Only yesterday I wrote about Star Wars and Legoland only to find that the great film franchise is all over the news today. The media is covering the fact that the Star Wars movie empire is to get a significant new boost thanks to Disney buying Lucasfilm. Disney’s commitment is to make a series of new films and this is good stuff in my opinion. Can’t wait!

The Bond franchise has been rolling for 50 years now and I now fully expect to see Star Wars reach similar heights.

Power generation was the second topic I wrote about yesterday, only to find that today I have to listen to John Hayes, newly appointed Energy Minister, spouting hot air about his view on wind power. Apparently he’s had enough of wind turbines, thinks they are a terrible intrusion, doesn’t think they have community support and has ordered a new analysis.

Yesterday we got the Government promoting nuclear energy and today we get our officials knocking wind power (an alternative that is arguably more deserving of some of the investment that is going elsewhere). This has the feel of a cynical, orchestrated PR initiative to me.

I want to know more about the statistical evidence he has for claiming the public is disenchanted about wind turbines, I also want to know whether those wind detractors have properly considered the nuclear alternative and all the risk that presents. For the record, John Hayes is certainly not representing my opinion.

I want to know why John Hayes has been appointed to a role where his personal bias is so immediately evident – will that drive balanced, informed and reasoned government policy decision making?

Is the British public fully supportive of nuclear power generation, can John Hayes show me that evidence? If he can’t, some of his parliamentary seniors should suggest he winds his neck in.

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I read this BBC article with a significant degree of frustration. Given the disaster at Fukushima and even today’s news that America's oldest nuclear power plant, Oyster Creek in New Jersey, has been on alert due to rising flood water, the Government here still thinks nuclear power is worth taking the risk with. Crikey, the Germans have abandoned nuclear power and the Japanese people/government are far from comfortable with nuclear power generation in their own country – why are we less reticent?

Cameron is wrong, this isn’t a vote of confidence in the UK; it is Hitachi cementing its own financial future whilst taking no risks within its home territories. And let me ask, how warm will the Government and the British public’s welcome be if things go wrong with the new power plants?

This announcement comes soon after the Government has put the nuclear deterrent back on the agenda with Trident related posturing.

I wish the politicians would put their collective wits into improving the lot of the nuclear family instead of focusing upon weapons and power. The child allowance cuts have been announced at the same time as this nuclear investment and I think that is clear evidence of the wrong priorities. Take tax benefits away from families in order to be able to fund the bill for this nuclear nonsense – it’s just madness!

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Derren Brown is back on our screens once more and his latest experiment is to play with the head of 21 year old Steve Brosnan and make him believe that he is a survivor of a meteor hit post-apocalyptic world. To make matters more challenging, Steve faces virus bearing zombies and is expected to take responsibility for a child’s wellbeing – not bad for a lazy, inconsiderate, never-do-well.

So far we have only seen episode one of a two part series but there has already been much to ponder.

In the news yesterday though, the revelation was made that the main character is in fact (well maybe not a fact; who knows?) an actor. Derren Brown always acknowledges that what he does is a combination of magic, sleight of hand, suggestion, misdirection and showmanship; and Apocalypse is no different and will be entertaining to watch regardless of how fake it is.

To me, the likelihood that the whole thing is a tightly orchestrated contrivance is a relief because otherwise we all have much to worry about. Not zombies and meteors of course, but rather just how easy it could be to drive one to madness. The opportunity for others to take control of an individual’s technology, access to the media, interactions with others, not to mention their susceptibility to suggestion and hypnosis means that any of us could be manipulated into believing and doing anything.  Our mental health is perhaps a lot more fragile than we realise and that is scary stuff.

As a fresher at university many years ago, I tried stage hypnosis. I was really pleased to get a seat on the stage and then was gutted to be kicked off almost immediately. I couldn’t do the visualisation bit and therefore didn’t fit the hypnotist’s agenda. I wouldn’t mind trying again but I’d prefer to start with thinking I was a chicken rather than living a full-scale end of the world scenario.

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The Guardian was a good read this Saturday and two interesting articles, both from page five of the newspaper, have become the basis for this blog post. The first is about doing time and follows the news story that Trenton Oldfield, the chap that disrupted the Oxford/Cambridge Boat Race by swimming into the path of the rowers, has been banged up for six months and fined £750. I am genuinely amazed that his protest was dealt with so harshly by Judge Anne Molyneux – how did Oldfield’s his actions warrant a gaol sentence?

