Recently in Cambridge Category

I don't quite know how this guy did it, but last time I tried to take my bicycle into a shopping centre - or rather the grand foyer of the library in Norwich - I was asked to leave.

Thus astounded I had to take a photo of this chap who not only seemed to have managed to get his bike into the Apple Store of Cambridge's Grand Arcade, but seemed to be allowed to use it as a comfy seat when test driving the laptop.

I applaud the Grand Arcade for allowing bikes in, or if it turns out not to be the case then I applaud the chap for successfully smuggling his two wheels into the shop. The Apple Store was one of the busiest outlets on the opening of the arcade and does seem to retain a certain degree of footfall, in other areas of the city shops are closing apace!

One other thought occurs to me, I wonder if the chap in the photo could be using this as a sort of hot-desking technique? Office space is pretty expensive (even though there is lots empty in Cambridge at the moment) so coupled with decent use of coffee shops and bars you could have a cheap mechanism for mobile working. ("Of course Genome" you cry, "you are out of date." people have been working like this for years, but give me my out-door working environment in the graveyard anytime...)

(Where else do you think all that DNA arrives from for the scientists to use?)

Apparently this was the last year where free entry to CAMRA members would occur. So it was with much sadness that I traipsed my way over to the usual area of Jesus Green last week. I was surprised initially because there was no sign of the marquees and 8ft high metal enclosure. Then, peering through the swirling mists I saw that the entire event had relocated closer to Victoria Avenue. The reason for this wasn't entirely clear to me, but I suspect that the area closer to the residents can be a little disturbing for those living by the original site. Maybe the ground is an inch or two higher here as well offering a touch more drainage - I remember a couple of years ago wearing my wellies to attend a particularly boggy Beer Fest!

The weather was good and so I popped by for a couple of halves per lunchtime and sought out a nice vantage point for my tipple tasting:

I immediately assaulted my first half:

This one was called "Orange Wheat", I liked it but it was a little hoppy for my liking. Still it had a good taste and although it wasn't as fruity as the name suggested I enjoyed it, a great summer beer. This one was produced by the Green Jack brewery of Lowestoft. I'll give it 8/10 despite the hops.

Lacking much imagination I tried a "Cranberry Wheat" from Norfolk's Iceni brewery. I preferred the previous one. It was a great colour though, as you can see from the photo. It wasn't bad though so 6/10 it is. A change of direction, and glass selection, during the next visit led me to pop over to the Chilfords Vinyard stand. I tried a glass of Schonberger (a single verietal from grapes of the same name). This was good, very very clean tasting. Chilfords wines are very similar to some German wines, but fortunately not the Blue Nun type! I enjoyed the crisp gooseberry notes on this one.

Sadly I don't have photos from the next day's visit, but I had an Elgood's "Black Dog", which was a dark mild and just as good as ever. One of my favourites to be honest 8/10. I had desires on a half of "Red Watch Blueberry Ale" but sadly it wasn't on by this time, so I went for "Raspberry Stout" from the Fenland brewery - in a way this was luck, what a fantastic drink this was! Malty and fruity all at the same time, and as dark as the aforementioned Black Dog. This was my favourite of this year's festival and have to give it full marks 10/10!!!

When I popped over to Cambridge's famous Scotsdales garden centre I was keen on grabbing just a packet of courgette seeds for planting out ASAP.

I thought that I'd be early enough (it was just before 10am) that the world and his wife would not have surfaced yet. I was wrong, it was getting busy already. So I selected my seeds and zoomed over to the tills, cash in hand. Most of the tills had a fair queue at them except one. Going over to it I saw why, there was an old lady just about to be served and her trolley was packed to the gunwales with potting compost and bedding plants. She was a bit brusque and I could see that she was going to be some time, even longer than two or three normal customers.

Then I noticed who it was... None other than Germaine Greer ladies and gentlemen. It's been a while since I've seen a celebrity in town, nice to see them doing something normal though.

As you will no doubt be aware there has been an escalation in scrap metal thefts all over Britain over the last year or so. Lead and copper have been especially highly-valued by scrap metal thieves.

I was rather surprised therefore to see that the Grand Arcade in Cambridge appears to have been recycling some scrap copper for its main entrance!

Venturing out at lunchtime today to pick up a Big Issue and a copy of the CEN I was alarmed to see that a Cambridge restaurant has been attacked by so called animal rights activists.

Midsummer house is one of the trendier restaurants in Cambridge and has recently bowed to the pressure of activists by removing foie gras from its menu. You can read the online news reports here:

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn_news_home/displayarticle.asp?id=257435

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn%5Fnews%5Fhome/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=257755

Personally I am appalled at the hypocrisy of the activists in this case since they are showing complete ignorance of the scale of bad animal welfare in this country's meat industry in general.

While there is no doubt that the forced-feeding of the animals (duck or goose) involved in fois gras production is ethically dubious, the scale of it pales into pure insignificance compared to the millions of fowl that are reared in broiler houses in this country. Other, larger animals such as pigs and cows fare no better in supplying our nation's appetite for cheap meat.

If any of these activists have indulged in a Tesco chicken or a beef burger at a chain then they should take a long hard look at their actions in Cambridge
and perhaps think twice before throwing bricks through windows.

