Lochnagar

We are heading off tomorrow, around 6 am for Scotland. We will visit Andrew's Uncle and Aunt in Perthshire, pick up my Dad in Keith and then stay in Ballater. On Saturday we are planning to climb Lochnagar.

My Mother was born at the foot of Lochnagar and climbed it many times as a teenager. When she died last year, and I realised that I had never done the climb. I was determined to do that before I got too old or decrepit.

The weather forecast is not good, so that my put the kybosh on the attempt. But if we do reach the summit, it will be emotional realising that I am seeing the view that my mother (and indeed my grandparents) saw on many occasions.

I'll report back here in due course.

London

Yesterday we went for a walk from Moorgate, via Spitalfields Market, Ledinhall Market, Monument, Southwark Cathedral, The Globe, Tate Modern and the South Bank Centre (where I used to work). I took the film shown below.

Afterwards we met some friends at the St Alban restaurant in Lower Regent Street which is rapidly becoming my favourite restaurant in London. The meal was excellent.

All in all, a good day.

Sow and Reap

Last summer, Amro Worldwide, our travel company, ran a series of adverts on the London underground. They were an attempt to reclain the phrase 'so gay' as a positive phrase whilst at the same time bringing our company to the attention of the gay community in London. We ran these ads in conjunction with 6 American states - 'California is So Gay' South Carolina is So Gay' etc.

And there the campaign would have ended. Except that Mark Sandford, the Governor of South Carolina, found out about the campaign, took exception to it, and demanded that the ads be removed. He sacked the employee of South Carolina Tourism with whom we had been working and ensured that we were not paid. He did this on grounds of morality.

Now, one year on, his own morality is laid bare for all to see. He has been having an affair in Argentina. He has a wife and four kids. And he may have to resign as Governor.

It serves him right for moralising at others. As ye sow so shall ye reap.

Dirt and Dust

In Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinajad had described the protesters as 'Khas o Khashak' which is translated as 'dirt and dust'. This arrogant put-down is now been taken up by the demonstrators and used for their own purposes. One of Tehran's newspapers has now described the situation as the 'Epic of Dirt and Dust.' One of Iran's top singers has asked that his songs are no longer broadcast because 'apparently my music is the music of dirt and dust'.

The phrase has backfired on Ahmandinajad. But I guess in the scheme of things, this will make no difference. I was in Teheran in 1979 when all the demonstrations against the Shah were taking place. I saw them on the television and witnessed some of them at first hand. I remember one day there was a demonstration outside our office in downtown Teheran. As was often the case, the people in the front of the demonstration were unarmed women wearing their black chadors. The Shah's troops arrived and set up a machine gun post on the flyover above the demonstrators. Through loud hailers they told the crowd to disperse. They didn't. The troops opened fire. Some of the women in the front line fall to the ground. The other women simply stood firm. More shots were fired. More women fell to the ground.

It was at that moment that I knew that the Iranian revolution was going to succeed. The people were simply too numerous and too dedicated to the cause to be beaten. I don't have the same feeling today, though. The Shah had very little support and was only being sustained through force. Ahmadinajad may not have majority support from the people, but he has sufficient support from some of the people combined with support from the ruling mullahs and, of course, from the supreme leader. I suspect that the protest is doomed to fail.

But Iran cannot go back to the way it was. The authority of Khameini has been damaged. The strength of the opposition is there for all to see. The young people of Iran will continue to demand freedom. And slowly, bit by bit, they will get that freedom.

The world is a global village, now more than ever. And ultimately it is that aspect of the world which will, in my view, topple dictatorships all over the world. Iran, North Korea, China. They cannot last forever. But blood will be spilt; brave men and women will die for the cause of freedom. And we should be grateful to them for their ultimate sacrifice. It's not just their freedom. It is our freedom too.

Genie in the Bottle

In 1978 I was living and working in Iran. The Shah was in power and any resistance to his regime was brutally suppressed by SAVAK, the secret police. Then he was forced by the West to relax some of the excesses of his regime. This allowed some protests to start, fuelled by the Ayatollah Khomeini from his base in Iraq and then in Paris.

When the Shah tried to stop the protests, he could not do this. The genie was out of the bottle. So the protests mounted and eventually in February 1979 the Iranian Revolution happened, the Shah was forced to flee and the Ayatollah returned. I was in Teheran during all of this time.

Now the same is happening again. The people were given limited freedom during the election campaign. When the result was announced and it turned out to be fraudulent, the regime assumed that they could carry on as before. But once again the freedom genie was out of the bottle and could not be put back in. So the protests have mounted and the regime does not know what to do.

