Matthew's Journal

I'm (slowly, ineptly) trying to learn Finnish. My book is quite good at introducing grammar gradually, but this has left me wanting to have a single point of reference. Hence this post; which is probably both partial and full of mistakes. But it's a start!( Read more... )

Inevitably, I've heard nothing in response to my email to the two teams, despite a gentle poke on twitter. With a week to go before the deadline, I still need to work out who to vote for.

It's a rather unappealing choice; Jeremy Corbyn has made no sign of thinking he needs to work more effectively with the PLP and is now clearly quite happy for us to leave the EU. Owen Smith strikes me as politically thin (in the sense that I'm not sure he has strongly-held political beliefs), I have little confidence that he's as left-wing as he's trying to appear right now, he keeps being a sexist pig, I don't see him strongly opposing blaming immigrants for society's woes.

So, Corbyn who is generally closer to me politically or Smith who is clearly closer to me on what is my currently number 1 issue, the EU?

I think the most pressing issue at the moment politically is trying to ensure we remain in the EU; if we do actually leave it'll be very very hard to un-do. Which I think means I am reluctantly moving towards voting for Owen Smith. I'm definitely still persuadable either way, though, particularly if either candidate says or does something that addresses my concerns.

I have a vote in the Labour leadership election (as a registered supporter). I'm still not sure who to vote for, so I figured I'd email the candidates to see if they wanted to address my concerns...( text of letter )

I'll let you know if I hear anything...

I had to replace the light bracket on my bike. Again. That one replaced one that I bought in March 2014; this one has lasted less long, but it also hasn't quite failed - I noticed that the lamp was shining too low, and then saw a crack in the stand. The new one is a different design (tubular rather than pressed metal) so will hopefully last rather longer, but has the downside of pressing on the front mudguard; you can sort of see that in the picture below. While this isn't causing any problems now, I suspect it means I won't have enough clearance for the winter tyres any more :-/

Caffeine-fiends in Cambridge might be interested to learn that the tea+coffee stall on the market is now open Monday-Friday, 10:00-15:30 (he starts to pack up the display from 15:00).

I'm pretty worried about the outcome of the EU Referendum - the polls are really close, and the weather forecast is terrible (which tends to depress turnout, which is likely to help the Leave side). I've taken tomorrow off work to help the local Remain team get the vote out - I don't know how much difference it'll make, but I wanted to try and help. I've never done anything like this before, and am a bit nervous!

If you're eligible to vote (and haven't already done so), do please make sure you know when & where you will vote tomorrow (despite the rain!) - your vote is likely to count much more tomorrow than it does at general elections.

I strongly think that you should vote Remain - I think our future is brighter in the EU, and that we can make a positive difference to the EU (and, via the EU, to the world) by Remaining in the EU. If you're unsure, then vote Remain - we can better attempt to reform the EU from inside the EU, and be reassured that economists are almost universally agreed that we're better off economically inside the EU.

In the EU we can work together to make the world a better place - on the environment, on workers' rights and animal rights, in advancing peace and democracy, and in many other ways. We can enjoy the free movement of people - many of my friends and colleagues are from the EU, and some of my friends work in other parts of the EU. Fundamentally, I think the EU is a good thing; while it needs improving (what doesn't!), the way to improve it is not to turn our back on it.

Last trip to the beer festival this year; the range of beers is definitely decreasing (which is what you'd expect - you don't want too much left-over!).( Read more... )

I did go and work the evening shift at the beer festival. I managed to fit a few beers in before closing (but work tomorrow meant I didn't stay on for staff beer). ( Read more... )

I failed to get up in time to go and picket, but I did make it to the beer festival for lunch. ( mmm, beer )

I may go and work behind a bar this evening

atreic went to the beer festival for dinner yesterday, during which time I tried three Scottish beers ( Read more... )