It’s only skin deep…

A recent report in the British Journal of Dermatology indicates that a product manufactured by the Nottingham-based Boots Company can improve the appearance of skin in older people and reduce wrinkles.

The Evening Post expects queues of people to form at Boots shops to buy this miracle ointment, as I’m sure they will.

Good for Boots… but how sad, in the grand scheme of things, that pathetic, vain people will clamour to spend almost £20 a time for this stuff in a desperate attempt to cling to their youth and keep normal ageing at bay. That amount of money would buy a week’s shopping for some people in the UK and probably support the needs of a family in the developing world for over a month… in countries where old age begins at 30 and average life expectancy can be as low as 45. 

As much as I’m sure we could all point at each other and suggest things we could do without in our lives, this story seems to epitomise the very worst excesses in spending on research in the cosmetics industry (God only knows what the costs of the seven scientists working on this product were) and in the skewed priorities we in the ‘developed’ world now have.

Designs on a world title

Nottingham is Crap reports a story from the architects’ web site, BD Online, that the city hopes to be the 2012 World Design Capital.

Notwithstanding previous comments I’ve made about Nottingham’s delusions of grandeur, there’s nothing wrong with such a grand ambition providing we actually have some chance of winning (although I’m not sure what Nottingham has to do to qualify for such a prestigious title).

It is awarded by the snappily-named International Council of Societies of Industrial Design, which describes itself as an international, non-governmental organisation for professional industrial design. Probably none of us have ever heard of them (apart from architects and professional industrial designers who may be reading this) but it sounds as if they know what they’re talking about doesn’t it?

A building in Torino - WDC 2008

I’d like to think that some of the buildings mentioned in the BD Online article might swing it for us but I don’t suppose our cause was helped by the recent City Council Planning Committee meeting which considered the first application for a building in the prestigious Eastside Regeneration Zone. Having declared: “We have a golden opportunity here to do something substantial…. I have to say I am underwhelmed by the iconic building we are proposing to start this off”, Councillor Malcolm Wood went on to say: “I think we have got the opportunity here to do something pretty dynamic. Frankly I have not got the confidence we are going to deliver.”

Let’s hope the ICSID weren’t listening.

Fortunately, applications have closed for WDC 2012 so this probably won’t have affected Nottingham’s chances. The shortlist will be announced in July.

Fingers crossed.

C’mon you Reds!

Audible sighs of relief were heard around the city last night as Norwich’s defeat guaranteed that Nottingham Forest will stay in the Championship for at least one more season.

But the fact that we are only one match away from the end of this year’s nail-biting football league journey and that it was the poor performance of another team (even worse than that of Forest) that brought statistical relief to stressed Reds’ fans, is yet another testament to Nottingham’s ability to so often snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Although it may seem that it’s the other way round at the moment, this phrase seems a reasonable summary of the long-term journey of Nottingham Forest over the last 40 years or so. After a period of some success in the late 60’s, Forest languished in relative mediocrity until the heady days of the late 70’s when the winning of the League Cup in 1978 signalled a the start of a period of unparalleledsuccess. They claimed the League Championship in the same year and the European Cup twice in 1979 and 1980 (with the Super Cup, the League Cup – again – and even the Charity Shield thrown in for good measure around the same time). And all under the enigmatic and mercurial leadership of Brian Clough.

For many teams these achievements would have been the start of fame, fortune and enduring success… but not for Forest. As Clough lost his touch, they were relegated from the Premier League after 16  years of top flight football and began a period in the football wilderness (despite two more  short stays in the Premier League) that continues to this day.

The sad truth is that Forest are not – and probably never will be - a fashionable, popular or consistently successful club. The people of Nottingham don’t have the passion for football that we see in the North East, in London, in Manchester or Liverpool and this seems to be reflected in the fortunes of the team. Even at the height of their European and domestic success, the crowds at Forest games were meagre by comparison with their big name rivals and it always felt as if the bubble would burst pretty soon. 

It’s almost as if there’s a club motto which says: “Success is very nice and we like it very much, but it’s not the be-all and end-all of life.” So top-class players come and they go, as do the championships and the trophies, and it’s almost as if this is all we can expect. It seems that Forest are a small-time, provincial, not-too-bad-if-you-get-them-on-the-right-day football team that we really shouldn’t expect too much of. So we don’t…. and we’re not disappointed.

But it could be worse. We could live in Derby.

Today, the city; tomorrow, the region… and at the weekend, the world (if I’ve got time)

Yet another twist in the power game being played out in Nottingham at the moment.

The BBC reports that the East Midlands Development Agency (based in Nottingham) is going to come under the scrutiny of a committee of MP’s to check how effectively it’s spending its money in the interests of the region.

And, whilst checking who’s running this little outfit (261 staff and a spend of almost £200m in 2007/2008), who should we come across on the list of board members but one Jon Collins.

Whilst being on the board of EMDA is not a new appointment for Councillor Collins, once again we wonder (a) if the City Council has any other councillors who are capable of filling any of these important positions and (b – once again) whether it’s wise for Councillor Collins to be distracted by so many other things when his council is languishing in the bottom 20% of local authorities.

On the issue of EMDA itself, it’s interesting to note that the average salary of the 261 staff is over £40,000 per annum, the five senior executives earn around £555,000 between them (yes, I know this means that many of the staff don’t earn £40,000 but the figure is still accurate as an average) and the total salary bill for 2007/2008 was £11.2m. Now admittedly, they gave out £163m in grants during the same period but the total grants awarded rose by only 2% from the previous year whereas the salary bill went up by 11%. They also paid £94,000 to one consultant from a construction company.

And they spent £821,000 on Marketing and PR  – probably necessary in view of a report from the Centre for Cities in 2008 which says: “… many local businesses and residents in all regions have reported poor awareness of RDA’s [Regional Development Agencies] and their activities.”

Not that we’re suggesting that there is anything untoward, unfair, unaccountable or excessive in any of this. Over to you Paddy Tipping and colleagues.

City’s oasis of green (and red and yellow and…)

I don’t want to steal any of Nottingham Daily Photo’s thunder (mainly cos his photos are much better than mine) but I just had to try to capture some of the magic of the Arboretum this weekend.

 

Opened in 1852 in front of 30,000 people, the Arboretum was Nottingham’s first designated public park and is still one of it’s best. It’s the closest park to the city centre and now has Green Flag status, the national standard for parks and green spaces.

With its programme of music and other events throughout the summer – including the Green Festival (the city’s premier environmental event) and Nottingham Pride (gay and lesbian celebration), the Arboretum plays a significant part in Nottingham’s cultural and social scene. Add to this the sheer delight of just being able to chill out on the grass in relative isolation and tranquility or have a family picnic in the summer and its not hard to see why many people prefer this park to some of the others around the city. It’s also a haven for anyone wanting to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city centre… but not too far away.

The only thing I don’t like about it now is the aviary at the side of the lake. I loved this when I was a kid (and I’m sure children love it now) but is seems a shame to see those birds, some of whose bright colours reflect those of the flowers growing nearby, to be shut up in those cages where they can’t do what birds are meant to… fly free in the sun and the wind.

Could someone let them out please?