Flight Deck November 25, 2007
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Miscellany , add a commentMyTravel pilot Pablo Mason has been fired for allowing a footballer with a fear of flying onto the flight deck. In these days when fear is the dominant theme of all activity to do with commercial flight, that is perhaps reasonable, but we have surely lost something.
In the eighties I had an appalling fear of flying. My job involved travelling around New Zealand by air for a large computer consultancy, so this was a huge problem. I lived in Wellington, where the airport has a short runway which is notorious for high winds and difficult landings, and occasionally passed out on landing when the brain decided that it really didn’t want anything to do with this unnatural and terrifying way of getting around.
These days, I’m a relaxed flyer, although I avoid it now for environmental reasons. I love the sensation of being up in the air, above the clouds with the world speeding by below. For that, I thank the pilots of Ansett New Zealand, who frequently let me up onto the flight deck, to sit in the jump seat behind them for the landing. I realised that the plane which feels like its bouncing around all over the sky is in fact heading straight for the runway and, with the wider view from the cockpit, is not moving around as much as it feels from the back. I learned to appreciate the calm, competent way that pilots work and to understand that there’s little dangerous about landing in a storm or strong wind. I’ve landed in thunderstorms, been on the last flight in before the airport was closed for bad weather, been through a ‘touch and take’ aborted landing and now there is little that worries me on a normal commercial flight.
My fear of flying was always about a lack of understanding and loss of control. Being able to see what was going on, combined with a few flying lessons (not, I hasten to add, in a commercial jet) and some mental techniques for dealing with fear, gave me the understanding I needed to turn fear into excitement and removed a crippling phobia. If I was to go through that now, it would be much more difficult to overcome.
St Pancras Opens November 14, 2007
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Camden , add a commentFor all the years I’ve known this part of Camden, there’s been a huge eyesore of a building site in the south-east corner of Somers Town. Roads have been blocked and the most exquisite architecture in the area has been under varying degrees of cover and scaffolding. Finally, it has started opening and today the first bookable Eurostar left St Pancras.
Paris is now only 2hrs 15 minutes away and, more importantly for me, the walk to the station is 10 minutes shorter. Brill Place, signposted ‘formerly Phoenix Rd’, was unblockd last week for the first time in years, opening up a quick shortcut into St Pancras, and through to the side platforms of Kings Cross. Door to Gare du Nord in less than three hours, and no need to allow for tube delays.
This morning, those details were unimportant as the first train pulled away. The refurbished train hall is magnificient. Classic Victorian brickwork and steel girders are topped by the lightest transparent roof. The best of the Victorian era meets the best of ours in a place which will uplift and delight for years.
Hundreds of passengers, media people and sightseers thronged to see it leave, and admire it all. The announcer repeated that flash photography was not permitted on the platform. No chance.
Cycling protesters did a great job of getting in every shot and made their point about the sad lack of bicycle parking on the station well.
The statue of the kiss is as tacky as reported, but that of John Betjeman, poet saviour of the station is set to become a favourite. The old clock, with hands and brass numerals, presides over it all, reminding everyone in the champagne bar which runs the length of a platform not to miss their train.
The shops aren’t open yet, and the lack cycle parking is scandalous, but they’ve done very, very well here. The place is beautiful.
More light Green fluff November 13, 2007
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Environment , add a commentThe world seems full of easy ways to save the planet these days. If you haven’t heard about low-energy lightbulbs, taking the bus and the joys of holidays at home by now then, frankly, your CO2 emissions are probably very low. You’re not breathing.
And now the Guardian is in on the act, with it’s new Tread Lightly campaign, which gets people to take on a different pledge every week, and calculates how much CO2 emission is saved. Of course if it makes someone think about their impact on the planet, then its a good thing, but do we really need to hear about Green-lite household hints from yet another source?
This week’s pledge is to reduce your thermostat by 1 degree. Personally, I haven’t even switched my heating on yet, so I can’t sign up to that one. I wonder how many other Guardian readers (at least in mild London) are in the same position?
The best thing about the site is its blog. A piece of puff about the pledge of the week is followed by some good, practical ideas from readers, and interesting stories about making your own thermal backing for curtains. And read the post on low-energy lightbulbs (you means someone still uses the old ones?) for a general view on this light-weight contribution.
Now, how about a few more pledges:
- Never buy or hire a car with CO2 emissions above the 10th percentile again.
- Reduce personal miles travelled by any non-human powered form (ie. walking or cycling is fine, ALL motorised transport needs to reduce) by 20% this year
- Do not use central heating until the outside air temperature drops to single digits
- Buy only goods packaged in recyclable packaging
Come to think of it, I did this once before. Have a look here.
Seeing King Tut
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : London , add a commentMary Beard, my favourite academic blogger, has a piece today about the Tutankhamun exhibition which opens shortly at the Dome. I hadn’t been planning to see it - I saw a smaller version in Auckland years ago, and the full thing at the Egyptian Museum when I went to Cairo in 2001, but she mentions that there are many artefacts from the reign of the previous pharoah, Akhenaten, as well.
My favourite memory of the Egyptian Museum is the statues of Akhenaten, completely different from everything else, tucked away in a corner away from the standard guided tour. These huge alabaster works are completely different from everything else in the museum, with naturalistic faces and deformed bodies which may actually show how he looked.
Akhenaten was a much more interesting character than Tutankhamen, who is really only famous for having his tomb survive more or less intact. He introduced monotheism to Egypt, building on the existing creator sun-god and transferring worship from the traditional Ra-Horus to Aten, literally the ’sun-disc’. Banning other gods, and defacing or destroying their statues and temples, he attempted to centralise all worship to a single cult.
The statues I saw came from Akhetaten in Amarna, the city Aknenaten built as his religious centre, and possibly his capital. The city was built on a less formal plan than older Egyptian cities, with temples open to the air, and the sun.
Akhenaten reigned for 17 years, and although relics of his achievements survived for modern archaeologists, his city was abandoned and the old cults were restored early in the reign of his successor, the boy-king Tutankhamun.
Unlinked Sources :
Wikipedia article on Akhenaten
The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt
Domain Registry of America - Nasty Scam November 7, 2007
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Miscellany , add a commentThis is all over the blogosphere, but just in case you get an invoice from this unpleasant lot. Don’t pay it. Google ‘Domain Registry of America Scam’ first.
It’s not entirely obvious - the invoice looks very official, and it even bills in £££. But, there’s no VAT number, the prices are outrageous and, of course, you know who manages your domain name now don’t you?
