End of Movember

This morning marked the end of Movember. A month to grow a moustache to "change the face of male health". I grew a moustache, it was lame. I will have to wait a few more years for the hair follicles to increase in number. But I stuck to it. Sadly I didn't try to raise any money (due to time constraints) but I did tell everybody what I could about prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer for males. The chances of getting it increase with age: 1 in about 10,000 at 39 but goes up to 1 in 7 by 70. The way they screen for prostate cancer is by a blood sample to test for high levels of Prostate-specific antigen (PSA - what an imaginative name) which 75% of men with cancer will have but 70% of people with high PSA don't have the cancer. So if you have a high level PSA you have a rectal ultrasound and if needed a prostate biopsy.

Basically if you don't get tested you will never know. Men have evolved to believe that they are invincible (which is why men are brave in battle) so why would they ever need to get tested?

But since looking into prostate cancer it seems that there are still loads of questions unanswered with much more research needed compared to say female breast cancer which gets much more attention, ergo more money leading to more research. So I feel quite bad that I didn't try to raise money rather than just awareness, but that will have to be for next year.

Read more on the Movember website

Top Eight's Preparation for Cambridge Head

This coming weekend the "Top Eight"* and Novice squads at ICBC will be competing at the Cambridge Winter Head. I am unsure who we have entered for the Novices but for the Top Eight squad we have got two eights going. From the boats that we are going out in tomorrow morning these look like the crews:

8 Matt Lunt

7 Jon Cook

6 Mark Mearing-Smith

5 Josh Barker

4 Ben Fahs

3 Sam Lindsay

2 Matt Taylor

1 Paddy Hudson

Cox: Connie Pidoux

8 Frank Murphy

7 Matt Routledge

6 Ruben Bogg

5 Mike Zammit

4 Hisham Sherif

3 Rodrigo Pearse

2 Ben Anstiss

1 Chris Spencer

Cox: Libby Richards

Later today we got a 16k UT2 erg, tomorrow it is some work on the water in the eights.

I might be able to tell you how he outings went tomorrow.

* Top Eight by virtue of the fact that the rest of the the Top Squad have only been going out in small boats where as we have been in eights all term.

Any Scientist would be horrified by this

I was listening to a Fast Fission Podcast #15 by This Week In Nuclear and I had to pass on what I heard.

The main article in Scientific America this month is "A Plan to Power 100 Percent of the Planet with Renewables" and in it it states that nuclear produces 25 time more carbon than wind when in fact it is more like 20 times less.

Expanding the number of civil nuclear power station will lead to more nuclear bombs. Which will lead to nuclear tests, which give of carbon. This is then fed back into the carbon emissions for civil nuclear. This is plain stupid for many reasons. Listen to the podcast, read the comments or go to the blog Brave New Climate for more.

There is a full critique of the article at the blog Brave New Climate here. Well worth a read.

What happens if this new quango doubles MP salary?

I have been doing a bit of thinking on this. People have been saying that moving the power of pay and expenses to an "independent"* quango will make the process fairer and transparent. What they are trying to imply and for the ordinary person to think is that it will be harsher on MP amd pay them less.

It might well do that.

But what happens if it says "we believe MP should be paid as much as top civil servants, heads of quangos, CEOs of hospitals, etc" and says they should also have allowances.

Just to put on the record: I don't believe you can do democracy on the cheap, I believe we have a more vibrant parliament with well staffed MPs and that legitimately employing your partner as your secretary is a good idea. Also if constituents expect their MP to do a lot of case work, surgerys, etc in the constituent, rather than being the constituent's representative in parliament (not the other way around) then a constituency home with rent paid for by the tax payer is justified.

That would mean pay over £200K and allowances. The public/press/voters/tax payers would rightly say no, no, no. But realistically there is nothing that could be done. You can't vote them out. They are meant to be independent of politicians so you couldn't vote your local MP out on it. Stuck? Yep.

This is where I totally disagree with Guido (but I'm sure he doesn't know it, never even met the bloke) but as soon as you take powers away from parliament you are taking them away from the people who elected them. Where I do agree with him is that sunshine is the best disinfectant. I know for a fact that if one as an MP knew that anything that you claimed could be seen by anybody it would make you think (long and hard if your in a marginal) when you submit claims.


* It's never independent because someone has to appoint the chair and who would that be except an elected MP.

