I've just had an idea that'll save the world

Well, not really. But it's a pretty darned good one at least. I'm pretty keen on renewable energy on the whole (although I do think that the appropriate near-to-mid-term strategy is nuclear), but there's a big problem with on-shore wind energy; that of siting the wind turbines. I personally think they're actually quite beautiful, elegant things, but I realise that that view isn't shared by everyone. Back in 2008, I went to Berlin for a conference, and on the flight over, I noticed that Germany has a heck of a lot of wind farms. The UK equivalent is golf courses. So... are you thinking what I'm thinking, Pinky? Mini windmills have been placed on crazy golf courses for a century and work brilliantly, increasing the fun of the game... so why not scale the whole thing up, produce some clean energy and make golf less dull all in one fell swoop?

I'll be waiting for notice of my knighthood to appear in my pidge...

Temporal effects on social acceptability

This is really an extension to a previous post from back near the start of this blog. I was hungry this morning and ended up going in to McCrap for breakfast (classy, I know). But while I was sat there eating my grease-in-a-muffin, I noticed a businessman in a suit, clearly on his way to a well-paying job, getting up and leaving. And that felt absolutely normal. But were that exact same man leaving that exact same (and I use the word cautiously) restaurant at 4pm, it would have seemed rather strange. At 11pm? Unthinkable. But at 9am on a weekday, McCrap is an huge mélange of different people. From the well-heeled businessmen, through the parents entertaining their young children all the way to the chavs and the homeless.

It seems odd to me that something that is perfectly acceptable can seem completely unthinkable just a few hours later. I can't think of any other examples off-hand, but I'm sure there must be loads...