Leatherhead Matters

The Oscars are coming (writers permitting) so, lots of stuff on celebs & movies in the news at present.

If you don’t already have top movie soundtracks in your music collection try this list (there are download links to some of the tracks embedded in the article).:

100 best movie soundtracks - Telegraph

If you don’t like the list above try this one (in rank order)

100 best movie soundtracks - Entertainment Weekly

Personal top 3 movie soundtracks are:

1. Doctor Zhivago (1965) - Maurice Jarre
2. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) - Maurice Jarre
3. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003) - Howard Shore

Scientists from NASA say that Mars has warmed by about 0.5C since the 1970s. This is similar to the warming experienced on Earth over approximately the same period. The Martian climate change  is happening so fast that the red planet could lose its southern ice cap.

We all know that climate change is happening back here on mother Earth. Al Gore & his global followers have told us we are to blame….me, you and the other 6.6 billion people on the planet. Looks like NASA had better hurry up and mobilise another mission to Mars to find all those pesky Martians ‘cos based on the Gore philosophy they must be to blame for Martian climate change! Perhaps this new data means we should stop worrying about climate change and start to worry all over again about THIS !

Read more on Climate change hits Mars 

The Crown Estate, which manages the Queen ’s real estate, said in a statement on its website that it has sold the Metropole Hotel building and 10 Whitehall Place to a UAE, Sovereign Wealth Fund. The consortium, led by International Hotel Investments (IIS) purchased the real estate for 130 million pounds ( 255 million dollars).

According to The Crown Estate, the 400,000 square feet  of available space will be refurbished into a 283-room five-star hotel, along with luxury apartments, overlooking the River Thames.

“IHI and its principal shareholders … were selected as having the vision to meet the challenge of restoring this once grand hotel to its original use, in a manner most sympathetic to this building’s architectural features, townscape setting and history of the site,” the Crown Estate said. The Crown Estate has a property portfolio valued in excess of 7 billion pounds.

A brilliant analysis by Fraser Nelson (Spectator) of why public trust in UK political institutions is dead . Politicians just don’t get it!