David Miliband and blogging

I met David Miliband at the Marsham Court

I understand he is also into blogging and is even meeting Angelina Jolie next week

See his blog at David Miliband Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural ...

The feminine feminist

A recent survey has shown that in the UK girls under 25 are now earning more than boys of the same age. In medical schools the proportion of girls are now higher than men. Girls are generally more successful in education aside from maths and it seems that even in countries where women are considered to be repressed the girls will still take advantage of every opportunity and outshine the men. In Iran for example the majority of engineers are now ladies.We are seeing a possible lady president in the running for the US. Germany has a female president who appears to be doing a competent job. Liberia has at long last got a stable government and hey guess what? It is run by a woman.I do not think that it is that likely that these young people are going to shift position and the probability is a future where women are in more positions of authority. At long last effective contraception has ensured that women do not have to look forward to a life of drudgery and now have the courage to strike out on their own without the yoke of traditional values to carry.But oh dear what is going to happen to those middle aged menfolk we see frequenting the bars and restaurants for their boozy 'business' lunches and the same people who indulge in the old golf course challenge in the middle of the working week. I believe a lot of golf courses will go out of business alongside the traditional lunchtime boozer. Why is it only men that 'have to 'conduct their business dealings in this manner? Can anyone imagine the women of the future carrying on like that ?- oh no of course not they are too busy working and overtaking these tired old soaks. A woman knows that her client is too busy for such nonsense and although she may well visit her customer she ties all the business up in no time leaving everyone free to get home and have a proper meal with their family, suits everyone all round.What I find amusing about the old business bender is that:1. Business is never discussed - that would be rude wouldn't it

2. It's the same old friendly clients that are taken out to eat - so no new business development there

3. The game of golf is just as bad after all what would you do if your client cannot play - drop him?

4. How on earth can women join in on all of this without seeming like a complete tart and upsetting her boyfriend/husband by coming home smelling of drink after having lunch with some old guy she knows and has to butter up?No no no it just won't work.

The business lunch and round of golf will soon go the way of Top hats and tails for the office. Business will become hyper efficient and all concerned will have time for the important things in life - making money, our loved ones and enjoying ourselves with the people we really want to be with.

Suzanne Moore Sunday Mail reporter

Lauren Booth and Suzanne Moore and a man in the middle who we understand spins for Gordon Brown. All were a good laugh.

Champagne socialists at the Labour conference 2007

This is my friend Rob who is a bit of a hard line labour supporter and we are at the New Statesman reception at the Royal Bath

Alliance Leicester at the Labour Party Conference

Peter Brownbill and his colleague of Alliance and Leicester were very upbeat about the bank's performance.

Labour Party conference Bournemouth 2007

We attended a reception held by the New Statesman at the Royal Bath. Here is John Snow having a good time.

Michael Palin New Europe

I was passing the bookshop in Picadilly and managed to get Michaels Palins new book signed by him. He was as ever very genial and the book looks very interesting. Having been to several of the places he writes about I was very pleased to read about them in the book.

Wicked at the Apollo theatre Victoria

I saw Wicked at the Apollo Victoria yesterday. I am sure there were loads of regulars in the theatre as the whistling and cheering was quite unusual. The scenes are spectaclular and particularly like the arrival at the Emerald City with costumes worthy of a Cecil Beaton Tableaux. Some of the special effects are amazing and the show moves on with a fast pace. I was pleased with the tickets as they were only £15.00 for the matinee and we were moved to the front of the circle. Also went by megatrain for just £24.00 return which makes it a very economical day out on a weekday.

Proms in the Park

I thought I captured a pretty good picture of Leslie Garret especially as I was so far away

Leslie Garret, Will Young and Terry Wogan. A really great event.

Juan Garcia and Carl Davis conducting

We also saw this rather mysterious figure in the crowd. Looks a bit like this guy pictured on the right.

Royal Festival Hall world press photo competition

We visited The Royal Festival Hall and saw the winners of the world press photo competition. There were some really amazing photos including the winning entry taken in Beirut and I would recommend anyone to visit this free exhibition.

This is part of a new installation outsid the building. It seems to be all about fluids entering and leaving the human body.

Hays Galleria and Fish

We had a great time this weekend and met some really nice fish filleters from Grimsby. They asked us to go along to the South Bank to see them in the filleting competition. It was amazing, the whole gallery was filled with fantastic fish foods for sale.

I dont know if our friends from M & J seafoods won, we werent able to stay to see the final of the Trafalgar cup or the National Fish Federation Trophy but it was all good stuff and we had some delicious paella and pims too.

