Friday, 30 May 2014
Ceanothus
Remember the Santa Barbara ceanothus from one of my early Secret Life of Bloggers Blog Party posts? It has been flowering as beautifully as it normally does; however, some of its blossoms have blown off the branches and into the spaces between the concrete slabs in the back yard:
Fortunately, the ceanothus has plenty of blossoms left!
Thursday, 29 May 2014
"How Deep Is Your Love" - Take That
I have liked the Bee Gees' song "How Deep Is Your Love" ever since I first heard it. I also like British band Take That's cover version:
The Bee Gees' original comes from Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Sound Track, which was released in 1977, and Take That's cover is from their 1996 Greatest Hits album. It is thanks to me listening to Heart radio that I heard the two songs.
The video for Take That's version is interesting, to say the least.
Wednesday, 28 May 2014
The noisy sparrow
This sparrow spent almost all of yesterday tweeting while perched on the gutter:
The only times when he quietened down before dusk were when a hawk flew over the house; other than on those occasions, he tweeted all day. He tweeted some more this morning but I have not heard him since. I wonder what he was tweeting to...his mother or a mate?
Tuesday, 27 May 2014
Results summary of the European Parliament election, 2014
The European Parliament election is over and all of the results have been declared. Across Europe, eurosceptic and anti-establishment parties, made the most gains; these parties can be left or right-wing (or neither). This was the anticipated result.
In the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom Independence Party (one of the strongly eurosceptic parties), Labour, and the Green Party of England and Wales were the winners. UKIP won 24 Members of the European Parliament (+11) and 27.5% of the vote, and Labour won 20 MEPs (+7) on a 25.4% popular vote share. The Greens, while experiencing a minor vote share decline and coming in fourth place behind the Conservatives in MEP count and the popular vote, won an additional MEP, which brought their count up to three. The British National Party, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats were all defeated: they lost two, seven and ten seats, respectively.
In the continental European Union, mainstream parties lost ground while several far-right parties performed strongly; the most notable of the latter was the Front National in France, which topped that country's poll. At the same time, several left-wing parties also made gains, such as SYRIZA in Greece and Feminist Initiative in Sweden; on the other hand, the Green parties experienced some moderate losses in the European Parliament. Anti-austerity and eurosceptic parties from every shade of the political spectrum increased their presence in said parliament. The overall turnout was estimated at slightly over 43%.
The rise of the far-left and far-right parties across Europe can be attributed to several governments' use of austerity as a response to economic crises and the perceived failure of politicians from the major political parties to listen to people, as well as increasing opposition to European Union bureaucracy. I'm not particularly knowledgeable about politics outside the US and UK, but to me the best way to halt the progress of these other parties is for the mainstream parties to listen to people and address their concerns.
In the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom Independence Party (one of the strongly eurosceptic parties), Labour, and the Green Party of England and Wales were the winners. UKIP won 24 Members of the European Parliament (+11) and 27.5% of the vote, and Labour won 20 MEPs (+7) on a 25.4% popular vote share. The Greens, while experiencing a minor vote share decline and coming in fourth place behind the Conservatives in MEP count and the popular vote, won an additional MEP, which brought their count up to three. The British National Party, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats were all defeated: they lost two, seven and ten seats, respectively.
In the continental European Union, mainstream parties lost ground while several far-right parties performed strongly; the most notable of the latter was the Front National in France, which topped that country's poll. At the same time, several left-wing parties also made gains, such as SYRIZA in Greece and Feminist Initiative in Sweden; on the other hand, the Green parties experienced some moderate losses in the European Parliament. Anti-austerity and eurosceptic parties from every shade of the political spectrum increased their presence in said parliament. The overall turnout was estimated at slightly over 43%.
The rise of the far-left and far-right parties across Europe can be attributed to several governments' use of austerity as a response to economic crises and the perceived failure of politicians from the major political parties to listen to people, as well as increasing opposition to European Union bureaucracy. I'm not particularly knowledgeable about politics outside the US and UK, but to me the best way to halt the progress of these other parties is for the mainstream parties to listen to people and address their concerns.
Monday, 26 May 2014
The third year
Two days ago, Air Nice-to-Livelands turned three years old. Since I started the blog, I've written over 1100 posts, received nearly 60,000 views and have made some new friends. A big thank you to everyone who listens to and comments about what I have to say; I really appreciate it.
