As has been reported in the press, an art auction raised some considerable funds for Ken Livingstone, not least because a Banksy went for £195,000. I bought a piece by STOT21stCplanB for the rather less princely sum of £200; I may post a photo because I rather like it. Just next to the Aquarium L-13 [...]

Well, some of them. I am in the process of putting some of my photos on my webspace. There are only two albums up at the moment, but I hope to add more as and when I have time. Do please take a look at davecole.org/photo. xD.

Alice and I went to Paris shortly after New Year for a few days and had a lovely time. Although a bit cold, damp and grey, we thoroughly enjoyed it. A few photos follow below for your delectation. Clicking on a photo will bring it up full-size. The Louvre pyramid The pyramidal entrance to the [...]

I put an image in this post that gives a visual representation of the front page of my blog. While everyone seems to find it pretty, not many people knows what it represents, so here is an attempt at an explanation. It may help you to have this image open while you read the below. [...]

Kew is remarkably beautiful in the autumn, when the leaves turn a hundred shades of fire. Despite it being the fourth of November, it was warm enough to stop for an ice-cream. There is also an exhibition of Henry Moore sculptures; unfortunately, there were rather too many people in immediate proximity to the statues to [...]

I’ve just come home from the Thames Festival with Alice, which was a lot of fun, with a carnival, floats, performers, food, stalls, fireworks and an altogether lovely atmosphere. Of that, more later, along with photos, but in the meantime here is one with which I am pleased. and one in a similar vein from [...]

A photo of the stamens of a stargazer lily taken with some macro rings that arrived over the weekend from eBay. I’m quite pleased with it. Click the photo for a larger version. Macro rings are tubes that go between the camera body and the lens and allow you to go for close-up shots without [...]

Iain Dale has become an expert on the fairer sex. It would seem, sadly, that Iain Dale’s idea of not being sexist is, er, stereotyping women. Quoth the raven: In this increasingly presidential age, his softer approach will be judged against the aggression of Gordon Brown. Women do not like great clunking fists. They don’t [...]

I have an idea for an online deputy leadership hustings. There is, in the form of Bloggers4Labour, a community of Labour activists who blog and who are trying to promote the medium. The Conservative blogosphere grew around the time of Cameron’s election; perhaps the Labour blogosphere should do the same now. The idea is: Members [...]

A Bloggers4Labour meeting took place on Monday evening and it was really rather good. Yes, there was geekery – Labour geekery, computer geekery and even ale geekery – but it was all very good natured. I’m going to do a couple of posts, on Labour blogging and blogging in general,1 but what strikes me is [...]