Give Peace a Chance

As GBC K1m knows, I do like poetry.

Combine poetry, the UK, remote coastal locations and with the right leadership, you get Peace Camp.  Launched earlier this week, the series of installations to be revealed in July was inspired by the Olympic Truce under the direction of Deborah Warner.  Though I think the recordings are intended to be submitted by UK residents, those of us not bound by the Queen can participate in other (counted) ways.

Tudor Tunes

Change in scenery for some of us this weekend and a change in the weather is certain to arrive soon. Many are already deep into "back to school" mode and some of us have never left. We have several selections of books for the upcoming months to keep us in our reading habits:

September: Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

October: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

November: Arthur and George by Julian Barnes

This weekend has left me with an inspiration to revisit the history of Henry VIII as 2009 marks the 500th anniversary of the beginning of his reign. (Obviously, I was a little delayed in this observation).

Here's to Another Year

It was a great deal of fun to celebrate my birthday on the same day as the official birthday of the Queen. Though Her Majesty's actual birthday was several months ago (the same day as another of my family members, coincidentally), the Royal family, Prime Minister, RAF and a few thousand Londoners turned out to celebrate the event. Custom has dictated that it is preferable to publicly celebrate a sovereign's birthday in the summer when weather was expected to be better (than winter). I will admit that I was disappointed to learn that the fly-by was not on my behalf.

I think the idea of two birthday celebrations is a good one; two cakes are never a bad idea.