The weekend saw the official investiture of the Royal Papers by the Princess Royal to the small town just outside that sprawling metropolis that is Swindon. The town has always been a favourite to me, it used to be the base of our local commercial radio station, and being a bit of a fan back in my youth I made the odd visit trying to catch glimpse of my favourite DJs, and also sampling the delights of the local cafes.

In my 20′s it was a humbling occasion when myself and a friend spent the day on a hill overlooking the area to watch the plane that brought Terry Waite home after being held hostage.

Growing up with the Hurcules low flying over the area, the locality has only really come to the fore over the last couple of years with the now famous repatriation ceremonies, which grew in force to the very humbling ceremonies towards the end of its time when hundreds would pause and recollect for a few moments as the hurses past, only for the town to continue its life hours later.

So, congratulations to the local population, and congratulations Wooton Bassett !

This should be interesting.  Let’s see what I can fill this with … 

Meanwhile, here is some music …  

Candi Staton at Komedia, last year…  

14042010006.mp4 Watch on Posterous

The festival revolved around Nelson Street in the City Centre and saw several multi-storey buildings in the street covered with Graffiti art. Organisers hope that the project, which has involved top graffiti artists from all over the world, will become a major tourist attraction for the city, often said to the spiritual home of Banksy.

It’s a refreshing change for the council to do something radical like this, as they are usually renowned for painting over Graffiti.

There is something unique about this village though, The village was abandoned nearly 70 years ago when the residents were forced to leave their homes in 1943 to allow the Army and American troops carry out urban training in readiness for World War 2 invasions.

The Ministry of Defence took over the area to use it for military exercises and today most of the village remains in use as a training ground. Photographer David White spoke to Rex Sawyer, author of Little Imber on Down, about the history of the village and the recent completion of a five-year restoration project on the Church of St Giles which stands apart from the military area.

The BBC Website has an amazing Audio Slideshow which combines some striking photos and audio.

I’d certainly recommend a viewing of the slideshow

Orange have today announced a brand new service available to mobile phone users on their network.

High Definition (HD) voice claims to reduce background noise and the “hisses and crackles” often heard on a normal mobile call.

Other networks are expected to follow Orange soon, experts said.

… so it remains to be seen whether it will actually cut down on the number of people that feel the need to yell into their mobiles !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COVxy4hYypw

Tom Jones, Steve Jones, Zeta Jones, Traffic Cones…
.. if you come visit use the designated parking zones…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNfbX6uvA6s

Probably not, but Hayley is likely to become the next big thing in Reality TV circles (and I don’t mean that in a derogatory way!).

Hayley was one of the ‘stars’ of a documentary series on Channel 4 last year about Benefit Buster, which showed the state of people claiming benefit and the various initiatives set up by the (then) government such as Job Clubs, where trackie wearing louts were gathered together in a room above the job centre to spend time finding jobs (read that as looking through The Sun, and surfing the internet). It also showed the culture for companies such as A4E, who are commissioned by the government to run such schemes and get the unemployed into a job – for which A4E get a payment for doing so … The thing is, most of the jobs that these unemployed people were being shepherded into were short-term contracts, hence the same people would end up being churned round the cycle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJzAHjP0ZSw

Anyway, one of the ‘course leaders’ was Hayley.. If I remember rightly she was trying to instil a positive vibe into her class members – think a’la Marjorie Daws style. Basically she calls a spade a spade… She’ll tell it as it is…

So, look forward to Channel 4 tonight, should be a good series.. probably for all the wrong reasons – I think it’ll be a cross between Fat Fighters and SuperNanny!

As reported by the Bristol Evening Post, 23 year-old Kelly Jones got caught out when she appeared on Channel 4′s Wife Swap !

During that time the 23-year-old mother, who married Mr Jones in April this year, was overpaid £4,976 in housing benefits, £3,614 in income support and received an £1,171 discount on her council tax bill.

The couple’s fraud was only discovered when the city council was tipped off after they appeared in June last year on the reality TV show, in which two women spend a fortnight living with each other’s husband and family. They could now face a jail sentence.

At Bristol Magistrates’ Court yesterday Jones admitted failing to notify the council that her partner had moved in with her, declaring on her benefit application that she lived alone, failing to tell the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that her partner was living with her, and also failing to tell the DWP that her husband had received £30,625 when his house in Yate was repossessed.

Now, if you were diddling the state out of money, isn’t it the idea to keep a low profile? .. and when you say that your husband doesn’t live with you, don’t broadcast the fact he does on a national TV Show !?!

but, just savour this high definition Hyundai moment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCb9UspoP6g