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August 27th, 2010 | Posted by Paul

‘Where We Are’ by Southgate and Leigh. This is a new band I came across on Twitter. The new album from Southgate and Leigh called ‘Where We Are’ is released on 7th September 2010 as a digital download on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Tesco Online and elsewhere. It will also be available as a CD from southgateandleigh.com from 7th September.

UPDATE: A top quality audio CD manufactured by Optimal in Germany is available for £7.99. AND this also includes immediate download of 12-track album in your choice of 320k mp3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire. The digital download is available for £5: http://music.southgateandleigh.com/

I took a little trip to their website to listen to: ‘Where We Are’ by Southgate and Leigh. I was very impressed! My favourite track is the first track Fashion Photographer – very quirky, upbeat with good lyrics and tune. But the rest of the album is just as impressive.

You know me, I’m not normally one for banging on about music etc, but I am suitably impressed by Southgate and Leigh. In fact, I was so impressed that I dropped them an email to find out more about them… and as quick as a flash I got a reply from Phillipa Leigh, (she’s the “Leigh” part of “Southgate and Leigh” , the other part being Phil Southgate. All music and lyrics on the album were composed and written by Phil Southgate and Phillipa Leigh.). Phillipa said:

“Stylistically, the music encompasses pop, ska and Motown. The lyrics tell stories about a girl’s dream of being a star, an old man’s regrets of what his life could have been, and some straightforward love songs.

and she went on:

“Phil and I met at an impromptu gig at the Edinburgh Festival and continued performing covers together in London for a few years before co-writing ‘Where We Are’.”

And – I am also privileged to have received the cover of the CD:

Anyway, so there you have it – ‘Where We Are’ by Southgate and Leigh is released on 7th September 2010 as a digital download on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Tesco Online etc and it’ll also be available as a CD from southgateandleigh.com from 7th September.

So go and buy it!

UPDATE: A top quality audio CD manufactured by Optimal in Germany is available for £7.99. AND this also includes immediate download of 12-track album in your choice of 320k mp3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire. The digital download is available for £5: http://music.southgateandleigh.com/

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August 27th, 2010 | Posted by Paul

“A two idiot explodes a sphere” – the end.

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August 25th, 2010 | Posted by Paul

Respect on the road. It’s not hard, is it? And yet with “road rage” becoming an all too often news item nowadays, you’d think that driving with respect to your fellow road users was something your great grandfather did whilst wearing his tall hat taking the horse and buggy to market?! Just say to yourself  “I respect the road”. It’s not hard.

The smart peeps over at AXA Car Insurance have created a campaign to try to bring courtesy and respect back to British roads. It’s over here: AXA Respect On The Road. Lets be honest – respecting other road users could cut down on the amount of stupid and dangerous incidents that happen on the roads – and ultimately save lives, right? Remember – “I respect the road”? You should be thinking this all the time you get behind the wheel of your car.

You’ve probably seen the TV ad campaign with all the people colliding with each other on the pavement, snarling and snapping at each other. And, of course, the TV ad says something like – “You wouldn’t behave like this on the pavement – so why do we do it on the road?”

To quote the folks at AXA:

All too often inexperienced drivers give themselves away behind the wheel of a car, they lose their manners and sometimes their marbles too. The vast majority wouldn’t behave this way as pedestrians so why do they do it as drivers?

If you think this type of behaviour is irresponsible and needs to change, we welcome your experience as drivers and invite you to share it on this site.

Respect On The Road - AXA Car Insurance Campaign

I know from personal experience from spending many unhappy hours tootling around the M25, that there people out there who definitely need “Respect Lessons”. Admittedly, most of them need a refresher on the Highway Code as well! But here’s a little video produced by the  AXA Car Insurance folks which is acted entirely by 5 year olds, in which they imitate driving behaviour copied from their parents. Remember – this is what the kids see mum and dad do in the car:

Okay – the video may be funny – but “out of the mouth of babes”, eh? These kiddies are reenacting what they’ve seen their parents do. Do you see yourself in that video? Have you shown that type of disrespectful behaviour to other road users – when you didn’t need to at all?

And if you think that “this doesn’t apply to me” – take a look at the Cabcam. This is where AXA Car insurance have taken to the streets of London in a black taxi for the opinions of the public…

The whole I respect the road campaign, (including the two videos above), have been produced by AXA Car Insurance to highlight the lack of respect on British roads today. Their web site also invites you to Have Your Say – where you can tell them of your experience of disrespectful drivers. Lord knows I could add to that list – I’d be typing all night with the amount of “disrespectful” driving activities I’ve seen on the roads!

If you want to know more about the Axa Car Insurance “Respect On The Road” campaign, please visit them here: AXA Car Insurance

They also have a Facebook Fanpage: I Respect The Road – get involved. Respect on the road is an issue people genuinely care about. Go to Facebook “like” the page – (you know what I’m talking about) – and get involved in the debate there.

With your help AXA want to highlight the state of disrespectful and sometimes dangerous driving practices in the UK through debate and discussion which will be largely hosted on Facebook.

The I respect the road campaign should make you sit up and say to yourself: “I respect the road”. With the help of Axa Car Insurance we can hopefully, bring a bit more respect to driving on Britain’s roads.

(Note: This is a Sponsored Post – not that it matters – as I wholeheartedly agree with having more respect on the roads and support fully the Axa Car Insurance campaign )

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August 23rd, 2010 | Posted by Paul

We recently visited the glorious Ironbridge, (Coalbrookdale), area of the country in Shropshire. The main reason for going to Ironbridge, is, of course to see the Ironbridge…. and here it is:

Of course, given the opportunity to run around on the Ironbridge with camera when it’s completely empty was an opportunity too good to miss!:

The whole area around Coalbrookdale and Ironbridge is an absolute delight to visit. We were staying in the Best Western Valley Hotel. It was superb….

The whole Ironbridge “thing” was brought about by Abraham Darby and his whole family. One of te more interesting tourist attractions was a visit to the Quaker Burial Ground. Now, I know what you may be thinking…. WHAT? And, of course, you’d right! But it turned out to be a very interesting place…

One of the reasons why this Quaker Burial Ground was so interesting is because at the point where I just turned the camera around to see the grave of Abraham Darby – the whole thing mysteriously switched off! Spooky! So I cranked it back up again, and started again…

I can definitely recommend a trip to Ironbridge in Shropshire. Apart from the Ironbridge itself, there are also ten museums in the area. The museums include the marvellous Blists Hill Victorian Village. With all kinds of live re-enactments going on around the village, we were spoilt for choice as to what to watch and where. But if you do get a chance to go to the Blists Hill Victorian Village, then go and see the schoolmaster in the Victorian village school:

He was very funny!

Ironbridge/Coalbrookdale in Shropshire is a marvellous place to visit. It will take you at least 3 days to do a tour of all the museums – but it is highly enjoyable

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August 20th, 2010 | Posted by Paul

English Language Test for Non EU Immigrant Partners.

From Nov 2010 any migrant who wants to enter or remain in the UK as a partner of a UK citizen will have to take an English language test. The UK Border Agency has all the details:

It says:

“The minimum standard that applicants will need to meet is in speakign and listening at level A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference.”

If you want to see it for real go here: UK Border Agency Typo

So, there you have it.. there is an English Language test for Non EU immigrant partners.

But for those non English speaking immigrants who may not understand the culture and comedy of the UK – the spelling error on the UK Border Agency website is what we call “irony”

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