The ultimate lock-in

How did you celebrate New Year? Staying in watching tedious telly reviews of the past year and decade? A wild night out in a big city with fireworks, silly hats and Auld Lang Syne? (Me? I settled for champagne, a rental film and bed before midnight... sad aren't I?)

Well, 30 guests at the highest pub in England certainly got more than they bargained for - and had a New Year's celebration they'll never forget. They planned on staying overnight at The Tan Hill Inn in the Yorkshire Dales - and ended up staying three days because of the wintry weather.

The resident DJ told BBC News that people's spirits were kept up (gin, vodka, brandy, sherry no doubt) and that it was a "heart-warming" experience - again, probably helped by the copious amount of alcohol quite literally 'on tap'. Everyone mucked in, doing chores around the inn, which stands at 1,700 metres above sea level in Swaledale.

It must've been quite a community - the ultimate 'big brother' experience (without the cameras!) Among the group were students from Leeds University and one summed it up by saying, "It's been fun - the ultimate lock-in!" I'll raise a glass to that!

No doubt when snow ploughs got through the seven-foot drifts on Sunday and it was time to finally head downhill and back to reality, some of the guests felt a little sad. I wonder if a local bobby was on hand with a breathalyser at the bottom of the hill - it would've made for interesting results.

I've enjoyed a relaxed, family Christmas and New Year. The week spent with the in-laws in the Kent countryside was fantastic, though it was a shame my father-in-law was only just recovering from a knee operation and not on best form. He's a very active guy usually, so being stuck on the sofa and struggling with sticks was frustrating for him to say the least.

Seeing him certainly made me wonder how I'll be in 30 years' time - and made me appreciate my working joints. My mother-in-law certainly made the most of it, getting me to shovel snow and ice and collect logs for the fire. Hope you're back on your feet properly again soon, Alan!!

Finally, one resolution for 2010 - to ensure my blogs are more regularly written. This is my first 'muse' for six weeks and I'll endeavour to add more in the coming weeks. And for those on Twitter, you can follow me at www.twitter.com/andrewdubock

A bridge over troubled water

As a new working week begins, people living in parts of Cumbria are opening their curtains to see something that resembles a disaster zone.

Floods from unprecedented rainfall have destroyed the infrastructure in places such as Cockermouth and life is very different to normal, with schools and workplaces closed and travel severely disrupted. Hundreds of people are homeless, staying either in temporary shelters or with friends and family.

Bridges that have stood for hundreds of years have either already collapsed or are in serious danger of falling, and all 1,800 bridges in Cumbria (that's more bridges than a Westlife song!) are getting vital safety checks. One remarkable thing I read is that, because of bridge problems, people in Northside face a 40-mile detour just to get to the town centre... a journey which usually takes a matter of minutes.

This is the sort of thing we read about happening in other countries, particularly in the developing world. And, whilst we are undoubtedly richer and better resourced to face disasters such as this than in countries such as Bangladesh, the scenes in Cumbria remain truly devastating.

Families will be without basic essentials. Businesses will be forced to shut. Children's education will be disrupted. Sitting here safely in Oxfordshire, I count myself fortunate (though this region has had its fair share of floods in recent years.)

I believe climate change is to blame for record rainfall like that in Cumbria on Friday and Saturday. On a world level, we need leaders committed to tackling climate change - the forthcoming Copenhagen summit is crucial. In the UK, we need to better equipped - the government and county councils across the country need to take flood prevention more seriously, and have solid plans put in place for situations like this.

We also need to monitor levels and trends on all rivers better (some residents in Cumbria say they were not sufficiently warned) and BBC blogger Mark Easton says that "the River Eden, for example, had been behaving entirely normally for the past few months".

My thoughts go out to those most-affected by this situation - but I hope that experts are understanding that words like 'freak', 'unique' and 'unprecedented' can't keep being rolled out - bad weather is now all too common.

(Photo credit: Peter Thody)

Nasty Nick: fair show or not?

There's been one story that has dominated the newspaper columns and TV news bulletins in the last couple of days, culminating last night.

