Damian Lappin's Personal Blog

Happy New Year 2012!

2012-01-01T07:22:00.209Z

Happy 2012 Everyone

I'm really excited to be starting a new year. Not only because this year London is going to be hosting the Olympic Games but because I have a feeling that with 2011 over and done with Things Really Can Only Get Better! To put it mildly 2011 was pantz, it sucked, it was doggy poop on the carpet! I really do hope 2012 will be so much better for everyone, myself included! I mean it couldn't be any worse could it? No way!

While internationally 2011 was a time of great change for many people, here in The Disunited Kingdom of Cameron & Clegg it was just more of the same. 2011 seemed to be a year of endless doom and gloom a year of making ends meet and making do, of getting by but having no fun. To paraphrase The Queen, 2011 was for me at least an "Annus horribilis".

2011 will not be a year that goes down in the British collective memory as one of the greatest, unless of course you are counting "Greatest Turds".

In my opinion to make matters worse Christmas 2011 was pretty much an anti climax, a damp sqib, a plate of cold left overs. The snow covered Christmas of 2009 was so perfect that the damp rainy atmosphere of Christmas 2011 (and 2010 for that matter) couldn't possibly live up to the precedent 2009 set. Consequently I really wasn't in the mood for Christmas this year and like many people I suppose would not have bothered marking the occasion were it not for the constant whining of festive frenzied offspring.

The Time Machine

As for New Year's Eve, I had a very quiet night in at home doing my usual thing of watching George Pal's movie version of HG Wells classic novel "The Time Machine". The Time Machine is just about my favourite film of all time. I have watched it countless times over the years since I was a small child.

I much prefer this 1960 version of The Time Machine to the 2002 remake. Rod Taylor plays a convincing role of HG Wells who casts himself as reclusive Victorian inventor H George Wells, or simply "George" to his friends.

For those who haven't seen it, the film's opening scenes take place on the evening of the 31st of December 1899 with George discussing the concept of three dimensional movement within the normal space that surrounds us but then going on to postulate that travel within the fourth dimension "Time" is equally possible. To illustrate the concept George produces a beautiful and intricate model, a small chariot like device containing a miniature seat in which he places a cigar bent into the shape of a tiny occupant for what is in fact a scaled down version of George's full size time machine which unbeknown to his guests George has constructed and which now stands in George's workshop awaiting it's maiden voyage through time!

Taking the hand of his friend Doctor Phillip Hillyer (Sebastian Cabot) George guides his index finger towards the device and rests it upon the tiny diamond like throttle which controls the machine's movement through time. George gently pushes Dr Hillyer's finger forward which initiates the rotation of the large disc at the rear of the chariot and with a bright glow of light and a faint but high pitched squeal the tiny vehicle disappears from view as it begins it's uncontrolled and thus endless journey into the future.

Unfortunately George's friends are not convinced that what he claims to have demonstrated is either real or credible. They proceed to dismiss the demonstration as nothing more than a sophisticated trick as might be performed by any one of the magicians at the London Hippodrome. Disheartened but determined to pursue his dream of traveling to the future George bid's his guests goodnight arranging to meet them for dinner later in the week. George then closes the front door and returns to his workshop where the time machine awaits!

Sarf London Urban Hype

I have an additional connection to HG Wells in that I used to live in Bromley where HG Wells was born. I seem to remember there being a giant mural who's theme was The War Of The Worlds, which was painted on the side of a building in Bromley somewhere. I Can't remember where it was. If anyone knows where it is located then please let me know.

I watched the fabulous London fireworks display on TV and though the integration of the display with the musical soundtrack was excellent however given that it featured some techno type music in parts I think the display's musical sound track should have ended on "There said the Mayor, that's that!"" from the classic 1992 Urban Hype track "A Trip To Trumpton"

I kind of wish I had made the effort to go and see the display although having before spent a night out on the cold London streets waiting for the first train home in the morning perhaps it's just as well I didn't.

I would hate to guess how much central London hotel rooms were going for last night.

This colossus of a display had to be the best I have ever seen anywhere, it reminded me of the "Destination Docklands" show which Jean Michelle Jarre put on in London in 1988, although the weather was somewhat better than the sheeting rain at the JMJ concert.

Well here's to 2012. Happy New Year everyone, I hope you had a great time last night and all the best for the coming year!

2011-12-16T08:07:00.000Z

Busy at work overhauling some of my older websites. Finally finished my wheelie bins website overhaul which offers wheelie bins for sale online.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-30T17:30:00.004Z

I am in the middle of enjoying what may probably have been my best Christmas ever. Christmas morning saw Lincolnshire covered in a fresh blanket of snow which made for a picture postcard perfect backdrop to the day. We invited my wife's parents over for lunch and for once I managed to cook the turkey to perfection. Everyone was happy with their presents including me who amongst other things received a bottle of Woodford Reserve Bourbon. This particularly gorgeous drink was featured on Stephen Fry's recent tour of America in his London cab when he visited the distillery in Kentucky where this fine drink is made. Plenty of mince pies and bourbon left to see in the new year while watching the new Star Trek movie. Bring it on! :)

A Night Out With Little Boots

2009-11-06T01:07:00.004Z

I arranged a rather nice birthday present for myself, a trip to Cambridge to see Little Boots. I was really pleased about this because I had won a ticket to go and see Victoria do a private acoustic gig at the Bathhouse but the phone message wasn't passed on until it was too late.

