[insert title here] - 19 October 2015

Something to look forward to next week in the Lords

The Parliamentary Party in the Lords increases by two next week, as Shas Sheehan is introduced on Monday, and Jonny Oates on Tuesday. I really ought to write about this for Liberal Democrat Voice, oughtn't I?


On this day... in 2007

Is it really eight years since the Clegg versus Huhne leadership contest got underway? It must be, because I was getting ready to chair the first public hustings in Newbury the next day. As usual, I was somewhat undecided. Luckily, I had Ros to keep in on the straight and narrow...


Never let it be said that I don't know how to have a good time...

This evening's task is to draw up a system for selecting our Party's delegations to ALDE's Council and Congress. Gender, ethnicity, nations, all of these have to be carefully counterbalanced and accounted for. I may be gone some time... At least you'll know who's fault it is...


New York, New York...

If someone had told me two months ago that I would have been watching a World Series contender, I would have laughed at you. Yes, the New York Mets, the Cinderella of New York baseball, are two-nil up in the best of seven National League Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs. But, Ros and I can claim that we saw them play if they go all the way. Their likely opponents, the Kansas city Royals, who are two-nil up against the Toronto Blue Jays in the American league equivalent. We saw them play the Boston Red Sox two weeks later...

Take me out to the ball park...

I've always had an interest in baseball, at least, ever since I was introduced to it twenty-five years ago. For my sins, I follow the (ill)fortunes of the Cincinnati Reds, a team cursed with being in the same division as the rather more successful St Louis Cardinals. When I'm in the US, I usually try to catch a game and, when Ros and I were here three years ago, I took her to see her first game, at Safeco Field, the home of the Seattle Mariners.

This year, we're on the East Coast, and, being in New York, we had a choice, between the Mets and the Yankees. That is, we technically had a choice, as it had been made clear to us that the Yankees really weren't an option (we have a Boston Red Sox fan house sitting this week...).

So, we've spent a warm afternoon at Citi Field in Queens, watching the Mets slaughter the Colorado Rockies, 12-3. Beer may have been drunk - in moderation, naturally - and hot dogs eaten. This is pretty exciting, as the Mets are top of their division for the first time in years and, best of all, the Yankees aren't.

All of this seemed unlikely when, in the first inning, Mets pitcher, Noah Syndergaard, gave up two home runs. The Mets struck back quickly though, with three runs of their own, and by the end of the third inning, the game was symmetrically tied at three apiece. That, as it turned out, was as good as it was going to get for the Rockies, whose season is already effectively over, as their pitching staff gave up a steady stream of hits and runs.

Citi Field is one of the new generation of ballparks, with great sight lines, whilst giving a gentle nod to the past. The entrance area is a tribute to Ebbets Field, the old home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and Jackie Robinson is honoured with a section of the stadium named after him with an exhibition for visitors.

It isn't a cheap experience - think of it as being akin to a Premier League game - but it is worth it if you're curious about this cornerstone of American life.