The decision by the BBC to invite British National Party leader Nick Griffin onto Question Time has sparked all sorts of emotions amongst people, including those who protested (some violently)outside Television Centre during the recording of the programme yesterday evening.

I managed to catch most of the show and feel it gave Griffin far too much publicity, a special treatment, and was far too much about him rather than politics and issues. He was verbally attacked, bullied you might say, by members of the audience and others on the panel, including the chair David Dimbleby and, whilst I would wholeheartedly agree with their sentiments and totally stand against what the BNP stand for, it wasn't particularly balanced, fair and democratic.

What needed to happen, more fully than it did, was for each topical issue - such as immigration, the recession, workers' rights - to be explored and addressed to each of the politicians there, particularly Jack Straw as a member of the ruling Labour party. Instead, it turned into solely the Nick Griffin show. And in that he lied through his teeth, contradicted himself and came out with some stunningly outrageous statements, which showed exactly why people are so passionate in being against him and the party he leads.

I tried to glean positives as I watched it, and one was the fact that the audience was multi-racial, including people of different ages and backgrounds, and almost to a man/woman standing together against fascism, racism and ideologies that tear communities apart and are ultimately about hate, and not love.

Whether we like it or not, God loves Nick Griffin as he loves each one of us. As a church housegroup last night we prayed for Griffin, and I pray for him as I type this - that God would reveal his love in some way to him, that he would repent from how he has acted, and see that there are better ways to go about being politics - and life.

(Photo credit: Rex Chen)

We're not watching anymore

I suppose it was inevitable given the fast-moving 'digital revolution' and the way in which the web rules over everything.

Plus, it's already happened in other areas of interest such as music... but, football - really?!

Yes, the news that England's match in Ukraine this Saturday will only be shown live on the internet - and for a fee - has not been warmly-received by fans. Rightly so too in my opinion.

OK, so England have already qualified for next year's World Cup finals, but this is still our national team playing a competitive match and hugely popular with football fans, as viewing figures show. We love to watch Rooney, Gerrard et al put on the white shirt and (hopefully) play with pride! We're on quite a roll at the moment too.

However, the 'powers that be' - whoever they are, and apparently it's not the Football Association - have deemed that supporters must fork out at least a fiver for the privilege. And it won't be shown in pubs - where most England fans (who aren't travelling) watch matches because of the atmosphere. There will be grumpy landlords up and down the country this week. Some cinemas have been selected to show the game - but can you really see football fans wanting to do this?

It's really sad that none of the terrestrial channels wanted to show this match. It came down to money apparently, but I think England supporter is right when he says, "Fifa and Uefa should insist as a condition of entry that all nations sell their games to terrestrial stations, whether it's the home or away market."

And all this in a country where, it was announced last week, there is a relatively poor broadband service (we're behind the likes of Bulgaria and Latvia in terms of quality and speech). You can see it now: you tune in to watch and the little circle spins on a black background or England are about to score on Saturday and the screen freezes. This won't work - not yet anyway.

I hope England get another win on Saturday to keep up their great record - but I won't be watching.

Paper talk

"It's The Sun Wot Won It" was the famous headline from Britain's favourite newspaper (apparently) after the Tories won the general election in 1992, and The Sun claimed a big part in helping them do so.

And now, this morning, 17 years on, we wake to read that The Sun are making their political persuasions and election predictions fully known once again. This time, they are withdrawing their support from the government, claiming that "Labour's lost it".

It's a bold and damning statement, though Gordon Brown and co claim they are not getting too worried by it, saying it's not newspapers that win and lose elections, but that it's "It's the British people's views I'm interested in."

I feel Gordon is being a bit naive there and, although he won't admit it, I'm sure he is hurt by this deliberate move against his party from a newspaper read by three million voters every day, and many more non-readers will be influenced by this statement too.

In many ways, none of this is very surprising. The Sun is really only jumping on the bandwagon (and seeking publicity) of a swell of public opinion. Labour's been on a downward spiral since the heady Cool Britannia days and 'things can only get better' in 1997. Decisions made over matters including terrorism, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and health cuts have turned the British public against Labour, and Gordon Brown, in my eyes, isn't a strong enough leader for this country.

