQFsaulP James Ridgway James Ridgway James Ridgway Sun, 22 Apr 2012 13:17:00 -0700 Spidery star factory gets multi-wavelength makeover http://jamesridgway.net/spidery-star-factory-gets-multi-wavelength-ma http://jamesridgway.net/spidery-star-factory-gets-multi-wavelength-ma
via newscientist.com

This fantastic multi-wavelength view of the highly productive stellar nursery, the Tarantula Nebula, combines data from the Spitzer, Hubble, and Chandra telescopes.

Despite residing in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy much smaller than ours, the Tarantula is notable because it spans a much larger distance than any known stellar nursery in the entire Local Group of more than 70 galaxies, which includes the Milky Way.

It's a mystery how a stellar nursery - a cloud of gas that churns out new stars - in a modest galaxy manages to outdo nurseries in giants like the Milky Way and Andromeda, but we can still enjoy this new, false-colour image. Red shows infrared light, green shows visible, and blue shows X-rays. The latter arise from gas that gets heated by supernova explosions and stellar winds from hot young stars.

The spidery-looking Tarantula grabbed the spotlight recently when astronomers discovered that it hosts the fastest spinning normal star ever seen, with a rotation rate of 600 kilometres per second. It was also not far from the Tarantula that astronomers saw the famous supernova 1987A explode 25 years ago.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1598385/me_balloon.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bsBQFsaulP James Ridgway James Ridgway James Ridgway Sat, 21 Apr 2012 07:40:00 -0700 Discovery enters the Smithsonian http://jamesridgway.net/discovery-enters-the-smithsonian http://jamesridgway.net/discovery-enters-the-smithsonian
via spaceflightnow.com

Space shuttle Discovery was placed into the Space hanger at the Udvar-Hazy Center at the Smithsonian this week.

Escorting her in were her former Commanders, including the one we met at Kennedy last summer, Fred Gregory (3rd from left).

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1598385/me_balloon.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bsBQFsaulP James Ridgway James Ridgway James Ridgway Sat, 21 Apr 2012 01:22:59 -0700 This made me laugh, on the Guardian website..... http://jamesridgway.net/this-made-me-laugh-on-the-guardian-website http://jamesridgway.net/this-made-me-laugh-on-the-guardian-website
Skitch-2012-04-21_082147_0000

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1598385/me_balloon.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bsBQFsaulP James Ridgway James Ridgway James Ridgway Tue, 17 Apr 2012 08:44:47 -0700 Just watched space shuttle #Discovery come to a final final stop in Washington DC http://jamesridgway.net/just-watched-space-shuttle-discovery-come-to http://jamesridgway.net/just-watched-space-shuttle-discovery-come-to

Image

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1598385/me_balloon.jpg http://posterous.com/users/1bsBQFsaulP James Ridgway James Ridgway James Ridgway