Now of course I do not know how it will all end up. The power lies with the state and if they use this in a violent manner, no doubt they can defeat and terrorise the people into meek acceptance. But for how long? Once a people have tasted freedom, they remember that taste. And one day that freedom will come. Often many lives are lost in the gaining of the freedom. But remember, there is not enough darkness in the whole world to extinguish the flame of a candle.

My thoughts are with the brave demonstrators on the streets of Teheran and other Iranian cities. I hope they retain the courage of their convictions but also the sanity to remain true to their non-violent aspirations. They have my admiration. I am fearful but fascinated by what is happening. Keeping my fingers crossed for the democratic process in Iran is a feeble gesture.

But, at present, it is all I can do.

Alas, poor Gordon

On Thursday I went into the polling booth without a clear idea for whom I would vote. That has never happened to me before. I am a paid-up member of the Labour party and I have voted Labour in every recent election. So the dilemma should not have arisen.

But in the end I could not vote for the Labour candidate this time. I am so disappointed, not necessarily in the policies, but in the inability of the party, and the leader in particular, to communicate its ethos and achievements to the British public. Franky the current leadership are pathetic. And Gordon Brown, for all his intellect, simply lacks the rounded skills necessary for a Prime Minister.

So I voted for the Liberal Democrats. They have the right blend of economic and social policies. Their leader is persuasive, their Treasury Spokesman is calm and rational and their support of minority causes is admirable.

My vote made no difference of course. The Liberal Democrats did not make any advance. They remain as far away from government as ever. But by voting, and by giving serious consideration to who is deserving of my vote, I feel that I have earned the right to criticise those who I feel are worthy of criticism.

Now I expect more of all mainstream political parties. Partly this is to halt the growth of the far right. And partly this is to improve the level of political debate generally. So go to it.

Backyard Culture

It is strange, but very true, that it takes the visit of some faraway friends to prompt us to see what is in our local area.

Yesterday two very dear friends from South Beach in California came to visit us in Hitchin. Having joined English Heritage just a week ago, we decided to show them out three nearest properties, none of which we have ever visited. These were Houghton House near Ampthill, De Grey Mausoleum in Flitton and Wrest Park near Silsoe.

It was a really enjoyable day. The stark ruin of Houghton House, the inspiration for John Bunyan's 'House Beautiful', dominated the surrounding landscape, the Mausoleum of the De Grey family is a huge sepulchral chapel and the gardens at Wrest Park are vast and impressive.

We also had a great lunch in Ampthill and an excellent dinner in Hitchin to round off a varied and interesting day.

As ever, I took the flip video, and here is the result -

AGI GEOCOMMUNITY09

I have just come back from a very successful couple of days in Stratford upon Avon where we have been putting together the programme for the annual AGI Conference which will take place there in September.

It's been a bit like baking a cake. We had 120 ingredients in the form of submitted papers. We selected the best of these ingredients, decided on the order in which these should be used in the cake and on the layers of that cake. Then we looked at the overall look of the final product, akin to the icing on the cake. It looks good and will taste excellent. In other words we have a fantastic conference to look forward to.

I took some video shots but in the editing process I managed to inadvertently delete all the shots I took this morning of the River Avon and the swans. I am pissed off about that. In future I will save all clips before I try to edit them. So I am left with just a shell of the video of some of the moments during the process of discussing the content of the conference - and the food.

Here is a short extract.

Malaga Cathedral

The cathedral dominates the centre of Malaga, Here is a short film I took on Sunday in and around the cathedral.

Malaga

I have now returned to the UK from Malaga. Spent 30 minutes freezing cold at Finsbury Park station realising why I like Malaga so much.

I took a few videos on my flip. I am only just realising that it is best not to use the zoom and to keep the camera still. But anyway here is a view of the local beach in Malaga.

Malaga

We are spending a few days at our flat in the centre of Malaga. It is a chance to relax away from the stress of working life.

I had a great birthday on Wednesday spending a few hours on the Malagueta beach before heading for dinner at our favourite restaurant in Malaga, the Vino Mio. Helene was great, giving us free Cava before the meal and a free bottle of wine to take home. And the meal, as always, was fantastic.

I have managed a few hours on the beach every day, although there was quite a strong wind yesterday and today. And the rest of the time has been spent wandering round Malaga chilling out. I am feeling very calm.

Pushing for freedom

In the past I have always had admiration for Peter Tatchell while at the same time not always being in agreement with his methods. But during the last 30 years, the winning of equality for the LGBT has come from a combination of the quiet diplomacy of Stonewall and the more direct action of Outrage.

After what happened to Peter two years ago in Moscow, it was courageous of him to return to show solidarity for those who simply wanted to march peacefully in Moscow on Saturday asking for equal human rights.