Now, back to blogging!
Now, back to blogging!
Sunday, 25 May 2014
Results of the 2014 local elections
Nearly all of the results for the 2014 local elections have been declared. In England, Labour and the United Kingdom Independence Party were the two parties that saw the most gains while the Conservative and Liberal Democrat seat losses continued. Labour won 31% of the vote, while the Conservatives, UKIP and the Liberal Democrats won 29%, 17% and 13%, respectively. Labour gained over 330 seats while UKIP gained 161. The Conservatives lost over 230 councillors while the Liberal Democrats lost over 300. Labour took control of six councils while the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats lost 11 and two, respectively. No Overall Control gained the most councils: seven.
Several of the smaller parties made gains: Independents won a total of 68 seats, up from 53 in this cycle, and the Residents' Association added 14 from 39. Most of the Green Party of England and Wales' incumbents were re-elected and the party picked up 16 additional councillors. The British National Party held onto its councillor up in this cycle. Some small parties experienced losses: The Liberal Party held two seats but lost two others, the Independent Community and Health Concern won one and lost two, and the Respect Party lost its sole local government seat. Overall, though, the small parties and independents performed fairly well.
In Northern Ireland, the Democratic Unionist Party won the most amount of councillors (130) but came second to Sinn Féin in the popular vote (24.07% to 23.09). The Ulster Unionist Party and Social Democratic and Labour Party won 88 and 66 councillors, respectively. The Northern Irish results received little attention, as the media focus has been on UKIP's performance in England.
I am not surprised by the results, as they're roughly what was predicted in the polling and discussed in the news, although once again I had thought that the Conservatives would lose much more than they did. Both Labour and the Conservatives have blamed UKIP for why they didn't win in certain areas; for example, in the London Borough of Croydon, the local Conservatives blamed UKIP for why they lost control of the council. Labour and the Conservatives are both trying to figure out how they can win back UKIP voters while the Liberal Democrats are still working on how they can reverse - or at least stop - their continuing losses.
The next general election is less than a year away now. It is too early to speculate how the parties will perform then.
Several of the smaller parties made gains: Independents won a total of 68 seats, up from 53 in this cycle, and the Residents' Association added 14 from 39. Most of the Green Party of England and Wales' incumbents were re-elected and the party picked up 16 additional councillors. The British National Party held onto its councillor up in this cycle. Some small parties experienced losses: The Liberal Party held two seats but lost two others, the Independent Community and Health Concern won one and lost two, and the Respect Party lost its sole local government seat. Overall, though, the small parties and independents performed fairly well.
In Northern Ireland, the Democratic Unionist Party won the most amount of councillors (130) but came second to Sinn Féin in the popular vote (24.07% to 23.09). The Ulster Unionist Party and Social Democratic and Labour Party won 88 and 66 councillors, respectively. The Northern Irish results received little attention, as the media focus has been on UKIP's performance in England.
I am not surprised by the results, as they're roughly what was predicted in the polling and discussed in the news, although once again I had thought that the Conservatives would lose much more than they did. Both Labour and the Conservatives have blamed UKIP for why they didn't win in certain areas; for example, in the London Borough of Croydon, the local Conservatives blamed UKIP for why they lost control of the council. Labour and the Conservatives are both trying to figure out how they can win back UKIP voters while the Liberal Democrats are still working on how they can reverse - or at least stop - their continuing losses.
The next general election is less than a year away now. It is too early to speculate how the parties will perform then.
Saturday, 24 May 2014
The oldest American
I read this article last night before I went to bed:
Jeralean Talley is the oldest person in the United States and the second-oldest person in the world; she celebrated her 115th birthday yesterday. Talley has lived in Inkster, Michigan, which is in the Detroit area, since 1935 and was married for 52 years to Alfred Talley; from what I've read about Jeralean Talley, she has lived a happy life.
Jeralean Talley is the oldest person in the United States and the second-oldest person in the world; she celebrated her 115th birthday yesterday. Talley has lived in Inkster, Michigan, which is in the Detroit area, since 1935 and was married for 52 years to Alfred Talley; from what I've read about Jeralean Talley, she has lived a happy life.
