The 1st Ealing Tweetup Next Week

This is to remind everyone that next Friday (29 May)  is the first Ealing Tweetup. It will be happening at the Rose & Crown pub, South Ealing from 18:00 hrs. The pub is behind St. Mary’s Church, just a short walk from South Ealing station and with its own bus stop on the 65 bus route. I have created a Twtvite for this event.

This will be a chance for anyone living in and around Ealing to come and meet other Twitterers from the area. Hopefully we can make this a regular event.

You can contact @markhillary or myself (@Toranika) if you have any questions about the event.

May 22, 2009  Tags: ,   Posted in: Ealing  No Comments

Bernie Admits Two Tier Defeat

Following a recent meeting between Bernie Ecclestone (F1 Commercial Rights owner), Max Mosley (FIA president) and the Formula One Teams’ Association (FOTA), Bernie pretty much admitted defeat, regarding the proposed two-tier rule structure for the 2010 season. There will be new regulations for next season, but without the two-tier element.

This two-tier system would have given greater freedom and flexibility to those teams who kept to a budget of £40m, which did not include driver wages and engines. The other teams, such as Ferrari and McLaren, would have been restricted with what they could do, by being forced to opperate under much tighter regulations.

These proposals lead Ferrari to file an injunction in Paris due to their believing that these rules were in breach of the contract that they signed in 2005.

If this is indeed true, that they are going to scrap this ludicrous two-tier system, than I for one will be really pleased. A two-tier system would be very confusing to the casual or novice viewer of F1 races. Not only that, but it would end up like the endurance races (like the Le Mont 24 hour), where there are many different classes of cars that take part, so it becomes confusing as to who is actually winning and in what class. I for one do not support such a scheme.

We shall know more during the coming week.

May 16, 2009  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: Formula 1  One Comment

MPs Keen to Claim Expenses

Husband and wife MPs Ann and Alan Keen have been revealed to be claiming for a second home despite their neighbouring constituencies being just 10 miles away from Westminster. Alan Keen is the MP for Feltham and Heston, whereas his wife Ann is the MP for Brentford and Isleworth (the neighbouring constituency to mine).

Questions are being asked as to why they were allowed to claim for a mortgage that was worth more than 100% of the property concerned, the appartment having cost £500,000 and their mortgage being £520,000.

As well as this issue regarding their mortgage, they have been claiming £55 a week for cleaning services and £50 call out charge to repair a Bose entertainment system. All in all the pair of them have claimed £137,000 during the past 4 years.

Why do these Hounslow MPs need to claim for a second home near Westminster? After all, the journey time between the two places is around an hour. If they are working late, then they can  take a taxi home, claiming the cost for that, which is a legitimate expense. These two have not been playing fair, with the people they represent.

No London MP should need a second home. If they do have one, then the taxpayers should not be supporting it. They should be paying for it out of their own pockets. They are taking diabolical liberties, fleesing the taxpayer to the fullest possible extent.

May 16, 2009  Tags: , , , ,   Posted in: Brentford, Politics  No Comments

Button Secures Last Second Pole

In today’s qualifying for the Spanish Formula 1 Grand Prix, Jenson Button left it extremely late (just 2 seconds from the end of the third and final qualifying session) to sequre pole position for tomorrow’s race.

The Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona is one of those places where drivers need to qualify in the top two rows of the grid in order to have even the remotest chance of winning. The last 8 victors having started the race on pole position, which bodes very well for Jenson.

Next to Button on the grid, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel who had a really good qualifying session. On the second row of the grid came Rubens Barrichello and Felipe Massa of Brawn and Ferrari respectively. Mark Webber, Red Bull, put in a really good performance to qualify in 5th place.

The big loosers of today’s qualifying session were Kimi Raikkonen who made a huge tactical error, ending up in 16h place on the grid; and Lewis Hamilton who finished 14th.

It was a real “tale of two Ferrari’s” today as one driver, Massa, ended up in 4th and the other, Raikkonen, not making it out of the first qualifying session. It has not been a good season for them, so far this year.

