Stupid scientology

Today #stupidscientology was trending on Twitter. If you want to know where the hashtag came from, it was coined by Jack of Kent (aka David Allen Green) and is explained here. The reason it was trending was twofold. The first was that Councillor John Dixon was up in front of the Cardiff Council Standards and Ethics committee.  In a decision welcomed by many (including me), they cleared him of any wrong doing and decided that there was no evidence that he'd failed to comply with their code of conduct. Great news.

The other reason it was trending was that tonight on the BBC,  purely coincidentally, Panorama (via John Sweeney) continued their investigation into Scientology. Now, this will probably get me into a lot of trouble with them, but what a load of nutters. Scary, sinister ones at that. I loved the "outing' of their intergalatic warload Xenu. Can't believe that so many celebrities have been taken in by them. Puts me off watching their films.

Edit:  God I love Twitter. Lord Xenu is now the number one trending topic!

Curious chateau

Last week I was very lucky to go to a conference just outside Paris. First shock was the plane - I'm not a good flyer. Actually, flying is OK, its taking off that's the problem. Doesn't matter how many times I do it, I don't like it. and I particularly don't like turboprop planes. Also irrational but I prefer my plane to have jet engines. 4 of them, 5 if possible. Although this was a pretty good flight. Landed at Charles de Gaulle and found a taxi. I'd printed the name and address of where I needed to go, as well as a Google map, and I'd got the route on my phone.  The French taxi driver was having none of it. He shrugged, huffed, and keyed the name of the village into his satnav. We had a nice journey, past the Chantilly Chateau - so close I thought we were in the car park, and then i noticed we'd gone too far. Once I realised we'd been lost for a good 10 minutes, I tried to show him the route, but this was obviously a problem, so he carried on. Finally I persuaded him to look at the phone and turn round - quite difficult as I'd forgotten most of the French I'd ever learnt.

When we arrived I discovered a beautiful chateau, Les Fontaines, which had a modern conference centre and small residential blocks in the grounds.

I was early, so went for a walk and discovered a park, complete with lake, and had a pleasant walk in very warm sunshine considering it was the end of September. As I came back past the chateau I notice lots of people going in and out, obviously preparing it for the evening event on the following night. So, I walked in, complete with camera, and wandered around taking pictures. In my experience, if you look confident and act as if you should  be there, no one will notice or question you, and they didn't!

One of my  pleasures in life is eating good food and I wasn't disappointed. I love being able to help myself and take a little of lots of different things, and with so many delegates, all of the meals were buffet style. The food tasted as good as it looked! Strawberry soup is an acquired taste though.

The evening event was the Chateau of Curiosities with each room having a different theme. There was live jazz, an oriental buffet, a room dedicated to chocolate and brandy.  We had our pictures taken next to a  3d artwork:

and watched a robot solve a Rubik's cube in 14 seconds:

Great conference - report of all the sessions over here. Lovely to get a couple of days in the sun as well. Didn't see Paris at all, but at least on the way back the plane had lovely jet engines. And good old BA - plane was only in the air about 35 minutes but everyone got a drink and something to eat.

We Will Rock You

Staying in London tonight for a Gartner Summit tomorrow. One advantage of being in London on your own is being able to get tickets for shows - single tickets are dead easy to get. I decided I wanted to see We Will rock You - the musical written by Ben Elton and based on Queen songs, and bought one last night and was on the 4th row in the stalls. Great view - could practically touch the cast!

Because I've worked backstage at theatres including The Lyceum and The Crucible as well as our own Drama Studio (albeit with amateur companies), I have a habit of watching the technology, from the guys who climb the ladders on the rigging to operate the spotlights, to the trapdoors in the stage, the scene changes and the musical director conducting the cast from the TVs fixed to the circle. Sometimes I have to force myself to watch the show. Not that it was difficult with this one.

This was a fantastic show, if you love Queen. Set in the future when live music has been banned and the only radio station plays synthesised music - Radio Gaga - it tells the story of Galileo and Scaramouche (aka Scary Bush) trying to find rock and roll and real instruments. The libretto was panned by the critics, but I loved it, probably because I've always liked Ben Elton's sense of humour. The cast were great, and made good use of a huge stage and a very minimal set. The choreography was by Arlene Phillips and was definitely reminiscent of Hot Gossip.  As a lifelong Coronation Street fan it was great to see Curly (Kevin Kennedy) playing Pop - I hadn't realised what a good singer he was. Don't remember him crooning to Raquel! I thought the women were particularly good.  Sarah French's (Scaramouche) performance of Somebody to Love was nearly as good as Freddie. By the end we were all on our feet.