Friday, 23 May 2014
Broken rose
This rose in our yard broke under the strength of the recent rain:
The rose looks as though it's just drooping because it's sad, but the stem has been snapped, as can be seen in the first picture. On the bright side, it is a relief that this rose plant has flowered: it was one of the roses that Mum had cut down almost to a stump to cure it of the blackspot disease. The new growth has been free from the infection.
Thursday, 22 May 2014
European Parliament election, 2014
The European Parliament election of 2014 has begun and will end on 25th May. The European Parliament is the only legislative chamber of the European Union that is held accountable to the people; it has 751 members and the citizens of the 28 nations within the European Union will be voting to either re-elect or replace their respective Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). While the election lasts for four days, every country but one has a day to vote; the exception is the Czech Republic, which votes on two of the four days.
How are MEPs chosen? Each country is a component of the election and there are regional constituencies within each country. For example, the United Kingdom has 12 constituencies and 73 MEPs allocated to it; my family and I live in the East Midlands constituency, which has five MEPs. MEPs are elected through proportional representation: this means that when a political party reaches a certain percentage of the vote - say 10% - they will win seats. By using this method of electing candidates, each constituency is often represented by several parties.
What's the predicted outcome for this election? From what I've read and from what my brother has told me, political parties that are either against the European Union or want its power over member countries reduced are set to perform strongly; many of these parties as regarded as far-left or far-right. People are voting for such parties because many Europeans feel as though the European Union is compromising each member nations' sovereignty and/or has not done enough to help regular Europeans; they think that the main parties in their respective nations have failed to tackle the European Union's problems. Also, over the past few years several European governments have used austerity to handle the economic crisis (unlike the United States, which chose to spend money on its economy); people now feel that the austerity has gone too far and many of these other parties are capitalising on this.
As for how the United Kingdom will vote, like I wrote in yesterday's post, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are expected to perform poorly in the local elections; that expectation holds for the European elections, too. Again, Labour and the United Kingdom Independence Party are expected to gain the majority of the MEPs; the Green Party of England and Wales and the Scottish National Party aim to secure additional seats, while the British National Party is hoping to keep its sole MEP, although that is extremely unlikely. In this country, 39 parties are participating and they are fielding 747 candidates (not in every constituency, though, as some parties are regional, such as the Social Democratic and Labour Party, which is only on the ballot in Northern Ireland).
This is the first time since 1994 that my family and I have been in the United Kingdom while a European Parliament election has occurred; the European Parliament elections that took place between then and now were in 1999, 2004 and 2009.
How are MEPs chosen? Each country is a component of the election and there are regional constituencies within each country. For example, the United Kingdom has 12 constituencies and 73 MEPs allocated to it; my family and I live in the East Midlands constituency, which has five MEPs. MEPs are elected through proportional representation: this means that when a political party reaches a certain percentage of the vote - say 10% - they will win seats. By using this method of electing candidates, each constituency is often represented by several parties.
What's the predicted outcome for this election? From what I've read and from what my brother has told me, political parties that are either against the European Union or want its power over member countries reduced are set to perform strongly; many of these parties as regarded as far-left or far-right. People are voting for such parties because many Europeans feel as though the European Union is compromising each member nations' sovereignty and/or has not done enough to help regular Europeans; they think that the main parties in their respective nations have failed to tackle the European Union's problems. Also, over the past few years several European governments have used austerity to handle the economic crisis (unlike the United States, which chose to spend money on its economy); people now feel that the austerity has gone too far and many of these other parties are capitalising on this.
As for how the United Kingdom will vote, like I wrote in yesterday's post, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are expected to perform poorly in the local elections; that expectation holds for the European elections, too. Again, Labour and the United Kingdom Independence Party are expected to gain the majority of the MEPs; the Green Party of England and Wales and the Scottish National Party aim to secure additional seats, while the British National Party is hoping to keep its sole MEP, although that is extremely unlikely. In this country, 39 parties are participating and they are fielding 747 candidates (not in every constituency, though, as some parties are regional, such as the Social Democratic and Labour Party, which is only on the ballot in Northern Ireland).
This is the first time since 1994 that my family and I have been in the United Kingdom while a European Parliament election has occurred; the European Parliament elections that took place between then and now were in 1999, 2004 and 2009.
