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On your bike
So, Bank Holiday Monday saw the number of biker deaths in and around Plymouth rise to 12 this year.
All this despite a high-profile campaign backed by the police and the Plymouth Herald warning bikers to, yknow, be a bit more careful. Gee, thanks for that.
Don’t get us wrong – we’re all for promoting driver safety, but the thing is, you could be the most careful biker ever, and still end up coming a cropper on the roads.
Motorcyclists have about as much chance of surviving a collision as someone stolling up the middle of the motorway. And most people don’t stroll at 80mph…
People get on their bikes knowing the risks – indeed, in some cases the risks make riding bikes even more exhilarating.
In these days of 4×4s and people carriers, no-one can really claim ignorance as to what can happen if a motorcycle is involved in an accident.
But it’s such a leap of faith to get on the thing in the first place, riders almost become blind to the risks.
It really is analogous to the likes of smoking or drug taking. There’s been stuff in the news today about putting pictures of knackered lungs on cigarette packets. How long will it be before we see similar warnings attached to motorbikes?
Warning – riding a motorcycle on the roads today is pretty bonkers.
Let us know your thoughts at or simply post a comment below.
Posted by Thin White Duke
August 29th, 2007
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Monkey wrench?
Hullo viewer. Just a quick note to highlight a most perceptive entry in today’s Webwords section of Plymouth’s Herald.
Here it is: BIKER HIT MAN WITH A WRENCH (A motorcyclist walked up to a car driver, opened his door and hit him with a wheel wrench, Plymouth magistrates heard: May 30)
An animal would not behave in this way — Kath, Plymouth
Hard to argue with that, Kath – on so many, many levels.
Posted by Thin White Duke
June 1st, 2007
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Something kinda oops
We’re not the sort of people to say ‘told you so’ (yeah, right!) but we can’t say we’re surprised to hear Girls Aloud have postponed their Newnham Park show.
Apparently, organisers Edge Promotions have issues with safety and finding enough support bands to fill the day - not to mention, one imagines, the small matter of flogging some 15,000 tickets for the bally thing.
Let’s be honest, the shindig seemed ill-conceived from the off. Indeed, regular readers will remember we expressed scepticism about the event in March.
Tickets (a snip at £30 - the same price as a ticket to see Prince in London) were available from bizarre places like Digital Knights in Plymouth and the Ayres Sport & Leisurewear store in Tavistock.
And the proposed line-up was equally bonkers - with popstars Girls Aloud, Booty Luv and Eton Road mixing it up with the dadrockin’ likes of Boogie Nights, Joey The Lips and Karrallon. We’ve heard of ’something for everyone’ but that’s
just ridiculous.
Nevertheless, we’re assured the concert has been rescheduled for August 11. Whether Girls Aloud will bother to turn up remains to be seen.
Posted by Thin White Duke
May 31st, 2007
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Get with the programme
Come on people of the Republic, haven’t you got the gist yet? We chivvy, we shake, we whine and moan but mostly we just want you guys to get involved. Yes, sometimes we put up controversial stuff, sometimes we even put up stuff we don’t think is right or proper - we’ve even mentioned UKIP for goodness sake. If you disagree, say so. If you want to write a review, write one.
But, true to form, rather than despair, we’ve organised some special offers from our fellow friends of ethicaljobs.co.uk - we’re appealing to the purse rather than the pursed lips.
So watch out for some fantastic deals for ethical goods through The People’s Republic of South Devon (if you say that through a tube it sounds much better).
Posted by Cptn
May 23rd, 2007
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Energy incentives
If it’s not one bunch of green energy gods offering cash incentives, it’s another. The Bovey Climate Action group are involved in the Big Switch. For every 100 residents who switch their energy provider to Ecotricity, Ecotricity will put money towards the installation of a renewable energy source on a community building.
In the pursuit of energy self-sufficiency, some members of the group are even talking to a nearby landfill site to poach some of the methane to provide transport and heat for homes. With these guys it may be more than just hot air.
Posted by Cptn
May 10th, 2007
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The surreal deal
There were some real gems in the Surreal Saloon - a kinda live cabaret and interview show which aimed to demonstrate just how wild the South West is. Wild and vibrant in the arts scene that is.
The first of the monthly events - which will run for a year - was tied into the Loss/Gloss exhibition which is having an incredibly interactive weekend at the Media Centre at the Exeter Phoenix. And it was these artists talking about their work that was the strength of the show, touching on what could have been quite intimate moments.
The hosts (and powerhouses behind the shows) Belinda Harris-Reid and Josephine Larsen have taken on a big ask - a live show featuring performance, interview and discussion that needs to keep moving and have the elements feel like a coherent whole.
It’s a laudable intention, and if they can build on the first show while offering the same sort of insights into their eclectic guests, then the saloon is set to become a monthly cultural watering hole.
Catch the next show at the Exeter Phoenix on Friday, May 4, 9pm at the Black Box in the media centre - there is a price, but hey, on the other hand can you afford to miss it?
Posted by Cptn
April 14th, 2007
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D+C for yourself
Phew, it’s been a busy old week on D+CFilm, viewers. But don’t just stand there waving your fist at the sky cos you missed it all - we’ve hand-picked the week’s best movie-type stories from round the region and listed them below.
1. Have we got news for you?
2. Boon for Beckham botherers
3. JCBs are cool. FACT!
4. Filmmaker pines for Ainsley Harriott
5. Al Gore thinks you’re a pig
That’s all the news fit to print. And remember - we love the smell of lip balm in the morning.
Posted by Thin White Duke
April 1st, 2007
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Making waves
Jeez, we hate all this Plymouth Life Centre to-ing and fro-ing (click here to read our latest rant) - not least because we find ourselves siding with the Tories.
Indeed, Monday’s issue of The Herald gathered chappies from the three main parties for their opinions on the newly-christened Sharron Davies Centre (finally confirming the suspicion that this is more about Olympic-sized swimming pools than worthy claims of youth clubbery and bowling).
As usual there was a fair amount of point scoring, with Karen Gillard from the Lib Dems twittering about how ‘the Conservative Party do not like the Liberal Democrats in Plymouth’, while Labour’s Tudor Evans said of the Tories: ‘It’s not a Life Centre they are trying to build, it’s a hokey-cokey centre: in, out, in, out, what are they all about?’. Ah, very clever, Tudor.
Evans went on to say: ‘We will be providing sports and leisure facilities of a quality that will be worthy of potential Olympic athletes that we have in the city.’
Which is all very well, but the vast majority of us aren’t potential Olympic athletes. In fact, we at PRSD aren’t even potential Olympic viewers.
After all this air punching and righteous anger, it was something of a surprise to find Vivian Pengelly, of the Tories, with such a cool head.
‘As far as I can tell, the sudden announcement at the last full council meeting was mostly wishful thinking by Cllr Evans,’ she said, ‘aiming to spend money we do not yet have, estimated without knowing what it is we are going to build.
‘The Sharron Davies Centre is not the same as the Life Centre, and even for the Life Centre there are no solid plans, only artist’s impressions and conceptual ideas which may have little influence on whatever the final design proves to be.
‘If we don’t know what we are building in any more detail than a wishlist waved around by Cllr Evans, how can the cost be stated so precisely? It seems to me there is a plan to raid the kitty, or engage in some sort of asset-stripping.
‘How do we know that playing fields, car parks, Citybus or other city assets will not have to be sold off? Whether we eventually get good value for money - indeed, whether this money will stretch to fit what has been promised by the controlling Labour group - remains an open question.’
See what we mean? We’ll be admiring Cameron’s new hair and reading the bloody Daily Mail next! Pih!
Posted by Thin White Duke
March 20th, 2007
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We at PRSD are hearing all sortsa rumours about Girls Aloud playing in Plymouth on June 9.
According to the Plymouth Sound website (we only looked at it for ‘research purposes’ - honest!) ‘Girls Aloud are going to finish off their national tour with a gig at Newnham Park, near Plympton. Details to follow’.
The rather fab Girls Aloud website seems to confirm that date on their tour diary and thisisplymouth (’research purposes’ again) is apparently convinced.
It says: ‘Event organisers Edge Promotions gained a licence for the event from South Hams District on Tuesday.
‘The company says it hopes Newnham Park will become one of the premier locations for outdoor live entertainment.
‘The event will include support from local bands such as Joey The Lips.’
Joey The chuffing Lips?! This is Girls Aloud we’re talking about, people, not
James Blunt.
The only other reference to the gig we’ve managed to find is this rather strange holding page which says tickets will be available early next week.
It all sounds a bit half-assed to us - not something you would normally associate with Ver Aloud. Who the heck are Edge Promotions? Why is there virtually no advance publicity? And, perhaps more importantly, who would want to see Girls Aloud, playing in a field, supported by Joey The Lips?!
Posted by Thin White Duke
March 18th, 2007
Ladies’ right
We were a bit remiss and forgot to remind you about International Women’s Day last week - but hey, every day is women’s day here at the People’s Republic (that’s quite enough of that - Captn).
Anyway, Equality South West was, as we’ve come to expect, on the case and used the event to warn that young women in the region may be sleepwalking into stereotypical careers.
They’re concerned female school leavers are too easily funnelled down traditional routes of employment, like working in Spar and hairdressing.
ESW’s Paul Dunn told PRSD: “There’s nothing wrong with being a hairdresser or working in a shop, but too many young women aren’t given a choice.
“If we want true equality in our society, all people, whatever their gender, should be treated the same. That means they should be given the same opportunities, not lazily being led, sleepwalking into the simple option.”
Mr Dunn urged teachers, careers advisers and parents to look beyond the stereotypes and broaden their charges’ horizons.
He added: “A lot is made of the glass ceiling preventing women progressing in their careers but before they get there, they need to first smash their way through the concrete floor.”
Eh? Concrete floor?! It’s no good Dunn, you’ve lost us. And it was all going so well…
Posted by Thin White Duke
March 13th, 2007
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