Britblog roundup #142

Welcome to this weeks Britblog roundup. Quite a variety of nominations so as Fraser Macpherson says it with Shirley Bassey - lets get the party started.....

Starting with some Fun stuff

Always good for a laugh Diamond Geezer is belly-aching about his eight years of being single. Some might say that we single people are missing out on the joys of coupledom, and maybe we are, but I'm convinced that there are equally many positive points to being single:

misty69 A 30 something, non-fluffy blonde, trying to remain optimistic against many odds is asking for weird and wacky comments to give her an idea for a blog post. Definitely a new slant on being a dumb blonde but what the heck lets all send her some.

Environmental stuff for those who care

A new blogger to me, blogmonkey weighs up the pro & cons of using low energy light bulbs. It's claimed CFL's use up to 80% less energy and last up to 10 times longer. Yes we have all been told that but as they are such ugly looking things wonder how many people out there are actually using them. Have them in my flat in all rooms except the sitting room where I need a 100watts bulb to read or type. Not found an energy saving one that has the same brightness.

Political world

Wouldn't be a proper roundup without politics. Some of the verbal spats are a scream. Political postering gets heavy at times almost to the point of being absurd and a real turn off. Liberal England takes a pop at unpatriotic Conservatives . Jonathon Calders level headed style of writing always attracts sensible readers. Some of the comments following the post are just as thought provoking

Of all the daft things for an MP to worry about. Adrian Sanders LibDem MP for Torbay writes My office and I have been raking our brains to work out who is behind the Westphalia-on-sea blog that tells the story of an elected Mayor and his vision for the area. Then fresh off the digital press ... thisiscotedewestphalia A mystery resident has shocked the whole of the Cote De Westphalia by producing a satirical blog that seems to be a thinly veiled criticism of Mayor Pangloss and his sidekicks in the Tory party. Just a thought, maybe Adrian is worried that somebody might suggest his office is behind the stunt.

Seems the knives are out for Tory MP Nadine Dorries. Swear some of the guys are classic misogynists personally can't see that some of the snide remarks are really justified. So she is a Tory and has a blog so what? Least she is saying something and revealing a little of her human side. Not like many of our elected MP's who stay stum and hide behind their staff only putting out ' official statements' like butter wouldn't melt in their mouths.

Couldn't pass up this opportunity to introduce some of the various political blogs in my area.To promote political opponents is somewhat frowned upon - sod to all that. They make me laugh.

In Camden there is Theo Blackwell a Labour councillor. He is a serious writer but his satirical comments about the Libdems and Tories can have one in stitches. He doesn't miss a trick to slag them off. This week he writes - Good news, as noted by Luke Akehurst, Harringey Lib Dems are one short after this defection. Then there is his way of giving people labels which in some cases are very apt.

Over in Haringay there's Tory blogger Justine Hinchcliffe the writer of Hunter and Shooter. He is against everything LibDem - another one clever with the sarcasm. So much so he's become a real irritant to Mark Pack from LDV who has banned poor Justine from even posting any comments on the blog. This week he is still banging on about Lynne Featherstone's support of Chris Huhne as a possible LibDem leader against all odds. Have to agree with him this time, she's backing the wrong horse and will end up with egg on her face.

Islington has LibDem Cllr Meral Ece who's now a bigwig in the party. As chair of Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats she is greatly concerned about getting BME candidates into office. An uphill task. She quite rightly feels The UK needs around 1000 more black and ethnic minority women councillors. She says, There are 2.4 million BME women in the UK, making up 4.6 per cent of the population, so less than 1% are BME women councillors: 0.9%

Just about life

Love and Garbage has a real beef bordering on the paranoid with the day time Jeremy Kyle show

"The whole show is designed to produce a gladiatorial-style exchange. Guests walk out of opposite entrances in the same way that Roman fighters would enter the ring in the Colosseum. For particularly controversial or confrontational subjects, producers would ramp up the music, selecting heavy metal tracks to set the tone."