The End of My Political Careers (On VPT)

Andy had a lovely time, the rest of us on the other hand.....

It has been hard! I haven't got too many blisters yet, but matt and I are going to swap sides to even out the blisters.

We are having lunch at Pangbourne. It is really nice to be here again, it has been a long time.

Have to go now. Sorry I haven't been able to tweet at each lock.
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

Twitter and 1st lock

Just to remind you all you can follow my progress lock by lock on twitter.

See it at http://www.twitter.com/mearing

Am at Abingdon Lock btw.
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

Wakey wakey hands of .....

A solid early morning, pity we were up till late "design" t-shirts and discussing race tactics. Let's every one ahead and then that's where we want them.

You will be unsurprised to hear that I am the heavyest in the crew at 15st. Obviously I'm the shortest.

We are boating from Radley College boat club. Very nice indeed. Will tell you all about the actual stretch of river once I've rowed it.
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

Flapjacks as promised

As I promised here is the recipe that I use for flapjacks.

3oz (75g) of butter
3oz (75g) of Demerera suger
4oz (100g) of oats
Heaped tbsp of golden suger

Optional:

Handful of rasins
Bar of chocolate
Heaped tbsp of desicated coconut

Pre-heat oven to 150oC for soft flapjack, 180 for crispy flapjacks. Also butter up a shallow roasting tin. Softly melt the butter and suger on a low heat until you get a suger paste with butter on top.

Stir iin the oats. Head a table spoon on the hob, once hot use to scoop the golden syrup out (don't lick it clean it will burn your mouth). Mix vigorously.

Add optional extras at this point: seeds, coconut, rasins, &c.

Spoon mixure into tin. One can either use a wooden spoon to flaten out to get a rustic look or you can use something with a larger and flatter to squeez it flat for a more processed feel.

Place in oven for about 15-20 mins.

Once finished melt chocolate and add a knob of butter for a shiney finish. Spread over the flatjacks. Hey presto!

The Night Before

Tomorrow I will be rowing from Radley in Oxford to Henley via my alma mater Pangbourne College for lunch. Luckily we are staying at a friend of a friend of a friend's house a few miles from the start, so we will not have to get up at 4 like every one else (just 5 30 instead).

I must explain how I came to row this most sane of endeavours. Matt, my best friend at uni, did this while at school 5 years ago and it has come around again. He was going to compete in the same boat but Andy suffered a vicious, unprovoked attack at Notting Hill Carnival by a massive massivé/possy where he sustained numerous and horrific injuries; a sprained ankle. I jest, it was torn ligaments, scrapped bone and tendon damage. Queensbury rules allowed hime to retaliate in a suitable jaw breaking fashion. So he is now a 13st cox, usually they are 8st. Due to this I'm now in Andy's Dad's car stuck on the M25 sandwiched between Matt and Andy on my way to oxford; hazzar!

For energy I prepared my usual flapjacks. Recipe on next post. Matt and I worked out there was 6000 cals in one tray of it! Which should just keep us topped up.

The boat so far has done one outing so far.......

Just to remind you I am doing this for cancer research UK so if you would like to sponsor me just email mark at mearingsmith dot co dot uk.

I have also put a picture of my hands at the start just for a record. They will look like a very unappetising pepperoni pizza by the end.

Queue for the last night of the proms

Just passed the RAH and had to take a picture of the people already queuing for the last night.

Good luck

A German Dream

Just woke up and I must report a dream I had. In it people were talking German amd French. Now I know almost no German and yet I seem to remember the conversations being very full. There was much less French (I am learning to speak French currently) and only French I understood.

The reason I mechion this is because I've heard (and believe is true) that you only see people and faces in dreams that you have seen before. Does this extend to language? Do I infact have a huge bank of german words that I don't know about in my head? Might I be able to wake up one morning and be able to speak it fluently? Who knows.....

Also last night the 45 min ergo was a real killer. I did about 10,800m which isn't that fast be constantly improving. 10x500m today.

Rowing session

Just about to start a 45 minute ergo session. Rate 18 and UT2 (lower band of training) still going to be very hard.

I'll report how quickly I die.
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

Elderflower Syrup?

While looking around Tesco's yesturday I came across a book "British Seasonal Food" by Mark Hix.