I'm a real sucker for musicals, and this was a great night!

Birthday break at The Fev

A few weeks ago I stayed at a hotel in Helmsley for a work related meeting, and was dead impressed - both with the hotel and Helmsley.  As Stuart's birthday was coming up, I decided to see if we could get in for a couple of days as I thought it would be a good birthday present. And of course one I could enjoy as well :-)  The hotel managed to find a room for us, and last Sunday I drove Stu up there as a birthday surprise.

The hotel was the Feversham Arms, and I'd recommend it for anyone wanting a treat. Customer service is second to none - little things like candles, joss sticks and matches in the bathroom, freshly made coffee and a newspaper delivered to your room every morning, breakfast in the room at no extra charge, and all of the staff remembering your name. When I'd booked it, I'd mentioned that I was looking for particular dates because it was my husband's birthday, and when we arrived there was a chocolate and raspberry cake waiting in the room for him.

We arrived about 4pm, and were able to catch the last rays of the sun in the courtyard by the outside pool which is heated, and had a swim, a session in the hot tub, and a drink. Dinner in the restaurant was preceded by an G and T in one of the comfy lounges -  scottish gin I'd never heard of before which came with apple instead of the more traditional lime or lemon. Dinner was lovely, and the puddings particularly good - a mixture of several small ones on one plate - my idea of heaven!

The next morning we had a session in the spa. We went in the steam rooms, aromatherapy room, sauna - and I managed to rub myself with ice in the ice cave afterwards!  Then I had a facial and a back massage with hot stones while Stu had a deep muscle massage.  I'm a real sceptic when it comes to alternative treatments, but get me in a beauty treatment room with a therapist telling me the stones channel my chakras and I'm hooked!  More hot tub, then we decided perhaps it was time to actually leave the hotel and visit the town.

Helmsley is a lovely small market town - the market square is surrounded by interesting shops - especially food ones - all beautifully adorned with flower displays.

There's a castle to walk round, and a walled garden which has been restored over the last few years.  It has herbaceous borders, wild flower areas, and an amazing collection of apple trees.  Every kind of apple imaginable - red, green, purple - over 60 varieties.  There's also a good selection of pubs in the market square selling an assortment of real ales, many of which we sampled.

Back to the hotel for a late session by the pool and the hot tub, and dinner in the restaurant again.

The next day was Stu's birthday, so we had breakfast in the room, a lovely leisurely morning, opening cards and presents,  and reading the newspaper.  After doing some food shopping, we left at lunchtime, and on the way back called in Kilburn as Stu had decided he wanted to buy a stool to sit on to the practice the banjo, and wanted to see what the Mouseman had. We'd seen signs for the Kilburn White Horse, but neither of us were sure what it was, and half way down a steep hill, we stopped in a car park called the White Horse car park because we thought we might be able to see it from there.  I got out of the car expecting it to be in the distance, but there it was, right in front of me!

There was a better view of it from the Mouseman visitor centre, and Stu got a really nice three legged stool, complete with mouse!

A lovely couple of days, and I'd certainly recommend The Fev for a special break.

Sheffield City Centre

Walked into town yesterday, and because of the Great North run today, there's a continental market in town. Sheffield City Centre looking really good now, I like it when there's a buzz about the place.  There were loads of  street entertainers about, and some great food on offer.

Every year two plant sculptures make an appearance outside the Town Hall - Sam the Steelworker and Mary the Buffer Girl.

Today we're off on a family picnic in Clumber Park, and then off to a surprise couple of nights away for Stuart's birthday.

Scenic train journey

Had to go to Edinburgh for a meeting last week - I always travel by train and it's one of my favourite train journeys. So many sights to see. You get a quick view of York Minster, and then next you get a quick glimpse of the Angel of the North, if you know where to look.

Then you cross the Tyne in Newcastle with a great view of all the bridges along it.

From there it's Durham with its castle and cathedral

And then Berwick on Tweed, whcih is a place I've always wanted to visit, but never managed.

At some points in the journey, the train tracks run so close to the sea. you can almost touch it. No matter how much work I've taken with me to do, I always end up gazing out of the window for most of the time.

The pictures were all taken on my phone, so not brilliant quality, and unfortunately I missed Holy Island.