It was a good night, of course Ms Hesketh was terrific the highlight of the night was a sneak preview of her new song "Echo" which was very very good (as shown by the audience's reaction) and is destined to do well when released.

The support bands were unusually good in the form of Erik Hassell and Ellie Goulding, neither of I had heard perform before but was well impressed. Looking forward to downloading some of their music as it is released.

Of course the real bonus was being up close and personal in such a small venue, Victoria was superb at Glastonbury but I only got to see her on the telly and soooooo many people. The Junction made a nice change from being up in the Gods at places like the Brixton Academy.This may be the last chance to see Victoria play without having to bring binoculars so I was "well pleased" as they say. I see Amazon are selling Stylophones for less than a tenner, the Tenori-on may set you back a bit more!

Can't make my mind up who I like more at the moment, Little Boots or the Tings. Different sounds but both new, real and exciting. Strangley my inital enthusiasm with Lady Gaga has faded away but Victoria and the Tings are still pressing every right button with me

New analysis finds day care attendance early in life cuts childhood leukaemia risk by about 30%

2009-08-13T08:07:00.000+01:00

LONDON: Children who attend day care or play groups have about a 30% lower risk of developing the most common type of childhood leukaemia than those who do not, according to a new analysis of studies investigating the link.
The new research, to be presented Tuesday at the 2nd CHILDREN with LEUKAEMIA Causes and Prevention of Childhood Leukaemia Conference in London, is the first comprehensive analysis of studies investigating the association between social contact and childhood leukaemia.

“Combining the results from these studies together provided us with more confidence that the protective effect is real. Analysing the evidence in this way gives a more reliable answer to the question and a more precise estimate of the magnitude of the effect,” said the study’s leader, Dr Patricia Buffler, professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health of the University of California, Berkeley.

While the analysis does not reveal how intense social contact might ward off childhood leukaemia, it bolsters the theory that children exposed to common infections early in life gain protection from the disease. It is known that environments such as day care centres increase the chance of infections spreading. Some proponents of the theory believe that if the immune system is not challenged early in life and does not develop normally it may mount an inappropriate response to infections encountered later in childhood and that this could provoke the development of leukaemia. Leukaemia is the most common cancer found in children in the industrialised world, affecting about one in 2,000 children. Incidence of the disease has been on the increase for decades. Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, or ALL, the type of leukaemia the studies focused on, accounts for more than 80% of cases and most often occurs in children aged between 2 and 5 years. Scientists believe that for most types of childhood leukaemia to develop, there first must be a genetic mutation in the womb, followed by a second trigger during childhood that results in 1% of those children developing the disease. Infection – or the timing of infection - is one of the suspected triggers.
Buffler’s analysis included 14 published studies comprising a total of 6,108 children with leukaemia and 13,704 without the disease. Parents were asked about day care and playgroup attendance, as well as other forms of social interaction with other children. The studies varied in the timing, duration and extent of social contact investigated and in the age groups and types of leukaemia studied. Twelve of the studies found some indication of a protective effect of social interaction with other children, while two found no effect. No study found that social contact increased the risk of childhood leukaemia.

Buffler said:
Our analysis concluded that children who attended day care or play groups had about a 30% lower risk of developing leukaemia than those who did not. Combined results for studies of day care attendance specifically before the age of 1 or 2 showed a similarly reduced risk.
The protective effect became even stronger when the researchers omitted from the analysis 5 studies in which the selection of healthy children for the comparison group relied on methods not considered optimal. In that analysis, children exposed to social contact were almost 40% less likely to go on to develop leukaemia than their counterparts.
In a separate report released at the conference on Tuesday by CHILDREN with LEUKAEMIA, scientists reviewed the evidence from studies that have investigated a link between infection and childhood leukaemia. They examined not only the idea that early life infections protect against the disease but also whether vaccination plays a role. In addition, they examined two other related areas of research: the role of infection during pregnancy and whether infection might be a factor influencing childhood leukaemia risk in situations where the population mix changes.

The report concluded that the evidence regarding whether infection during pregnancy or in situations of unusual patterns of population mixing influences the risk is inconclusive at present and that further research is necessary.
“On the question of whether infection early in life protects against leukaemia, the best evidence comes from studies of indirect measures of infection - which eliminates many of the problems common in trying to study infections directly - as well as from studies on immune system stimulation and on the genetics of immune responses,” said one of the report’s authors, Dr Adrienne Morgan.

Dr Morgan also said:
Putting our review together with the new analysis on social interaction, we can say pretty confidently that childcare, breastfeeding and vaccination are good things. This gives a steer to the biologists looking for what mechanisms might be at play.
CHILDREN with LEUKAEMIA's Chief Executive said “These findings are important because this is the first time the results of all the relevant studies have been put together and it clearly shows that there is an effect here. This is the kind of research that brings us a step closer to understanding the causes of this complex disease and how we can prevent it.”

Does infection cause or prevent childhood Leukaemia? (Download PDF file)

Visit Children With Leukaemia Website

Eurovision Song Contest

2009-07-28T11:27:00.000+01:00

I have finally finished watching the Eurovision song contest which I had recorded weeks ago. I was very impressed with Graham Norton's outstanding performance and thought the standard of entries was particulary high this year.

Congratulations to Russia for providing a spectacular venue for the event which is probably one of the best I have ever seen.