Seeing that I love all things British I though I must get it. It sure did the job, every single recipe has something in it I've never had before (that's saying something about the book not me!).

So which one was I going to try first? You guessed it Elderflower syrup. Obviously it's a bit late in the year usually for elderflowers but there is a huge crop just outside my girlfriend's house.

I'll let you all know how it goes.

Live QT chat tonight. #bbcqt

As that TB is across the pond, I thought I would have a live chat tonight for Questions time.

It will start at 2130.

Brilliant Video from the GOP

And just in case you can't remember the original:

The fullback option - Borough Market

Showing this staple of British culinary arts to a bemused american.

Unfortunately finding anything british was like finding a hay in a needle stack. Oh well reverted to the tried and tested pub....

Quote of the Day

"For the vast majority of people they will continue to have babies in the good old fashion way. It's easier, cheaper and more fun."

Dr Allan Pacey On Science in Action from the BBC.

11.04 in here http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p003jkk2

She knows what she is doing.....

She knows that this will go viral and that it will make him look like a plonker

MI6/SIS Building Balconies?

As that we have had a new chief of MI6 I thought that I might muse on his future office.

Every time that I go to my girlfriend I cycle past the MI6/SIS building in Vauxhall and I wonder why it has so many balconies? You can see a brilliant picture here. Would you have to be mad to go out onto a balcony when you are a spy? (obviously I know it's not totally full of spy's). Imagine if you were Money Penny, a lovely secretary, going about your business, you walk out side to have a tea break and pop, someone has shot at you.

Did they do that to make the building look more approachable, or more imposing? Will the new head fancy his chances out on the roof tops?

My taking of the building is that is one of the most imposing buildings in London. Unlike the MI5 building, there is no pretence to blend into the background. One of the other reasons I love the building is that architecturally it was pushing the boundaries on the mid 90's. Very few of the other buildings of that time are quite so outrageous.

It also has a sense of Art Deco in it. That use of colour, the use of circles and vertical lines. Wonderful.

H/T: CoffeeHouse, Chris Larvin

Clunking Fist

Amazing!!

http://www.clunkingfist.co.uk/

PMQs Live Blog #pmq

Conclusion: Brown back to uninspiring usual pre-major dip. As usual never answered the question, and always answered with "Tory-Cuts". 6

Cameron: Good but not quite there. All the points showed how unfit GB is for PM, but didn't stick the knife in a turn it. No soundbite, and not enough fire in his belly. 7

Clegg: vey similar to Cameron, again no soundbite. 6.5

12:29 A question by a Conservative MP asking about whether the government has recieved any thing from McBride, Gordon said "I have not". Meaning that others in government have.

12:25 What a long whinded question about buying knifes and other object online.

12:24 Wonderful question about DoT compiling dossiers about anti-Heathrow expansion. And whether there was one on the MP in question. GB said had not heard about it. House murmered.

12:23 Tom Drake question about a constituent.

12:20 Ah the LibDems - Simple questions about bank regulation (darling this morning said they would not change regulation). GB answers with saying that they are going to.

12:17 Brilliant - DC lays out the link between policy and personality. It is very important.

12:14 DC moves on to whether the PM is straight with people, but he uses "you". GB answers with "it's not policy only personality" plonker

12:10 DC is calm and measured. GB is nervous and floundering.

12:06 DC Real terms cut. Asset sales? hmmm. GB just doesn't have the fact about Tory policy.

12:04 David Cameron (Con) (DC) nice jibe about Mr-10% ie opinion poll. Asking about real spending. Brown says he likes the talk on policy hmmm. Doesn't even answer question.

12:01 Dr Whitehead (L) Climate change and how we can stop it with cuts. Brown usual Tory-cuts.

12:00 Start! It is always very funny to see only cabinet members sitting on the back benches staring into space.

11:59 Waiting for Scottish Questions to End

11:42 BBC PMQs Live here

11:31 Don't forget that this is the Speaker's last outing

11:30 Order of today here. Likely people to be asked for questions.

11:25 BBC Parliament here, BBC News 24 here

11:20 Will be doing a live blog of PMQs

Speaker's Hustings

Here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8101121.stm

Swords have finally been drawn but will Labour grow up enough to debate?

Shadow Chancellor George Osbourne has finally laid down why labour have been so wrong about the line "Tory Cuts". In an article in the times (here). I was very pleased when I read this this morning. He has put it beautifully.