Couldn't agree more but the reality of the situation is that it is a very very popular show. People like blood and gore. Participants feel it is their moment of fame. Nobody is forcing them to take part. Must admit some of them have real guts exposing their sordid person lives on national TV. I couldn't do it and I'm one of life's exhibitionists

'Nan down' A sign of the times, rather scary for those of us getting older - almost brought me to tears.

One of the first sounds learned by a child Neenaw, neenaw, the sound of an ambulance rushing by with a flashing blue light on the way to one emergency or another. Rather a gripping post taken from an actual log - so you can see exactly what was going on behind the scenes while the writer was helping a new grandfather deliver his daughter’s baby.

This week Norfolk Blogger is ranting about his second love Norwich City football club. Haven't got a clue about football myself but calling all Norwich City fans to add your pennyworth - comments are open.

Again a very outspoken Craig Murray has spotted the Guardian write-up on the government's stonewalling of Labour MP, Jeremy Corbyn concerns over Usmanov shares in Arsenal football club. He's actually my constituency MP and when he gets the bit between his teeth he doesn't let up.

A self-confessed connoisseur of classical music theovergrownpath is having a snip at BBC Radio 3's Sarah Walker and the bad presentation of 10am Classic collection morning show. It's a case of live and let live but in all honesty if I had to sit through four movements of Mendelssohn's Symphony No 3 in A played by the Scottish Symphony orchestra at 10.20am in the morning it would probably send me to sleep.

Philip Wilkinson, the author of The English Buildings Book, England's Abbeys, Restoration, in his blog brings us some beautiful pics of an Anglo-Saxon church in St Laurence, Bradford-on-Avon. Now that's something I do appreciate. Can wander for hours around old buildings. A holiday is not a holiday for me without some historical sites to visit.

Halloween talk

Definitely an apt Halloween nomination - Making the devil appear and disappear. Bit weird and wacky but ok if you are into that kind of thing.

Anybody fascinated by bats, another interesting Halloween post - Bats are not spooky. I really do think that Count Dracula has a lot to answer to when it comes to the misconceptions about bats and their spooky image.

Green blogs nominations have packed the list this week.

Can this be really be a growing trend How can the left get stronger on the blogosphere?

Andy D'Agorne,Green Party councillor, Fishergate ward, City of York - So what happens at a council meeting?

Molly from Gaian Economics exploring the Supermarket ruling, Competing definitions of a free market. We all heard the news, The Competition Commission has found that supermarkets serve customers well. According to the limited economistic, marketistic mindset from which they see the world this is actually the correct conclusion. It is that mindset, and its political support, that we need to unpick in order to understand how they could have arrived at this frankly shocking conclusion.

Can't help but agree with her even though for convenience sake I tend to shop at Supermarkets

The type of campaigning I like to read about, A report from the pay front line. The Sheffield branch of the Fawcett Society got down to some damn fine campaigning on Wednesday to raise awareness of the pay gap between men and women. Armed with home made placards, piles of leaflets and fistfulls of badges, we sauntered through the town centre, spreading the good word.

For those intellectual bods who like a heavy read, get your teeth into this' it's Quite extraordinary

The Magistrates blog is always worth a read. This week he's getting all het up by what he describes as Vanity Management

Being a bit cheeky of me I know but included one of my own posts which was somehow left out of last weeks roundup. Bit to below the belt for some male bloggers, makes them squirm. I just think it's a scream - makes me chuckle everytime I read it.

Finally had several nominations for this post Friday, November 02, 2007 is 25 years to the day since Channel 4 kicked off with the very first edition of the cult Countdown. I dare you to click on the word Countdown and hear that irritating ting tin ting.

That's all from this weeks roundup. A bit long I know - serves me right for moaning about the lack of nominations. Sorry if I left anybody out. Please continue to send in you nominations as usual to BritblogAtgmail.com. Next weeks roundup host will be Ken's Dustbin of History