Thursday, April 05, 2007

Irony is in short supply, too

It is great to be back at home, in a well, naturally-lit room (or, preferably, outdoors) with my kids around me. However, some aspects of this job I really dread.

High on the list is watching the BBC 'News'.

This lunchtime there was yet another piece on climate change. One reporter sent to Brussels to cover the latest conference (apparently, something needs to be done). One reporter sent to Mexico where some lake is receding and the locals want something done as they are losing the tourist visitors (is there such a thing as double irony?), and one course another sent to Antarctica to talk on a video phone about why all this travelling we're doing (presumably going to report from a blizzard some decent CGI could knock up... or even a nice backdrop, is not an option) is not helping.

Still, it was nice all the folk interviewed at Heathrow were really thinking of not going to Florida again this year, and maybe would just cut down to Europe or the Med.

And speaking of Heathrow, wasn't it nice to see those two helicopters taking the captive sailors off to Devon?

BBC - Europe diary: Cars and lobbyists - Not sure, but I do belive a different reporter to the Brussels one above

Just watched BBC Lunchtime News and one of the main features was this latest climate change fest. I was just wondering if Mr. Mardell was the UK reporter from this venue, as opposed to the one in Mexico by the lake that's getting no more tourists because of global warming (double irony?) or the one who flew to the Arctic to 'report' live on how flying to the Arctic is causing a problem (triple irony?).

Nice Surprise

As will be shared in some surrounding blogs (I have not quite figured out how to make the 'Drafts' and 'Publish' dates synchronise in the intended sequence here), I really need some help to make more of the opportunities of social sites such as MySpace and YouTube, etc.

Speaking of the former, I arrived back (see, I think you will find out where I have been later) to find out that a "Michael Meacher" wanted me/Junkk.com to be his MySpace (nifty music!) chum. So imagine my surprise to fin out that he was in fact 'the' MM, who is one of the few Labour pols to have walked his talk on the environment a long time, and consistently. I may have disagreed with him a few times in the past on some issues, but I do not doubt his sincerity and desire to make my kids' future better. So I am flattered and encouraged that he (or, more likely, his team), found out about us and was sufficiently interested to get in touch. Maybe we can help each other. Who knows?

Anyway, I have written to him as you don't often get a direct line to a senior pol in this way, which will also acta a prequel to my next blog:

Dear Michael,

Wonderful to have someone of your calibre and obvious commitment to the environment swing by. I must do a lot more to make this site (and other socials) work a bit harder for Junkk.com and its cause. I really need to get someone who knows about it all to sort this out asap (sadly my sons are a tad young still).

Just back from London after a very frustrating and expensive (mostly time) trip thanks to one of the myriad funded entities that seem to exist to consume money and hit targets before getting round to actually making the future any better on a genuine enviROI basis.

So I have a few pithy bits of feedback for your colleague Mr. Miliband; not just on the environment, but also Third Sector issues and how social enterprise and entrepreneurship is actually being supported and could be to much greater effect.

That is, if you think he may be interested:)

Telegraph - How to lose money - As always, you have to weigh green with... less green