musically, it's a good week

Richard Thompson, one of my three favourite live acts, in Southampton, on Thursday.

And Show of Hands, another, in Regents Park on Sunday (with ccomley and Liz WINOLJ).

Now, if only Paul Buchanan could be persuaded to play Bristol on Friday, my week would be complete ...

a good day for free speech

from the Independent:

Environmental campaigners seeking to stage a protest at Heathrow airport this summer claimed a huge and symbolic victory yesterday after a High Court judge massively scaled back the terms of an injunction sought against them.

and

Meanwhile, in a separate victory for free speech, the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips, dismissed an appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions that could have seen the Parliament Square anti-war protester Brian Haw restricted in his right to protest.

This doesn't happen nearly often enough, of course, but we can celebrate it nonetheless.