Month: February 2011

Bahrain GP Cancelled


To say that I am disappointed that the Bahrain F1 GP has been cancelled would be a bit of an understatement.

It’s OK for all you football fans, the season never really ends any more. There is football available on the TV 365 days a year. OK so some of it isn’t British football but it is there for you to watch.

For F1 fans there is nothing from the end of one season to the next.

And now, just when the F1 juices have started to flow with the Bahrain race due to run on the 13th March, we are faced with a further two-week delay before the season truly starts.

And before the dissenting voices start beating me up and telling me that human life takes precedence over sport.

I do truly, totally agree. I wish the Bahrain people well and hope that there is no more bloodshed or injuries.

But as a F1 fan it is my right to feel disappointed.

Should We Applaud U Turn ?


So the government has done an about-face on the sale of our nations forests.

Should we applaud them for having the strength to reverse their decision in the face of public out cry. Or should we perhaps be questioning the sanity of a government that actually thought that it had the right to sell off the nations property. The forests don’t belong to the government, they belong to the nation. The government is just the custodian and the Forestry Commission their  management team.

This government is in slash and burn mode as they try to fix the economic problems that the labour government bequeathed to us all. I think we need to watch them closely so that they don’t jettison any other national treasures while the red mist is obscuring their common sense.

View From The Conservatory


What a cracking day it is today.

As I type this I am grooving to B.B. Kings “The Thrill Is Gone”. The sun is shining, not a cloud in the sky which is currently a watery blue.

There are Blue Tits, Great Tits, a pair of Jenny Wrens, a Robin and a pair of Blackbirds investigating the garden all being observed by a Grey Squirrel sat on a fence post.

The only minor negative is that, in my normal working position, the sun has reached a position such that it is shining directly in my face and I can’t see the monitor screen. So I have had to rearrange the furniture.

Having done that I now find that I am on a slight cant due to the fact that my conservatory has broken its back and the floor is uneven due to some movement of the clay soil base. My table is bridging either side of the break and the text that I am typing goes uphill from left to right.

But, hey, this is only a temporary situation. When the weather warms up I will move back to my usual location in the darkness which is the garage.

I might have to rethink the last. There is no view of the outside word in there.

Today Is The Day


My new car is delivered.

I must be the least enthusiastic car buyer on the planet. I ordered the car back in October of last year after an “exhaustive” search, trekking around the various dealerships.

I haven’t test driven any cars but I did sit in quite a few. After all my criteria for determining if a car is going to be suitable are very simple. Most cars offered by the major manufacturer’s seem to have similar specs. They have to meet the same international standards for safety etc. and since I was looking at a family car then the handling and so forth was going to be fairly similar across all makes. I know  there will be differences but I wasn’t looking at buying a sports car and won’t be driving any car to its extremes. Finally I was also limited by what I could afford so there was one last criteria that had to be fulfilled.

Would I fit in it ?

Being a tad on the large size, that is over six-foot tall and weighing in at around twenty stone I don’t like to feel crowded. Nor do I like to be touching the sides of the car during normal driving conditions.

In the end my choices seem to be limited to either a Skoda Octavia or the Renault Megane. The final selection was governed by the actual spec of the car and so I plumped for the Megane.

Friends and family have been asking me if I am getting excited and I have steadfastly maintained that I am not. It’s just a car. OK its a brand new car.

So I suppose, now the day is upon me I am, I admit, getting mildly curious.

 

Rory Gallagher Challenge


Last night I watched Rory Gallagher in  “Irish Tour 1974” , a film by Tony Palmer which Sky had broadcast a few days ago. This is a fairly poor quality film, at least in the audio department anyway.  However, as I watched the film and the usual wave of nostalgia washed over me, I got to thinking about when I had seen Rory live. He had performed at a weekend festival which took place on Southsea Castle Field.

And what really occupied my mind was the date. I can’t for the life of me think when it was. I have trawled the web and failed to find any reference to the festival.

I do know that it must have been about 20 years ago. This I know because Hayley, my eldest granddaughter, had been born. What I’m not sure about is if her sister Claire, the next, had been born too.

I also know that this was the first concert that their dad had been to. He being an ELO fan and there I was  introducing him to the blues.

The festival that weekend was spread over three nights. We were attending on the Friday and Rory Gallagher was top of the bill. I know that there were two other acts on that night. Opening the show was The Hamsters, doing their Hendrix show. I cannot remember the name of the second act of the evening other than the fact that they came from New York and the singer played a pretty mean harmonica. I believe they were a trio but am not sure.

Other things I know about that weekend are that the main tent blew down on the Saturday night putting the Sunday night finale in jeopardy. The final acts were moved into the Pyramids Centre at the other side of the field. Not that I was bothered since I had travelled up to Merseyside early on the Saturday morning.

So if there is anyone out there who can put these clues together and come up with a year I would be most grateful.

Go Watson Go Watson Rah Rah Rah !!!


Sorry but I just had to shout for the “home” team.

The latest IBM supercomputer Watson is taking on two previous winners of the TV quiz show, Jeopardy. The show is airing over the next three nights.

This is just the latest of a series of Man V Machine challenges that IBM have launched as part of their research into artificial intelligence. Most notable of these was the Chess challenge between IBM’s “Deep Blue” and Gary Kasparov back in 1997. On that occasion Deep Blue won.

So come on Watson I’m expecting great things from you.

BBC News – IBM supercomputer challenges humans on TV quiz.

Congratulations & Good Luck


Schoolboy, 18, becomes UK’s youngest town councillor after by-election victory

Tom Bletsoe, just 18, is the new Independent councillor for St Ives South ward in Cambridgeshire.

I would like to wish him both Good Luck and Congratulations.

It is really good to see a youngster taking an active interest in politics and local community affairs. Too often all we hear about youngsters is how they spend all their time getting drunk and causing a nuisance.

I can already hear the naysayers and their negative comments asking “What does he know ?” “He’s only 18, What experience has he got ?”

Well I say he can hardly do any worse than some of our current batch of councillors & MPs.

So lets give him a chance to prove himself.

Schoolboy, 18, becomes UK’s youngest town councillor after by-election victory | Mail Online.

The Roebuck Restaurant


Me, my wife and two friends had a fabulous meal at The Roebuck last night. The food here is always very good and choices from last nights menu were well up tothe usual standard.

Only three of us opted to have an appetizer. My wife and one of our friends had the Avocado and Prawns while I had Homemade Country Pate with Brandy and Herbs. For the mains my wife and I both chose from the specials board and had Lamb Steak and Haunch of Venison respectively. Our friends had the Duck Breast with Mango Sauce and the Roebuck Game Pie. By the time we were ready for dessert it came down to choices for just three of us again. So it was Black Cherries with Kirsch for two and I had the Sticky Toffee Gateaux from the specials board. We were all well and truly stuffed

As usual our meal was served to the traditional backdrop of Mark Squires, our host, playing many familiar tunes on the piano. The atmosphere was very warm and cheerful.

Our meal came to £104 which included our drinks. Not the cheapest of meals but given the welcoming atmosphere and the cozy surroundings I would always recommend this establishment for a special celebration.

Egypt crisis: President Hosni Mubarak resigns as leader


Congratulations to the Egyptian people.

My thoughts are with you now that you have ousted Mubarak. My hope is that you achieve a peaceful transition and that the army support you in your efforts

BBC News – Egypt crisis: President Hosni Mubarak resigns as leader.