Let's just hope that he can do more.

Trooping the Colour: Live Blog

11:55 The timpani are on Shire horses.

11:49 Now the regimental tune. Didn't think they could do it but they they really have got sharper and crisper. (Scotts Guards have spacing of 3 buttons)

11:47 Commentator "Gordon Brown enjoying....." Didn't really look like it.

11:45 If you look very carefully you might be able to see the buttons the guardsmen have on their tunics. This is important. The different Foot Guards have different spacing. Irish Guards have groups of 4.

11:40 I forgot to mention that the young officer holding the colour willl have his uniform for today personallly taliored for him. Once he takes it of this evening it will be hung in a special room where all the uniforms of the colour bearers are hung.

11:38 When I was at school we would have to march past up to 25 abreast. They are double that, and all I can say is that is is very hard getting that straight line.

11:34 That was amazing. They are now 50 men wide. 

11:31 What they haven't said is that the young officer holding the colour is the youngest officer in the Irish Guards. Will probably only be 19.

11:28 The LtC is doing the backwards match. imaging doing that on a horse?

11:26 The trooping of the colour has started in slow time. The best part of it all. The colour will match through the ranks of the Guardsmen.

11:25 All the moves on the parade will be very sharp and crisp. This sometimes means that the momentum of say their leg moving will move the hole of their body. 

11:21 You could see that it was a young officer giving the commands to the colour. Whereas it would be a much older RSM (non-commissioned officer) supports him.

11:17 Very crisp drummer.

11:16 An interesting fact about the drummers is that they are both drummer and buglers. So they not only have to be able to ratatat but also toot toot toot. 

11:14 You can see that the drums are made by Premier, very good make.

11:12 The mass bands are marching in slow time. You can hear they are playing in  3. That is a huge massed band.

11:10 They talked about the beat setter. When I was at Pangbourne I was the beat setter in the band for 3 years. Very large responsibility, you do literally set the tempo. 

11:08 You can hear a the end of each song a double beat, this marks the end of each song.

11:06 Passing past the guns.

Only thought of it now.

Gutsy and stupid

Below is Tom Harris talking about what he said to Gordon Brown in the PLP meeting. Two points:

1. If he honestly things that Labour can win the next GE with just simply topping the head, stupid. It will help but winning is a longshot/forlorn hope.

2. He does have some guts and a backbone if he not only was able to tell GB in that meeting but to go in front of the cameras later saying he did so.

+++Miliband: "Johnson is the leading candidate"

Interview with Nick Robinson on Radio 4. Very interesting.

Are they alll stupid, liers or bad at politics?

A very interesting blog post from Hopi Sen (who I meant for the first time on the weekend helping out with Iain Dale's Election Broadcast - you can find the podcast here) where he talks about how bad the plotters - or lack of - have been. I think there has to be two additional arguments: stupidity and lying. 

So ministers are wheeled out to proclaim that it is all alright and that Labour can win the next election. That GB can lead GB through this all. They are either lying to us. Which obviously none of you will be surprised with. But it is this makes politicians look bad. If politicians can't even be frank about a situation that is obvious to all the rest of us, when can they ever be honest?

The other option is that they are stupid. Plain, simple and worryingly stupid. This is the option that I believe more reflects the truth. 

Also we have learnt that the Conservatives are amazing. (I'll try to find a link for that someday)

Would have been Egg on my face.

This got through Gmail's spam filter! I don't even have an Egg account! Someone will get Egg on their face if they do anything about this.





Egg Bank to me show details 14:33 (21 minutes ago) Reply
fromEgg Bank <webmaster@egg.co.uk>to#########@gmail.com
date2 June 2009 14:33subjectImportant Information About Your Egg Bank Accountmailed-byapmedia1.go.is
hide details 14:33 (21 minutes ago) Reply


Dear Customer,

We Have Been Recieving Different Reports

About People Trying To access Your Account From An Unknown Destination,

For Safe Banking Online You Are required To Follow The Link Below

We Have Taken Extra Measures To Protect Your Banking With Us.

(Failure To Do So Within 2 Days May Lead To problem In Accessing Your Account).

New-egg Verification Link


Be Sure To Input Correct Postcode So As To Make Our Job Easier


Thanks

New Egg Security Team.


Please Do Not Reply This Message [You don't say!]

