No geek
is an island

Last year, at a ceremony at party conference, Stephen Tall’s A Liberal Goes A Long Way was awarded the first Blog of the Year award for the best Liberal Democrat blog.

This year, the Blog of the Year award returns, flanked by five additional categories. The full line-up of the awards, run by the party in conjunction with Liberal Democrat Voice, is:

• Liberal Democrat blog of the year
• Best blog from a Liberal Democrat elected to public office
• Best new Liberal Democrat blog (started since 1st October 2006)
• Best posting on a Liberal Democrat blog (since 1st October 2006)
• Most humorous Liberal Democrat blog
• Best designed Liberal Democrat blog (as decided by readers of Liberal Democrat Voice)

Anyone can nominate an entry for any category, but the deadline is 31st August. There’s more information on the party website.

Excluded from nomination are blogs and posts from Ryan Cullen, Lynne Featherstone, Stephen Tall and me, as the four of us constitute the judging panel. We’ll draw up shortlists for each of the categories, and for all but the “Best designed Liberal Democrat blog” category, we’ll choose the winners.

You have just under two weeks to get your nominations in; shortlists will be published on September 5th.

Last week saw the untimely deaths from cancer of two men who contributed significantly to British life, albeit in completely different ways.

Tim Garden - Air Marshal Lord Garden - was the Liberal Democrats’ defence spokesperson in the House of Lords, and his distinguished service in the RAF and at the Ministry of Defence gave real credibility to the party on defence issues. In 2004, the same year he became a life peer, Tim contributed his knowledge to the BBC series Crisis Command, acting as one of the contestants’ expert advisers. I met him once, briefly, in a packed lift at party conference in Harrogate. Sadly, I didn’t engage him in deep conversation about the threat of terrorism in the modern world or post-Cold War international relations; rather, we shared a joke about the maximum number of people the lift claimed to be able to carry.

Tim’s contributions as a member of the House of Lords were invaluable, both to the party and to the country, and he will be greatly missed. Fellow LibDem blogger Jonathan Fryer has written Tim’s obituary for The Guardian, and there are tributes in the comments on Lib Dem Voice.

Tony Wilson, the entrepreneur, TV and radio presenter, Ha&ccdeil;ienda manager, founder of Factory Records and journalist labelled Mr Manchester, died last Friday. Immortalised by Steve Coogan in the 2002 film 24 Hour Party People, Wilson was a genuine character whose promotion of bands - and of Manchester itself - contributed to the success (give or take some dubious business decisions) of acts like Joy Division and the Happy Mondays. His most significant cultural impact may have been in the late 80s and early 90s, but he continued to pop up on radio, film and television and his death is a sad loss.

There is an obituary on the BBC website. YouTube has various clips (including Tony Wilson Meets God from 24HPP). Here’s a section from the 2002 Granada Documentary That Tony Wilson:

“Still, if the Doctor can be young and strong then so can I.”

Hello. I had a lovely holiday, and now I’m back. I decided the blog was overdue for a makeover, so I’ve given it one. I apologise for the feet but they tickle me (though please don’t tickle them).

I still have some tweaking to do (the recent comments list will return), but nothing major. Let me know if you find any bugs.