Good Afternoon.
Cyclists: love them or hate them, they certainly divide opinion in the capital. But when another dies in what seems an entirely avoidable collision, we have to sit up and ask some pretty fundamental questions. Why are trucks not fitted, on a complusory basis, with mirrors that give drivers a better view of men and women on bikes? Why do cyclists persist in flouting the rules of the road? Can there be detente outside the cycle lane or are we doomed to reporting this on-going clash of cultures and this tragic loss of life? Harris puts his clips and crash-helmet on and pedals off , looking for answers.
My great uncle Jack and auntie Minnie lived in a prefab in Letchworth. I was always intrigued by the cracks in the external walls - unlike those in crumbling old houses, these were very straight. Only did I realise, sometime later, that they were joins and not cracks - ergo, "pre-fab", as in prefabricated: they were kit homes.
Most have now gone but a cluster in Catford are the subject of a fascinating struggle for survival. The residents want to keep them but the authorities say it is too costly.Who will intervene? Phil is our architectural historian.
From history to the brave new frontier of space travel, and music. Everyone knows the sound-track to 2001: A Space Odyssy was provided by Strauss though he wrote it a century before Arthur C. Clarke wrote the book upon which the movie was based. Now NASA, the US space agency, have come to London for a new sound-track for those who split their infinitives to bravely go where none have gone before. It's a wrap and it's penned by a young astrophysicist at London Uni. Wonder if he consulted Queen's Brian May who has a PhD in astro-physics and still plays the guitar his old man made?
If Toby Young went into space he could use the absence of other life forms as an excuse for his inability to make friends. It is better than the thought that he is just an objectionable ego-maniac, as some have suggested. Anyway, a film has been made of his autobiography and Lucy is on his case. It seems he managed to upset cast members but this may have been method acting on his part. Who knows? Who cares? But the movie sounds good.
Lehman Brothers intentions also sounded good when they said they'd help an after-school club and offer older children a bit of work experience in the darker arts of high finance. Their collapse may have been a result of greed, esoteric capitalism , smoke or mirrors but it has left a whole bunch of kids without the kind help and assistance some of their finer employees freely gave in such a good cause. Ben has a bit of a bottom-lip job with this one.
Chin up as we'll have weather (sneak -preview: one more rotten day and then a bit of autumnal bliss!), papers and your thoughts on cylists and cycling.
Pump up for a gripping 30 minutres, live from 6.
Alastair & Katie.
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