I would also be willing to bet that the majority of Midsummer House's other meat supply is sourced from much more well treated livestock than most of the eateries in the city.

Some might say that activists' actions at this end of the market will influence things further along the chain. If that were true then shouldn't there also be demonstrations against Formula 1 events by activists concerned about cars causing climate change?

What the activists fail to realise is that most of the public aren't interested in high-end restaurants and what they serve. They are happy to buy cheap chickens from Asda because it is perceived as 'normal'.

I would much prefer to see a peaceful demonstration outside my local Budgens than read about violent protest at low-volume eateries!

The start of the 27th Cambridge Film Festival has arrived. Well, to be honest, it arrived on Tuesday with Michael Nyman doing a live accompaniment to Vertov's 'Kino Pravda 21' and Vigo's 'A Propos to Nice' - which we missed!

This year, due to other pressing commitments I will be scaling back the number of films that I shall be reviewing. However, we are fortunate that 'The Poet' will be stepping forward and entering into the old nofear spirit of things by providing us with some further film reviews.

As well as this there may be a podcast or two, although these will probably come along later when we've got enough to talk about.

In the meantime you may also want to visit the pages of sneersnipe who appears to be a prolific film reviewer based in Cambridge.

Expect more updates soon!

I was thinking about an article I had read in the legendary Cambridge Evening News about a cyclist moaning about how she had been knocked off her bicycle by two cars recently. It appears that there is a growing feud between the different types of road users in our city. Currently the police are having a crackdown on illegal cycling, fining cyclists for breaking traffic laws and especially for cycling on the pavement. It appears that this is in response to large numbers of complaints from the general public about bad cyclist behaviour.

Without condoning illegal cycling I think it is important to put things into context especially in light of what is deemed to be good use of police time. Speed cameras, drink-driving laws and a whole raft of other legislation has been implemented under the name of safety. It seems counterproductive to blitz cyclists when, for example, mobile phone use is still incredibly rife amongst drivers. How many people do cars kill per year? How many people do cycles kill per year?

Let’s move away from this point now.

It seems that the price that most cyclists pay for their choice of transport is a complete lack of understanding from other road users. The government is pushing for us to reduce our environmental footprint and the occasional cycle to work week or other green-scheme does not give cyclists any respect. I have an alternative proposal that I think would make powered vehicle owners see cyclists and pedestrians in a better light…

What I propose is that Monday the 29th of October 2007 becomes National Drive to Work Day.

Everybody who owns a car should drive to work, and any journeys, no matter how short should be taken on an internal combustion engine powered vehicle. People who do not possess a car should attempt to use public transport. My idea here is that, certainly in places like Cambridge, car users and public transport users will get to experience the congestion that would occur if the usual people who walk or cycle to work took to the roads in cars. Public transport users would hopefully notice how much more full their bus was, or how much longer the journey took. Drivers of vehicles sitting in the jams would maybe notice the absence of bicycles. Hopefully the myth that cyclists get in the way of cars/buses/lorries would be dispelled.

I seriously encourage people to consider this new approach to sending a positive message to the minority of vehicle drivers who oppress more vulnerable road users who do not have the benefit of a steel cage around them.

Tonight was the start of the festival, so I nipped down to Parker's Piece, where a lot of the action will be over the next few days, to film the tents.

One of the tents is covered in LEDs which flash depending on mobile phone activity in the vicinity. Sadly I just missed the whole thing lighting up. It seemed to conicide with a goal in a football match. First I heard the cheer from the pub on the other side of the park, then - a few seconds later - the whole tent was covered in light. I presume it was the traffic generated by all the SMS updates for people who receive the latest football scores on their phones.

Anyway, you can watch the WMV file of what I saw here.

I have considered this festival to be a potential rival to the Venice Biennale, or maybe something which compliments it? All good fun, and more reports to come from me later.

From Thursday this week (26th of April) until the end of the weekend Cambridge will be seeing a rather interesting set of exhibitions, demonstrations, and a very trendy conference. The photo on the left is the initial setting up of the domes that will host some of the displays and events.

‘Enter Unknown Territories’ or ‘Enter_Unknown Territories’ as it is funkily entitled is a 4 day festival that is bringing together art and new technology. It seems that much of the City will be involved with this. I myself will be attempting to attend a few of the shows or displays. Since Chenapan – our mad cheese-eating friend – will be visiting the town it’ll be interesting to see if we can coax him into coming along to this potentially bizarre series of events.

I noted that one of the major contributors to the organisation of the festival is the famous Bill Thompson. In recent years Bill appears to have become rather a centrepiece of Cambridge life. From his work at last year’s Cambridge Film Festival, to his work with the BBC, it is good to know that Cambridge is home to such diverse and colourful characters!

Returning to the subject in hand, I noticed that one of the major events is a picnic on Parker’s Piece on Sunday at 2pm. This could be a very community spirited event, or it could be totally overrun by scavvers. Only time will tell. If I obtain any interesting footage in the next few days it will, naturally, be shared here on nofear.org!

Click the various links above for more information.

We in Cambridge are in the rather ignominious position of having risen to fame in recent hours thanks to the arrest of a local man suspected of carrying out the recent letter bombing campaign that has been cleverly down-played by the media. In this time where environmental impact is being discussed so relentlessly why is this dichotomy of freedom versus the environment coming to a head only now?