Will Button and Brawn GP extend their respective drivers and constructor’s championship leads? Or will Red Bull spoil their party?

References


May 9, 2009  Tags: , , , ,   Posted in: Formula 1  No Comments

The “I’ve Never Done This Before” Challenge

Everyone has a comfort zone that they do not like to get out of, I am no different. I have noticed myself to be too stuck in my ways, not trying anything new or exploring the boundaries of my creative abilities. There are many things that I have not done before, things that I just never have gotten round to. Something akin to the “100 things to do before I die” kind of list.

During the past few months the BBC has been running a radio (and now TV) show called “I’ve Never Seen Star Wars”. The premise behind this show is that various celebrities are invited to try 5 new things that they have just never done before; either because they just have not wanted to or because they have never had the ability to do so.

Inspired by this show I have set myself a challenge. To do one new thing each week that I have never done before. It can be something major, like canvasing for the first time (like I did last week) or something small, like buying a copy of the Telegraph (which I did today). If you are following me on Twitter (@Toranika), I shall use the hash tag #NDTB (Never Done This Before) when indicating that have done or am doing, is something I have not done before.

There will be occasions when that particular event is too personal for me to tweet or blog about, so I hope you can understand that.

This challenge is all about taking me out of my comfort zone, helping me to become a much stronger person in the process. I wonder what will happen next week…

May 8, 2009  Tags: ,   Posted in: About Me  No Comments

Ealing Covers up Traffic Lights

The London Borough of Ealing is to become one of the first authorities in the country to switch off 7 sets of traffic lights. It is believed that, by covering up these sets of lights, drivers will have to slow down, becoming more cautious in the process. They would navigate their way through the junction by establishing eye contact with those other drivers wanting to cross. It is believed that this will greatly improve traffic flow through these junctions.

There has already been an example of such a scheme already in Ealing. One of the main supporting arguments for the scheme came from the occasion when a major set of traffic lights failed in the Borough. This scheme also opperates in the Dutch town of Drachten, where the removal of a  major set of traffic lights greatly reduced the accident rate.

I personally am not too sure about this scheme. Granted, not every major junction needs to have a set of traffic lights. My main concern is about how this scheme would effect pedestrians who were wanting to cross. The council would have to make some provision for them. I prefer to wait and see, before I decide on whether or not I am in favour of the scheme. The trial period for this scheme will last for 6 months, I will have a much better understanding then.

May 4, 2009  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: Ealing  No Comments

Website Maintenance

This is to let you all know that this site (toranshaw.org) is currently down for reconstruction. The reason being is that I have just installed a new Content Management System (CMS) and need to spend the next day or so configuring the site before it goes lives again, hopefully at the weekend.

Once I am happy that everything is working satisfactoraily, then I will start to add fresh content, on a regular basis. Thank you for bearing with me.

I wish you well.

Tor…

April 23, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  No Comments

Remembering Freud

As I awoke this morning, I read some rather sad news; that concerning the death of Clement Freud. I am a great fan of the BBC Radio 4 comedy pannel game called, Just a Minute. Clement Freud was one of the funniest people on there, with his unique style of play, which included being completely deadpan. This is how I shall remember him, for his excellent humour and the way in which he interracted with the other pannelists. He will be greatly missed!

Many people have already left their own tributes to such a great man; Stepen Fry being one of them.

Clement Freud… May the last embrace of the Mother, welcome you home!

April 16, 2009  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Deaths  No Comments

The #MPexpenses Hashtag

With the recent stories coming to light about MPs and their expenses allowance, it is probably time to reuse the #MPexpenses hashtag. This basically means that if you are tweeting on the subject, to tag the tweet with #MPexpenses (or even #mpexpenses). This will allow everyone to follow everyone’s views on the subject far more easily.

March 31, 2009  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: Politics, Twitter  No Comments

Time Marches Forward

Don’t forget to put your clocks forward an hour tonight, as British Summer Time begins. I know that this menas we’d have less time to sleep tonight, especially for those of us (like me) getting up early to watch the Australian Grand Prix.

March 28, 2009  Tags: ,   Posted in: Time  No Comments