I don’t buy the judge’s summation - the fine and some community service would surely have sufficed, let’s face it nobody got hurt and it made for a different spectacle than normal – actually made it more watchable in my opinion! I hope that some kind of appeal process is started and that the ruling is overturned.

The second time related reflection is about Time Team. You’d think that archaeology would be back in the public consciousness bearing in mind that Richard III has been recently discovered in a Leicester car park, and a cache of Spitfires is being hunted for in Burma. However you’d be wrong because Channel 4 has decided to call time on the Time Team show - Tony Robinson and his band of merry men have themselves been consigned to history. I shall miss watching the team members getting over enthusiastic about digging up little pieces of broken pottery and other assorted detritus.

Time Team was an institution for years and its passing will be mourned in the Baldwin family. Hopefully a TV archaeologist will dig the format back up again in the future and return it to our screens.

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I wrote about the fight between David Price and Audley Harrison last week; this post is supplemental to that earlier piece.

My lad and I were at karate last night when a fellow club member asked if I’d been to the fight. I gave an affirmative response and then asked why he raised the question. It turns out he’d seen me on the telly.

I subsequently found the fight coverage on YouTube and here’s a link for you to follow.  

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7QrS7XLhIQ

I am 48 seconds into the footage! Jez Hart is to my left.

An appearance of just two seconds, which is hardly a claim to fame, does make for a nice souvenir.  

The story about George Osborne sitting in First Class without a valid ticket is hilarious. I have no idea which version of the ‘truth’ is accurate (the official line or the one offered by the journalist that was on the same train) but nonetheless its ticket has fiasco stamped all over it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20008342

I bet Richard Branson has chuckled at the Chancellor’s discomfort. Bearing in mind the charade about the Government botching the award of the contract for the West Coast Mainline, Branson’s Virgin brand once again scores points against the hapless politicians.

As a tax payer, I am not that comfortable that our politicians get to choose first class travel at our expense, whilst the country is in financial trouble and cuts are being made everywhere. On this occasion though, the hoo-hah generated has given the British public a comedy gem that it could have missed out on otherwise.

Hopefully the PM scrutinises the inevitable expenses claim and suggests that Osborne funds the ‘fine’ element from his own pocket.

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I love this story so thought I would share it with my readers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-19940942

The Milton Keynes concrete cows arrived in the seventies and are a local landmark. As a child I lived in Bletchley and I remember going to see these things when they first went on show.

The article refers to the cows being vandalised but when I saw the picture, vandalism isn’t something that sprang to mind – my view is that the net result is excellent and some urban artist needs to be congratulated. Even the legendary ‘Banksy’ would probably give this work the thumbs up.

Typically the park’s community engagement officer is a bit grumpy and only sees the costs associated with returning the cows to their normal black and white pattern; doesn’t see the humour and suggests they could get moved permanently. Bah Humbug!

Here’s what I think:

I see the cows drawing in more visitors. They have become a talking point again and they look magnificent. I will certainly be making a trip out to see them and I wouldn’t have thought about doing that before reading the news story.

I think the whole thing could be the perfect publicity stunt – the park commissions the artist, generates some decent media coverage and increases footfall as well.

With Halloween coming, the spooky theme for the cows is perfect.

I think the cows could and should become the permanent MK Cow Parade. The herd should regularly be repainted as a means to keeping local and even national interest alive. The re-paints could be themed (as well as Halloween, think Christmas cows, Easter Cows, Olympic/Team GB cows etc.). The herd could be sponsored by corporates or be the temporary show piece for local art colleges. This would be proper community engagement and a funds generator for the park.

My advice to Bryony Serginson, don’t be cross, think about the possibilities instead.

Fiona Norrie, I am with you! You've taken a great photograph too.

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Felix Baumgartner jumped to earth from the edges of space, broke the sound barrier on the way down, and lived to tell the tale – he even landed on his feet and walked on. The man must be as nutty as a fruitcake but he’s also a real superhero.  I have to state that the spectacle was one of the most awe inspiring things I have ever witnessed. What on earth, or off it for God’s sake, can he do for the next adrenaline hit?

Seriously, I hope that Felix now feels able to retire to live a long life - like a travelling bard, in 40 years from now he should still be telling his tales all around the planet to anyone prepared to listen. Why keep on risking his life now? It would be a bloody shame to die base-jumping off a boring skyscraper.

I for one am looking forward to the upcoming documentary about his exploits.

DC Comics, or Marvel, need to brief a designer to come up with a decent name and suit for a real life Super Man. And, Red Bull could give the designers the wings for it!