Wednesday, 21 May 2014
Local elections, 2014
The United Kingdom's local elections are upon us once again; all day tomorrow, thousands of councillors will be up for election across the country. The regions that will be voting are: all London boroughs, all metropolitan
boroughs, 74 second-tier district authorities and 20 unitary authorities; some new councils in Northern Ireland are also up for a vote this year. In addition to the local elections, the United Kingdom will also be participating in the European Parliament election, which occurs across the European Union every five years. For this post, I'll cover the UK's local elections only and will write about the European Parliament election tomorrow.
What is the predicted outcome of these local elections? The two ruling parties, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, which both form the coalition government in the UK Parliament, are again expected to lose councillors, much like they have done for the past two elections (the Liberal Democrats also lost councillors in 2011); the losses are again expected to be in the hundreds for both parties. Once again, the Labour Party is likely to be the biggest beneficiary of those seats; however, since 2013's locals the United Kingdom Indpendence Party (UKIP) has improved its standing among non-Conservative Party voters, which has made this batch of local elections harder to predict than the last. UKIP's gains can be attributed to significant public fatigue with the three main parties and their unwillingness to hold a referendum on the UK's membership in the EU.
As for some of the other parties, the Green Party of England and Wales seeks to increase its amount of councillors nationwide; the Greens are effective at winning small amounts of new councillors and have a good record of re-electing their existing ones. The British National Party, which was expanding and regarded as a problem five years ago, is as irrelevant in these local elections as it was in 2013's; the party is not expected to gain anything. There are also a few tiny regional parties and independents running in some areas; how these candidates perform is based on the strength and characters of the individuals themselves.
The next general election, when the UK Parliament itself will be up for a vote, will take place in May 2015. While council elections aren't always an accurate predictor of how the public will vote in a general election, they can indicate overall national mood; both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats will be in serious trouble in 2015 if their heavy losses continue.
What is the predicted outcome of these local elections? The two ruling parties, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, which both form the coalition government in the UK Parliament, are again expected to lose councillors, much like they have done for the past two elections (the Liberal Democrats also lost councillors in 2011); the losses are again expected to be in the hundreds for both parties. Once again, the Labour Party is likely to be the biggest beneficiary of those seats; however, since 2013's locals the United Kingdom Indpendence Party (UKIP) has improved its standing among non-Conservative Party voters, which has made this batch of local elections harder to predict than the last. UKIP's gains can be attributed to significant public fatigue with the three main parties and their unwillingness to hold a referendum on the UK's membership in the EU.
As for some of the other parties, the Green Party of England and Wales seeks to increase its amount of councillors nationwide; the Greens are effective at winning small amounts of new councillors and have a good record of re-electing their existing ones. The British National Party, which was expanding and regarded as a problem five years ago, is as irrelevant in these local elections as it was in 2013's; the party is not expected to gain anything. There are also a few tiny regional parties and independents running in some areas; how these candidates perform is based on the strength and characters of the individuals themselves.
The next general election, when the UK Parliament itself will be up for a vote, will take place in May 2015. While council elections aren't always an accurate predictor of how the public will vote in a general election, they can indicate overall national mood; both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats will be in serious trouble in 2015 if their heavy losses continue.
Tuesday, 20 May 2014
"Vindicated" - Dashboard Confessional
On the 31st of this month, this song will be ten years old:
It's "Vindicated" by Dashboard Confessional. The song comes from their fourth studio album, Dusk and Summer, but is more known for being on the soundtrack to Spider-Man 2 (2004), where it played during the credits. Dashboard Confessional have released two more studio albums, The Shade of Poison Trees and Alter the Ending, since "Vindicated".
A few years ago, a friend of mine went to a Maroon 5 concert where Dashboard Confessional were the opening act. My friend noticed someone in the audience stay for the Dashboard Confessional segment of the concert, but then saw that person leave when Maroon 5 themselves came on; that person never returned. She and I agreed that it seemed extreme for someone to pay full-price Maroon 5 tickets just to see one of their opening acts! (Unless, of course, they got the tickets for free, but even then it would be a waste to leave early.)
I chose to write a music post today because I needed some extra time for my next two blog posts, which are about major events that are about to occur on this continent in the coming days.
It's "Vindicated" by Dashboard Confessional. The song comes from their fourth studio album, Dusk and Summer, but is more known for being on the soundtrack to Spider-Man 2 (2004), where it played during the credits. Dashboard Confessional have released two more studio albums, The Shade of Poison Trees and Alter the Ending, since "Vindicated".