It was inevitable that the Moscow authorities would ruthlessly suppress the demonstration and so they did. I was disappointed that no entrant in the Eurovision Song Contest showed any sign of solidarity with those who are arrested.

I have been on a number of demonstrations in the past, most notably against Section 28. But I would not have the courage to do what Peter did, not the courage of Nickolai Alekseev who has put his head above the parapet. So I can only express my admiration for them.

Tolerance

I was born in the North of Scotland. I was christened in the Church of Scotland (Hilton Church, Inverness), went to Sunday School in the Church of Scotland (Crown Church, Inverness) and even today, when my belief is somewhat shaky, I occasionally, when back in Scotland, go with my father to the local Church of Scotland (North Church, Keith).

My fundamental beliefs have changed, but I always at least had the comfort that the Church of Scotland was more modern and more tolerant than, for example, the Church of England or the Catholic Church.

Now that assumption is being challenged. An assistant minister at Brechin Cathedral, Scott Rennie, has applied to become minister at the Queens Cross Church in Aberdeen. He came up to that church, preached a sermon, met the congregation and told them all about himself. They then voted, as is the custom within the Church of Scotland, and over 80% of the congregation supported him as their new minister.

And there it should have finished. An unremarkable story and part of the ongoing progression of ministers within the Church.

But a dozen people at the Queens Cross Church objected to his appointment. And instead of bowing to the democratic process, they determined to overturn the decision. Was he a poor preacher? No. Was he in an unstable relationship? No. So what was so objectionable about him? His partner was of the same sex.

He had been completely open about this when he subjected himself to the congregational vote. But that didn't matter. And now these 12 people have got 7000 names on a petition, most of them outside Scotland. They have the support of fundamentalist American churches. And apparently they now have the support of over 20% of all Church of Scotland ministers. So the full committee of the Church of Scotland have to decide whether to ratify the decision of the congregation of Queens Cross Church. Or overturn it.

My view is straightforward (no pun intended). If a Christian church does not preach love, tolerance and understanding, then it loses all credibility. If it panders to the dogma of those advocating hatred, however many of them there are, it loses its fundamental goodness. And if it moves back hundreds of years instead of moving forward through the 21st century, it loses its relevance.

The decision is not difficult. It should support Scott Rennie, support his congregation and ratify the appointment. In this way it can once again be a vibrant church at the heart of the community in Scotland.

Will it make the decision in that way? Watch this space.

Dear Diary

I was tidying the garage this morning and came across some old diaries. They make interesting reading for me and help me remember how I saw things at the time. In particular I was looking at diaries from 1979 and 1989 - 30 and 20 years ago respectively.

On 12 Feb 1979, I started my entry as follows. 'I am writing the first part of today's report in the morning in case I don't survive the whole day'

Yes I know - melodramatic as ever! And then I continued. 'The shooting has been incessant and very close to us. At one point this morning, Richard and I were in the back yard listening to the gunfire when a bullet whizzed past us and embedded itself in the wall about three feet above us. Never have I felt so close to death. Never have I been so scared.'

Yet here am I 30 years later, fit and well. Reasonably fit and reasonably well, at least. Certainly still alive.

In 1979 I was living and working in Teheran. We found ourselves in the middle of the Iranian revolution. In February, we were house-sitting for a Swedish client who had taken his family back to Sweden because the situation was too dangerous for them. But not apparently too dangerous to ask us to look after his house. Which just happened to be situated close to Niavaran Palace where the bulk of the fighting was taking place that day.

Later that day I wrote - 'The airport is closed so our journey away from all this, though increasingly necessary, appears less likely. I moved my bed away from the window for safety and was woken up many times during the night by barrages of machine gun fire'.

The surreal aspect of it was was highlighted in my entry the next day. ' This evening we had an enjoyable Chinese meal but were stopped twice on the way home by gunmen'.

Anyway a couple of days later, the RAF flew an evacuation flight into Teheran airport and we scrambled aboard. And off we went to RAF Akrotiri. The Iran adventure was over.

30 years later, I have never returned to Iran. But I want to. The people were friendly, the countryside was amazing and the whole adventure was a fascinating part of my life. I have watched over the past 30 years as the Americans have adopted the wrong policy over Iran and have strengthened the hardliners. I just hope Barak Obama might assist the bulk of the Iranian people who just want to live their lives in peace and security following their own religion and their own lifestyle without interference. And one day I still hope to return, albeit just for a holiday.

Then I had a look at my diary for 1989. Exactly 20 years ago today, I went to the Place Theatre to see a performace by Wim Vanderkeybus. And yes I still remember that performance.

