Birkenhead Boot Boys Bash the Boys in Blue to oBlivion, in B minor

A while a go, I posted a link to a video that made the point that British law stems from mercantile law, and that it's there to represent the interests of the powerful.

All pretty standard left wing stuff, but the speaker in the video, having given all this information, went on to use the information in a way that I found somewhat strange. He went from what seemed to be a Marxist position to a Libertarian position.


As far as I understand it, Anarchists do not believe there should be no laws. Certainly none of the anarchists I know are singing the praises of life in Somalia right now. They believe that most laws are there to control and oppress ordinary people certainly, and would like to see The State take a more benevolant role, and act on behalf of everybody, instead of an elite, but they don't propose that we need to replace it with utter chaos and lawlessness. The abolition of the state is really a far right libertarian view. Certainly, the belief that you shouldn't have to pay tax is pretty antisocial. So as you can imagine, the group that made this video are attracting some pretty unsavoury followers.

The Video was done by a group with the acronym, TPUC. This stands for "The People's United Community" and it was filmed during a conference by a different group called The British Constitution Group.

The British Constitution group organised a protest just down the road from me and attempted to arrest a judge. the person being tried was something to do with UKIP, and this was a bancruptcy hearing.


A blog called Truth, Reason & Liberty has something to say about it.

And the title of this post? Well it's a variation on a song lyric:

Out and about... (slight reprise)

OK. You know the format. I tell you about my bikeride. I show the route on Google Earth, then I set the bit I videoed to music.

This time, instead of heading north, I went the other way. I had no clear objective in mind apart from just following the river southwards. I'd seen a bit of cycleway that ran along the dockside and wanted to give that a go, but in the end I went much further, to Tranmere Oil Terminal. Going south, it wasn't as traffic free as my previous ride had been. There were points where I had to travel along, or next to, some busy roads.

At Tranmere Oil Terminal, it was no longer possible to follow the banks of the river. I'd have had to ride along a 50 mph dual carriageway, or through New Ferry and Rock Ferry (Yes, it's what singer Duffy's album title comes from) Noisy, polluted and more dangerous, (the road, not the duffy album) which ever way I chose, so at that point, I turned around and retraced my steps.

My route took me around the back of Wallasey Town Hall, an impressive enough edifice, especially from the banks of the river, more so than from the road. I suppose they were trying to impress the people across the river, It took me past the ventilation shafts for both Mersey Road Tunnels. The newer, Kingsway tunnel's shafts are a modernist concrete. The older tunnel's brick built shafts are more art deco, as is a lot of it's associated architecture. You can read and see a whole load of stuff about the Queensway tunnel at the excellent CBRD site. This includes a video trip through the tunnel, (not set to music) and a written and photographic history. The Birkenhead shaft kind of reminds me of the Empire State Building.

                                                                                                        (image from here)

My trip also took in Birkenhead Priory, a 12th century monestary, and I think Wirral's oldest surviving structure, the two ferry terminals in Seacombe and Woodside, and the enormous shibuilding hall of Cammel Laird shipyard

I suppose Elvis Costello's "Shipbuilding" would have been an appropriate tune to put the video to, but sadly it's too short.

However, Elvis Costello's excellent "Tokyo Storm Warning" is exactly the required 6 minutes and 24 seconds.

Sadly, as I climbed the hill up from the river back to my street, one of my pedals broke. I won't be doing any more cycling until I've got that sorted.

Once again, this ride took me about 10 or 11 miles. In this case, I gained/lost about 580 feet in altitude along the length of the ride, from a high point of 89 feet above (mean) sea level to 0 feet above sea level. Because I went somewhere and came back by more or less the same route, the elevation profile is almost symmetrical.

Now, here's that nice Mr MacManus with some lovely images of the Liverpool skyline, and Egremont Promenade.

We're only living this instant.

3 months

since i had a cigarette.

Been finding it quite hard over the last few weeks, but managed to be true to myself as a non smoker.

I'm sure I will continue to try to decieve myself that I need nicotine over the next few months. My record is 6 months.

Could Google Earth cause a revolution in Bahrain?

Seems a bit far-fetched doesn't it? Yet an opinion piece in the New York Times suggests exactly this.

Essentially, people crammed into tiny apartments have looked at their country on Google Earth, and seen just how much land is owned and used just by a tiny minority of super wealthy. - Google Earth as a visible manifestation of a social injustice. And they're not happy.

Here's what the article has to say:

While Facebook has gotten all the face time in Egypt, Tunisia and Bahrain, don’t forget Google Earth, which began roiling Bahraini politics in 2006. A big issue in Bahrain, particularly among Shiite men who want to get married and build homes, is the unequal distribution of land.

On Nov. 27, 2006, on the eve of parliamentary elections in Bahrain, The Washington Post ran this report from there: “Mahmood, who lives in a house with his parents, four siblings and their children, said he became even more frustrated when he looked up Bahrain on Google Earth and saw vast tracts of empty land, while tens of thousands of mainly poor Shiites were squashed together in small, dense areas. ‘We are 17 people crowded in one small house, like many people in the southern district,’ he said. ‘And you see on Google how many palaces there are and how the al-Khalifas [the Sunni ruling family] have the rest of the country to themselves.’

Bahraini activists have encouraged people to take a look at the country on Google Earth, and they have set up a special user group whose members have access to more than 40 images of royal palaces.”

Out and about...

That David Byrne. He's an inspiration and no mistake! Two days on the run I've got off my lardy arse and put foot to pedal.

It's something I've been meaning to do for a while. The combination of sedentary job, sedentary lifestyle, poor diet and high alcohol intake means I'm far less fit than I could be. I've put on a lot of weight, and I'm increasingly short of breath.

All part of getting older of course, but I would like to stave off the inevitable for as long as I can.

I've got a lovely bike. It's light. It's a well engineered machine that is easy to ride. It cost my stepson quite a lot of money when he bought it, and he gave it to me for christmas a couple of years ago. Since then it's seldom seen tarmac.

Yet it wasn't always that way. I used to think nothing of cycling 30 or 40 miles in a day. I regularly cycled 20 miles a day, just getting to and from work or college. With a rucksack on my back. In the pissing rain and driving wind. No bother. Not really.

Then I got a car, and from then on I took the path of least resistance. The result is a gut and a pair of inadequate lungs.

Yesterday, instead of jumping in the car, I rode into town on an errand. I only rode perhaps three miles, but it was enough to reconnect me.

I enjoy cycling.

There. I've said it. I do enjoy it. I'm far free-er in space, if not in time. And with a bit of planning I can minimise my interaction with busy roads.

Today I cycled to Moreton. To Leasowe lighthouse to be exact. Then I cycled back home again. The sun was shining. I had my Ipod in my pocket, and a pair of headphones covering my ears. (I wouldn't do this if I was riding on actual roads - hearing is a useful sense to have when you don't have mirrors.)

I also have a little tiny video camera. I taped it to the handlebars, intending to record the journey. Sadly that didn't really happen, but I have managed to capture part of the journey. I've put it to music to emulate the cycleing-with-headphones-on experience, and because I found a song that was the same length as the video, and because I'm learning how to use windows movie maker.

Anyway, here's how it looks in Google Earth...

As you can see, it takes me right along the seafront, mainly well away from traffic. A lovely ride, that covered between 10 and 11 miles, although some parts of my anatomy found it a bit uncomfortable. I'm sure if I do it more, I will toughen up.

And the video? Well that's next. The only connection between the music and the images is that the song was the right length to fit. It's called "Mud and Stars" and it's by Dawn Landes.