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Today has been a day with the heavens in focus. This morning, whilst driving to work, Chris Evans interviewed the great Buzz Aldrin. This man is an 82 year old legend, a genuine hero and worthy of complete respect. Unfortunately, I didn’t think that Chris Evans showed the due respect; he didn’t manage his interview with Buzz as well as he should of done.

To be fair to Chris, Buzz took his time over his answers, didn’t answer in sound bites and didn’t really answer some questions at all, but that meant Chris managed the interview in a slightly heavy handed way and was a bit dismissive, and even condescending, in his efforts to constrain the piece to a limited time slot. That was a real shame in my opinion – Evans is usually so much more professional. The interview would probably have worked better if it had been pre-recorded.

The next heavenly focus was care of Felix Baumgartner – I can’t decide if this man is a hero or a lunatic. Like many around the world I have been waiting with anticipation to see his jump from 36.5 kilometres high. I have watched the CGI representation and have watched his practice leaps as well. The thing is though, I am really quite nervous for this man. He is taking a huge risk in breaking the sound barrier with his own body whilst approaching a descent speed of 700 miles per hour, and there is no guarantee that he’ll survive the fall even with his high tech space suit.

The jump is unlikely to take place until Thursday now and so the wait goes on a little longer. I pray that Felix doesn’t kill himself - his body will be wired with all sorts of monitoring devices and, if the jump goes wrong, it will all be recorded in truly horrifying detail and then no-doubt broadcast around the world. If he succeeds of course, he will be a modern superhero but I am not sure the risks are worth it.

The last heavenly focus for today is the northern lights. The aurora borealis has been visible to those in the northern most points of the country and the pictures on the BBC have been spectacular. I have never seen the lights before, live too far south and I am envious of those that have the opportunity.

Seeing the lights is one of the things on my list of ‘must experience’ before I die. Hopefully I’ve still got plenty of time to fit them in, fingers crossed that the same applies to Felix.  

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I popped into Milton Keynes shopping centre over lunch today, did a circuit and found the inspiration for this latest post whilst I was enjoying the stroll.

Outside John Lewis there was a wedding fair taking place and, in casting my eyes down and picking up my pace, I vowed to rush past it without making eye contact with anyone. Wedding fairs are just awful, I hate them and I find these events as scary as the Ebola virus. Crikey, I was even tempted to run away screaming from these things when planning my own wedding (or having Mrs B. plan it for me).

So picture the scene, me, a suited office type, looking unapproachable and like he’s out speed walking for his lunch break – stopped dead in his tracks like the cartoon character Roadrunner! 

There before me and, in my opinion, looking decidedly cool and not to mention, a tad retro, was an A-Team GMC van. Not a genuine set vehicle you understand but a bloody good replica nonetheless. I stared for a moment and then went to have a closer look – and while doing so I took some photos on my phone (one is here for your enjoyment).

For blokes of my age, the A-Team has a special place in the fabric of one’s youth. I remember the A-Team from the moment the TV show arrived on our shores, the theme tune was a ring tone on my phone for years and somewhere I still have that same theme tune, by Mike Post, on 7 inch vinyl. I can hum it immediately too, in fact I am doing so even as I type (that’s how Murdock mad I am – one crazy fool!).  The A-Team was up there with the Dukes of Hazzard, Knight Rider and Airwolf as essential viewing for the pre, or just post, pubescent male.

So back from nostalgia central to Milton Keynes; this van was on display and is available for wedding hire. I don’t think that the van comes accessorised/equipped with a nickel plated armoury under the seats but, guns aside, just how good/cool/pumped-up would you feel barrelling up to your wedding venue in this 5.7 litre V8 beast, with the theme tune blaring, and then piling out of it with your male entourage? Seriously, you’d have to try hard not to enjoy it more than the official bit at the altar!

Now I have been married for many years now and that means I am out of the target market for this vehicle as a wedding car – I have however kept a leaflet and if the current Mrs Baldwin decides to divorce me, I’ll be bearing it in mind for marriage to any subsequent post holder!

Weddings aside; this wagon might just have to be booked for ‘big number’ birthdays or anything else that involves making a grand entrance to a party! Why just book a Bentley, a limousine or a vintage car when you could book this instead?

I loved this van; just seeing it cheered me up and it actually made me smile at a wedding fair. Amazing!

You can find out more:

www.theateamvan.com or 07758 888 007 or [email protected]

The leaflet I picked up carries the headline – “We love it when a wedding plan comes together!” Obvious of course, but perfect!