London Freewheel

Ken Livingstone may not be perfect, but he does seem to be pretty committed to encouraging the use of sustainable transport in London. On Sunday Embankment and several other major London roads were closed to motor traffic for the London Freewheel.

The marketing and website were very cheesy, and my initial thoughts were that it was going to be a half hearted attempt at pretending to do something about London transport. However, it turned out to be quite good fun. The organisers were expecting around 30,000 people, but well over 40,000 turned out to ride or skate slowly along the streets of London.

The route itself was quite short and limited, but it appears to have succeeded in its primary aim- loads of unexperienced cyclists turned out from all over London, guided by volunteers from the London Cycling Campaign, and with any luck many will have seen how practical cycling can be and will hopefully continue.

More photos.

World Car Free Day

It's World Car Free Day today (22nd September). Or Streets for People Day as it seems to be called in Oxford. As you may have guessed from the name, it's about reducing our dependency on the car. Or at least trying to. There really isn't much need to drive into the centre of Oxford anyway, and I get the feeling people that do (especially drivers of oversized 4x4s) won't be changing their habits anytime soon.

Finished!

I've just (finally) finished my project report on creating green fluorescent fusion proteins ion the humble fruit fly. Which means somewhere in a freezer there's a few tubes of DNA which, when injected into fruit fly embryos, will hopefully result in some of the embryos producing this fluorescent protein. And you'll be able to see where the protein localises by which bit of the fly fluoresces :)

And in completely unrelated news, the quote of the day has to be:

We don't know where the poison went from all these bad loans and you have to look at all these bad loans as a bit like a blancmange that's been hit very heavily by a spade and it's gone everywhere.

Tank for sale

The usual DSEI protests have been going on, the police have been trying to put an end to it (though apparently many of them feel policing a weapons exhibition isn't the best use of their time.

This was a pretty good stunt though. The Space Hijackers took a tank on a protest march to the Excel Centre, where the DSEI was being held. The police stopped them on the pretence of carrying out a "vehicle check". Except they had a second tank which managed to get right up to once of the main gates, where it parked on a mini-roundabout. And as far as I can tell, it (very improbably) looks like a real tank!

It's time for the DSEI again

Britain is once against proud to host the Defence Systems & Equipment International (DSEI) show, the world's premier event for showcasing the latest in killing technology. Find out how to kill more people, faster, and cheaper (well, probably not cheaper, but you'll be able to boast about having the latest fanciest new tech). It's a absolute must-see for anyone involved in developing or using weapons.

However, as in previous years, the organisers have ordered exhibitors not to show any equipment that might be considered too offensive - such as torture devices and cluster bombs - neither as an exhibit, nor in pictures or literature.

So that's OK then. If you want to show off the latest torture devices, or the odd illegal weapon, arrange a discreet meeting behind the scenes and all will be fine. And if any of those pesky protestors try to hassle you, you can rely on the police to neutralise them.

Random notes on A38(M)

It's a motorway from Spaghetti Junction to Birmingham City Centre. And apparently it has (or used to) have a vinegar pipeline across it, connecting two halves of the HP Sauce factory. Now sadly demolished and production moved to Holland.

Lond tube Strikes (Again)

Well, it looks like the 3 day tube strike is going ahead. Not that I care since I'm no longer in London. And if I was I wouldn't care because I'd be on my bike :). But anyway, it's once again an excuse to link to The London Underground Song. Requires flash I'm afraid, but there's also an mp3 version.

Lab Barbeques

I've now spent 6 weeks in a lab. And very enjoyable it was too, and a lot more productive than working with computers where every 10 minutes you're checking your email or generally faffing around on the net.

Sadly I'm now halfway-ish into writing up. Which involves vegetating in front of a computer or two and being generally unproductive.

It doesn't help that last Monday my supervisor organised a very nice barbeque for everyone at his house in Chippenham. And for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to cycle there, taking in part of the Ridgeway, one of the oldest roads in Britain. The weather was perfect (dry and sunny with a nice breeze), views were amazing, I passed loads of ancient Iron Age and Neolithic sites, and to cap it off the food was excellent. Especially desert:

1. Split banana lengthways, but keep part of the skin intact
2. Add pieces of good chocolate
3. Close up and wrap in foil
4. Place on barbeque until warm throughout and the chocolate has melted
5. Serve :)