The weather in May 1989 was hot. On my birthday on the 20th, I had been playing tennis with Jon, Sue and Denise and they gave me a cake. Again I remember that day. Sadly, I have no idea where Denise is, and I have been very lax at keeping in touch with Jon and Sue.

And work was a bit fraught in May 1989. I was working at the Royal Festival Hall and the finances were not good. I was doing the management accounts and delivering bad news, which did not go down very well. But we got through that period and I worked there for another 16 years.

My personal life was rather complicated in 1989. I was still coming to terms with my sexuality. I had met David in Southampton and was having an emotional roller-coaster with Howard. I had started to go to Turning Point and had discovered gay theatre. But I was still going out with Liz.

At the end of the year, the end of the decade, I wrote the following in my diary. ' Above all the eighties have been a decade of wasted opportunities, of playing safe.' I think I learned over the next 20 years that that was not good enough. And I am in a better place now because of that. Once again I quote the Buddha - 'As you walk and eat and travel, be where you are. Otherwise you may miss most of your life'. I think I do now fill my life with being where I am rather than regretting the past or worrying about the future. And that's good.

Bank Holiday golf

I have been down in Weston-super-Mare for three days playing golf with the Irons Golf Society. It has been a really enjoyable three days, although my golf scores - 36pts, 30pts and 28 pts - moved in the wrong direction! Mainly, though, it has been great to catch up with those guys I know but haven't seen for some time, and to meet some new guys as well. I am grateful to the whole group for their friendliness and for being fun to be with. Grateful, also, to the guys who organised the weekend so well.

The weather was good, if a bit windy. And I enjoyed all three courses, the three 'W's - Worlebury, Woodlands and Wedmore.

Here is the short (and slightly out of focus) video I took.

Queen of the Desert

Last night we went to see Priscilla at the Palace Theatre. It was fabulous. The cast were excellent, especially Oliver Thornton as Felicia. The production was amazing. The costumes were outrageous. And the bus was the star of the show.

I defy anyone to go to see this show and not feel great afterwards, however bad a day they may have been having. It is just a great show and a great night out. Highly recommended.

It's a tough life

I try to get on with my life, overcoming setbacks, dealing with emotional problems, working hard and getting some time to play. It's not always easy.

Then we have an economic crash. Not my fault, but suddenly my financial future is uncertain.

Then we have global warming. Not my fault, but suddenly the future of the planet is uncertain.

Now we have a possible flu pandemic. Not my fault, but suddenly the future health of the nation is uncertain.

And certainty becomes the most uncertain concept. I have to expect the unexpected.

But what can I hang on to? What is left to believe in? Not a lot.

Could it be stress?

Today I went back to the doctor.

Firstly I had not heard the results of my blood test. Thankfully, it was all normal.

And secondly I am still suffering from this allergy. The doctor reassured me that it was likely to be a genuine allergy rather than anything more permanent or more serious. He said that I might have had an allergy for years without knowing it, but a bout of stress could have triggered if to react more obviously. And I guess for a number of reasons I have been under some stress recently. But how I reduce that I don't exactly know.

So for the moment I continue with the anti-histamine tablets. And I try not to scratch too much.

A weekend in Scotland

Both my sister and I went up to Scotland for Easter to be with my father. It was an exhausting and sometimes emotional weekend. We did a lot. And the weather was fantastic.

On Friday I played 18 holes of golf in Keith and my Dad walked some of the way round with me and hit a few balls as well. The highlight was my 3 wood of 200 yards on the 15th which ended up 12 inches from the hole. I sank the putt for a birdie.

On Saturday we went in to Aberdeen to see my aunt and cousin and also to go to Pittodrie to see Aberdeen play Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Bit of a scrappy match to be honest, but a fun day.

Sunday saw us heading to Inverness for lunch at the Rocpool Reserve restaurant. Fantastic meal. After going to Eden Court we then headed for Dores on the shores of Loch Ness where a number of people were sunbathing and some were even swimming in the loch.

And on monday we went over to Deeside to lay a wreath on the family grave to mark exactly a year since my mother passed away. Then we headed for Braemar and back via Huntly. Another hot and sunny day in one of my favourite parts of the world. Here is a short video I took.

Protests outside the office

The AGI office is in Bishopsgate in the heart of the city and close to the Climate Exchange. So today, when the various protests took place to coincide with the G20 summit, one of them, the global warming protest, was in the street right outside our office.

I was at a meeting elsewhere in the morning, but returned to the office in the early afternoon to find the road closed and a tent city in the middle of the street. Other protests were more tense, but this one was calm and peaceful.

I was able to get into work and to get out again, although security was tight.

I took this short film on my flip video in the late afternoon.