A few years ago, a friend of mine went to a Maroon 5 concert where Dashboard Confessional were the opening act. My friend noticed someone in the audience stay for the Dashboard Confessional segment of the concert, but then saw that person leave when Maroon 5 themselves came on; that person never returned. She and I agreed that it seemed extreme for someone to pay full-price Maroon 5 tickets just to see one of their opening acts! (Unless, of course, they got the tickets for free, but even then it would be a waste to leave early.)
I chose to write a music post today because I needed some extra time for my next two blog posts, which are about major events that are about to occur on this continent in the coming days.
Monday, 19 May 2014
Shining, not overflowing
I walked past this river today and I thought it would be good to post another picture of it:
The flow was steady and the water wasn't overflowing; it's been several months since I last saw this river look this clear and stable. This picture does not fully capture how shiny the river is in person at the moment on a bright day.
Sunday, 18 May 2014
"True" - Ryan Cabrera
This is a song from my brother's music collection, although I like it, too:
It's "True" by Ryan Cabrera and it's from his second album, Take It All Away. Cabrera was popular on American music charts in 2004 and 2005 with this song and with "On the Way Down". Later in 2005, he released "40 Kinds of Sadness and "Shine On", two singles from his subsequent album You Stand Watching, but their success did not reach anything close to that of the aforementioned songs. His most recent album is The Moon Under Water, which he released in 2008; Cabrera is currently working on another album.
Cabrera has appeared twice before on my blog: I wrote an article about him in September 2012 and he appeared in passing in January of this year in a post I wrote about one-hit wonders.
It's "True" by Ryan Cabrera and it's from his second album, Take It All Away. Cabrera was popular on American music charts in 2004 and 2005 with this song and with "On the Way Down". Later in 2005, he released "40 Kinds of Sadness and "Shine On", two singles from his subsequent album You Stand Watching, but their success did not reach anything close to that of the aforementioned songs. His most recent album is The Moon Under Water, which he released in 2008; Cabrera is currently working on another album.
Cabrera has appeared twice before on my blog: I wrote an article about him in September 2012 and he appeared in passing in January of this year in a post I wrote about one-hit wonders.
Saturday, 17 May 2014
Lily of the Valley
I took this photograph this morning; I had no idea that this plant grew here:
It's Lily of the Valley. This plant is notable to me because it is the favourite flower of my friend and fellow blogger Jessica. Its bells are pretty and it's a pleasant surprise to discover that it grows in this country.
Friday, 16 May 2014
Bad reaction (follow-up)
I'd like to quickly follow up on my post from yesterday about the reaction to the Jay-Z/Solange Knowles incident. I read this article this afternoon:
Both sides have accepted responsibility for what happened, have apologised to each other and want to move on. Hopefully, this should resolve the matter, at least between them, which is what counts; only they know the full story behind what happened and if they've resolved it, that's excellent. That being said, I stand by what I wrote yesterday that society should not laugh at or dismiss a victim of abuse or assault; the public's overall reaction was poor and those responsible for the behaviour I condemned yesterday should be ashamed of themselves.
I should note that a case of abuse or assault is not usually fixed with an apology, and a long-term abuser/assaulter doesn't wash away, by simply apologising, years of horror that they've inflicted on another person (and no, I'm not implying that Knowles or anyone else has committed any such thing; this is just a general statement). Still, if Jay-Z and Knowles have fixed their issues by each apologising to the other and both admitting responsibility, that's their decision and good for them.
Both sides have accepted responsibility for what happened, have apologised to each other and want to move on. Hopefully, this should resolve the matter, at least between them, which is what counts; only they know the full story behind what happened and if they've resolved it, that's excellent. That being said, I stand by what I wrote yesterday that society should not laugh at or dismiss a victim of abuse or assault; the public's overall reaction was poor and those responsible for the behaviour I condemned yesterday should be ashamed of themselves.
I should note that a case of abuse or assault is not usually fixed with an apology, and a long-term abuser/assaulter doesn't wash away, by simply apologising, years of horror that they've inflicted on another person (and no, I'm not implying that Knowles or anyone else has committed any such thing; this is just a general statement). Still, if Jay-Z and Knowles have fixed their issues by each apologising to the other and both admitting responsibility, that's their decision and good for them.
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