When is a Cabinet Minister going to Cross the Rubicon?

When will Johnson or some other Cabinet Minister going to cross the Rubicon. It is wonderful to see Gordon Brown wanting to "stay on" and ruin the fortunes of the Labour party once and for all. Obviously he can't see that he is an election liability, which is what always happens if you don't have your finger to the political pulse. Cabinet Ministers know that he is one of the major reasons people are not going to be voting Labour.



Now speaking as a British subject I am not sure whether there is anyone at the top of the Labour Party that looks like they could be leader. I once thought David Miliband was the most likely to step up to the plate (if I was blogging then I would link to it) but he failed. And now there only looks like it could be Alan Johnson. He has been prostrating about being Holier Than Thou which I hope he is. All the others have either been totally di



I am Conservative. I never want Labour to do well. What I want is working Parliament. So I want Labour to be lead by the best person possible. Reason? Landslides don't make for good scrutiny of the Executive, and I know that if GB leads Labour into the next election they will be destroyed and we, the Conservatives, will have a (stupidly) big majority of over 150.



But what is that I hear you say, "if Labour have a good leader they might win the next election". I am 99% certain that the Conservatives will win the next election, (I'm an engineer - nothing is ever totally certain, even the sun might not rise tomorrow). So who they have as leader is a matter of damage limitation not winning or loosing.



So if Labour can get a leader with heavy Union sympathies who nevertheless is popular it will make for better legislation, better reputation for Parliament and eventually better for the country.

Is Johnson Holier Than Thou?

A screen grab of a previous page from Alan Johnson's Wiki page shows that he is a song writer! Maybe he is trying to say something? Especially with lyrics like this: 

"Before you judge me take a look at you

Can't you find something better to do
Point the finger, slow to understand
Arrogance and ignorance go hand in hand"

Dress Up Friday: Black Tie 1

I will be running a regular post on Friday about dress.

Whether that be dresses, gentleman's dress, when to don formal wear, what makes a good shirt, how to wear black tie or who sports the best blazer at Henley you will have to see.

This week I'm going to start with Black Tie seeing that I'm at Glyndebourne Opera which requires you to wear Black Tie.

Black Tie or Dinner Jackets (DJs) are different to their American brothers Tuxedo. Black tie came from the darkening and loosening of White Tie and Tails (for another week). White tie was what you wore to the Theatre, black tie if you were entertaining at home. But obviously times have changed.

The Tuxedo, like most American things, was created almost instantly in the end of the 19th century when two chaps cut of the tails of their jackets for a well to do New York party, at Tuxedo Park, hence the name.

But luckily they are identical now in all but name (except that an Englishman will always look better in a DJ than an American will in a Tux) so no faux par there.

All I want to say finally is that I am not putting down on paper what one "must" do, more where the history lies and where one can make a first step into the world of gentleman's dress.

One of the big problems with gentleman's dress is that to the outsider there doesn't seem to be any order of thing (daring for a man to wear red sock but looked down on if he wears a red shirt). It is more of a frame work which once you know is wonderful to push the boundaries of.

A picture paints 3 words

Just seen this in Sainsbury's. Either a software problem or the BNP has stolen the Union Flag from us.
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

Would you expect "Vote for me" posters to be better from an arts uni that a science one?

This evening I went to my other half's degree show (she just finished her second year at Wimbledon College of Art studying Fine Art). It was described by one of our friends as "Varied but promising." The problem I had with it was that unlike the first year's show it didn't have the feel of it being finished. Anyway enough of art for the moment.

As I was coming out I saw these two posters for a candidate for student trustee. All I thought to myself was "wow that is bland and would never have caught my eye if it didn't have student trustee in it." I sat back for a bit and realised why this bland poster jumped out at me so much. At Imperial most of the student election posters are pretty good (see when I stood for City & Guilds College Union President (the engineering faculty student union) http://mark4pres.blogspot.com. The material that was produced for that election was effective and I think well designed). But club posters are generally below standard.

Whereas in this hot bed of creativity real drivle comes out. Oh well let's see if he gets elected.

Putting the Expenses in prospective: 1: Doctors

MPs got as a basic salary about £60k in 2005 and there are about 650 of them.

In September 2005 there were approximately 32,000 consultants in the NHS with an average salary of £110k.

Do we not believe that our politicians are under payed?

Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange