The Tweets of the week in the London Borough of Barnet 18/12/2016

It's that time of the week again, what have all our local twits been up to?

1. One of our local heroes is in the news!

@pad6 @BrokenBarnet @Barneteye @theresarollin16 @zepheadroger #Unisongate makes BBC Radio 4 Today Programme https://t.co/4afOTTUJgp pic.twitter.com/QWzfwJapXy

— john burgess (@John_Burgess001) December 18, 2016

2.Aejun Mittra is intrigued by the changing face of Finchley

Finchley in the 1950's and now. @lccmunicipal @AlizonMoore @alonorbach @RossSHouston @alan_s01 @RedKaff @Daniel_Thomas81 pic.twitter.com/5c2nI8PUUD

— Cllr Arjun Mittra (@ArjunMittra) December 17, 2016

3. Life in the UK 2013 is intrested in a plane crash in Golders green in the 1920's - a new one on me

#OnThisDay 1920 The 1st scheduled airline disaster occurred when a plane flying from Cricklewood Airport to Paris crashed in Golders Green pic.twitter.com/5ZUT2JOcA3

— Life In The UK 2013 (@LifeInTheUK2013) December 14, 2016

4. Steve McGovern rather likes the Mill Hill Xmas lights

Christmas in Mill Hill @millhillnw7 @CommUNITYBarnet #london #millhill #Christmas pic.twitter.com/F4XMdRpd5Z

— steven mcgovern (@SteveMcGovern76) December 18, 2016

5.Barnet Rebel is nonplussed by the lights in Finchley though

I used to live in this road; it weren't like this when I was young.... #Christmas @FinchleySociety @FinchleyGreat @RhysBarnetTimes @__Revel pic.twitter.com/Y1scnbbGRb

— Donald Lyven (@barnet_rebel) December 16, 2016

6.  Alon Or-Bach is also getting into the festive mood

At the #EastFinchley Christmas Cracker, the @londonbrassband serenading us with their festiveness. Still no Blackadder though! pic.twitter.com/JZFqfw8dHo

— Alon Or-bach (@alonorbach) December 15, 2016

7. Finchley Horticultural society are also feeling festive

Ilex x aquipernyi 'Dragon Lady' with a hint of snow 16/12/2009 pic.twitter.com/tzuxiWhvu4

— Finchley Hort Soc (@FinchleyHort) December 18, 2016

8. Some great charity work from the Moon Under The Water

We raised £198.71 for @CLIC_Sargent at our Xmas Funday last weekend -Thank you #YoungLivesVSCancer #communitygiving @jdwtweet @MPSColindale pic.twitter.com/ejsNGIYDCC

— The Moon Under Water (@ColindaleMoons) December 17, 2016

9. Hendon has changed a bit since 1932!

The new types service park at 1932 RAF Pageant, RAF Hendon.Aircraft include a Fairey Hendon, Handley Page Heyford, Westland Wallace, pic.twitter.com/oeEDLuWoiV

— BritainsMilitaryHist (@BritainsMilHist) December 15, 2016

10.Is London Open? Radfax aren't so sure

@Barneteye @MillHillMusicCo @LondonMusicBuzz @LondonMusicMapp @CamdenTownLDN @CCA_Camden pic.twitter.com/5o5xLfnCpl

— radfax (@radfax) December 14, 2016

The Saturday List #109 - The Barnet Eye Annual Community Award winners 2016

Every year at this time, we announce the annual Barnet Eye awards. We ask for citations from blog readers and we choose a few of our own! Last night we held our annual party and blog awards at the Midland Hotel in Hendon. Here are the winners. This is a very good list this year.

1. Barnet Lifetime community campaigner award
Winner - John Burgess - Barnet Unison Branch secretary
Nominated by Tirza Waisel (Barnet Alliance for Public Services)
Citation - John has worked tirelessly for decades to ensure that his members and the general public of Barnet get a fair deal and the highest quality of pulic service. John is respected by all. He is a fearless campaigner and has fought, at great cost to his own health, to ensure that public services are protected from the ravages of austerity.
The Barnet Eye adds - John is currently involved in a battle with his own union and was on BBC Radio 4 this morning taalking about the Unisongate scandal, which has seen alleged malpractice in a union election exposed by a tape of paid union officials allegedly discussing how to assist the incumbent leader in the election.



2. Barnet Eye Pub of the Year
Winner - The Midland Hotel
Nominated by Mr Graham Ramsey
Citation - "John the guvnor has made the Midland the pub for live music in Hendon. It is  a proper community pub and the beer is good."
The Barnet Eye adds -  John has supported us ever since he took over in helping keep a thriving music scene in the Borough of Barnet.

3. Barnet Person of the Year.
Winner - Calvin Casino.
Nominated by Julia Hines/Theresa Musgrove
Citation - "Calvin was the young autistic man who was refused access to the tube network when Barnet Council illegally cancelled his Freedom pass. He told his story to the local blogs and it was soon revealed that hundreds of disabled people were affected. As a result of his actions, this scndal was exposed and the freedom passes were reinstated"
Barnet Eye adds "Calvins action in alerting us to the scandal was perhaps the single most important event in Barnet this year. Our campaign, and the work done by Theresa at the Broken Barnet blog to expose the full depths of the scandal meant that we were able to undo the damage inflicted by thoughtless officials. I was going to originally nominate Theresa for her work, but she insisted Calvin get the awards and Julia backed this up. Well done to all, you are all community champions to me.


4. Barnet Charity of the Year
Winner - Homeless action Barnet  (HAB).
Nominated by The Barnet Eye
Citation - "Who would ever thought a rich Borough like Barnet would even need a homeless day centre? The work of HAB with the local churches to run night shelters for homeless people is something that on these cold winter nights is invaluable for the weakest members of our society. This is  charity we should all support and we should all be working to ensure it isn't needed in future".

5. Barnet Campaign of the year.
Winner - Barnet Housing Action
Nominated by The Barnet Eye
Citation - This campaign is perhaps the biggest issue in Barnet right now. Their twitter feed says "Fighting social cleansing, gentrification,rent hikes & evictions https://barnethousingactiongroup.wordpress.com/  Petitions: see @OurWestHendon & @SweetsWayN20" the West Hendon petition got 150,000 signatures and the council still ignored it. As they said last night accepting  the award "Barretts could make £3billion out of West Hendon and yet there are children who have never lived in a secure household being evicted". Who else could we possibly award this to?

Alan Warner

 6.  Barnet Musician of the Year
Winner  - Alan Warner
Nominated by  The Barnet Eye
Citation -  "Alan is an icon to people in Barnet. He was the lead guitarist in the Foundations, writing some of their greatest hits. He was in supergroup Pluto. He ran "Lane Studios", where Top Ten band recorded their first single (as did my band The False Dots). He has been a stalwart of the Mill Hill Music Festival for many years and despite health issues this year has still played all around London, the South East and even in Spain. A true legend. We hope to have him at the Mill Hill Music Festival this year".



7. Barnet Event of the Year.
Winner - The Finchley Literary Festival
Nominated by Allen Ashley
Citation - "It just gets better and betetr every year.  A festival for grown ups and a key part of Barnets cultural calendar"

Allen Ashley with FInchley Lit Fest Award

8.  Barnet Teacher of the Year.
Winner - Allen Ashley
Nominated by Rosie Canning
Citation - "Allen runs writing classes all around Barnet and his work at festivals, editing and writing marks him out as an exceptional charicter who we are lucky to have"
The Barnet Eye adds "I've known Allen since 1985. We've written songs together and of course I know that he's a teacher, but to me that was 'just his job'. To get such an endorsement from Rosie, who I respect and admire, makes me realise just how lucky I've been to work with Allen. Check out his work".

The Friday Joke - 16/12/2016 - Fancy a Lionel Blair trim

Friday is here! The weekend starts now. I hope to see you at the Barnet Eye Xmas Party and Awards at The Midland Hotel later. It's free and there is live music from some of Barnets finest musicians!

Anyway, I thought today I'd share what I consider to be the funniest TV commercial of the lot. Enjoy.

Join us for the Barnet Eye awards tomorrow night

Have you ever been to an awards ceremony? Well if not, tomorrow night is your chance!

We are holding the Barnet Eye annual Xmas Party and community awards. The fun kicks off at 8pm and there is live music from some top Barnet musicians and friends.  The awards will be presented at 9pm and I am really pleased with this years choices.

Unlike most awards ceremonies, we are for local people and entry is free! It is a chance to celebrate our community and those who make a difference. Winners will get a certificate bearing the citation from the person who nominated them. Please come down and make it a special evening.

The sad truth about Aleppo

Horrible though it is to admit it, the sad truth about Aleppo is that the West is culpable for the disaster. We gave Syrian rebels hope, when we could offer nothing. We should never have teased them with empty promises.

 The UK has no capability to mount a meaningful military intervention. Cameron scrapped our carrier born Harriers, the army is chronically under resourced and our public has no interest in mounting foreign military adventures. The US has a president who has no interest in putting troops anywhere, but who dangles the prospect of help like an immature teenage girl may flaunt her charms, not realising that others don't see it is simply a game to them. The rebels had no prospect of defeating Assad and had they done more damage, ISIS would have rolled over Assad and we'd be even worse off. All we can do is cry in our beer. If you really give a toss give some money to relief agencies, speak up for refugees and make sure our government at least treats them with dignity in respect. Otherwise STFU!

Barnet Eye Awards - A community champion for Barnet

 The False Dots will appear at The Barnet Eye Awards

Are you coming to the Barnet Eye awards on Friday at 9pm at The Midland Hotel in Hendon? It would be great if you do, as we will be introducing the Barnet Eye community Champion. He is a man many of you know. He has been a tireless campaigner for workers rights and social justice. He has been at the heart of many protests for good causes for as long as I can remember. He has worked tirelessly organising in a sane and rational way. He is respected by politicians of all colours in the Borough, even those that disagree with him.More recently he has bravely written a blog about his struggle with depresssion and mental health issues. He has gone public over this to try and persuade people that it is not  a taboo subject and that we should talk about it.

With suicide being the biggest killer of young men aged between 18-35, it is vital that we recognise this and offer support to people with such issues. He is currently involved in a battle with his own Union over alleged electoral malpractice in recent elections for senior Union officials. Yet another example of his willingness to fight for what is right, even when there is a considerable personal risk in his actions.

Who is he? Well you will have to come along on Friday to find out. Full details here. There will also be live music with The False Dots, Tell The Others, Just Jammin' and Tony Shaw.

The fun starts at 8pm. It is free entry. We would love to see you there.

Unisongate update - Where is the whistleblowing policy

If you work for a large organisation, the chances are your company has a "whistleblowing policy" that enables you to report malpractice, fraud and criminal activity, without fear of repercussions or reprisals. For this to work, it is run by an external organisation. Strange as it may seem, Trades Unions have no legal requirement to have such a scheme in place. As such, they are open to all sorts of issues. Given the tribal nature of the organisations, can this be healthy in the 21st century.

My good friends John Burgess stood for the post of General Secretary last year. A tape was released of what appears to be paid Union officials allegedly organising campaign activities against him and other candidates. I strongly suggest you read Johns blog about the subject, just so you see why all organisations should take Whistleblowing seriously.

The Tweets of the week in the London Borough of Barnet - 11/12/16

So what have the tits of Barnet been up to of late? Here's our pick of the week

1. Superfast72 is rather interested in this phonebox in Edgware, if that's what you can call it.

Spotted this new internet kiosk in Edgware today. pic.twitter.com/SeKc1cuqjJ

— Mark Amies (@Superfast72) December 10, 2016

2. A little bit of sports local sports history from Vince Taylor

The original stand at Edgware Town's White Lion Ground in 1974, and on opening day in 1927 when Edgware Rugby Club were the residents. pic.twitter.com/orL0zqCRM9

— Vince Taylor (@Groundtastic) December 9, 2016

3. Fancy some high quality folk music on Monday night?

Monday 12th, the brilliant @RamblingVs are headlining with @annatammusic leading the carols @ChandosArmsPub. Festive knitwear optional. pic.twitter.com/XM4VIm0IzB

— Colindale Folk Club (@ColindaleFolk) December 9, 2016

4. Barnet Diving Club would love you to come down to support them at Hendon Town Hall tomorrow night.

Only 7 days left this time next week at 6.30pm we really need you at #Hendon Town Hall DM for details
https://t.co/KPUEMibiuC #LondonHour 📢 pic.twitter.com/iN2SdhXexg

— SaveBarnetDiving (@Save_Diving_Ldn) December 6, 2016

5. Buzzing Helen is adjusting her baubles in Finchley High Street.

@BarnetCouncil too mean to decorate our tree so we're doing it. Bring any unwanted baubles and let's make it look fabulous
North Finchleyn12 pic.twitter.com/JGo5HUWNIN

— Helen Michael (@BuzzingHelen) December 8, 2016

6. Barnet rebel is eying up a few birds!

Oh yes; house sparrows love the maze-like secret world inside a privet, or any other type of hedge...! @SaveOurSparrows @Team4Nature300 pic.twitter.com/qcDsFQTB0S

— Donald Lyven (@barnet_rebel) December 6, 2016

7.Lovely tweet from CLOG!

Misty and atmospheric on our Mill Hill to Golders Green country walk today.@UKMuddyBoots @Rohantime @keswickbootco @CotswoldLondon pic.twitter.com/S7SQlkuvhT

— CLOG (@Clogtweets) December 6, 2016

8 .I love this sort of fact!

Today I learned that Desmond Tutu was a curate at Golders Green and there is a church called St Andrew by the Wardrobe. Happy. @St_Aldhelms pic.twitter.com/VKRYQ8T8pg

— WalmingtonOnLine (@WalmingtonOn) December 10, 2016

9. This looks like a bit of fun from Chickenshed Theatre co in Golders Green

#Chickenshed Theatre Adventure to Oz performers with DG Helen.Thanks Golders Green for taking theatre over. An enjoyable high energy show pic.twitter.com/U5flMJyUFG

— D1130 DG (@D1130DG) December 8, 2016

10. A bit of appreciation for a tribiute to Bowie in Mill Hill

#rehearsal in Studio 16 at @MillHillMusicCo #rememberingbowie @ Mill Hill Music Complex https://t.co/rIq0Hkvtw5

— Black Nail Cabaret (@Black_Nails) December 4, 2016

The Saturday List #108 - My ten worst years

Everyone has been saying that 2016 is the 'Year from hell", what with the death of Lemmy, Bowie and Ali (to name but a few of the victims of the cursed year). But is it your worst year? Does it make the top ten? For me the biggest family tragedy so far (touch wood) has been the passing of our fmily Boxer dog, Tilly. Last night, we were out in Sheffield who had lost a mum and a dad. I think for them, it will be an especially cursed year. So here are my top ten annus horribilis

1. 1987
2. 2008
3. 2009
4. 1984
5. 2000
6. 1970
7. 2016  (* its not over yet)
8. 1975
9. 2015
10. 2011

So for me it is only the seventh worst of the 54 years I've been on the planet. I don't know if that is a good or a bad thing!

The Friday Joke - 09/12/2016

The Friday Joke! It's a cracker!

The Barnet Eye Friday Joke!

A drunk man who smelled of too much whisky and beer sat down, took a seat
next to a priest.

The man's tie was stained, his face was smeared with red lipstick smudges, and a half-empty bottle of Jack Daniels was sticking out of his torn coat pocket.

He opened his newspaper and began reading.
After a few minutes the man turned to the priest and asked, "Say Father, what causes
arthritis?"

The priest replies, "My Son, it's caused by loose living, sleeping with prostitutes and   wicked women, drinking too much whisky and beer and not taking regular baths."

The drunk muttered in response, "Fancy that!" Then returned to his paper.

The priest, reflecting on what he had said, remembering that Jesus despised hypocrites and the self righteous, seeking out the company of sinners in preference, turned to the
man and apologized. "I'm very sorry I was so unsympathetic, I'm tired and I've had a hard day. How long have you had arthritis?"

The drunk answered, "I don't have it, Father. I was just reading here that the Pope does."

Have a great weekend!