Vintage

I really love the vintage shop in Winton and these blouses from the 60's and 70's cost next to nothing but look like they should be in Vogue magazine

Stretchy tube

I love this stretchy tube from Wolford. It can be worn as a dress or a skirt of a long top.

Wolford have some lovely designs but they are usually quite expensive.

Ie this Valentino ensemble.

Madrid

This was our final stop on this trip. We have travelled from Marseilles to Orange to Perpignan and Barcelona. Then to Valencia where we stayed for nearly 2 weeks, from there we took a train to Madrid. The train passes through agricultural areas mainly where they grow oranges and olives. Some of the land is used for environmental purposes with wind farms and solar panel farms. We particularly enjoyed it because we travelled 1st class with champagne and wine and a very good meal, time flies.

We booked accomodation through Ryanair and were amazed at how good value it was. The apartment was massive and in a very chic area near the Prado museum. Less than 60 euros per night for 2. We had a suite with a huge balcony with its own plunge pool too. Downstairs there was a restaurant with lots of tapas and lunch time meal for 10 euros. We visited the Prado to see the Goya paintings.

We found a fantastic place to eat at the cultural centre. It is very grandiose with excellent service. 3 courses there including a very good bottle of red just 24 euros.

I dont know if they made a mistake!

We really loved Madrid and will be going back soon to watch Real Madrid play if possible.

Some exotic features of the cultural centre.

Rabah Bitouche

We found this photo of Hamid's Father 'Rabah'. It was taken around 1954 when he was 21. He was born in a town around 150 miles from Algiers and his father owned a hotel there. He started out in business as a Salt trader going out into the Saharah desert and bringing back salt to Algiers, he must have been successful at this as in 1958 he started a furniture manufacturing company in the city.

During this period Algieria was still being occupied by the French (The colons) and they owned most of the land and businesses of any value in the country. Their policies did not allow the indigenous people of the country to be educated past the age of 14 years so it was hugely difficult for Algerians to prosper. Rabah joined the Front de Liberation National (FLN) and from 1954 until 1962 they fought against the ruling French and eventually expelled them from the country. He was imprisoned for a time for transporting documents by motorcycle between towns, it is said that he was tortured whilst in prison. Hamid was born at the time of his imprisonment.

After the successful liberation of Algeria he continued to flourish in business and the company is still in operation being run by 2 of his sons.

I have been reading an old book from the 1930s and it has some very interesting old b & w photos such as this one of The Tuareg in Algeria where the men veil themselves instead of the women

49th Birthday

Shiny macs are very fashionable in Spain for the Autumn. I tried a few different ones on but really liked this electric blue colour. As I couldnt make up my mind at the time I didnt get it and now regret that. Very Belle de Jour I think. Here is another example from Mango

The Kite Runner The film

The film of the Kite Runner was due out in November and I was really looking forward to its release but it seems it will be delayed now until December due to the actors involved in the rape scene being afraid to continue to live in Afghanistan. Luckily for them Paramount is taking them away from Afghanistan and they will be supported until they reach adulthood at a cost to them of half a million dollars. As the boys only received about $10 000 for their acting part and the film has cost millions and no doubt will reap an absolute fortune I think that Paramount is doing the decent thing in this case. I can't wait to see it.

The latest book by Khaled Houssani is remarkable too.
I have finished reading this book which is really amazing. It is the story of 2 boys growing up in Afghanistan, one the master´s son and the other the servant´s boy. The story is very sad and moving and I would really recommend reading it. If you want to borrow the book just let me know.

At the apartment

I am struggling to find anywhere I can download my photos from my camera so cannot add too much to the blog at the moment.

This week I had my 49th Birthday which comes as a bit of a shock. No more 40´s after this year. We celebrated by having a massive fish dinner in Calpe along the coast -somewhere Helena knows very well as she used to live there. The next day I had a go on the big elastic bouncy thing by the beach. You have to be strapped in as with a parachute, going up is great, bouncing on the trampoline as high as possible, saute sally saute the girls were shouting. Coming down is another thing though as my stomach stayed at the top and the higher you bounce the worse the feeling. I begged them to let me off and found to my dismay that a small crowd had gathered to watch!

La balade du linda

Linda has been quite enterprising and is advertising her dog walking service - just in case the locals cant speak french here in spain she has kindly drawn a dog picture - we are waiting now for results from the marketing campaign

Callera

We are staying with madjid and his family in a lovely apartment in Callera