The alternative, however, is David Cameron and a Tory party with lots of unanswered questions and a history of failing the nation. They are sitting in pole position as we edge towards a general election next year. It's a shame, in my opinion, that the refreshing and forward-thinking Liberal Democrats aren't closer in the reckoning.

The Sun won it for Major in the early-90s; it's very likely they will do Dave a favour in 2010.

News week

In a break from the norm, here are five news items that have especially caught my eye this past week.

Ade goes crazy - The football story of the week (Coventry's glorious victory apart), the day that Man City Emmanuel Adebayor went nuts, stamping at a former teammate and then running the length of the pitch to goad fans who used to love him. A silly boy - he deserves being banned. Premier league footballers are paid oodles and should remain professionals at all times in my view. I'm sure other players have had worse aimed at them and managed to keep it together.

Could Elton sacrifice it all for an orphan? - We've had Brad, Angelina and Madonna and now Elton John wanted to get in on the act. Old Reg Dwight wanted to adopt a one year-old Ukranian orphan who had "stolen my heart" - but was turned down flatly because of his age and marital status. Celebrities shouldn't be allowed to do things like this on a whim. Could you really have seen him give up his lifestyle so that that little boy gets the attention he deserves? Much better to give money to Ukranian couples who can't have kids so that they can adopt the lad instead.

A sick fantasy goes unpunished - I read in disbelief this week that two teenagers have got away Scot-free (apart from six months remand) from their 'fantasy' plot to bomb their school in Manchester. A jury cleared Matthew Knight and Ross McKnight from potential murder - despite their obsession to copy the Columbine killings. I've heard a number of cases recently where officials (social workers, police, etc) have failed to spot warning signs in people who've then gone onto do terrible things. I really hope this isn't one of those situations. These are not good fantasies to have.

Sunny day for Vera - The news that wartime favourite Dame Vera Lynn has become the oldest singer to reach the top of the UK albums chart is a heart-warming one. The 92 year-old quietly snuck in to beat all of the The Beatles' (much-hyped) remastered albums to the number one slot. Whilst her music does nothing for me personally, people seem to still enjoy the golden oldies. Gives the likes of Cliff, Status Quo and Robbie Williams hope doesn't it?!

Tall order - (And finally...) Turkish giant Sultan Kosen has strode into the record books this week as the world's tallest person. Standing at a staggering 8 foot 1 inch tall, Kosen came to London - in search of love it seems! He hopes his new-found fame will find him a girlfriend. A lady with her own stepladder would fit the bill best. At a reasonably tall 6ft 3 myself, and lanky with it, I struggle with certain things in life (insufficient legroom and regular backache are just two) so I really feel for Kosen. Still, as the BBC piece says, at least he can change a lightbulb easily, eh!

Is Derren's number up?

Amazed. Intrigued. Baffled. Disappointed. There's been a wide spectrum of reactions to the latest high-profile trick of Derren Brown, the celebrity illusionist.

On Wednesday, Derren (surely either a stage name or a typo on his birth certificate!) predicted all six main balls of the National Lottery and then last night presented an hour-long show that showed how he did it - and how we can too (yeah, right).

I tuned in to see 'the solution', and I found it interesting and watchable although a little tenuous and long-winded in places. I remain unconvinced by the method Brown used, which involved using 24 volunteers (who became very friendly through bonding exercises) coming up with random numbers and then finding the average to get the numbers.

The whole thing was a wind-up and cleverly marketed - a bit of harmless fun (except for the loose handwriting techniques to draw numbers, which was dodgy and weird). It leaves us still trying to work out how he did... or if he really did.

Illusionists are all about trying to tap into the way people naturally perceive events, and play on doing cleverly doing something while our eyes are fixed somewhere else - slight of hand.

Maybe Derren Brown somehow messed around with his balls while the watching public looked elsewhere. I do hope we've not been duped by computer technology.

Whatever the real outcome, it's certainly got people thinking and talking about maths, probability - oh, the greedy cry of 'How can I win the lottery too?!'

(Photo credit: Dominic Campbell)