New Year, a ban and lots of tin

Sorry this is late - only just realised it didn't get posted 

1 January 2013

And so another year starts afresh for us all.  Hopefully everything we hope for will come our way.  As for New Year's Resolutions, I have only made one - not to make any more!

Surprisingly we had a Coventry Telegraph delivered this morning.  I wasn't expecting a paper today so I'm pleased to get one.  However, I'm pleased with the front page story!  A thug who lead a huge fight at a Coventry City game at the Ricoh Stadium has been banned for attending games for three years.  He has appealed the conviction.  Along with the ban on attending games there is also a ban on him entering the city centre between 12noon and 8pm as well as an exclusion zone around any Sky Blues game.  He has a 15 year old son and is carer for his brother.  So you guess what he is basing his appeal on can't you?  yes, that's right, good old human rights being affected by the ban.  Oh dear, how sad, what a pity, never mind!  Perhaps if he had thought about that before he took part in violence then he wouldn't have been nicked.  And I should add it was his second arrest for similar offences at Sky Blues games!  You can also guess where my sympathy lies eh ;-)))

Here I am sat at me desk tip-tapping at me lappy.  Most probably you will be reading this on a 'puter of some sort; or perhaps on a tablet of I phone.  Well, each of these machines are dependent on a tin based solder during manufacture.  The average lappy has 2.4 - 3.4 grams of tin in them and its 1.3 grams for the average tablet.  In an article sponsored by Hilltop Garden Centre, the production of tin from a mine in Indonesia is having a devastating effect on the local environment.  OK, fine!  I can accept and understand that.  But what do the environmental lobby expect me to do about it?  Would ending my lappy use prevent it?  Would not using my Blackberry stop it?  Would Jan stop using her Kindle help?  And what of my new Sony Alpha 77?  No, of course not!  However, not replacing them when the next 'big' thing comes along would.  It becomes a vicious circle doesn't it.  The manufactures say that users are pushing for updates and new products; shoppers are saying that new models come out and they 'just have' have it to keep with their friends.  And so the circle continues. 

A special photo for today then ... 

Kile and his step sister Vicky.  This is one of my first shots from my A77.  The software with it is a bit if a pain to use though.  I shall have to spend a lot of time getting used to it.  Perhaps Photoshop Elements 11 will be able to open the RAW files seeing as E7 won't.

Today's funny is not so funny really ...

Bono, lead singer of the rock band U2, is famous throughout the entertainment industry for being more than just a little self-righteous.  At a recent U2 concert in Glasgow, Scotland, he asked the audience for total quiet. Then, in the silence, he started to slowly clap his hands, once every few seconds.
Holding the audience in total silence, he said into the microphone, "Every time I clap my hands, a child in Africa dies."
A voice with a broad Scottish accent from the front of the crowd pierced the quiet . . .  "Well, $$$$$$ well stop doin it then, ya evil $$$$$$$!"